CityNews 240725

WHERE ARE THE MILLIONS FOR HEALTH PROMISES, MR BARR?

JON STANHOPE & KHALID AHMED have scoured the budget, but can’t find where the money’s coming from to match the government’s spin

JULY 25, 2024

CFMEU scandal opens a Pandora’s box for Labor

MICHAEL MOORE

Why are Scots known for being thrifty?

CLIVE WILLIAMS

Where the heavenly call centre works overtime

ROBERT MACKLIN

CHANNELLING

LEXI SEKULESS hits the stage with her interpretation of the legend that is Marilyn Monroe

Andrew Barr and the ACT impressionists

KEEPING UP THE ACT

NEWS / The Food Co-op

Co-op proudly navigates the politics of bulk food

By Katarina LLOYD JONES

In 1976, a group of Canberra university students would meet at the Kingston railway station to divide their bulk orders of food ordered from Sydney.

This group would go on to become the ANU Nutrition Society, which has evolved into today’s community owned-and-run bulk grocery store and cafe The Food Co-Op in Civic.

Over the decades, the Food Co-Op has been renamed, moved to new loca tions and come close to closure, but says product manager Andy de Groot, 48 years on, its core values and goals remain the same – providing organic, affordable and ethically sourced food for the Canberra community.

Andy, who has been a member of the co-operative for more than 10 years, says there are two elements to the ethical-consumption concept they aim to promote.

“It’s about making affordable and more environmentally friendly options, and, being a co-operative, we have the capacity to have a greater buying power, because we can buy a lot more products to divide [...] which makes it more affordable,” he says.

“And then the other side of it is to just try to get [as much] sustainable, organic and biodynamic food as we can.”

Naomi Lacey, operations manager at The Food Co-Op, says people are becoming a lot more conscious about

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where their food is sourced.

“We’ve got a huge problem with global warming, and destroying the planet, so people are thinking a lot more carefully about how they purchase, and what they purchase, [and] where it’s from,” she says.

“Food miles have become a big issue for people, being able to purchase locally is a really big thing.”

Naomi says the media surrounding the big supermarket chains has had many Canberrans looking for differ-

She says, with their separation from the duopoly and ability to make political food decisions, alternatives, such as The Food Co-op, are increasing in

Naomi says: “It’s not supporting a supermarket, which we all know are in quite a bit of strife with the government at the moment.

“We make decisions, like not purchasing products from Israel at the moment. We’ve also got a real zerowaste mentality here, so being able to purchase food in bulk, that’s reducing waste that people are producing.”

Andy says that in conjunction with this zero-waste mentality, The Food Co-Op offers a lunch and dinner service at the on-site cafe, where they use any products from the store that are coming close to their expiration date.

The menu changes every day, depending on the chef and availability of

ingredients, but is always vegan and gluten free.

Andy says there is free, fresh bread on offer every day, which otherwise would have gone to landfill, and a community fridge.

Both Andy and Naomi credit the co-operative’s longevity to the passion and dedication of its members.

Naomi says: “It’s about being a part of the community and it’s the membership that drives it. Without the members, without the community, it wouldn’t be here.”

Everyone involved with The Food Co-Op is a volunteer, Andy says, excluding the three managers and cooks, who are paid employees.

Volunteers receive store credit and discounted items, but Andy says it is not necessary to be a member or volunteer to shop or enjoy the cafe.

The Food Co-Op also offers plenty of events for low prices, or by donation, including yoga nights, film screenings, trivia and live music, all designed to bring the community together irrespective of people’s financial situation.

Membership costs $25 ($15 for concession card holders) and offers a five per cent discount in the shop, along with discounts on lunch services and certain co-op events.

The Food Co-Op, 3 Kingsley Street, Civic. Visit cbrfoodcoop.org.au

Product manager Andy de Groot and operations manager Naomi Lacey… “It’s about making affordable and more environmentally friendly options,” says Andy.

Photo: Katarina Lloyd Jones

CFMEU scandal opens a Pandora’s box for Labor

The CFMEU crisis has opened a Pandora’s box for Labor across the nation and in the ACT.

The symbiotic relationship between Labor and the unions is becoming less and less attractive to voters. Labor once focused as a worker’s party, but now has much broader support amongst voters as a social democratic party.

Following allegations of corrup tion and infiltration by underworld figures, the Federal government has been quick to distance itself from the CFMEU. Not so in the ACT!

Federal minister Bill Shorten declared Labor will no longer accept donations from this union. The Australian Council of Trade Unions suspended the CFMEU’s membership, and its chief, Sally McManus, has declared she will clean up the union. There are serious questions about the cosy relationship between the Barr government and the CFMEU in Canberra.

heard that a local company missed out on the Campbell Primary tender because it was not favoured by the CFMEU.

The examination by the ACT Integrity Commission into the handling of a construction tender at Campbell Primary School highlights community concerns.

As ACT Opposition Leader, Elizabeth Lee expressed: “The CFMEU is not only a member of ACT Labor that has input into party leadership positions, including the current

As Ms Lee points out: “The Integrity Commission has also heard evidence that the pressure to do so came directly from the Education Minister’s office”.

The Labor Party has long been the party of workers. However, it requires much broader support to be able to win elections and to govern effectively. There is a reason that Labor stalwarts are madly scrambling to distance themselves from the CFMEU – well, everywhere but Canberra!

Following allegations of corruption and infiltration by underworld figures, the Federal government has been quick to distance itself from the CFMEU. Not so in the ACT!

The CFMEU revelations remind all voters that the Labor Party policies and actions are heavily influenced by union input. At a time when membership of unions has been steadily declining, the union influence within Labor has remained or grown stronger.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that “of the 11.4 million employees in August 2022, 12.5 per cent were a member of a trade union in their main job. This is a decrease from the 14.3 per cent recorded in August 2020. Trade union membership has generally declined since 1992”.

The influence of just 12.5 per cent of Australians on the Labor Party, and through it Australian federal, state and territory governments, remains totally disproportionate. All jurisdictions in Australia have Labor governments except for Tasmania – most of these governments will now attempt to illustrate that they are not so tightly bound to the union movement.

At the last federal election, voters

who felt disenfranchised by the major parties turned to the “teal” independents. The explosive allegations about the CFMEU have now highlighted the lopsided influence that applies to all unions. These allegations undermine so many unionists of integrity who have dedicated their lives to the protection of workers.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has been accused of fancy footwork to avoid having to take any serious actions to contain the CFMEU – let alone distance himself and the government from the broader union movement. Even in SA, where there have been no specific allegations levelled, the premier has moved to suspend affiliation with the CFMEU.

There are serious allegations of wrongdoing regarding Campbell Primary School and the link to the office of Education Minister and Deputy Leader, Yvette Berry. Prompt action is needed by Mr Barr to ensure appropriate distance from the allegations and the union involved.

After levelling an accusation against the Chief Minister of “dodge and deflect”, Ms Lee has argued: “It is not good enough for Andrew Barr to point the finger at other state branches

of the CFMEU and say we don’t accept donations from those branches so it will be business as usual”.

If Labor does not find a way to take action nationally to distance itself from the union movement, it will also slip into a similar decline to those unions, and lose the support of voters. Many of Labor’s voters may well have been union members in the past but have no longer remain union members. And voters are recognising independent members across Australia as a sensible alternative.

With the ACT election just three months away, many people who are looking for a socially progressive alternative to a unionised political party will be considering the sensible candidates who are running as independents.

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

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You will always be dealing directly with the builder, and each project is managed by Rod Thornton – the owner of the business. You can expect professional and courteous service from initial stages to completion. We offer expert advice on design, form and function, to achieve the right solution for you in a cost – effective manner.

Lyneham lights up as community comes together

build them back into the community.”

Trevor says Light Up Lyneham has far more humble origins than the performance-packed festival it is today, originally stemming from a Lyneham resident’s enjoyment of the winter lantern walks she attended

“When she came back to Canberra, she did lantern walks originally with just the family [...] and they went around the wetlands and then I think the next year they went with family

“And then the third year was family and friends, and friends of friends, and at that point I think she felt it was getting a bit out of hand and she didn’t want to keep organising it, so she came to the Lyneham Community Association, which took it over for the

“And that’s what led to the first Light Up Lyneham, which was a pretty small affair, I think about 600 people came and we thought that was pretty fantastic, we didn’t expect that many

Trevor says the event has continued to grow each year, only being put on pause during the covid lockdown and in 2022 due to insufficient people being

All the organisers are volunteers, he says, and many people donate time

“When it was only 600 people, there

were enough rubbish bins here, but now we have to sign up with the ACT sustainable event [program], [...] to get extra rubbish bins and water fountains, and we hire extra toilets,” he says.

“In the beginning, the performers just set up on the pavement sort of thing, but now we hire a professional stage. So we have to hire generators to power that.

“We’re hiring LED display signs so that people can see what’s going on.

“It just gets bigger and bigger each year, which is great.”

The event will be packed with entertainment, including choirs, worldrenowned counter tenor Tobias Cole, a roving magician, circus acts, fire twirlers, and much more.

“Our focus is on local, but we have plenty of outside people as well,” he says.

Despite its significant growth over the years, the event is still very much centred on the lantern walk through the wetlands, led by the Canberra Prosperous Mountain Dragon and Lion Dance group.

Trevor says this is what makes the event different from other Canberra markets.

“We encourage people to bring the lanterns, and that’s actually one aspect I really like [about] it, that the people who come are part of the spectacle that they come for,” he says.

Light Up Lyneham organiser and long-term resident Trevor Vickers at the Lyneham shops.

Photo: Katarina Lloyd Jones

A second opinion on hearing loss – you need professional advice, not a sales pitch

A woman came into my clinic for a consultation about her hearing aids, telling me her hearing aids were 4 years old and she had never found them to be of much help. She said the salesperson quoted her $14,000 for a pair of hearing aids, however, the monthly special of 20% discount meant they cost her $11,200. So, she ‘only’ paid $11,200 for hearing aids that did not help her. Sadly, I hear this all too often.

Here are some things to do to avoid this type of problem:

1. Visit your GP. If you or someone you know has a problem with their hearing, visiting your GP to check for wax in the ears, and to get advice is a starting point.

2. Qualifications. Always check the qualifications of the person you are dealing with. A person without professional qualifications has no business advising you about your hearing. They need to belong to a professional association with a Code of Conduct, so you know they are acting in your best interests, not their own.

years. If you are not sure about their advice, then seek a second opinion. The wrong hearing aids can be an expensive waste and could lead you to stop wearing them. You should always have a trial of hearing aids to ensure that they are right for you.

6 Pensioners and eligible DVA card holders often have entitlement to free services. If you are covered by a government concession, then let the clinician know (even though your clinician should ask). Eligible clients may obtain free hearing tests, consultations, and free hearing aids (referred to as fully subsidized hearing aids).

“A person without professional qualifications has no business advising you about your hearing. They need to belong to a professional association with a Code of Conduct, so you know they are acting in your best interests, not their own.”

– Dr Vass

These hearing aids are appropriate for many people, however if you have great difficulty hearing in background noise (for example a restaurant), then you may want to consider partially subsidized hearing aids. This is when the government pays a certain amount, and you pay for additional features and benefits. Your decision should be based on the following:

you are dealing with a qualified clinician, then they belong to a professional association. The best contact is an independent complaints body referred to as Ethics Review Committee. You can email ethics@auderc.org.au and view the website www.auderc.org.au. You can make an anonymous complaint and your complaint will be handled in a confidential and professional manner. If you are in the ACT, contact the ACT Human Rights Commission email human rights@act.gov au and the website www.hrc.act.gov.au

3. Independent advice. You should get independent, professional advice.

4. There are a wide range of hearing aids out there. Finding the right hearing aids for your communication needs can be challenging. Hearing aids vary in price and performance. Bluetooth® connectivity and rechargeable hearing aids are available on most hearing aids, along with apps that allow you to control your hearing aids from your mobile device. Be aware that just because a hearing aid is more expensive, that doesn’t mean they are the best hearing aid for you.

5. Just as hearing aids vary in performance, clinicians may also vary in performance due to training, experience, and skills. Make sure that you are comfortable and confident in their advice. You are likely to be with this clinician for the life of your new hearing aids, typically 4 to 5

(a) Can you afford the more expensive hearing aids? Don’t go into financial stress if you can’t afford them. (b) Are you clear on the free vs partially subsidized features & benefits? Never believe someone who tells you the free hearings are not good or of poor performance, this is simply not true. (c) If you try the partially subsidized hearing aids and are not happy, then return them. Do not keep hearing aids because you think the failure is yours or that you will improve over time. If the hearing aids are not working for you in the trial period, then they will not work for you in a year or two.

7. If you have a complaint, then seek help. Your clinician should be able to help you through most of your needs. Sometimes, a problem may be beyond the expertise of even the best clinician. However, if you have a complaint there are things you can do. If

POLITICS / health budget mystery

We can’t find the millions for Barr’s promises

JON STANHOPE & KHALID AHMED take a deep dive into the budget looking for the millions and millions of Labor’s election promises to fix its own health mess. But they come up empty; there’s nothing in the budget to support the spin.

On Page 53 of the 2024-25 Budget Paper 3, Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr has taken especial steps, in a highlighted box, to inform Canberrans about “new healthcare initiatives worth $920 million”.

Presumably, that figure reflects both recurrent and capital health initiatives. A ribbon in shocking pink and the size of a road sign screams: “Investing in public health care, $700 million”.

The reader is entitled to assume that the $700 million is new, ie additional, recurrent funding for healthcare initiatives.

An additional $700 million would indeed be a significant investment in healthcare and we would, without hesitation, commend the government for correcting the wrong, if belatedly, it has done to the ACT’s health system over the

last decade in degrading it from a better-than-average system to the worst performing in the country.

That is, if we could identify the $700 million in the financial statements and tables.

There is no reconciliation of this amount in the text that follows the claim, or elsewhere. There are, of course, a number of ways in which the government could have counted the $700 million in new recurrent funding.

Table 1 provides the total expenditure on health in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 budgets as reported in the General Government Sector statements.

Several observations can be made regarding the information in this table.

Contrary to the quoted claim in the budget narrative, expenditure on health in 2024-25 is $2.5 billion and, in fact, does not reach $2.6 billion until two years later, in 2026-27.

The difference between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 budget

A Labor election flyer… “What a nerve: to degrade the hospital system to the worst in the country through neglect and funding cuts, and then promise overdue remediation as evidence of being a champion of the system.”

estimates (row C) in principle reflects the additional spending on health in the 2024-25 budget.

Notably the amount so budgeted decreases across the forward estimates. In fact, not even the cost overrun of $210 million posted in 2023-24 is covered across the forward estimates.

The additional health spending totals $245 million over the period 2024-25 to 2026-27 and is unlikely to reach $700 million even if some allowance is made for the cost of new spending measures in 2027-28.

In summary, we are simply unable to identify any commitment in the budget to an additional $700 million in health expenditure.

Even after counting every additional dollar over the 2023-24 estimated outcome (row D), the cumulative spending amounts to $685 million. However, that includes the growth in the cost of existing policies or undertakings made before the 2024-25 budget, for example, wage growth for existing employees, and the increase in the cost of medicines and supplies. It would be disingenuous, to the point of misleading, to claim all these costs as new initiatives.

It is also possible that the government is simply reallocating existing funds to new initiatives through savings and offsets. The descriptions of the health initiatives in pages 138 to 152 of Budget Paper 3 make for interesting reading and give credence to these possibilities.

for the community delivered mental health, and through the Healthy Canberra Grants program.

This initiative builds on previous government investment including Investing in public health care – Extend youth mental health programs initiative funded in the 202324 Budget.”

There you have it – continuing an existing program that was funded in the 2021-22 budget is a “new initiative”. Indeed, there are several other “continuations” packaged as new programs. We could go on and on, but we are sure you get the picture.

beds that emerged in 2016 and which has been exacerbated in the years since, reaching a shortfall of a staggering 182 beds in 2022-23. The new critical services facility, while welcome, will not meet even the government’s own demand estimates.

Additional beds, especially for a step change of this magnitude, require more staff, including medical officers, nurses, diagnostic and allied health professionals, personal care staff and administrative support staff.

Hubert

For example, the initiative titled “Investing in public health care – Boosting health service funding for a growing population” at a cost of $101 million over four years is described as “support the growing cost of health care in the ACT. Key areas of growth include medical and surgical supplies, support services for patient care and personal protective equipment expenses.”

We are totally bemused that the cost of medical supplies and protective equipment is presented in the budget as a new initiative. Surely the cost of medicine supplies, face masks and surgical gloves etcetera are covered by standard indexation?

On Page 141, the initiative titled “Better care for our community – Ongoing Delivery of Youth Mental Health Services” is at a net cost of “zero” dollars across all years. Its description states:

“The government will support continuation of the following youth mental health support programs: the Mind Map Online Youth Navigation Portal, Stepping Stones, Youth Aware of Mental Health, and the dialectical behaviour therapy program WOKE.

This initiative is offset by funding provided in the 2021-22 Budget initiative Better care in the community – More support

In a pre-budget media release, the government announced an increase of 800 health staff. What a nerve: to take a better than average performing hospital system, allow its performance to degrade to the worst in the country through neglect and real term cuts in funding, and then promise long overdue remediation as evidence of being a champion of the system.

Remarkably, we have been unable to find any evidence in the budget papers of funding for the increase in staff

numbers as announced.

We note that the Critical Services Building is scheduled to open in August, with as previously foreshadowed by the government, 148 new beds.

The building is a scaled down version of the Tower Block project that was part of the hospital redevelopment project undertaken in 2010 and costed at the time at $1.3 billion (2010 dollars). Design funding of $63 million for the project was allocated in 2011.

However, and sadly the Greens-Labor coalition redirected that funding, deferred the increase in capacity identified by the government in 2010 and is now delivering a scaled down facility almost a decade later.

To put this in perspective, first-time voters in the coming ACT election would have been in kindergarten when the project was initially funded, and in primary school when it was scheduled to have been delivered.

We have previously written about the shortage of hospital

Data from the Productivity Commission indicates that there is currently an average of 6.91 staff per bed across all of Australia with a jurisdictional variance of around 10 per cent. Based on the national average, the staffing requirement for 148 beds is therefore 1028. Based on the ACT’s current staffing ratio there is therefore a requirement for an additional 1042 staff not 800 as asserted by the ACT government. Based on the Productivity Commission data the ACT government has budgeted for more than 200 fewer staff than optimally required.

Remarkably, we have been unable to find any evidence in the budget papers of funding for the increase in staff numbers as announced. Needless to say, we have also not been able to find a single reference in the budget papers to an additional 800 staff or any associated funding.

Table K.1 on Page 355 details the full-time equivalent staff numbers across all ACT government directorates and agencies. For Canberra Health Services, the FTE staff in 202324 is reported at 9333, which is forecast to increase to 9504, an increase of 171 FTE.

So, we ask the minister: where is the promised $700 million? Also, where are the additional 1028 staff required to service the 148 new beds?

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

Source: Table 4.2.5, Budget Paper 3; 2023-24, Page 296 and 2024-25 Budget, Page 284

Used EV sales more than triple

Second-hand electric car sales have more than tripled over the past year, according to a major vehicle reseller, despite a recent slowdown in new EV sales.

Online auction house Pickles revealed the sales surge in a report analysing Australia’s second-hand vehicle market. Pickles’ quarterly automotive report revealed second-hand vehicles remained popular, with sales up 34 per cent over the past year and values about 20 per cent higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Pickles chief commercial officer Fraser Ronald said electric vehicles were the stand-out seller between April and June this year, with sales up 91 per cent compared to the first quarter, and up 246 per cent on last year. –AAP

Free yoga sessions

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is guiding seven free weekly Sahaja Yoga (silent, but aware meditation) sessions at Dickson Library, 10.30am-11.30am, starting from August 1.

Topical table talks

St Ninian’s at Lyneham is holding a series of free Table Talks about topical issues at the church hall between 1pm and 3pm until late September. On August 14 the subject is Women’s Safety followed by Homelessness: women over 55 (August 28). More at stninians.org.au

Where the heavenly call centre works overtime

There is a certain mad logic behind Toowoomba’s murder and manslaughter trial of 14 members of the Christian sect who preferred prayer over insulin to treat eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs’ type 1 diabetes. Mad? Yes. But it’s a madness that is practised in its various forms by at least half the nine billion of our fellow Homo sapiens. And while the death of an innocent little girl is heart-rending, she is only one casualty of the lizard brain that still exists at the base of our consciousness.

According to their trial testimony, the 14 – including Elizabeth’s parents and elder brother – sat around her lifeless body for 36 hours singing hymns and praying before calling triple 0. Their leader, Brendan Stevens, 62, has called the trial “religious persecution” since “the Bible is filled with Jesus Christ working miracles.

Every person who came to Jesus for a healing was healed”.

Well, you can’t argue with that.

According to that book of fables and fanatics, Jesus certainly pulled off some neat healings, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

And the 14 Toowoombans really

don’t care about the verdict. “We do not wish to fight the charges,” Mr Stevens said. “We are being used; we are happy in that sense to suffer the persecution that has come to us because the Bible says that all that believe in God will be persecuted.”

So it finally revolves around an argument about the power of prayer. And that depends on the existence of a “God” with sufficient interest to monitor the prayers from the billions arriving from at least one universe we know of, let alone choosing

between their conflicting requests. It raises an extraordinary vision of a call centre that stretches almost to infinity.

This is where the mad logic takes us. Christians pray for the cure of people who are ill; but they also pray for people who have recently died. It’s as though their God needs reminding what a nice person she or he was when they were alive; but surely their God would have known that via the monitoring system.

Or maybe God guided the hand

7 Neptune St, Phillip, ACT 6190 6159 www.awynnelegal.com.au

Of course, it’s laughable that God wants Donald back in the White House, but try telling that to Trump’s evangelical base.

that developed insulin.

Then there’s America. Oh boy, that’s where the heavenly call centre works overtime. First of all, God is endlessly entreated to “Save” the entire country, but then He’s implored to back every political hack whoever runs for elected office.

The losers never blame Him. In fact, they happily saddle up for a second or third try; and if they ever actually crack a winning streak like, say, Joe Biden, they’ll stick around until they hear Him call “game over”.

By then they’re deaf to His pleas and something far more drastic than a heavenly megaphone is required. Even a failed assassination on a rival, one where the bullet just nips his ear, wouldn’t do the trick, even if it made the rival a certainty to be elected in November.

Of course, it’s laughable that God wants Donald back in the White House, but try telling that to Trump’s evangelical base.

It took a rebellion of Joe’s donors – and a visitation of covid before the message penetrated. Even then, he demanded that his V-P choice succeed him, so he (with his imaginary friend) remains a mover and shaker whatever the electoral outcome. Happily, we in Australia don’t have that problem, except, perhaps, in Toowoomba.

In fact, while our current prime minister never denies his Catholic upbringing, I watched the swearing in of himself and his ministry. And to my pleasant surprise he chose to affirm rather than swear by any god, Catholic or otherwise.

And it didn’t make a ripple… except perhaps in Toowoomba.

robert@robertmacklin.com

People rally in support of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Huntington Beach, California. Photo: Eric Thayer/AP

Viral hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver caused by viral infections, with five variations: A, B, C, D, and E.

With World Hepatitis Day on July 28, the spotlight turns to raising awareness about hepatitis B and C – the two most prevalent blood-borne viruses in Canberra and worldwide.

Hepatitis ACT executive director Sarah Ahmed describes viral hepatitis as danger ous, silently damaging the liver without many obvious symptoms until it progresses severely.

“This condition, if untreated, can lead to chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, or even liver cancer, now one of Australia’s fastestgrowing causes of cancer death,” she said.

In the ACT alone, more than 4500 individuals grapple with hepatitis B or C, with concerning trends showing that many remain undiagnosed, Ms Ahmed said.

Hepatitis B, primarily transmitted through blood-to-blood contact or from mother to child, affected nearly 3000 Canberrans, while hepatitis C, often spread through unsafe injecting use or unsterile medical practices, affected about 1500.

“The startling reality is that one in five people with hepatitis C and an alarming 70 per cent of those with hepatitis B in the ACT are unaware of their condition,” Ms Ahmed said.

“This lack of awareness underscores the

critical need for proactive testing. Hepatitis ACT emphasises that early detection through simple tests can significantly alter the course of the disease.

“For instance, our fingerstick testing method provides rapid results, empowering individuals with knowledge about their hepatitis status within an hour.”

Ahead of World Hepatitis Day, Hepatitis ACT is calling for collective action.

The theme, “It’s Time to Take Action,” resonated deeply as global efforts aimed

Locally, initiatives such as widespread vaccination and enhanced treatment accessibility were pivotal. Already, more than 97 per cent of children in the ACT received hepatitis B vaccinations by age two, a testament to achievable public health goals.

To galvanise the community, Hepatitis ACT has launched a coffee cup campaign, distributing custom coffee cups to local cafes. These visual reminders aims to inspire

more people to get tested.

“We’re hoping that we’ll have community champions who will say: ‘Hey, I got tested, it was fine, it wasn’t too painful, let’s go find out’,” Ms Ahmed said.

“Individual action will lead to collective impact.”

She also emphasised the barriers to accessing treatment for hepatitis B: “If you get diagnosed with hepatitis B, it’s not as easy as just going to your GP. You need to find an S100 prescriber, and there are not many

of those in Canberra. Then, they may still refer you to a specialist, and there’s usually a waiting period. There are so many barriers, and not many bulk-billing S100 doctors in Canberra.”

Ms Ahmed said Hepatitis ACT offered comprehensive support for those diagnosed or concerned about viral hepatitis.

This included HepLink Australia (a national information service), a needle and syringe program that provided access to sterile injecting equipment and safe disposal options, education and awareness sessions and hepatitis C testing through fingerstick point-of-care tests.

“If it’s as simple as you needing to find out whether you have hepatitis C or not, just walk in, we’ll test you, and we’ll tell you in an hour if you have it or not,” she said.

“Additionally, Hepatitis ACT provides free access to a doctor on Thursday afternoons for any viral hepatitis-related issues.

“We are here to help. If you need access to vaccines for hep B, we can provide that.

“If you need access to treatment, or just guidance on navigating that journey, that’s exactly what we’re here for.

“The best thing people can do to look after themselves, and for our community, is just to find out their status, get vaccinated, and if you need to access treatment, get in touch.”

Hepatitis ACT, 36 David Street, Turner, call 1800 437 222, hepatitisact.org.au

to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030, Ms Ahmed said.

Hepatitis ACT team, from left, Kareen Tait, business manager; Sarah Ahmed, executive director, and Smruti Raj, hepatitis educator.

Hepatitis ACT’s campaign coffee cups.

WHIMSY / parsimonious Scots

How did the Scots get a reputation for thriftiness?

A Scotsman is a man who, before sending his pyjamas to the laundry, stuffs a sock in each pocket.

– Ambrose Bierce

The reputation of Scottish people for frugality has historical and cultural roots. When you grow up with limited resources, you tend to be careful with what you have.

In the 1700s there was a financial crisis that bankrupted the nation. This was due to the foolishness of the Scottish nobility in trying to emulate other successful colonial exploitations – by development of a colonial outpost in Panama.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out and left the wealthy Scottish landowners in extreme financial difficulty. The only sensible financial option for them was union with prosperous England.

Historically, the Church of Scotland has also encouraged frugality and its kirk sessions throughout Scotland have exerted a powerful moderating influence on many rural communities. A kirk session is the lowest court in the Church of Scotland, comprising the minister and elders of an individual parish or congregation.

However, when there is fundraising

in a good cause, Scots can be very generous. When Aberdeen hospital started a fundraising drive for advanced medical equipment, it soon raised enough money to have the first MRI scanner in Great Britain. The fundraising was so successful that enough money was raised to buy a second machine for another city as well.

Scots have always had a welldeserved reputation for engineering excellence and being hard-headed in business.

The 19th century Scots merchant

William Jardine, of Jardine Matheson fame, was perhaps the archetypal Scottish businessman – he lobbied the British government of the day to fight the first Opium War, so that Jardine Matheson could access and exploit China.

However, it’s the thrifty aspect that is usually the subject of humorous anecdotes:

ONE day, Angus goes down to London to visit his friend Nigel. Nigel tries to show him around, but

Angus is shocked at how expensive everything is.

Angus becomes increasingly withdrawn because he just doesn’t want to do anything because he thinks everything costs too much in London.

Eventually Nigel says to him: “Tell you what – we don’t have to do anything fancy, but let’s just go out and have a few drinks this evening.”

“No, I can’t do that,” replies Angus. “The pints are just too expensive. I can’t afford it.”

“Look, I know it seems like that, but I know a really good pub,” says Nigel encouragingly. “For twenty quid they’ll give you five pints, a hot pie and the barmaid will seduce you.”

“Really…?” says Angus, suddenly interested. “What kind of pie?”

A SERGEANT major of the Black Watch goes into a pharmacist to see if he can get a condom repaired. The pharmacist explains that they’ve never before been asked to repair one and offers him a new one for 25 pence.

The sergeant major presses the matter and after a bit of head scratching the pharmacist concedes that it could be repaired for 18 pence.

Even so, the sergeant major says he’d like a second opinion. He returns a few days later saying: “The regiment has agreed to have it repaired.”

Jock visits the dentist and asks: “What would you charge to remove a tooth?” The dentist replies “25 pounds.”

“Why so expensive?”

“It’s because of the cost of the anaesthetic.”

“What if you only used half as much then?”

“Well, I suppose I could do it for 15.”

“What about no anaesthetic at all?”

The dentist looks surprised and says, “It’d be painful so I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“Go on, tell me how much?”

“Well, I suppose in that case I could do it for five pounds.”

Angus looks pleased: “You’ve got yourself a deal. Book my wife in for your first available appointment.”

Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.

A 20th century postcard cartoon lampooning Scottish frugalness.

Danielle shares insights into the ADHD journey

There are three subtypes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive/impulsive and combined type, says Danielle Hopkins, clinical psychologist at Ease Psychology.

ADHD has recently become more visible, which Danielle says has led to the incorrect assumption that it is being over diagnosed.

In reality, she says the profession is still catching up with the many adults who were not diagnosed as children.

In particular, there has been an increase in diagnoses for women, who often present differently, which led to a trend of underdiagnosis in the past.

There is also a focus on those who show more internalising symptoms, rather than overt hyperactivity and restlessness, she says.

This improved understanding of different ADHD presentations is similarly important for early intervention, which Danielle says helps to improve outcomes from a younger age.

“We often hear that adult ADHDers were called lazy, messy, spacey and alike during their younger years, not realising that impaired executive functioning was having a big impact on their ability to manage everyday tasks,” says Danielle.

“The earlier someone is diagnosed, the

less they will have to mask over time and potentially develop a belief that there is [something] wrong with them.

“Earlier diagnosis can result in higher selfacceptance and self-compassion and better management of symptoms across the lifespan.

“Diagnosis can help with school-learning plans, accommodations and supports, as well as extra support at university and in the workplace.”

But, Danielle says there is, generally, a lack of available services in Canberra for

cognitive assessments.

Fortunately, Ease Psychology has the capacity to undertake ADHD, learning disorder (such as dyslexia/dyscalculia), early entry into ACT primary school and developmental delay assessments, and Danielle says they will also have space for autism spectrum disorder assessments from September.

They also undertake individual psychological treatment for ADHD, ASD and other symptom presentations, such as depression and anxiety, life adjustment, trauma and

relational issues.

“Comprehensive assessment at Ease [Psychology] involves psychometric testing, ADHD symptom reports by parents, self and teacher (or observer), objective measures of cognitive responses through continuous performance tests, educational assessment, and in-depth clinical interviews of symptoms and impairments,” she says.

“From an assessment, the useful thing is that you can start to see a pattern of symptoms, and you can know which ones are more severe or impairing, and they would be the ones that you’d target in treatment first, because they give the most relief.

“And then people can also seek out medication if they choose to, and that would be through a specialist prescriber.”

During school terms, Ease Psychology also runs a child and parent program called Emotion Explorers, which Danielle says aims to help children between seven and 12 years old to better regulate their emotions, and can suit children with ADHD or anxiety symptoms.

“Having a parent in the group to learn coping skills with their child results in better translation of skills into everyday practice as parents can remind and prompt their children,” Danielle says.

There is also an evidence-based group program on offer several times a year, The Brainstorm Program, which focuses on adult

into two parts: the first is learning the evidence-based interventions and the second is applying those skills in practical ways to support improvement in ADHD symptoms,” she says.

Receiving a diagnosis can be a bit of a process, and Danielle says it is not unusual for people to feel unsettled after.

“The information can take time to become part of their identity and how they think about themselves,” she says.

“This is where psychological sessions can help, to support acceptance of a diagnosis, but also to then target the symptoms specific to their presentation.

“We use an individualised approach to treatment planning and our psychologists have regular supervision to enhance best treatment outcomes for clients.”

In order to ensure these services remain accessible to everyone, Danielle says Ease Psychology offers payment plans.

Also, Medicare will rebate up to 10 sessions a calendar year, for those with a valid Mental Health Care Plan from a GP, she says. They also have a provisional psychologist practising under supervision, who attracts a lower fee, as they are nearing graduation and are not eligible for Medicare rebates, she says.

Ease Psychology, Ground Floor, 10 National

The team at Ease Psychology, from left, Penelope Mithen (clinical psychologist), Lilia Piper (administrative assistant), Danielle Hopkins (clinical psychologist), Abbey Frame (clinical psychologist) and Hanna Sherry (registered psychologist).

LETTERS

More transparency needed on public service jobs

Before heading CIT on a short-term, acting basis and then formally in 2016, the now former CIT CEO was a highly paid deputy director-general in the ACT education directorate for some years.

One of her main responsibilities at that level was “governance”.

That directorate’s current head has also been distracted and squirming in relation to another ongoing Integrity Commission inquiry.

She recently told it that being new to the ACTPS in 2020, and not having experience in capital procurement, she relied on a lowerlevel official’s advice when addressing the problematic Campbell Primary School tender.

Yet she was recruited with very high-level experience from the Victorian public sector, having been a deputy secretary in the Victorian department of education and training, and the department of human services.

She had also been an executive director in the Victorian department of premier and cabinet.

Fewer capital works would occur here than in Victoria’s large public school and vocational training sectors, but surely a new director-general, and, presumably, her ACT selection panel, would have been mutually aware of and honest about any major “catch up” training needed to run an ACT portfolio with final accountability for significant

Any improvements made to the selection of a chief of staff for a deputy chief minister and cabinet minister also warrant some explanation from the ACT government.

How does it now ensure that raw political and union loyalties, and deal-making and table-thumping traits, are more than balanced out by higher quality experience, maturity, skills and abilities needed for such publicly paid-for staffer positions?

The education minister’s former chief of staff, who is also a pivotal Campbell Primary inquiry participant, would seem to have been rewarded for having stood as a “second rower” ALP candidate for Kurrajong in 2016, and for his strong links to two large unions.

CPSU officials now want the ACT

The bellissimo tram solution

Found in Perugia, Italy – a mini metro line that would be perfect for Canberra. Goes up hills, wherever it’s required. Driverless cars, every couple of minutes. Bellissimo!

Richard Johnston, Kingston

Labor Party to agree at the upcoming party conference that a trade union member or official be part of the process of appointing or re-engaging senior executives in the ACTPS.

Such in-house angling for a seat at a table hidden behind closed doors conveniently ignores the current need for more public transparency and information from the government about the soundness of the ACT’s recruitment and selection processes for both its top executives and ministerial staffers.

Have substantive reviews and reforms taken place because of these ongoing ACT education and skills sector imbroglios? Being honest and more open with voters on these matters is more critical to building public trust in processes linked to future decision-making than addressing a union

wish list at a political party gathering.

Regular reminders to those in leadership positions about not passing the buck and how their allegiances lie primarily in the realm of the public interest would not go astray either.

Sue Dyer, Downer

Who’s running the ACT, Labor or unions?

What gall the local CFMEU boss has to demand greater powers to “investigate and prosecute companies” in breach of the ACT Government Procurement (Secure Local Jobs) Code 2020, and to pursue the right “to oversee the appointment of senior public servants in the territory”, as if the code does not already provide for local unions to determine who gets whatever government contract.

Great timing too, given the CFMEU disbandment in Victoria and the ACTU and all Labor governments running for cover and hypocritically denying any knowledge of alleged corruption.

Reading of the Code 2020 shows that no contractor can get to do government work without due certification under the code, which would not happen without union endorsement.

Does anyone wonder who is running the ACT, Labor or the unions?

Max Flint, principal, Australian Logistics Study Centre

Footpaths in Deakin will be expensive

Vi Evans (Letters, CN July 18) protested about the Barr government’s allegedly deliberate delays in its usually profligate spending during the lead-up to the October 19 ACT election, and wrote “this month’s Our CBR is all about “spend, spend, spend”.

The July 2024 edition of Our CBR for inner north, inner south and Civic includes the announcement “Funding received through the 2024-25 ACT Budget will see improvements made to paths across Canberra”.

In the case of Deakin, this will be difficult and expensive. Footpaths are narrow, with abundant cracks and uneven surfaces. There are no shared paths or designated cycle paths in Deakin at all.

Perhaps all the “spending” money is being kept for a light rail project that few, if any, residents of Deakin either want or will use.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

Hightail it now to Trump’s America

Nothing else for it, Ian old bean (“Failing to recognise the virtues of Trump”, letters, CN July 11): with Australia likely to remain a liberal democracy for longer than you’re comfortable with, you’d best hightail it to Trump’s America – and quickly, before they shut the door to all foreigners.

John Griffin, via email

Renewable energy can’t be relied on

Douglas MacKenzie (Letters, CN July 11) seems to think that the sun is always shining in Australia and can provide our country with 24/7 baseload power.

Renewables are only effective 20 to 30 per cent of the time and cannot be relied on to keep us warm in winter and cool in summer and provide electricity for our homes and appliances.

We need constant energy sources that are not reliant on the weather, be it coal, gas or nuclear.

Interestingly, the last major nuclear meltdown that resulted in multiple deaths from radiation was in 1986 in Chernobyl. This could have been prevented as it was human error from a routine test and the corrupt Soviet government at the time tried to cover it up, which resulted in more fatalities.

Since then there have been very few, if any, deaths from nuclear radiation accidents. In fact, there have been thousands more deaths from hydro dam accidents and wind turbine fires.

Australia has safely operated a nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights for 60 years for nuclear medicine and we are getting nuclear submarines that are going to house our defence personnel. So why the paranoia regarding nuclear power?

Douglas states that nuclear power stations have a lifespan of 32 years. Not true. Most last at least 60 years and many in America are extending their life to 80 years. Solar panels and wind turbines on the other hand are lucky to last 20 years.

Ian Pilsner, Weston

Nuclear claims not supported by science

I refer to the letter from Dr Douglas Mackenzie (CN July 11).

I’m not sure what he is a doctor of, but it certainly isn’t nuclear science. Some, if not all, of his claims and comments could not be supported by any real science data.

In fact I’m surprised you published his letter without first fact checking his claims.

Peter Kenworthy, Amaroo

Three reasons why the doctor got it wrong

Dr Douglas Mackenzie’s case against nuclear power (Letters, CN July 11) is unconvincing for three main reasons.

He exaggerates the water requirements for cooling nuclear reactors.

• He presumes developments in solar energy and storage.

He claims that a mature technology (nuclear) is infeasible.

In the first case he quotes the water requirements for once-through cooling nuclear reactors whereas recirculating water systems would be the right choice for non-coastal locations in Australia.

In the second case, the Integrated System Plan (ISP) 2024 recently published by the Australian Energy Market Operator specifies 49 gigawatt capacity of battery and pumped hydro storage, compared to the 3 gigawatt that exists today. Given that it would not be feasible to deliver the implied energy storage with today’s battery technology, and Snowy Hydro 2 with its massive blowout in cost is still only rated at 2.2 gigawatt, the plan is still uncertain.

In the third case, there has been no non-nuclear proposal for our future grid requirements that is strictly net-zero emissions. For example, the ISP 2024 specifies 15 gigawatt of gas plant to be used for times of low renewable output.

While a non-nuclear solution to our future electricity requirements would be preferable, it is yet to be proven economically or environmentally advantageous. The locations and enormous areas that would have to be devoted to wind and solar farms have not yet been appreciated by the population.

John L Smith, Farrer

NATIONAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA (ACT)

Expert insight to 20th century urban heritage

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Welcome to our regular column on National Trust of Australia (ACT) activities.

The recent ACT Budget contained good news from a heritage perspective. The government will maintain financial assistance to the National Trust and funding has been allocated for a new heritage database and website.

Additional resourcing will also be provided to the ACT Heritage Council to enable it to carry out its important work.

We have written to Defence Housing Australia asking questions about protection of the important heritage values at the former Royal Australian Naval Transmitting Station and the Synemon Plana Moth (Golden Sun Moth) habitat located in North Lawson.

The Trust had a very productive meeting with Major Projects ACT on Light Rail Stage 2B, and we followed up with a written submission on the very sensitive heritage issues associated with this project.

We have received mixed news from the Heritage Council about places nominated for heritage protection.

We were disappointed that the Council

did not provisionally register the former CML Building in Civic, but delighted that Council provisionally registered the Old Kingston Shops.

National Trust Heritage Talk

Dr James McDonald and Dr Dawn Casey will speak about the early interaction of local Aboriginal communities with Europeans at a National Trust Heritage Talk, National Archives

of Australia, from 5.30pm on August 27. Book at trybooking.com/CTSFF

National Trust Heritage Walk

Please mark your diaries for our East Lake Heritage Walk with local historian Mark Butz titled “From Trains to Workers to Wetlands and Lots More” on September 22. Bookings open August 22.

Gary Kent, President

Minister launches new heritage brochures

Heritage Minister Rebecca Vassarotti has launched the Trust’s new heritage brochures on CampbellRussell, Dairy Road, East Lake, Kingston and Hall.

An Oaks Estate brochure is in the final stages of development.

The brochures can be obtained from various locations around Canberra, including the Canberra Visitors Centre, the National Trust Office and for downloading from our website nationaltrustact.org.au

This year’s ACT Regional Heritage Symposium on Saturday, August 17, has the theme “Planning for Heritage”.

The keynote speaker will be Dr James Lesh, founding director of conservation practice Heritage Workshop.

He has published widely on the practice, theory and history of urban heritage. He holds a PhD in history and heritage from Melbourne University and has researched and lectured at Melbourne, Sydney and Deakin universities and King’s College London.

Dr Lesh will speak on “Values in Cities: Urban Heritage in TwentiethCentury Australia”.

Other speakers will include Duncan Marshall, chair of the ACT Heritage Council, and representatives from the National Capital Authority and ACT Planning.

Heritage Consultants GML will brief us on the results of their study, commissioned by the Trust, on “ACT Mid-Century Modernist Housing”.

Other topics to be covered include heritage lessons learned from interstate experience, embedding the various benefits of heritage in land use planning, and several local case studies.

Booking details below.

Tickets for the Symposium at www.trybooking.com/CSOKZ

Launch of the new National Trust heritage brochures in Green Square, Kingston, on 1 June.

Heritage Minister Rebecca Vassarotti with Trust president Gary Kent (right) and author Mark Butz.

Gary Kent.

HOME SUPPORT SERVICES

Living with a disability, or recovering from an injury, can be a challenge, but there are many passionate experts based in Canberra who offer services that can make daily life a little easier. Whether it is renovating the home, receiving residential support from health experts or looking for social support, “CityNews” speaks to Canberra businesses who are here to offer support and guidance.

Services that lead to happier lives

Arthritis ACT can help people with physical and psychosocial disabilities find the pathways they need to lead happier and healthier lives, says CEO Rebecca Davey.

“We have an occupational therapist who can assist people particularly with their assistive technology needs,” says Rebecca.

“That includes wheelchairs, scooters, home modification and he can also do private driving assessments for people with disabilities who need them.”

Rebecca says it’s incredibly rewarding to see the difference Arthritis ACT’s services make in the day-to-day lives of those who require them.

“Our occupational therapist can assist with plans for home modifications, or can assist with equipment choices and even help you to purchase,” she says.

“Or, he offers car modifications to help give easy access to a vehicle if the client is a passenger, or can modify the vehicle to make it easier to drive.

“These kinds of services make such a big difference in people’s lives, and help open up doors.”

Another area of support Arthritis, Pain SupArthritis ACT, 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce. Call 1800 011041, or visit arthritisact.org.au

Helping Ben to stay in own home

Trained and trusted Goodwin carers can help with a range of tasks in the home so that those who want to stay at home can do so, and homecare client Ben says his experience has been fantastic.

Ben says he started using the Goodwin home care services when he retired from his work as a mechanical engineer, 10 years ago.

“They look after me in doing things that I can’t do, like making the bed, lifting the mattress; it means I haven’t got to spend four

“I’m an extremely good cook, I have a lot of pride in myself, and they help me maintain that.”

Ben says that while he loves to travel, it is important for him to live in his own home.

“It’s got a lot of memories in it that are important to me,” he says.

“I know that in the future, if I need help, and Goodwin can provide it, they will facilitate me living at home, on my own, for as long as I want to and I’m able to.”

Ben with a Goodwin home carer.

Arthritis ACT CEO Rebecca Davey.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS HELP MAKE YOUR EVERY DAY TASKS EASIER

We assist you with:

Planning and design of custom builds or modification to your home

Workplace modifications to make working easier, efficient and less painful

Car modifications and driving assessments - if you have been told you need this Applications to the NDIS and other schemes e.g Housing and Disability Support Pensions

We work closely with our team of physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, art therapy and dietetics at Build a Better Me: Arthritis, Pain Support & ME/CFS ACT to provide you with the best support possible!

You do not need to have any particular condition to utilise our services, just a desire to ‘Build a Better You’.

HOME SUPPORT SERVICES

Safely future-proofing homes with ease

Renovation Matters can help future-proof homes by making them more accessible to the ageing, handicapped or temporarily injured, says founder, Kim Persson.

She says installing things such as grab rails is an important part of improving safety and support at home.

“Grab rails can be great for people with temporary injury, allowing them support where required,” says Kim.

“They can also be a great help to the elderly and even young children, helping them to get in and out of a bath or shower, or on and off a toilet.”

Kim says grab rails can be installed to any place in

sufficient support in the wall to affix them to.

But, Kim says, it’s important to ensure they are installed by a professional, as without the right support, the grab rail can come away from the wall, causing falls and injuries.

Renovation Matters can also assist in building larger entrances to allow for wheelchair or mobility access, installing toilets with higher seats or bidets, or removing large hobs from showers, which Kim says can be difficult for people with mobility issues to get in and out of.

Renovation Matters. Call Kim on 0427 696662, or visit

Home Care ACT, call 1300 111227 or visit salvos.org.au/home-care/salvos-home-care-act

Salvos

Salvos Home Care ACT team leader Michelle Upton.

HOME SUPPORT SERVICES advertising feature

Helping people stay at home

Calvary Home Care is dedicated to supporting people to safely live in their own home for as long as they choose to, says service centre co-ordinator, Kelli Harlovich.

She says Calvary Home Care is a values-based organisation, and the client always comes first.

“We try and make it all about the client themselves rather than going and telling them what we think they need,” she says.

“We prefer to listen to them and hear what they think their needs are and what they’re struggling with.

“Whether it is personal care, shopping, cleaning, help with medications, it’s about ageing in their own home,

and avoiding just going to a nursing home.

“It’s about supporting them with whatever their needs are to keep them safely at home.”

Kelli says the whole team is passionate about making a difference in people’s lives.

“Seeing people living happily in their own home and being able to support them to do that, it’s good seeing those outcomes,” she says.

Calvary Home Care (The Little Company of Mary Health Care), 15 Denison Street, Deakin. Call 1800 527272 or visit calvaryhomecare.org.au

Home services provided locally, by locals

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.

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,

Services #1 Mary with support at home partner, Jai.

We can suppor t your independence by providing lifest yle and health care ser vices in your home. Call us now so we can discuss the options available to you.

Expo brings together hundreds of career pathways CareersXpo

The Canberra CareersXpo is back for another year, with a huge variety of inspiring possibilities. The CareersXpo will be held on August 7 and 8 at Exhibition Park In Canberra (EPIC).

The CareersXpo showcases the abundance of careers and jobs available in 2024 and is open to school students, adults already in the workforce or anyone with an interest in seeking a new career path.

opportunity to experience some of the technology they might be working on in the future,” he says.

“We are very happy to have two speakers this year; Prof Genevieve Bell and Dr Brad Tucker.

“Genevieve is the vice-chancellor of the Australian National University and is well known here and overseas for her work in the cultural effects of technology.

“We also welcome Dr Brad Tucker, an astroorganisations.

The CareersXpo is open 9.30am to 2.30pm August 7 to 8. The speakers and seminars will be held on Wednesday evening, 4pm-7pm and attendance is free to both the day and the night sessions.

CareersXpo, Exhibition Park In Canberra. Visit careersxpo.com.au

Learn about portable long service leave

Young people and their parents will have the opportunity to learn about portable long service leave when ACT Leave exhibits at the CareersXpo for the first time, says CEO and registrar Tracy Savage.

Operating under ACT government legislation, Tracey says ACT Leave supports workers in covered industries to receive the valuable benefits of portable long service leave entitlements.

Currently, workers in the security, community sector, building and construction, and contract-cleaning

When the Services Industry Scheme begins in April, Tracey says workers in the accommodation, food services, and hairdressing and beauty services will become eligible.

She says the expansion of portable long service is especially good news for young people, as it offers them the opportunity to establish themselves within the industry and to gain experience while working towards earning a portable long service leave break.

Tracy says she expects that ACT Leave’s attendance at the CareersXpo will be a great way for those at the beginning of their careers, and their parents, to find out more about their

“Parents play a really important role in managing, organising and supporting their child’s employment arrange -

“The Xpo is an excellent opportunity for us to reach existing and future workers and provide them and their parents with information about accessing portable long service leave.”

Visit the friendly ACT Leave staff in

ACT Leave, Unit 1, 28 Thynne Street, Bruce. Call 6247 3900 or visit actleave.act.gov.au

STUDENT AND PARENT INFORMATION PROGRAM

Wednesday, 7 August 2024 – 4pm to 7pm

Evening program open to all, particularly parents

» CareersXpo exhibitors for career and study options

» Seminar Sessions include great presentations

» Guest Speakers - Dr Brad Tucker, Astrophysicist & Cosmologist

- Professor Genevieve Bell, Vice Chancellor ANU

» Career Information sessions presented by the ACT Education Directorate

FREE ENTRY!

EXHIBITION PARK, CANBERRA

Registration necessary

Visit careersxpo.com.au or scan the QR

Strategic Sponsor Major Sponsors

Student Handbook

An invaluable resource prepared by ACT Education to assist students in preparing for the CareersXpo Student & Visitor Program

Access the on-line version or download a copy to your laptop or PC. It contains floor plans, links to Exhibitor listings and the Wednesday Night Seminar program

Leisure manager offering flexible employment

Belgravia Leisure is a leisure management provider for numerous aquatic, fitness, sport, holiday parks, spas and wellness venues across Australia, and ACT marketing co-ordinator Tanay Kandlur says they are looking for more Canberra-based team members.

He says there is a wide range of roles available, including sales or duty managers, but in particular, they are looking for lifeguards, swimming teachers and fitness trainers.

Tanay says hours are flexible, which makes it a perfect option for school students, recent graduates or university students, and any training required is provided by Belgravia Leisure.

Tanay says Belgravia Leisure prides itself on providing employees with access to an extensive range of career options, and opportunities for career

“At Belgravia Leisure, we believe in the power of our people in connecting our communities to leisure,” he says.

“We care about our people and greatly value diversity.

“We encourage people from all backgrounds to find a career with us.”

Tanay says employees can also enjoy free membership and free facility access.

Belgravia Leisure at Canberra Olympic Pool, call 6248 6799; Dickson Pool, call 6247 2972; Stromlo Leisure Centre, call 5114 2900; Gungahlin Leisure Centre, call 6241 1132 and Lakeside Leisure Centre, call 6293 3122. Or, visit belgravialeisure.com.au

the

benefits of

service leave Visit ACT Leave at the Canberra CareersXpo on 7-8 August to learn more about leave that travels

Work With Us!

Looking for an engaging job with great rewards? Begin a career in aquatics & recreation and make a difference within the community. Join our diverse and dynamic team as a lifeguard, swim teacher, fitness trainer or even a sales and guest experience officer with family-friendly and flexible hours. Interested? Learn more about our jobs and apply today.

CareersXpo

Supporting autism-spectrum students into work A welcoming place for young women

Employ For Ability opened in 2019 to support people who are on the autism spectrum and transitioning into work, says managing director David Smith.

“We are promoting our School Leavers Employment Support Program for students on the autism spectrum with an NDIS plan that is self managed or plan managed,” he says.

“Eighty per cent of our schoolleaver clients gain award-wage work within 12 months of commencing our programs.

“Ninety-five per cent are still employed 12 months after gaining employment. We are a specialist in neurodiversity, so we have tailored courses that are holistic, looking at the whole person.

“We offer training as well as social group programs, including time management training, finance skills, employment pursuit, and work-ready programs.

“We also run social groups, as well as Dungeons and Dragons, chess and a garden group.”

David says he did not realise it at the time, but his journey began when his third child, Ollie, was born.

“Annie and I knew he was different, he was diagnosed with autism at four, and we went through a roller coaster of emotions,” he says.

“As a family we have grown to understand autism and to see the strengths Ollie has, his delightful attitude, his sense of equality and justice. He is a

At The Women’s College, located within The University of Sydney, young women are supported every step of the way throughout their university days, both academically and socially as well as into their careers, says The Women’s College registrar, Anne-Maree McCarthy.

“Join a fully supported network of women in your transition to university and enjoy fully catered accommodation, social and extracurricular activities with opportunities for academic assistance, tutorial assistance, mentoring and leadership opportunities,” she says.

students enjoy a dynamic and vibrant experience of university life, says Anne-Maree, while academic assistants and tutors provide advice on time manage ment, exam study and assistance with course content.

she says.

residential students awarded on the basis of academic merit and financial need to support students coming from regional and rural areas as well as to students from government schools, Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, postgraduate students undertaking medicine or scientific research and students studying performance at the Conservatorium of Music.

Anne-Maree says applications for 2025 are now open, and scholarship applications close on October 1.

She says the college accepts students studying at The University of Sydney, UTS, The University of Notre

blessing and intrinsic part of my life, and the reason I purposely started my neurodiversity employment journey in 2016.”

Employ For Ability. Call 1300 619768, or visit employforability.com.au

SCHOOL LEAVER EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT

We specialise in providing training programs for School Leavers on the autism spectrum in finding pathways to work.

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Employ For Ability managing director, David Smith.

and makes sure it meets the community’s needs, says ACT chief allied health officer Dr Sue Fitzpatrick.

This year, she says ACT Health will once again be at the CareersXpo to answer any healthcare career questions.

“We offer many career opportunities for people looking for challenging work in a professional and quality healthcare environment,” she says.

“Our community has experienced some massive changes over the past few years, but we’re so happy to be out and about chatting to people about careers in health and the difference these careers can make in their lives.”

Sue says the CareersXpo is an opportunity for students and people looking for a career change to chat to people working in a variety of roles across the health system.

face-to-face interactions with our community, there’s a job in health to suit you,” she says.

“You can work in a variety of environments ranging from government policy and programs, to hospitals, owning your own private practice, pharmacies, pathology centres, labs, community organisations and not-for-profit organisations.”

Many people aren’t aware a university degree is not necessary to get into a career in health, says Sue, and there’s a range of jobs you can do from aged and disability care to oral health and allied health assisting offered by TAFE and CIT.

“Come and chat to the team from ACT Health,” says Sue. “We’ll point you in the right direction on the next steps to take.”

ACT Health, visit act.gov.au/health

Embark on an exciting career in health

ACT Chief Allied Health officer Dr Sue Fitzpatrick and senior director Marisa Bialowas will be at the CareersXpo on August 7 and 8.

GARDENING

and

Scrambling climber likes shade

If there’s a small area in the garden for a gentle, scrambling climber that likes a little shade, then the evergreen and native Macquarie vine is a terrific choice.

This vine (Muehlenbeckia gunnii) looks delicate, but is tough enough to grow and flower well with very little care.

The growth can be fast. It is a self-supporting twining plant that will climb over shrubs if it is allowed to, but training it to a screen will produce an evergreen wall, at least three metres long, in no time.

The flowers, which keep coming for months, are sweet smelling and appear in small clusters in spring.

Another native to try would be M. adpressa that is endemic to Victoria and SA. It’s better grown as a ground cover or climber and may need protection from frosts. Plant one when the soil has warmed in October. My favourite of all the muehlenbeckia to grow is not a native.

The maidenhair creeper (M. complexa) can be weedy if grown in a warmer climate than ours. I recommend putting it in the garden only where it can be contained or kept in a pot. If

pruned properly, it can create a thin evergreen screen. This variety is popular for topiary shapes in the garden and valued for its tiny foliage and self-supporting strength.

NOW we are on the short end of winter, the wattles and groundcovers, such as alpine phlox (Phlox subulata), are starting to bloom.

Alpine phlox can fill rockeries and hard areas where very little can grow. If planted when young, they can grow up to a metre wide and its spectacular flowering lasts for many weeks from the end of winter through to spring.

The colour range varies from white to purple and every shade of pink in between. Planted en masse, they make a spectacular sight.

While drought hardy once established, it can look a bit average in the warmer months as an evergreen plant, but worthy of growing in our climate.

Also in the phlox family are other perennials that grow well including the ground cover tall phlox (Phlox paniculata). It has self-supporting stems that grow to about 30 centimetres tall. Its flowers come as long-lived clusters of heads in spring and summer. They’re also terrific as cut flowers for a vase.

NOW’S a good time to start to sow seeds for spring planting. Most seeds need 23C, light and moisture to germinate and grow.

Depending on the seeds, germination can take

a few days or a few weeks, so do a little research on what you want to grow.

The most popular and easy seeds for beginners would be tomato seeds.

They need a potting mix that has equal parts core peat, bark fines and sand or a commercial seed-raising mix, but importantly no fertiliser until there is germination of the seed. Place seed on top of potting mix and press down gently. Cover lightly with potting mix or washed sand and place on a heat bed. Once there are three sets of leaves, seedlings can be potted into bigger containers ready for planting out in November when the frosts have passed. Others to try at home are the large seeds of zucchini, pumpkin and beans. They can be planted to the depth of the seed and covered. Feed with seaweed solution every two weeks to keep them growing fast.

jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au

Jottings…

• For blue hydrangeas, water with liquid aluminium sulphate.

• Spray stone fruit for preven- tive fungal disease, such as peach leaf curl.

• Turn in a green manure crop if it begins to flower.

Macquarie vine… tough enough to grow and flower well with very little care.

Photos: Jackie Warburton

Alpine phlox… can fill rockeries

hard areas where very little can grow.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Some like it hot, but Lexi just likes it Marilyn

COVER

STORY

By Helen Musa

Some Like it Marilyn is Canberra actor-producer Lexi Sekuless’ stage show about Marilyn Monroe’s life on the screen, and if the title sounds familiar, it is.

That’s because Sekuless, well before she left to study at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama, created a cabaret show around the famous screen legend for Teatro Vivaldi’s restaurant at the ANU.

That was a one-woman show and, as Sekuless explains: “I’ve been doing it in different versions for quite a while now and this next one is its fourth iteration… it started as a one-person show, then in 2017 and 2018… I did it at Old Parliament House because Vivaldi’s was gone.”

Our reviewer at the time praised Seku less’s “eerie similarity” to Monroe.

“We’re doing it as a four-person theatrical version, not a cabaret, with quite a few new additions to the content,” she says.

Sekuless is joined on stage by Helen Macfarlane, Mark Lee and Timmy Sekuless as a cavalcade of characters in the Marilyn story – Jane Russell, Tony Curtis, Billy Wilder, husbands Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller

Lexi Sekuless in the role of Marilyn Monroe… “More and more I realise how unique her form of onscreen vulnerability was.”

“Every book presents a different side of the story – the Kennedys were there or they weren’t there and so on. I thought, I don’t know what the truth is, so I looked at her through her work.”

The play is “not a biographic, but a film-o-graphic look,” so it’s not focusing on all the personal scandals in Monroe’s candle-in-the-wind life.

This way, she figures, she’s on secure

“We can still see those films everywhere, so the idea of gossip is not part of this show.

“More and more I realise how unique her form of onscreen vulnerability was. When I was studying at drama school in the UK that really landed on me when my teacher tried to teach me the same kind of vulnerability.”

The art of acting, she speculates, is not like music, where you can learn the techniques and you’ll be right.

“The acting craft is not black-and-white and there was something about the way she worked that I knew I had to explore,” says

There was criticism aplenty of Monroe’s work ethic and temperament, not least from director Billy Wilder, who often complained of how difficult she could be, while admitting that she “owned” the screen.

And after working on the 1957 movie The Prince and The Showgirl with Laurence Olivier, where they famously clashed over the question of acting styles, he would say

that she stole the movie from him.

No dumb blonde, Monroe had studied method acting with Lee Strasberg, who also taught Marlon Brando, Paul Newman and Al Pacino, and retained an interest in serious acting throughout her career.

“Marilyn’s work was incredibly good,” Sekuless says.

Audiences can expect excursions into movies such as Some Like it Hot, How to Marry a Millionaire, Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend and her last film, The Misfits. There’s even a bit from the self-justifying Arthur Miller play After the Fall, where a character very like Marilyn appears on stage.

So how much of the career do they cover? When I catch up with Sekuless she’s still debating whether to go as far back as 1948, when Monroe, no longer Norma Jeane Mortenson, appeared as a chorus girl in Ladies of the Chorus.

That was before her breakthrough – by the mid-1950s she was an established star. It was not to be for long. Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose in 1962 aged 36 and Strasberg gave the eulogy at her funeral, saying: “She had a luminous quality. A combination of wistfulness, radiance and yearning that set her apart and made everyone wish to be part of it.”

Some Like It Marilyn, Mill Theatre, Fyshwick, August 7-24.

STREAMING AI streaming creativity generated by lines of code

The age of artificial intelligence has already encroached upon everyday entertainment.

The first AI streaming service has just launched, featuring a collection of short films all generated by an algorithm.

This new service is called DreamFlare.

Currently in its beta testing stage, the platform aims to use AI to create entertainment that users can both watch and interact with.

So far it features two types of films: “flips”, which are short bursts of storytelling using computer-generated imagery, movement, music and voice, and “spins”, which allow users to make their own choices that determine the plot.

The catalogue so far includes The Great Catspy, a Sherlock Holmes-esque short flick about a cat solving mysteries in the early 20th century; Dilemma Dan, a Disneyinspired comedy where users get to choose how they navigate an awkward first date and Hearts of Darkness, a sci-fi film about a bounty hunter chasing down the galaxy’s most wanted.

That’s just the start of their ambitions. DreamFlare aims to rapidly expand its content and is already asking users for $10 a month to subscribe. It can also be accessed for free where users can get a limited amount of content released each week.

It’s been created by former Google bigwig Josh Liss and documentary maker Rob Bralver.

The duo says the aim of DreamFlare is to “empower creators, regardless of budget

create without the limit of a budget and time, but wouldn’t that just ultimately sacrifice creativity itself?

It goes back to that old adage: necessity is the mother of invention.

In the medium of film more than any other, creators around the world have had to harness their resources as effectively as possible to break through the constraints put upon them to build meaningful stories that move audiences. That ability to innovate is what ultimately creates better, more sophisticated storytellers that can one day handle the big budgets and use them to full effect.

A model of AI entertainment also opens up the possibility of more lazy storytelling across the board.

If machines become capable of generating full television episodes and movies, which it likely will, it would be infinitely cheaper for big streaming platforms to use algorithms rather than people to serve up content infinitely faster.

or background, to craft and share unique stories with global audiences.”

“The future of entertainment is being built by all of us, for all of us,” says their website.

But watching these “flips” and “spins” still feels far from natural.

While the ability of this technology to create realistic imagery so fast is undeniably impressive, there is something so hollow about it.

Looking at any image, video or hearing a piece of music made by AI and one can’t escape this vacuous, almost eerie feeling to

come before it.

The question is, do we need this type of entertainment? I believe not.

Being able to interact with a story and decide its outcome is an exciting prospect for sure, but other shows have proven it can be done without needing robots to do it for us.

Look at Bandersnatch on Netflix, an episode of the wildly popular sci-fi series Black Mirror that allowed people to dictate how the storyline plays out with their remote

Bandersnatch wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a bloody good attempt for the first time it was ever done and they did it with real actors, cinematographers and real script writers. There is something arguably noble about DreamFlare’s ambition to allow people to

ARTS IN THE CITY

And that would ultimately mean the loss of the very thing that good storytelling is all about: the human experience.

Call that Skynetflix.

In the swing of Winter Ways

Two of Canberra’s liveliest Big Bands will come together for Winter Ways, an afternoon of music at the Polish White Eagle Club, David Street, Turner on August 3. In Full Swing will perform swing tunes along with karaoke songs and numbers that showcase new drummer Steve Jocz, while Blamey Street Big Band and vocalist Leisa Keen will perform arrangements of classic Beatles tunes.

The choir of King’s College, Cambridge, under the direction of Daniel Hyde, is embarking on a national tour for Musica Viva. Of local interest will be the world premiere of Charlotte by Damian Barbeler, a setting of the poem On Finding Charlotte in the Anthropo logical Record by writer-artist Judith Nangala Crispin. Llewellyn Hall, August 3.

Keen

the

Canberra Museum + Gallery is calling for ACT students in years 7-12 to submit photographic work to the 2024 CMAG Secondary School

Connecting with a major exhibition at CMAG, the theme will be, “Materiality… But Not as We Know It”. Winning photographs and a selection of others will be displayed as part of the show. Entries to cmag. com.au by August 25.

Essential Tremors is an exploratory music and art series navigating the nature of sound. Curated by Angus Andrew, of Liars, the series originated at Phoenix Central Park in Sydney during 2022 and has since been seen in Beijing, New York, Tokyo, Akron and Canberra. The

Hantu and locally based sound and light artist Sally Golding. Ainslie Arts Centre, Braddon, August 3.

It has not escaped our notice that no artists from Canberra, the “cultural capital”, feature in House of Oz’s 12 stand-out Australian shows travelling to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Nor are there any among the finalists of the 2024 Art Music Awards in Melbourne on August 14, although there will be regional awards to come.

Soprano Miriam Rose and pianist Hilda Visser-Scott will present German, French and Italian songs in Dreams & Delusions. Wesley Music Centre, Forrest, July 31.

The star of DreamFlare’s AI story The Great Catspy.

Leisa

with

Blamey Street Big Band... Polish White Eagle Club, August 3.

Ensemble takes a leap into the dark side

By Helen Musa

After three years of presenting contemporary twists on the classics Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and Coppelia – The Training Ground ballet ensemble in Canberra is taking a leap into the dark side.

Directors Bonnie Neate and Suzy Piani are embarking on what they call a more “conceptual” kind of ballet, based on a true-crime episode that Neate saw on TV one night.

It was the case of 17-year-old Daniel LaPlante who, in 1986, initiated a reign of psychological terror by crawling inside the walls of a home in Massachusetts and “haunting” the family, later going on to murder a pregnant woman and her two children in the same town.

It is the former episode that Neate and Piani have taken as the starting point for a new ballet, Wired, coming up at Erindale Theatre in early August with 18 elite dancers performing a full-length work that explores themes of deception, mistrust and paranoia.

It will be the culmination of a rigorous six-month contemporary dance training program for advanced dancers from the ACT and surrounding areas. Some in the cast are regulars with The Training Ground, others are not.

Some of the cast of Wired… the culmination of a rigorous six-month contemporary dance training program for advanced dancers.

scratch by Houssenloge and Curran after they all sat down and worked out how to physicalise the story of the man in the wall.

“The video work and the live dancing will

Neate and Piani are always very particular about ensuring that the music and sound elements match the narrative. This year, in a soundscape created by sound wizkid Ben Novak, from Erindale Theatre, there’ll be an eclectic mix of contemporary pop songs, some classical strings and special effects.

Neate and Piani have imagined a series of characters – the unnamed Watcher, performed not by a male but by Larina Bagic; the three housemates inside, Charlie Thompson as Leo, Jemima Paul as Greta and Emily McCoy as Tess, and Imogen Addison as

There is also an ensemble of 13 dancers who perform manifestations of the three characters inside the house, balanced carefully until the end of Act I, when they begin to merge with The Watcher.

As Neate reveals, when Act II arrives, things take a turn for the worse, with a focus on people being terrorised psychologically. This kind of conceptual drama provides new challenges for the two directors, as they work on reflecting in dance what happens in the mind.

Harry Potter off to the small screen

The upcoming Harry Potter television series will be led by Succession veterans Francesca Gardiner, as writer and showrunner, and Mark Mylod, as director of several episodes.

Both Gardiner and Mylod worked on the HBO series “Succession”, which won 19 Emmys.

HBO describes the Harry Potter series, which has not yet been officially titled, as “a faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter book series by author and executive producer JK Rowling.”

British author Rowling said on social media she had high hopes for the series.

“I’m truly thrilled to announce our director and writer, both of whom I interviewed as part of the production team,” Rowling said.

“Both have a genuine passion for #HarryPotter, and having read Francesca’s pilot script and heard Mark’s vision, I’m certain the TV show will more than live up to expectations.”

In Wired, it’s not so much a matter of creating something scary, but of conceptual -

ising the characters, Neate and Piani explain. This grim story also allows them to play around with the video material, and, happily, videographers Trent Houssenloge

and Chris Curran, of Cowboy Hat Films, join the team again.

The video material leans more towards animation, they say, as is the set built from

BLUES

Shane sets a pace with the blues

Sydney-based Shane Pacey is described as one of Australia’s finest “blues triple threats” – he’s a singer, guitarist and songwriter.

And he’s headlining the Canberra Blues Society’s celebration of the 12th International Blues Music Day at the Harmonie German Club from 3pm on Saturday, August 3, featuring nine acts on two stages performing across seven hours.

Pacey’s other bands, The Bondi Cigars and the Foreday Riders, are still going strong, but with his namesake band – the Shane Pacey Trio – Shane revisits the music that inspired him when he first started playing and singing as a teen, such as the guitar playing of Peter Green and the short sharp style coming out of Chess Records in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

One reviewer wrote that “no-one throws down the blues gauntlet more robustly than this trio, which, next to its own, make songs of old live all over again.

“Of course, it takes more than company to make a trio: it takes the pistol-like rhythm section of bassist Paul Blasi and drummer Dave Fester, which ensures these tunes to land right in your solar plexus.”.

The inaugural International Blues Music Day was in 2013 to bring blues music forward in culture. The mis sion for the day is to “celebrate, promote and preserve” the offerings that blues music brings, including its traditions, its legacy and its future.

The origins of blues music can be traced back to the 1860s in the deep south of the US as a way for African slaves to communicate with songs and chants while working in the field.

Between the late 1800s and early 1920s, blues took a new shape in mainstream America. Spreading across the entire south, blues music was heard in dance halls and speakeasies. It was also a time when black

Shane Pacey… headlining the International Blues Music Day.

were recording their music, opening doors for music to enter into households across the world.

acts performing at the Harmonie German Club Blues Day celebration include fellow headliners

McNamarr Project, The Marvellous Hearts, Aaron Pollock, Canberra’s The Stage Invaderz, and Big Mama and the Medicine Man.

“We find that we are taking a new path, a more interesting route than we have done before,” they say.

Wired, Erindale Theatre, August 2-3.

HBO said “each season will bring ‘Harry Potter’ and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and cherished films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.”

–Reuters

Photo: Eliza Swiderski

MUSIC AND DANCE

Neighbourly city’s long history and bright future

Whether just starting out, a seasoned professional, looking to get back into an old hobby, or start a new one, there are plenty of music groups and dance troupes in Canberra to explore, and plenty of venues and shows to attend for inspiration. No matter the instrument, style or skill level, there’s an artist in Canberra ready to share their skills, some of whom have spent decades building their knowledge and passion for music and dance.

This week “CityNews” rounds up some of Canberra’s best music and dance activities on offer.

Stepping confidently on to the dance floor

Dancing in front of an audience can be nerve-wracking, but Dale Harris, owner of Dale’s Ballroom, says she can help even the most timid of dancers.

Dale is an expert in many styles of dance, including tango, foxtrot, quickstep, Viennese waltz, cha cha, samba, jive, rumba and paso doble, and has more than 25 years’ experience teaching dance.

Dale says dance classes are a great opportunity to keep children entertained, but are also perfect for adults looking to engage in a new social activity this winter.

The seven-week dance course for adults is open again, and Dale encourages anyone to come and learn, regardless of age or experience.

“We have people of all ages coming in for the classes,” she says, with adult classes on Wednesdays, starting at 7pm, and junior classes every Thursday from 5pm.

She says classes cover Latin, New Vogue and standard dances.

“It is also a great time to enrol in the medal classes, as competitions begin in November, allowing a solid semester to practise and prepare,” says Dale.

For those preparing for a wedding, or special event, Dale says private classes are also available.

“We do private classes by appointment and we can accommodate choreographing

Ballroom Dancing, 6/38 Reed Street North, Greenway. Call 0407 066110 or visit dalesballroomdancing.com

Professional, fun tuition in Ballroom Dancing

• PRIVATE DANCING LESSONS

– Individuals or Groups

– Perfect for Wedding Parties BY APPOINTMENT

• KIDS MEDAL CLASSES

Thursdays from 5pm

New class starting 25th July

• ADULT BEGINNER CLASSES

Wednesdays from 7pm

New class starting 24th July

• SOCIAL DANCING

Mondays 7pm - 9:30pm

All Classes are held at: The Crystal Ballroom Canberra 6/38 Reed Street Nth, Greenway, Tuggeranong

Mid-year programs offer music for all ages and abilities

Music for Canberra creates vibrant spaces, where adults and children can be involved in an inspiring and inclusive music experience, says general manager Michael Favreau.

Tutors at Music for Canberra are experienced musicians and educators who are passionate about spreading the joy of music, he says.

This term, Michael says they are launching two new programs designed to engage and provide enjoyable learning experiences for all, Instant Family Band, and Drum Circle for Joy.

But, Michael says it doesn’t stop there – from young string players just starting out, to more experienced players, there are countless opportunities.

Adolescents and young adults can join the Canberra Youth Orchestra, which he says gives players a chance to develop their orchestral skills, or Music for Canberra has ukulele and guitar groups.

Free trials are available for any program, and the choir program for young singers feeds into the Canberra Children’s Choir.

The Mixed Abilities Program, designed for people living with a disability, is a weekly music session assisting in creativity and the development of social skills.

For the first time, Michael says Music for Canberra will be offering family discounts,

20 per cent for the first additional child or program, and 10 per cent for each subsequent child or program.

“We have designed new and updated existing programs in response to feedback we’ve received from our community,” he says.

“While Music for Canberra has always offered great experiences, we are particularly proud of our mid-year 2024 programs.”

Music For Canberra, Ainslie Arts Centre, 30 Elouera Street, Braddon. Call 6182 0030 or visit musicforcanberra.org.au

MUSIC FOR EVERYONE

Phone: 0407 066 110 | Email: dale_harris@bigpond.com Web: dalesballroomdancing.com | Principal: Dale Harris

Enroll

Dale’s

Dale Harris with daughters Brooke and Grace.

Playing French horn in the Canberra Youth Orchestra.

The Wesley Music Centre is a top class venue for classical chamber music, says director Liz McKenzie.

She says the Wesley Music Centre welcomes local, national and international performers, and is also dedicated to supporting talented young people who are on their way to a career in music.

“We support young musicians through both our Wesley Music Scholars program and the ACT Organ School,” she says.

“We love being part of the Canberra music community and we also love supporting young musicians in the early stages of their careers.”

For those wanting to attend a show, Liz says the Wesley Music Centre events calendar always has lots on, such as The Oriana Chorale concert, Flight, which

will be performed on July 27, from 5pm to 6.30pm.

There is also a lunchtime concert every wednesday, at the Wesley Music Centre, from 12.40pm to 1.20pm, she says.

For the full events calendar and details for upcoming performances, Liz says to visit their website, which also has venue hire information.

The Wesley Music Centre has been a central part of the local music scene since its opening in 2002, Liz says, and encourages all music lovers to come and be a part of the magic.

Wesley Music Centre, 20-22 National Circuit, Forrest. Call 6232 7248 or wesleymusiccanberra.org

Singing, dancing and old-fashioned fun

Nice Work If You Can Get It is a silly, fun and entertaining jukebox musical of George and Ira Gershwin songs, says director Dave Smith.

“It’s a throwback to old-school-style musicals, where there’s a lot of singing and dancing and a lot of very silly comedy, which is very light-hearted,” he says.

Set during the prohibition era in the 1920s, Dave says Nice Work If You Can Get It guarantees a night of enjoyment.

“It’s just entertainment, which is, I think, what is missing in a lot of shows more recently,” he says.

are on sale, and Dave says attending is a great way to support the local arts scene.

“Queanbeyan Players gives people opportunities to learn how to build a set, or be part of a band or an orchestra, depending on the show,” he says.

“We don’t have a professional scene in Canberra, so this gives people an opportunity to perform and to hone their skills.

“We have a range of performers, ex-Canberran performers, who are now performing professionally due to the training that they got when they were here.”

WINE / Women in Wine

What women want from the wine industry

In late June it was announced that a study will aim to review current efforts, understand the state of gender equality, and identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for progress in the grape and wine sector.

This research will be undertaken by Charles Sturt University and the University of NSW.

The research team will engage wine and grape sector stakeholders to identify recom mendations and develop a practical toolkit for all businesses and sector organisations, translating best practices and innovative ideas for gender equality, into actionable steps.

In an interview with Katherine Brown, of Brown Family Wines, I asked her about how she advanced in the industry and what other ways women could be given more opportunities.

What wines does Brown Family Wine Group sell in Canberra and what is the most popular wine sold?

“The Brown Browns NV Prosecco is our most popular wine sold in Canberra.

Canberrans love their prosecco. Canberra and the ACT is a really loyal market for us. Our winery is located in Milawa, Victoria (near Wangaratta) which is only four hours from Canberra, and we get many visitors making the drive to enjoy our cellar door and award-winning restaurant.”

How did you get into the industry and when and why? What have been your roles?

“I was lucky enough to be born into the industry. I’m part of the fourth generation of the Brown family. It was my great grandfather who made the first wines here in Milawa

“Each generation of winemaker before me was named John Brown so I’ve shaken that up because my name is not John and I’m a

“I went away to boarding school and then studied business at university. I travelled to France and got caught up in the vintage there, first working in Bordeaux then Champagne and then in Jura.

“I did a vintage in those regions for about four weeks in each. This compares with vintage at Brown Brothers, which goes from February to the end of April typically.

“When I came back I studied wine making at Charles Sturt in Wagga from 2010. Twothousand-and-fifteen was my first vintage here. I came in as an assistant winemaker, with a portfolio of innovative wines, the ‘orphan’ wines.

“I gave them my passion to get them in the forefront. I made a Nero d’Avola, which won a trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show in 2016. In 2019 I had my first child and then went back to making wine.

“In 2021 I had my second child, but found that the time required to mother two small children and wine making didn’t fit into a week, and so I am currently in a role where I can work part time, looking after some areas of marketing and corporate affairs.”

What needs to change to get more women into the industry?

“At Brown Brothers we operate a very female friendly winery, our senior winemaker and our head of cellar are both women and over half of our permanent cellar hand

team are female, this takes out the ‘blokey’ nature that can be seen in some agricultural workplaces.

“I think women promoting women, acting as mentors for the next generation coming through is especially important. An aspect that this would work in is through job-sharing roles. So, say when two women have children they could job-share because winemaking is a role that takes five to seven days a week, seven days during vintage.

“Wine industry employers should be more open to let more job-sharing occur in the hands-on, agricultural side such as in the winery or in the vineyards. Our winery team at Brown Brothers work well because we can see other women in leadership roles, which creates achiev able role-models for the younger female team.”

DINING / Rakkas, Kingston Foreshore

Turkish that seriously delights

“Turkish hospitality is in our blood,” says Mert Toplu, chef and owner of Rakkas, a new restaurant dishing up exciting, modern Turkish food, on Kingston Foreshore.

Once settled, we were presented with a hot towel by wait staff deter mined to please. A lovely touch.

Rakkas invested time to change matters before greeting its first customer – new, comfy bench seating, soft features and lighting, and innovative elements for noise-proofing.

Mert is determined to make Rak kas anything but run-of-the-mill. He’s got experience to back him, having worked in five-star venues in Istanbul and at Ottoman in Canberra. He also runs the popular Thirty 4 Café, Queanbeyan.

But the food is the star of the show at Rakkas.

The dips are divine and far from what you expect (trio for $28 with freshly baked, piping hot Turkish bread). The silky, smooth hummus, for example, features a swirl of black tahini and crunchy chickpeas on top. The “Pink Sultan” beetroot is roasted for hours and served as a cannoli with mint and yoghurt. They are mouthwatering.

Haloumi lovers will be delighted. The cheese (nice and squeaky) is thickly sliced, fried and served with honeycomb, thyme and rose leaves ($19). The honey is the perfect level of sweetness. Another starter we adored was the sun-dried eggplant, which showcases the skills of the experts in the kitchen. The

We also shared the crispy sardines with fennel, red cabbage pickles and xo mayo served on square slices of toast – Rakka’s funky take on fish and chips ($23).

Half of us were thoroughly impressed and half thought the sardines were too strong (personal taste).

For mains we indulged in Kuzu, a slow-cooked lamb shoulder we cut with our forks it was so tender ($45 for a generous portion). Rakkas scores big with this dish, created with quince, braised spinach, swirls of yoghurt sauce, puffed rice and loads of love. It was sensational with decadent crispy chat roasted in rich duck fat ($12).

Our group didn’t go wrong with the Karides, plump prawns cooked

The to-die-for milk pudding dessert isn’t overly sweet, and neither is the mascarpone kaymak (each $18). Go for it. Wines from Turkey are on offer, and we enjoyed the Buzbag Emir Narince (2021), a dry white. Rakkas is super proud of its cocktail menu, which features signature creations highlighting special ingredients of the regions the drinks are named after (block ice cubes are even stamped with Rakkas).

Turkish hospitality struck again when given a small, sweet gift bag as we departed (you’ll have to dine to discover what’s inside).

Katherine Brown, of Brown Brothers… “I think women promoting women, acting as mentors for the next generation coming through is especially important.”

HOROSCOPE PUZZLES

By Joanne Madeline Moore

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Prepare for a topsy-turvy week! The Sun, New Moon and Venus are in fellow fire sign Leo, so you’ll feel like powering ahead with creative projects. But disruptive Uranus squares Venus on Friday, so rushing around impulsively could backfire –especially involving friends and finances. To reduce stress levels (and the likelihood of making mistakes) enthusiasm must be balanced with caution, and fiery haste tempered with plenty of patience.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

Venus (your patron planet) squares Uranus on Friday, when a personal project takes an unexpected turn, or a family member could hit you with some surprising news. Talking things through with a sympathetic friend may be the healing balm you need. Sunday’s New Moon is a fabulous time for a domestic reboot as you clean and declutter your living space, and make it more beautiful via redecorating, playing music or a fresh lick of paint.

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

Family relationships and close friendships look complicated this week, as loved ones debate a wide range of controversial topics or a relative makes an unpredictable move. If you have a problem that’s bothering you, avoid making a rash decision. Slow down, Gemini, and let your intuition be your guide. Sunday’s New Moon is the perfect time to begin a course of study, start a neighbourhood project, join a community group, travel locally or make a new friend.

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

You’ve been talking about saving for something big (like a car, holiday, house deposit or home renovations) for a while. With the Sun, New Moon and Venus visiting your finance zone (and Venus squaring Uranus), resist the urge to be extravagant with cash and careless with credit. In an uncertain economic climate, be a canny Crab who is cautious with money. Plus, do an inventory on your inner wealth, as you nurture your self-esteem and consolidate your core values.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Calling all Cats! With the Sun, New Moon and Venus all visiting your sign, it’s your time to shine: to display your numerous creative talents, and dazzle others with your fiery enthusiasm and abundant Leo charm. It’s also the best week of the year to try a new hairstyle, update your wardrobe or start an exciting personal project. But be careful you don’t upset a work colleague, client or customer by behaving in an inconsistent, unpredictable or selfish way.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

Tricky Uranus vibes could make some Virgos feel restless and/or stressed. Plus, the Sun, New Moon and Venus are visiting your solitude zone, so you’ll also feel like being on your own. Privacy and self-reflection are paramount, and activities like meditation, contemplation, chanting and/or yoga are recommended. Your mantra comes from birthday great Kate Bush (who turns 66 on Tuesday): “There’s an awful lot you learn about yourself when you’re alone.”

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

The fiery New Moon reignites a special hope, dream or wish that’s been languishing on the sidelines. But Venus (your patron planet) squares Uranus on Friday so - if you are stuck in a friendship slump or a relationship rut - don’t dwell on the past. It’s time to shake up your peer group as you mingle with a bohemian new crowd. Be inspired by actress (and fellow Libran) Kate Winslet: “The good and bad things are what form us as people. Change makes us grow.”

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

Friday’s Venus/Uranus connection brings a rush of fiery energy and a fresh perspective to a stale romance or a floundering friendship. But it could also send a faltering relationship right off the rails. There’s no denying you’re a smart Scorpion but are you making the most of your professional talents? The New Moon activates your career zone, so it’s time to put on your thinking cap, connect with colleagues and keep them up to date with your work plans.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Are you feeling restless, Sagittarius? The Sun, New Moon and Venus all stir your gypsy gene, and find you dreaming of greener pastures and foreign adventures. You’re also longing for closer connections with your international friends. But Venus squares unpredictable Uranus, so travel could be delayed or cancelled, and a friendship could be turned upside down. So plenty of patience and persistence is required if you want to achieve long-lasting results.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

Do you have a frustrating problem that needs fixing? Have you asked other people for advice but still can’t find a solution? This week the Sun, New Moon and Venus activate your dream, trust and wisdom zones. So you must listen to your inner voice and pay attention to the symbolic messages in your nightly dreams. Your motto for the moment is from singer/songwriter/musician Kate Bush, who celebrates her 66th birthday on Tuesday: “Only you can sort yourself out.”

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

This week you’ll be reliably unpredictable and consistently inconsistent! Love, loyalty and compromise are the New Moon buzzwords. But one half of you wants to snuggle up close with someone special - while the other half longs to be footloose, fancy-free and spontaneously solo. Try to find the sweet spot between cosy companionship and invigorating independence. And resist the urge to be an Aquarian provocateur who is deliberately controversial.

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

New Moon week is the ideal time to ditch bad daily habits and start afresh. Work, health, fitness and food choices are the main areas where you need to make some long overdue changes and adjustments – the sooner the better. Try to release pent-up Piscean frustrations via a chat with a close confidante or a trusted family member. Spending some quality time with your favourite four-legged friend (in the great outdoors) will also help to lift your spirits.

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2024

2 Who was Juliet’s gentleman friend? (5)

3 Name the most brilliant of the planets. (5)

4 What is a state of mental indecision? (8)

5 Name a hard, round yellow cheese. (4)

6 Which horse won the first two Melbourne Cups? (6)

7 What is an archaic term for silver? (6)

(8)

16 Which large rectangular items of fabric are used as bed coverings? (8)

19 What is a meeting of people seeking to communicate with spirits of the dead? (6)

22 Name another term for a difficulty. (8)

24 Which large hawk feeds on fish? (6)

25 What might we call one who christens a baby? (8)

26 What are robberies known as? (6)

12 Name one of the two bones of the forearm. (4)

14 Which official document grants permission to a person to visit foreign countries? (8)

15 Which metallic element has the symbol Fe? (4)

17 What are wooly haired South American ruminants? (6)

18 What is the state of being naked? (6)

20 To be fully sufficient, is to be what? (5)

21 What is an opening made by cleavage? (5)

23 Name the landlord of an inn. (4)