No toilets, no parking but playground got a plaque
MICHAEL MOORE
Why charities must walk their talk
CRAIG WALLACE
‘Stunningly, per capita taxation in the ACT has increased by 24 per cent in just the last two years,’ report JON STANHOPE & KHALID AHMED
Funny or offensive? Humour can be complex
CLIVE WILLIAMS
KEEPING UP THE ACT
Meet Sir Ernest Escargot, of the ACT Inactivity Commission
MAY 2, 2024
When KIM TITO was offered chemotherapy after cancer surgery, she didn’t hesitate
When Kim Tito was given a choice to have chemotherapy following surgery to remove a lump in her breast, she didn’t take too long to think it through.
“With cancer cells in my lymph nodes, it had already declared its intention to travel. I read this as a sign to have further treatment,” says Kim.
Her trusted GP gave her a useful analogy about her breast cancer diagnosis and options for treatment.
He suggested she think of it like a glass breaking on the floor. You can pick up the large pieces you see. That’s the surgery.
You can’t walk on the floor yet, there may be pieces you missed, so you get out the broom and dustpan. That’s the chemo.
You could walk on the floor, because you may have got all of the broken glass, but to be safe you vacuum the floor in the area.That’s the radiation.
“He said: ‘You need to do everything you possibly can to stop it, so you are not back in this situation,’ so I did,” says Kim.
emotional outbursts.
“It’s important for people to understand that you need someone you can rant to every now and then. Also, we need to be reminded that they may not be as stoic as they always appear,” says Kim.
It wasn’t the first time Kim had faced surgery. At 18, the now 61-yearold, had open-heart surgery to repair a hole in her heart.
“I was probably overly conscious of how my heart was behaving. I was also aware that there was a process that I, like many others, just needed to follow – with the surgery, chemotherapy and radiation – and I just needed to work through it,” recalls Kim.
Having stopped full time work just before her diagnosis, Kim recognises what a fortunate position she was in. To be able to both draw on her private health cover and not stress about getting back to work was a definite plus.
eggs if they have ovarian cancer.”
She has also had valuable time to regain her fitness and build camaraderie through Dragon Boating with Dragon’s Abreast ACT – a sport well known for its connection to breast cancer recovery.
She will be part of a crew paddling on Lake Burley Griffin at this year’s Women in Super Mother’s Day Classic – a walk/run event to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation and the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.
Since the Mother’s Day Classic began 26 years ago, the relative five-year survival rate for those diagnosed with breast cancer has risen from 84 per cent to 92 per cent.
The five-year survival rate for a woman diagnosed with ovarian cancer is currently 49 per cent and there is no early detection test.
She also had time to reflect on those going through cancer treatment without the same resources, and involved herself in fund raising for a local cancer support group, Rise Above –Capital Region Cancer Relief.
“Research into breast cancer is so important. It’s got us where we are today,” says Kim.
In 2024, the MDC will bring people together to walk or run to raise funds to accelerate progress towards a day where every woman diagnosed with either breast or ovarian cancer will be given the assurance that they can survive.
The downside was the shortage of apy and how she was feeling, which meant that husband Ron copped any
Her experience began in August 2021, in the middle of covid lockdown. Her mostly Sydney-based family couldn’t visit, appointments were attended alone, and her regular exercise Kim chose to go through the private hospital system, where she could choose her surgeon and be in and out of hospital as quickly as possible on
“But there are also practical things that people need when they have a cancer diagnosis, such as money to cover pharmacy bills or the cost of freezing
Register to walk or run, fundraise or volunteer for this year’s event on Sunday May 12 at mothersdayclassic.com.au Bina Brown is a journalist and volunteer for the Canberra Mother’s Day Classic organising committee.
No toilets! Really! No toilets. Hundreds of kids playing and no access to toilets. Who could be responsible? Under our system of government, it is the minister.
The Coombs Ruth Park Playspace is a brilliant playground that attracts significant numbers of children over the weekend and plenty through the weekdays.
It is a buzz of activity during holiday time. People bring their kids from all over Canberra to enjoy the “playspace”.
No toilets and no parking spaces. A couple even told me they were issued a parking ticket while escorting their child from the road to the playground. Compare this to two nearby playgrounds. The Airport Group’s Denman Prospect Ridge playground has both toilets and parking spaces. So does the ACT government-built playground in Whitlam.
Yvette Berry officially opened the Ruth Park Playspace on 27 October 2022”. She proudly opened a playground without parking and without toilets.
No parking spaces for the Coombs playground. Parking on the street undermines the amenity of the residents and increases danger for the children. You might have thought the minister would be embarrassed to be identified as the person responsible for these oversights.
Not Minister Yvette Berry. She proudly claims credit on a plaque fixed to a boulder next to the playground.
As a parent and a former union representative for early childhood education, she ought to know better.
Maybe this sort of incompetence is down to a demarcation dispute with City Services. Who knows where the responsibility lies? It does not matter when it is branded with this sort of plaque.
These sorts of plaques are a mark of self-indulgent politicians who some -
It is an election year. The candidates for Murrumbidgee would be wise to promise the people of the Molonglo Valley that they will rectify the mistakes of Minister Yvette Berry.
how think their legacy will remain well beyond their term as a minister.
Plaques are the most obvious of these sorts of indulgences. However, media opportunities created by openings with the headlines that follow often have a similar characteristic. Some politicians, it is said, “will go to the opening of a door”.
Requests are made by NGOs and others for support in such openings. This is a different story. It is appropriate to offer support for others who have a landmark occasion to celebrate. Or who are embarking on a program that will make a real difference to the lives of the people they serve.
Plaques and excuses to open buildings and facilities miss the point that such facilities are paid for by us – the taxpayer. The plaques and comments should really point out that these facilities have been paid for by the people of Canberra for the good of the community. This would be so
much better than singing the praises of a politician – especially one whose oversight has been inadequate.
This same principle applies to large and small projects. They are taxpayer funded. Granted there is leadership from ministers. However, whether it be the wing of a hospital, a school or a tram stop – taxpayers should be recognised above the interest of politicians. This is an especially important reminder with an election just six months away.
With a Labor-Greens government so hellbent on infill and limiting the urban footprint of Canberra’s development, this sort of failure bodes ill. The argument for high-rise development with adequate greenspace for recreation for both the children and adults seems very shallow if there are not appropriate facilities.
At the Coombs “playspace” there are not just the children. Parents, grandparents and groups all gather to enjoy the space… until “nature calls”. One innovative mother told me that she keeps a potty in the back of the car for her four-year-old daughter.
She just wraps it in cling wrap of some kind.
Others, I am sure, use the grass,
pee on the side of the road or find another spot just away from the playground. The grounds, that are kept beautifully, are undermined by this health hazard. This failure to provide facilities simply beggars belief. In marked contrast, those at Denman Prospect Ridge gather for birthday parties, celebrations and even religious services. Why? The difference that adequate facilities make allows communities to work as communities.
It is an election year. The candidates for the electorate of Murrumbidgee would be wise to promise the people of the Molonglo Valley that they will rectify the mistakes of Minister Yvette Berry and promise toilet facilities along with appropriate parking spaces.
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.
immersive
On until 30 June at the NFSA Acton. Admission is free.
A contemplative artwork created by Australian artists Leila Jeffreys and Melvin J. Montalban, Temple celebrates the awe-inspiring beauty of native cockatoos.
“The community is right to ask about the untimely closure of social and community infrastructure enjoyed by vulnerable Canberrans when it is offered by large, benevolent organisations that enjoy support from donors and taxpayers,” writes disability
The untimely and rapid closure of community programs used by ageing Canberrans and people with disabilities and chronic conditions managed by large, nongovernment providers is worrying.
There are concerns about gaps in government service provision as well as the exercise of the social licence enjoyed by some not-for-profit organisations in the ACT.
In March, clients of the Y Chifley Health and Wellness gym, a popular gym used by seniors, people with disabilities and chronic illness, were surprised to turn up to their classes to find that the YMCA Canberra had made the decision to close the gym.
The gym provided a safe comfortable haven for many Canberrans with disabilities and older people who find regular commercial gyms confronting, inaccessible and unwelcoming.
For people with chronic disease and illness, regular exercise in a well-equipped and accessible gym is
advocate
CRAIG WALLACE .
less about showing off a toned body on Instagram or Tik Tok and more about managing pain, weight and wellness in ways that enable people to stay out of hospitals or even nursing homes. Some regular users of the gym were referred by Canberra Health Services.
A notice on the YMCA’s website announces that “the Canberra region is changing” and informs unlucky patrons that the gym was a victim of the organisations new 10-year worldwide strategy, refocusing the organisation on its primary charitable purpose of supporting and empowering children and young people.
CityNews April 11.
organisations need to be financially viable and have a right to make decisions about their core business.
genuine efforts to find a new host for the gym, this issue also highlights the abrogation of responsibilities by government.
Governments have walked away from community services and allied health supports while relying on services cross subsidised by community organisations, which are increasingly fragile due to cuts, poor pricing and funding changes in programs such as the NDIS.
ness rather than the zeal of a Silicon Valley IT start-up acquisition.
In the case of The Green Shed, having a plan ready to go on day one to provide vulnerable and anxious employees with disability with a clear and timely transition plan, access to advocacy and industrial democracy and help and support would not have been unreasonable.
In too many cases people with disabilities have been suddenly told that services are winding up without time to organise alternatives.
They had “made the important and carefully considered decision to close and exit from certain aspects of our health and recreation business that unfortunately does not align with this new 2030 Strategy and our renewed focus on children and young people”.
The Canberra region might be changing, but it still includes older Canberrans and people with disabilities with the aches, pains and health problems that time brings
But the community also has a right to ask questions about the rapid and untimely closure of beneficial social and community infrastructure enjoyed by vulnerable Canberrans when it is offered by large benevolent organisations that enjoy generous support from the Canberra community, donors and taxpayers.
Ultimately, these large organisations are not businesses but entities that enjoy agreed preferences and benefits arising from their social mission to provide help and comfort to people in need in the community. Some of them are old folks.
While the ACT government was quick to meet with users of the gym and the relevant minister has made
Some similar issues for the community sector and government are raised by the process around the awarding of the ACT waste management tender to run the Green Shed to Vinnies leaving around 80 staff, many of them with disabilities, unsure about their futures.
My organisation, Advocacy for Inclusion, was contacted by staff at the Green Shed desperate for advice and support after feeling like they were left in limbo following the announcement of the tender outcome.
Again there is nothing wrong with a charitable organisation winning a tender, but the community is also entitled to expect that not-for-profit providers, will bend towards kind-
Prominent charitable and benevolent organisations enjoy access to tax exemptions, government contracts, the support of a generous Canberra community on top of being able to operate business arms with a social purpose in a jurisdiction that outsources many municipal services, health and social programs.
No one expects Canberra’s charities to step away from competitive commercial operations that subsidise good works or endlessly operate unviable programs and services, but we are entitled to expect that when they exit programs or win new contracts they will meet crucial transitions with the humanity, kindness and empathy that defines their face to the world.
Craig Wallace is head of policy at Advocacy for Inclusion.
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‘Stunningly, per capita taxation in the ACT has increased by 24 per cent in just the last two years.’
Along with the national media, we have reported that the ACT is the highest taxing jurisdiction in Australia.
Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr, in recent Public Accounts Committee hearings, challenged this assessment, arguing that the ACT’s rate of taxation as reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), includes local government taxes and, as such, could not reasonably be compared with the States.
In fact, Mr Barr insisted that a comparison of state and local government taxation (also published by the ABS), reveals that the ACT’s per capita taxation is lower than both NSW and Victoria – that is, the third highest but not the highest.
Any discussion of taxation rates is, of course, relative. It could, for example, be argued it is relative to a person’s capacity to pay, or the availability, capacity and nature of individual tax bases.
It may be, for instance, that a jurisdiction may not have access to a particular tax base, say in the case of the ACT, a
“It’s difficult to justify the ACT’s excess taxation when debt’s rising, the hospital system is the country’s poorest and services for disadvantaged groups are the nation’s worst,“ JON STANHOPE & KHALID AHMED.
mining industry. It could also be relative to the economic and social impact of the taxes that are imposed, eg land tax.
Invariably, most discussion about tax is focused on the return or benefit it delivers to the community. In this regard a majority of people would be willing and, in fact, happy to pay an extra, say, $500 a household if that money delivers better schools or additional hospital beds or more doctors, nurses, police or firefighters. However, if that $500 is wasted on a failed IT project, that “willingness” will quickly dissipate.
We had assumed that Mr Barr would have been fully briefed on the ACT’s relative taxation and where it stands. We hoped, therefore, that rather than squabbling about the taxation
tax owner-occupied dwellings, something that no other state enjoys.
level, that he would respond to media commentary by explaining the benefits accruing from our nation-high taxation and assuring Canberrans that their hard-earned money is being put to the best possible uses.
Contrary to claims by Mr Barr, the ABS data that compares state and territory taxation is both relevant and appropriate, providing, as it does, information on taxes collected from the bases that are within each jurisdiction’s control. Those bases may vary in capacity, and indeed in some jurisdictions, may not exist. For example, the ACT has no mining activity at all, and Victoria has negligible mining activity compared to WA and the NT. Conversely, the ACT has access to a base that allows it to
It would, of course, be nonsensical for the treasurers in say WA and the NT to argue that taxation comparisons should exclude their mining bases, and similarly as nonsensical to argue that the ACT’s rates base should be excluded from the comparison, especially when the ACT has been transferring its state-level taxes (conveyance duty and insurance taxes) to General Rates. The “jurisdictional control”, therefore, should be the deciding factor when making comparisons.
The relevant ABS data provides the nominal amount of tax revenue collected. On those measures (whether state only or state and local combined), the ACT’s taxation should be below the national average because the ACT has below-average taxing capacity and it is compensated for that shortfall – being below NSW and Victoria is hardly a relevant benchmark.
Indeed, in 2012-13, the ACT was a below-average taxing jurisdiction on Mr Barr’s preferred measure ($3228 per capita compared to the national average of $3356 per capita). However, with the highest taxation growth rate in Australia over the following decade, the ACT crossed the average in 2026-17, and in 202122, per capita taxation in the ACT was $5346 compared to the national average of $5171.
However, what is most relevant is how much each jurisdiction is collecting (a) relative to the capacity of its tax base; and (b) relative to other jurisdictions. The former provides an indication of the tax burden on each jurisdiction’s economy, and the latter its competitiveness with respect to other jurisdictions.
In previous articles, we detailed the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s methodology for distributing GST revenue, which involves an assessment of each jurisdiction’s taxing capacity for each of the tax base. Any jurisdiction with
compensated through the GST distribution.
States and territories are free to set their own policies and may tax higher or lower than their assessed capacity. The ratio of actual taxation to the assessed capacity would, by definition, be its taxation effort relative to capacity.
For simplicity’s sake the following comparisons relate only to key state level taxes.
Chart 1 details the taxation effort of states and territories for payroll tax – a state-only tax.
By definition 100 per cent is the average taxation effort. In 2012-13, the ACT was a belowaverage taxing jurisdiction relative to its capacity. However, in 2022-23, the ACT became the highest taxing jurisdiction relative to its capacity.
If the ACT had adopted an average taxation policy, it would have collected $1198 per capita, compared to the national average of $1283 per capita. The ACT actually collected $1570 per capita, ie an extra $373 per capita (or $172 million). A clear case of “double dipping”, or “fingers in the till” where the territory received compensation for its lower assessed level of payroll capacity, but nevertheless taxed much more.
The economic incidence of payroll tax is on employment or the price of goods and services, depending upon the circumstances. With the ACT’s rate of unemployment being relatively low, then the super high level of payroll tax imposed on Canberrans impacts most directly on household costs, ie the cost of living.
living pressures has focused, in the main, on inflation, supply chain problems and geopolitical conflicts. The ACT government’s taxation policy is another significant factor. Stunningly, per capita taxation in the ACT has increased from $1270 in 2020-21 to $1570 in 2022-23, an increase of 24 per cent in just the last two years. The ACT’s land taxation effort is relatively higher than its assessed capacity. Notably, the government announced over a decade ago it intended to abolish the tax following the 2012 ACT Taxation Review. However, over that decade, land tax effort has in fact increased primarily because of misinformed and regressive policies pursued by the Greens, and readily adopted by ACT Labor.
The economic incidence of land tax is on returns to investors (in turn on supply) or rents depending upon the conditions in the market.
The ACT’s high rents can be directly attributable to the government’s taxation policy and the deliberately inadequate supply of land for housing. Is the ACT the highest taxing jurisdiction in Australia? Yes – by a country mile – looking at the comparative data on payroll tax and land tax. We will discuss the remaining statebased taxes, duty on conveyances, insurance taxes, motor taxes and mining tax in a later article. However, the picture is not likely to be any better. Does higher taxation provide value for money? While that is a judgement for the community to make, we note that it is difficult to justify this excess taxation when the operating budget is the weakest of all jurisdictions, debt and interest costs are rising exponentially, the hospital system is the poorest performing in the country due to withdrawal of funding and service outcomes for disadvantaged groups are the worst in the country.
Jon Stanhope is a former chief minister of the ACT and Dr Khalid Ahmed a former senior ACT Treasury official.
ME/CFS and other fatiguing illnesses are very poorly understood, hard to diagnose, and even harder to live with disease.
ME/CFS has been known of for decades now, there is even evidence of historical figures including Florence Nightingale having lived with this condition. Long COVID is of course a very recent disease with a very unknown pathway.
It doesn’t matter what your debilitating fatiguing condition is, the effect on the person living with it is devastating.
Whilst there is a clinic at the UC hospital that may assist some living with Long COVID, there are no dedicated health services other ME/CFS ACT, a part of Arthritis, Pain Support and ME/CFS ACT, to assist people living with the multitude of long term, devastating fatiguing illnesses.
We offer many services including self-help programs, programs to help you link up with others who are in a similar situation as you, as well as a full suite of Allied Health supports for those of you who need assistance.
We also have a program for teens and young adults who are living with fatiguing illnesses and a parallel program for their carers. We offer many of our services online for those that cannot leave the home, we have practitioners that can visit you at home, and if you are feeling good,we have programs at both our Bruce and Pearce offices that you can attend.
If you are living with ME/CFS or other fatiguing illness, struggling to get a diagnosis, are a carer or friend of someone with a fatiguing illness, or would just like to know more about what we do, or speak to one of our peer support workers or Allied Health staff, call us, email us, or drop in and say hello.
Living with or supporting someone with ME/ CFS is hard. We are there to help. Likewise if you are someone who would like to financially support the work that supports people living with fatiguing illness, please also call us on 6251 2055 to help us continue this work.
Learn practical skills for dealing with common problems of these conditions with post-external malaise (an out of proportion increase in symptoms after physical or mental activity)
At
was an Australian working at Australia House in London. They moved to a new home in Turner in 1952 and lived there until George died in 2008.
Jeanne worked at the Canberra Public Library from 1969 to 1989. She was a regular visitor to her mother in England, who also enjoyed a long life and died at 102.
Canberra actor dies
John Cuffe, a luminary from the explosion of professional theatre in Canberra during the 1970s has died after complications from lung cancer. He was 91. An Englishman, he served with the British Armed Forces in Cyprus and performed professionally on stage in London. Migrating to Australia, he came to light in Canberra during the early ’70s as an actor of remarkable versatility and emotional depth.
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A woman came into my clinic for a consultation about her hearing aids, telling me her hearing aids were 4 years old and she had never found them to be of much help. She said the salesperson quoted her $14,000 for a pair of hearing aids, however, the monthly special of 20% discount meant they cost her $11,200. So, she ‘only’ paid $11,200 for hearing aids that did not help her. Sadly, I hear this all too often.
Here are some things to do to avoid this type of problem:
1. Visit your GP. If you or someone you know has a problem with their hearing, visiting your GP to check for wax in the ears, and to get advice is a starting point.
2. Qualifications. Always check the qualifications of the person you are dealing with. A person without professional qualifications has no business advising you about your hearing. They need to belong to a professional association with a Code of Conduct, so you know they are acting in your best interests, not their own.
years. If you are not sure about their advice, then seek a second opinion. The wrong hearing aids can be an expensive waste and could lead you to stop wearing them. You should always have a trial of hearing aids to ensure that they are right for you.
6 Pensioners and eligible DVA card holders often have entitlement to free services. If you are covered by a government concession, then let the clinician know (even though your clinician should ask). Eligible clients may obtain free hearing tests, consultations, and free hearing aids (referred to as fully subsidized hearing aids).
“A person without professional qualifications has no business advising you about your hearing. They need to belong to a professional association with a Code of Conduct, so you know they are acting in your best interests, not their own.”
– Dr Vass
These hearing aids are appropriate for many people, however if you have great difficulty hearing in background noise (for example a restaurant), then you may want to consider partially subsidized hearing aids. This is when the government pays a certain amount, and you pay for additional features and benefits. Your decision should be based on the following:
you are dealing with a qualified clinician, then they belong to a professional association. The best contact is an independent complaints body referred to as Ethics Review Committee. You can email ethics@auderc.org.au and view the website www.auderc.org.au. You can make an anonymous complaint and your complaint will be handled in a confidential and professional manner. If you are in the ACT, contact the ACT Human Rights Commission email human rights@act.gov au and the website www.hrc.act.gov.au
3. Independent advice. You should get independent, professional advice.
4. There are a wide range of hearing aids out there. Finding the right hearing aids for your communication needs can be challenging. Hearing aids vary in price and performance. Bluetooth® connectivity and rechargeable hearing aids are available on most hearing aids, along with apps that allow you to control your hearing aids from your mobile device. Be aware that just because a hearing aid is more expensive, that doesn’t mean they are the best hearing aid for you.
5. Just as hearing aids vary in performance, clinicians may also vary in performance due to training, experience, and skills. Make sure that you are comfortable and confident in their advice. You are likely to be with this clinician for the life of your new hearing aids, typically 4 to 5
(a) Can you afford the more expensive hearing aids? Don’t go into financial stress if you can’t afford them. (b) Are you clear on the free vs partially subsidized features & benefits? Never believe someone who tells you the free hearings are not good or of poor performance, this is simply not true. (c) If you try the partially subsidized hearing aids and are not happy, then return them. Do not keep hearing aids because you think the failure is yours or that you will improve over time. If the hearing aids are not working for you in the trial period, then they will not work for you in a year or two.
7. If you have a complaint, then seek help. Your clinician should be able to help you through most of your needs. Sometimes, a problem may be beyond the expertise of even the best clinician. However, if you have a complaint there are things you can do. If
The crushing loss of the Voice referendum might well turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Not only did its proponents put the cart before the several horses that pulled it, neither steeds nor cart were fit for purpose.
The hacks in question were mostly Noel Pearson – he of the vicious “bedwetter” insult to former social justice commissioner, Mick Gooda; Prof Marcia Langton, whose grating rage lost thousands of votes every time she took to the air waves; and Megan Davis, whose legalese spoke only to the Phillip Street toffs while turning off the knockabout Aussies in droves.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese held the reins and is now acting as though the failure is the end of the journey. The truth is that he had the power and the authority to shape the ride, and he failed to do so.
Even when it was clear that the removal of a few unnecessary words giving Aboriginals direct connection to “the executive government” was turning voters off in droves, he sat on his prime ministerial hands.
Together they were so out of touch with today’s Australia that they made virtually no attempt to engage the massive migrant intake from Asia and the Middle East that now populates the suburban capitals with the horror story that is Aboriginal
Australia through the 19th and 20th centuries.
But the cart they were pulling carried a message that entirely missed the point. It held the superficial view that an Aboriginal Voice would improve the delivery of government services to the indigenous community; and some kind of magical transformation would take place. This ignored the insights of anthropology which reveal a very different story.
It is one of a society dominated by the male warrior “elders” whose communal authority was a powerful mix of culture, law and religion. And when the whitefella priests, technologies and firearms robbed them of their authority, they took to the booze that finished the job.
Moreover, to restrict the Aboriginal
engagement to issues that “directly affect them” was as silly and offensive as confining half-time AFL commentator Eddie Betts to speak only of the Aboriginal players’ performance. Little wonder they lashed out; their sons rebelled and set heart-rending records for hooliganism, self-harm and suicide.
As it happens, our first homegrown anthropologist, Donald F Thomson, was a born naturalist and in 1928 he began a lifelong struggle in north Queensland and then Arnhem Land on behalf of the people with whom he felt such fellowship.
In the 1930s the Lyons government commissioned him to intervene as a peacemaker between the races in the NT.
On his return three years later, he
addressed the cabinet in Parliament House seeking a pause in the invasion of their territory by the cattle barons and the religious missions.
“I am speaking not from hearsay, nor from any personal motive, but from the hard experience of living with these people – not just among them, but as no white man is ever known to have lived… in their camps, travelling with them, hunting with them, eating their food, attending their ceremonies, talking their language,” he said.
“I am speaking not so much as a white man, but rather as a friend and advocate of these people for whom I have great regard… and an infinite pity.”
Alas, his plea was lost to prejudice and the threat of a Japanese invasion. He returned to Arnhem Land and organised the people into a coast watch and guerrilla force to harry the aggressors.
He then recruited 75 New Guinea head-hunters on a mission behind the Japanese lines where he was shockingly wounded. His passion cost him his health and his first marriage, but he returned to his public quest for Aboriginal advancement, earning
the glittering academic prizes from Cambridge and the US, as well as the praise of his Melbourne University professorial fellows as “Australia’s Lawrence of Arabia” before his untimely death in 1970.
For years, his loyal second wife resisted attempts of all but selected members of the academic community to access his private papers. I was immensely fortunate to spend the last three years with his family and the leading anthropologist of our time, ANU Emeritus Professor Nicolas Peterson, writing his story. The resulting book, Fighting For Justice, was sent to the printer this week by publisher Hardie Grant Media.
When the great movement for Aboriginal advancement returns to the Australian agenda – as it must someday soon – it’s my fond hope that Donald Thomson’s story will power a new breed of activists who will take its powerful lessons to heart. robert@ robertmacklin. com
It’s been a hundred years since Frederick Walter Robinson published what is believed to be Canberra’s first book.
Arguably a little premature, he titled it Canberra’s First Hundred Years and it was published in April 1924.
Susan Thomas, assistant curator at the UNSW Canberra Special Collections says the book sees Robinson lament the demolition of early settler buildings.
He also outlines his support for the use of local indigenous names in the new construction plans for Canberra, which Susan says is a testament to his curiosity of the pre-colonial history of the region.
Susan says her favourite of Robinson’s name suggestions is Guruguma, meaning west wind.
“I was born in Canberra and grew up here, even though I live in Bungendore, and that west wind is really a thing,” she says.
“He’s really thinking about the place and wanting to preserve those links.”
But, Susan says, it wasn’t until about five years ago that the special collections team really understood the book’s significance.
“We had a visit from the librarian of the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland,” she says.
“We knew that the Fryer Library had been set up by Frederick Robinson, so we just looked on our catalogue and here was this book, written by Frederick Robinson, so we pulled it off the shelf.
“It was only when we opened it that we realised we had Robinson’s own signed copy, because he signed it at the front and dedicated it to the Royal Military College (RMC).”
The other significant layer to Robinson’s book is its publication history, that he annotated afterwards, she says.
“If it didn’t have this annotation, we wouldn’t have known that this is the first book
published in Canberra,” says Susan.
“I’ve done research about the book to try and corroborate all this and it’s not written explicitly anywhere else, so if he hadn’t explicitly written it down, it would be unknown history, so I think that’s really special.
“It also speaks of the kind of interest in books and history from the Canberra population as well, that there was a market for the book, even though there was not much in Canberra at that time.
“There were these little outcrops that had been built, but they hadn’t all been joined together, and people were really interested about the place they were coming to.
“What’s particularly wonderful is that we get a little glimpse into the book culture of the era, because he says in the annotation, that it was printed in Sydney because there were no printers in Canberra, but publication means making it publicly available.
“The glimpse he gives, because there were no bookshops in Canberra at the time, is that it was published at the church door.
“Normally, when you publish a book, it goes off to all the bookshops and that’s how people get it, but he’s saying that, you could buy it at the church door, you could also buy it at the RMC canteen, and apparently there was a little stall at the Hotel Canberra, which is now the Hyatt Hotel.
“As a rare book curator, I just love that little picture of, there are books here, and there are books there, and you’ve got to get in your motor car or in your dray or something or other and purposely seek out this book.
“I think that it’s a wonderful little gem with many kinds of threads and stories that come out of it.”
Susan says people can look at the book by completing an enquiry form through their website and set up an appointment time.
The ANU has also got a digitised version of the second edition, and while it has some differences due to Robinson revising it, Susan says it allows people to view the basic text online. The enquiry form is at unsw-adfa.libanswers. com/special
In the heart of Canberra, a recent shift has occurred in the entertainment landscape, says Eurostar Entertainment managing director Joe Teixeira.
Eurostar Entertainment is an entertainment agency launched in 2021, says Joe, and it has recently taken over Funnell Entertainment, one of Canberra’s longest-standing entertainment agencies.
“This bold move marks the beginning of a new era, promising to infuse the city’s entertainment scene with an international flair and diversity never seen before,” he says.
With experience spanning more than 20 years in the entertainment industry, Joe says he is building on a 40-year legacy of delivering entertainment in Canberra, after purchasing the agency from Andrew Rickard, who had bought Funnell Entertainment from industry stalwart Peter Funnell in 2017.
“Having worked with an impressive array of artists, including big names such as Kasey Chambers, Troy Cassar-Daley, and international stars like The Pointer Sisters and Belinda Carlisle, Joe says his passion for live entertainment is the driving force behind the acquisition.
“I saw an opportunity to build on what we’ve created with Eurostar Entertainment in Australia and offer the community something extraordinary – a different vibe to the entertainment scene,” he says.
The vision for Eurostar Entertainment is not just intended to impact Canberra, says Joe.
Eurostar’s roster boasts a line-up of international artists from countries such as Portugal, Italy, France, Ireland and Spain, he says.
These artists are not just visiting for one-off shows, they are brought to Australia for extended periods, sometimes up to three months, he says, making them available for public and private bookings.
“Our artists are highly successful professional
performers in their home countries,” says Joe.
“Bringing them here not only introduces Australian audiences to new musical genres and performances but also enriches our cultural landscape.
“The company is committed to promoting local talent by providing them with opportunities to support touring artists, creating a unique blend of global and local entertainment experiences for audiences.”
Joe says one of the most innovative aspects of Eurostar Entertainment’s business model is the Sponsor an Artist program.
“This initiative allows businesses, cultural organisations or even individual patrons the chance to bring their favourite artists to perform in Australia,” he says.
“We work closely with our clients to ensure a seamless experience, from the initial idea to the final standing ovation.”
Joe says the acquisition of Funnell Entertainment is more than just a business transaction; it is a “visionary step forward” that will undoubtedly elevate the entertainment scene in Canberra and beyond to new heights.
He says by integrating experience, quality local acts, and the expertise of Funnell Entertainment with Eurostar’s innovative approach and international network, he and his team are poised to deliver Australians world-class entertainment.
“For venues and corporate event planners looking to add an international flavour to their line-up and create unforgettable experiences, and for private individuals dreaming of hosting their favourite artist at a personal gathering, Eurostar Entertainment is opening doors to big possibilities,” says Joe.
As Eurostar Entertainment ushers in this new era, Joe says he remains at the helm, guided by his passion for live entertainment and a vision to enrich the cultural tapestry of Australia.
Eurostar Entertainment at eurostarentertainment.com.au
“The first rule of comedy is never to perform in a town where they still point at aeroplanes.” – Bobby Mills
Humour is a phenomenon that serves as a universal connector between humans, often transcending cultural and linguistic barriers.
At its essence, humour is a complex interplay of elements that provoke amusement, laughter or a sense of the absurd.
Humour often involves an element of surprise. By subverting expectations or poking fun at societal norms, humour provides a temporary escape from the seriousness of everyday life.
However, humour can be subjective, varying greatly from person to person, based on individual experiences, beliefs and sensitivities.
What one finds funny, another might find offensive – or in poor taste. Ultimately, humour serves to celebrate the quirks and absurdities of life. Humour often depends on an unexpected outcome. Whether you find something funny or not depends largely on your own background and life experiences and, as I will explore in a future Whimsy, what country you come from.
One fundamental aspect of humour is incongruity, where unexpected or contradictory elements
are juxtaposed, creating a cognitive dissonance. This may be evident in puns, wordplay, or absurd situations. Here are some examples: Albert went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Anonymous, my eye; he knew everyone there.
Recently I’ve been concerned about my mental health. In desperation I asked myself if I’m crazy. “We all said no”.
After covid, Peter’s “going out” clothes had obviously missed him. When he put them on, they hugged him so tightly, he could scarcely breathe. (This is reminiscent of “Chocolate makes your clothes shrink”.)
A genie offered to grant John one wish, so he said: “I just want to be Happy”. Now he’s living in a little cottage with six dwarves and working in a mine.
My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday, so I went to our local pet shop and they’re $70 each! Blow this, I thought, I can get one cheaper on the web.
I’m trying to sell my racing geese. Perhaps you’d like a quick gander?
“After covid, Peter’s ‘going out’ clothes had obviously missed him. When he put them on, they hugged him so tightly, he could scarcely breathe.”
I was going to lease a limo, but it didn’t come with a driver, and I didn’t want to spend all that money with nothing to chauffeur it.
He said he just needed a job that put food on the table. So I suggested he become a waiter.
I was in an accident, and it hurt when I touched my elbow, my knee and my face. Turns out I’ve injured my hand.
I start a new job in Seoul next week. I thought it was a good Korea move.
A priest, a rabbit and a vicar walk into a bar. The bartender asks the rabbit “What’ll you have?” The rabbit replies “I dunno; I’m only here because of autocorrect.”
I phoned my wife earlier and asked her if she’d like me to pick up Fish and Chips on my way home. She clearly wasn’t happy. She still regrets letting me name the twins.
A mate of mine recently admitted to being addicted to brake fluid. When I quizzed him on it, he reckoned he could stop any time. Statistically, six out of seven dwarves are not Happy.
Wally took his four-year-old daughter to the office on “take your child to work day”. After they walked into the office, she started to cry. As concerned staff gathered around, he asked her what’s the matter? She said: “Daddy, where are all the clowns you said you worked with?”
Police have confirmed that the man who fell from the terrace at the 18th floor nightclub wasn’t a bouncer.
Fred was at the bank yesterday when a little old lady asked him if he could help check her balance. So he pushed her over.
At the cemetery yesterday I noticed four gravediggers staggering about with a coffin. Three hours later and they’re still staggering about with it. I thought to myself, clearly, they’ve lost the plot.
On holiday recently in Thailand I saw a sign that said “Englishspeaking Doctor” – I thought: “What a good idea; we should have them in Australia.”
Hector once dated a girl who was a twin. People always asked him how he could tell them apart. It was simple. Alison painted her nails red, and Bob had a beard.
Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.
Brittany Davidson… “I’d written my own dad’s eulogy before anybody else’s so I think having been in those shoes, it really does help.”
Katarina Lloyd Jones
Most people dread the process of writing a eulogy, as it typically signifies the death of a close relative or friend.
However, for Brittany Davidson eulogy writing has become an integral part of her income.
The 28-year-old former pastry chef says she was scrolling through the online marketplace AirTasker, when she saw a call out for someone to write a eulogy.
“I always was strong at communication and writing,” says Brittany.
“I had written my own dad’s eulogy, and the first eulogy I wrote was for a parent so I could really empathise with the position that the person was in at the time.”
Brittany says that while writing eulogies for people can be an emotional task, she has found a way to be pragmatic about it.
“I always try to communicate with whoever’s delivering the eulogy and to just find out as much as I possibly can about the person they are speaking about,” she says.
“I think it’s really, really important to encapsulate
that person, so it just starts with a really down-to-earth chat and pretty much firing a hundred questions about the person and seeing what it is their family values… it’s always really special to be able to put that forward.”
Eventually, Brittany says the process became a bit like writing an essay.
“I’ve got a bit of an algorithm of what goes where and it usually falls into place pretty nicely once I’ve got that information,” she says.
Brittany says the most common reason people look to outsource eulogy writing comes from language barriers, and wanting to ensure nothing is mixed up in translation at the services.
Another common reason is that people have never had to write one before and are unsure of what they are meant to include, she says.
“Like I said, I’d written my own dad’s eulogy before anybody else’s so I think having been in those shoes, it really does help,” she says.
Brittany has been able to earn up to $4000 a month from her work writing eulogies and other short-term “gig” jobs, but she says it is far from a get-rich-quick scheme.
“My income really varies depending on how much I’m applying myself,” she says.
Brittany was the ACT Top Tasker for 2024.
The Federal Golf Club and its Sydney-based developer have received the go ahead from the ACT government for their 152 multi-storey retirement village.
The paper announcing the decision contains direct reference to the Red Hill kangaroos.
Acknowledgement is made that the roos will be displaced from the course, increasing risk of dog attacks, being hit by cars and starvation.The report reads: “These impacts, which may occur during and after construction, need to be considered and mitigated”
In short, the ACT government has only one response – slaughter. This report basically guarantees that there will be
In response to Rebecca Marks’ letter, I too am flabbergasted that the Eastern Grey Kangaroo has been categorised by the ACT environment directorate as an invasive species.
As such these beautiful sentient creatures can then be culled each year along with rabbits and foxes, which as we all know really are invasive species.
It is estimated that 30,000 plus roos have been cruelly slaughtered over the last 15 years – this number does not include thousands of baby joeys that are clubbed to death with mallets. This would explain why you rarely see roos around the reserves anymore, just weeds.
These gentle creatures have helped shape this continent over millions of years and since
In my lifetime I have witnessed two howlers as G-G – both male, as you would expect. Both lived by the Shakespearean adage: “I am Sir Oracle, and when I open my mouth, let no dog bark!”
Following Quentin Bryce, I would not expect anything of that nature from what we have seen of Sam Mostyn’s past efforts.
What this world needs are more females in the roles of top leadership to produce a safer and calmer environment for citizenry.
Golda Meir springs to mind re the present Middle East.
Let’s see what riding instructions she has received from Albo. Our present G-G abided by his riding instructions, which led to multiple ministries.
Did that pass the pub test?
John Quinn, Spence
governor-general by various prime ministers since World War II.
Labor had started, or should that be continued, the nomination of “mates”, with a former Labor premier of NSW.
Menzies also used the position twice to get rid of political opponents within his own party, and Hawke rewarded Hayden with second prize at Yarralumla.
Gough, Malcolm then Paul nominated four former judges, one of whom proved he knew nothing about our constitution. Then there was John Howard’s failed attempt to link church and state by elevating a priest to the job of the Queen’s representative, and that did not end well.
And, in an attempt to add even more “legitimacy and gravitas” the Coalition nominated three ex-generals, interrupted only by Rudd’s nomination
In his article “Concern at Japan’s ‘evolution’ in sub pact”, Robert Macklin wrote “The (post-World War II) Japanese ‘economic miracle’ even brought protests in the 1980s that Japan was ‘buying Australia’” (CN, April 25). This may seem exaggerated, if not outrageous, but there is a strong element of truth among the hyperbole.
Japanese companies now own or control several well-known Australian businesses. These include: 1. AMP and Challenge (Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Group); 2. Carlton & United Breweries (Asahi Group Holdings with a loan from Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group); 3. BHP’s best Queensland coking coal mines (50 per cent owned by Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd); and 4. Lion Nathan and National Foods (now Lion Nathan National Foods owned by Kirin Holdings
Winnunga Nimmityjah AHCS is an Aboriginal community controlled primary health care service operated by the Aboriginal community of the ACT.
In Wiradjuri language, Winnunga Nimmityjah means Strong Health. The service logo is the Corroboree Frog which is significant to Aboriginal people in the ACT.
Our aim is to provide a culturally safe, holistic health care service for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of the ACT and surrounding regions. The holistic health care provided by Winnunga AHCS includes not only medical care, but a range of programs to promote good health and healthy lifestyles.
Our services include:
• GP and Nursing
• Midwifery
• Immunisations
• Health Checks
• Men’s & Women’s Health
• Hearing Health
• Dental
• Physiotherapy
• Podiatry
• Dietician (Nutrition)
• Counselling
• Diabetes Clinic
• Quit Smoking Services / No More Boondah
• Needle Syringe Program
• Mental Health Support
• Healthy Weight Program
• Healthy Cooking Group
• Mums and Bubs Group / Child Health
• Optometry Service
• Psychology and Psychiatrist
• Community Events
• Groups
Winnunga AHCS is a national leader in accreditation, was one of the first Aboriginal community controlled health services to achieve dual accreditation under RACGP and QIC standards. Winnunga AHCS has been at the forefront of setting a national agenda for quality improvement in Aboriginal community controlled health and continues to advocate locally and nationally for best practice standards in operational and governance areas of Aboriginal health services.
CLINIC hours | MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9am-5pm
Ph: 6284 6222 | 63 Boolimba Cres, Narrabundah www.winnunga.org.au
It beggars belief that with the scarcity of public housing in this city some remain unoccupied for months after their tenants have moved.
I’ve just been to pick up something from a house on Shellwood Street, Holt, and found that the house at number 21 has been empty since August last year.
In the meantime, God knows how many Canberrans are sleeping in their cars or couch surfing at friends’ and relatives’ places.
It makes you wonder what Minister Yvette Berry is doing.
Let’s hope that the October election sees this inept government out once and for all.
Vivien Munoz, Holt
Not sacked, Griffin left of his own volition
PM Hughes did NOT sack Walter Burley Griffin in 1920 (Robert Macklin, CN, April 18) Griffin left of his own volition, having been given an ultimatum by (his) Minister Groom, that he did not accept.
In 1920, Griffin’s then-monthly tenure as Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction had expired. He was given an ultimatum by the Minister for Railways and Construction, Littleton Groom: “Join the Committee or walk away from Canberra”. (Alasdair McGregor. Grand Obsessions: The Life and Work of Walter Burley Griffin and
Marion Mahony Griffin, 2014).
Groom’s ultimatum would have left Griffin in a role subordinate to the very bureaucrats who were found earlier by a 1917 Royal Commission to have blocked him in that role.
Griffin did write to PM Hughes, but “his entreaty was answered only by silence from the prime minister, who had been forewarned and briefed by his ministerial colleague” (McGregor).
As the National Archives records: “Changes in government administration led to the establishment of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee, from which Burley Griffin was excluded because he rejected the conditions of appointment”.
Late last year, The National Capital Authority agreed to commemorate both Marion and Walter and the contribution they made to the design of Canberra. Finally.
Peter Graves, chair, Canberra Chapter, Walter Burley Griffin Society
I do not know why anyone would be surprised at the fact the number of women working from home has gone up (“Returning to the office would unravel the benefits”, CN April 18).
After covid, all clerical work was done from home. The comment was made by author Leonora Risse: “It is clerical and administrative workers – occupations that are three quarters female – who had the biggest jump in
working from home”
It is understandable these positions can be done from home because in most cases they do not need to be in the office. If they are working from home because they have little kids, are they working full time or taking care of the kids? If the latter is the case, the only one getting the benefit is the woman, not the employer.
A side issue, but in relation to the comment that three quarters are female, if the quota were male, people would be jumping up and down wanting equality in gender numbers.
Vi Evan s via email
The article by Katarina Lloyd Jones (“Club kicks on as government forgets its promises”, CN April 18) is disturbing considering it is our children that suffer under the hands of this non-caring local government. Trying to get a comment from Yvette Berry is like obtaining blood from a stone. She seems to make lots of promises, but fails to deliver, even with an election coming up in October.
The decision to turn off water supply or neglect playing fields impacts not only the immediate community, but also undermines trust in local governance.
Such actions disrupt recreational activities vital for youth development and community cohesion.
Additionally, neglecting infrastructure maintenance risks long-term consequences,
such as deteriorating facilities that become more costly to repair in the future.
Errol Good, Macgregor
Nuclear power is last-century technology that has simply not lived up to its promise. Like supersonic air travel, the Concord, hovercraft and the rotary engine, it has simply been overtaken by the economics and realities of the 21st century. It is twice the price of the cheapest form of power generation.
Even so, it can be argued that this expensive and dangerous form of power generation has a place in our national grid to provide energy security. This would be a very limited role.
Australia is a very dry continent. We simply do not have the water to cool a nuclear reactor anywhere in inland Australia. A traditional large reactor with flow-throw cooling uses 1.9 billion litres of water a day.
Of course, sea water can be used for cooling. That is why the Fukushima Daiichi plant was constructed so close to the sea. The additional cost of transmission, though, would add to the cost that Australians would pay for greater energy security through their power bills.
In the meantime, talk about building nuclear reactors on the sites of closed coal-fired plants should be regarded with the same scepticism as using pixie dust to reduce family power bills.
Noel Baxendell, Holt
‘Shelley’
Keeping Up the ACT (April 18), together with the thoughtful and informative piece by Prof Beatrice Bodart-Bailey in the same issue, prompted me to draw on Shelley’s “Ozymandias”.
I met a traveller from Capital land, Who said —
“Two long unfinished lines of steel
Lie in a desert, dividing a community.
Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And in the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Andybarias, Chief of Ministers;
Look on my works, ratepayers, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The desert that was a real town is blown away.”
Tady Carrol, via email
$4999
A handsome boxed set full of intrigue and laughter!
Four novels by CityNews columnist Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen now available! Of the nine novels featuring Grafton Everest, four have been written by Ross Fitzgerald in collaboration with Ian McFadyen: Going Out Backwards, The Dizzying Heights, The Lowest Depths and Pandemonium.
This unique series of four satirical novels charts the rise of the insecure and selfindulgent university lecturer – Doctor Professor Grafton Everest – from the corridors of a provincial Australian campus to the international corridors of power. How did this hapless, work-shy anti-hero repeatedly save his country and the world without intending to?
And who were the mysterious persons that orchestrated his inexplicable rise from obscurity to world leadership? The Ascent of Everest is an epic satire that mocks, without mercy, politics, academia, media, culture and sex.
About the authors
Ross Fitzgerald AM is Emeritus Professor of History & Politics at Griffith University. He is the author or co-author of 45 books.
Ian McFadyen is a multi-award-winning writer, actor and television producer who has created a number of successful television series, books and plays. He has collaborated with Ross Fitzgerald to write several Grafton Everest novels.
The Ascent of Everest is launched on May 9
Any Canberra CityNews readers and/or their Sydney- based friends are welcome to attend. There is no need for a response, just arrive at the Olsen Gallery, 63 Jersey Road, Woollahra, Sydney at 6pm or a tad before.
The capital is starting to get chilly, and while there is more cold weather to get through, it does have its upsides. Around the region, there are businesses that know how to keep things toasty.
Boil the kettle, start the fire or just cosy up a little, because “CityNews” has some warm inspiration for the colder months.
Endeavour Carpets offers the largest range of top-quality floor coverings in Canberra and Queanbeyan, with options that help keep the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, says co-owner Taylor O’Brien.
Established in 1970, and still a family run business, Endeavour will this year celebrate its 54th anniversary.
“To celebrate, we have a sale running until the end of May on selected major carpet ranges, including free underlay upgrades,” she says.
Taylor says the business has maintained its original objective of displaying exceptional choices of carpet, bamboo, timber, laminate, cork floating floors, vinyl, vinyl planks and rugs.
She describes the company’s Fyshwick-based showroom as Canberra’s “greatest floor show” with thousands of samples on display and an experienced team of flooring specialists to make the customer’s experience as easy as possible.
“Our showroom is so great that other retailers send their customers to view our huge range of top-quality floor coverings,” she says.
As a member of the Independent Carpets Group, Taylor says it means Endeavour Carpets can offer customers greater choice and the best available prices.
Come and learn to crochet and knit in person
• Welcoming community
• Relaxed environment
• Small classes
• Dedicated space for learning yarn craft
• Great for mental health
“Scan the code to book your beginner class today!”
“As a family business, Endeavour Carpets appreciates that customers are spoilt for choice in a competitive market place, and so maintain an objective to offer the best service and products available and for the best possible price,” she says.
When customers visit Endeavour Carpets, Taylor says they experience a good, oldfashioned service from a long-standing, local family business.
“This is what really sets Endeavour Carpets apart from any regular carpet store,” she says.
“At Endeavour Carpets, we don’t just endeavour, we do.”
Endeavour Carpets, 33 Isa Street, Fyshwick. Call 6280 6132, or visit endeavourcarpets.com.au
Crocheting and knitting classes are the great way to socialise while staying nice and cosy, and Marg Secomb, owner of A Frayed Knot, says her classes are open to anyone and everyone.
“First class we start with the granny square and it’s just to get you used to using the hook, the feel of the yarn and the processes, and getting used to the terms we use,” she says.
“Then when people get used to that they can come back and do other classes like learning about other stitches, different types of crocheting and then up to making toys.”
But, Marg says, it’s more than just a crocheting class, with crochet and knitting being a great outlet for those struggling with their mental health, or for those struggling to find “their people”.
The small studio space fosters a welcoming environment, says Marg, and the small class sizes means everyone can feel attended to and comfortable.
“It feels like I’m a bit of an outlet for people who need somewhere to come and not feel intimidated or anything by the experience of other people,” she says.
Marg says she also runs a Yack ‘n Yarn session, a two-hour class session where people bring along their projects, and she is there to help only when necessary, focusing more on people building connections with each other.
A Frayed Knot, Unit 3, 69 Tennant Street, Fyshwick. Call 0434 833 131 or visit afrayedknotcbr.com.au
Every May, Law Week is celebrated across Australia. This year it runs from May 20 to May 25. Law Week aims to promote a better understanding of the law and its role in society.
In this special feature, “CityNews” showcases some of the leading legal experts of the Canberra region that are ready to help, no matter how big or small the problem.
Canberra law firm Maliganis Edwards Johnson (MEJ) has further cemented its standing as Canberra’s premier personal litigation specialists, welcoming special counsel Heather Ross to the team, says managing partner Kate Waterford.
With more than 20 years’ experience working in small private practices and large international legal firms, Heather’s main areas of practice include medical negligence and institutional abuse claims.
Kate says Heather holds bachelor’s degrees in Law (Honours) and Commerce from the NT University and has been awarded the Territory Insurance Office Prize in Law for the most out standing graduate, and the Attorney-General’s Medal for outstanding academic achievement.
“It’s an honour to become part of the team at MEJ,” says Heather.
“Their reputation of striving for the best possible outcome for their clients, their passion for the work they do, and their caring and supportive team environment are just a few of the reasons I was excited to join this team.
“My passion is ensuring the best outcome for my clients so they can continue to enjoy life and be compensated appropriately for their losses.”
Kate says the impact of Heather’s expertise will be felt by team members and clients alike.
“Heather brings a wealth of experience across personal litigation, medical negligence and
60 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra City. Call 1800 570778 or 6257 2999, or visit mej.com.au
Dedication to the community since 1861
Estates and Probate
Wills and Powers of Attorney
Criminal Law
Workplace injuries
Please phone us for an appointment
and effective legal services.”
Tanya says BDN’s team of highly
With a decades long history of serving the Canberra community, solicitor Mitchell Chatfield says KJB Law covers family law, the buying and selling of property, small business arrangements and estates division.
Mitchell says there are two teams overseeing estates division cases, with the planning team being responsible for working out who is who and what their obligations are, and the administration team ensuring the client’s wishes are being carried out.
Seeking professional legal help for both of these elements in estate division cases is important, says Mitchell, as estates division law differs between each state and territory, and it is common that people assume a legal process will occur, only to find out it is not relevant to their jurisdiction.
Mitchell says professional legal help also ensures
the “complexities of modern families” are appropriately addressed.
Instances such as multi-generational living can become complicated when someone passes away, says Mitchell, and families can get “bogged down in a mire of information.”
“Equally, we do a fair bit of work in the disabled space, where we’re able to make provisions in sensible, effective ways for disabled children or other disabled people,” says Mitchell.
Mitchell says these complexities will not be overlooked, and whoever the client wished to benefit or protect in the event of their passing remains cared for.
KJB Law, ground floor, 10 Corinna Street, Woden. Call 6281 0999 or visit kjblaw.com.au
“It can be quite overwhelming for those who have never had to talk to a lawyer about what happens when you separate,” says Lucy Stramandinoli, co-owner of Neilan Stramandinoli Family Law.
“For parents, their top priority is the kids. Life gets turned upside down and what used to be normal is no longer normal.
“Couples without kids who are going their separate ways still have to grapple with that parting. Often they’ve built a life together and it can be hard to picture the rest of their lives without their partner.”
With a team that has decades of combined experience, Lucy says Neilan Stramandinoli Family Law strives to be a place where people can come to find help.
“Most people want to keep things amicable and stay out of court. We encourage that very much,”
At Neilan Stramandinoli Family Law, we pride ourselves in our proven track record, our commitment to excellence, and expert knowledge of family law. We understand how difficult and emotional family law matters can be, we are compassionate and empathetic, guiding you towards the best possible solution for you.
For separating couples:
• Parenting arrangements
• Dividing property and superannuation
• Family violence matters
New or existing relationships:
• Best arrangements for your children
• Protecting assets and yourself
• Preserving entitlements
she says.
“Especially when the parties have children, as co-parenting and communication about the children is critical as everyone in the family moves on from the relationship.”
Lucy believes it’s important to establish a connection with clients from the first time they meet.
“That’s why we ask our clients at the first meeting what the most important thing is for them as a goal in the process before they leave the appointment,” she says.
“We keep this in mind throughout the case and we talk about many different ways this can be achieved.”
Neilan Stramandinoli Family Law, Unit 1, Ground Floor, 5 Farrell Place, Canberra City. Call 6152 0493, or visit nsfamilylaw.com.au
navigate the employment and industrial relations system with certainty and clarity,” she says.
“We have worked with clients in a diverse range of industries (including private, Commonwealth, State and Territory governments, construction, higher education and banking and finance), and understand and apply best practice in employment and industrial relations matters.
cover family law, wills and estates and conveyancing.
“Ken is experienced in all areas of family law,” says Rhonda.
for many years in Canberra and enjoys working together.
discrimination, and workplace compensation. She says that in addition to their employment focus, MV Law can also help with a vast array of commercial matters.
MV Law, EY Building, Level 2/121 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra. Call 6279 4444 or visit mvlaw.com.au
“He is a mediator and has been practising in Canberra for 40 years.
“He helps people with their legal issues with confidence and compassion.”
“Daryn joined us six years ago and leads our conveyancing team, buying and selling property, both residential and commercial.”
He can also help with advice regarding contracts
“Many of our clients have been coming to us for a long time and much of our client base comes through referral, which speaks to Capon and Hubert’s success and the confidence their clients and other professionals have in the team.”
Capon and Hubert Lawyers and Mediators, first floor, 32-38 Townshend Street, Phillip. Call 6152 9203 or visit chsol.com.au
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Alstroemeria, otherwise known as Peruvian lily or princess lily, is a perennial plant that’s coming to the end of its annual flowering cycle.
Originally from South Africa, it grows well in our climate and benefits from its stems being plucked or pulled to snap them at the base of the plant to allow new growth when the weather warms.
It has a fleshy root system of tubers that can be easily damaged if they are disturbed. Dividing should be done in late winter to early spring, when there is new growth appearing at the base.
Propagating tubers is easy and, like all tubers (such as potatoes and dahlias), the hard stem at the end of the tuber is the growing point (eye) and must not be damaged. If this is missing, the tuber will rot.
Dig the entire clump from the ground and shake as much soil from around the tubers before planting it into new ground on a mound of soil and cover.
There is one particularly bad, weedy variety of Alstroemeria called A.psittacina, which can be fast-spreading and invasive. But this species should not give all alstroemerias
a bad name. Alstroemeria is a great filler in a summer garden and has many colours.
AQUILEGIAS grow through winter, untroubled by frosts. Their dainty fern-like leaves suit a cottage garden and prefer not to be disturbed in the soil once planted.
They grow well in full sun or part shade, in good drainage and with lots of compost.
They have a few different common names from granny’s bonnet or Columbine, but botanically they’re an Aquilegia so look for this name.
They’re easy to grow from seed in late winter with some seed-raising mix and a heat bed. Fill punnets with seed-raising mix and keep moist and indoors until there is germination.
Once there are at least six or so leaves, they can be placed outdoors, but with a little protection to keep them growing strong before being planted into the garden in spring.
Some varieties of Aquilegias will self-seed in the garden if the conditions are right and sometimes their flower colour may not remain true to type due to promiscuous bees mixing pollen about. Which means surprisingly beautiful and unusual coloured flowers can appear. Growing them with spring-flowering bulbs will give the garden a mass colour display.
Best of all, they are suited to pots and hanging baskets and, if deadheaded, can flower for several months until the heat of summer arrives.
jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au
• Prune small deciduous trees after they have lost their leaves.
• Keep water up to peas, beans and any winter vegetables.
• Mulch bare garden areas to keep weeds down in the garden.
• Fertilise camellia and rhodo- dendrons that are beginning to flower.
SUNDAY ROAST
to the success of K-pop around the world and to the many operatic Korean stars.
perked up when I say I’m Korean,” she says. But as a performer, her soul is in
Richard Cassarino, while playing the Rachmaninoff Paganini Variations with the Alabama Symphony
Yang’s never been to Australia and -
platform for over 20 years.”
Yang is known for her interest in contemporary cross-artforms.
In 2018 and 2019, for instance, she joined choreographer Jorma Elo at the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet to create the work Half/Cut/Split, a marriage of music and dance.
“I’m interested in lots of different arts, especially the art of choreography, and I had the good luck to spend eight hours a day, week after week, working with them,” she says.
“I learnt so much about dance and music. What I heard and what the dancers heard was completely different, they’re two different forms, but we were putting them together.”
To her, deep listening is the key.
for its emotional intensity and it feels
That’s partly because as a little girl
to California with her husband, who’s joining the Pacific Symphony in Orange County.
“They say you never arrive with music and I never get sick of it. I’ve been playing it on the concert
“When I was young, I loved to play the piano, but it didn’t mean I was a serious musician. But then I went to see Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and something happened to me. It was as if I’d never heard music before – I thought it was the most incredible force I’ve ever had. I was stunned that something like this could exist.
“That was why I became obsessed with figuring out what music was all about.”
Joyce Yang recital, Snow Concert Hall, May 14.
“... full of drama, thrills, fantastical objects, artificial intelligence, and puzzle solving!”
Q & JENS ALTHEIMER PRESENT 11 May 2024
It’s no easy feat trying to categorise Netflix’s new hit series Baby Reindeer into a specific genre.
That’s because while watching it I often found myself unsure whether to laugh or cringe at what was unfolding.
This British seven-parter exists in a strange limbo between comedy and creepy and the linchpin between them is Jessica Gunning’s chilling performance as Martha, a serial stalker who develops an obsession with the show’s protagonist Donny.
Martha says she’s a big-shot lawyer who’s handled some of the century’s biggest political cases, a strange detail indeed given she is unable to afford a cup of tea.
While starting off more comic in tone, the show does become darker as it goes on. A warning to some viewers out there, that Baby Reindeer unflinchingly explores topics such as abuse and drug addiction, but this is a story that has captured audiences around the world.
He’s a 27-year-old wannabe stand-up comedian working behind a bar when he meets the woman 10 years his senior who he takes pity on and buys a cup of tea for after she laments being unable to afford one.
It’s the catalyst for the fanatical chaos to come.
Martha proceeds to sit on the other side of the bar every day, leaving a Diet Coke untouched and bombarding her new-found obsession with swooning remarks.
That’s just the start. As her obsession deepens her behaviour only becomes more deranged.
It’s not long before Donny is receiving hundreds of texts and emails, barely comprehensible yet clearly love struck.
The brutal awkwardness can be both hilarious and hard to sit through. It’s like a car crash unfolding in slow motion that’s impossible to look away from.
But what makes this bizarre story all the more intriguing is that it’s true.
The names and details have been changed, but comedian Richard Gadd who plays Donny in the show was actually stalked in-real-life by a woman who, go-figure, he bought a cup of tea for in a bar. Years later, he’d decided to write a television show about it.
The story has been “tweaked slightly to create dramatic climaxes”, Gadd said in an interview with The Guardian but “it’s very emotionally true. I was severely stalked and severely abused. But we wanted it to exist in the sphere of art, as well as protect the people it’s based on”.
Actress Jessica Gunning absolutely disappears into the role of this woman who’s sweet on the surface yet sinister underneath. Creepy enough to even give Annie Wilkes, from Stephen King’s Misery, a run for her money.
The episodes are interspersed with what appears to be real text messages and emails that Gadd received from her during the whole ordeal (in total more than 43,000).
Baby Reindeer has managed to climb its way to Netflix’s number one show in Australia, the US, and the UK, watched by more than 2.6 mil lion viewers. That’s on top of an almost unheard of 100 per cent critical approval rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.
It seems Gadd has caught lightning in a bottle.
Perhaps in an age where it is so easy to peer into one another’s lives through the use of social media, a story about someone who becomes obsessively followed was always going to strike a chord.
We’ve seen it before with Netflix’s drama series “You”, about a fictional psychopath who runs a bookstore and who becomes infatuated with his customers.
But there’s something about Baby Reindeer that feels far more real and far less glorified. There’s something about such a small interaction with a stranger leading to a seemingly inescapable nightmare that is so chilling.
The show is made up of seven 30-minute episodes making it a very easy watch that many will no doubt binge.
From the moment I started it, Baby Reindeer had a hold on me tighter than a hug from its central stalker.
and it’s billed as suitable for all the family. Canberra Theatre, May 5.
Meagan Loader will join the National Film and Sound Archive’s executive team as its chief curator. She’ll be in the NFSA’s Sydney office and will direct collecting activities and advance strategies for collection interpretation, programming and research. Loader’s extensive broadcasting experience includes more than a decade at the ABC.
“Leipzig at last!” Canberra Bach Ensemble director Andrew Koll is shouting as he and the ensemble prepare to travel to Bachfest 2024 in Germany, June 7-16. But first, they’ll perform Bach’s Chorale Cantata Cycle 1724-1725 at St Christopher’s Cathedral, Manuka, May 11-12.
Nolan’s nine-panel, 11-metre-long work, Riverbend, is usually on permanent display in the Drill Hall Gallery, but now has a temporary home in the Nolan Gallery at Canberra Museum and Gallery until July 28. Nolan painted Riverbend far from Australia in his studio near the Thames in London, England, shortly before taking up a fellowship at the Australian National University in 1965. It features glimpses of a masked Ned Kelly within a dense landscape of tall river gums. As CMAG holds a substantial collection of Kelly paintings, this offers a rare chance to view the works at the same time.
Canberra-raised musical star Queenie van de Zandt will be at the 5th Australian Musical Theatre Festival in Launceston, May 15-19. Artistic director Tyran Parke has put together 19 events over five days.
Named after the medieval French word for “beloved”, the Germanbased Korean chamber ensemble Esmé Quartet will be here for the first time with Musica Viva to perform Webern, Mendelssohn, Debussy and 28-year-old Australian composer Jack Frerer’s Spiral Sequences. Llewellyn Hall, May 10.
Garry Disher is arguably Australia’s greatest living crime writer.
In 2018 he received the Australian Crime writers’ Association’s Ned Kelly award, the most prestigious literary prize for crime fiction in Australia, describing him as “a giant not only of crime fiction but of Australian letters”.
Disher has created many memorable characters and he introduces another in his latest standalone novel, Sanctuary.
Raised in foster homes, Grace has been a thief since childhood. But she’s no ordinary thief. Grace knows the value of rare and objet d’art from stamps to watches to paintings and antiques – “To handle, look or understand the story behind a beautiful painting, stamp or brooch made her feel better about herself.”
Grace is also a chameleon, able to quickly alter her appearance to blend in or to become invisible. She knows when to walk away from a job, knows the escape routes, “keep the job simple, quiet and unobtrusive… and always have a plan B, which was a way of saying always plan for and expect the worst”. Her caution has kept her alive.
At the Brisbane Stamp Fair she glimpses Adam Garrett, her foster
brother and former associate in crime but, when they both had targetted a rare Jaeger-LeCoutre watch, Grace gets there first and she knows Adam wants revenge.
Grace goes on the run through rural NSW and into Victoria. By the time she reaches SA, she’s running out of money. In the small town of Battendorf in the Adelaide Hills, she takes a job in an antique shop owned by Erin Mandel. She seems to have found a refuge, somewhere to hide.
A friendship develops between Grace and Erin and Grace begins to feel at home, forgetting the caution that has kept her alive. But Grace doesn’t know that Erin is in hiding, too, and someone is looking for her.
Disher’s crime fiction is far from simple. He admits he has developed techniques to enrich his fiction, including “carefully placed turning points with buried secrets coming to the surface, getting the reader to exercise their mind about
From Hilde with Love, which will open the 2024 German Film Festival on May 7, is a movie about the Nazi era such as you may have never seen before.
Not a swastika in sight. No dramatic music. No goose-stepping, and no evil villains twitching moustaches. Just people going about their daily lives.
That goes for Hans and Hilde Coppi, (Johannes Hegemann and Liv Lisa Fries) young members of an anti-Nazi resistance group, and it goes for their interrogators and guards in the Gestapo, not least the frigid warden, Frau Kuhn. “It was very important not to show these as typical Nazi guys – powerful, strong and not friendly,” says director Andreas Dresen, one of German cinema’s leading lights.
Speaking by phone from Berlin, he tells me: “If you see them like that, it is very easy to stay at a distance.”
In the opening scene, as the heavily pregnant Hilde, an ordinary woman caught up in the resistance through her boyfriend/husband, is led into a Gestapo interrogation room, the Nazi lawyer puts a hand on her stomach to express his wonder at the miracle of birth.
As for Frau Kuhn (Lisa Wagner), Dresen tells me: “She goes through a kind of transformation, starting out being very powerful, but something in her head is growing.”
Everything about Hilde, now a national legend, is normal. She hasn’t been to univer-
sity and she works as a dental nurse.
Dresen himself was born in the German Democratic Republic, and says, “In East Germany resistance fighters were kind of superstars and you could never compare yourself with them, but the reality is that they were actually quite normal people, having sex, enjoying themselves, going to work.”
But to West Germans they were traitors and it was only in 2009 that Germany officially exonerated them – “horrible,” he says.
“Hilde is to me an ordinary working-class person. You wouldn’t call her a heroic resistance fighter. She’s just in the middle of it, although when she went into prison, she became braver, maybe because she had become a mother and she had to defend
her child.”
All “typical Berliners”, Dresen says, the young people in the film enjoy cycling on weekends around the beautiful lake-dotted flat landscape surrounding Berlin-Brandenburg, skinny-dipping, dancing, drinking and lovemaking, while in between trying to send telegraphic messages of hope to comrades in prison on the Soviet side.
They all get caught and the results are inevitable.
There’s no black-and-white. In the first interrogation scene, the lawyer offers Hilde a liverwurst sandwich, while even the brutal interrogator can crack a joke.
“These are just ordinary people going about their business” and even Hilde is no
the wrong issue”.
As a result, Sanctuary is a carefully crafted story of many skilfully inter woven strands. Disher builds sympathy for Grace, despite her many faults, in a disturbing story about predatory angry men and their victims.
SA author, Vikki Wakefield in her latest novel, To the River, also explores the plight of a young woman on the run.
While Disher uses the small towns of the Adelaide Hills as a place of sanctuary for Grace, Wakefield turns to the Murraylands and Riverland region when creating a refuge for her main character.
Twelve years ago, 17-year-old Sabine Kelly was arrested for murder after a series of devastating fires at the caravan park where she lived killed nine people including her mother and sister, and a police officer.
However, she managed to escape and, despite there being a reward of $100,000 for information leading to her discovery, has eluded capture ever since.
Sabine’s childhood has been difficult. Her mother was a known drug addict and dealer. To the people of the town and the police, the Kelly family was trouble.
For 12 years, Sabine has lived on the river on an ageing houseboat owned by her grandfather Ray, with a faithful dog, Blue for company. A small network of friends has been her only support. However, when she stops at the grandfather’s riverside shack, she meets his neighbour Rachel Weidermann, a journalist, and she decides it’s time to tell her story and seek justice.
Rachel had seen Sabine briefly four years earlier outside Ray Kelly’s shack and since then has investigated until “she knows everything about the case. Her
mild interest had grown into an obsession. It’s the kind of story that could make her career”.
Rachel needs a big story. Recently divorced after her husband of 27 years began an affair with a younger woman and, although she has managed to keep the riverside house, she’s using her redundancy package to pay the mortgage and, as a freelance journalist, she’s become dependent on her diminishing savings.
But there are powerful people who don’t want Sabine’s story told and, as the two very different women learn to trust each other, inevitably they realise their lives are in danger.
The fragility of the mirror’s ecosystem mirrors the fragility of Sabine and Rachel in their struggle to survive. To the River is tense, dra matic and compulsive reading.
shining heroine, Dresen tells me. “She just has to do what she has to do.”
Cleverly interspersing interrogation and incarceration scenes with joyous scenes of youthful abandon, this is a film for those who want to understand what Brecht called “the private lives of the Master Race”, with no sentimentality.
The research is extraordinary. Dresen says that they weren’t 100 per cent faithful to history, but they come pretty close to it and were able to film in some of the real-life locations.
In one scene, in the apartment of Libs, a wealthy member of the so-called Red Orchestra group, there is real Bauhaus furniture.
Some scenes, like the executions, run
at breakneck speed, reflecting the Nazis’ real-life protocols where they noted the times until the very moment of death.
But Dresen is more famous for his ability to slow down a scene where needed.
In the searing scene where Hilda gives birth to her baby, Hans, in the prison hospital. Instead of skimming over the horrors of a birth scene going wrong as most directors would have done, he focuses on every detail, so that you feel as if you too are giving birth.
“The important thing for me, as a director, is not to have people look away,” he says.
That slow approach is also used in the film’s exquisite sex scenes between Hans and Hilde.
Dresen believes that he and his team succeeded in recreating the feeling of the real-life events in 1942. The real-life baby, Hans Coppi Jnr, now 81, was able to view the movie in a private screening and later to the applause of 2000 people at its premiere.
“There was a bit of a feeling that this was kind of late justice for his parents,” Dresen says in understatement.
Ironically, we learn at the end that the resistance group Hilde belonged to was ineffectual, so that only one of their messages ever got through to the other side.
“We knew this, because we had done the research, but we wanted to make the point that whether resistance fails or not doesn’t matter. It’s of vital importance to resist terror regimes,” Dresen says. “Everybody has to think about it.”
2024 German Film Festival, Palace Electric Cinemas, May 7-29.
The Tumut River Brewing Co was opened by two mates with one dream – to make craft beers in a microbrewery. That was sometime in 2014.
Fast forward to last month and the operation has opened in Kingston with beers made in the Snowy Mountains, wines primarily from Tumbarumba and pizzas made on-site in a huge oven that looks like an igloo.
Rows of beer, in black cans sporting bright colours, are there for the tasting, and the “True Brew Crew”, wearing black, branded T-shirts, are busy patting down operations.
The beers have funky names, including Full Grunt, Bounty Hunter, Bad MOFO, Sugar Baby and Happy Jack Creek. A Ginja Ninja spicy ginger beer is on offer. If you’re grabbing a bite, pizzas start at $25 and top off at $30.
Gluten-free
bases are available (not suited to coeliacs).
Our first pizza was a standout.
Celebrating produce from the Snowy Mountains, this pizza featured a generous service of moist and oily (but not too oily) smoked trout.
Other toppings included finely sliced onions, salty green capers
crust was thicker at the edges, more refined in the middle but not overwhelming on the digestive system.
We enjoyed the pizza with a refreshing riesling from Johansen Wines, Tumbarumba ($12 glass/$40 bottle).
The second pizza we shared was
beer, in black cans
selected because it sounded intriguing ($30). While the combo of main ingredients should work in theory, the amount of blue cheese was overpowering for our taste. We also felt the pizza needed to be in the oven a tad longer to melt all the cheese (some was quite firm). Last up was the lamb and feta pizza ($30). We were drawn to the reference of the meat hailing from Franklin Butchery, a local Tumut operation that specialises in locally bred, grass-fed beef, lamb
IN the distant past, I studied for a Bachelor of Arts in literature and was awarded that degree in 1988.
We had an excellent teacher who helped us craft creative writing by, amongst other things, asking us to start a piece by using a first line from a well-known poem or novel.
This is a good technique to spark the creative juices; as novelist Ursula Le Guin said, the first lines are “doors to worlds”.
and pork. The pizza features mid-strength JW Pilsner, a refreshing beer made by the brewery, as well as salty feta and garlic oil. As with the maple bacon and blue cheese, more time was needed in the oven to properly melt the cheese and ensure the pizza was piping hot.
With these pizzas we enjoyed both the Johansen Chardonnay ($12 glass/$40 bottle) and the Double Joy Dry Rose ($12 glass/$40 bottle) from Borambola Wines, a family-owned business in Gundagai.
Other pizza options include a kransky and pineapple (the kransky from Wagga Farm Gate Butcher, $29) and a chicken satay ($30). Although we didn’t have it, we eyed the simple rosemary and potato pizza. The couple next to us gave it a thumb’s up.
Teething pains will no doubt be worked out as staff settle in.
My favourite, when in a downbeat mood, has to be Sylvia Plath’s opening line in The Bell Jar: “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” This line grabs your attention and sets the mood for the book in a swift punch to the metaphoric gut.
I was very pleased with myself then when I crafted a first line about the Albariño grape variety when I tasted a lovely example produced by the nation of Uruguay.
this wine remember it is a Spanish grape.”
I didn’t use that line because when I sat down to write, it became evident that Albariño’s parentage is unclear. One theory is that it’s closely related to the French grape Petit Manseng, and the other is that it’s a riesling clone from Alsace. However, it is now, in a number of articles I read, recognised as a premium wine grape emanating from Spain.
As for its place in Australia, it is a wine that was thought to have been planted in the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria’s wine region.
Around 150 hectares were planted. But in 2009 it was discovered that these wines were in fact savagnin, albeit they had been labelled Albarino. Savagnin is a grape variety from the Jura region of France and apparently the mistake was made in the CSIRO’s plant collection.
That occurred in November at an event called the Latin American Cultural and Gastronomic Festival, Edition VII. Thirteen countries were represented: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Ecuador, El Salvador, México, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú and Uruguay. The food and the wine were memorable. I particularly liked the Garzon Reserva 2021 Albarino. My notes from that night indicate that I thought that the wine had a lovely peach nose and on taste a balance between acidity and floral fruit characteristics that made it a good accompaniment to the rice-based dishes that were served. The wine stood out as fresh and supple, my first choice for the evening. I said as much to a woman who I met in the crowded venue: she introduced herself as the Spanish ambassador.
Her memorable words were to form my first line in an article never written on the wines served at this event: “Yes, when you are enjoying
I can put hand on heart and say that I’ve never tried an Australian Albariño, along with a swag of other people who thought they were drinking Albarino produced on the Mornington Peninsula.
So, those comments bring me back to the issue of the cogency of first lines. In the seeming chase for an Australian Albariño, its perhaps fitting that I choose the opening line from a book that tantalised readers in the 1950s: “I am an invisible man.”
This opens one of the most fascinating books I read as a teenager, Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. The fascination sparked by the opening line is present in every page of this memorable book. First lines count, and it seems Australian Albarino has the same commencing dilemma.
“The last thing one discovers in composing a work is what to put first.” –Blaise Pascal, Pensées
By Joanne Madeline Moore
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
Have you been shopping up a storm when you should have been saving or paying off debt? Expect a financial hiccup as the Sun, New Moon, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus highlight money matters (and also bring up issues involving your personal values and self-esteem). You’ll find the less you base your core self-worth on money, status, image, physical appearance and unrealistic media expectations of what beauty is, the happier and healthier you’ll be.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)
It’s time for Bulls to bewitch and bewilder! With the Sun, New Moon, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus all lighting up your sign, your positive and negative Taurean traits are boosted this week. So expect to be more sensual, stable, patient and dependable … and more possessive, pedantic, slow-moving and stubborn! Your motto for the moment is from iconic Taurus actress (and birthday great) Katharine Hepburn: “My greatest strength is common sense.”
GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)
Communicating with others becomes complicated and nuanced, as the New Moon urges you to dig beneath the surface and get to the bottom of an old emotional issue. You’re also keen to assist someone in need but resist the urge to indulge in gratuitous gossip. Courtesy of the Sun/Saturn link, Tuesday favours being as disciplined and organised as you possibly can, especially at work. Whereas Wednesday is all about escaping through the power of your imagination.
CANCER (June 22 – July 23)
Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and the New Moon activate your hopes-dreams-and-wishes zone, so divert your attention away from current problems and draw up a wish-list for the rest of 2024. Don’t waste the opportunity to escape into your imagination, set intentions and dream ambitious dreams for the future. The Sun and Saturn stimulate your travel and education zones, so it’s important to keep in touch with school mates, college friends and/or international contacts.
LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)
Your career is about to get a welcome shot in the arm as Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and the New Moon all barnstorm through your work zone. So it’s time to show your boss, colleagues and competitors what you are truly capable of. With an extra boost from the Sun/Saturn link, it’s definitely time to be brave, bold, organised and businesslike. Draw inspiration from Hollywood movie star (and birthday great) Katharine Hepburn: “Without discipline, there’s no life at all.”
VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)
Most Virgos have very high expectations. On Tuesday the Sun connects with Saturn, which will amplify your perfectionist streak. Which could lead to unwanted stress when you have to deal with New Moon changes, unfamiliar situations and/or updated information. You’ll discover that perfection is hard to find! So your motto for the week is from Spanish painter (and birthday great) Salvador Dali: “Have no fear of perfection… you’ll never reach it.”
LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)
Prosperity planets Venus and Jupiter (plus Uranus and the New Moon) are transiting through your ‘money-from-others zone’. So some lucky Librans will benefit from an inheritance, gift, bonus, divorce settlement, insurance claim, bumper tax return or superannuation payout. Make sure you spend any windfall wisely, with a view to future financial security. Mars and Mercury are in your relationship zone, so be proactive about communicating with others.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)
The Sun, New Moon, Venus, Jupiter and Uranus are all transiting through your partnership zone. So, when it comes to relationships (of the romantic and platonic variety), expect the unexpected! But avoid being a stubborn Scorpio. Instead, loosen up, go with the intuitive flow, and keep your negative thoughts to yourself. As Joni Mitchell (a fellow Scorpio) observes: “There are things to confess that enrich the world, and things that need not be said.”
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)
Sagittarians can be very scattered, but this week the Sun, New Moon, Venus, Jupiter (your power planet) and Uranus are all transiting through the earthy, steady sign of Taurus. So you will feel more grounded, focused and settled than usual. The mid-week New Moon also suggests a fresh start involving work or health as you commence a new job, devise a more nutritious diet, or reboot your fitness routine. Tuesday is terrific for work matters and family functions.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)
The Sun makes a positive connection with your ruler Saturn, so concentration is high, your attention to detail is even better than usual, and any work you do will be of an extremely high standard. Coupled Capricorn – it’s a wonderful week to work on deepening the love and commitment between the two of you. If you are looking for lasting love, don’t accept second best. Be discriminating, as you patiently wait for the right person to come along.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)
With the Sun, New Moon, Venus, Jupiter and your ruler Uranus visiting your domestic zone, Home Sweet Home is the place to be this week. Expect a fresh start involving a relative, a renovation or DIY project, a new home or an additional family member. Or perhaps you’ll receive some surprising news about a pregnancy, engagement, marriage or divorce! A financial matter looks solid, as long as you’ve done your homework and got a second opinion.
PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)
Have you been pandering to other people, Pisces? The Sun and Saturn encourage you to stand strong and make decisions that suit you. A current situation (or problem) has more flexible options than you previously thought. Past mistakes can be fixed, contracts can be cancelled, and agreements can be broken. Your motto is from birthday great, singer and activist Bono: “The world is more malleable than you think, and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.”
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2024
2 Name a type of large white bear. (5)
3 When one takes it easy, one does what (5)
4 What are wrenches also known as? (8)
5 Which term describes something that is dull or cheerless? (4)
peer or an aristocrat? (8)
11 What is a place of confinement for criminals? (6) 13 Name another term for specimens. (8)
Which doctors deal with the prevention and treatment of oral disease? (8)
What are things that happen? (6)
What is an archaic plural of brother? (8)
24 Which nickname is applied to the Richmond Football Club? (6)
25 Which term describes an antonym? (8)
26 How many players are there in a hockey team? (6
6 To be dormant, is to be what? (6)
7 To bombard heavily, is to do what? (6)
12 Which grand duke of Muscovy was known as “the Terrible”? (4)
14 What do we call one who does not attend? (8)
15 What is the use of something granted temporarily? (4)
17 Name the fourth largest of the 16 satellites of Jupiter. (6)
18 What is the practice of marking the skin with pictures, etc? (6)
20 What, in golf, is a score two below par? (5)
21 To be abrupt or bad-tempered, is to be what? (5)
23 What is the downfall, decay, or destruction of anything (4)
