CityNews 240516

GREG ALDRIDGE & SIMON PORT, of EveryMan, are at the pointy end of domestic violence prevention CELEBRATING SENIORS 15 BIG PAGES

Planning gone mad in North Curtin! MICHAEL MOORE

Quickest way to make a million? Marry it CLIVE WILLIAMS

Seven secret steps of every public servant KEEPING UP THE ACT

The all-round small tree for a suburban garden

JACKIE WARBURTON

Elder Law

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COVER STORY

The men at the front line of violence prevention

By Katarina LLOYD JONES

Australia is in the midst of a domestic and family violence crisis, and statistically, men are overwhelmingly the perpetrators.

Greg Aldridge, CEO and founder of EveryMan, and Simon Port, violence prevention services manager, are do ing their best to tackle this through their Working With the Man program, a specialist, behavioural-change pro gram for male perpetrators of violence against women.

Starting out in 1992 as a fortnightly men’s group, EveryMan has evolved into a community service organisa tion for men who present with high and complex support needs, says Greg.

“We’ve always worked predominantly with the guys who are at the pointy end of the support scale, and they’re often the guys who would get pushed out of organisations’ support services if they swore too much or if they yelled or got angry,” says Greg.

Simon and Greg say their work is addressing a key factor in why violence continues, and while it is challenging, they are encouraged by the number of men coming to them as self-referrals.

“They’re recognising at that point that their behaviour is impacting the people that they care for,” says Simon.

“They recognise that it’s damaging the relationship, that it’s not sustainable.”

Both Greg and Simon attribute this to a greater awareness of the means and use of violence, particularly increased understanding of coercive control.

“I think you could probably say that the reporting of domestic violence has changed and that’s had an impact on awareness in the community because

the way that it’s talked about in the media has shifted,” says Greg.

“But I think there’s always a proportion of the community that just doesn’t want to hear it, because they’ve got some pre-existing set of beliefs or attitudes that, you know, when they hear it they just switch off, and so they minimise a lot of it.

“I think the other side of it is, that even though there’s more awareness, the awareness doesn’t seem to be impacting the rate of domestic violence.

“So whoever’s become more aware,

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they’re not necessarily the people who are going to commit acts of violence.

“And even then, you could probably assume that some people who are aware are also still at risk of using violence, because when you’re in the situation where it’s escalating and the person acts out, they’re not thinking about what they read in the paper.

“The triggers to violence don’t have a lot to do with conscious reflection.”

Simon and Greg say a long-form campaign outlining what domestic and family violence can start as, and how it evolves, is necessary in tackling the epidemic, as is dedicated funding to services for perpetrators.

“In some ways the expectation that everything can be solved by men talking to men is a pipe dream,” says Greg.

“Some men will be influenced by what other men say to them, but what about all the men out there who aren’t surrounded by men who are having those conversations?

“You can’t abdicate responsibility for pushing the messages out there that will make a difference by expecting individual men to do what the government isn’t willing to do, which is design a long-term and effective campaign.”

“A lot of men don’t understand that some of their behaviours sit under that domestic and family violence space,” says Simon.

“They just see it as a normal behaviour that men do.”

Simon acknowledges funding is needed in lots of different areas to tackle the domestic and family violence epidemic, but says the problem cannot be fixed without the proper funding of services dedicated specifically to working with the perpetrators.

Greg says that 50 of the 70 people on the counselling waiting list are there because they were referred over domestic violence matters, and despite it being the most popular reason for referrals, EveryMan does not get counselling funding for domestic violence.

There are also the specialised violence prevention programs waiting lists, which Simon says has about 120 people on it.

“We’re working here with the men who are using violence, and we are absolutely at overcapacity,” Simon says.

“We just don’t have the means to be able to support the men that are actually identifying they want support.”

“One of the reasons I think that men’s behaviour change programs aren’t adequately resourced is that the government really hasn’t come to terms with how to think about men with complex issues,” says Greg.

“Just because these men have used violence previously doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings and values and aspirations to be a better man,” says Simon.

EveryMan, 20 Genge Street, Civic. Call 6230 6999 or visit everyman.org.au

Greg Aldridge and Simon Port,of EveryMan… “We’re working here with the men who are using violence, and we are absolutely at overcapacity,” says Simon.

Photo: Katarina Lloyd Jones

THE GADFLY BRIEFLY

Always love’s flame, until it starts to fade

I’ll be loving you, Always With a love that’s true, Always…

Some of us got lucky and scored the wondrous mutual declaration recorded by Irving Berlin in his 1925 gift to his wife Ellin Mackay.

But from the scary front-page news across the country last weekend, we seem to be in a distinct minority.

“Not men’s punching bags,” says a defiant pair of teenage girls. “Women across Australia rally against violence and abuse in response to the shocking murder of NSW woman Molly Ticehurst and dozens of other deaths at the hands of men this year alone.”

A lot has changed since Mr Berlin pledged his loving dedication together with the royalties of the song from 1926. But the power of love is not one of them.

In the 1960s, for example, The Beatles – and Elvis – rode to world adoration on the glorious steed called “love”, be it of the “tender” variety or simply the plea to “love me, do”.

I’m not so sure about the lyrics in the catalogue of today’s superstars such as Taylor Swift’s Don’t blame Me: Don’t blame me, love made me crazy; If it doesn’t, you ain’t doin’ it right; Lord, save me, my drug is my baby; I’ll be usin’ for the rest of my life. That sounds more like the excuse offered by a (male) stalker.

escape my understanding. In any case, I’m sure the garbled “poems” are neither the cause nor the background melodies to the horrors of which the protesting women complain.

On the contrary, the marchers seem to be inferring that that there’s something vile and sexually lethal in all men, that the jolly old “battle of the sexes” has transformed itself into women’s literal struggle for survival in a vicious male world.

It is true that there are clear differences between men and women.

A lot has changed since Mr Berlin pledged his loving dedication together with the royalties of the song from 1926. But the power of love is not one of them.

For example, earlier Gadflys have advocated a female-dominated political arena to produce more sensible compromises in our various levels of governance. And I’m pleased to say that the trend is heading that way.

A new Domestic Violence Force, with similar powers to the regular police, should be developed, together with a magistrate’s court with exclusive responsibility for the area.

In such conflicts we’ve suggested that it is the aggressor – almost invariably the male – who should be forced out of the family home. And if he breaks the conditions of a Domestic Violence Order he should be imprisoned (with time out for employment) until he passes a redemptive course. Both parties should be involved in any decision for him to return to the family home.

However, not all the blame should be sheeted home to every male. In some ways, men and women living together is like the unplanned nature of our old roads where the same strip of bitumen is used for vehicles travelling at death-defying speed in opposite directions. In fact, our road toll is an extraordinary demonstration of maturity and responsibility in a species that in other areas – climate change, for example – gives way to greed and stupidity.

The same might be said for men and women living in such close proximity, when and if that first romantic flame threatens to flutter and fade.

Days may not be fair, Always, That’s when I’ll be there, Always, Not for just an hour, Not for just a day Not for just a year, But Always.

robert@robertmacklin.com

Walking to fight Parkinson’s

Walk to Fight Parkinson’s on May 19 will be a show of support for people living with Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions, and raise funds for support and research. Parkinson’s ACT supports more than 2000 people living with the condition in Canberra.

Starting at Rond Terrace, Commonwealth Park, there will be a range of activities, including walking, running or Nordic Walking across 1.5km or 5km bridge-to-bridge courses. There will also be entertainment, food, drinks and children’s activities. Register at walktofightparkinsons.com.au

A homoeopathic view

Registered homoeopath Dr Divya Bhatt is the guest speaker at the next lunch meeting of the Gungahlin Day VIEW Club at the Gungahlin Lakes Golf Club, Nicholls, from 11.45am on May 22. Interested ladies and visitors welcome. Lunch is $35. RSVP to 0413 923933 by 9pm, May19.

Ros shares some history

Ros Jackson, from the ANU Classics Museum, is the dinner speaker at the next meeting of the Tuggeranong Evening VIEW club, at the Town Centre Vikings Club, Greenway, from 6.30pm on May 22. Visitors and interested ladies welcome. RSVP to tuggeven@gmail.com

We specialise in local species as well as hardy, cold and frost tolerant natives, carrying a large range of native plant varieties, ranging in size from tubestock to advanced.

Come out and see us at Pialligo and we will show you a range of plants that will be suitable for your garden soil type, to grow and enjoy an abundance of Australian Native plants!

Doctors press for tax on sugar Falls behind one in three child injury hospital visits

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is calling for a tax on sugary drinks, believing that a targeted sugar tax would help combat obesity and other preventative chronic diseases such as type two diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cases of cancer.

The call has been backed by a new Grattan Institute report, by Peter Breadon and Jessica Geraghty, that says Australia’s obesity rate has tripled since 1980, and the number of Australians with type two diabetes has nearly tripled since 2000.

Breadon and Geraghty attribute this to excessive sugar consumption in Australia.

According to the AMA’s #SicklySweet campaign, Australians drink more than 2.4 billion litres of sugary drinks each year.

AMA president Prof Steve Robson says: “Sugary drinks make us sick, and we know this is a huge health problem for Australia.

“Sugar hides in a lot of drinks and we don’t realise the huge quantities we are actually consuming – it’s not always immediately apparent.”

The AMA’s modelling suggests a sugar tax could result in government revenue of $2.8 billion across four years.

“Of course, this revenue is above and

beyond the burden and cost we could save the health system. Anything we can do to lessen the strain on our health system, particularly while our hospitals are in logjam, is critical. That’s why I’m pleased to see Grattan join us in this fight,” says Prof Robson.

“The World Health Organisation has called for this and there are already more than 100 countries and jurisdictions that have acted and introduced

sugar taxes. If we want to see industry reformulate their products in Australia and we want a healthier society, then now is the time to act.”

Modelling by the Grattan Institute shows that their proposed tax would reduce consumption of the drinks with the most sugar by about 275 million litres a year, seeing the average Australian drinking nearly three quarters of a kilogram less sugar each year.

One in three injury hospitalisations among Australian children and young people are caused by a fall, with playground equipment the main culprit, reports CALLUM GODDE

A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows there were 603,675 emergency department (ED) presentations and 88,766 injury hospitalisations among children and adolescents in 2021/22.

That represents 28 per cent of all ED presentations and 8.3 per cent of hospitalisations.

Boys made up most of the cohort’s injury ED presentations (58 per cent) and hospitalisations (61 per cent).

Poisoning or toxic effects was the only type of injury in which girls were more likely than boys to be hospitalised.

Falls caused the highest number of injury hospitalisations (29,000 cases), followed by contact with objects (17,400 cases) and transport (12,000 cases).

“Playground equipment was the most common cause of falls amongst children, with hospitalisation rates being highest among children aged five to nine years,” institute spokeswoman Heather Swanston said.

Sport and active recreation contributed to 21 per cent of injury hospitalisations and more than a third (36 per cent) of injury hospitalisations were for fractures.

Children are at greater risk of certain injuries according to their developmental

stage, the institute said.

The most common injuries diagnosed at an ED for children under nine were head injuries.

Infants had the highest rate of injury hospitalisations caused by choking and suffocation, with inhaled food being the most common cause.

Children aged one to four had the highest rate of injury hospitalisations caused by drowning and submersion, and were most likely to drown or have a near-drowning experience in a swimming pool.

The 16 to 18 age bracket had the highest rates of injury hospitalisation overall.

The report does not include child and adolescent injury cases treated by general practitioners, allied health professionals or outpatient clinics. –AAP

Playground equipment was found to be the most common cause of falls.

Photo: Tracey Nearmy/AAP

YESTERDAYS / Ukrainian Catholic Church of St Michael

Ukrainian ‘divine secret’ behind the red bricks

“Dreams of Free Ukraine” – a more modern headline would be hard to imagine, and yet this appeared in The Canberra Times 51 years ago.

In 1973, “president of the exiled Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), Mr MA Livytskyj” visited the Austral ian capital.

As noted, it had been a governmentin-exile in Poland and France from 1921 following a three-year war with Russia on the UNR’s declaration of “complete independence” from the Communist Empire.

More than half a century later, around 35,000 Ukrainians were living in Australia.

The first arrivals in the CanberraQueanbeyan region in 1948 were largely “political refugees, workers deported to Germany during World War II and former inmates of Nazi concentration camps”.

On May 24, 1954, on local governments being made responsible for “naturalising” their own residents, Queanbeyan proudly welcomed its first seven “New Australians”, two of whom were from Ukraine.

By the early 1980s, around 1200 Ukrainian-Australians had made the ACT and Queanbeyan home. Bringing with them customs acknowledged through music to fes-

the Ukrainian Republic ever present.

Political visits to the national capital included Mrs Nadia Svitlychna in 1979, “the first woman allowed out of the Soviet Union after spending four years in prison for dissident activities”.

The Ukrainian Youth Association (UYA) held its national conference in Queanbeyan during Easter, 1981. Some 120 of its members converged on the Soviet embassy in the ACT to protest the almost permanent post-war Russian imprisonment of a later politician,

Yuri Shukhevych, from the time of his mid-teens for offences including “anti-Soviet agitation”.

The local UYA, a social club and a community hall, were established early in Queanbeyan. However, the most important achievement of those newest citizens was a traditional creation cementing their place as well as maintaining a cultural connection to the “old country”.

For almost 60 years, their neat, red brick church has remained something of a divine secret. Most passers-by barely register its presence, tucked back from the street as it is, shadowed by neighbouring apartment complexes.

With a delightful outlook over the city’s eponymous river, the house of God was declared “one of the town’s outstanding community projects… built almost entirely by voluntary labour [and] a tribute to the workmanship, dedication and civic pride of the former Ukrainian nationalities in our community”.

Services were initially held in the charming St Gregory’s Catholic Church (1850) around the corner. The desire for their own spiritual space was advanced in 1961, three years after what’s believed Australia’s first Ukrainian church – St Olga’s in Wodonga, Victoria – welcomed worshippers in October, 1958.

The fulfilment of the dream was no

easy undertaking. Queanbeyan may well have been more than 130 years old, but the land donated by a local resident then sat amidst essentially open paddocks. On one side there were plans for a caravan park while across the road the river bank was a “picnic area”. Although a central street, it wasn’t sealed, there were no water mains available and the sewer line was yet to be extended.

Despite the challenges, after six years of “spare time” toil, Sunday, May 14, 1967, was a day of considerable celebration. No less than the Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, NZ and the Oceanic, the Most Reverend Ivan Prasko, offered his blessings on Queanbeyan’s new Ukrainian Catholic Church of St Michael.

Similarly, five years later – February 28, 1973 – Cardinal and Major Archbishop Joseph Slipyj celebrated Holy Mass at the modest church.

Having spent 18 years in Siberian labour camps, there’s historic suggestion the cardinal’s life provided some basis for Australian writer Morris West’s book The Shoes of the Fisherman – about the election of a Ukrainian pope.

St Michael’s was then and remains

now something of a rarity in our nation’s ecclesiastical landscape. In the decades that have passed, the work of this place of worship has continued: people wedded, babies baptised, citizens farewelled.

In the same year the church opened to its congregation, a national Ukrainian festival was held in Canberra, intended as a “tribute to Australia”. It would be reported: “Australia has a deep meaning to Ukrainian migrants as this country has offered them splendid opportunities to rebuild their lives after the ravages of the second World War and has granted them full freedom to maintain their identity and cultural inheritance.”

In the face of ancient chaos continuing in a contemporary world, our support of such ideals remains critical.

Nichole Overall is a social historian and journalist. She can be heard cohosting the CityNews Sunday Roast program, 9amnoon, on 2CC.

PLANNING

Lazy planning dooms Canberra’s

“The ACT government should be leading the way with exemplary residential projects, rather than trying to maximise its and its rapacious developers’ short-term gains,” says RICHARD JOHNSON, president, Kingston & Barton Residents Group.

The ACT government’s plans for 1300 new dwellings in North Curtin, apparently without shops, community facilities or adequate road connections, is the latest example of its propensity to rush out “quick-fix” proposals in response to the housing crisis and to pander to the worst kind of rapacious developers.

This would result in town-centre type, very high-density building with little room for open space and tree cover, in defiance of the government’s own Living Infrastructure Plan.

At the other end of the scale they are now allowing subdivision of low-density suburban house blocks, inevitably trashing the high environmental quality of Canberra’s early housing areas with no great gain in affordable or appropriate new housing.

No thought has been given to sensible scale medium-density development such as used to happen 20 or more years ago.

We are also seeing this in the first stage of the East Lake urban renewal

area, which involves redevelopment of The Causeway (fully occupied) public housing area and currently vacant land to its north.

This is a net area of about four hectares and the recent Draft Plan Amendment A also promises (coincidentally?) up to 1300 dwellings. This would be a very high residential density of more than 300 dwellings per hectare, but actually equivalent to the latest complex in the Kingston Foreshore (Kingsborough). This is distinguished by very dense buildings with minimal communal open space and tree cover, yet Minister Chris Steel’s comments on East Lake particularly identified this as a “model” development.

• Don’t worry about the existing Causeway Housing tenants, or the fact that half this site is flood liable land and was not redeveloped by the NCDC in the ‘70s for that reason.

• Don’t worry about providing any replacement social housing in the new development.

• Don’t worry about community facilities for the new residents, already in very short supply right across Kingston, where the last

four-storey office building.

• Don’t worry about the fact that this area has effectively only one external road access, so there will be significantly increased traffic on existing, very busy, Foreshore streets. And it is remote from the government’s “solution” to Canberra’s public transport needs, its shiny red tram (wherever and, indeed, if it ever does finally work its way down to Woden). There is about 2.5 hectares of vacant, developable land at the eastern end of the Kingston Foreshore, but which is sterilised by the existing

all of which was due to be decommissioned and removed some years ago.

The government has been reluctant to invest in such important infrastructure works, while lavishing money on its largely pointless tram.

The Kingston & Barton Residents Group are not opposed to mediumdensity development in appropriate locations, but these need to be carefully planned with the overriding intention of providing new climate-sensitive and socially appropriate housing.

We used to be able to do this sort of thing in Canberra, as exemplified

future

by some public housing projects, redevelopments in “old” Kingston under NCDC Guidelines and the first developments in Kingston Foreshores.

The clear lessons from these are that sites need to be large (not less than about half a hectare), development intensity moderate and generous communal open space/tree cover (at least 30 per cent of site area).

The recently approved housing project at Dairy Road by the Molonglo Group shows the way. This has only 400 dwellings on a site where more than 1000 were permitted, in not more than four-storey buildings, with generous, open courtyards and plenty of space for tree cover, extensive landscaping, ponds and wetlands.

This development is the first to be (successfully) subjected to “microclimate assessment”, aimed at minimising urban heating, and which the Living Infrastructure Plan sensibly called for to be applied to all major projects. Where are the required guidelines, which apparently have been sitting on someone’s desk for several years?

Come on ACT government, you should lead the way with exemplary residential projects like this, rather than trying to maximise your and rapacious developers’ short-term gains!

Richard Johnston, president, Kingston & Barton Residents Group Inc.

distinguished by very dense buildings with minimal communal open space and tree

Photo: Richard Johnston

Planning gone completely mad in North Curtin

Ideologically driven planning in Canberra will mean the loss of the special character and amenity that is our carefully planned city.

The policy of the government, driven by the Greens, is to build future Canberra totally within the current footprint. Madness!

The proposed North Curtin development is a case in point. The Curtin Residents Association identified that the proposed development will be “three times as dense as Singapore”. If that is not bad enough, at this stage there is also no proposal for appropriate amenities to support the development.

Photo: Paul Costigan

The government’s Our CBR website argues that they are “progressing work to deliver more than 1300 townhouses and multi-unit dwellings” in the area. It boasts that “the existing North Curtin horse paddocks will welcome the new homes, close to transport, local services and places of employment”.

The “request to share thoughts” has raised the ire of the Residents Association, who argue the proposal “is as densely populated as the most densely populated areas of Sydney, London, Amsterdam or Stockholm”. A good reason for concern.

The reaction of some will be to

resort to name calling, using terms such as NIMBY (not in my backyard). What an easy cop out to avoid answering key planning questions!

Since before self-government, it has invariably been residents’ groups and academics who have questioned planning decisions and worked to hold governments accountable.

Residents’ groups do understand the broader planning concerns –but expect sensible decisions and appropriate developments that have a direct impact on them.

The development of C5 in Campbell includes a significant number of medium-rise apartments. Why were there minimal objections? The government of the time was not greedy. There is a

The policy of the government, driven by the Greens, is to build future Canberra totally within the current footprint. Madness!

wide green space for recreation with trees and room for families, their children and dogs. This is surrounded by the apartments with convenience shops and restaurants as part of the complex.

Proposing 1300 units for North Curtin is hardly likely to be able to facilitate this sort of development. If it was able to do so, the government planners would have provided indications instead of weasel words such as, “the future residential neighbourhood is envisioned as high-quality, sustainable and vibrant with quality public streets and spaces”.

The government has called for community feedback. The North Curtin proposal will be a test for the recently appointed planning minister, Chris Steel. Will the consultation process be genuine, or will it be the usual façade of listening and then doing what was intended in the first place.

Steel took on the role just six months ago. Will he genuinely listen? Will he require his directorate to listen properly? Will he be willing to

stand up to the Greens’ ideology of no further development beyond Canberra’s current footprint and much more density throughout the city?

“The major roads in the area –Yarra Glen/Adelaide Avenue, Cotter Road and McCulloch Street – are already very busy and congested with peak-hour traffic” according to Ian Elsum, the president of Curtin Residents Association. He added “schools in the area are full” and asked, “where are the children going to go to school?”

The residents are not bloody minded. They have acknowledged that North Curtin is an appropriate place for development. However, this sort of intensive development, while it might suit developers and the Greens’ agenda, undermines the sort of amenity that’s found in suburbs such as Curtin.

The government wants to move quickly. It argues “Canberra’s population is set to grow to 500,000 by 2027” and justifies this sort of half-baked development proposal with the need to enable “the supply of new homes, particularly focused on areas close to transport and services, as well as investing in the infrastructure to

support them”.

Instead of rushing ahead, the Curtin Residents Association is asking the government “to pause the current consultation, extend the time for developing draft conditions of planning, design and development. They argue that this will provide the time for developing plans that address their concerns before a second round of public consultation.

It is appropriate that nearby residents, and Canberrans in general, should expect the area to be “planned in a holistic way” and that appropriate detail be shown to allow residents to understand the impact on those who will live there along with those in the nearby suburbs.

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.

LOST HEARTS

The North Curtin horse paddocks… the proposed development will be “three times as dense as Singapore”.

BY MARY ANNE BUTLER WITH ORIGINAL MUSIC BY SMITH & JONES

The quickest way to make a million? Marry it

A study of economics usually reveals that the best time to buy anything was last year. –

Marty Allen

In the grand theatre of economic predictions, economists often don the cape of omniscience, but despite their impressive mathematical models and graphs, they are clearly mere mortals with a talent for getting things wrong.

It used to be said at ANU that the economics lecturers didn’t need to change the economics exam questions, only the answers.

Remember the global financial crisis of 2007-2009? It was among the five worst financial crises the world has experienced and led to a loss of more than $US2 trillion from the global economy.

It was the most severe worldwide economic crisis since the Great Depression. Factors that caused it were predatory lending, excessive risk-taking by global financial institutions, a build-up of toxic assets within banks and the bursting of the US housing bubble.

Well, most economists didn’t see it coming. In the lead-up to the collapse, they were busy heralding an era of prosperity. Housing prices were supposed to keep going up,

banks were deemed invincible and the phrase “too big to fail” was thrown around like confetti.

Yet, when the bubble burst, economists were left scratching their heads, wondering how their intricate models had failed to predict the impending economic Armageddon.

Then there was covid – again unexpected. The most common unforeseen economic impacts were increased internet shopping, a rise in home-based professional work and a decline in the need for commercial real estate.

Cryptocurrencies have provided yet another forum for economic misadventures. As Bitcoin soared to unimaginable heights, economists were left scratching their heads.

One moment, they were dismissing cryptocurrencies as a passing fad; the next they were trying to wrap their minds around decentralised finance and blockchain technology.

The rise of generative AI and predictive AI are a newer example of economists being left in catch-up mode.

The next time economists confidently predict the future, we should recognise that, in the complex interplay of markets, human behaviour, and unforeseen events, there’s every

chance of them getting it wrong.

Predicting the next smart financial move is probably as challenging for the average punter as finding a kangaroo in Canberra.

On a personal note, every time I’ve taken professional economic or financial advice, I’ve lost money. I’ve found the safest bet – for me at least –is to do my own research, then make my own financial decisions (this advice is general – consider if this

Predicting the next smart financial move is probably as challenging for the average punter as finding a kangaroo in Canberra.

advice is appropriate for you before acting on it!).

Anyway, on a lighter note, here is some sage economic advice:

• The quickest way to make a million? Marry it. – Zsa Zsa Gabor

• If you see a bandwagon (to jump on) it’s too late. – James Goldsmith

• The quickest way to make a million is to start your own religion. –

L Ron Hubbard

• No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. – HL Mencken

• The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.– JK Galbraith

• My dog is worried about the economy because his dog food is up to 99 cents a can. That’s almost $7

2024 Volunteering Expo

in dog money. – Joe Weinstein

• The quickest way to make a million in musical theatre is to start with two million. – Andrew Lloyd Webber

• Gentlemen prefer bonds. –Andrew Mellon

• I think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly. – Steven Wright

• There are two times in a man’s life when he should not speculate: when he can’t afford it and when he can. – Mark Twain

• Elbert Gary [the reclusive CEO] of the United Steel Company never saw a blast furnace until after he was dead. – Benjamin Stolberg

• There are three ways of losing money: racing is the quickest, women the most pleasant and farming the most certain. – Lord Amherst

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.

Some financial advice from actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, she of nine husbands, including hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and actor George Sanders… “The quickest way to make a million? Marry it.”

KEEPING UP THE ACT / making fun of ACT politicians

The seven secret steps of every public servant

“I had previously believed the APS to operate as a wellintentioned mess, but now I see a steely precision to its processes. According to the Cycle, every public servant secretly followed seven immutable steps,” writes JUGULAR JAPES.

Lurking in the basement of Old Parliament House lies an ancient artefact that changes everything you thought to be true.

It all began when we were sitting in the Shush Capital treehouse, speculating on what debacle the ACT government would deliver us for next week’s strip.

Andrea thought it might be Chris Steel accidently raising Mount Ainslie instead of London Circuit for the light rail, while Bob thought it might be Yvette Berry defending the ACT’s literacy levels as being “literally second too nun.”

Suddenly, the phone rang. It was one of our Lonsdale Street Irregulars with news that the Museum of Australian Democracy in Old Parliament House was holding an exhibition of all the best political cartoons of the year, and that ours weren’t included!

While the rest of the team gave Mick Gentleman shrugs, I quietly fumed and vowed to investigate the matter.

And so it was, on a rainy afternoon in May, that I entered Old Parliament House. As thunder rumbled in the distance, I made my way down the

creaky stairs to the so-calledgoddamn -best-cartoons exhibition.

But before I could grumble at their glory, I caught an eerie glow off to my right. Intrigued, I cautiously made my way towards it and that’s when I saw them – a series of ghostly figures staring back at me!

Gleeps!

I stared, transfixed. Then slowly, recognition dawned. The Spirit of Service room. I was looking at public servant ghosts! There was a bewildered old-timer who looked like he hadn’t got the memo on appropriate honorifics, a sweaty SES woman who had clearly been over-grilled by Estimates, and a PR spinner who had maybe spun things so much that he had corkscrewed himself from his corporeal form. Had I entered a portal to the Godwin Grech afterlife?

purported to be the basis for how the whole Australian Public Service operated! Yes, hidden in the depths of Old Parliament House was the Rosetta Stone that deciphered everything!

Bracing myself, I inched past the APS apparitions, and there, rising out of the gloom, I saw it. The mythical Australian Policy Cycle! It was real! It was also huge, making da Vinci’s The Last Supper look like a try-hard

While I had previously believed the APS to operate as a well-intentioned mess, I could now see a steely precision to its processes. According to the Cycle, every public servant secretly, and consistently, followed seven immutable steps…

1. Identify Issues: Apparently, public servants do this instinc -

not after getting a blast from the minister’s office or Ray Hadley.

2. Policy Analysis: According to the Cycle, the APS is chockers with experts who analyse every issue facing Australia and make perfect sense of them.

3. Policy Instruments: The public servants then come up with elegant solutions to all of Australia’s problems.

4. Co-ordination: Here, all the warring departments put aside their differences and joyously

belt out Kumbaya to mermaids and unicorns.

5. Decision: Now, it is time for the relevant minister to sample what the APS has plated up and declare it delicious. Well, maybe needing extra pepper in some electorates.

6. Implementation: This is where the solutions are masterfully put in place to the satisfaction of everyone.

7. Evaluation: In this final stage, the APS hears how good it is, from independent consultants with a keen eye on future employment.

As I read the last dot-point, the spectres raised their voices in unearthly unison: “Congratulations mortal, you are now a public servant. Report to Glyn on Monday.”

That was two weeks ago, and Glyn has chucked out old-mate Gordo, and made me the new Public Service Commissioner. My job now is to tackle why reality remains so persistent in trying to embarrass the Australian Policy Cycle?

Shuffling papers! I need to call Glyn! I think the Cycle may be missing an eighth step to smooth the flow… Suspension of disbelief!

And, yes folks, the Australian Policy Cycle is real. Check it out at the Museum of Australian Democracy.

POLITICS / Greens and public housing

Hypocritical Greens and their housing chutzpah

“The question the Greens must answer is that when the hard reality of budgetary choice hits, will they, contrary to the stand they have taken over the last decade in government, prioritise public housing over the tram?” JON STANHOPE dismantle the Greens public housing policy.

A reliable predictor of future behaviour is that of the past. This does not, of course, mean that the future cannot be changed or reshaped.

However, if there is no evidence of, or commitment to, change it is reasonable to expect more of the same irrespective of lofty claims or promises to the contrary.

Sadly, that is the only realistic conclusion to draw from the ACT Greens’ latest declared policy on public housing.

The policy aim is to build and/or buy 10,000 dwellings over a decade with $2.2 billion to be provided in the next term of the Assembly.

The Greens have costed the policy at $5.9 billion over 10 years and have declared that they will “fight for co-investment from the federal Labor government to make up for the decades of neglect that has caused the crisis in public housing”.

The policy was attacked upon release by the Greens’ coalition partner, namely the Labor Party, by no less than the deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Housing, Yvette Berry.

She said the Greens were making promises to vulnerable Canberrans which they knew they couldn’t possibly keep, and that “they know better, and they should be upfront with the community about the huge hurdles to implement this policy”.

Minister Berry would know, having failed to replace the 1288 public housing dwellings on Northbourne Avenue, which were sold off through the Asset Recycling Initiative to fund the light rail project.

We support any increase in public housing stock, and any legitimate proposal that goes beyond the usual blaming of the Commonwealth for the shortfall, would be welcome.

We also consider that delivering an additional 10,000 dwellings, while

challenging is achievable, with some imagination and sustained commit ment.

However, the Greens’ newly announced policy cannot possibly be delivered under current policy settings, choices and priorities.

Noting that they have, as members of the ACT government, been directly involved in and responsible for the policy settings that have led to the “crisis in public housing”, the Greens’ announcement is as hypocritical as they come and worthy of a gold medal in chutzpah.

The policy was announced by Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury and Rebecca Vassarotti, both ministers in the coalition Government. Rattenbury has been a minister since 2012 and has negotiated three parliamentary agreements for power sharing with the ALP, and has sat in Budget Cabinet in all those years.

Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury and Rebecca Vassarotti… both ministers and both have had plenty of time, power and authority to demonstrate their commitment to public housing.

had, in fact, been making interest and

reshape Canberra’s housing market”. That claim demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of the housing market.

o reshape the housing market, there will need to be initiatives across the housing continuum. The policy will, for example, require a 28 per cent increase in annual land supply – a tall order when the government has been falling short of its current annual target by an average of 19 per cent since the last election. The policy assumes an extra 200 stand-alone dwelling sites being available every year. For that to occur the Greens will need to abandon their entrenched opposition to greenfield supply.

Vassarotti has been engaged with the affordable housing supply and housing services system for well over a decade, as a government appointee on the Board of Community Housing Canberra from 2013 to 2020, and as Minister for Housing Services since 2020. Both have had plenty of time, power and authority to demonstrate their commitment to public housing.

In 2012, Mr Rattenbury negotiated and signed a parliamentary agreement under which he was appointed a minister. The agreement made an unconditional commitment to a light rail network that included the procurement and financing of the project, irrespective of and in advance of both the business case and costings for the project.

In that same agreement, “public housing” appears only once – in relation to an energy efficiency program providing an average of less than $400 per dwelling for four years. There is no mention of, or commitment to increasing housing stock.

Commonwealth Government.

Rattenbury was a minister in Barr’s cabinet and hence a party to the disposal of the 1288 units of public housing, when the agreement was signed.

Community Housing Canberra (CHC) was established as a Tier 1 provider and supplier of community housing stock under the Affordable Housing Action Plan in 2007.

ACT government support of CHC consisted of a $70 million loan facility and guaranteed access to land for 120 dwelling sites annually (without having to compete in the market) under an MOU. Those critical inputs (land and finance) allowed CHC to grow its portfolio at an average of 20 per cent a year until 2014.

The MOU was abandoned in 2014 by the Labor/Green coalition and CHC was left to compete with commercial developers in an environment of squeezed land supply. Its owned stock has consequently stagnated since then.

Vassarotti remained on the CHC Board until 2020, and we are unaware of any campaign or interest by her or the Greens to restore CHC’s access to adequate land for affordable housing.

In 2022, Labor and the Greens cancelled the CHC finance facility thereby ending the second critical

Despite this, Labor and the Greens called in the outstanding loan amount of $63.112 million. This was repaid by CHC transferring housing stock valued at $62.070 million to the ACT government. The government also shamelessly forced CHC to make a cash payment to it of $1.042 million for the remaining loan amount.

The details of this remarkable assault on the ACT’s premier provider of community housing can be found in CHC’s 2021-22 Annual Financial Statements on Pages 43 and 55.

It is ironic that Berry chased and recovered $1 million from an affordable housing provider noting the above-market tender cost of the Campbell Primary School project of the same order.

Across Australia there are programs in place to transfer public housing stock to community housing to build up this sector for well demonstrated benefits. Over the past five years, for example, NSW has transferred more than 15,000 dwellings, and with the exception of WA, all other jurisdictions have similarly made stock transfers. ACT is the only jurisdiction that has paddled against the national policy flow and forced a community housing provider to transfer housing to it.

While we do not suggest that Vassarotti alone made this warped decision, but that as Minister for Housing Services she, along with her two Greens colleagues in cabinet, must under the Westminster conventions accept full ownership of the decision.

The Greens have claimed that their proposed policy will “fundamentally

We estimate the total cumulative interest costs of the proposal over 10 years at around $2.2 billion, which is higher than the interest costs estimate released by the Greens. However, their public release does not provide any information on how the capital cost and interest costs of the policy will be funded.

We have assumed, quite reasonably, that interest costs will be capitalised, ie interest will accumulate into further debt, noting that the government is already borrowing to pay its interest costs on existing debt. The total cost of the policy, if it were delivered, is estimated at $8.1 billion. For a party in government, and seeking to remain in coalition, to not release the source of funds for a policy as ambitious as this is simply unacceptable.

Coalitions invariably require compromise, and budgets most certainly require making choices and prioritisation. The question that the Greens must answer is that when the hard reality of budgetary choice hits, will they, contrary to the stand they have taken over the last decade in government, prioritise public housing over the tram?

Having posed the question we think the answer is pretty clear. It would be fair, we think, for Canberrans to insist that the ALP/ Greens draft parliamentary agreement for the next term of government to be released before the election.

Jon Stanhope is a former chief minister of the ACT and Dr Khalid Ahmed a former senior ACT Treasury official.

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Government hell-bent on digging a bigger hole

Public transport is the Achilles heel of the Barr-Rattenbury government.

Minister Chris Steel, referencing an internal report Light Rail Five Years On: Benefits Realisation Report 2024, claimed light rail had encouraged $2.3 billion in construction, had attracted new passengers to public transport, driven up land values and cut motor vehicle traffic.

What the report did not assess was whether these benefits could have been delivered, at considerably lower cost, by a busway operating on its own right of way. The government’s own submission to Infrastructure Australia in 2012 found that a busway was the superior option.

The high demand for higher-density housing at Kingston and the town centres not served by light rail, further calls into question how essential light rail has been in increasing density along the corridor.

The Greens also released its transport policy focusing on extending light rail, the electrification of the bus fleet, increasing the frequency of bus services, extra bus lanes and extending concessional fares. Other than developing light rail, the Greens policy is similar to that of the ACT Liberals.

What Mr Steel (and the Greens) have not considered is whether the priority given to light rail has been at the expense of improving housing, health, education and disability services.

As a community we cannot afford both light rail and the necessary transport improvements being advocated by the Greens and the Liberals. Busways, operating on their own right of way, on the intertown transport route would be a more prudent use of limited public funds than light rail.

It has become increasingly apparent the government is hell-bent on digging an even larger financial and social hole by extending light rail.

The government is well past its use-buy date.

Mike Quirk, Garran

Tram propaganda for the October election

The ACT government has released its report Light Rail Five Years On: Benefits Realisation Report 2024, prepared by Transport Canberra, thus by a government agency writing its own report card.

While the report is well written, well presented and apparently well researched, it is not without some errors of fact and has deliberate omissions of importance to taxpayers.

Essentially, it is a one-way street of claimed positive outcomes of Stage 1, but contains nothing of the many downsides to taxpayers.

The report addresses only perceived benefits of light rail, from the government’s point of view and, except for the claimed $675 million for construction, does not attempt to identify the many actual costs to the taxpayer, nor direct benefits to the

government (and taxpayer) by clawback from land sales or by taxes imposed on the claimed benefits to others such as the construction industry.

There is no way of validating claimed figures – dollars or otherwise – without access to source data, but that would not be possible under this government, which is baldly saying “trust us!”. However, a review of the report by the auditor-general, to validate claims, would be very useful and probably enlightening.

While this long-awaited report gives some interesting data about light rail operations and claimed benefits (assuming validity), yet nothing at all on negative impacts, it can easily be seen as government propaganda leading to the ACT’s October 2024 election.

See a full critique at alogstudycentre.com. au/light rail

Max Flint, co-ordinator, Smart Canberra Transport

Becoming a concrete jungle, devoid of wildlife

Re “Slaughter of the Red Hill roos, third year in a row” (Letters, CN May 2). I’m devastated the ACT government continues to take the side of development/developers/money over the natural values of our once wonderful city and the views of so many citizens who are against this senseless slaughter.

There is no scientific or social justification for slaughtering the Red Hill roos and stealing evermore habitat from these

amazing macropods – sentient lifeforms (with family structure) that are critical to the natural functioning of native grassland and woodland ecosystems.

I used to enjoy walking in Red Hill Reserve and seeing the roos on the golf course (so did my interstate/international visitors).

The federal government’s message is to conserve what’s left of our native biota and “halt the extinction crisis”, but it seems the ACT Barr government hasn’t got the memo!

Our so-called Bush Capital is becoming an increasingly unappealing concrete jungledesert, devoid of native wildlife.

Let’s hope there is someone standing in the October ACT elections who commits to ending this senseless slaughter – they’d get my vote.

Dr Gina Newton (ecologist), Hughes

Reasons not to re-elect Barr government

In his column “Clock’s ticking, watch how things start to change” (CN, May 9), Michael Moore names three main reasons for not re-electing the Labor-Greens government: financial management, health and education. There are many more, including those mentioned by Independents for Canberra candidate Tom Emerson: the government’s record on the tram, on city services and on planning.

As for City Services, one need only look at the older, inner suburbs to see numerous signs of neglect. Even along the most exclusive and expensive streets in Forrest and Red Hill, there

are roads in need of repair, grass that needs to be mown and numerous dying or dead trees that need to be lopped or removed.

Suburban planning also falls short. In most new suburbs, such as in Gungahlin and Molonglo Valley, houses are crowded together, leaving little or no room for trees, let alone green space. These are the healththreatening heat islands of the future.

As for the tram, the proposed route is a succession of difficult and expensive problems.

This will all likely add up to at least $8$10 billion, strain the patience of motorists negotiating all the detour signs, further strain the ACT government’s budget, its credit rating and add to the reasons for refusing electoral endorsement.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

No road works, but fined anyway

I have just received an infringement notice ($468) for a camera detected offence, namely exceeding the posted speed limit of 60 km/h for Monaro Highway Hume Road Works.

The date of my offence was April 25. If I missed the notice after turning on to the Monaro Highway from Long Gully Road, then so too did the road workers, who were nowhere evident. More strength to their arm. Perhaps they had decided to take a break on Anzac Day?

Alastair McKenzie, Kambah

LETTERS / 2

Why is empty public housing left to moulder?

I agree with Vivien Munoz

(“Public housing home has sat empty since August”, Letters, May 2). I know of at least one home in Kambalda Crescent Fisher that has sat empty and deteriorating for at least two years with no sign of maintenance or occupancy.

One wonders about the effectiveness of the processes government has to manage these homes.

We constantly hear about the short supply of public housing yet these houses sit vacant, vandalised and deteriorating to a point beyond basic maintenance and occupancy.

I am sure there are many similar vacant houses in many suburbs across Canberra. The question is why is this allowed to happen?

John Collits, Fisher

A little more about Joe’s skills, please

When clearing my letterbox of junk mail last week, I encountered a Libs flyer promoting Joe Prevedello for Ginninderra. It went on to inform that Joe had run his own small business here in the ACT and has been a regular fixture on Radio 2CC commenting on the mighty Raiders.

competition. Please tell me we’re not going to have a rooster in the hen house jostling/ pecking between former radio personalities as a result.

Could someone kindly expand on Joe’s small business history and let us know the extent of his “ekonomiks” skills?

John Lawrence via email

Nothing ‘pretty’ about taking drugs

I returned from interstate just in time to find one person who still seems to support

as – aim low and lose (“No regrets, I’ve done pretty well despite drugs”, Janine Haskins, letters, CN April 11).

I don’t see anything “pretty” about consuming mind-altering and toxic drugs. In terms of morbidity and mortality, alcohol has run second to smoking for scores of years and numbers up to 2500 in those categories annually.

And by the way, please, let no one in the community party-on with the new drug nitazenes – similar to fentanyl – a drug that causes annually up to 10,000 plus deaths in the US.

Colliss

Parrett, Barton

Share some random kindness every day

What is kindness and why is it necessary? If not for the random kindness shown to me by various strangers, friends and acquaintances in these past weeks, I, like many others, would be in a deep state of depression. A big thank you goes out to them everywhere from children to adults.

I urge everyone to practise at least one random, positive, kind act every day; be aware that even a friendly smile can cascade into happy responses with whom we find ourselves sharing our public and personal spaces.

There will be a time when you will be rewarded when you least expect it.

Ilona

Crabb, Narrabundah

Divisive sloganism is not the answer

All Australians, us men included, would agree that the sickening pandemic of violence against women is unacceptable. However it cannot be addressed simply by divisive sloganism: “It’s a man’s issue”.

It’s not just “A man’s Issue”, it is “The man’s issue”. The man with a history of violence, the man with mental health issues, the same man who would cowardly king hit another man from behind.

It’s more than a gender issue. It’s an issue with the Justice System, AVO procedures and

lax bail conditions. It’s an issue with a failing mental health system. It is an issue of access to weapons such as knives.

Even here in Canberra, there are retail outlets, including common hardware stores, where anyone can walk in and buy a lethal hunting knife.

And let us not forget the elephant in the room: while men, by and large, are the perpetrators of domestic violence, they are also sometimes the victims but, hindered by the reluctance to recognise that men can actually be victims in the first instance, and the intense shame and stigma of their situation, men are less willing to reach out for help.

Declan Mcgrath, via email

Be grateful, you got off, Janine

I have some advice to Janine Haskins after being pulled over by the local constabulary (Letters, CN May 9) and it relates to Justice Lee’s observations in the recent Federal Court case involving Bruce Lehrman. Justice Lee observed that, “having escaped the lion’s den, Mr Lehrmann made the mistake of going back for his hat”. I suggest that you are doing the same thing, Janine.

The police officer was gruff with you as you were transgressing. He let you off without fining you. Pretty reasonable, I reckon. Be grateful.

Michael Collins, Banks

CELEBRATING SENIORS

From looking after their health to getting their affairs in order, these Canberra businesses know the importance of helping the older community. This expertise allows seniors to balance their priorities with ease, making time for both the neces sary and the fun.

Here “CityNews” speaks with the people and services passionate about improving the lives of Canberra’s seniors.

Health to happiness, seniors living their best lives

boasts a contemporary new wing with 29 generously proportioned single

Our residential care will enable you to enjoy a relaxed and caring community environment with 24hr care. Located within a beautiful garden setting in Page, Villaggio Sant’ Antonio offers safe and secure living in both our Aged Care Facility and our Independent Living Retirement Villas. For all enquires please contact us on 62551794 or reception@villaggio.com.au www.villaggio.com.au

“The facility offers a chapel and hairdressing salon, and our lovely hairdresser ensures each resident looks their best for regular events catered for by our onsite kitchens delivering fresh and tasty meals,” she says.

“Villaggio has two buses to offer planned outings to places of interest throughout the Canberra region. Residents enjoy the services of 24-hour registered nurses, a qualified team of care staff plus physiotherapists, a dietitian, speech therapist and

“Everything we do is driven by our universal mission to enhance the lives of ageing adults and their families.” Villaggio Sant’ Antonio, 35 Burkitt Street, Page. Call 6255 1794, or visit villagio.com.au

first floor, 32-38 Townshend Street, Phillip. Call 6152 9203 or visit chsol.com.au Capon and Hubert director Ken Hubert.

Ken Hubert

CELEBRATING SENIORS

Norwood memorial gardens refreshed

Norwood Park Crematorium has provided a beautiful and tranquil setting for memorials and ceremonies since 1966, says general manager Michael Bridges, with a variety of beautifully landscaped memorial gardens that provide peace and a space for reflection.

Michael says they are currently in the midst of a development application for a new crematorium, as well as a new administration building.

“We will host the latest in cremation technology here, in the cremators, so there’s a lot happening in that space,” he says.

Resident-led retirement village in heart of Weston Creek

Araluen Retirement Village has two, two-bedroom properties for sale, says LJ Hooker Dickson real estate agent Nic Salter-Harding.

Araluen is a resident-led retirement community for those over 60, he says.

“There’s a great community there,” he says, “and you can be as involved or uninvolved as you like.”

Nic says Araluen provides residents with the freedom to treat the property as their own.

“Often what you’ll find with retirement villages is that you don’t really have a lot of freedom over how you live in that property,” he says.

“What you have here is somewhere where you really own your home, so you purchase the place, you can make more or less whatever changes you want.

“I’ve seen people do as little as nothing, just move in,

or they might do some painting, or some redecorating and I’ve also seen people rip the entire place back down to the studs and completely renovate from the ground up.

“You also then get to benefit from the improvement in value over time and when it comes time to move it on, you get to sell it, you don’t have to give it back to the village.”

Nic says Araluen is just a short, flat walk to the Fisher shops, or there is a bus stop just outside that can take residents to Cooleman Court as well as a village shuttle bus.

LJ Hooker Dickson, 36 Woolley Street, Dickson. Call 0412 600085, email nic.salter-harding@ ljhdickson.com.au or visit dickson.ljhooker.com.au

the park, cleaning up some of the older ones and doing some artworks around the park as well.”

The whole park has been revamped, he says.

In June, Michael says Norwood Park will be hosting an information night that will cover some of the legal aspects of end-of-life care, and answer common questions about the crematorium.

Details for the information night will soon be made available on their website.

Since 1966, Norwood Park has provided a beautiful and tranquil setting for memorials and ceremonies in the ACT. The landscaped grounds sit elevated above Canberra and are one of Australia’s most established memorial parks.

• Indoor and outdoor chapel areas

• On-site function room/catering and picnic areas available

• Custom plaques and a large selection of urns

• Over 20 acres of various memorial gardens

• Friendly and supportive staff

• Our grounds are open daily from sunrise to sunset

www.norwoodpark.com.au info@norwoodpark.com.au

CELEBRATING SENIORS

Empowering independence in Canberra

For more than two decades, Open Mobility has been a trusted name in assistive technology, says showroom manager Belconnen & Tuggeranong, Kim Nelson.

“Our commitment to customer satisfaction has made us a go-to provider of mobility solutions in Canberra,” she says.

“Now, with two convenient locations in the heart of Canberra at Belconnen and Greenway (both opposite the post offices), they’re even more accessible to the community.”

Kim says Open Mobility offers a wide range of products, from mobility scooters to lift chairs, beds, and daily living aids, designed to empower individuals to lead independent lives.

“Our expert team goes above and beyond to ensure customer needs are met, providing free and secure delivery, set-up, and demonstrations for all purchases,” she says.

“Open Mobility currently have a range of leading

brands on sale in the autumn sale catalogue. You can pick up a copy in either of the showrooms or online.”

Kim says Open Mobility presents a range of leadingbrand scooters, lift beds, lift chairs and accessories, it’s an unparalleled opportunity to access state-of-the-art mobility solutions at exceptional value.”

“What’s more, Open Mobility offers a five per cent price guarantee, ensuring you get the best value.”

As a registered NDIS provider, Open Mobility guarantees the highest level of care and support for participants.

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Open Mobility, 32 Cohen Street, Belconnen, call 6251 4470 and 310 Anketell Street, Greenway, call 6108 3899, or visit openmobility.com.au

Dr Vass offers life-changing hearing help

Getting help with hearing loss is all about improving communication and gaining clarity, says Dr Vass Hearing Clinic principal Dr William Vass.

Offering professional, independent advice and treatment, Dr Vass says taking the first step with a hearing test can be life-changing.

“We know hearing loss can be linked to anxiety, isolation, anger, relationship issues, work issues and miscommunication in general,” he says.

“After treatment or rehabilitation patients can find it a lot easier to get along with people, don’t have to guess so much and are much more confident in their communication skills, especially with their partner.”

While hearing loss can come with ageing, Dr Vass says it can also often affect young people too.

“Those exposed to loud noises in military and construction fields can experience hearing loss. Some people might be genetically exposed to hearing loss the ear.

“We find that those people who put off getting help with their hearing loss for long periods don’t have as successful outcomes as those who seek help earlier.”

Dr Vass says patients have the certainty that they’ll be seeing him when they visit the clinic and that he will provide one-on-one, tailored care and advice.

“It’s rewarding to help people not be so isolated, and help improve their communication with others, especially their loved ones,” he says.

Dr Vass Hearing Clinic, suite 14, John James Medical Centre, 175 Strickland Crescent, Deakin. Visit drvasshearing.com.au or call 6282 2717.

Hearing Clinic principal Dr William Vass.

CELEBRATING SENIORS

Legal help for all aspects of estates division

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

“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 or protect in the event of their passing remains cared for.

Enhancing homes with ease

Kim Persson, the founder of Renovation Matters, says her deep-seated passion for renovations has transformed her business from a personal hobby into a thriving professional venture.

“If you’re transitioning into a new phase of life and considering downsizing, let Renovation Matters alleviate the associated stress,” says Kim.

“Our specialisation lies in the art of renovating to enhance accessibility, which includes the installation of shower rails and seats, as well as the removal of shower hobs, ensuring your home suits your evolving needs.”

Kim says they can also help with decluttering, rubbish removal, landscaping and gardening, painting, flooring, new bathrooms, kitchen or laundry, new

windows and window furnishings, and cleaning.

Renovation Matters, uses trusted tradesmen to strategically renovate and maximise the sale price, says Kim, and they can look after the property until settlement.

“We help you present your property at its best for sale,” she says.

“We can finance improvements until settlement, leaving no stone unturned in making your renovation journey utterly stress-free.

“Contact us for a free, no obligation consultation now!”

Renovation Matters. Call Kim on 0427 696662, or visit renovationmatters.com.au

Renovation Matters offers transformational renovations that add the biggest impact and value when selling your property.

If you are not selling, we can help you renovate to meet your specific requirements!

KJB Law solicitor Mitchell Chatfield.

Recent before, left, and after of a Renovation Matters transformation.

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Downsizing, death and distribution

CELEBRATING SENIORS

New way of operating, same level of support

Arthritis ACT is launching a new way of operating out of its southside venue, says CEO Rebecca Davey.

“We are closing our one-on-one consult ing rooms down there, however, we will be expanding all the group exercise programs we run from our Pearce location,” she says.

“That includes tai-chi for falls prevention, it includes our strength and balance classes, which are very popular, it includes our Pilates classes, which are becoming more popular, and we have upcoming changes to our yoga program as well, particularly our chi yoga program, which has been well utilised over the years.”

Rebecca says these land-based group classes are really great for seniors wanting to maintain their strength and balance, in turn helping to avoid falls.

“We need to work where we have resistance and we know that doing exercise on land is the best way to increase resistance,” says Rebecca.

These group classes benefit seniors in more than just the physical sense, says Rebecca, with the social element being just as important in staying healthy.

“They build a cohesive social network,” she says “It keeps people connected to their commu nity and provides them with friends who are in the same place as they are, and understand what they’re going through, and in many ways we’re just a conduit to that occurring.”

Arthritis ACT, Pain Support & ME/CFS ACT, 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce. Call 1800 011041 or visit arthritisact.org.au

The over 55s Summerfield estate at Braidwood offers an outstanding lifestyle partnered with properties of exceptional value, says sales director Jane Mackenzie-Ross.

Overlooking the glorious hills of historic Braidwood, Jane says Summerfield offers residents all the natural beauty of country living, with the benefits of city services.

Historic Braidwood offers plenty of shops and cafés, with organic produce easily available and a plethora of arts and crafts or sporting events nearby.

“Nearby GPs, allied health and a hospital next door as well as on-site facilities including yoga, a heated pool, and a gym, means your health and wellness is looked after,” says Jane.

With solar panels and rainwater tanks, Jane says Summerfield is dedicated to sustainability, ensuring

residents can enjoy the nearby heritage walks knowing they are contributing to keeping the local environment clean.

Summerfield is made up of freehold properties, says Jane, so residents own both the house and the land.

“If you still have a few years of working left but are interested in Summerfield, you can buy a property now and rent it out until you are ready to retire,” says Jane.

“This unique invest-now-and-live-in-later option means you can plan your retirement in advance, and be assured that access to the wonderful Summerfield community will still be available.”

Summerfield Braidwood, 70 Little River Road, Braidwood. Call Jane on 0400 472577 or visit summerfield.com.au

Arthritis ACT CEO Rebecca Davey.

MEET OUR PAIN MANAGEMENT EXPERTS

Linda Clee – Physiotherapist

Linda is an experienced physiotherapist having worked clinically in private practice for over 20 years, in rehabilitation settings and in community based aged care. Having owned and operated her own clinic for over 10 years, Linda offered a range of different therapy options, and has refined her skills and service offerings to ensure a functional focus to therapy; that is holistic and promotes overall wellness. A dancer in a past life, Linda loves to add a bit of fun in her programs, often throwing in rhythm and co-ordination challenges that are good for the body and the mind.

Sophie Bullock – Exercise Physiologist

Sophie has post graduate qualifications in hydrotherapy, and as a non-sports centred Exercise Physiologist, helps clients who struggle with engaging in exercise due to a lack of sports participation. Sophie’s goal is to improve clients health via our hydrotherapy program, gym instruction and in-home visits. Sophie also is known for her passion for working with children.

Emil Terbio – Exercise Physiotherapist

Physiotherapist Emil comes to us with a wealth of physiotherapy experience and knowledge from the public hospital system and also private practice. Emil works closely with our team of Exercise Physiologists on a coordinated approach to improving your pain and overall wellbeing. Emil has a special interest in neurology and improving the lives of people living with neurological conditions. He’s also mad keen on soccer and will support you with all sports related injuries and injury prevention.

Sarah Solano – Exercise Physiologist

Sarah believes that exercise is the best medicine. She is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with her degree in exercise physiology and rehabilitation. Previously Sarah was a swim teacher, personal trainer and an allied health assistant in the hydrotherapy field.

Blake Dean – Exercise Physiologist

Blake has expertise in improving clients mobility and decreasing their pain through appropriate exercise. Blake delivers our ‘My Exercise’ program, targeting the relief of lower back and sciatic pain, shoulder and upper body concerns as well as leg, hip and ankle interventions – for those who do not qualify for physiotherapy-led GLAD programs. Blake provides individual & group exercise for younger people with a disability. Blake treats clients in-clinic or via our hydrotherapy program as well as attending your gym with you.

Jacqui Couldrick – Physiotherapist

Jacqui has a particular interest in hip and knee osteoarthritis. Jacqui delivers the GLAD program designed to reduce the need for joint replacements, or if a joint replacement is unavoidable, to prepare you thoroughly for surgery and recovery for day to day tasks. Jacqui is studying towards a PhD in the outcomes of the GLAD program.

Holly Hazelwood – Exercise Physiologist

Jarrod Phillips – Exercise Physiologist

Jarrod is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist who graduated from the University of Canberra in 2024. He has a passion for wanting to help those in need and aims to provide the best possible treatment and advice to each and every one of his clients.

• Occupational Therapy – Assistance with the planning and modification of your home, workplace or car. Applications for NDIS, the Disability and Housing Support Pension, and also driving assessments.

• Physiotherapy – including the GLAD program for knee and hip osteoarthritis, sports injury prevention and rehabilitation, and pain condition support.

• Exercise Physiology – Individual exercise prescriptions, small group classes to increase strength and improve rehabilitation, strength and balance classes, hydrotherapy support.

Holly is a former sports journalist who believed so strongly in the power of exercise to heal and nurture that she undertook her 4 year degree in Exercise Physiology. Holly is be able to work with people directly to support them through their pain journey and regain independence and a joy for living again. Holly provides one on one and group exercise classes both on land and at our hydrotherapy centres to support people to gain freedom from chronic pain. DON’T FORGET

not need to have any

CELEBRATING SENIORS

Anglicare’s Queanbeyan retail shop thrives thanks to its dedicated cohort of senior volunteers, says Laura Dawson, Anglicare’s senior volunteers manager.

Among these devoted individuals are Lorraine Donney and Chris Cartwright, who together have contributed more than 30 years of volunteer work to Anglicare, says Laura.

Lorraine, a volunteer for more than a decade, found her place at Anglicare following a personal life change, saying: “I was at a bit of a loss after a divorce.”

“My friends were here, and wanted to help me, so they said come on down.”

What began as a chance to reconnect with friends evolved into a meaningful way to engage with the community, she says, inspiring her to volunteer twice weekly.

Chris has been volunteering for 20 years, and says she finds both spiritual and social fulfilment in her work.

“I had been helping do ministry overseas,” she says.

“I felt terrible when I had to stop, so this is my tithing in my time. I love being here, working with others who are very caring and meeting the customers that come in.”

Laura says she is immensely grateful for their contributions.

“We are so lucky to have them,” she says.

“They bring a lifetime of experience and knowledge, and we couldn’t do all the work we do in the community without them.”

Next week is National Volunteer Week, and Anglicare recognises and thanks all volunteers, whose invaluable dedication makes a significant impact on the lives of many.

Anglicare Retail Queanbeyan, 170 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan. Call 6232 9272 or visit anglicare.com.au

Denture professionals at the cutting edge

Fringe Dentures is a direct-to-thepublic denture clinic that makes and fits dentures and mouthguards, and also other services such as repairs, and realigning.

“We’re embracing new technol ogy to make sure we get the best service and quality of work, and a better customer experience,” says owner Terry McHugh.

“We’ve transitioned to digital denture and mouthguard manufac turing, which has revolutionised our processes.

“We were doing high-quality work before, and we’re doing even higher-quality work now because of the new technology that we’re using.”

Terry says that the business has expanded to include another clinic in Hawker, as well as regional centres in Jindabyne and Gundagai.

“We’re still servicing the industry through a lot of partner dentists,” says Terry. “And you can claim through your health funds.”

“The most important thing, and the most enjoyable thing, is seeing happy customers walking out with their new dentures.

“If you’re happy, we’re happy.” Fringe Dentures, 3/24 Iron Knob Street, Fyshwick. Call 6239 2534 or visit fringedentures.com.au

Fringe Dentures owner Terry McHugh.

The Junction Youth Health Service

Anglicare Disability Services

Living Community

Youth and Family Services

Early Childhood Education Centers

Anglicare Retail Volunteers

Emergency Relief Volunteers

Centre helps people to age well

Canberra Seniors Centre of fers an inclusive and positive meeting place for over 50s, says manager Andrea Dean.

“Our focus is on helping people to age well, to age with a healthy body and healthy mind and engage with the community,” says

“The club provides great social connections and a range of activities for people to enjoy.”

“This often makes it difficult to breathe. wood smoke are common triggers for both “Winter can be a difficult and frustrating

Whether it’s getting exercise, playing cards, doing art or craft or engaging in another of the club’s range of activities, Andrea says members can spend an hour at the club or make a longer visit, attending several activities and enjoying a coffee with friends.

“You can also get a healthy meal for $7 three days of the week, and that can be a great help if you’re living on your own and you don’t feel like cooking,” she says.

“One of the special things about the fete is that we have a magnificent trash and treasure stall,” she says.

you can best manage your asthma around Asthma Australia. Call 1800 278462, or visit asthma.org.au

“We’ve got a very positive and hospitable culture. Our members who have been coming for years always welcome newcomers.”

“We also have our own kitchen open where we do some homemade meals on the day. There’ll be some great biscuits and cakes for sale.”

Canberra Seniors Centre, 10 Watson Street, Turner. Call 6248 9509, visit canberraseniors. org.au or email ops@canberraseniors.org.au MV

Andrea also says the club has one of their biggest community events coming up, the Seniors Club Fete on June 1.

Canberra Seniors Centre line dancing group.

Multiple award-winning MV Law partner Tanya Herbertson.

them, working with them to get everything packed up in an orderly way, decluttering as we go.

“We then work with local removalist companies to ensure everything is safely delivered to their new home. Finally, we assist them to settle in and set up their new home.”

Spectrum Organising also offers services in estate clearances, supporting the clients through the whole process.

We currently have capacity in the follow services:

Downsizing

“We advocate for people bringing us in as early as possible, because people underestimate how big the process can be and how exhausting the process can be, so the more time that people allow themselves, the easier the process, and the less stressful it is,” says Melinda.

Spectrum Organising, call 0413 897692 or visit spectrumorganising.com.au

The Community Info Hub (the Info Hub), operated by VolunteeringACT, is an organisation where senior volunteers are welcome to share their wisdom and skills with young volunteers and visitors alike, says Jean Giese CEO, Volunteer ingACT.

Volunteering is proven to be an excellent way for older Canberrans to maintain their wellbeing through giving back to organisations who share their values, contributing their skills and experi ence, and staying connected, says Jean.

“One such gem of the Info Hub is Rodney Dunstan, affectionately called Rod,” Jean says Rod, a 73-year-old avid traveller and animal photographer, has volunteered at the Hub since 2019, says Jean, before that, working as a facilities co-ordinator at the University of Canberra.

“Rod loves sharing his travel experiences. He even authored a book about a cruise trip he took in June 2012, where he explored tunnels in Scotland and kindly donated it to the Info Hub for everyone to read,” says Jean.

“He enjoys getting to know the visitors at the Hub. He fondly remembers a kind gentleman he would chat with for hours about currency exchange rates and F1 drivers.

“When asked about his hobbies, Rod jokingly pulls out an old Zimbabwean billion-dollar note he bought years ago from a gift shop and says: ‘I’m a billionaire! I do not have to do anything!’”

Visit the 2024 Volunteering Expo organised by VolunteeringACT on Saturday, May 18, to find a volunteering opportunity and say hi to Rod, says Jean.

VolunteeringACT Community Info Hub, Griffin Centre, 20 Genge Street, Canberra. Call 6248 7988 or visit volunteeringact.org.au

LIGHTEN YOUR LOAD

We are a team of Professional Organisers, with many years combined experience, decluttering family homes in the Canberra region.

Decluttering and downsizing the family home in preparation for retirement or a move to aged care can be overwhelming and emotional. It can be difficult to know where to start.

Let our expert knowledge and experience take the stress and uncertainty out of the downsizing and moving process.

Estate Clearances

We offer a gentle and sensitive approach to estate clearances, guiding and assisting you to sort through your family’s treasured belongings at a pace that suits you.

We offer transparent solutions to selling items of value and can help to find homes for the items you no longer need.

Melinda literally saved our bacon stepping in at the last minute to help with a complicated downsize to help our Mum move to a retirement village and prepare her home for sale.

Mel is thoughtful, responsive, supportive and knows all the places and things to do. 10/10 would recommend.

-Rachel via Google Reviews

Spectrum Organising owner Melinda McFadden.

Rehabilitative group exercise classes

Bruce Sports Medicine looks after people of all ages and abilities to help them with their quality of life, says owner Dr Wilson Lo.

And with the new renovations, the Hall-based practice has a fully functional rehabilitation gym along with a multi-purpose room to run allied health practitioner-led exercises classes.

“We have been running regular rehabilitation classes, including the internationally recognised GLA: D program for osteoarthritis of the knee and hip since we moved to Hall and are about to start more classes,” he says.

Dr Lo says many of the classes attract a private health rebate and they are all small groups led by one of the Bruce Sports Medicine exercise physiologists or physiotherapists.

“They are held in either the gym, the multipurpose room and even the Hall oval,” he says.

Dr Lo says the classes about to start will be for lower back pain and sciatica, pre and post-operative rehabilitation, running sessions, metabolic health including diabetes, falls and balance, bone and muscle building for women more than 50 years old, hypermobility, Parkinson’s disease and pre and post-operative bariatric surgery.

“Every person has a different aim in life, whether that be to play golf, go on an overseas trip or just function in everyday life without pain,” he says.

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

Annette and Sarah laughing over tea.

Community Services #1 has been delivering a wide range of services across Canberra since 1987, says Juliette Spurrett, executive director of Aged Care Services.

“An important part of our service is offering a variety of aged-care services including Home Care Packages,” she says.

“If you have a Home Care Package and are looking for a more personal and transparent experience – you might consider contacting Community Services #1.”

Juliette says being based in Canberra gives Community Services #1 the distinct advantage of being able to provide a responsive and accessible service to people in the greater ACT area.

“One of the great benefits of providing a local service is that it gives our clients confidence with their

support at home knowing that the people providing the support live right here in the local community,” she says.

Juliette says the team at Community Services #1 is dedicated to ensuring clients receive a more individualised experience, and that one of the key aims is to always ensure our clients feel and are confident with their support at home services.

“If you would like to know more, please reach out to one of our team members to find out how Community Services #1 can deliver an improved level of service,” says Juliette.

Community Services #1, 63 Boolimba Crescent, Narrabundah. Call 02 6126 4700, or visit communityservices1.org

Are you recovering from or preparing for Surgery?

Our small group rehabilitation classes in our New Rehabilitation Gym, and multipurpose room can help you.

Our small group classes include:

• Core program for lower back pain and sciatica

• Pre and postoperative rehabilitation

• Hall Running sessions

• Metabolic Health including Diabetes

• Falls and Balance

• Bone and Muscle Building for Women over 50 yo

• Hypermobility

• Parkinsons Disease

• Pre and Post operative Bariatric surgery

• Internationally recognised GLA:D program for osteoarthritis For more information, or to register, CALL NOW 02 6253 5386 or visit brucesportsmedicine.com.au

9 Victoria st, Hall, ACT

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Mother and Son and more as Tempo turns 50

By Helen MUSA

By sheer coincidence,

I reviewed the first production by Tempo Theatre for ABC radio’s 2CY in 1974 and it’s hard to believe that the venerable company is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.

The birthday show will be a slap-up production of Mother and Son in a new and updated stage version written by Geoffrey Atherden and directed by long-time Tempo member Michael Weston.

In 1974 I remember having fun critiquing what was considered an edgy choice, the musical Bye-Bye Birdie.

I caught up with Tempo founder Joyce Macfarlane recently by phone, who told me how she and her staunch allies, musical director Rose Ianno and Charles Oliver, worked hard to form a society specifically to perform musicals that were “modern”.

A trained scenic artist from

London’s theatre, Macfarlane, landing here as a housewife and mother, looked around for some stimulation

ARTS IN THE CITY

and joined Canberra Philharmonic. But finding that its staple was still Gilbert & Sullivan, she was keen to

Star tenor to sing in Canberra

Stuart Grammy-nominated Australian tenor, will join Canberra-trained mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby, Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra to perform Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) in Schoenberg’s arrangement of the work. Skelton and the ACO first presented the work at the Edinburgh Festival in 2016. Known as a lover of fast cars, cigars and cocktails, Skelton is in demand as a soloist across the world’s stages, from singing the role of Tristan at The Met in New York to starring in The Last Night of the Proms in London. He’s at Llewellyn Hall on May 24.

Comedians Kaz Cooke and Judith Lucy will be here with Menopausal Night Out, bringing stand-up comedy, laughs and “really useful chats” about perimenopause and whatever comes. The Playhouse, May 24.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jessica Cottis, performs

Edge of the

Tenor Stuart Skelton… Llewellyn Hall, May 24. Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke

World, opening with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending, followed by Nigel Westlake’s Toward Takayna: Concerto for two guitars, composed for the Grigoryan Brothers, who will perform the work. It concludes with Sibelius’ Second Symphony, composed in the mountains of Italy. Llewellyn Hall, May 22-23

Tjaabi: Flood Country is a contemporary intercultural music and theatre performance led by Patrick Churnside and Big hART. Ten years in the making, it captures

do something edgier and founded a new society and “called it Tempo, because it would be up-Tempo,” she says.

Then the director of the Canberra Theatre Centre, the late Terry Vaughan, offered her The Playhouse, where Bye-Bye Birdie was staged. Macfarlane has long since moved to Sydney, back into the professional theatre design world, but the group has presented 116 productions.

Chales Oliver went on to make his name as Hairdresser to the Stars and as Fagin in Tempo’s show Oliver!, just one of many memorable 20th century musicals, including Camelot and The Pyjama Game, Man of La Mancha, Gypsy and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. These glory days of musical theatre are still celebrated through a Tempo Theatre singing group on the first Friday of every month.

But Tempo Theatre changed around 1990 and a different regime took over, changing its focus to the comedies and murder mysteries for which the company is now known, of which Macfarlane says: “I think it’s brilliant, I’d like to see some of their plays”.

One of that new cohort was Michael Weston, who joined in 1996,

then a year later was thrust into the presidency when the organisation had only $900 in the bank.

A touring production of Dimboola, the first of many, put money back in the coffers. They also performed oneact plays, comedies and pantomimes written by Weston himself, not least Aladdin and Jackaroo and The Beanstalk.

His Christmas radio plays on Radio 1RPH, which began around 10 years ago with Cyril the Cherub Saves Christmas, have become a standard part of the calendar.

“It’s a good thing that we’ve been able to adapt to the changing theatrical environment in Canberra, and detect what the audience likes to see,” Weston tells me, adding that he was keen to do an Aussie show for the 50th anniversary, had seen Mother and Son at The Q and enjoyed it a lot.

Briefly, in this updated version, Arthur has found a new girlfriend and plans to go on a holiday with her. But will he be able to leave his mother and can he rely on his philandering dentist brother Robert to care for her while he is away? Also, what is happening with Robert’s relationship with his wife Liz?

This will be the last production for

Weston, who suffers from a muscular dystrophy condition called FSHD and is finding it “a bit of a challenge directing from a wheelchair”. He claims he will retire after Mother And Son, but will be back to direct the 2024 Christmas radio show, Wallaby Bob’s Aussie Christmas.

“I’ve loved every moment I’ve had with Tempo,” he says.

Present-day president of Tempo Jon Elphick joined around the same time as Weston. With 21 or 22 plays behind him, he’s the mastermind behind the Agatha Christie thrillers seen regularly at Belconnen Community Theatre and tells me he’s obtained the rights to Love From A Stranger, based on Christie’s 1924 short story Philomel Cottage, and he plans to stage it at the end of October. Elphick has been president of Tempo for “I can’t remember, 10 years I think” and tells me, “I think we offer theatre for the common man, we don’t do cutting-edge theatre or theatre with a social message, we just do theatre for the ordinary person who wants to come and be entertained.”

Tempo Theatre, Mother and Son, Belconnen Community Theatre, Swanson Court Belconnen, May 24-June 1.

the urgencies of the 21st century as the globe warms and the climate changes and features the tjaabi song form, which is unique to the First Nations peoples of the Pilbara. The Vault, Dairy Road, Fyshwick,

How do we Fix a Turbulent World? human rights barrister and TV’s Hypothetical presenter Geoffrey Robertson analyses current affairs during a year in which 49 per cent of the world’s population across 64 countries will go to the polls. The new show will also provide insight into Robertson’s life and famous cases. Canberra Theatre, May 22.

The National Gallery of Australia has appointed Kerstin Thompson Architects to design a new café and dining destination for visitors, to be opened by July 2025. Located at the main entrance, the new café will open on to the Australian Garden with views of James Turrell’s Skyspace Within Without.

ANU Drill Hall Gallery Publishing will showcase its range of titles at the NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair, where author Quentin Sprague, art critic and historian Victoria Perin and the Drill Hall’s Tony Oates will be in conversation to launch the monograph, Ken Whisson: Painting & Drawing in Melbourne on May 26.

Mother and Son cast… clockwise from top left, Nigel Palfreman as Arthur, George Belibassakis as Robert, Rina Onorato as Liz and Cheryl Browne as Maggie.

BOOKS / review

Meet the Taylor Swifts of ‘romantasy’ writing

Sarah Maas and Rebecca Yarros are the Taylor Swifts of contemporary book publishing with their romantasy novels, a blend of romance and fantasy.

Why? Is it because of BookTok and Instagram publicity to a young, notably female audience, or the need for readers of all ages to escape from an increasingly difficult world.

One major publisher has commented: “It’s not an accident that BookTok and that romance readership kicked off in 2020 – a period characterised by uncertainty”.

Kathleen Farrar at Bloomsbury Publishing, one of the leading romantasy publishers, has said that the genre’s “strong yet nuanced female characters features have attracted huge numbers of female readers who may previously not have felt particularly welcome or catered for in the fantasy market”.

The two leading romantasy authors are Americans Sarah J Maas and Rebecca Yarros, who have topped global fiction bestseller lists in 2023 and 2024.

Maas’ series of books, including the Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses have sold 40 million copies worldwide in 38 languages. Her publisher, Bloomsbury, have reported that associated hashtags connected to Maas’ books have had more than 11.5 billion views on TikTok alone. Social media is central to the romantasy publishing phenomenon.

Maas’ and Yarros’ books cover loss and grief, trauma and friendship, infused with a

generous dose of “spice” – BookTok’s term for eroticism and sex. It’s not uncommon for romantasy novels to come with “spice ratings” from their female readers, “Spice Girls”.

Maas’ House of Flame and Shadow paperback edition, the third book in her Crescent City series, became, in early 2024, the highest selling print title in Australia, selling more than 36,700 copies in its first week of release. It continues the story of hybrid heroine, Bryce Quinlan, a 25-year-old half-fairy, half-human woman.

In the latest book, Bryce is stranded on a world in which she does not know who to trust, while her lover, fallen angel, Hunt Athalar is imprisoned by ancient godlike beings, the Asteri.

Rebellion may be the only option, with Bryce becoming “the young woman who

Bryce, who has always been about fighting for the people she loves, becomes too imperious and self-centred.

Rebecca Yarros delivers a fresher romantasy series with her Empyrean novels Fourth Wing and its sequel Iron Flame, which have sold 1.2 million and 1 million copies in the US respectively, making her the second best selling author (fiction and non-fiction) after Colleen Hoover.

The B format paperback of Fourth Wing topped the highest new entries on the Australian publisher list in mid-April. It sees book-loving, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail, enrolled in the ruthless War College for dragon training, in which participants graduate or

die. The dragons are particularly ruthless – “dragons don’t bond with fragile women. They incinerate them”.

Violet becomes enmeshed in what will be an “enemies-tolovers” relationship with her family’s nemesis Xaden Riorson, a relationship initially compromised by the fact Violet’s mother killed Xaden’s father.

on one occasion for Terry Pratchett at a Canberra meet-the-author event.

It’s a compelling mix of magic, dragons, slow-burn romance and political intrigue with a cliffhanger conclusion that leads on to the next book, Iron Flame.

Yarros is touring Australia in late June, but unfortunately not to Canberra. At American book launches she is often mobbed by fans dressed as her characters from her novels, with midnight launch parties at bookshops.

It’s revealing that the Australian organisers of the Yarros tour indicate that only one book initially can be signed per person, stating “fans wanting multiple books signed will need to queue up multiple times”, which reflects the nature of fantasy fandom. I still remember the four-hour queue for signings

DINING / Senn Noods, Braddon

Place

Genre publishing, including crime and science fiction, has often been looked down upon by the “literati” especially when it sells well. One major ABC book reviewer recently commented on the book she was reviewing: “Don’t turn off because this is a genre book”, which highlights that critical disdain.

Tanya Kirk, the curator of the British Library’s recent exhibition, Fantasy: Realms of Imagination, has commented that now it’s a very vibrant genre with far less literary “patronisation” that in the past and that genres, such as romantasy, “lets us look at our own world in a new light”. Maas and Yarros certainly do that.

for some saucy, cheeky, fun food

Tucked inside the courtyard of the Nibu Building, Braddon, is a “noods delight”. For those who love slurping on delish noodles, Senn Noods is the place to be.

Even if you’re not a “noods” fan (or in the mood for noods), Senn is still the place to be for saucy, cheeky, fun food.

Senn’s menu is designed to take you “back to the street” with an exciting offering of Laos Thai dishes, vibrant in colour and flavour.

It was sharing time for us, starting with Kai Hor Kiew (three for $9) street snacks – super-light wontons stuffed with quail egg and served with sweet chilli sauce. Dip in. Crunch. Dip in. Crunch.

Like Senn Noods, we love sausages, and these fermented pork and rice house-made numbers were delish. They’re formed into round, easy-toeat mini bites packed with flavour ($12).

Stunning were the grilled prawns (two for $22) served with nam jim. Spicy and sour, but perfectly balanced. The prawns were succulent. Street food is celebrated at Senn Noods with Moo Ping (two for $9), thin slices of pork, skewered and grilled with a Thai sticky, sweet sauce. They were tender and slightly smokey from the grilling process.

The menu screamed out for us to enjoy the “must-try” Seen Hang, sun-dried, Lao-style beef jerky ($10). Loved the taste, but some pieces were a bit chewy for our liking.

Before getting stuck into larger share dishes we ordered the Laab ($18), a real treat. Ours was with spicy minced chicken (tofu an option) and the citrus dressing was a super addition to the roasted rice and chilli.

Under the “saucy” section of the menu, we

discovered the green curry, which smashed it ($16). This classic Thai dish is created with Seen Noods’ own home-blend curry paste. It looked gorgeous in the bowl with the intense green colour of the curry made all the more attractive with sliced carrot, beans, other veggies and – of course – slices of chilli. It was coconut creamy, and the chilli crept up with a slight burn at the end.

A traditional Lao dish none of us had dined on before was the Gaeng Aw. We loved this stew, packed with herbs and aromatics. It contains as Beer Lao, Chang and Ashai Super Dry. Three main dining areas are available at Senn Noods… one in the courtyard and two (separate) indoor sections. Order at the counter or through QR codes.

Sarah Maas, left, and Rebecca Yarros… the rock stars of romantasy novels.

Classic Thai green curry… created with Seen Noods’ home-blend curry paste.

Grilled prawns… served with nam jim

Photos: Wendy Johnson

STREAMING

Frosty response to Seinfeld’s Pop-Tart movie

JERRY Seinfeld has had a lot to say about the state of comedy in recent weeks.

For those who haven’t been tuned in, the sitcom legend made headlines after blaming “PC crap and the extreme left” for ruining modern television humour in a controversial interview on the New Yorker’s Radio Hour.

“It used to be, you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, MASH is on. Oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on. All in the Family’ is on’. You just expected, ‘There’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight’. Well, guess what, where is it?” he said.

“This is the result of people worrying so much about offending other people. Now, they’re going to see stand-up comics, because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we’re off track, we know instantly and adjust to it. But when you write a script and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, there goes your comedy.”

Agree or disagree with Seinfeld’s comments, they come conveniently close to the release of his newest film that’s just hit Netflix.

It’s called Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story and it’s the latest in a recent string of flicks to tell the origin story of popular brands.

These have ranged from Tetris, about the popular soviet video game, Air, which told the story of Nike’s iconic shoes and even Blackberry, the creation of the most popular phone until the invention of the one with the

a little more offbeat. He’s gone with the invention of the Pop-Tart.

How thrilling can it be? Apparently, the race between Kellogg’s and Post, sworn cereal rivals, to create a pastry that will change the world was grand enough to make the cut for a 90-minute film script.

Seinfeld himself stars as Bob Cabana, a character loosely based on the real-life man who invented the legendary pastry.

Hugh Grant and all that’s not to name a line up of high-profile cameos including from Peter Dinklage, Bill Burr and even one from Jon Hamm who reprises his role as Don Draper from Mad Men in a particular highlight.

So how does it all stack up? Well, unfortunately for Seinfeld, the response from critics and audiences alike thus far has been a little frosty, to say the least.

Currently the film holds a meagre 5.6/10 on

Making living in arts hard as ever

By Liz Hobday

Making a living as an artist in Australia is as tough as it’s ever been, according to a landmark report.

The Artists as Workers report from Macquarie University has been tracking working conditions for artists since 1983 and its latest snapshot of the sector was released on Tuesday.

It shows artists – from painters to musicians and dancers – earned a gross income of $54,500 in 202122 on average, about a quarter less than the average income of the wider workforce.

Less than half of that money was earned through their creative output, with the rest coming from various other work.

There are just under 50,000 professional artists in Australia, and the study found of those, only 15 per cent made more than $50,000.

The majority earned far less, with the data showing just under half of Australia’s artists made less than $10,000 from their creative work, while about 16 per cent earned less than that amount in total.

At the same time, the average cost of producing artistic work has increased due to inflation, while employment has also become more precarious, said report author Professor David Throsby from Macquarie University.

“Overall economic conditions at the moment are not very favourable with the cost of living, everybody’s affected by these sorts of things,” he said.

“It’s always been difficult to make a living as an artist.”

Women now outnumber men roughly two to one across almost all artistic occupations, the study found.

That’s with the exception of musicians and composers, who are mostly men.

While the gender pay gap is narrowing, women still fared worse than men on all measures of income.

In 2021-22, the mean income for male artists was 24 per cent higher than for women artists, down from a gap of 88 per cent in 2008.

The results of the study were impacted by the global pandemic, with 45 per cent of artists reporting that they faced unemployment, and 16 per cent reporting they doubted they would return to the time they spent on their art before covid.

“More or less they’re going to leave the industry, so that’s a waste of talent as a result of the impact of the pandemic,” Prof Throsby said.

Almost three-quarters of artists were born in Australia, and the study showed the sector is less diverse than the wider workforce, with 13 per cent from a nonEnglish-speaking background, compared with 23 per cent across the workforce as a whole.

The report was commissioned by Creative Australia. –AAP

sitting at a mere 51 per cent.

Has Seinfeld’s directorial debut suffered from the very same thing he’s lamented about the state of the comedy industry?

Well, it seems that most of the disappoint-

ment with the film comes down to the very concept that Seinfeld has tried to bring to life.

In a way, the movie’s biggest and most absurd joke is that they made a movie about the invention of the Pop-Tart at all, like an episode of Seinfeld with a huge budget and stretched out five times as long.

Unfortunately, it’s all set up for no real

Seinfeld’s fears about the TV comedy also seem strange given the recent success of the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (Binge), a sitcom from Seinfeld co-creator Larry David that ran for 24 years to rave reviews.

Anyone who watched Curb will know that right up until its dying breath it never once caved to political correctness. David himself remarked he doesn’t know why he hasn’t been cancelled yet. Was he wrapping it up before he did? Maybe. But as of right now Curb Your Enthusiasm proves there is still a place for such a brand of comedy.

Whether Jerry Seinfeld himself continues to try and make movies for Netflix or any other streaming platform is yet to be seen.

Its a shame though his first outing has proven to be more a stale snack than a sweet treat.

Melissa McCarthy and Jerry Seinfeld in Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story.

Artists in Australia earn about a quarter less than the wider workforce, according to a report. Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP

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Carco Centre)

GARDENING

popular Japanese maple is an all-round, great small tree for a suburban garden.

Well suited to our climate, they’re also popular for pots. They like an acidic soil that is rich and free draining.

There are many varieties, shapes and sizes to choose from. Most maples are grafted trees, so the height and foliage colour can be controlled for the right spot in the garden

They are shallow rooted and, during the warmer months, keep the fibrous roots covered with mulch to prevent them from drying out.

The foliage of a Japanese maple is more toothed and finer than its larger counterpart the Chinese maple where the leaves have larger lobes. Pruning of all maples should only be done in the warmer months when the trees are not in dormancy and have foliage.

Pruning in winter can cause the stems to blacken and dieback.

If the maple colours are what you are looking for in a large tree, then other maples to look for is the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) or the Norway maple (Acer platanoides), both are large trees that are only suited to large gardens but really put on a colour display in autumn with a lush green canopy in the spring and

Their flowers are so small they are almost missed, but the winged seeds that develop in spring can be prolific in some species and

non-existent in others.

The seeds are easy to germinate. They can be collected, dried and sown in a seed-raising mix. Once they’ve germinated, move them to a slightly bigger pot, but not too big or it will set the small tree back and take longer to grow. Bottom watering can encourage the tap roots to move deeper in the potting mix. Nurture in a pot until it is big enough to be planted into the ground.

PERENNIAL lovage (Levisticum officinale) is an underappreciated herb from the same family as carrots and celery that grows easily in our region. It can reach at least a metre tall and has beautiful, decorative umbel-shaped flowers. The bold, yellow flowers are a terrific pollinator to all

In the kitchen, it has a strong celery flavour and can be cooked like spinach or chopped and added to soups and stews. New growth can be eaten raw in salads and, in fact, all parts of the plant can be eaten including the seeds and roots. A heat mat is needed to grow lovage by seed at this time of the year. It will need an even germination temperature of at least 15C. Better still, wait for spring and plant it out when the frosts have finished.

It takes up to three years to reach maturity, but the annual yield is worth the wait for a good cut-and-come-again perennial that can be used in the kitchen all year round.

It takes up very little space in the vegetable patch. Lovage is best grown on its own as it will inhibit the growth of other plants around it by consuming the nutrients it needs.

Autumn leaves can be piled up in an area of the garden where there is weed-free ground and lightly cover with fertiliser or compost to weigh them down. Keep them moist and in spring the soil underneath should be ready for planting.

jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au

Jottings…

Pick apples when they are easy to twist off the branch.

• Keep seaweed solution up to herbs and winter vegetables.

• Prune the last of the evergreen hedges before winter sets in.

• Clean ponds of fallen leaves to keep clean.

Japanese maples… suited to our climate and popular for pots.

Photos: Jackie Warburton

Lovage… an underappreciated herb that is easy to grow.

HOROSCOPE PUZZLES

By Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Thursday’s Full Moon motivates you to be adventurous, and then Jupiter shifts into your study and local travel zones. So this week is all about education and exploration. With your ruler Mars charging through your sign, it’s imperative to strike while the iron is hot! Be inspired by music pioneer (and fellow Aries) Diana Ross: “You can’t just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You’ve got to get out there and make it happen for yourself.”

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

Quit wasting time, Taurus! The Sun, Venus and Jupiter are spending their last days in your sign, which provides a golden opportunity to fine-tune who you are and where you’re going… quick smart! The fiery Full Moon also pushes you to draw up a creative plan, as you start transforming your dreams into reality. Be inspired by birthday great Stevie Nicks: “Dreams do come true, but not without hard work, determination, and a little bit of magic.”

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

It’s a big week for Geminis, as the Sun, Venus and Jupiter all transit into your sign. So it’s time to be creative, cooperative, adventurous and generous. Over the next 12 months, make the most of travel and prosperity planet Jupiter jumping through your sign as you explore, experiment and enthuse. Here, there and everywhere! Your motto for the moment is from birthday great Bob Dylan (who turns 83 on Friday): “There is nothing so stable as change.”

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

The Full Moon fires up your wellbeing zone, so it’s time to focus on your health. Have you been burning the midnight oil and now you’re suffering from burnout? Or have you been running around on autopilot, making careless mistakes? The Sun, Venus and Jupiter shift into your solitude zone, so slip into hermit Crab mode as you slow down, simplify your life, prune projects or organise a digital detox. Meditation, contemplation, and relaxation are a must.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Thursday’s Full Moon fires up your creativity zone, so you’re in the mood to dance, draw, paint, perform, play music and/or sing up a storm! Then Jupiter jumps into your hopes-and-wishes zone, where it stays until June 2025. So it’s time to set goals for the future and make long-term plans. And don’t make them too safe and sensible. Go for gold, as generous Jupiter helps you envision ambitious dreams and inspiring schemes over the coming year.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

The Sun, Venus and Jupiter cruise into your career zone. So – if you want to get ahead – strive to work smarter, not just harder. And, if you choose to take on a professional challenge in the coming year, you’ll find the benefits will far outweigh the difficulties. When it comes to a complicated family matter, avoid quick fixes. Instead, be patient and do all the research that’s required. Virgo vigilance and close attention to details will result in a satisfactory solution.

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

Lady Luck is calling, as Venus (your power planet) links up with prosperity planet Jupiter. So it’s a good week to enter a competition, buy a lottery ticket, start a new job or go on a first date. With Jupiter transiting into your travel zone, foreign shores beckon over the next 12 months. So start planning your itinerary now – and make sure you keep up to date with your international contacts. Thursday’s Full Moon highlights social media, education and conversation.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

This week’s stars fire up your financial zones. Thursday’s Full Moon could bring money matters to a head. Then luck and loot are linked from May 26 onwards, when Jupiter (planet of good fortune) transits through your money-from-others zone. So – over the coming year – expect a boost to your bank balance via a pay rise, work bonus, superannuation payout or extra business. Any windfall won’t last long if you don’t manage it wisely though.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

The Sun, Venus and Jupiter (your patron planet) transit into your partnership zone. So – when it comes to close relationships – it’s time to be creative, cooperative, adventurous and generous. Attached Archers – pamper your partner and show them they are Number One. Unhappily single? True love is on the way, as long as you believe. Your mantra is from birthday great Stevie Nicks (who turns 76 on Sunday): “I live in the realm of romantic possibility.”

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Thursday’s fiery Full Moon highlights your humanitarian side. Being of service to others (with kindness and compassion) brings joy and satisfaction. Plus take the time to savour and enjoy the simple things in your everyday life – like a kiss from a child or a walk in the park. Then Jupiter (planet of good fortune) jumps into your work and wellbeing being zones on the weekend, which is good news for health matters and job satisfaction for the rest of the year.

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

With the fiery Full Moon activating your bohemian side and Jupiter jumping into your self-expression zone, it’s time to do your own thing, in your own highly individual way. Don’t play it too safe though. Forge your own path and follow your unique dreams. The more adventurous and inventive you are, the luckier you’ll be! Draw inspiration from birthday great Cher: “The people who make a difference in the world are the ones who aren’t afraid to be themselves.”

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

Thursday’s Full Moon fires up your career zone, so it’s a good week to set professional goals, apply for a job or seal a business deal. Then prosperity planet Jupiter transits into your domestic zone on the weekend. So sometime over the next 12 months is a great time to redecorate, renovate, build an extension, sell property, buy a new home, relocate or start a home-based business. Good fortune could also come via a loved one, distant relative or family friend.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2024

1 Name the first Australian Prime Minister, Sir Edmund ... (6)

7 Which neurological disease is usually characterised by convulsions? (8)

8 Name a style of art, architecture and decoration of the 18th century. (6)

9 What is a species of palm with fan-shaped leaves? (8)

10 What is a relationship between two people who are not married to each other? (6)

11 Which word describes letters? (8)

14 Name an alternative term for dregs. (8)

18 What is something puzzling or inexplicable? (6)

19 Name a gigantic extinct reptile. (8)

21 To engage for military service, is to do what? (6)

22 Which skilled performers walk on tightropes and perform on trapezes? (8)

23 What is a rope, chain, or the like, by which an animal is fastened? (6)

1 Bridgetown is the capital of which West Indies State? (8)

2 What is another name for the chest? (6)

3 Name an oil-resistant synthetic rubber. (8)

4 What is the horizontal piece, beneath a window? (4)

5 Who exercises ruling power during the absence of the sovereign? (6)

6 Name a blood-sucking fly. (6)

12 What is payment for money borrowed? (8)

13 What might we call a rich and influential rural landowner? (8)

15 To show clearly, is to do what? (6)

16 Which crustacean has seven pairs of legs? (6)

17 Name a cereal grass, the seeds of which are fed to canaries? (6)

20 What is an exclamation expressing sorrow, grief, etc? (4)

WINNUNGA NIMMITYJAH ABORIGINAL HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES

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

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