‘What’s missing is the supply of stand-alone dwelling sites.’ JON STANHOPE & KHALID AHMED call out the nonsense that is housing’s ‘missing middle’ concept.
Emerson strikes solid blow for long term thinking
MICHAEL MOORE
Bright light city gonna set my soul on fire
CLIVE WILLIAMS
Trumpet flowers are a show stopper!
JACKIE WARBURTON Killer questions to ask your local candidates
KEEPING UP THE ACT
SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
As St Andrew’s celebrates its 90th anniversary, NICHOLE OVERALL looks at the proud history of the cathedral that wasn’t
Well written, well read
HURRY IN
By Helen MUSA
Canberra Museum and Gallery and the Royal Canberra Hospital History Group have joined up to conserve and secure a collection of historic objects from the old Royal Canberra Hospital.
Until the end of the month, Canber rans can have a peek through the museum windows on London Circuit at CMAG staff and hospital volunteers sorting and cataloguing the collection in full view.
Given the thousands who have been treated either in the old Canberra Community Hospital or its successor, Royal Canberra Hospital, on Acton Peninsula, there is likely to be considerable interest in looking at everything from medical instruments to the stylish uniforms, nursing books and even bedpans.
ally significant objects will be added to the museum’s permanent collection. First up, there’s no getting away from the stylishness of the uniforms.
and inventions that came about during the hospital’s lifetime.
Perhaps the strangest objects in the collection are tiny replica skulls to show nurses the brain development in
The collection goes up to the 1990s and includes a very odd frisbee inscribed with a warning against chla-
It’s early days. Staff have a lot of work ahead in identifying and cataloguing the objects, but Richards pays tribute to the community historians who have already collected stories of people who’ve been in the hospital, as well as the objects and the books and notes used in teaching nurses.
that some of those items were made in-house.
even specify the “shank” buttons used on some uniforms.
CMAG will put a call out to the public, seeking stories for its oral history component from people with stories of the hospital or perhaps, like me, had a mother who was trained at the Community Hospital.
It’s a bit different from some of the more artistic collections that CMAG assistant director Rebecca Richards is used to handling, but she says it’s no less exciting, as she takes me through the items lovingly transported to CMAG, where they will be sorted and catalogued. From them, some cultur-
Whether outfits in attractive pastels with Peter Pan collars; beautifully-tailored, red, heavy wool capes; colourful graduation gowns that remind one of the high esteem in which the nursing profession was held, or the scalloped head caps, the nurses of earlier days set a standard in fashion not readily equalled in today’s institutions.
A Singer sewing machine suggests
It’s too early in the curators’ investigations to say who was engaged to design uniforms for nurses, matron and hospital orderlies, but the collection makes it clear that the designers were keen to make the hospital experience as easy on the eyes as possible.
A lot of the work has already been done, Richards says, as evidenced by the detailed, meticulous hand entries by volunteers from the Royal Canberra Hospital History Group, which
Richards understands that many of the items go back to 1914 or earlier as she shows me a 1914 chair, an ancient metal stretcher on wheels, limb prostheses and braces for the polio outbreak that swept Australia in the mid-20th century.
Monitors, early radiology equipment, an electrocardiogram machine and a quite terrifying looking cauterising machine from the early 1900s speak to the medical advancements
To further involve the public, they’ll answer questions from the Canberra community on social media, also showcasing some of the most interesting items from the collection in videos to be released during the cataloguing process.
Until September 29, Canberrans will have to content themselves with peering through the windows, but there’s a large screen explaining what’s going on.
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Finally, there is a group of politicians who think beyond the next election.
How often have short-term electoral advantages outweighed sensible policy decisions across all jurisdictions in Australia? Hopefully, this will come to an end.
A Future Generations Act is being proposed by Thomas Emerson and the Independents for Canberra.
The proposal to be introduced into the ACT Legislative Assembly if they are elected in October strikes a solid blow for long-term thinking in politics. The legislation is based on a similar act that has been passed in Wales in 2015. It has a “legally binding common purpose” to provide intergenerational equity.
While many politicians have had the opportunity to learn from Wales, and to take action to rid themselves of short-term political decision making, no-one has had the courage to implement such legislation. By launching this approach, the Independents for Canberra have really set themselves apart from other political parties running in the election.
sions in their long-term interests,” Mr Emerson said in launching the policy
Independents for Canberra, who are standing candidates in each of the five electorates, stand a real chance of holding the balance of power in the
The idea is to “ensure current needs are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”, according to Mr Emerson, who put young people as the
He explained: “The climate, housing and cost-of-living crises are combining to present the next generation with a future coloured by hopelessness.
“Young people feel they can’t afford their own future. They fear our changing climate. They despair at runaway habitat clearing and species extinction. They’re trapped by new technologies that are causing harm, rather than being harnessed for good.”
By launching the policy for a Future Generations Act, the Independents for Canberra have really set themselves apart from other political parties running in the election.
tackle intergenerational inequality?
“I want my children, and their children, to feel inspired to realise their aspirations. We need to offer young people a future they can be excited about”.
portunity to enhance co-operation on critical challenges and address gaps in global governance.
The summit reflects the importance of thinking about future generations and for taking action on intergenerational equity. That process is expected to reaffirm existing commitments such as ongoing support for the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Charter and look for co-operation from politicians internationally.
The Independents for Canberra proposal includes a Future Generations Commissioner as part of the legislation. The commissioner will be tasked with ensuring government
commissioner report to the Assembly regarding each bill or appropriate pieces of legislation after having assessed their impact on the long, long term. It will also be incumbent on the commissioner to consider any other actions of government to ensure appropriate consideration of the impact on future generations.
“Young people have little confidence that political leaders are making deci-
At the risk of being accused of using the ACT as a social laboratory, Mr Emerson said: “This is a forwardlooking city where there’s a strong mandate for transformative social change. Canberra is the perfect place for this idea.
“We’re not seeing the leadership we need from our politicians. How much longer do we have to wait before people in power take action to
In Wales the commissioner established by the Well-being of Future Generations Act argues that the legislation “requires public bodies in Wales to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change”.
The timing of this proposal also fits in with an approach being taken by the United Nations. The UN Summit of the Future being held September 22-23 is a once-in-a-generation op -
So many people look in vain for a long-term vision in our politicians. The commitment of Thomas Emerson and Independents for Canberra to a Future Generations Act reflects a serious understanding of the need for long-term thinking in politicians and bodes well for any of their members who are elected.
Michael Moore is a former member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and an in dependent minister for health. He has been a political columnist with CityNews since 2006.
Bevan visits 75-year-old Ron every week at the Goodwin Village in Monash, and says the main things they do is watch old locomotive videos, some of which Ron himself filmed, listen to old albums, eat lunch and just enjoy each
Ron is also wheelchair bound, so to make sure he can still get out and about, Bevan says they like to do a couple of laps around the garden when
“I’ve also been trying to get a bus booked to take him to the old railway museum, so I’m hoping to do that some -
It’s not just Ron who has benefitted from the program though, with Bevan saying the experience made him realise he needed to stop isolating himself.
“I think more importantly, I’ve lost a little bit of, I guess, foolishness,” he
“There’s been a big theme in the last year of my life, and Ron was a big part of it, where I’m just realising that I’ve
fun runs and stuff like that, but I wanted to do something consistent and something a little bit more personal,”
Bevan, an international relations and politics, philosophy, economics student, says.
“I got matched with the lovely Ron, my good friend.
“I was a bit, I guess, apprehensive at the start, because to be very honest,
these people deserve friends as well.”
Photo: Katarina Lloyd Jones
Ron and I have nothing in common.
“Ron loves trains more than anything else, like old locomotive steam engines and I don’t even like cars.
“But we got along really quickly. He’s a very ridiculously silly man and I’m a man as well, so that was kind of our middle ground.”
“And I’ve wasted a lot of time, not spending time with people, you know, isolating myself, and frankly, for me, a 21-year-old guy at uni, Ron is the last person that I would think to spend my time with, but I don’t really feel as calm, or feel as present, or as relaxed as when I just kind of sit and watch kids looking for yabbies in the lake with him.
Bevan, who moved to Canberra eight
years ago, says it has also helped him overcome the, at times, insular nature of the city.
“I was born in the States, in New York, and dad was a diplomat,” he says.
“He ended up being asked to be the ambassador for Libya. So we lived in Libya, and then lived in Egypt for a little bit.
“Canberra’s a bit of a bubble, but there are some days where I wouldn’t want to leave the house, but I don’t know if it’s an obligation or whatever it was, but yeah, it’s been great.”
Overall, he says the program has been a hugely transformative experience, and encourages more young people to get involved.
“It’ll get you outside of yourself,” he says.
“It’s worth doing. You’ll feel good about yourself, and, you know, these people deserve friends as well.
“Without these programs, without these NGOs, stuff like that, people are left behind, a lot of these people are left behind.
“That’s a big part of why I want to do the work that my dad does. A big part of his work was co-ordinating teams for humanitarian relief, for infrastructure development, for community support and communication programs. And this is kind-of my little toe in the water.”
ageingwithgrace.org.au
Feel like a burst of entertainment and community singing? Come Sing with Us @ St Ninian’s might be the ticket at the St Ninian’s Uniting Church Hall. Lyneham, from 2pm followed by afternoon tea at 3.30pm on Sunday, September 22. Donation $10 at the door.
Local author and historian Jenny Horsfield will discuss her book A Bookshop in Wartime at the next luncheon meeting of the Weston Creek VIEW Club, at the Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden, from 11.30am on October 1. Visitors and interested ladies welcome. RSVP to 0408 864616 by September 26.
The Bold Bandannas have a cancer-research fundraising stall at the Belco fruit and veg markets, 8am-5pm, Saturday, September 28, selling pickles, chutney, lemon butter and sugar-reduced preserves. Also a range of hand-sewn items, including children’s dress-up clothes, hand-knitted doll’s clothes and teddies, covered coat hangers, crocheted hand towels, and baby and children’s knitwear.
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Albo is feeling the pressure. He reminds me vividly of my biographical subject Kevin Rudd (Penguin 2008) after he lost the vote at the 2009 Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen.
Instead of pressing his case at home with a double-dissolution election – he went to water. Thereafter, his decision-making became so erratic that his caucus rebelled, and Julia Gillard took his place as PM.
So it is with the man Kevin made his deputy PM when Julia herself fell from power.
Anthony Albanese’s disastrous loss of the Voice campaign, after a decent interval of mourning, should have been met with a grand plan. It would begin with truth telling, followed by a legislative barrage of reform that would finally draw a line under the vile colonial treatment of our forebears in the great south land. Instead, just like Kevin, he went to water. His decision-making since then – from his panicked response to the High Court’s migrant detention ruling to his reluctance to confront the gambling industry – has led to his trouncing by Peter Dutton in parliament.
It follows exactly the pathway of his former political patron. And his latest decision to somehow outlaw social
media to the young is more of the same. That horse has not only left the barn, it’s galloped over the hills and is far away.
“Enough is enough” is his slogan for the confrontation with the billionaire social media oligarchy.
Protecting kiddies is a lovely idea in theory, but until the governments of the world unite in some IT version of the infamous Copenhagen Summit, it’s just not going to happen… ever.
The key to any regulatory action lies with the US and if Donald Trump
wins back the Oval Office in November the Albo campaign is a dead duck. Trump himself would willingly perform the funeral rites courtesy of their First Amendment guarantee of free speech. Kamala Harris knows the law, and it’s Trump’s Supreme Court anyway. Moreover, the IT oligarchs simply cannot understand “enough is enough” since their whole business model is based on the concept that “enough is never enough”
Even Australia’s boom-
Protecting kiddies is a lovely idea in theory, but until the governments of the world unite, it’s just not going to happen… ever.
ers – your columnist included – would quietly oppose it. Indeed, we belong to the generation that fought against censorship of any kind.
Who among us could forget Customs Minister Don Chipp organising the screening of “off-colour” films for us to see the “filth” that he was forced to watch before deciding which ones to ban. It was a veritable stampede to get tickets. It was certainly one of Don’s more amusing decisions.
While we’re aware that online pornography is the motivation of the religious moralists, the truth is, that stuff has been around forever and has been absorbed into the communal experience with no more unhappy side effects than the Playboy, Man or even hardcore magazines of yesteryear.
Morals are made in the home, mostly by kids emulating parental behaviour. Outside the home, the great dangers appear to be the
priestly pedophiles and a few similar creeps among coaching staff.
Online bullying and vicious criticism can be terribly painful to the young and old alike, but restricting kids from having phones with untrammelled internet access – which can also be lifesavers in other circumstances – is not a role for the federal government, even if SA and Victoria win an occasional concession.
The Opposition on this occasion will probably adopt a low profile and let the oligarchy do the job for them. Albo’s Labor Caucus will be preoccupied counting the numbers for possible successors. Over in Washington, Kevin Rudd will also be preoccupied – as ever – lobbying to become Secretary-General of the UN. I suspect his prospects are better than Albo’s.
robert@robertmacklin.com
KEEPING UP THE ACT shares some important questions to ask your local candidates as we get closer to the ACT election…
1. How many years should one party be in power before it is not healthy for democracy? Gough Whitlam said 23 years in his famous “It’s Time” campaign, but just wondering what you think?
2. We’re all a bit of a klutz at times, but can Chris Steel please be stopped from touching things? Either that, or can you garnishee his expensive “learnings” from his pay?
3. With no sightings of him for the last 20 years, is Mick Gentleman real or is he Labor’s version of the Yowie or BigFoot?
4. Given the ACT sits at the bottom of the national league table on health, education, and housing affordability, and at the top of the league table in taxes, debt and undelivered promises, can we switch these tables around? Y’know, like those house-flipping shows.
Bonus Prompt:
CFMEU! Just blurt it out and see whether the candidate gives a nervous laugh, changes the topic or runs faster than Usain Bolt.
Attorney-General, Minister for Gambling and Minister for Energy? And isn’t Rebecca Vassarotti the Minister for Housing and Homelessness? And isn’t Emma Davidson the Minister for Community Services and Mental Health?
And haven’t all those portfolios been shockers? Guys, I’m truly trying to work with you on this but, help me, what am I missing here?
3. Do some of your policies take more tokes on the bong than others?
4. If I buy a pure EV car, I’m basically supporting either Elon Musk or Xi Jinping. Which environmentally-friendly despot is better?
Bonus Prompt: Kangaroo Cull! Slip it into the conversation and see whether the candidate looks to their shoes, mumbles that it is humane, or defiantly yells, “those hoppy bastards attacked Shane!”
1. You’ve been going on about how the ACT Government’s finances are in the toilet. How will you unblock our debt-ridden dunny without backing up a crap-load of financial pain on Canberrans? And can you answer my question without blustering that you can’t say anything until you know the true state of the ACT economy?
2. Maybe it’s me, but why can’t I get excited by anything you guys have to offer? And this is coming from a low base with the current lot.
3. If elected, what is the timetable for your first political scandal?
4. Your Young Liberals are a bit of a worry with all of their jingoistic fervour about getting kids to pledge allegiance to Australia every day and having tax cuts for people who put Australian flags on their lawns. Are the Young Liberals actually young or are you tricking us and it’s really Zed and Eric Abetz in short pants?
Bonus Prompt:
Zed! Say it to see whether the candidate jumps, blushes or goes all gooey-eyed.
1. Oh, God, am I hoping that you bring some intelligence and competence to the ACT Government. And yet… Well, the current parties are telling me that you’re either a Labor stooge, a Liberal stooge or a Green stooge, depending on who I ask. Are you a stooge for the… Actually, scrub that. Given the stooges we’ve got, how soon can you start?
Mignonne Cullen is standing as an independent candidate for the seat of Ginninderra in this year’s ACT election.
“I’ve spent the years since the last election deeply involved in all aspects of life in the Belconnen community and firmly believe that party affiliations compromise the ability to represent the electorate,” Cullen says.
“That time has shown me the frustration of residents in getting action from Legislative Assembly members on everyday issues that don’t figure in the party line.” Cullen, who unsuccessfully contested the 2020 election, says her interaction with local people has identified key issues concerning residents of Ginninderra and the wider community.
“It goes without saying that a supply of appropriate and affordable housing – suitable for all ages and abilities – tops the list,” she said.
“There needs to be greater emphasis on providing shelter for the homeless, perhaps repurposing unoccupied buildings, and ensuring that social housing is well maintained and fit for purpose.
“I’m philosophically opposed to light rail. The government is hell-bent on pushing ahead with it, to the detriment of so many more important services that in the past have made Canberra a model city.
“This in turn raises the question of the present government’s ability to manage its finances with its wholesale approach to punitive taxes and duties that hamstring so many aspects of living and doing business here.
“We need greater emphasis not only on housing but other essentials – health, the environment, public transport and education – and better support for police and emergency
only to see the state of our roads, footpaths and open spaces to realise this.
“In the lead up to the election, members of the government have embarked on the cynical exercise of promoting remedial work in these areas as part of their bid for re-election, when it should have been an ongoing commitment over the course of the last parliament.”
Cullen, a former registered nurse and midwife, also holds certificates in community service and alcohol and other drugs dependency. She is a former RAAF member with experience in aeromedical evacuation, health promotion and the ADF directorate of Protocol and Visits.
A Ginninderra resident for nearly 30 years, she was a board member on People with Disabilities, member of the ACT Government’s Disability Reference Group and Council of the Ageing (COTA).
She volunteers with community service groups and as a stroke survivor from 20 years ago, is a long-term member of the Lunch with Friends group.
I will advocate for all Canberrans but in particular marginalised groups such as people with disabilities and our ageing population.
Ask questions. Be informed. I look forward to engaging with you in the future.
It is time to elect a candidate who wants change and understands the need for a better life for all.
Authorised by Mignonne Cullen, candidate for Ginninderra
St Andrew’s Presbyterian church, at 1 State Circle, Forrest, one of Canberra’s oldest buildings, is celebrating its 90th anniversary. NICHOLE OVERALL looks at the proud history of the cathedral that wasn’t.
The CityNews cover image is thoroughly early Canberra: against the backdrop of an open plain, a stone spire reaches to the heavens as a farmer leads a horse along the red dirt road running below, the gentle hill upon which the grand church sits, adorned by sheep.
And so it is that the angular, neogothic St Andrew’s Presbyterian church is one of the national capital’s oldest buildings, synonymous with the development of the city and even referred to as “the light on the hill”.
“It’s definitely had a significant influence on the life of Canberra and in national life,” says senior minister, the reverend David Campbell.
“St Andrew’s was originally to be a cathedral and while that didn’t eventuate, it was intended as the Presbyterian church of Australia, considered one of the most prestigious in our history and the congregation of great influence in the wider church.”
Presbyterians were some of the earliest Christians to arrive on the Limestone Plains. The first place of worship was a simple slab hut at Lyneham from the 1860s (later St Ninian’s).
Recognising growing need, Gundaroo had appeared at a similar time and this year is celebrating its 150th anniversary, Queanbeyan’s St Stephen’s in 1874.
The “exertions” of the denomination’s first minister to Canberra, the very reverend Dr John Walker, led to the acquisition of a site of five acres (two hectares) – large enough to host a cathedral – in the heart of the Parliamentary Triangle.
It was 1924, the same year the federal cabinet met for the first time in the capi-
tal, at the Yarralumla Homestead.
Following the opening of Parliament House, in 1929 the foundation stone for the national Presbyterian church was laid by the Governor-General Lord Stonehaven.
Funded by donations from around the country, it would take five years before the official opening took place. On the evening of September 22, 1934, almost 1000 people were in attendance – including the minister for the interior and federal member for Eden-Monaro, John Perkins. No less than a golden key was used to open the main door and “kept in perpetual trust for the congregation as a memento of the event”.
A visit by the Duke of York elicited the response of the church itself that it was “symbolic of the high destiny of the Australian nation” and in 1969, the very first service to open parliament was held at St Andrew’s.
The architectural structure was not as large as initially intended – resources scarce due to two world wars and a Great Depression in between. Further extensions continued to occur with a smaller entrance completed in 1978, including a new nave.
Among St Andrew’s notable features are stained glass windows crafted with a unique technique that creates a highly realistic shadowing of faces. It also has a manually-operated bell tower that commemorates “motherhood”.
Its organ, featuring 1140 pipes, was one of the first of its kind in Australia. This has a connection to a man “at the centre of Canberra bureaucracy for nearly 50 years”, Charles Daley, secretary of the Federal Capital Commission (precursor to the National Capital Development Commission).
In 1934, Daley was appointed honorary
Canberra’s early journey, before the Australian War Memorial was built in 1941, the Warriors’ Chapel, featuring a rare outdoor pulpit on the exterior wall, was used for Anzac Day dawn services.
“It was constructed in honour of Presbyterians who fought in World War I and one of my favourite areas, a little church in its own right,” says David Campbell.
Passionate about his charge, he says there is much opportunity and engagement to come for St Andrew’s.
“It’s an immense honour to have been called by the congregation to be their minister and I’m very optimistic that our future is bright,” he says.
St Andrew’s 90-year anniversary will be celebrated with a Back to St Andrew’s weekend, starting with a dinner on Friday, September 20. The following day there will be a heritage tour and the weekend will culminate in a church service on Sunday, September 22 – 90 years to the day that St Andrew’s was opened.
The public is invited to both the tour and the worship service.
Welcome to our regular column on National Trust of Australia (ACT) activities.
The Trust announced the winners of the ACT Heritage Awards at a ceremony on September 10. The Minister for Heritage, Rebecca Vassarotti, presented the awards to the recipients.
Any project that promotes the conserva tion of, or fosters public knowledge about places, objects and issues that are significant to the heritage of the ACT is eligible for nomination.
Special congratulations to Michael Pearson and Jane Goffman, who received, respectively, the Trust Lifetime Achievement, and Outstanding Advocacy Awards. We were delighted with the quality of nominations – all were worthy of recognition.
The ACT Region Heritage Symposium was held on August 17. It was a tremendous success, with a range of stimulating papers on the theme Planning for Heritage, and much useful networking during the day.
Thank you to our partners in arranging the symposium – the Canberra and District Historical Society, Australia ICOMOS and the Canberra Archaeological Society. In response to Trust representations,
Other good news on the heritage front is the decision by the Heritage Council to register Majura House and Property.
On the downside, we were disappointed with the recent ACAT decision
to approve a four-storey development in Giles Street, Kingston, which we consider inconsistent with the heritage values of this precinct.
The Doma Group’s Estate Management Plan for the Canberra Brickworks has recently been approved.
The Trust has been part of community consultation arrangements on the
Brickworks since the beginning and looks forward to further engagement as this work progresses.
The Trust will participate in the ACT Seniors and Better Ageing Expo at the Old Bus Depot, Kingston, 10am-3pm, September 25. Come and see us!
As I write this the ACT election is only five weeks away. Please ask your local
candidates about their commitment to heritage and about their party’s heritage policies.
If you are passionate about the heritage of the ACT, please consider joining the Trust and helping us in our important work. You will find membership details at nationaltrust.org.au/membership-act/ Gary Kent, President
The National Trust of Australia (ACT) congratulates the following recipients of a 2024 National Trust Heritage Award.
• National Film and Sound Archive – Heritage Building Renewal – Stage 1 Project, winner in the Architecture and Building Conservation category. Awarded to the National Film and Sound Archive.
• Preserving Gorman’s Heritage Trees, winner in the Heritage Landscapes and the Natural Environment category. Awarded to Jason Burgess and Mauro Avilés.
• ACT Weeds Manual, winner in the Local Community Projects and Heritage Tool or Resource categories. Awarded to project co-ordinator Vera Kurz, volunteers, and ACT Government officers who contributed to the manual.
• Spectres of Architecture in Canberra, winner in the Heritage Education and Promotion category. Awarded to Sally Farrah, Mike Louw, Ben Ennis-Butler, Emma Phillips, Rob Henry,
Edwina Jans, Amy Jarvis, Rachel Jackson, and the ACT Heritage Library.
• Restore and Maintain a Full Fleet of exSouthern Aurora Carriages to an Operational Condition, winner in the Industrial Heritage Conservation and Restoration category. Awarded to Simon Mitchell and Danielle Smith.
• Forrest Fire Station Precinct Window Restoration, commended in the Architecture and Building Conservation category. Awarded to Stephen Blackburn and Rebecca Scouller.
• A Commemorative Grove of Trees, commended in the Local Community Projects category. Awarded to Minders of Tuggeranong Homestead Inc.
• Canberra by Bike Cultural Tours, commended in the Heritage Education and Promotion category. Awarded to Canberra by Bike Design Company and Pedal Power ACT.
• Michael Pearson: Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award
• Jane Goffman: Winner of the Outstanding Advocacy Award
The National Trust’s Heritage Awards recognise projects and individuals that make a significant contribution to the conservation of the heritage of the ACT. Any project that promotes the conservation of, or fosters public knowledge about places, objects and issues that are significant to the heritage of the ACT is eligible.
Nominations for the 2025 National Trust Heritage Awards will be sought in mid-2025. nationaltrustact.org.au
The Barr-Rattenbury government has manifestly failed the ACT community on law-and-order issues. This failure places lawabiding citizens at increasing risk.
That is not to demean or criticise the highly professional ACT police force, which performs to the highest standards possible given the extreme resourcing and legal constraints that the Barr government has seen fit to impose on it.
The ACT has been playing host to 150 so Commanchero outlaw motorcycle gang members. Last year there was a similar gathering of these people thumbing their noses at ACT authorities and the broader law-abiding citizens. And why is this?
The Barr government has, alone amongst other states, decided not to enact anti-consorting laws to effectively control OMCG activities. Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury has ignorantly stated that such laws do not work and Police Minister Mick Gentleman has claimed that such laws disadvantage minority groups. Really?
Other pressing law-and-order issues include the devious way the Barr government has chosen to fund the ACT police force, the parlous level of funding for maintenance of police facilities and the dumbing down of some ACT police services.
Unlike any other state, the Barr government deliberately diverts funds to ACT police through the fire, emergency services and police levy on residents’ annual rates.
As previously indicated by columnists Jon Stanhope and Khalid Ahmed, the Barr government has added police to this levy.
The lamentable recent experiences of various ACT police precincts being forced to work in run down and dangerous conditions will be well known by readers.
And the dumbing down of police responses to ACT residents who are now unfortunately the victim of home robberies further exacerbate risks to our law-abiding citizens.
At the election in October, the Barr government by any measure deserves to be gifted the strong censure of the ACT community based on these law-and-order issues.
Ron Edgecombe, Evatt
Some years ago before the tram was installed on Northbourne Avenue, we got the tape measure out.
We concluded it was possible to reduce the size of the green belt (where the tram now runs along Northbourne Ave), add another lane each way and have the tram run in a T-lane next to the kerb. They threw the idea out.
Are these people stupid or not? A no brainer yet they failed the public. Yes, Andrew Barr, you should run away to Melbourne. Your mob doesn’t fix anything and has run out of fresh ideas.
Secondly, while out walking, I came
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upon an elderly gent who had fallen on his backside near the Tuggeranong Health Centre.
He lost his balance probably due to the pavers and uneven walkway. He needed three of us to pick him up. I hope he writes to the ACT government.
Labor-Greens are all talk and no action, and put people’s lives at risk. The sooner they’re gone, the better.
Russ Morison, Theodore
The current undermining of effective climate change action by the criticism of solar and wind initiatives has echoes of the Morrison government’s bagging of electric vehicles. Remember the end of the long weekend?
Nuclear power is a distraction as it is unlikely to be available for at least 10 to 15 years and will increase rather than decrease energy prices.
Mike Quirk, Garran
In responding to my August 22 letter, Peter Horton and Eric Hunter (letters, CN September 5) jumped to the conclusion that I oppose freedom of speech and thus pose a threat to democracy. That is not true.
What I oppose is the publication of letters that contain misinformation or, worse, disinformation. Most of us know very little about most things and fortunately we have experts.
Vi Evans’ letter on indigenous Australians dredged the falsities that primary children, including me, learnt in the ‘60s. It’s now common knowledge that there were dozens of indigenous nations that occupied nearly every environment on the Australian continent before the European invasion. Their ways of life were very different, being dictated by those environments.
My main gripe was with CityNews for publishing something that was factually incorrect and offensive to indigenous Australians. You won’t be surprised that I feel the same way about those denying climate change, who have managed to delay action for decades.
Now, there’s a subject, with a myriad disciplines, the understanding of each is a lifetime’s work. Like most things, I feel relieved to listen to the experts.
Ian Wallis, O’Connor
At the launch of the Canberra Liberals’ plan to build a national convention centre on the Civic pool site, Elizabeth Lee reportedly also indicated that, when in government, they too would explore options for a new Civic pool in Commonwealth Park (“Libs
pledge to quickly build convention centre”, citynews.com.au, September 7).
Regrettably for current and future pool users, including the very large number of new residents planned for central Canberra and the inner north over the next decade or so, the Liberals’ new election policy statement on the convention centre and their media release only mention the word “pool” once, when describing where building would begin in 2026-27.
To be taken seriously at the community level, the Liberals need to explain how they would have a replacement pool facility up and running, in or right next to the city centre, before they close the current one in 2026-27, which is their clearly stated construction start time on their chosen site.
All the political parties, authorities and lobbyists who climb over each other to announce yet another slant on infill options there should commit to making a large, modern, and easily accessible public pool facility an integral part of the planning and approval of radical change in this central area, with continuity of public pool use prioritised and delivered from the outset.
The public is left with yet another superficial and inadequately concocted announcement on a major and complex planning matter that requires up-front recognition of a range of existing and future “people” needs, as well as pledges by our representatives to meet them in well-timed, fair and equitable ways.
Sue Dyer, Downer
“Why do we hate them so?” questions columnist Robert Macklin (“I’ve never met an Aboriginal I didn’t like”, CN September 5).
And at the outset, he can forget about including me in his “we”. This letter poses my question “why could I hate them so?”
I am a 52 year old white female. Let’s look at the first word, “white”.
I have been called a “white bitch” and much, much worse. I have been spat at and spat on.
Less offensive is an indigenous woman who attends the same community meeting as I, who has had nothing but a cold and unfriendly disposition toward me from day one for the last 10 or more years and further, can’t (or won’t) bring herself to sit anywhere near me. Given the lack of interaction, I can only assume it is because I’m white.
Second word, “female”. I have been groped, felt-up and most traumatically sexually assaulted. Working in a male-dominated industry during the ‘90s, I was asked to leave a client’s site because “you shouldn’t be doing that (installing a drive in a computer). I think you should leave, little missy”. I did leave, in tears.
As long as human beings exist, so to will racism, sexism, gender-based violence, pedophilia, rape, murder, child abuse, people-trafficking, animal cruelty ad infinitum. Politicians and community leaders who spruik an “end” to, for example, gender-based violence? Not going to happen. EVER.
What I’m saying is that racism is a two-sided street. It’s not just a “white” thing. It’s a white, black, brown, Asian, European etcetera thing.
And, perhaps I could be forgiven if I were a man-hating racist given some of the foul experiences I’ve had in my life with men and indigenous people. But I’m not.
I treat each person I meet with civility and respect, until I’m given cause to re-think. If I can, I just walk
away and leave them be because I don’t need more toxicity in my life.
Some people are just mean-spirited, to put it mildly. Why? I dunno. You’d have to ask them because I’m certainly not going to. Their ethnicity, sex, age, gender-preference, status etcetera is irrelevant. Their personality and strength of character is the sum total of what I need to make any judgement or opinion of an individual.
Bec Henson, Hughes
In his regular wine column, Richard Calver wrote of the increasing need to either plant new vineyards at higher altitude, such as in the Hilltops region near Young, NSW (“High-country wines with altitude and attitude”, CN September 12) or to switch to grape varieties that are better suited to warmer climates. Some varieties, such as Sangiovese, Primitivo and Negroamaro (Italy); and Tempranillo (Spain), which have been grown successfully for winemaking over many decades, if not centuries, spring to mind.
Mr Calver’s mention of altitude, and therefore temperature, also brought to mind the Beaujolais region of central France.
A warming climate, driven by accelerating global heating, is making the task of producing those famed, ethereal light red wines very difficult, if not impossible. The grapes become too ripe, too dark-coloured and too sugar-rich (hence too high in alcohol) for their wines to be labelled “Beaujolais”: that famed name will soon disappear from wine lists.
Alas, Beaujolais is probably just the first vinous casualty of climate change.
Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
“Las
Vegas is the only place I know where money really talks – it says goodbye.”
–Frank Sinatra
I recently travelled to America, Las Vegas to be specific, to attend a law-enforcement conference.
It was my first time in the US since covid. It’s more complicated for me to go there these days because I’ve been to countries sanctioned by the US, so I have to apply and pay for an entry visa.
The visa application process through the US consulate in Sydney seems deliberately complicated and slow to punish applicants for going to countries the US does not approve of (the US embassy in Canberra does not do consular work). Fortuitously, I got my visa the day before I was due to fly out of Australia.
The first thing that’s notable on arrival in the US is the grumpiness of the border officials. It doesn’t matter where you enter the US. They all seem to have attended the same charm school.
The conference was held at the South Point Hotel and Casino. It allows smoking indoors, so the air conditioning was perfumed to hide the smoke smell that permeated the whole resort.
South Point was enormous, with three horse-riding arenas, a large bingo hall, 64 bowling lanes, eight
movie theatres, a 25-storey hotel, massive conference, ballroom and exhibition spaces, 10 restaurants, hundreds of gaming areas etcetera. All were contained within the one air-conditioning system. The a/c had to work hard because the temperature outside was in the mid-40s.
The conference lasted a week. After a week of air-conditioning 24/7, most of the 400 conference delegates had coughs and sore throats. The hotel windows were sealed shut so there
was no access to fresh air unless you went outside.
The meals were good but served on disposable plates with chrome-plated plastic cutlery. The coffee was undrinkable. It’s little wonder that Starbucks at Manuka went out of business.
South Point is about 13 kilometres from The Strip where all the more desirable hotels are. That’s where I would recommend visitors to stay. That said, Las Vegas is not to everyone’s taste, with its re-creations
Information, free tickets: cotaact.org.au/event/ act-seniors -and-better-ageing-expo/ or via QR code.
I was also unlucky with my daily one-kilometre swim. The pool at the hotel was kidney-shaped and no good for lap swimming, so I drove 56 kilometres to get to a 50-metre pool, only to find it was laned width-wise. Effectively it was a 50-metre-wide 25-metre pool! So, did I find anything good about my latest US experience? Of course, I did. The conference was well
“Were they moving?” asked the ranger.
“Ah sure don’t know,” replied the hillbilly, “but I guess it would explain the suitcase.”
Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.
“Adoption of the term ‘missing middle’ in the context of Canberra is lazy and opportunistic. What has been missing is the supply of standalone dwelling sites. JON STANHOPE & KHALID AHMED call out the nonsense that is the “missing middle”.
Planning Minister Chris Steel reportedly said that the ACT shouldn’t “become an island of unaffordability for housing, with no housing choice here in Canberra”.
And he also said Canberrans must have a debate about allowing the “missing middle” in our suburbs or risk being eclipsed by Queanbeyan in our housing choices.
Unfortunately, minister, Canberra has been an “island of unaffordability” for many years.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2021 median rents in Queanbeyan were 22 per cent lower than those in Canberra, and monthly mortgage repayments were 6 per cent lower.
Nevertheless, the realisation by the planning minister of a problem of affordability and housing choices, albeit late, is welcome. But there is no need for a debate.
The term “missing middle” was
coined in the last decade in the context of American cities, Chicago and New York in particular, where medium-density developments were difficult under the zoning policies in the post-war period with the only housing choices being high density or stand-alone family houses.
Adoption of this term in the context of Canberra is lazy and opportunistic. What has been missing in Canberra is the supply of stand-alone dwelling sites.
Chart 1 shows the growth in median dwelling prices for stand-alone houses and units indexed to 2011-12 respective prices.
The chart highlights that house prices in Canberra doubled over the decade, growing at an average compounding rate of 6.5 per cent, while unit prices increased at 3.4 per cent annually.
Before 2012, the ACT government’s policy on the supply mix was 70 per cent stand-alone dwellings and 30 per cent attached and infill sites.
The policy was changed abruptly,
and in 2013-14, the government delivered only 601 stand-alone dwelling sites, just 18 per cent of the total supply. This was further reduced in 2014-15 to a mere 329 sites, 9 per cent of the total supply.
The supply of stand-alone dwelling sites was therefore cut to almost one tenth of the level in 2011. The current ACT government policy on supply mix is 30 per cent stand-alone dwelling sites and 70 per cent of the supply in the apartment/attached dwelling category.
It is clear that units and attached dwellings are not what has been missing from the housing market, rather it’s the shortage of stand-alone dwellings that has limited housing choices for the new households being formed and those coming to Canberra. As we have pointed out previously, that shortage will not be met by forcing secondary dwellings on large blocks.
On the other hand, the surrounding shires have stepped up in supply. It is not just Queanbeyan that provides affordable housing choice for people who work, and otherwise would have lived, in Canberra. The population of Murrumbateman has more than doubled since the 2011 census, growing at an average rate of more than 9 per cent annually.
The shires around Canberra (Queanbeyan-Palerang and Yass Valley) have adopted strategies and plans for significant growth. The land on offer in decent sized lots that allow backyards for children’s activity and gardening, is priced at less than half to a third of the prices (in per square metre) charged in Canberra.
The sharp increase in prices from 2019 evident in the chart is a result of undersupply and an inability to respond to surges in demand.
We note the policy to constrain supply, which is exacerbated by underperformance in delivery, is deliberate in order to extract supernormal profits and prop up revenues as evidenced by profit margins and revenue estimates.
The other factor impacting housing affordability is the government’s taxation policies. According to the ABS (Cat. No.5506.0; Taxation Revenue Australia; Table 9), general rates have more than tripled since 2011-12,
rising at a staggering compounding rate of 12.1 per cent a year. Revenue from stamp duty on conveyances increased by 64 per cent while this tax was purportedly being abolished. What is extraordinary is that dwelling transactions were actually 16 per cent lower compared to the 2011-12 activity. If this sounds like double-dipping, it is.
Land tax on rental properties has increased at a compounding rate of 10.1 per cent a year. The increase in this tax, which was also meant to be abolished, has been due to increases in land values – a consequence of constraints on land supply – as well as an increase in tax rates under a misguided policy to push investors out of the market promulgated by The Greens.
It is difficult to believe that landlords in Queanbeyan are any more benevolent than those in Canberra. In this common market, 22 per cent lower median rents in Queanbeyan are in large part due to the relatively lower taxes.
The narrative on “missing middle” is superficially neat and plausible for an unquestioning mainstream media.
However, it is a non-existent problem and hardly a solution to housing unaffordability – a marketing ploy
by the development industry with vested interest. What is missing in Canberra are sensible housing and tax policies that work in unison to deliver affordable housing choices. We have been on record that we support an increase in density and allowing secondary dwellings and even multi-unit developments on large blocks, subject to planning considerations. Those include investment in the necessary infrastructure, for example, water, sewerage, stormwater, road capacity, parking, recreation facilities, amenities and schooling. Most importantly, any proposed developments should protect privacy and be consistent with the existing built form and character of the streets and localities.
If the government is able to address these issues, there will be no need for debate. Debates and indeed stand-offs with the local communities occur when the government abdicates its fundamental planning responsibilities in pursuit of ideological and vested interest driven agendas.
Jon Stanhope is a former chief minister of the ACT and Dr Khalid Ahmed a former senior ACT Treasury official.
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Noted American educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom once said experts are always made, not born. If that’s true, Canberra’s certainly helped make more than a few experts. Whether it’s wanting to improve health, get pampered, learn a new creative skill, or language, or even looking at ways to get a better night’s sleep, the Canberra region has experts in every field imaginable.
In this feature, CityNews speaks to some of the local experts who have mastered their craft and are passionate about sharing it with others.
Thor Diesendorf, founder and owner of Thor’s Hammer, is a key figure in Canberra’s sustainable business scene, and in recogni tion of his efforts, Thor’s Hammer won the Ministers’ Award for Leadership at the ACT Government Climate Choices Business Awards in 2023.
Now celebrating 30 years in business, Thor’s Hammer plays a pivotal role in Canberra’s circular economy – where materi als are reused and repurposed to minimise waste, says Thor.
“Demand for sustainable options in construction is booming,” he says.
“It’s great to see more people choosing recycled products – not just for their environmental benefits, but for the unique character and story they bring.”
Recycled timber from Thor’s Hammer isn’t just sustainable; it’s top quality, he says.
“We mostly salvage Australian hardwoods, ideal for flooring, cladding, decking and furniture for both inside and outside,” says Thor.
As they enter their fourth decade, Thor says there are no signs of them slowing down.
“We’ve doubled in size over the last five years,” he says.
“That’s allowed us to invest more in sus-
“It’s been an incredible 30 years – but there’s still more to do, and I’m excited to see what’s next.”
Thor’s Hammer, 10 Mildura Street, Griffith. Call 6282 9900, or visit thors.com.au
Now’s the time for a great deal on a new scooter, says Open Mobility’s showroom manager for its Belconnen and Tuggeranong branches.
“We’re offering an incredible $500 off all new scooters, plus a trade-in offer of up to $500 for your old one!” she says.
Kim says this deal is designed to help customers upgrade to the latest models without breaking the bank.
“Scooters are not only eco-friendly but cost-effective in the long run,” she says.
“With this sale, we’re making it easier for everyone to switch to a more sustainable mode of transport.
model or getting your first scooter, this is the time to buy.”
Kim says their wide selection of scooters includes everything from compact models to more powerful options for long-distance rides.
Plus, she says the $500 trade-in option means customers can get rid of their old scooter while enjoying significant savings on a new one.
Open Mobility, 32 Cohen Street, Belconnen and 310 Anketell Street, Greenway. Call 6108 3899, or visit openmobility.com.au
Importantly, Christian says they can deal with all the brands, allowing them to assist with a much wider range of items.
This is great for patients and customers looking for a new mask, because in the past year, Christian
you’re having issues, come in and see something new,” he says.
Benchmark Sleep Services, level 1, 8/48 Corinna Street, Phillip. Call 6105 9000 or visit benchmarksleepservices.com.au
programs and make lifelong friends with others who really do ‘get you’.”
Rebecca says Arthritis ACT also offers services such as exercise physiology and disability support to help people in managing their pain.
“No task or question is too big or small for us,” she says.
you get to meet other participants who are dealing with similar issues,” she says.
“Sometimes when we’re living with invisible disabilities or illnesses, you feel really isolated because you feel no one else understands. In our
Rebecca also says there is good news with the building at 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce, and the University of Canberra Hospital pool being back in service!
Arthritis ACT, 170 Haydon Drive, Bruce. Call 1800 011041 or visit arthritisact.org.au
“As people age, for a variety of reasons, certain things that they do in their life can become more difficult,” says Fiona Sanders, general manager of Salvos Home Care.
“This might be because of declining mobility, or because of the way the house is set up, or the usual social support network is no longer available.”
Salvos Home Care, the Salva tion Army Aged Care’s in-home care division, offers a range of services to support clients to live independently in their own home, says Fiona.
The service works with clients and their families to develop personalised plans based on individual need, which can be adjusted at any time and are focused on enhancing a client’s independence, health and wellbeing.
Fiona says that the most common services for older people are domestic assistance and gardening, followed by social support, such as assisting people to go shopping, or to access community services.
She says other popular services include physiotherapy, podiatry, personal care, such as
showering people, helping them to dress, and clinical care such as wound care and helping people with medications.
“All our staff are fully qualified. They participate in regular training; they are police checked and we’ve got a great team of support staff to make sure that the team are well looked after and that they care for people properly in the home,” says Fiona.
Salvos Home Care ACT, 2-4 Brisbane Avenue, Barton. Call 1300 111 227 or visit agedcare.salvos.org.au
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‘He’s open-minded to fast-paced change, and inclusion has always been something very important to him’
Charlie Sgroi’s “absolute dedication” to the industry over 45 years has underpinned Car Mechanical Services recognition for innovation.
The Fisher-based company was named champion in the automotive services category at the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.
It won a gold Stevie award in the Best Entrepreneur – Automotive & Transport Equipment category at the recent 21st International Business Awards.
At the same awards, co-owner Raffy Sgroi won a bronze Stevie for the Sustainability Leadership Award in Asia, Australia and NZ at the International Business Awards, and was awarded silver in the Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion category.
All of these awards follow on from Car Mechanical Services being one of the first automobile companies in Canberra to win a sustainable small business of the year award, in 2023.
Raffy says much of their success stems from co-owner Charlie’s absolute dedication to the industry, with this year marking 45 years since Charlie has had “spanners in his hands” and started his apprenticeship.
She says he has stuck with it continuously, never changing jobs and having stayed
very important to him.”
Car Mechanical Services is always striving to become more inclusive, says Raffy, including training programs aimed at encouraging young women to join the industry.
“He’s also really pleased, and I can see the twinkle in his eye, that young girls are coming around and having a go. Giving that possibility to everyone, it was a high priority,” says Raffy.
“He had always decided to focus on the purpose of his business more than the profit.”
Raffy says Charlie’s enthusiasm for the job also extends to the rapidly changing world of electric vehicles.
“Even if you don’t want to go and modify your shop completely for e-vehicles yet, you still need to be getting into training and upskilling yourself, so he’s been embracing that marvellously,” she says.
“For someone that could say, ‘oh, I’ve only got a few years left in the industry,’ it always strikes me how he is still embracing that.”
Raffy says this willingness to upskill and seek knowledge about innovation in the industry by Charlie is what has allowed them to keep running for such a long time, and it is his commitment to inclusion that has allowed them to focus so much on the community.
Car Mechanical Services, 82 Kalgoorlie Crescent, Fisher. Call 6162 4111 or visit carmechanicalservices.com.au
Gold Stevie® – Best Entrepreneur for the Automotive Industry and the Sustainability Leadership Award 2024
Raffy Sgroi – Bronze Stevie® Award in the Sustainability Leadership Award – Asia, Australia and New Zealand 2024
Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Award 2024 – Car Mechanical Services
Raffy Sgroi, CEO – Australian Women’s Business Champion Awards 2023
Australian Small Business Champion Award Automotive Champion 2023
Most Outstanding Canberra Automotive Services 2021-2022-2023
ACT Business of the Year 2023
ACT Sustainable Small Business of the Year 2023
Global Recognition Award Diverse and inclusive workplace 2023
What our customers say:
Friendly staff, excellent workmanship and reasonable prices. – Barry M
Excellent mechanics with great customer service. – Stephanie T
Always friendly and helpful. Experienced and professional staff with the work completed on time. I would highly recommend this business. – Jenny C
Linda Clee – Physiotherapist
Linda is an experienced physiotherapist having worked clinically in private practice for over 20 years, in rehabilitation settings and in community based aged care. Having owned and operated her own clinic for over 10 years, Linda offered a range of different therapy options, and has refined her skills and service offerings to ensure a functional focus to therapy; that is holistic and promotes overall wellness. A dancer in a past life, Linda loves to add a bit of fun in her programs, often throwing in rhythm and co-ordination challenges that are good for the body and the mind.
Sophie has post graduate qualifications in hydrotherapy, and as a non-sports centred Exercise Physiologist, helps clients who struggle with engaging in exercise due to a lack of sports participation. Sophie’s goal is to improve clients health via our hydrotherapy program, gym instruction and in-home visits. Sophie also is known for her passion for working with children.
Physiotherapist Emil comes to us with a wealth of physiotherapy experience and knowledge from the public hospital system and also private practice. Emil works closely with our team of Exercise Physiologists on a coordinated approach to improving your pain and overall wellbeing. Emil has a special interest in neurology and improving the lives of people living with neurological conditions. He’s also mad keen on soccer and will support you with all sports related injuries and injury prevention.
Sarah believes that exercise is the best medicine. She is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist with her degree in exercise physiology and rehabilitation. Previously Sarah was a swim teacher, personal trainer and an allied health assistant in the hydrotherapy field.
Blake has expertise in improving clients mobility and decreasing their pain through appropriate exercise. Blake delivers our ‘My Exercise’ program, targeting the relief of lower back and sciatic pain, shoulder and upper body concerns as well as leg, hip and ankle interventions – for those who do not qualify for physiotherapy-led GLAD programs. Blake provides individual & group exercise for younger people with a disability. Blake treats clients in-clinic or via our hydrotherapy program as well as attending your gym with you.
Jacqui has a particular interest in hip and knee osteoarthritis. Jacqui delivers the GLAD program designed to reduce the need for joint replacements, or if a joint replacement is unavoidable, to prepare you thoroughly for surgery and recovery for day to day tasks. Jacqui is studying towards a PhD in the outcomes of the GLAD program.
Holly is a former sports journalist who believed so strongly in the power of exercise to heal and nurture that she undertook her 4 year degree in Exercise Physiology. Holly is be able to work with people directly to support them through their pain journey and regain independence and a joy for living again. Holly provides one on one and group exercise classes both on land and at our hydrotherapy centres to support people to gain freedom from chronic pain.
Jarrod is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist who graduated from the University of Canberra in 2024. He has a passion for wanting to help those in need and aims to provide the best possible treatment and advice to each and every one of his clients.
• Occupational Therapy – Assistance with the planning and modification of your home, workplace or car. Applications for NDIS, the Disability and Housing Support Pension, and also driving assessments.
• Physiotherapy – including the GLAD program for knee and hip osteoarthritis, sports injury prevention and rehabilitation, and pain condition support.
• Exercise Physiology – Individual exercise prescriptions, small group classes to increase strength and improve rehabilitation, strength and balance classes, hydrotherapy support.
Being a parent is one of the most rewarding experiences, but it can also be one of the most challenging, especially for new parents navigating their way through a whole new lifestyle.
New additions to the family similarly bring great changes, with a lot of new products and services needed. In this feature, CityNews speaks to businesses and ser vices in the Canberra region dedicated to supporting mums with pregnancy, birth, babies, kids and beyond.
a comprehensive child immunisation program they encourage patients to access.
“This also allows us to follow up on our patients’ progress with postpar-
Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services, 63 Boolimba Crescent, Narrabundah. Call 6284 6222 or visit winnunga.org.au
Owner of the ACT chapter of Ready Steady Go Kids, Leonie Collis says the goal of their multi-sport program is to get kids moving and interested in being
Running year-round, the indoor program allows children aged one and a half to six to have a go at soccer, tennis, hockey, AFL, cricket, basketball, athletics,
“The program covers all the gross motor skills associated with sports – catching, throwing, bouncing, kicking, batting, running, balance as well as spatial
“Getting their gross motor skills up means kids gain confidence, which they bring with them to
“We’re open for enrolments all the time, parents
Leonie says parents are encouraged to get involved with the 45-minute classes, and that each child is able to attend one free session to ensure it’s
She also says they take the program to Early
“During the sessions there’s lots of socialising going on through lots of group activity,” she says.
“The kids get the opportunity to be amongst each other and make friends in the class, which is always great to see.”
Ready Steady Go Kids, visit readysteadygokids.com.au
Lolly Swagman has been excitedly exploring new tastes for nearly three decades, says owner Ian Richardson.
Located in the heart of the Southern Highlands, the lolly shop stocks all-time favourite treats and the latest trending tastes from around the world.
“Flavours and sweets are great memorybuilding things for people,” says Ian.
“At the moment we’re tracking down some summer flavours, things like peach, and the crisper, brighter watermelon flavours, because there tends to be more emphasis on those lighter flavours as the weather gets warmer.”
Ian says there are always new flavours to explore, and with more than 1300 different types of treats, there is truly something for everyone, making it the perfect excuse to go on a special roadtrip with mum.
“It’s a happy place with kids excitedly exploring for new tastes, older people reminiscing and sharing in the thrill of finding a favourite and the great stories that go with them,” he says.
“We often see people who’d come as children now bringing in their own children and sharing their experiences, which is lovely to be allowed to join in on. It’s nice to have that history.”
Lolly Swagman, 11 Old Hume Highway, Berrima. Call 4877 1137, or visit lollyswagman.com.au
Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services (Winnunga) is a multiaccredited Aboriginal community controlled and managed primary health care service located in Narrabundah ACT.
We provide integrated client centric wrap around services, which focuses on the clinical, cultural and spiritual needs of Aboriginal clients, families and the community, including programs for Mums and Bubs.
The Midwifery Program aims to remove barriers that prevent women from accessing maternity care in mainstream services.
The Program maintains strong working relationships with each hospital which allows for seamless transitions of care.
Following the birth of baby, the Program provides up to six weeks of postnatal care in the client’s home assisting mothers with feeding, weight monitoring, emotional wellbeing assessments and mother-crafting/health education.
The Midwifery Program has developed strong links with the Australian Family Partnership Program. Both programs work together to provide holistic care for first time Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mothers, or mothers having an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander baby, in the Canberra region.
The programs complement each other and ensure mothers feel prepared and supported through their pregnancy and early parenting stages, up until the child is two years of age.
The AFPP provides information and education to mothers using a strengths-based approach, which builds individual capacity to identify solutions to problems.
Mothers feel empowered as they learn how to work with their strengths, realise the power of their own actions and gain a greater sense of control over their lives.
Winnunga AHCS is a national leader in accreditation, was one of the first Aboriginal community controlled health services to achieve dual accreditation under RACGP and QIC standards. Winnunga AHCS has been at the forefront of setting a national agenda for quality improvement in Aboriginal community controlled health and continues to advocate locally and nationally for best practice standards in operational and governance areas of Aboriginal health services.
CLINIC hours | MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9am-5pm
6284 6222 | 63
Telstra has unveiled 31 ACT finalists of the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards, part of a national awards program that celebrates and recognises small and medium-sized businesses.
There were more than 22,000 nominations nationwide this year, across six categories – Accelerating Women, Building Communities, Championing Health, Embracing Innovation, Indigenous Excellence, Outstanding Growth and Promoting Sustainability.
Categories are designed to capture the diversity, successes and experiences of all kinds of small and medium businesses.
In this special feature, CityNews speaks to some of the outstanding local businesses that have been recognised for their efforts to keep pushing the boundaries of success.
ACT winners will be announced on September 26, with State and Territory winners being invited to the national judging in Melbourne on November 27, followed by a gala dinner celebration
where the national winners will be announced on November 28.
The Telstra Best of Business Awards program continues Telstra’s legacy of more than 30 years in supporting Australian small businesses, celebrating their achievements and the people behind them, and giving them the opportunity to learn from Australia’s best business minds.
“It is a real honour to recognise and celebrate the small and medium-sized businesses that are driving the Australian economy forward and making a positive impact in their communities,” says Amanda Hutton, group executive, Telstra Business.
“The remarkable number of nominations speaks volumes about the passion and drive of Australia’s small business community, and how much they value the opportunity to celebrate their achievements with their teams.”
In this special feature, CityNews speaks with some of the ACT finalists of the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Awards.
XTend Yourself is a registered NDIS disability provider, that delivers counselling, mental health respites and retreats, and a range of other community and disability social supports, such as home help and mental health services, nationwide, says Vendra Begonja, CEO, founder and mental health clinician.
“It is about people. We build connections with people, so they talk about their lives. When we do this with our welcoming and peaceful environment it promotes all kinds of conversations,” says Vendra.
She says there is humility in being able to listen to people and give them enough time to think about who they are, and about what they want and don’t want in their life.
“The assistance we provide is quite simply about communicating with people, the conversations, and the connections,” she says.
As she moved through the awards process, Vendra says she never thought a business like hers would have a chance in the most prestigious business awards in 2024.
“It is still sinking in, I am grateful,” she says.
“There have been a lot of barriers, living with a range of disabilities myself, being able to stay doing what I am doing, a place of personal strength for me, and it has been a tough journey.
“I have a team of people to support me, [so] I also acknowledge my team’s contribution.”
XTend Yourself, 219/1 Mouat Street, Lyneham. Call 0412 830386 or visit xtendyourself.com.au
XTend Yourself is a registered NDIS disability provider, that delivers counselling services, as well as a range of other community, disability, social supports, and mental health services, nationwide. Congratulations
XTend Yourself for becoming a finalist in the Telstra Best of Business Awards!
Vendra and her team at XTend Yourself, know that when living with the effects of trauma, violence, and intersection systemic harm, it is difficult to create awareness, understanding, stability, and safety, to trust yourself and the world around you. That is how they help, by creating a welcoming environment, that acknowledges a person’s experiences, and validates their strengths through meaningful and respectful engagement.
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www.xtendyourself.com.au
“While it’s not about the recognition, I am proud we do the kind of work where we can say that we made a difference for that person.
In addition to this, we are also helping our ecosystem of other supporters so that they can also thrive.
Thank you to all who have worked with XTend Yourself towards achieving these important things, together.”
- Vendra Begonja, CEO & Founder
Excelium is a proud Canberra based Cyber Security company dedicated to providing customised and holistic cybersecurity services to address each client’s unique needs.
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We work with small, medium and large organisations ensuring value for money and adapting the services to your specific requirements.
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Although only starting up in July 2021, he says Excelium Consulting has proven itself as an organisation of high quality, being named as a finalist for the Telstra Best in Business Awards: ACT Finalists, in the Outstanding Growth category.
“I think it’s great recognition of the good quality work we’ve done for our clients over the last three years,” he says.
Matt Lefebvre, managing partner and director, says he had seen enough of bad, irrelevant and unachievable cyber solutions and poor advice to clients, with cyber security
David says the Excelium Consulting team is driven by a desire to protect Australia’s sovereign assets, in particular, those of small to medium enterprises.
“We’re very focused on the private sector, as well as the public sector, with a view of making sure that every organisation has access to the right cyber capabilities, and sets their cybersecurity up in a way that will ensure people’s data is kept private,” he says.
Excelium Consulting, ground floor, unit 2, 14 Brisbane Avenue, Barton. Call 1300 542405 or visit excelium.com.au
Founded in 2014, Spec Services is a female-led commercial cleaning company operating across the ACT and regional NSW.
Recently, managing director Katie Hale says they expanded services to include asbestos removal.
But, it is their commitment to encouraging women to excel in all levels of leadership that has seen them recognised at the Telstra Best in Business Awards for the Accelerating Women category.
“We’re very excited, and very proud to be recognised,” says Katie.
“It’s definitely something that we’ve really worked in a targeted way to achieve.”
She says the team at Spec Services are champi ons of compliance and social governance, with a particular emphasis on their Women in Leadership
“Prior to 2021 we put together some KPI’s on gender parity in our leadership roles, and in 2021 we reached gender parity,” says Katie.
“We have over 50 per cent of women in leader ship at the executive level, management level and field supervisor level, and we obviously work hard to maintain those levels as well.”
Spec Services have also signed a contract with the Australian Institute of Management, which Katie says will allow them to put a number of female employees through nationally recognised leadership courses.
Katie says they also employ lots of innovative technology, allowing them to achieve their goals in a future forward manner, and maintain a focus on Indigenous procurement.
Spec Services, call 1300 999885, email office@ specservices.com.au or visit specservices.com.au
Woden Valley Early Learning Centre is a communitybased, non-profit centre that provides a nature-based learning experience for childrens aged zero to five, says director Paulina Jagus.
The curriculum is designed to incorporate the natural world into children’s daily lives, with naturebased play allowing the children to be adventurous, to connect with the environment in a meaningful way, and to enhance their problem-solving skills.
Paulina says the team are thrilled to be recognised as a State Finalist in two categories at the Telstra Best in Business Awards this year.
The centre has been recognised in the Building Community category and Promoting Sustainability, which Paulina says is a testament to the commitment of the educators.
“This is our first time at the awards,” says Paulina,
Paulina says the early learning centre has dedicated education leaders, who demonstrate sustainable living to the children.
“They show the children about where their food comes from, they go on nature walks, and they teach them about sustainability in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lifestyles.”
Through the emphasis on outdoor play, Paulina says the centre offers children the opportunity to have enriching experiences, such as observing wildlife, engaging in physical activity and stimulating their imagination through multi-sensory play, in turn supporting holistic development.
Woden Valley Early Learning Centre, 1 Dann Close, Garran. Call 6282 6648
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By Jackie WARBURTON
Spring flowering bulbs are putting on a show in the garden and my favourite this season is Hippeastrum Papilio.
The trumpet flowers are a show stopper and once established like most South African bulbs, they grow with minimal care.
They make a great choice for small spaces as a potted display or a cut flower for the vase.
From planting the bulb to flower, it can take five to six weeks and
generally the peak flowering period is November to December.
They prefer soil that is slightly acidic and don’t like to be planted too deeply. The foliage appears after the flowers.
Its large, green and strappy foliage can fill a space planted under trees. I grow Papilio in a large pot in my glasshouse, but if there is a spot where there is winter protection, they can grow outdoors in our climate. Fertilise while they are growing with a liquid or organic slow-release fertiliser.
NOW that the soil is beginning to warm, keep on top of weeding winter weeds such as sticky weed, vetch and flick weed. Once these set seed they become an issue and can
be hard to manage.
Weed and mulch the same area quickly to get on top of the weeds and the mulch will help retain moisture in the soil for summer.
THE Algerian Iris (Iris unguicularis) flowers in the winter and is a great border plant on driveways and pathways. It will survive full sun in the summer garden and is drought hardy when established.
They grow to about 40 centimetres. Cut them to the ground once a year in autumn.
Their rich blue flowers will die down once the warmer weather comes and the long, strappy leaves will grow through summer.
There are other iris varieties suitable for a shaded part of the garden where it is difficult to grow anything.
Iris foetidissima grows well in Canberra with showy yellow or blue flowers and followed by autumn red berries. There’s a variegated variety on my wish list that would look stunning in a shaded summer corner.
Deadheading before the berries are ripe will ensure it doesn’t spread to areas it shouldn’t.
Like all iris, they have rhizomatous roots, so it’s easy to propagate and now is the perfect time to divide any rhizome plants such as kangaroo paws, canna lilies and many types of ferns by digging up with a shape spade. Remove the clumps from the ground and tease the soil out from the clump and then you will see the underground growing parts that are different from roots and bulbs. They can be cut into sections, preferably that have roots attached, and planted back into the garden.
jackwar@home.netspeed.com.au
• Prune flowering hedges such as viburnum and photinias after flowering.
• Feed winter flowering bulbs as foliage is dying back.
• Liquid feed all vegetables to get them growing fast.
• Directly sow large seeds of corn, zucchini and pumpkins for summer harvest.
PM’s power and passion as Britain goes to war
By Katarina LLOYD JONES
Stand-up comedy is a difficult industry to crack, but that didn’t faze 25-year-old Laura Johnston, who quit her job as a tour guide at the Royal Australian Mint before she had even got on stage to try it out.
It was a risky move, but it paid off, with Laura having just performed her show, That’s… Brave, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Not only that, the show, which is a mix of sketch comedy, stand-up comedy and musical comedy, was listed in Theatre Village’s This Year’s Top Picks for Edinburgh Fringe 2024 list.
“I had experience in sketch comedy, because I’d done sketch comedy at uni, but I was just convinced that I needed to do stand-up comedy, and I wasn’t going to do it if I was still comfortable in life, if that makes sense,” she says.
“I was just so sure that this is what I wanted to do.
“The very first gig that I did was at the Polish Club, which doesn’t do comedy any more, and immediately after doing the gig, I cried.
“That was two and a half years ago.” Laura says the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has been an incredible experience, explaining that in Canberra it normally takes her roughly a month to get an hour of stage
time, whereas in Edinburgh, she got 19 months worth.
“I loved the experience, and I learned so much from doing the show so many times back to back that I actually wrote a second
show, and for the final three nights of the festival, I did an entirely new second show
Laura, who grew up in Canberra says the city has actually been remarkably influential
“There’s this quote that I like, but I can’t attribute [it], I don’t know who said it, that apparently Kitty Flanagan likes to test out her stuff in Canberra, because it’s the hardest audience, and if it works in Canberra, then your material is going to work anywhere in Australia,” Laura says.
“So it’s been really interesting taking material from Canberra and then trying it in other places in Australia, and so far it actually has been my experience.
“But Canberra’s a bit strange, because your audiences are often young APS workers, whereas APS jokes don’t actually go down as well in Melbourne, Sydney or
“One of my favourite things to do is to check where they voted in the last national election, because that can give you just a hint as to what type of things to joke about and maybe what things not to joke about.”
However, Laura says the male-dominated industry was difficult to adjust to at first.
“It is still a male-dominated scene, and that was a lot worse when I first started out, and it was a bit of a shock as well,” she says.
“My very first gig at the Polish Club, backstage, one of the first things that I was
asked was which of the men I was going to sleep with, and as a just-starting-out comedian, that was a bit of a shock.
“But now that I’m mates with the comedians and there’s a stronger female presence, it’s a much more lovely experience.
“The Canberra comedy scene is gorgeous, I’m actually really glad and lucky that that’s where I’ve started because it’s a small scene, which means that you see the same comedians at all of the gigs, and so they’ve become fast friends.”
Laura says she has absolutely no regrets about quitting her tour guide job, and that pursuing comedy has fundamentally changed the way she looks at life.
“I’ve taken a bit of an academic approach to comedy, where I’ll be counting syllables of jokes, and I’ll be working out rhyming words,” she says.
“So it means that when I’m going through life now, my brain immediately takes something and goes, can I turn this into a joke? What do I like about this?
“My attitude is so much more positive, because I’m suddenly focused on all the things that make me laugh.”
Laura will be performing That’s… Brave (Edinburgh Fringe edition) on October 10, as part of the LOL Season at the Canberra Theatre Centre. She will also be performing at the Canberra Comedy Festival in March 2025.
Robert Harris’ best-selling novels have notably explored power and those who wield it, from ancient Rome to the Vatican and World War II.
In his latest novel, Precipice, Harris retells the story of the tense events that led to Britain going to war in 1914 and the disastrous decision to expand the war to the Dardanelles in 1915.
At the same time, he reveals details of the extraordinary love affair between Britain’s Prime Minister, Asquith, aged 62 and the Hon Venetia Stanley, daughter of Baron Sheffield, aged 27.
Venetia is a bored socialite. She belongs to a group called “the Coterie” who gather at the Cafe Royal, music halls or, most often, the Cave of the Golden Café, a basement nightclub near Regent Street.
But every Friday, Venetia goes for a drive with Asquith, into the country for an hour and a half, in his chauffeur-driven limousine. The rear of the car is as big as an old fashioned carriage, with a curtained thick glass screen separating the passengers from the driver.
They meet regularly at lunches, dinners and country weekends but the car is the only place they can be alone together. She calls him “Prime”, he calls her “my darling”.
Venetia questions whether she loves Asquith, but she knows she likes him “for his kindness, his cleverness, his fame and power” and she enjoys “the thrill of it – the
secrecy, the illicitness, the risk”.
Asquith is obsessed with Venetia, writing letters two or three times a day, insisting on replies (there were 12 postal deliveries a day in London in 1914).
Asquith wrote 560 letters to Venetia, often sharing sensitive information about government decisions. During their drives into the country he brings official papers to show her, carelessly throwing them out of the window. Inevitably, the secret service learns that information is being leaked and launches an investigation.
In Precipice, Harris opens a window on a world rushing to war, while Britain’s prime minister is constantly distracted by
give a powerful voice to the women who are silent in Homer’s
The Illiad and yet suffered rape and slavery, after their husbands and sons were murdered by the Greek army.
The Voyage Home reimagines the story of Agamemnon returning in triumph to Mycenae and Barker turns to Ritsa,
an enslaved woman of Lyrnessus, who in the previous novels worked as a healer in the Greek hospital on the beach, to tell the story.
Cassandra had been the high priestess of Apollo in Troy, able to foresee the future but cursed never to be believed. She’s considered “mad as a box of snakes” and she has already had a vision of Agamemnon’s death, like “a stuck pig on a slaughterhouse floor”, because “what he did in Troy was so horrific, so devoid of humanity, that even the gods were sickened”. She also knows she will die with him.
In Mycenae, Clytemnestra waits for her husband to return. She too hates Agamemnon because he sacrificed her beloved daughter Iphegenia to the gods at Aulis, in exchange for the wind to sail to Troy. She was there to witness her daughter pleading with her father to spare her.
thoughts of his love for Venetia, writing letters to her even during important meetings of the War Cabinet.
Harris even suggests that Venetia’s ending of their affair influenced Asquith’s decision to agree to a coalition government on May 17 1915. It’s an astonishing story.
The Voyage Home is the third novel in Booker Prize-winning Pat Barker’s trilogy about the Trojan War, which began with The Silence of the Girls in 2018, followed by The Trojan Women in 2022. Barker’s aim in writing her trilogy is to
The Greeks are finally going home and the women of Troy are loaded on to ships: “Women of childbearing age shared out among the conquerors, some already pregnant with their children. What we were witnessing on that beach was the deliberate destruction of a people”.
Ritsa travels as a maid to Cassandra, daughter of Priam and now Agamemnon’s concubine.
Although Agamemnon is “a great king –arguably at the moment, the most powerful man in the world”, as he sets foot on Greek soil for the first time in 10 years, the two women, his wife and his concubine, have decided his fate.
The Voyage Home is compelling but bleak reading. Barker succeeds in reimagining the torment of women whose lives have been changed for-ever by the Trojan War. It is impressive.
Japanese-American Masami Teraoka has adopted the traditional visual vocabulary of 17th-19th century Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints to look at contemporary themes such as globalisation, collisions between Asian and western cultures, and the AIDS crisis. National Gallery, September 21-March 2.
Known for their striking puppetry, innovative physical and visual theatre company Erth is performing a show, ARC, that introduces audiences to rare and exotic animals. It’s been written by Aussie playwright Alana Valentine and has come from a creative residency at Healesville Sanctuary, focusing on the conservation of Leadbeater’s Possums. The
for its fourth production, Play Me Something, a compilation of four original short plays by Canberrans. Belconnen Community Theatre,
concert with a cocktails theme featuring jazz standards, opera choruses and some more serious pieces. Polish White Eagle Club, Turner, September 27.
The National Gallery, the Netherlands embassy and the Wereldmuseum in Leiden, which holds the largest collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in Europe, have awarded Tina Baum, senior curator of First Nations Art at the gallery as the first recipient of their Nguluway Dhuluyarra Fellowship. Ms Baum will travel to the Netherlands in October.
A fun-filled event for children, full of arts, crafts, gardening and exploration activities will take place at Lanyon Homestead on September 28.
By Helen Musa
“There’s no didactic element in this play,” director Luke Rogers says of the new work coming up for Canberra Youth Theatre – Work, But This Time Like You Mean It.
“No, it’s nothing like that, it’s highly entertaining, very funny. It is also chaotic and confusing, as if people are living in a fever dream… it’s a very different piece of theatrical work.”
A play that shows kids wasting their young lives away, one shift at a time, it’s set in a fast-food chicken takeaway shop.
Kathleen Kershaw has designed an abstract set which Rogers says is physically a hard set to be on – it’s like a giant slippery-dip.
Work takes a sharp look at the world of work for young people, and as playwright Honor Webster-Mannison puts it: “Everyone remembers their first job – no matter how much some might want to forget it. It’s a rite
the same age as the Youth Theatre cast who’ll be performing the play – mid to late 20s – so can easily resonate with their language.
“Every time a young person reads it they’ve gone, ‘it feels right, like being a young person’,” he says.
Talking of young people, it turns out that
relatively.
“I’m not a kid, I’m 13 years old,” as one of the young characters says.
Work, But This Time Like You Mean It is the result of Canberra Youth Theatre’s 2022 Emerging Playwright Commission.
This is a commission with a difference. For
LIKE she did on the big screen, Nicole Kidman has become a surefire star of the streaming age.
The Aussie A-lister boasts an impressive resume of prestige drama TV from the last few years – including The Undoing (on Binge) where she starred alongside Hugh Grant, the Emmy-winning hit Big Little Lies (also on Binge) and Amazon Prime’s Nine Perfect Strangers.
Now it’s Netflix that’s scooped up Kidman’s star power, bringing her on board for a new series called The Perfect Couple.
This moody murder mystery opens with a bougie wedding in Nantucket, one that quickly turns to disaster after a body is discovered on a nearby beach.
Adding to the intrigue is that just about every character in the show is suspicious enough to raise eyebrows.
That includes Kidman, who plays Greer Garrison Winbury, a romance novelist with a string of books that sit at the top of best-seller lists around the world.
The resulting pay cheques allow Greer and her husband Tag (Liev Schreiber) to afford the luxurious accommodation for the murderous matrimonials in question: a mansion complete with ocean views.
That setting serves as a springboard for the show’s social commentary that attempts to take a stab at the extravagance of the ultra-rich.
It tries to be as biting as other series such as The White Lotus, but doesn’t quite hit the same heights.
The Perfect Couple still makes for a unique, glitzy whodunit mystery.
FOR more than 20 years
Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond have managed to keep audiences coming back for more of their high-octane antics.
The trio made Top Gear an international hit for the BBC until a string of controversies saw Clarkson axed from the program, leading his two co-hosts to resign shortly after.
But in 2016 they found a new home in the world of streaming, launching The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime Video.
Some of the episodes easily rival, if not beat the best of what Top Gear offered, leaving BBC’s attempt to revive the show with new hosts in the dust.
But after 46 episodes over eight years, this series too has come to an end. The installment, fittingly called One For The Road, sees Clarkson, Hammond and May head to Zimbabwe and Botswana in three of their dream cars.
IT wouldn’t be a new month in 2024 without a new spin-off of some big franchise.
This time it’s the Batman universe that’s getting a new series. Not Christian Bale or Ben Affleck’s Batman. This one, on Binge, is based on the Robert Pattinson version which came out in 2022.
And which character is getting their own show? Of the caped crusader’s many colourful villains, it’s The Penguin of all choices. This Penguin is played by Colin Farrell.
It tells the tale of how he goes from petty street criminal to Gotham’s crime overlord.
As an actor Farell is an absolute chameleon, disappearing into this role with his usual dramatic gusto, but the series is still unlikely to even register for anyone who isn’t a mega fan of Batman or DC comics.
it does not deal in finished scripts, but rather with “pitches” or ideas.
It’s the second such work to get a full production; Joanna Richards’ play You Can’t Tell Anyone was performed at The Courtyard Studio last year.
The 2023 recipient, Sydney playwright Sonia Dodd, is now in development for her play, How to Destroy the Beep Test in Five Days, and the company is now selecting for the fourth commission.
It’s a national competition where young writers from all around the country pitch an idea.
The winner gets a full commission, bringing them to Canberra over the year for creative development, always in collaboration with Youth Theatre members. The final works are published.
Webster-Mannison is from Melbourne, but the work is all done in Canberra.
“Where they come from is not the point, but they will be working with young artists from the ACT,” Rogers stresses.
“It makes Canberra a destination for new work.”
Work, But This Time Like You Mean It runs for about an hour but there’s a relentless chaos to it, Rogers says the cast is physically exhausted and it reflects the chaos and speed, in some of the industries that employ young people who are asked to do everything as fast as possible, “so much rigour and repetition,” he says.
“It’s quite a rhythmical play with a really strong musicality, not in the sense of being a musical, but the language getting into the muscle memory of the actors.”
Webster-Mannison contests the idea that first jobs are character-building, rather suggesting they’re preparing people to join the machine, which is the workforce.
The end is what Roger says is “a quite an unhinged piece of performance – by no means irrational. It is existential chaos. It’s about young people working in the fast-food industry, but it’s so much fun to go on that ride with them.”
Work, But This Time Like You Mean It, Canberra Youth Theatre, The Courtyard Studio, September 20-29.
Emotional in its own stunted and amusing way, this last nostalgic lap sees them cross the finish line on their own terms, their feet firmly on the accelerator.
Like the 2022 Batman film, the series is well made but, as a concept, this Penguin barely stays afloat.
On a little side road on Hawdon Place, Dickson, is a special café that serves wholesome, tasty food and creates opportunities for migrant and refugee women from culturally diverse backgrounds.
The first thing that hits you with the vegetar ian menu at Café Stepping Stone is how the dishes are inspired by many cuisines.
The Dickson location (ground floor of the Common Ground Dickson housing project, hid den between Dickson Playing Fields and Sullivan Creek) has a large, sunny outdoor area out front and an impressive outdoor area out the side.
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Windows are floor-to-ceiling, and the long, open-concept kitchen enables aromas from the food being prepared by the café’s busy cooks to waft through the dining area. Your taste buds are truly stimulated.
As its name implies, the café’s business model is about providing a “stepping stone” for women to progress in their future. The prices are eminently reasonable and, while the café has an extensive beverage list, it’s not licensed.
The mushroom and broccoli dish was moorish and soul-satisfying ($23). The thickly sliced mushrooms are pan-fried in seven spices and cooked to retain some bite. The broccolini added a burst of colour and flavour. The veggies were served on sourdough with pickles, hummus and plenty of herbs, plus a wedge of lemon.
I eyed the Turkish eggs but settled on the potato masala toastie ($16.50), motivated by the promise of Indian-spiced potato curry. The curry was made with sauteed greens, fried onion,
I couldn’t fault the flavours and the toastie was such a generous serve I couldn’t finish it (I did, however, devour the sliced side pickles).
The third member of our party ($19) ordered the Spanish tortilla (also known as Spanish omelette). This traditional dish was presented more like a stack with a vibrant, fresh salad. The tortilla was lovingly made with slices of potato and onion, combined with egg and dished up with a house-made tomato relish. We shared an order of brined chippies ($9.5). The chips were placed in a brine (likely a combo of sugar and salt) and let to sit for some time
before being fried. They were chunky and we dipped them into Stepping Stone’s special mayo. They’re a real treat.
Stepping Stone is a certified work integration social enterprise and a registered charity, so dining there supports creating inclusive employing and training opportunities.
Café Stepping Stone also has a home at Strathnairn Arts in West Belconnen. Since opening in 2020, Stepping Stone has employed and trained 43 women from diverse migrant and refugee backgrounds. Impressive indeed.
I recently attended the annual Warrabilla Boat House Luncheon with a few friends, all of whom are interested in following the winery that bills itself as “home to Australia’s most powerful red wines”.
It was $190 a head so expectations were high.
Costs must have been on my mind because, over entrée served with an unusual 2024 Grenache Blanc, that had a distinctive stone fruit taste and a fine acid structure but wasn’t my kind of wine.
I cheered up when the slowcooked beef came and was served with a 2022 Reserve Cabernet and a 2021 Parola’s Cabernet.
The 2021 had a gorgeous blackcurrant complexity and a slightly spicy finish. It matched the beef very well, although the smoked broth served with the beef engulfed the taste buds, so that it wasn’t my favourite course.
To get a decent feel of the wine meant many swigs of water between sips of the high tannic wine that makes you thirsty.
Next came the opportunity to compare a 2023 Parola’s Shiraz with a 2021. These wines were served with lamb and beetroot, the latter somewhat
overpowering.
Both wines had a big tannic structure with the 2021 a jam jar of power, just what you’d expect from a big red. This was a wine for a long winter’s night in front of an open fire. I just didn’t like the match with beetroot; two flavours of earthiness that, in my view, failed to harmonise. Generally, I avoid dishes that feature beetroot.
When principal winemaker
Andrew Sutherland Smith spoke of the 2023 vintage, he said that it was one he’d not want to see repeated, with rain at the wrong time.
But the 2023 shiraz tasted of potential, with good texture and a bold finish. Put this one away for at least two years.
My favourite of the Warrabilla wines is its durif. The next course, of sirloin with leek and black garlic, was served with a 2022 Reserve Durif and a 2021 Reserve Durif. It was another chance to compare the effect of different weather on grape characteristics with 2021 being described by Smithy as interesting as there was no day over 40C.
These wines displayed the intensity that you get from Rutherglen-grown durif grapes that like a hotter drier climate. They both were of intense colour but on the nose quite different. The 2021 had a bouquet that featured musk and caramel with a ripeness to the fruit. The 2022 was equally complex on the nose with a fresher cherry presence and a hint of the spice cupboard that’s been opened after you return from holiday. These wines were supple, mouth filling and worthy of a good sirloin. The day just got much better and the attentive staff were excellent in keeping our glasses full.
The final course was hazelnut fudge with bay leaf ice cream and caramelised quince, quite a complex mix of sweet and savoury flavours. With this dessert, we were served the Grand Rutherglen Muscat, a drink that drips with its own complex sweetness, toffee and raisins and a hint of allspice. Usually, I’d be delighted with a muscat and a dessert of this quality but by this point I was just wanting something clean and palate cleansing like a sorbet. I drank lots more water.
In all, the Warrabilla experience was noteworthy; good bold reds, experimental whites and a great way to spend an afternoon.
By Joanne Madeline Moore
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
When it comes to professional or volunteer work, do you feel as if you’ve been going backwards? Prepare to take a welcome leap forward as Mercury and Pluto move things in a positive direction. So don’t waste precious time procrastinating! Be upfront with work colleagues, clients or customers, and keep them up to date with current plans and proposed changes. The more proactive your approach with family and friends, the better the week will be.
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)
Expect an intense start to the week, as powerful Pluto stirs up problems in a romantic or professional partnership. You may feel jealous, possessive or conflicted. So be patient and avoid making any important long-term decisions until things settle down. The rest of the week looks promising, as the universe provides an opportunity for you to do something creative or learn something new. Make the most of original, innovative Uranus transiting through your sign!
GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)
Are you making the most of Jupiter jumping through your sign? The planet of good fortune is transiting through Gemini for another nine months. And then it won’t be back again for eleven years. So don’t rest on your lovely laurels! It’s time to turn dynamic opportunities into productive, prosperous projects. Ultimately, it’s up to you. Birthday great Bruce Springsteen (who turns 75 on Monday) reminds us: “When it comes to luck, you make your own.”
CANCER (June 22 – July 23)
Calling all Crabs! It’s time to connect with colleagues, clients and customers at work, plus family and friends within your local community as you talk, text, tweet, publish, podcast or post up a storm. Other people are expecting you to come up with some clever ideas and smart solutions so put on your thinking cap Cancer! And don’t persist with outdated old ways of doing things. Be proactive about initiating adventurous and perceptive new strategies.
LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)
You could find you’re walking on a financial or communication tightrope this week! With the planets stirring up your money and intimacy zones, you’re primed for a spontaneous spending spree or a relationship glitch. In order to avoid messy problems, make sure you pause before you spend – and think before you speak. There could also be some conflict between working/studying close to home and travelling/venturing farther afield. Balance is the key.
VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)
Virgo folk prefer things to run smoothly but there’s confusing planetary energy about this week, and carefully laid plans could veer off in unexpected directions. Which could be wonderful or stressful, depending on the circumstances. Whatever happens, drop the perfectly planned schedule and go with the flow. When it comes to money matters, joint finances, taxes or trust issues, avoid being uncharacteristically rash. Slow down and take a second look.
LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)
With the Sun and Venus visiting your sign this week, you’ll find confidence and charm are a winning combination. It’s also a wonderful time to boost your self-esteem with a physical makeover, tap into your latent talents, and believe in yourself. Even when other people disagree with you and the going gets tough! So your motto for the moment is from Libran birthday great, Olivia Newton-John: “When things go wrong… focus on the positive things in your life.”
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)
On Monday, resist the temptation to retreat inwards (and be moody and mysterious) to cover up your emotional insecurities. Clear and honest communication (with yourself and others) will get you a lot further than sulky Scorpio behaviour! Are you overdue for some creature comforts and a touch of luxe? Indulgent Venus visits your sign from Monday until October 17. So raid your piggy bank and treat yourself to a restaurant meal or some indulgent body pampering.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)
Are you wasting time worrying about all the ‘What If’s?’ Stop stressing and instead, be proactive. Regarding a work matter or a job interview, crank up the charm and original ideas. Wednesday and Thursday are the best days to contemplate a current problem and come up with an innovative, perceptive plan. As writer (and birthday great) F Scott Fitzgerald observed: “Either you think – or else others have to think for you and take power from you.”
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)
This week is all about travel, education and communication as Mercury links up with curious Uranus and perceptive Pluto (in your sign). It’s also time to dream big – and often – as the planets activate your hopes, dreams and wishes zone. Be inspired by real life Superman, birthday great Christopher Reeve: “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable. And then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)
Restless Uranus and curious Mercury boost your bohemian side and your adventurous nature. You’re itching to explore! But – if you are overly impulsive and vague (especially on Wednesday) – you could find yourself involved in a confusing argument, a financial fiasco or a domestic drama. Astute Aquarians will choose creative problem-solving over unpredictable shenanigans, as you slow down and think things through before proceeding.
PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)
You love to chat, converse and communicate about your dreams and plans for the future. However, sometimes you can confuse talking about something with actually doing it! If you think things through and then act with passion and purpose, the week will go well. But if you don’t walk your talk, then expect delays, disappointments and/or uncertainty. Be inspired by music legend (and birthday great) Bruce Springsteen: “Talk about a dream and then make it real.”
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2024
1 What are sporting events to be held on prearranged dates? (8)
2 Who are private instructors? (6)
3 To send something elsewhere, is to do what? (8)
4 What is the counterfoil of a chequebook? (4)
To be fixed firmly, is to be what? (8) 10 Who lends money at an exorbitant rate of interest? (6) 11 What is a public vote called? (8) 14 Name a constellation between Cetus and Phoenix. (8)
18 Name the fourth largest of the 16 satellites of Jupiter. (6)
19 Little Rock is the capital of which US State? (8)
21 What is another term for a journey? (6)
22 Which word describes a succession? (8)
23 Name the lowest form of animal life? (6)
5 Which term describes favourable estimation? (6)
6 What is a short jacket, ending at the waistline? (6)
12 What are exits? (8)
13 Name one of the poles of a battery. (8)
15 Who was the 39th President of the US, Jimmy ...? (6)
16 Name one of the two forms of Rugby football (6)
17 The Australian boxing champion Albert Griffiths, was known as Young who? (6)
20 To be of sound mind, is to be what? (4)
