CityNews 231019

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Well written, well read

A year to the ACT election, how’s everyone looking?

MICHAEL MOORE Way to close indigenous gap is in plain sight MICHELLE GRATTAN ‘Rattenbury’s Believe it or Else!’

KEEPING UP THE ACT

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NEWS / Boomanulla Oval

Seven years on, contested oval’s fate still uncertain

By Lily

PASS IT is now seven years and three months since the ACT government released a request for tender, offering to return Boomanulla Oval in Narrabundah to indigenous management, says CEO of Winnunga Nimmityjah, Julie Tongs.

The documentation released in mid2016 says: “The territory has issued this RFT to assess the interest, capability and experience of the successful proponent to take over management of Boomanulla Oval.”

In response, Ms Tongs says Winnunga Nimmityjah engaged the highly regarded planning and design company Judd Studio to develop a strategic plan for the sustainable indigenous management of Boomanulla Oval.

“Judd Studio developed and submitted to Winnunga Nimmityjah an outstanding strategic plan which respected and would enhance the potential for the site, and the opportunities that its rejuvenation would offer to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community of Canberra,” she says.

“Despite Winnunga Nimmityjah

Boomanulla Oval, Narrabundah… “It is just really heartbreaking to see what it has become, it is another failed attempt from the government to step up and do something,” says Julie Tongs.

Photo: Lily Pass having responded in good faith to the ACT government’s request for tender, at significant cost and out of genuine interest and commitment to the ideal of returning Boomanulla to its rightful owners, the government aborted the process without explanation, cancelled the request for tender, and has, for the last seven long years, simply squatted on this outstandingly important piece of Aboriginal land.”

Julie says Boomanulla Oval has always been very important to the Aboriginal community in the ACT. “It was pretty much the first facility that we had, and it brought people together, particularly through sports,”

INDEX Arts & Entertainment 27-30 Crossword & Sudoku 31 Dining & Wine 30 Gardening 26 Keeping Up the ACT 15 Letters 14 News 3-16 Politics 4 Streaming 28

she says.

“It is just really heartbreaking to see what it has become, it is another failed attempt from the government to step up and do something.”

Without a place to come together, Julie says it’s hard for Aboriginal people to connect.

“A lot of people here in Canberra haven’t been born here, or moved here from other places, and it can be quite isolating, but having Boomanulla means people could get out and mix, meet new people and become a big part of the community,” she says.

“The Judd Studio plan included having an education, training and em-

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Well written, well read

Ph 02 6189 0777 Fax 02 6189 0778 9b/189 Flemington Rd, Mitchell 2911

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Ian Meikle, 9b/189 Flemington Road, Mitchell.

General manager: Tracey Avery, tracey@citynews.com.au Senior advertising account executive: David Cusack, 0435 380656 Advertising account executives: Damien Klemke, 0439 139001 Tim Spare, 0423 381691 Editor: Ian Meikle, editor@citynews.com.au Journalist: Lily Pass, lily@citynews.com.au Arts editor: Helen Musa, helen@citynews.com.au Production manager: Janet Ewen Graphic Designer: Mona Ismail Proof reader: Glenda Anderson Distribution manager: Penny McCarroll penny@citynews.com.au

ployment facility, a cultural education and keeping place, sports facilities, and the blocks behind could become low-cost housing, so it would have been a perfect place, with the oval used for walking, football and maybe even a coffee, so people can use Boomanulla Oval as a meeting place.

“But, we did all of this work for the ACT government, on their request, and then of course, once again, this community ends up with nothing, we are just ignored.”

Julie says it’s a shame, Boomanulla would have made a real difference.

“We’ve got all these kids running out of control because there’s nothing for them to do,” she says.

“If they had organised sport meet ups, and the education program, just a chance to be involved, you could make a real difference, but we’ve gone begging for the last seven years.

“We’ve got kids in Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, they are turning 18 and going straight into the Alexander Maconochie Centre. There are solutions to help break this cycle.

“So it’s sad when you drive past Boomanulla Oval and there’s no life around, it has become dilapidated.”

If Julie was given the opportunity for Boomanulla Oval now, she says she would require a lot of community help.

“For people to put their hands up to help bring it back to life, turn it into something amazing, just like it used to

be,” she says.

“It would still get kids into organised activities, forming relationships and becoming a social hub, so absolutely, yes, I would still like it returned to indigenous management.

“Boomanulla still means everything, it was the place we used to all come together for better or for worse.

We know things don’t move quickly in this government, but really, action should be taken quicker than this.”

A spokesperson says in light of its importance and complexities, the ACT government took time to assess Winnunga Nimmityjah’s response to the request for tender.

“The government acknowledges this was a lengthy process and unfortunately at the time, the request for tender did not enable a way forward to address the financial and legal risks that were identified through the process,” they say.

“As a result, the request for tender was cancelled and the government committed to undertake improvements to Boomanulla and work with the Elected Body on a way forward.

“Transport Canberra and City Services accepted the role of land custodian for the site as an interim measure in 2018. We have been working with the community through the Elected Body to bring Boomanulla Oval back to an operational, first-class sports facility.”

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POLITICS / ACT election, October 19 2024

A year to the election, how’s everyone looking?

IT’S just a year to the next ACT election. Political parties and candidates have begun their preparations.

Positioning a political party or an individual candidate for an election requires significant work under the Hare-Clark system. Each party, as well as each candidate, will determine how they will appeal to the electorate.

The big question is… will the Labor-Greens government be returned to power? It was in 2001 that Labor defeated the Liberals to take government. Labor has been in power since – sometimes in coalition with the Greens. Can either party run a successful campaign on their legacy?

Legacy is not enough. It will need to be combined with a clear vision for the future.

The Liberals, on the other hand, do not have a single elected MLA who has been in government previously.

They will have little choice but to argue that they are a credible alternative to a “tired”, “worn out” and “out-of-touch” government.

Next October 19’s election will be the first time, since the Liberals lost government in October 2001, that the party is not led, and dominated, by conservatives. This is important for Canberra’s swinging voters. And it provides the Liberals with hope that

4 CityNews October 19-25, 2023

Increasing rates, surging cost of living, cuts to health and education as well as police, all point to a government struggling with the finances. Light rail will get the blame. they have a real chance to oust the Labor-Greens coalition from power.

However, any chance for the Liberals to win government will rely heavily on the perceptions of success or failure of the Barr government.

Labor will be selling their achievements as a progressive government.

They have been at the forefront of innovative and socially equitable legislative and administrative change. History will be kind to Labor, and Andrew Barr with regard to this legacy.

The financial state of the ACT tells a different story. For the first time since self-government the ACT has lost its Standard and Poor’s AAA/A-1+ credit rating. This impor-

The Liberals have little choice but to argue that they are a credible alternative to a ‘tired’, ‘worn out’ and ‘out-of-touch’ government.

tant indicator will be taken by voters to tell a much deeper story about the Canberra they cherish.

Increasing rates, the general surge in cost of living, cuts in real terms to health and education as well as police, all point to a government struggling with the finances.

The light rail will get the blame.

There has been enormous expenditure on this major infrastructure project that to date has largely been focused on serving the people of Gungahlin.

The constant disruption during construction is simply rubbing salt into the wound. This even applies to the next group of Canberrans who will be advantaged by the second

stage. Once this stage is completed – the network will service way less than half of our population.

The tram is a gift to the Liberals who can campaign on their already announced policy of stopping the expenditure on the expansion of light rail to Stage 2B. The impact of the tram and the role of the Greens is integral. They have been a strong influence within the coalition on this and other environmentally friendly policies. They have encouraged socially progressive approaches. However, many Greens voters will feel that with the relationship things have gone too far in favour of Labor.

The Greens were not able to get Labor to support their policy of lowering the voting age to 16 years.

In a recent media release, the Greens’ Jo Clay attacked the government over its approach to infill.

Apparently, the government has been counting “knockdown and rebuilds” in its infill quotas. Ms Clay attacked this approach by the government as “creative accounting” arguing the “ACT government has a commitment to build at least 70 per cent of new dwellings within the ACT’s existing

urban footprint”.

Planning and development fuelled by the 70 per cent infill approach is yet another vulnerability that will be taken into account by many voters.

The shortages of land supply and willingness to undermine amenity in many of the existing suburbs provides fodder for the Liberals. The LaborGreens Coalition has simply failed on its land planning and urban renewal policies.

However, the strongest claim from the Liberals is to identify that returning Labor to government will take a tired, cocky government back into power until 2028. That will mean having the same party in government for well over a quarter of a century.

Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an independent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with “CityNews” since 2006.

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NEWS / mental health

Why Duncan’s stories of hope come with a guitar PASS ANXIETY, depression and schizophrenia are some of the “numerous” mental illnesses that impact Kaleen’s Duncan n.

Sargeant in his day-to-day life.

“I was diagnosed when I was 17, I’m 47 now,” he says.

“It doesn’t get any easier, or become manageable. In that first year I was admitted to hospital five times, I broke the record.

“I’ve now been hospitalised over 70 times, in four different institutions. I just got out from another stint in the hospital about two or three weeks ago.”

But, for more than 15 years, Duncan has organised and performed in concerts to celebrate good mental health, to educate people about mental illness and to break down stigma and misinformation.

“The guitar saved my life,” he says.

“Music, art, writing all saved me. I used to draw and paint as well, but I realised I didn’t have enough time, so I had to give up the visual arts.

“It was a hard decision to make but I couldn’t fully commit myself to all three different forms.”

Guitarist Duncan n. Sargeant… “In the middle of a set at Belconnen Theatre I just started talking, and people started laughing.”

Photo: Lily Pass Duncan says Eric Clapton was his first, major guitar inspiration.

“I think I was 16 or 17, and I first heard Clapton’s ‘Unplugged’ album,” he says.

“I was in love with the music about

halfway through the first song, he just has influenced me in such a big way, especially in my lead-guitar playing.”

He says he has struggled to process his own mental illness at times, but writing songs has allowed him to ex-

plore it in a creative way.

“It gave me an emotional and spiritual release, at the same time as giving me something to strive for in terms of achieving,” he says.

“I haven’t got it mastered yet, I never will, there’s always new stuff to learn, but it’s a less steep learning curve now.

“I also do storytelling in my shows, it wasn’t a conscious decision, humorous stories but about my life. In the middle of a set at Belconnen Theatre I just started talking, and people started laughing.

“I tell stories about my experiences, recovery, and day-to-day life. That’s how I make it make sense, my illness.

What is the point of going through all of this without trying to help somebody else, too?”

The best night of his life came at Tilley’s Devine Cafe.

“In hospital once, I met one of Australia’s finest cellist musicians, David Pereira, and I asked him if he wanted to do a show with me,” he says.

“He said yes, so I approached Tilley’s and they jumped at the opportunity, too. We played together, and it was such a great turn out, definitely the best night of my life.

“My next goal is to play at Llewellyn Hall, it’s a long shot though.”

Duncan admits his social anxiety makes performing hard work.

“Sometimes I really have to force

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myself, it is quite strange having social anxiety while being a performance artist, it is easier if someone just tells me where to be and what time, but if I have to organise everything it can be difficult,” he says.

“It’s good to have some friends and family around to support you.

“I have been mocked, too, at one of my shows I was talking about a time where I thought I was Jesus Christ, and these people came up at the end of the show and said ‘Hello Jesus’ and I just thought, eff you.”

On October 27, Duncan is doing a solo concert at Pulp Book Cafe in Gold Creek.

“On October 29 I’m doing a guitar recital with some friends at All Saints Anglican Church in Ainslie,” he says.

“While I have performed for more than 20 years, this is only the third year of my Eelworks Mental Health Guitar Festival.

“I like to write songs with a social conscience. I’ve written about my own experiences, but also about bushfires, gun violence in America, military policing in Colombia and South America.

“The message I want to share is you don’t have to struggle all on your own, there is always someone you can talk with. It doesn’t always get easier, but it’s good to have support systems in place.”

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THE VOICE / Closing the Gap

Way to close the indigenous gap is in plain sight There is a way forward to tackle indigenous disadvantage after the referendum defeat, writes political columnist MICHELLE GRATTAN. AMID the bitter blame game following the rout of the government’s Voice referendum, there’s mostly agreement on one point. Australia must address more effectively the appalling disadvantage suffered by many of its indigenous citizens.

To state the obvious, this is easy to say but has proved nearly impossible up to now. Poverty, intergenerational trauma, remoteness and many other factors combine into intractable vicious circles.

But – while you’d hardly know it from what politicians and commentators have said during the fractious Voice debate – there is a structure in place that could be used in this post-referendum phase.

The 2020 National Agreement on Closing the Gap, forged between federal and state governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations, provides for shared decision-making through partnerships.

The agreement has so far fallen far short of its potential.

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8 CityNews October 19-25, 2023

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mission report earlier this year highlighted failures in its implementation, mainly because the bureaucracy wasn’t properly on board. The report asked whether “governments have fully grasped the scale of change required to their systems, operations and ways of working to deliver the unprecedented shift they have committed to”.

The Albanese government has talked minimally about the agreement, presumably because it wanted to emphasise a current lack of voice rather than highlighting what was there already. Or perhaps it just wasn’t keen on something the Morrison government had set up.

Surely now is the time to put more effort into this agreement and to shake up the relevant bureaucratic structures. These include the National Indigenous Australians Agency, located in the Prime Minister’s Department, which has a central role in policy design and implementation and advises the PM and the Minister

for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney. Critics say it needs reform.

In the days ahead the government needs to engage more intensively with the Coalition of Peaks, which covers more than 80 indigenous bodies.

Its lead convenor is longtime indigenous advocate Pat Turner, who has a wealth of experience in the public service. Turner is presently head of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), which Health Minister Mark Butler strongly praised on Sunday.

Regardless of who is to blame for the referendum disaster – Anthony Albanese for going ahead with it,

Peter Dutton for refusing to support it, other players, or everybody – the damage is now done. The necessary postmortems will be held, but analysing the politics after the event will do nothing for those people in remote communities and town camps where health is appalling, education inadequate, housing unsuitable, and jobs lacking or limited.

The chance of a constitutional Voice is gone forever. But those voices that do exist can be mobilised better for the indigenous good. That, however, will require new vigour from government, and regrouping from demoralised indigenous leaders who campaigned for “yes”.

Many of these leaders are so bruised and angry they’ll want to opt out. However understandable that may be, they, like the government, have an obligation to look to ways other than a constitutional Voice to help the lives of their people.

For Albanese, Saturday’s defeat is a huge personal disappointment as well as a political setback, although not necessarily one with serious future electoral consequences. For most voters, the Voice was not a first-order priority, and they will be judging the government on other things come election time.

But the issue has highlighted some of Albanese’s weaknesses. He was overconfident in his own ability to

persuade people. We again saw he is not a great campaigner (evident at the election despite his victory). Not that even the best of campaigners could have won this one.

These past few weeks have also suggested Albanese will need to manage his energy better if he is to perform well for the long haul. Obviously he wanted to do all he could in the final days of the campaign. But tearing around the country, when it was clear the vote was lost, was excessive and left him looking exhausted. He would have been wiser in the final week simply to have gone to Uluru and left it at that, especially given the government needed to have more attention than it did on the Israel-Gaza crisis.

Albanese wants the government (and himself personally as prime minister) to be seen as never wasting a minute. But, taken to the extreme, this can be counterproductive for achievement and messaging.

Leaders are stronger and tougher than the rest of us. But they are not superhuman, and they need to pace themselves if they are not to wear out, lose focus, and become frazzled and tetchy. Albanese would have vivid memories of one Labor predecessor who ended up like that.

Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra. This article is republished from The Conversation.

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NEWS / Mathew Trinca

Retiring museum chief won’t stop making history

By Helen

MUSA WHEN Mathew Trinca ‘s contract as director of the National Museum of Australia ends at the end of February, he’ll be 60 – the new 50 – and there’s no sign that he’s slowing down.

Trinca, who has overseen a series of hit exhibitions from the British Museum, the repatriation of Aboriginal artefacts from the British Museum and recently an extraordinary boost of $78 million in federal funding, has remained exceedingly popular with his staff, having presided over 10 peaceful years at the museum.

When I caught up with Trinca for coffee recently, he was naturally keen to talk up his need to have more time with his teenage children and family on their property in the Brindabellas, but just as keen to plan a future working as a consultant on questions of strategy in the arts and cultural heritage and the wider museums sector. Above all, he looks forward to returning to writing.

Trinca, who holds a BA from the University of WA and a doctorate from the University of Sydney, started out as an historian, and that’s where his

Outgoing National Museum director Mathew Trinca... believes we should not neglect the responsibility to tell our history, “warts and all”. Photo: Linus Wong heart remains.

Intriguingly, it turns out that his interest in history was partly propelled by his Italian ancestry, with both his mother and father’s origins traceable to Grosotto, a village in Valtellina in

northern Italy bordering Switzerland.

He makes no secret of his proud ancestry, which has informed his academic writing about the internment of Italians during World War II, an inglorious period documented in Trinca’s collection of essays, “Suspicion: Citizenship and Internment in Australia during the Second World War”.

During the war, his father, who had been working on the goldfields near Kalgoorlie, was “manpowered” into cutting wood for boilers, while his uncle was inturned on Rottnest Island, as an “enemy alien”.

Neither of his parents, he says, attended high school, but both were “autodidacts” with a strong bent for education, so all four of the children got university degrees.

“My parents were great readers and encouraged us,” Trinca says.

“Then when I went to an Irish Catholic school, I had an influential teacher, Maria Collins.”

Years later someone told him she was living in the UK, so he rang her and said: “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be the director of the National Museum of Australia”.

The love of history stayed with him into university, where he came into contact with significant historians, Jenny Gregory and Thomas Stannage, the latter becoming, though not in Trinca’s time, deputy chair of the NMA.

On finishing his degree from the University of WA, he worked for a time for WA newspapers before “gallivanting” in London as a working journalist. He returned to Perth in his mid-to-late twenties to start a PhD while working in history and heritage, including five years at the WA Museum.

It was only after moving east in 2003 to take up a curatorial post at the NMA, that he completed his doctorate at Sydney University.

Trinca’s trajectory was clear; he moved to the NMA as senior curator, then assistant director responsible for collections and content. In 2013, on the departure of the late Andrew Sayers, he became acting director, then director of the museum.

Trinca talks of his achievements.

“I’m very pleased to say that after some very lean years, the government assured funding for the National Museum of Australia for the next four years in the appropriation in April,” he says.

“It’s the most significant investment in culture, for which we should be eternally grateful.”

Enumerating the many things that have happened under his watch, he cites the refurbishment of the museum, the new gallery “The Great Southern Land” and the landscaping of the gardens.

He also talks of the international programs and his pride in the fact that

the exhibition “Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters” went on to be seen in both Berlin and Paris.

He oversaw the negotiation of a collegiate relationship with the British Museum, whose exhibitions have provided summer blockbusters such as “Rome: City and Empire”, “Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes”, and “Feared and Revered”.

Now there are new agreements with the National Museum of China and the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in The Netherlands.

“There have been incredible challenges in recent years, especially through covid and the bushfires, but the staff have responded magnificently,” he says, so much so that the museum is pretty well beating away visitors at the doors.

“The people working here stayed solid and our numbers have now exceeded those before the pandemic…

Above everything, it will be the people that I will miss the most,” he says.

Regarding what he tactfully calls “resolving our past”, he believes that we also should not neglect the responsibility to tell our history, “warts and all”.

Trinca will be the longest director to have served at the National Museum, and he has faced challenges, but he’s proud to say, “there is no more democratic institution than the NMA – it welcomes all comers – everyone can find a piece of their own story here”.

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The cruel echoes of ‘shock and awe’ REMEMBER “Shock and Awe”?

It is seared into my brain – a kind of New Year’s Eve fireworks extravaganza, but with real bullets and deadly cruise missiles.

It was the beginning of a US bombing campaign to “soften up” Iraq’s military as American ground forces began their invasion in 2003.

It was not entirely successful, either in Iraq or Afghanistan but the 43rd US President George W Bush was determined to implant American democracy in place of Muslim “terrorism”. His declaration of “Mission Accomplished” was also premature and Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction” turned out to be a fib. However, at least his motives were commendable.

After all, this was the nation that in 1887 emblazoned on its Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

A lot has happened since 1887 and lots more since 2003. Last week “The New York Times” quoted the 45th President, Donald Trump bemoaning those very masses: “It’s poisoning the blood of our country. It’s so bad, and people are coming in with disease.

People are coming in with every pos-

Recent polling reveals that only 57 per cent feel Trump’s Republicans will keep America ‘safe’ from their enemies and a risible 36 per cent say Biden and his Democrats will do the job.

In 1887 the US emblazoned on its Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore...” sible thing that you could have.”

This is the same Donald Trump who decided to build a wall right across the southern border to keep those huddled masses out. And such is his influential political power that the 46th President, the Democrat Joe Biden, who used to be outraged by his predecessor’s fencing program, is now actively promoting it.

So, if the wall will keep them out and both presidential contenders support annual defence spending greater than every other nation on earth combined, how do we explain this: recent polling reveals that only 57 per cent feel Trump’s Republicans will keep America “safe” from their enemies and a risible 36 per cent say Biden and his Democrats will do the job.

That same day, coincidentally, came an ABC television news report of a tour of China’s Xinjiang province by about 20 international journalists.

That’s where China had responded to the “terrorism” of the Muslim Uyghurs with a re-education program.

“It included Urumqi,” said reporter David Lipson, “a flashpoint of unrest in the past. We were allowed to walk around and film unrestricted, past midnight and without a minder.

“Uyghur families appeared relaxed as they enjoyed kebabs and sheep brains at the bustling night markets.

Those we spoke to said the city was safe and their lives were good.”

The reporters were denied a visit to the former re-education facilities However, Lipson said, he and a US reporter approached a souvenir vendor

who claimed to have spent time in such a facility.

“He wasn’t provided by the tour guides,” Lipson said. Imamu Maimaiti Sidike, a father of three, showed no outward sign of intimidation as he impassively described his former “extremely radical religious ideologies” that saw him locked up for seven months.

“I didn’t allow my wife to work,” he said. “I believed that if we spent her income, we would go to hell and [I] forced her to stay home. I also promoted these values to the people around me.”

Lipson said: “He denied any mistreatment at the facility, claiming he ate well, played chess and read books and was even allowed to go home on weekends.” The result was effective.

“Through my studies,” Imamu Maimaiti Sidike said, “I realised that radical religious views harm people. I no longer have this mindset. I can get along with people of any ethnicity and faith.”

Awesome? robert@ robertmacklin. com

Pop-up plaques UKRAINE ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko will attend a popup exhibition of commemorative plaques that detail Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, at the International Flag Display, in Commonwealth Place, from 12.30pm on October 25. More from 0409 362316.

Of service wives DAWN Laing will present funny and entertaining musings of experiences of service wives at the next monthly meeting of the Weston Creek View Club at the Woden Southern Cross Club, from 11.30am, November 14.

Guests and interested ladies welcome. RSVP before November 9 to 0408 864616.

Plant sale THE Canberra Geranium and Fuchsia Society is hosting a plant sale and display at the Woden Valley Uniting Church Hall in Curtin, 1pm-4pm, on November 4. Geranium specialist Robyn Bible will be there to offer tips and advice. Entry is $2, members are free.

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PLANNING / infrastructure

Find yourself in a hole, the advice is stop digging!

By Mike

Little consideration was given to the impact of improvements in electric bus technology or whether increased working from home could reduce the need for light rail.

QUIRK IN 2019, the ACT government released the 10-year “ACT Infrastructure Plan” outlining $14 billion of projects across health, education, transport and community services.

It is being updated progressively over the next 12 months with two of seven sectors, Health and the Entertainment, Arts and Sports, recently released.

The plan identifies and prioritises the infrastructure necessary to meet community needs, support economic growth and foster environmental sustainability.

The provision of metropolitan-level facilities such as hospitals, convention centres, theatres, major stadia, tertiary education are primarily related to the expected population and its age structure.

Other infrastructure such as stormwater, water, sewer, power, waste management, social housing, schools, shops, playgrounds, playing fields, roads, public transport, cycleways, footpaths and trees are also influenced by the location of population and employment.

First houses in Hughes in 1963 – Groom and Jensen Streets... There is an increasing need to upgrade and renew urban infrastructure given it’s up to 50 to 60 years old.

There is an increasing need to upgrade and renew infrastructure given policies to increase population in existing areas and infrastructure in Woden, Belconnen and Tuggeranong being up to 50 to 60 years old.

The “ACT Infrastructure Plan” does not provide a detailed justification of the projects identified or how their priority was determined. The long-term underinvestment in social housing and health (as documented by “CityNews” columnists Khalid Ahmed and Jon Stanhope) highlight deficiencies in the government’s budgetary processes.

Given the need to prioritise infrastructure, it is surprising the government has anchored its plan on the wobbly foundations of its “2018 Planning Strategy”.

The strategy promotes higherdensity housing at major centres and along major transport corridors, supported by light rail, in order to reduce infrastructure servicing costs, travel times and the environmental footprint.

It aims to meet 70 per cent of ACT housing demand in existing areas.

Greenfield development is identified as primarily occurring in Molonglo and West Belconnen and, by default, in surrounding NSW (contrary to the aim of reducing sprawl).

The plan identifies upgrades of major roads to reduce travel times for people in Belconnen, Woden, Gungahlin and Tuggeranong and provides rapid corridors for public transport and private vehicles.

The strategy was determined without analysis of housing preferences, housing affordability, paid little attention to employment location (despite its major influence on transport demand), land revenue, regional impacts and failed to establish an appropriate balance between infill and greenfield development through an

assessment of relative environmental, social and infrastructure costs.

Furthermore, the government ignored assessments showing a busway would provide a similar level of benefit to light rail at half the cost for the Gungahlin to Civic part of the intertown public transport network.

It has failed to consider whether bus-based strategies are superior to light rail in providing sustainable and efficient transport in Canberra.

Possible strategies include increasing the frequency and coverage of the bus network; bus priority lanes and busways on their own right of way (which could be as effective as light rail in encouraging higher-density development along major transport routes).

Little consideration was given to the impact of improvements in electric bus technology or whether increased working from home could reduce the need for light rail.

Consequently, the priorities identified in the infrastructure plan are unlikely to best meet the needs of the community with funds not being used effectively. An urgent review of the infrastructure plan is needed to address the deficiencies identified above.

The escalation of construction costs from shortages of skilled workers and key materials also needs to be addressed in the review of the infrastructure plan.

The increased costs could mean the

benefits of projects to the community are no longer sufficient to justify their cost. The review would assess whether the projects are still viable, inform their timing and determine what projects represent the best use of the limited public funds available.

Concerns about infrastructure costs blow outs led the Victorian government to delay by up to four years construction of a rail link to Melbourne Airport.

In NSW the multibillion-dollar Beaches Link motorway has been put on hold indefinitely, the second stage of the Parramatta light rail delayed by about five years and the estimated cost of the Sydney Metro West has blown out by $12 billion to more than $25 billion. In response, the NSW premier initiated an independent review of transport infrastructure projects to ensure they stack up.

The sage advice of Marion Tyrell of the Grattan Institute should be followed: if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

The aim should be to deliver quality services at the lowest long-term cost to the community. As the government has stated, good planning is needed to see Canberra remains a most liveable city where residents have good access to services, facilities, affordable homes, high-quality public places and transport infrastructure. It’s time we had some.

CityNews October 19-25, 2023 13

LETTERS

Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au

Imagine, a politician stops blown-out rail plans IN 2009, the UK announced plans to develop a high-speed rail network at a cost of some 20 billion pounds.

In 2023, that cost is expected to be 100 billion pounds ($A193 billion) at completion.

This is a now familiar story; projections for the ACT light rail suggest a $3 billion cost figure, more than doubling the original projection of $1.3 billion in 2013.

UK Prime Minister Sunak has recently announced that the London-to-Manchester leg of the proposed network will not proceed due to the fact that the costs are draining the economy. Instead, he will put a large injection of funds towards other existing transport systems, and to the improvement of roads.

It is time for the ACT government to also reconsider its options.

Cancellation of Stage 2B, given the technical difficulties of the route and the likely cost blow-out, would allow for much needed extra funds for our hospitals, schools and roads.

The 11 kilometres from Civic to Woden could be serviced in a more cost effective way by fast and efficient electric buses or even the trackless trams being adopted by many other cities, such as Perth, WA. Sue Brudenall, Crace

Questions government needs to answer DR Douglas Mackenzie (Letters, CN October 5) mentions about the light rail that is a

to what may, or may not, happen – and why – by 2050. He indulges in pure speculation. With the oceans and atmosphere becoming ever hotter and chaotic (disordered in thermodynamic terms), no one can predict with any confidence what may happen in 27 years’ time. In any event, neither he nor I will be here to witness the results of humanity’s mismanagement of this once-beautiful planet.

Mr Smith is welcome to place his faith in Zed Seselja, but I seriously doubt that Mr Seselja’s most well-meaning efforts could have the slightest effect on this planet’s future.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Cartoon: Paul Dorin “disaster in the making”. The ACT Labor/ Greens government needs to answer these questions.

1. What will be the likely cost blow-outs?

2. How will they fit it across Commonwealth Avenue Bridge?

3. Hwow will they reconfigure and raise the intersections of State Circle and Commonwealth Avenue and Adelaide Avenue?

4. What would be the impacts of traffic during construction?

With the government forgetting about investing in essential services, maybe it’s for them to focus on other investments in the ACT such as fixing roads, hospitals, schools and more front-line police.

Anton Rusanov, via email

We won’t be here to witness the mess JOHN L Smith (Letters, CN October 4) takes me to task over my support for the judgement of Senator David Pocock who “has backed the left and other transient independents in an unwarranted rush into clean energy”.

If there is a “rush”, it most certainly is not “unwarranted”: all the most respected climate scientists, the secretary-general of the United Nations, NASA and America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have concluded that, having already passed important “tipping points”, there is no time to waste.

The remainder of Mr Smith’s letter refers

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Banana benders, all for one to the very end MY old journalism mate Rob Macklin (CN October 12) is, like me, a Queenslander who can’t help retaining a life-long affinity with our mutual birth-state.

We Hunters left our pineapple and banana farm in 1942 to escape the feared consequences of the 1942 “Brisbane line” (my eldest brother later convinced his children that the term banana-benders originated from his farm job which was to put a curve in otherwise straight bananas).

We grew up in Melbourne’s far-from-rural Footscray, where it was mandatory to follow the local VFL team, known simply as the Bulldogs. That, too, has become an eternal devotion, despite the Dogs winning only two premierships in almost a century. I still

live in hope, but I’m not sure who I’d barrack for in a grand final between the Western Bulldogs and the Brisbane Lions.

Actually, I tell a lie because the latter used to be the Fitzroy Lions, with whom the old Footscray Bulldogs shared a few seasons vying for the wooden spoon of the VFL ladder.

At heart, I’d always have to cheer on the red, white and blues. We all hated, though, the third working-class team, the Collingwood Magpies. Actually, that’s not quite true either. We loved Collingwood – when, on rare occasions, we thrashed them.

Whatever, and forever: “Carn the Dogs” – and Queensland.

Eric Hunter, Cook

Thank you, Mr Cornwall…

DAVID Jenkins and Trish O’Connor (CN October 5) criticise my concerns about dual English/Indigenous names across Australia without recognising how easily this occurs.

Like addressing me as Greg Cornwall.

Greg Cornwell, Yarralumla

…and to you, Mr Marris WELL might Greg Cornwell be weirdly exercised by his dual-naming as Cornwall by dual correspondents David Jenkins and Trish O’Connor (Letters CN October 5).

Frank Marris (or Morris), Barton Red-faced apology: I know Greg Cornwell, how I let the misspellings of his name through, I know not. But it spawned a couple of pithy letters. –Ed.

BRIEFLY Moment to remember THE 28th annual remembrance ceremony for those who have lost their lives to illicit drugs will be held at the dedicated memorial on Weston Park Road, Weston Park, Yarralumla, 12.30pm-1.30pm on October 23.

Speakers will be Christopher Gough, Johnathan Davis MLA and Rev Martin Johnson. More from 0497 532801 or email president@ffdlr.org.au

Street food treat THE Sri Lanka High Commission in Yarralumla is hosting a street food festival, 10am-2.30pm, on October 21.

Sri Lankan chefs working in Canberra will present authentic street food at food stalls that represent different communities in Sri Lanka.

Stromlo’s stars KARLIE Alinta Noon, a Kamilaroi astrophysicist, will be guest speaker at the Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast’s annual “Evening with the Stars” at Mount Stromlo Observatory, 6.15pm9pm on October 27. Tickets at $25 are available through Humanitix. Students are $10 and under 16s are free. A light supper is provided.

Event notices always welcome at editor@citynews.com.au

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NEWS FEATURE / endangered frogs

Frogs are in hot water from climate and other threats

By Tracey Ferrier in Brisbane

AUSTRALIA is at risk of losing 20 per cent of its frogs to climate change and other threats, and the global picture is even worse.

A landmark assessment has found 41 per cent of the world’s amphibians including frogs, toads and salamanders are at risk of extinction.

In Australia it’s only half that. Even so, one in five frog species could disappear from native ecosystems in coming years.

The analysis involved more than 1000 international scientists and follows an initial assessment in 2004, which alerted the world to the amphibian crisis.

James Cook University associate professor Conrad Hoskin contributed to the latest work and says there’s no doubt extinction is gaining pace.

Direct comparisons are difficult given the second assessment builds on the work of the first and 2286 of the 8011 species in the newest report were assessed for the first time.

But the trends are clear.

Over the past 20 years, more than 300 species have moved closer to extinction, into more highly threatened categories of a red list compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

And climate change is a key, emerging threat compounding the longer-standing menaces of habitat loss and disease.

In 1980 there were 23 documented amphibian extinctions around the world.

Another 10 were added by 2004 and four more last year, for a total of 37.

That might not sound a lot but the bar is high when it comes to proving a species has been lost.

Actual extinctions could be as many as 222, given there are another 185 species with no known surviving population.

Five Australian species are among the 37 declared gone forever, including Queensland’s northern and southern gastric-brooding frogs – extraordinary creatures that would swallow fertilised eggs to keep them safe before vomiting up live young when the time was right.

Australian species last spotted decades ago are also among the 185 whose exist-

Spending too much time in artificial light is confusing our bodies and making us unwell.

Photo: AP

Light exposure link to mental health

By Rachael Ward in Melbourne

One in five of Australia’s frog species could disappear in coming years. ence is in serious doubt.

Dr Hoskin believes they’re extinct and there’s little that can be done but there are many others that need urgent help, especially critically endangered frogs living on tropical mountain tops.

They used to be cool places of refuge but are rapidly warming. Every degree of extra heat forces frogs higher and soon there’ll be nowhere left to go.

The biologist says the mountain-top nursery frog epitomises the risk. It lives only on Mount Lewis, west of Port Douglas, in Queensland’s far north.

“It’s only found above 1200 metres elevation on a mountain that only goes to about 1350 metres. It’s just pinned right up on top of the highest ridge now.

“I would suggest it probably gets the grim title of the species most likely to become extinct from climate change in the next few years.”

With less than 1000 individuals left, no captive breeding program in place

and an increasing number of heatwaves affecting the region, his pessimism seems justified.

But he also says it’s not too late for that frog and others.

“Captive breeding for frogs can take a decade to sort out the methodology. We certainly need to be doing it now. In fact we needed it yesterday.”

Janice Chanson, who has helped coordinate the two amphibian assessments, says there’s still time for the federal government to meet its commitment to prevent new extinctions.

She warns another long-lasting drought might be enough to rob some endangered species of the streams they need to breed or bushfires could fill those streams with ash and that could be the nail in the coffin.

“Australia is very good at documenting extinctions and not necessarily doing anything to stop them,” she says.

–AAP

THERE’S fresh insight into the link between bright light and mental health with research revealing modern lifestyles are confusing our bodies and making us sick.

A study of almost 87,000 people published in peer-reviewed journal “Nature Mental Health” found being exposed to light at night increases a person’s risk of psychiatric disorders.

It increased the likelihood of depression by 30 per cent, while also driving up the likelihood of anxiety, bipolar, PTSD severity and self-harm.

In contrast, being exposed to bright light during the day decreased the risk of depression by 20 per cent.

The findings could have a major impact as people can take simple steps to help their wellbeing, according to the

study’s lead author Sean Cain from Monash University and the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health.

“Our findings were consistent when accounting for shiftwork, sleep, urban versus rural living and cardio-metabolic health,” he explained.

The study analysed information from 86,772 people who are part of the UK Biobank and the results were also consistent across demographics and seasons.

Human brains evolved to work best with bright lights during the day but modern lifestyles had affected that, Associate Prof Cain said.

“Humans today challenge this biology, spending around 90 per cent of the day indoors under electric lighting which is too dim during the day and too bright at night compared to natural light and dark cycles,” he said.

“It is confusing our bodies and making us unwell.”

–AAP

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Weddings

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It’s no easy task organising that very special day THERE are so many elements that go into making a wedding a dream come true.

The venue, the dress, the music, dancing, flowers, catering and more, it’s no easy task organising the special day.

Luckily, Canberra’s home to many experts who know how to bring dream weddings to life.

In this special feature “CityNews” has gathered insights to ensure every couple has their perfect day.

A lifetime of experienced perfection

Bringing joy through personal bouquets

HANNA Coady has been making dresses since she was a little girl, but her business, Studio Moda, was established in 2010.

“I have a lifetime of experience in creating wedding dresses, evening gowns, bridesmaids dresses,” she says.

“Everything is made to perfection. I began when I was a small child, in Poland, I was sewing by hand and developed my talents, and I still love it.”

She says Studio Moda has a big selection of wedding fabrics, but people are more than welcome to bring their own in, too.

“I love creating and designing, people are welcome to come in with their ideas and pictures and I’ll happily design it for them,” she says.

“We have lots of colours, it doesn’t have to be traditional white, and we have laces and silks.”

Hanna came to Australia 54 years ago, and says in ‘82 she set up her first shop in Civic.

“Now I have Studio Moda, and I love seeing the smile on people’s faces when they put their dress on and it just makes them speechless,” she says.

“It is just me here doing this work, so I know everything’s made to perfection, and what I’m doing is more than enough to make me happy and passionate.”

DAN Hines and Daniel Duvall, of Hyacinth Bouquets, are welcoming couples out for a consultation to suit a full range of wedding styles.

“We offer a personal service. We’re a small team so you know you will be dealing directly with the florist who will create your wedding flowers,” says Duvall.

“In a business setting I have been doing this work going on five years now, but much longer personally for family and friends.”

His husband, Dan Hines, explains Daniel was stood down from his job at Qantas Daniel Duvall, left, and Dan Hines. when COVID-19 hit.

“While trying to figure out ments that are individual and meaningful his next move, Daniel decided to follow his for every customer. passion in floristry,” says Hines.

“He is always honoured when asked by After studying floristry at CIT and launch- customers to contribute to life’s important ing the business online, Duvall opened his moments. Through the good times and shopfront in the old Bungendore post office the not-so-good times he hopes to provide in June, 2021. both joy and comfort through his work.”

“Since moving to Bungendore the local community have embraced us wholeheart- Hyacinth Bouquets, 53 Gibraltar Street, edly,” says Hines.

Bungendore. Call 0403 916058 or visit “Daniel takes pride in creating arrangehyacinthbouquets.com.au/weddings

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Weddings

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Dance routines that make a statement DALE’S Ballroom Dancing offers classes to help couples and bridal parties impress the audience on the big day, says owner Dale Harris.

“Couples can choose their song, and we can choreograph something to suit them, the music and their style,” she says.

“I have a private studio for teaching all types of dancing that people want to learn for the occasion.”

Dale has more than 20 years of experience teaching dance, having first started dancing herself at the age of six.

She’s since received many qualifications in ballroom dancing and is also a championship adjudicator who travels interstate to judge ballroom competitions.

From absolute beginners to those experienced in dancing, she says she can offer advice and techniques to help make that special dance one to remember.

“It’s always great to see messages come back through from people saying the dance was fabulous or that they had a ball,” she says.

“We have general classes on Wednesdays to practice so people can come and meet me first for a lesson if they like, or if they want to get in touch we can have a chat about what suits them.”

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Dale’s Ballroom owner Dale Harris, centre, with daughters Brooke and Grace.

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18 CityNews October 19-25, 2023

ANGELIC INSPIRATIONS

advertising feature

‘Bridal shopping… it’s the happiest and best thing that anyone can do.’

Here comes the bride’s happy dress experience ANGELIC Inspirations owner Julie Ross says finding the right wedding dress is about the bride’s experience.

“We are a small bridal boutique that loves to help women find the right dress for their special day, while providing a positive experience,” she says.

“Angelic Inspirations has been around now for about 30 years, but I took over nearly 11 years ago.

“I have contributed my own personal touch, which is a focus not so much on selling a dress, but giving people an experience.

“It’s about getting someone to actually love themselves sick in the gown, which can be a little bit difficult.

“There’s a lot of girls who actually dread coming bridal shopping for a number of reasons, but it comes with this predisposition that it’s the happiest and best thing that anyone can do.”

Julie says that’s why she loves working with these women, to build their confidence, so they look and feel good.

“When you see someone put on a gown and their face lights up in front of the mirror, that is really special.”

Julie knows Angelic Inspirations won’t have the perfect dress for everyone, but promises they will try their best.

“We understand that we’re not going to have every dress for every person, that’s virtually impossible, but again it’s about them still having a nice experience with us,” she says.

“We also make sure we’ve got a really good range of dresses, we don’t pigeonhole ourselves, because different people will obviously want different things and we have a range of really good suppliers who can help us with that.

“If people have a nice experience and walk away with an idea of what they’re looking for, that is absolutely not a bad thing, and we find those women always come back to us, whether it’s for bridesmaids dresses or mother of the bride.”

What makes Angelic Inspirations unique is their private fittings, says Julie.

“Our brides don’t ever have to share the fitting room space with anyone else, and I just think that’s really important,” she says.

“Particularly if you’ve got someone who is feeling a little less-than-confident about themselves. The last thing they need to be doing is comparing themselves to the next girl in the mirror.

“When our brides first arrive we offer them a glass of champagne, and nerves

disappear quite quickly when someone’s got a glass of champagne in their hands, even if they don’t drink it.

“We allocate a staff member to each bride so they will have a dedicated consultant for the duration of their fitting, and if they need to come back a second time we do our best to pair them up with the same consultant again to continue their rapport.

“When they do say yes to a dress, we have a few surprises for them but, of course, that will have to be kept secret, but it’s just about the personal, individual service.”

Julie says they have something exciting being introduced next year, too.

“It’s a VIP experience, after hours, where they bring a group of people and share some food and some champagne,” she says.

“These VIP appointments will be slightly longer than the normal appointments, running for an hour and a half rather than just the one hour, and there is a small fee that goes with these sessions, but that’s more to cover the catering.

“We are going to use the VIP sessions to see if there’s a want for this in the market.”

Having previously had no experience in the bridal industry, Julie says her decision to buy the business was something

of a mid-life crisis.

“This is actually where I bought my wedding dress, so I obviously knew it existed, but my background was in HR,” she says.

“I have two small children, so when it was time to go back after maternity leave I kind of just did a bit of a life reassessment and I thought I’ve always wanted to work for myself.

“I saw this business for sale and I thought it would be just so much fun, and fortunately I have a really supportive husband who said if I was going to give it a crack, it was now or never.

Since taking over the business, Julie says Angelic Inspirations has been successful.

“We’ve been Winner Bridal Accessories – Canberra, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains, Winner Bridal Gown Boutique – Canberra, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains, Winner Bridesmaids and Formal Wear – Canberra, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains, Top 10 Bridal Boutiques in Australia, and Top 5 Bridesmaids and Formal Wear Boutique in Australia,” she says.

Angelic Inspirations, Shop 1, Federation Square, Nicholls. Call 6230 2333, or visit angelicinspirations.com.au

“When you see someone put on a gown and their face lights up in front of the mirror, that is really special,” says Angelic Inspirations owner Julie Ross.

Say Yes to the Dress Established well over 20 years ago, Angelic Inspirations is one of the most experienced bridal shops in the Canberra Region.

It has a reputation for professional, personal service, providing individual attention in one of the most intimate and friendly boutique environments in the area.

2023 AWARDS

We are confident our brides to be will fall in love with our staff, service and amazing selection of wedding gowns available in store.

Winner Bridal Gown Boutique – Canberra, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains.

Winner Bridal Accessories – Canberra, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains.

Winner Bridesmaids and Formal Wear – Canberra, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains.

Top 10 Bridal Boutiques in Australia.

Top 5 Bridesmaids and Formal Wear Boutique in Australia.

Finalist – in the three categories for the 2023 Wedding Industry Awards, announced in January 2024.

SHOP 1, FEDERATION SQUARE (GOLD CREEK VILLAGE), O’HANLON PLACE NICHOLLS, ACT | (02) 6230 2333 | ANGELICINSPIRATIONS.COM.AU CityNews October 19-25, 2023 19

Weddings

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Helping everyone look great on that special day TOTAL Body Contouring’s owner Christy Christensen says their services are for everyone.

“Our services are not only for brides, we often treat grooms and guests to look great on that special day with family and friends,” she says.

“If you want to look good and feel great on your wedding day, call us today for a free consultation to learn about body toning, skin toning and skin tightening.

“The services include Cooltech fat freezing to slim down your areas of concern, ONDA to tighten the skin and reduce cellulite, and we also offer Ultraformer III, the most advanced non-invasive face lighting, tightening and contouring available.”

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building body confidence without surgery.

“We give a personalised experience and journey, everyone is different,” she says.

“Don’t wait until the last minute, you need to start treatment up to three months out for some treatments.”

Christy says as a team, satisfaction comes from the amazing results achieved through the Total Body Contouring services.

“But, most of all, it’s the smile on our clients’ faces when they see the results for themselves,” she says.

Total Body Contouring, Shop 3/22 Franklin Street, Griffith. Call 6239 7347, or visit totalbodycontouring.com.au

A memorable location to suit any style TO suit decor visions both simple and grand, the Royal Hotel Queanbeyan offers a setting to suit all styles, says events manager Bianca Paquay.

She says the venue has the “unique and memorable” collaboration of contemporary comforts and amenities, integrated with the historic architecture of the original Royal’s ‘20s brick walls.

“The Royal has a picturesque background at every turn, which is a photographer’s dream,” she says.

“The most rewarding part is seeing the couples getting ready in the morning onsite before the ceremony, hearts

in a flutter in nervous anticipation; and then returning later to our reception venue with the biggest smiles on their faces – ready to start the party as newlyweds.”

She says the main room is accentuated with gold curtains, and complemented by the Japanese maple trees in the beautiful atrium that overflows into an open terrace courtyard that allows an abundance of natural light in to create the perfect ambiance for the event.

Royal Hotel Queanbeyan, 85 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan.

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totalbodycontouring.com.au 20 CityNews October 19-25, 2023

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Steeped in history, RHQ’s Upper House rooftop venue boasts a collaboration of contemporary comforts with the original architecture of the building. All event spaces are complemented by the Atrium and the outdoor Terrace Courtyard, with their Japanese maple trees and an abundance of natural light.

With a venue that can hold up to 120 guests for a reception dinner, every turn provides a picturesque background making it the perfect spot for such a special day. The Royal offers you an unforgettable experience which will be cherished for many years to come.

ROYALHOTELQBN.COM.AU | functions@royalhotelqbn.com.au | 02 6297 1444

Weddings Working for a stress-free, vintage love VINTAGE Events Hire was established in 2016 by its previous owners, responding to the challenges they faced in being unable to find the rustic style of items they wanted for their own wedding, says managing director Anne Simper.

Anne and Nic Simper bought the business in April 2021.

“We offer the three things you want when planning your wedding: beautiful, memorable and affordable,” she says.

“We offer a complete wedding range. Arbours and bench seating for the ceremony, wine barrels and stools for cocktail hour, not to mention lawn games to keep guests entertained.”

Anne says they also have a selection of decor

Lolly Swagman owner Ian Richardson.

Wedding favours and place markers in one LOLLY Swagman has explored tastes new and old, in the heart of the Southern Highlands, for nearly three decades, says owner Ian Richardson.

“We have arrangements with a boutique specialty chocolate maker in Melbourne that offers a customdesigned range of chocolates for weddings and other special events,” he says.

“The people we’ve looked after love it because they can do minimum customisation or add what they like, and can find colours to match their wedding theme,” he says.

“It is a way of adding something special without the fuss and bother, and it’s budget conscious.

“But, if chocolate is not your thing we have plenty of alternative options. We are just more than happy to help find what will best suit you and represent you.”

Ian says he used the specialty chocolates in his own wedding.

“The chocolate can be used as both wedding favours and place markers, they do a double duty,” he says.

“We can supply anything in bulk or put them in cute little bags, and we’re happy to offer delivery to Canberra, too.”

Lolly Swagman, 11 Old Hume Highway, Berrima.

Call 4877 1137, or visit lollyswagman.com.au

LOLLY SWAGMAN Bringing Happiness since 1991 Celebrate a Special Event like weddings, engagements, significant birthdays, baptisms & company conferences with a custom-made chocolate bar for you, your guests, and as thank yous for the helpers who make it all a success.

We have a selection of wrapper designs with over 6 dozen schemes & as many colours to help you choose, or we can work with you to create your own designs.

Lolly Swagman can also customise Bonbonniere from our enormous selection of sweets, lollies and chocolate.

Open Monday to Friday 9:30-4:00 Weekends & Public Holidays 9:30-5:00 mrs.swag@lollyswagman.com.au www.lollyswagman.com.au 22 CityNews October 19-25, 2023

11 Old Hume Highway Berrima 02 4877 1137

items available to accent both ceremony and reception.

“I am currently studying for my Wedding Planning and Styling Certification, and we look forward to being able to add planning services and styling solutions in the near future,” she says.

“Planning a wedding can be a stressful time in a couple’s lives and we are honoured to be able to assist wherever we can.

“We are doing a job we love, working with customers we love every day, all while creating a legacy for those that we love.”

Vintage Events Hire, Camden Street, Wingello, NSW. Call 0418 567937, or visit vintageevents.com.au

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Vintage Events Hire www.vintageevents.com.au

0418 567 937

Sinead Woods, left, Venetia Major and Bernadette Ticehurst of Venetia Major Bespoke Jewellery.

Adoration for special, custom pieces VENETIA Major says she is a qualified jeweller of 16 years, who established her business, Venetia Major, two years ago.

“I love interacting with people in different ways, especially with custom works,” she says.

“Ninety per cent of my work is custom, everything from a wedding ring to a custom pet memorial pendant.

“My work really has an impact on people, it really helps them.”

Venetia says she also does earrings, necklaces, cufflinks and brooches.

“I especially like creating technically challenging pieces, moving parts are always fun,” she says.

“I have a lot of older lady clients with arthritis, so I

make rings with hinges that make it easier for them to put on and take off again.

“Engagement rings are fun and special, too. I love being very careful with surprises, too.”

She says she didn’t realise she could be a jeweller for quite a long time.

“I saw my grandmother get her 30 to 40-year-old ring remodelled, and I just adored watching the jeweller sketch up and modernise the design,” says Venetia.

“Then I saw I could be a jeweller in a careers catalogue in high school, and here I am.”

Venetia Major, 3/8 Victoria Street, Hall.

Call 6230 9587, or visit venetiamajor.com.au

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venetiamajor.com.au CityNews October 19-25, 2023 23

ALL AROUND HALL

Escape the city life in peaceful and historic Hall A perfect opportunity to create

BETWEEN wide, open country and the bustle of Canberra, historic Hall offers a serene escape from city life.

Sitting on the banks of the Hall Creek, the village, initially called Ginninderra in 1882, was renamed in honour of the town’s first landowner, Henry Hall, following protests from local residents.

While Canberra has grown and expanded to become a modern city, Hall has kept its rural character and is home to some of Canberra’s oldest history.

The small town has a population of about 298 people, according to the 2021 Census, and continues to be labelled as a rural getaway from the city, with plenty to do and a variety of passionate businesses to visit.

Nick O’Leary.

Elegance and sophistication in wine NICK O’Leary Wines has opened Canberra’s newest cellar door and restaurant, says owner Nick O’Leary.

“Located in Wallaroo, this exquisite establishment – Heywood – promises to offer a captivating experience for wine enthusiasts and gastronomy aficionados alike,” he says.

“We have been making wine for 17 years and we really wanted to create a home for Nick O’Leary Wines, a home that we can share with our customers.

“We wanted people to be able to come and see where we grow and make the wine and to be able to share what we think is a pretty special place.”

Nick says each wine is introduced with insights into its origin, winemaking techniques and unique characteristics.

“Participants are encouraged to engage their

senses, examining the colour, appreciating the aromas, and savouring the flavours on their palates. The intimate setting allows for open discussion, questions and a deeper exploration of the wines’ nuances,” he says.

“Designed with elegance and sophistication in mind, Heywood embodies the spirit of the region, blending modern aesthetics with warm and inviting ambiance.

“The building itself was a pre-existing house on the property, and when you drive over the hill and see the sweeping views of the Brindabellas, Surveyors Hill, the vines, and the rolling hills you feel a sense of being unplugged from it all and in a place where you can truly relax and unwind.”

VENETIA Major says her bespoke jewellery business joined the Hall community during COVID-19.

“Hall is such a beautiful location, the shop just popped up at the right time,” she says.

“The community is very friendly and welcoming.

“When I stopped looking, this space became available, and I just thought it was a perfect opportunity.”

She says COVID-19 saw a boom in custom-made jewellery.

“It meant I was able to keep working during the pandemic, and I was kept busy,” she says.

“People wanted something special to hold on to and ever since, the business has continued to go really well.”

Venetia says she also offers silversmithing classes.

“The classes run twice a week and are designed for everyone, from the complete beginner to the experienced student,” she says.

While engaging with customers, Venetia says her reassuring phrase is “the more you say no, the better it gets”.

“Through an iterative process of feedback and refinement, we collaboratively breathe life into a fresh, captivating design.”

“And, I also feature the work of nine independent jewellers in the front of my shop.”

Venetia Major, 3/8 Victoria Street, Hall. Call 6230 9587, or visit venetiamajor.com.au

Nick O’Leary Winery, Heywood, 149 Brooklands Road, Wallaroo. Call 0480 510595, or visit nickolearywines.com.au

Indulge yourself this Spring at one of the Canberra region’s premier wineries!

Heywood restaurant & cellar door opening times (daylight savings) Thursday 11am-5pm Fri & Sat 11am-7pm Sunday 11am-5pm Mon to Wed – Closed

‘The brightness of the fruit flavours of his wines are the key’.

– James Halliday ‘Nick O’Leary is one of a tight pack of young Canberra District winemakers that have pushed the region into the national spotlight’.

– Peter Bourne Scan to book Heywood and view our range of wines

nickolearywines.com.au call 0480 510 595 149 Brooklands Road, Wallaroo, NSW

24 CityNews October 19-25, 2023

advertising feature 150 years of community and real estate FOR more than 150 years, the Southwell family and Hall Village have shared a unique and enduring relationship, says Ray White property marketing specialist George Southwell.

As a sixth-generation Southwell in Hall, George says he offers unparalleled knowledge of the local community and its people.

“Living in Hall is like stepping back in time, where a tight-knit community thrives in a rural haven just a stone’s throw from the city,” he says.

“Hall’s charm lies in its history, where memories of sheepdog trials, country fairs, and the timeless beauty of old clay tennis courts still resound.”

George says this deep connection to the community is a source of pride for him and his Ray White Rural Canberra, Yass and Murrumbateman team.

“The Southwell family is actively engaged in the Hall

At our studio we: • Repair & Remodel jewellery • Design & make beautiful custom pieces • Teach silversmithing classes

village, and I am proud to serve the region as part of the Springfield Rural Fire Brigade,” says George.

“While Hall is part of Canberra, it’s more of a small country town than a suburb.

“It’s where city workers can live a quiet rural life in a welcoming community that knows your name.”

For those seeking the best property outcomes in Hall Village, George says he and his dedicated team are ready to assist with sales and asset management.

“Our experience, expertise, and commitment to the local community make us trusted partners in the real estate market.”

Ray White Rural Canberra / Yass / Murrumbateman, 151 Comur Street, Yass. Call 6226 4400, or visit raywhiteruralyasscanberra.com.au

Give new life to your old jewellery!

George Southwell.

Expanding health services for locals AFTER such a thrilling welcome, and having now settled in Hall, Dr Wilson Lo, of Bruce Sports Medicine, says he is looking forward to growing his practice.

“We are thrilled to be accepted so well in the local community since we moved here in May,” he says.

“It’s been so wonderful to have so many locals from Hall and surrounding regions, such as Gungahlin, Springrange, Murrumbatemen and Yass, come and use our services.”

Wilson says due to the demand for its services, Bruce Sports Medicine is undergoing renovations to help it expand.

“We are starting an extra exercise physiologist soon, and also our acupunctur-

ist Claire Shen will start in November,” he says.

“But, what the locals are really asking for are general practitioners.

“We’re setting up some new offices and are undergoing general practice accreditation now, so that Hall can once again have GPs. “They will be well supported with so many allied health services, plus practice nurses, so please if there are any GPs interested in working here we’d love to hear from you.”

Visit our gallery 3/8 Victoria St, Hall, ACT Only 18 minutes from the city

02 6230 9587

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Bruce Sports Medicine, 9 Victoria Street, Hall. Call 6253 5386, or visit brucesportsmedicine.com.au

CANBERRA’S OWN MULTIDISCIPLINARY SPORTS MEDICINE PRACTICE You are all welcome to visit our expanded practice with a custom made rehab gym in a peaceful place of healing.

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SCAN FOR MORE INFO CityNews October 19-25, 2023 25

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GARDENING

Chooks bring value to a backyard KEEPING backyard chickens is an economical and sustainable way of having eggs, compost and, most of all, company in the garden.

Chickens come with their own personality and are useful in turning soil over, eating weeds and foraging for insects. Although it’s not recommended to have male chickens (roosters) due to their loud crowing at dawn.

Roosters are not required for egg production, so keeping only hens is the best option.

There are many suitable breeds for our climate. The best egg layer for me has been the ISA Brown. It lays around 260-300 eggs a year, but only for about three to four years.

They are generally short-lived.

The ISA (Institut de Selection Animale) is a French hybrid breed developed for optimum egg production and a terrific all-rounder to have in the coop.

Bantams can be a great addition, too, for anyone with children. The birds need less space, eat less and

PLUMBING

are easier to handle. Their eggs are smaller, too.

Chickens need the night protection of a secure cage from predators such as ferrets and foxes. They can be left to roam during the day.

They’re a simple pet that needs a dry space, straw or shredded paper for bedding and fresh, clean water.

A TOUGH, old-fashioned plant that grows in a shady garden in Canberra is the “Gold Dust Plant” or “Spotted Laurel” (Aucuba japonica Variegata). Roosters… not required for egg production so keeping hens only is Photos: Jackie Warburton The “Spotted Laurel” is grown for its the best option. striking foliage – dense growth habit have attractive berries right through done in the next month to allow and its leathery glossy leaves. While it winter. time for them to put on new growth can be a feature in a shady garden, it They will need to be watered for before the summer heat sets in. must be protected from the summer the first few months, but once their Pruning to have the bottom of sun to prevent leaves from scorching roots are down, they’re drought the hedge slightly wider than the and turning black. hardy and grow well under the top will result in a better-looking They are dioecious plants, which eaves or in shade. hedge and let the light into the means there are male and female It’s a long-lived and reasonably centre of the bush to thicken it and plants. If both are planted together, fast-growing plant that can be used promote new growth. the females will produce beautiful as an informal hedge.

Some hedges will have some red berries that live on the bush for pest and disease issues that can be many months through winter.

HEDGE maintenance will be at seen now. Cleaning old leaves from There is a low-maintenance culti- its busiest in the next month or underneath hedges and keeping var called “Rozannie” that’s available so. Hedges will need pruning after the water up to them along with with male and female parts on every the spring growth and the heat of fertilisers will get them through the flower. It’s guaranteed to flower and summer sets in. warmer months.

Any large, hard pruning of evergreen hedges needs to be jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

INSIDE

‘The worst smell in the world is dead badger’

ANNA CREER

How much suspicion can a relationship take?

By Helen

MUSA IT’S an open question as to whether theatre director Cate Clelland would’ve been helped if she’d seen the film “Lantana” before embarking on directing Andrew Bovell’s play “Speaking in Tongues”, on which the movie was based.

As it is, she hasn’t, but she might do, even though she suspects “it probably won’t make much difference”.

She’s heard that the film, starring Anthony LaPaglia and Kerry Armstrong, is more chronological and more naturalistic, with the narrative a bit clearer in the film, but then again the play, she says, is deliberately a puzzle.

In it, a woman disappears, but we never find out what happened to her, so it’s not a detective story and the nine different characters are played by four actors.

Interconnected by infidelity, in the first part, two couples accidentally swap partners on one-night stands, one of which is a bit more serious than the other.

We learn that a woman has gone missing and that a neighbour has been seen throw-

“Speaking in Tongues” cast members, from left, Arran McKenna, Steph Roberts, Jess Waterhouse and Robbie Haltiner.

Photo: Eva Schroeder ing a high-heeled shoe into a tip, making him the prime suspect – “Lantana” fans will remember that bit.

The second part of the play involves more characters who are interconnected with those in the first and then at the end of the play the mystery is solved – sort of.

Clelland and her team have been having a mighty time of it working out what’s going on and when, as the stage play shifts between characters and relationships in a series of multiple narratives.

Arran McKenna plays Leon, one of two

couples, and Nick. Steph Roberts plays Sonja and Sarah, Robbie Haltiner plays Pete, Neil and John with Jess Waterhouse as Jane and Valerie. There’s also a lone policeman. Each person’s story gets mixed up with others and John becomes a person of suspicion because he’s seen with mud and blood, although that’s explained.

As they say in showbiz, you’ll just have to be there to see what it’s about.

Clelland, one of Canberra’s most seasoned directors, is staging the play for Free Rain Theatre and has been busy finding the heart

and humanity in what is essentially a piece about relationships.

As well, Bovell’s play poses moral and philosophical questions that would have challenged the mind of St Paul, such as whether, if you intend to cheat, is that the same as actually doing it?

“Because of this complexity, the whole thing has been very collaborative,” she says.

“The last few plays I’ve directed have had around about 17 people in them, so it’s lovely to work with just four people – a bit of a joy for me.”

The play, she explains, is really a series of themes and variations, perhaps like a fugue in music.

Part I, she says, is not actually about relationships but more just a couple of stories, but in Part II it becomes more complex and in Part III one of the characters from Part I comes back. Everybody becomes part of someone else’s story and the doubling makes it all the more complicated.

But Clelland is working with a top cast of Canberra actors who bring it to life.

In the end, she says, “Speaking in Tongues” is about love and loss, with parallels all over the place and a mystery at the centre.

“It’s not terribly pessimistic,” Clelland says.

“But you could hardly say it’s a happy ending, even though one couple stays together.”

The play, she says, is very clever, full of storytelling and speeches, which would make good audition monologues, so it’s a gift to actors who like to flex their artistic muscles.

The cast input extends to the minimalist set, which they are “kind of building as they go... we can’t do a realistic set because of all of the time-shifts so we’re building it out of boxes that seem to work very well.”

In the end, she says, the play asks what is a happy relationship and how much suspicion can it take?

“Speaking in Tongues,” ACT Hub, Kingston, October 25-November 4.

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CityNews October 19-25, 2023 27

STREAMING

Netflix tipped to be driving up prices yet again NETFLIX could soon be hiking up their subscription prices yet again.

A report published in “The Wall Street Journal” says the streaming giant has plans to lift its fees a few months after the end of the Hollywood writers’ strike.

It comes on the back of a slew of price hikes in the last few years, October 2017, January 2019, October 2020 and January 2022 to name them.

Earlier this year the platform also sparked outrage when it cracked down on password sharing.

Subscribers were made to dish out an additional eight bucks a month if they wanted to share their account with someone from another household.

Still reeling from that controversy, it’s unsurprising that news of Netflix asking users to open their wallets yet again has been met with uproar.

“If they raise the prices again, I swear I’m gonna cancel my subscription,” said one Twitter user. Sorry – “X” user.

“I guess I’m gonna binge watch the rest of the new ‘One Piece’ and then cancel, it’s the only reason I have it at this point,” said another.

“Goodbye”, tweeted a third.

Netflix’s cheapest plan without ads is currently $15.49 a month, whereas if users are willing to put up with commercials they can pay $6.99 a month.

The new price is reportedly going to affect the ad-free option.

Millie Bobby Brown could be reacting to the news of an imminent rise in Netflix fees, but she’s not. It’s a scene from the platform’s “Stranger Things” blockbuster.

At this stage it’s unclear how much the cost will be, but if previous price hikes are anything to go by we could see the subscription price approach the $20-a-month mark.

That’s a far cry from 10 years ago when the platform first launched and would only set subscribers back eight dollars a month.

With the cost of living skyrocketing, paying close to $20 for Netflix will be asking a little too much for many subscribers, especially with also paying for several other streaming subscriptions such as Disney Plus,

Binge and Spotify.

So why is Netflix raising their fees yet again?

While the streaming platform has remained quiet since the news broke, it can be speculated that it will be in response to the Hollywood writers’ strike which has just wrapped up.

For 148 days thousands of writers for popular movies and television walked off the job, days demanding they be paid more and it now looks like they’ve got their wish.

“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” the Writers Guild of America told those striking in an email.

While the outcome seems like a big win for writers, it may be a loss for streaming

subscribers with the cost of those pay rises potentially passed on to the people who watch the shows.

It’s likely Netflix has decided to wait a few months before lifting the fees to create as much distance as possible from their controversial password sharing changes.

The platform is also seeing a slower upload of content due to the strike, with production of movies and television shows coming to a grinding halt.

That means delays for some of Netflix’s flagship shows, such as the hugely anticipated fifth and final season of “Stranger Things” as well as “Cobra Kai”, “Emily In Paris”, “Big Mouth” and “Outer Banks” just to name a few.

With less content hitting the platform, a price rise now would likely even further frustrate subscribers. It would seem the platform is waiting for production to kick back into gear when the writers return before breaking the bad news themselves.

It will be interesting to see how Netflix’s subscriber base reacts to the price hike if and probably when it happens.

One X user amusingly observed: “Blockbuster this is your time to come back.”

Stranger things, indeed.

ARTS IN THE CITY

‘Carmen’ gets a taste of cabaret CABARET team Eliane Morel and Daryl Wallis are bringing a reframing of Bizet’s “Carmen” to town for one night only. Canberra-raised Morel is a graduate of the Canberra School of Music and a principal mezzo with Sydney company Opera Bites, which aims at democratising opera. She thought up the 90-minute cabaret about Carmen after performing the role. “Carmen, the Cabaret” Smith’s Alternative, October 28.

BRITISH composer Will Todd’s “Mass in Blue”, a jazz setting of the Latin Mass, for choir, soprano soloist and jazz trio, will be performed by the Llewellyn Choir, joined by a jazz combo and soloist Sonia Anfiloff. Yarralumla Uniting Church, October 28.

QUEENSLAND Ballet is bringing Liam Scarlett’s version of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to Canberra Theatre, October 25-28. Apparently, it’s the first Australian ballet company to perform there since 2019.

Queensland Ballet’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”... Canberra Theatre, October 25-28..

ANU lecturer and flautist Sally Walker has released a new album, on UK Avie Records, of favourite works for flute and harp culminating from decades of collaborations in the genre with AmericanAustralian harpist Emily Granger.

The album, “Something Like This” includes premieres of many Australian pieces written for the pair, including works by Canberra composers Sally Greenaway and Christopher Sainsbury.

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28 CityNews October 19-25, 2023

Foucault-Larche will perform French popular music “Piaf and Aznavour – Back in Time”. The Street Theatre, October 22.

HACKETT’S 60th birthday party is being celebrated with the “Squares” art show at St Margaret’s & Holy Cross Church, corner of Antill Street and Phillip Avenue, October 27-29, and a big birthday complete with dancing, cake and bands in the church grounds, October 28.

LUMINESCENCE Chamber Singers’ last subscription concert of 2023 will be “As a Flower Unfurls”, songs about spring and changing seasons. All Saints Anglican Church, Ainslie, October 22.

BOOKS / reviews

Author Mick Herron… considered the shrewdest satirical commentator in Britain today. Photo: M Buck

Author Tim Ayliffe… “everything I write has happened, will happen or could happen.”

‘The worst smell in the world is dead badger’ BRITISH writer Mick Herron is hailed by many as John le Carre’s successor and by others as the new Anthony Trollope, considering him the shrewdest satirical commentator in Britain today.

Herron is currently riding a well-deserved wave of success. Already two of his Slough House spy stories are Apple TV series, with a talented cast including Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas.

Herron’s spies are MI5 failures, the Slow Horses, condemned forever to repetitive tasks of “unfulfilment” and boredom in Slough House, “to look back in disappointment and stare round in dismay” as they live out the aftermath of their professional errors.

There are eight Slough House thrillers, but Herron’s latest, “The Secret Hours”, breaks with his established pattern because it’s a prequel, an origin story of some of his most memorable characters.

“The Secret Hours” begins with both a remarkable first sentence, “The worst smell in the world is dead badger” and a tense remorseless pursuit of a retired spook, Max Janacek, through the Devon countryside.

Only at the end does the reader understand why.

Meanwhile in Whitehall, the outgoing prime minister in a fit of pique has decided to take his revenge on the Park (the headquarters of the intelligence service) for cramping his style when foreign secretary, by instigating an inquiry called Monochrome. Herron doesn’t name the prime minister but, as he had taken a minibreak at Peppa Pig World, he doesn’t need to.

Junior officers at the Park believed at the time that in “any contest between its top banana called First Desk (the formidable Diana Taverner) and the PM, it was the latter who’d be queuing at the dentist’s afterwards, carrying his teeth in a sodden handkerchief”.

Two years into their inquiry, the Monochrome committee has investigated little because they don’t have access to the Park’s archives.

Their remit states that they have to request specific files. First Desk tells her assistant: ”We keep records for our own devices, not to provide a ready-made history for anyone who comes looking.

“Between the work names and the coded locations this Mononchrome outfit’ll be lucky to piece together who did the coffee run yesterday, let alone who shagged who in a safe house in 1987”.

Then one day, the Otis File mysteriously appears in the shopping trolley of Malcolm Kyle, deputy chair of Monochrome. The file

documents an operation in a recently reunified Berlin in 1994 and suddenly the committee has something to investigate and a star witness voluntarily giving evidence.

“The Secret Hours” is marketed as a standalone novel but, to understand all the nuances, you should go back to the beginning of Herron’s remarkable ongoing story and “Slow Horses”. You won’t regret it.

“KILLER Traitor Spy” is Australian Tim Ayliffe’s fourth thriller featuring investigative journalist, John Bailey.

Ayliffe, a journalist himself for more than 20 years, is the managing editor of Television and Video for ABC News. He has said that he created John Bailey’s world “so that I can explore real-world issues in a way that readers can be informed and entertained”, claiming that “everything I write has happened, will happen or could happen”.

This approach to his plot-driven thrillers has resulted in considerable success, including plans for a TV series

by CJZ productions, Australia’s largest independently owned production company.

“Killer Traitor Spy”, which explores known aspects of Russia’s covert attacks on the west, begins with an attempt on the life of a Russian expat, Dimityry Lebedev, resulting in the poisoning of a sex-worker, Scarlett Merriman, with a Soviet nerve agent.

Lebedev had been negotiating to disclose information about a major intelligence breach in Canberra but now he’s disappeared.

The next day, Lebedev’s closest friend and Kremlin critic, Mikhail Volkov, dies suddenly of a heart attack while jogging and another, Leonid Oblonsky, is found murdered in Hyde Park.

Bailey is a friend of Scarlett and begins questioning how and why she was poisoned but it’s a call for help from a CIA agent, Ronnie Johnson, that leads his investigation into dangerous territory. Johnson tells him: “We’re not that different, y’know. Intelligence officers and journalists. We both chase the truth. Investigate.

We just do things… differently”.

Their investigation inevitably brings them to Canberra in search of a traitor hidden within the government, resulting in a violent confrontation in the leafy, quiet suburb of Yarralumla.

Tense and action packed, “Killer Traitor Spy” is a timely reminder of the danger of traitors hiding in plain sight.

CityNews October 19-25, 2023 29

DINING / Queenies, Kingston

New owner, new menu, Queenies turns on charm I’M still dreaming about the beetroot carpaccio I had recently at Queenies. It looked divine on the plate, was perfectly executed and an innovative dish through and through ($19.50).

A group of us headed to Queenies for dinner, having booked the small, private dining area available and knowing that the place has a new owner who has taken charge of making delightful improvements.

That includes a new menu with every dish gluten free (no compromise on presentation or taste) and many featuring Australian native elements.

One small plate we shared, and all loved, was the super tender but crispy squid with a bowl of creamy tartar sauce and slices of chilli for extra pizzazz ($22.50).

From the same part of the menu arrived the tasty Bangkok fried chicken that we eagerly dipped into yummy Somtum syrup ($26.50).

Queenies really nails it with its miso eggplant, accompanied by macadamia crumb ($28.50). The texture is wonderful and showcases the kitchen’s flair with plating.

Beetroot carpaccio.

Photo: Wendy Johnson Crispy squid.

The team in the kitchen elevate the tender (oh, so tender) pressed pork belly to another level with fennel Jangajji (Korean veggie pickles) and a quenelle of smooth horseradish cream, superbly balanced ($29.50).

The duck breast was beautifully spiced and married well with a dynamic orange gel, endive and currants ($36.50). Some pieces were slightly chewy and just a wee bit dry.

A side dish we adored was the grilled cos lettuce ($15.50), perked up with Australian mountain pepper and a quenelle of miso butter. Pepitas scattered on the dish added an adorable crunch.

Queenies is devoted to supporting local wine producers and has created a list with some of the best the Canberra region offers, including from Lark Hill, Mount Majura,

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Photo: Wendy Johnson Gallagher, Long Rail Gully and Contentious Character. All wines are $15 by the glass and $70 by the bottle.

Queenies has smartened up its outdoor

area, making it inviting and comfy. Fairy lights add sparkle. Inside features some new chairs, a better configuration of furniture all round, a bit of desirable de-cluttering and other noticeable refinements. Well done.

Service is with personality and smiles all round although some refinements would be welcome.

We ordered a fair number of dishes, but they began to come out far too quickly, which meant some hot dishes had cooled before we got to them. We love to share, and specified that’s what we would be doing.

Queenies needs to sharpen up on providing the right type of serving utensils (it’s hard to cut a piece of pork belly with tongs) and provide them as dishes are served. And, although it was a packed-out night, which is great to see, finished dishes need to be removed more promptly.

WINE

In praise of Australian wine I WANDERED into the Book Cow in Kingston and saw that a new Australian wine book was selling for $79.99: “How to Drink Australian” by Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross.

This book is a worthy successor to James Halliday’s “Wine Atlas of Australia”. I have the 2014 edition of this Halliday book, which I believe is the last edition published, and was then and remain impressed with the analysis of every wine region in Australia, especially as there are more than 70.

Halliday covered the types of grapes grown, the soil, the climate, the winegrowing history, as well as introducing wineries, winemakers and their signature wines.

This new book follows a similar format, with the book divided into six sections, state by state with the Canberra District included in the NSW section. Each regional chapter and state introduction has information on First Nations history and the authors are clear in their view that “Australia has a long way to go to facilitate a justiceoriented future for its indigenous communities.”

This position is given emphasis throughout the book. The links between Aboriginal land and the land on which grapes are grown and wine produced are explored in each chapter.

The book is enhanced by having a detailed map created by cartographer Martin von Wyss for each regional area. The maps locate vineyards and producers, although they are not definitive with, for example, omissions of Four Winds, Dionysus and Sapling Yard from the map encompassing the Canberra District.

The main authors are expatriate sommeliers who live in the US where they run a wine-importing business focusing on Australian wine. Their aim in writing the book is to demonstrate, as well expressed in the short conclusion, that “Australia is a widely diverse and high-quality wine-growing nation, worthy of every bit of scholarship, regional distinction and premium price points bestowed upon the great wine regions of the world.” That aim is achieved with

the bonus that the writing is accessible and absent any obfuscating jargon.

The focus on the Canberra District is interesting with a number of comments from Tim Kirk, of Clonakilla, and Ken Helm, of Helm Wines, framing the discussion, particularly of the regional identity for fine wines and the impediments to further growth.

This latter topic is intriguing, with an exploration of hindrance to growth. The two main factors that constrain the further growth of southern NSW and Canberra District wine production are the high cost of land and access to water.

Water shortages are expressed to be linked to climate change and there is the mention of “research” that shows a means to solve the district’s water problems.

The authors say that the main focus of this research is “a pipeline that brings the city of Canberra’s grey water 30 kilometres north to Murrumbateman”. I couldn’t find any details of this research (Google!) but I found that in May 2021 there was the completion of a 17.9-kilometre water pipeline in Murrumbateman and Yass, costing $14.3 million (from what source was omitted from the piece). The issue of water remains contentious and the discussion in the book is obviously stimulating.

Detailed comments about producers are accompanied by profile labels with Brian Martin, of Ravensworth, for example, being given a sticker for being a member of the “new guard” who have parted from traditional norms; a regional stalwart whose wines have helped define the region and as having a cult following. I’m not sure that these labels are necessary or helpful but considered against the overall depth of the book’s content that seems to be carping.

The book is a useful addition to knowledge of Australian wine and I recommend it as a helpful resource.

What do you get when you cross Google with a pig? Spam.

HOROSCOPE Your week in the stars

By Joanne Madeline Moore

PUZZLES General knowledge crossword No. 903

23-29 October, 2023

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ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

- RE-UPHOLSTERY & REPAIRS - FABRIC PROTECTION - WALL UPHOLSTERY BESPOKE - CHAIRS MANUFACTU RING - OTTOMANS SERVICE - SOFAS - BED HEADS

Finances, joint ventures, secret deals and trust issues are on the table this week.

Saturday night’s Lunar Eclipse highlights hiccups involving self-esteem and/or financial management. Strive to be less impulsive and extravagant, and more cautious with cash and credit. Don’t spoil a potentially productive week by being physically reckless or making inappropriate comments. Slow down, think before you speak and consult with loved ones along the way.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

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This week the Lunar Eclipse (in your sign) emphasizes your practical side. So do your best to handle current situations in a suitably sensible and pragmatic fashion.

When it comes to a romance, work partnership or joint venture, avoid getting stuck in a boring rut. Six planets push you to find creative ways to express yourself personally and within relationships. But don’t believe everything you hear! Keep your 'bulldust detector' switched onto high.

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GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

With the help of the Lunar Eclipse, use the power of your fertile imagination and trusty intuition to get to the bottom of a problem that’s been bothering you. If you listen to the wisdom of your inner voice (and pay attention to the symbolism in your dreams) it will point you in the right direction. You’re also keen to work constructively with a colleague or communicate creatively with a friend. But don’t get carried away and promise more than you can deliver.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

The silvery, ever-changeable Moon is your power planet, and many sensitive Crabs feel emotionally volatile and vulnerable around the time of the Full Moon.

Saturday night’s Lunar Eclipse is in earthy Taurus, so you’ll probably feel more grounded (and less moody) than usual. But you still need to be extra careful and consistent in the way you communicate with other people (especially children, teenagers, work colleagues and close friends).

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

It’s one of the most productive weeks of the year as Saturn (planet of discipline and patience) links up with the Sun (your power planet). Relationships with family members should improve, as long as you take a cautious and responsible approach. Catching up with delayed chores and long-overdue DIY projects in your Lion’s den is especially favoured. The more positive and proactive you are about home sweet home, the better you’ll feel.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

The Sun, Mercury and Mars encourage vigorous communication, Virgo, as you expand your influence (especially via social media). Being confident is paramount, as you go after what you want with plenty of creative passion. Venus suggests an increase in cashflow… but be careful you don’t cancel that out by indulging in a spontaneous spending spree! You’re feeling perceptive, as you solve a problem by paying close attention to important details.

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Across

Down

3 Name a region in south-western Italy. (8) 7 Which language is spoken in Copenhagen?

(6) 8 When one is breathing out, one is doing what? (8) 9 Which institution cares for the insane? (6) 10 To be of a commanding quality, is to be what? (8) 11 Name an area quite deficient in moisture. (6) 14 Which spiny shrubs are used for incenses, perfumes, etc? (6) 17 Which term describes severity of temper? (8) 18 Name one of the two bones of the lower leg.

(6) 19 What is a short opera, commonly of light character? (8) 20 To which animal family does the centipede belong? (6) 21 What is an unfortunate event? (8)

1 Name a supernatural being of Irish and Scottish mythology. (7) 2 What is a small assemblage of houses in a country district? (7) 3 Name a more familiar term for an apothecary. (7) 4 What is an institution for the promotion of literature, science or art? (7) 5 What was the given name of Princess Grace of Monaco's husband? (7) 6 What are diamond-shaped patterns of two or more colours? (7) 11 Name a nearly pure form of carbon. (7) 12 Which plants having succulent acid leaves are often used in salads? (7) 13 Which one-piece loose outer garments are worn by babies? (7) 14 Name a fashionable district in London, east of Hyde Park. (7) 15 What is an alternative term for nonsense? (7) 16 With which poison did Socrates end his life? (7)

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Stylish Librans appreciate quality and luxury, but don’t overdo it or you’ll end up being the most beautiful bankrupt on the block! This week Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus and the Lunar Eclipse stir up your money and self-esteem zones. So it’s time to get your finances in order, and be true to the authentic you. Singer Katy Perry (who turns 39 on Wednesday) observes: “If you’re presenting yourself with confidence, you can pull off pretty much anything.”

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CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

The best days of the week are Monday and Tuesday, when Saturn (your power planet) makes positive links to Mercury and the Sun. Focused thinking, goal setting and creative plans will take you far. Then Saturday night’s Lunar Eclipse shines a bright (and sometimes unforgiving) spotlight on partnerships of the romantic, platonic, creative, business and family variety. So it’s a good weekend to focus on friendships, shared hobbies and joint ventures.

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AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Solution next edition

Sudoku hard No. 352

Solutions – October 12 edition Crossword No. 902

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This week’s Lunar Eclipse highlights your health, daily routine and work zones.

But expect some surprising developments and stressful moments along the way.

Resist the urge to be argumentative, extravagant and super self-indulgent. On the weekend you need to slow down before you blow a fuse! Try to ground your fiery energy and calm your busy mind. Some meditation, contemplation, yoga, chanting or Tai Chi could be just what the doctor ordered.

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

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SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Monday and Tuesday are positive days to plan a new course of study or book an adventurous holiday. However – on the weekend – hidden tensions could bubble to the surface with a relative, neighbour or work colleague. Be extra diplomatic and try not to take criticism personally. Social media is also a potential minefield, as the planets stir up your communication zone. So be careful you don’t send the wrong message to the wrong person at the wrong time!

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If you stir up grievances with an old adversary, you could find you’ve bitten off more than you can comfortably chew! When it comes to a frustrating problem, avoid quick fixes. You’ll find a satisfactory solution if you act on your hunches and look for the facts that are hidden beneath the surface. The Sun, Mercury and Mars are all visiting your sign. So confidence is in and complacency is out, as you go after what you want with passion, purpose and pizazz.

This week the Sun transits into your career zone (where it joins Mercury and Mars) and the Lunar Eclipse lights up your family zone (where it joins Jupiter and Uranus).

So try to get the balance right between professional progress and domestic peace.

And – if you have to choose – lean slightly towards harmony at home. Your motto for the moment comes from actress Julia Roberts (who turns 56 on Saturday): “My life at home gives me absolute joy.”

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360 Early Education coming to Canberra!

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