PICTURE PERFECT AI PHONE TOOLS BLUR THE LINES OF REALITY
RATES SHOCK
JANUARY 25, 2024
Columnists Jon Stanhope & Khalid Ahmed reveal…
HOW BARR IS RIPPING HIGHER RATES FROM BIG BLOCKS Reaching out to the ‘jargonauts’ CLIVE WILLIAMS Too much power sits in Planning RICHARD JOHNSTON
JUNGLE RUMBLE Australian debut for a choreographed reimagining of Kipling’s Jungle Book
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NEWS / gaming for those on the spectrum
Well written, well read
Volume 30, Number: 4. Phone 6189 0777
How gaming plays a way out of the ‘horrible cycle’ By Katarina
LLOYD JONES Three years ago Claire Golding and her husband Stephen grew concerned the needs of their neurodivergent son William were not being met, and he was not getting the support to thrive. “Once you leave school, all the support stops,” says Claire. “They’re just at home, they’re not going out, they’re gaming all the time, there’s nothing. “And then it becomes hopeless, and they get depressed, and it becomes this horrible cycle. “William was very depressed after school, it was pretty horrible, actually.” But, Claire says the issue did not stem from her initial fear of bullying, it was from a lack of opportunity for socialisation. “He is a mad gamer, and he said; ‘Well, why can’t we get a bunch of other people together who really like gaming so that we could game together? It would be a bit more social’,” says Claire. From this spark, the three of them co-founded Ignition Gamers.
“I think the problem is that there’s a misconception between gaming in general for young people versus gaming for those on the spectrum. “It’s a way of being somewhere safe, where they can play a role. And that’s the key. “I think the other thing about gaming is, it’s about the skill, not about all the other social norms that we think of within a group. If you can play, you’re in. “That’s a big plus, you haven’t got to prove anything. “We’re doing something which allows you to talk to people and open up.” Claire says people are coming, head down, Co-founder of Ignition Gamers Claire Golding… looking at their phone, “Laughter, and enjoyment and fun, I can tell you as a not engaging, but then mother, that is gold.” they’re coming to the room and they’re beginStarting out during COVID-19, Ignition Gamers is now a NDIS-Social ning to defrost. “Another one of the good things is Activity program based in Nichols. “We have had a few critics on social that they don’t just play games, but media saying: ‘People are addicted, they also take a break and they have you shouldn’t be encouraging them to a chat and they have some pizza,” she says. game’,” Claire says.
BRIEFLY New head for Winston Churchill Memorial trust Canberra arts identity Rachael Coghlan is the new CEO of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, succeeding Adam Davey, who resigned late last year after more than seven years in the role. Coghlan, an assistant secretary in the Department of Parliamentary Services and a former CEO of Craft ACT, is also deputy chair of Rachael Coghlan. the Cultural Facilities Corporation and a director of the Canberra Region Tourism Leaders Forum. The 150th anniversary of Churchill’s birth will be celebrated later this year and Coghlan says she is excited
to be joining the Trust in the lead up to its 60th anniversary. She will join the Churchill Trust mid-February.
Singer entertains AGM Soprano Georgia Connolly will perform a medley of songs at the AGM of the Weston Creek VIEW Club, Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden from 11.30am, February 6. RSVP to 0408 864616 by February 1. Interested ladies and guests are welcome.
“It’s face to face, they can’t stay in their bedroom all day, they have to get out. “They all get used to having to be ready, having to be on time, getting into a group, learning to play co-op games. “Then we started saying, okay, after the group, why don’t we go down to the pub, where they would have hot chocolate, because they don’t drink. “I can still remember the first time we did this, and one of our participants said very proudly, ‘I’m at the pub with my mates’, and that was huge, absolutely huge. “If you’re sitting outside the shop and you hear laughter and giggling and little comments all the way through, that gives joy to any parent’s heart. “Laughter, and enjoyment and fun, I can tell you as a mother, that is gold. “All of our workers have what we call in this sector, lived experience. “It allows our participants to be able to identify with them a lot more. “They can say, look I know what you’re going through, I’ve been through it. “We have actually employed two of our participants as a way of giving back. “They are very proud to work for us. “So again, it gives purpose, it gives people hope.
“Pretty much 95 per cent of the people who have joined this still come. “They still come because it gives them something to look forward to during the week. “So it’s not gaming therapy, it’s gaming as therapy.” Claire says she’d spoken to a couple of parents who rang up and said: “Oh you know what, it sounds interesting”. Then she calls them and they say: “‘Oh well, he’s got friends online so I don’t think he really needs it”. “That to me is a red flag; that to me is somebody going: ‘It’s too hard, it’s easier to keep them at home because it’s an effort to get them out’,” says Claire. “It’s the effort that we need to do, otherwise they will never learn to be independent. “They will never learn to manage life’s difficulties and they won’t realise that it can actually be fun with other people. “It’s tough love sometimes, but you have to do these things because part of the problem with leaving kids alone in their bedroom for hours and hours on end is it can lead to other mental health problems. “By the time they’re 30, that’s a pattern, and they’re not going to grow out of it.” Ignition Gamers, call 0417 881798 or email hello@ignitiongamers.com.au
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THE GADFLY
Goodwill mission dampened at embassy gate On Christmas Day I dropped a little present off to the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian: a copy of my 2017 book, Dragon and Kangaroo. Though we hadn’t met, it seemed his brief was to improve people-topeople relations between our two countries and I figured that’s worth a little encouragement. Published by Hachette, it’s a fairly straightforward chronicle of a complicated and uneasy relationship over the 200 years since John Macarthur imported the first Chinese shepherds to tend his growing flocks of Merinos in 1833. It followed almost a dozen tourist visits to China by my wife Wendy and I from 1999 to 2014; including a lecture tour to three Chinese universities and the translation of several of my Australian history books – including the authorised biography of PM Kevin Rudd. It was greatly assisted by Richard Rigby, then associate director of the ANU’s China in the World centre established by Rudd, and a list of former Australian ambassadors to China, from Stephen Fitzgerald to Ross Garnaut, Ric Smith, David Irvine and Mike Lightowler. The text was completed in 1916, shortly after Malcolm Turnbull
China’s Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian… “It seemed his brief was to improve people-to-people relations between our two countries and I figured that’s worth a little encouragement,” writes Robert Macklin. Photo: Mick Tsikas/AAP ousted Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who had taken great pleasure in hosting an address to the Parliament by the visiting Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “Dear friends,” Xi told Parliament, “we Chinese are striving to achieve the Chinese dream, which is a great renewal of the Chinese nation. [It] is about enhancing the strength and prosperity of the nation and the wellbeing of the Chinese people. “China is a large country of 1.3 billion people. It is like the big guy in the crowd. Others naturally wonder
how the big guy will move and act.” Answering his own question, he said: “In modern times China was ravaged by turmoil and war for more than a century and development and a decent life were beyond the reach of its people. “Having gone through this, China will never subject any country or nation to the same ordeal. While China is big in size, our forefathers realised over 2000 years ago that a warlike state, however big it may be, will eventually fall.” “Nevertheless,” I wrote, “America’s
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Middle East forays in Afghanistan and Iraq provided China with the chance to bring the return of Taiwan to the People’s Republic to the front line of his nation’s ambitions.” Dragon and Seven Kangaroo cover. years later, that issue is still unresolved and with America facing the opprobrium of chief Israeli apologist for the horrors of Gaza, the stalemate of the Ukraine-Russia war and the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House, 2024 could be a watershed year. But I must confess that my Christmas gesture was powered more by selfish motives. During that relatively friendly period of Australia-China relations I had written two screenplays featuring Australia/
China themes – a biopic of the great Australian journalist GE. Morrison and a saga inspired by Sam Pu, our only Chinese bushranger – as well as a three-generation Treatment of a Chinese family in Australia, a real melodrama. If they reached the silver screen, they might well improve the people-to-people relationship. At one stage, all looked very promising, and I travelled to Beijing a couple of times in an effort to bring them to the screen. But then came Turnbull and the other Morrison and everything fell apart. They probably won’t get made during my lifetime, but I figured if I could make some inroads with the Ambo, my sons – and the estate – would reap the benefits. Alas, when I arrived, mine was the only pressie to be left in its sad little Christmas paper bag. There wasn’t even a guard to put it under cover and half an hour later the rain bucketed down. Oh well, maybe he reads CityNews… robert@ robertmacklin. com
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NEWS FEATURE / AI and smartphones
Picture perfect AI phone tools blur lines of reality By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson in San Jose
Imagine a daredevil skateboarder soaring through the air with one hand on his board, perilously close to the camera as it captures him in sharp focus on a glorious sunny day. You might not believe such an image could be taken with a smartphone and in some ways, you would be right. This stunning photo was featured at the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 smartphones last week and started out as an average snap. Generative artificial intelligence tools were then used to raise the skateboarder from the ground into the air and make him larger in the frame. The AI tools were also employed to delete a distracting power pole, artificially create more sky around him and turn it a vibrant shade of blue. The result was saved with a discreet watermark in its left corner and a disclaimer in its metadata to indicate AI’s role in its creation. But experts say rules around AI disclosures remain unclear, with a lack of standards for labelling artificial content making it hard to tell whether something is real, or just really well crafted. The issue could persist for the next
6 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
Experts say no standards for labelling artificial content make it hard to tell if something is real. Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP five to 10 years, they warn, as consumers wait for AI protections to be built into hardware and disclosures made mandatory. The issue of AI labels stirred last week with Samsung’s launch in San Jose, California, that featured a strong focus on AI phone features for everything from editing photos to summarising notes, and translating languages to changing the tone of messages. Samsung Electronics Australia mobile experience director Eric Chou says the company proactively made the choice to label some content changed or created by AI, such as photos and text summaries, even though
he says users may try to remove them. “The safeguards were a pretty clear choice for us,” he said. “Anything that is edited with AI will have a watermark and while a watermark, once it’s been shared, can be removed, the information around the AI edit is still embedded in the metadata.” Samsung is not the first to offer smartphones with AI features after Google launched AI-powered image tools in its Pixel 8 Pro smartphone in late 2023 to alter a subject’s expressions, delete objects, and analyse and remove sound in videos. Foad Fadaghi, the managing direc-
tor of Australian technology analyst Telsyte, says consumers can expect to see more AI-powered phones this year.. “For Samsung, Apple and others, AI is a defensive play right now and there are a lot of new guys who are seeing it as an offensive play to disrupt that market,” he said. “It’s in the best interests of the smartphone manufacturers to embrace AI fully. “The expectations of what photography is going to change in the next 12 to 24 months given that generative AI will be a major feature. “We might need to assume every photo has been modified in future… or we might need a watermark to say something actually hasn’t been modified.” Questions around AI regulation in Australia were also raised by the federal government last week when it released its Safe and Responsible AI interim report, following more than 500 submissions. Immediate actions proposed by the government include a voluntary AI Safety Standard, voluntary labelling and watermarking of AI-generated content, and setting up an expert advisory group to create mandatory rules. Toby Walsh, chief scientist of the AI Institute at the University of NSW, said he would have liked to see more rules made mandatory, warning that giving some firms the choice of
whether to label AI content could be akin to “letting the tech companies mark their own homework”. Some companies were starting to work on an industry standard for labelling AI content though, he said, such as Nikon and Adobe with “Contential Credentials”, and reforms proposed in Europe could bring digital certificates in the next five to 10 years that would be difficult to evade. “In the long term, digital watermarks will be built into the hardware of our devices, which is going to make it more difficult for people to get around them,” Prof Walsh said. Tech Council of Australia chief executive Kate Pounder said the government’s approach to AI regulation should give users more confidence for the future development of the technology. But she predicted AI would continue to dominate headlines as both companies and people figure out how they can best use it. “It’s probably one of the most important technological innovations that we’re going to see in this decade and the biggest candidate in technology to lift productivity in a way that we haven’t seen since the ’90s or the early 2000s,” she said. “That is hugely profound.”
–AAP. The reporter was in San Jose as a guest of Samsung.
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PLANNING
Too much power sits in planning bureaucracy Former planner RICHARD JOHNSTON has misgivings about the ACT government’s “independent review” into the governance of the new planning system. THE ACT government has commissioned an “independent review” into the governance of the ACT’s new planning system. It’s to be completed by Peg Consulting, from Adelaide. Peg’s website claims that: “Their expertise draws on a deep understanding of how government works, blended with a laser focus on delivery results and value for money.” That may be, but do they have any “deep understanding” of how planning systems work in Australia? The contract is to be completed by March 28. The “core deliverables” will be “subject to review and approval by the ACT chief minister”. The “required services” include finalisation of the terms of reference, which “must at a minimum include” (some) nominated recommendations from the Planning, Transport and City Services (PTCS) Committee Inquiry on the draft Planning Bill and the way various government bodies “interact with the planning system”. Under “Stakeholder/ Officeholder Consultation” there is no mention of
any “stakeholders” external to the ACT government. This seems to be an extraordinarily introverted and limited approach to a review of the new planning system that, of course, has many “stakeholders” including the development industry, the community and the Legislative Assembly. The ACT is a unique jurisdiction in Australia in that there is effectively only one level of government. In town planning matters, the Commonwealth has some involvement in “areas of special national concern”, but for the most part the ACT planning authority sets the rules (subject to agreement by the Assembly in some respects) and makes the decisions on development applications. It can also reconsider its own decisions, if requested by the development proponent. The conflicts of interest inherent in these arrangements are obvious and the “reforms” will only exacerbate these conflicts by giving the planning authority more discretion and removing much of the current Assembly oversight of planning policy, as well as further reducing community involvement.
Khalid Ahmed, adjunct professor, Institute of Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra and commentator for “CityNews”, gave me the following advice: “The Draft Planning Bill incorporates significant changes to the governance of the planning system in the territory. In particular, it: • “Degrades the role and powers of the Legislative Assembly for oversight and input to key planning instruments; • “Provides unspecified discretionary powers to the minister to make planning instruments and directives, and to make rules for community input; • “Increases the powers and discretionary authority of the chief planning executive; and • “Diminishes the role of the community in planning decisions.” These concerns reflect the results of the government’s own consultation on the early stages of this project. The “ACT Planning Review and Reform Working Series Listening Report” of December 17 identified three “key feedback themes”, which were said to be “consistently prominent” across the four “stakeholder” meetings: 1. “Confidence, certainty and clarity” – “important to both community and industry… clear rules and processes are preferred”.
2. “Trust and transparency” – “building trust in the planning system should be a priority”. 3. “Consultation” – “community consultation is an important aspect of restoring trust in planning system”. These matters have been largely ignored in the new planning system. The PTCS Committee Inquiry made some relevant recommendations regarding governance, but left the main issues for the promised later governance review. To me, the fundamental governance problems, to some extent present in the former system but substantially exacerbated in the “reforms”, are: • far too much power and discretion invested in one government agency, particularly the so-called “independent” planning authority, which is contained in and headed by the director-general of one of the large directorates of the ACT government, ie. no adequate separation of powers and roles; • reduction in the ability of the Legislative Assembly to exercise oversight of planning policy, because many planning controls are taken out of the Territory Plan and relegated to “supporting material”, which can be
changed at will by the minister and/ or planning authority; • limited opportunities for community input to planning policy and decision-making; • minimal transparency and accountability for the planning authority’s decisions; At the very least there is an obvious need for truly independent and transparent decision-making on significant development applications through a body, such as an expert planning panel of the kind now operating in NSW and SA. Critical planning controls also need to be put back into the Territory Plan rather than outsourced to “supporting material”. Richard Johnston is a life fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and a former senior executive of the ACT Planning & Land Authority. More recently, he’s been active in representing community interests in planning matters.
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RATES SHOCK / EXPOSED
How Barr rips higher rates from big blocks “Based on the estimated average increase in value of the relevant blocks, the ACT government has increased the tax (general rates) base, with a single stroke of the pen, by $8.050 billion,” write JON STANHOPE & KHALID AHMED In a recent article on land supply performance, we noted that the ACT government policy allowing a secondary dwelling on blocks larger than 800sqm in RZ1 zones, while creating wealth for existing homeowners, is unlikely to be effective in increasing supply. Among the comments we received was the observation, with which we agree, that in effect (our emphasis) there are no windfall gains. According to information gleaned from FOI requests, the ACT government has estimated that the Unimproved Value (UV) of the relevant 800-900sqm blocks will increase from an average of $829,000 per block to $1.008 million, an increase of $178,889 per block on average. Inner-city suburbs will obviously see much larger increases. For example, the UV of eligible blocks in Deakin will increase by $340,000. The change in UV will purportedly affect 45,000 dwellings across Canberra. The dwellings captured by this change will be liable for increased rates, and on top of that, if they are rented, they will be liable for an increase in land tax. Based on the estimated average increase in value of the relevant blocks, the government has, increased the ACT tax (general rates) base, with a single stroke of the pen, by $8.050 billion. The average value of the subdivided blocks is estimated at $403,156. If all the eligible blocks are subdivided, the increase in the ACT tax base is estimated to be $18.142 billion. Homeowners who decide to subdivide will pay a fixed $40,000 Lease Variation Charge (LVC) or they can seek a professional valuation (at their own cost) and, subject to its acceptance, pay a 75 per cent LVC. The sum of the LVC on all the relevant subdivided blocks is estimated at $1.8 billion. The construction cost of the secondary dwelling is estimated to be, between $456,000 and $681,000, which will need to be financed by the homeowners.
The secondary dwellings will be exempt from stamp duty (the tax that Treasurer Barr committed over a decade ago to abolish) for a period of two years. No such relief will be available if the homeowners decide to sell. These fundamentals of the policy were, regrettably, missing from the Chief Minister’s media release. While it is almost certain that not all the relevant blocks will be subdivided, it is nevertheless clear the territory’s tax base has been increased by between $8-$20 billion. What does all this mean? Firstly, it guarantees the ACT government a major increase in tax returns. Existing homeowners, however, have a choice to act as a developer, at considerable effort and incurring considerable costs, or they can remain and simply pay much higher rates. How, then, do the selected 45,000 homeowners realise the “increased wealth” which the ACT government has endowed them? They can, of course, simply sell and move. Too bad if they don’t want to move. The wealth is there but not available. The government, however, wins whichever way the cookie crumbles. Heads I win, tails you lose. Any economist worth two bob would readily admit that the secondary dwelling policy is not only extractive but places an overall burden on the economy, without delivering affordability outcomes. Worryingly, that burden is created through interference with existing property rights, which may in many cases have been granted decades earlier. The government has once again avoided dealing with the real problems, which includes inadequate land supply, the massive sell-off of public housing, and a scandalous shortage of community and affordable housing. The zoning policy is little more than a distraction, albeit, a costly one. We will discuss the cost of the real problem, chronic undersupply, and the damage it has caused the ACT economy next time.
John Morton, Lord Chancellor to King Henry VII, author of Morton’s Fork, now commonly known as “heads I win, tails you lose” … a logical fallacy whereby contradictory propositions, one or both of which are wrong, lead to the same conclusion.
The fallacy of heads I win, tails you lose In the 15th century, John Morton, Lord Chancellor to King Henry VII, argued that those who lived lavishly were obviously rich and therefore could pay more tax and that those who lived frugally will, consequently, have accumulated savings and therefore could pay more tax. That argument remains familiar, even today. Morton’s Fork, now commonly known as heads I win, tails you lose is a logical fallacy whereby contradictory propositions, one or both of which are wrong, lead to the same conclusion. It may also be presented as two equally unpalatable choices. Whether intentional or not, Morton’s Fork is a common feature of public administration. Bureaucracies are particularly prone to it due to their technocratic, value free nature, and narrow focus on singular objectives. Inattentive or incapable ministers are, obviously, particularly prone to miss the fallacy when presented with new policy. In everyday life, such fallacies are readily identified as a matter of common sense. However, when they underpin government policies, unpicking the fallacy can be difficult, due to an information imbalance and/or the primacy of vested interests. Consequently, Morton’s Fork is typically accompanied by “red herrings” or “exclusion fallacies” as distractions and diversions from actual problems and their solution. Over the past several years, such thinking has been pervasive within the ACT government. Consider, for example,
the Mr Fluffy remediation program, where contaminated houses were compulsorily acquired from their owners – retaining the house was not really an option – demolished, and the land decontaminated. The owners were then given the option of purchasing the land. The “market value” paid to owners for their (contaminated) house and land was much lower than the price at which the decontaminated blocks were offered back to owners, thereby reflecting the speculative potential of the blocks at a time when the government was also reducing land supply. The owners were presented with two options, ie they could rebuy the land and incur significant additional costs, or they could buy elsewhere and incur significant additional costs – heads I win, tails you lose. As for the distractions, the fact that the Commonwealth Government did not accept responsibility for remediation of the properties dominated public discussion but was irrelevant to affected households. Also irrelevant was the fact that the ACT government borrowed $1 billion from the Commonwealth Government to manage the cashflows of the program – ultimately and inevitably, households paid for the remediation. While the program may have been a bureaucratic success it was manifestly unfair to the affected homeowners, many of whom, unable to afford the costs and higher mortgage. Amidst reports that the ACT currently has the worst hospital performance in Australia, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith first blamed the increase in demand (attendances) at the emergency department, and then that patients presenting in the ACT have
greater complexity, and/or that the emergency departments are clogged up by people who should not be there. The increase in presentations was in fact consistent with the relevant and known growth parameters (population, ageing and utilisation), and the latter two propositions (excuses) advanced by the minister, quite simply, could not be simultaneously true. All were “red herrings”. In what was quite extraordinary advice, people were asked to self-assess and not turn up at A&E for “mundane reasons”. Among the reasons mentioned by the chief operating officer of Canberra Health Service for not attending the hospitals was the experiencing of symptoms indicative of a heart attack and stroke. In other words, Canberrans were told that if they were unwell or experiencing symptoms they believed warranted the attention of a doctor that the choices were to either attend the hospital and wait beyond the clinically recommended times, or stay away from the hospital altogether, because there are too many complex cases and there are too many people who should not be there. The real problem, one of the government’s making, was the repeated deferral over the last decade of investment in Canberra’s hospitals and clinical services, leading to a shortfall of 150 beds. A shortfall that is unarguably, in the main, a consequence of prioritising the light rail project over health services. The “solution” from the government was Morton’s Fork with red herrings. Jon Stanhope is a former chief minister of the ACT and Dr Khalid Ahmed a former senior ACT Treasury official.
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OPINION / baby boomers
Suddenly, being a boomer is becoming a crime CLIVE HAMILTON and MYRA HAMILTON critique the relentless tide of baby boomer bashing that implies it’s become a crime to be born in the 15 years after World War II. JUDGING by the relentless tide of baby boomer bashing, it’s become a crime to be born in the 15 years after World War II. A recent story in the “Sydney Morning Herald” berated boomers for “hanging on to bigger family homes… while others struggle with overcrowding”. If they were half-decent human beings, they would get out of the homes they’d lived in for decades and free them up for families, rich ones presumably, since all boomers own multi-million dollar homes. We now have a cohort of younger commentators furiously mining the data and cherry-picking the numbers to find new reasons to excoriate baby boomers. We’ve even seen the media blame boomers for depriving Sydney CBD of energy, creativity and dynamism because young people can’t afford to rent apartments from the nasty “older property-owning classes” who lack all these things. And now big-spending boomers are copping the blame for inflation, interest rate rises, and the cost-of-living crisis. For the record, the Reserve Bank
attributes inflation mainly to international factors. And the only group increasing its real spending are the over 70s, by about two per cent. The story turned figures from a report into a generational conflict rather than the real Kids from the ‘50s… Casual ageism is the last story about how inflation is remaining form of vilification seen as socially harming poorer Australians acceptable, with older Australians fair game on more. the generational frontier. In the noughties, boomers and even, with their lock-out laws, were castigated for fuelling a entertainment. fiscal crisis, because it was predicted that, as they aged, they would be a We need a reality check drain on the public purse (pensions, hospitals etcetera) and become a “burTo begin, fewer than 10 per cent den” on younger workers. They were of boomers benefited from the fabled blamed for not saving enough for their free university education. For the retirement, even though superannuamost part, only the children of the tion came in when they were halfway privileged middle-class attended through their working lives. university in the late 1970s and 1980s. More recently, they were responThat was the reason for HECS, so that sible for the housing crisis, and now low-income people would no longer they are reproached for causing the subsidise middle-class kids to get the interest rate crisis. Once they were high-paying jobs. too poor, now they are too rich. Then there is the toxic myth of “SKIAnd they’re so selfish, sitting on ing”, spending the kid’s inheritance. their piles of wealth while wieldIn fact, many boomers, anxious about ing their political power to “lock their children’s future, are responsible out” younger people from housing, for a very large transfer of wealth secure employment, cheap education through the bank of mum and dad.
Celebrating Lunar New Year of the dragon together Program: Fri 09 Feb 2024
6pm to Late: Gourmet vegetarian food Stalls opening till late. Cultural Performance by Son Ca Band & Local Singers (1st phase). Prayers for everyone’s Ancestors, Parents-Family. 1000s Buddhism books for free collection, New Year Gifts to all Guests, Visitors, Participants: Lucky Fruits-Money & Personalised New Year Messages. 6.30pm -7.30pm: Courtesy Annual Vegetarian Dinner, all invited. 8pm: New Year Music Festival by Son CaBand & Local Singers (2nd phase). 8.30pm: Opening Ceremony of Lunar New Year 2024 & Blessing speech by Abbot Thich Quang Ba. 8.45pm: Cultural performances intertwined with New Year Welcoming Message given by invited VIPs, MLAs & Community Leaders;New Year Gifts presented to all Children & Adults. 9.15pm: Lion Dance & Crackers performing by Prosperous Mountain Lion Dance Team (round 1). 9.30 -10.30pm: Cultural Music performance by Son Ca Band & Local Singers (3rd phase). 11.50pm: Lion Dance & Crackers (round 2). 00.10am: Celebrating of The Maitreya Buddha and New Year Prayers for World Peace & Family Well-being.
10 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
Sat 10 Feb 2024
6am: Monastery opens to Welcome all Visitors. 9am - 3.30pm: Gourmet vegetarian food Stalls opening (Food Fair - take away/ eat-in). 10.30- 11.45am: New Year Sermon & Service. 12pm: Courtesy New Year Lunch with Monastic members & all visitors invited. 1.45pm: Lion Dance - Crackers by Prosperous Mountain Lion Dance Team (round 3) 1pm - 3.30pm: New Year Music Festival by Son CaBand - Sydney (4th phase).
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in the workplace, and with no savings because much of her 30s and 40s were spent caring for children. There are rich boomers and there are poor boomers and many in between. For the generational warmongers, the rich-poor divide has been displaced on to a manufactured generational divide. This fake conflict is responsible for enormous bitterness out there. One newspaper contributor admitted that she can’t wait for her mother to die so she can inherit the house. As if we didn’t have enough social division in Australia already. This generational scapegoating places blame on a malevolent generation rather than the political and economic system that creates and perpetuates inequalities between rich and poor. Most top decision makers today in politics, business, and the media are Gen Xers and millennials. Perhaps millennials and Gen Xers might turn to their brothers and sisters who now run the country and ask them to create a fairer society. Who knows, they might find plenty of baby boomers on their side. Prof Clive Hamilton, Vice-Chancellor’s Chair of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University in Canberra, and Associate Professor Myra Hamilton at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research, University of Sydney.
NOTICE OF COMMUNITY INFORMATION FORUM Australian Defence Force Academy Living-In Accommodation Project
A beautiful FREE family and community festival
Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre, 32 Archibald St, Lyneham
In fact, over the next couple of decades boomers will bequeath a massive $3.5 trillion in assets to their children, the same ones they have been oppressing so thoughtlessly. Let’s not forget the huge subsidy provided by grandparents’ childcare. More children receive care from a grandparent in a typical week than from any other form of childcare. Many grandparents retire early, work fewer hours or change their jobs to allow their daughters and sons to avoid childcare costs, work longer hours and save more. Yes, the housing market is shockingly unjust, but blaming a generation for it instead of bad policies is unfair, lazy and often spiteful. And it’s simply incorrect. Those landlords putting up rents for young people? Most of them are Gen Xers and millennials. And the fastest growing category of homelessness is not among 20-somethings but among women over 55, baby boomers. Casual ageism is the last remaining form of vilification seen as socially acceptable, with older Australians fair game on the generational frontier – liberally denigrated in the media as rich, selfish, greedy, smug, and culturally bereft. This characterisation must be mystifying if not deeply hurtful to the 60-year-old woman living in her car, unemployed due to entrenched ageism
The Department of Defence will conduct an information forum to outline the proposed construction works associated with the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) Living-In Accommodation Project. Subject to Parliamentary Approval, the works will be delivered from mid to late 2024 through to late 2026 at ADFA, Campbell, ACT. The proposed works include replacement of the existing Living-In facilities with contemporary, safe and suitable accommodation which will support recruitment, retention and wellbeing of trainee officers. Information about the proposed works will be available at the forum with representatives from the Department of Defence available to answer any questions. Venue:
Academy Cadets Mess, Building 4, Gallipoli Rd, ADFA, Campbell, ACT
Community Information Forum Details Thursday, 8 February 2024 8:00am – 10:00am If you would like further information on the forum or would like to provide feedback, please contact the Project Team via email at ADFALIA@aurecongroup.com
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DANCE / ELIZABETH DALMAN AT 90
Dancing at 90, Elizabeth Dalman never says die By Helen
MUSA Dance pioneer, choreographer, teacher, and now writer, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, is celebrating her 90th birthday this week. During an increasingly virulent period of ageism in Australia, where anybody much over the age of 50 is consigned to the dustbins of history, she remains a shining beacon of artistic creativity. Dalman has been honoured as 2015 CityNews Artist of the Year, also winning an Australian Artists Creative Fellowship (Keating) Fellowship, a National Dance Award for a Lifetime of Achievement in Dance, an ArtsACT Creative Artist Fellowship, an OAM and five Canberra Critics’ Circle Awards. “I still have SO many things to do… I have mixed feelings of both gratitude that I have lived this long, and of sadness that the time is flying by so fast,” she says. The daughter of a Menzies government politician, Sir Keith Cameron Wilson and an art-loving mother, Elizabeth Hornabrook nee Bonython, she was born on January 23 1934 in Adelaide.
Elizabeth Dalman dances a solstice dance in December at her summer solstice celebration at Mirramu. Photo: Barbie Robinson After a dance career in Europe and the US, in 1965 she founded the Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide,
later moving to the Canberra region purchasing a property, Mirramu, on the edge of Lake George, which became the home to writers, singers, visual artists and Mirramu Dance Theatre. She’s endured her fair share of ageist remarks, but happily she was blessed with mentors who inspired her to think it was “less getting older than living longer.” One of them was Japanese butoh guru Kazuo Ohno, who died in 2000 aged 103. “I felt he handed the torch to me,” she says, adding that her own mother lasted until age 101 – “ so I feel I still have a considerable amount of time ahead of me.” As for retirement, she says: “I don’t consider that, my life is my work, and my work is my life.” You can say that again. Amid a deluge of productions, she founded Weereewa, a Festival of Lake George and fitted in a master of creative arts from Wollongong University and a PhD from the University of Western Sydney. In 2016 she joined Michael Keegan Dolan’s company in Dublin as an actor/ dancer for Swan Lake/Loch na hEala. Engaged after Dolan put an international callout for a female actor aged 60 with long white hair, she emailed him: “I’m a dancer and choreographer not an actor, I’m not 60, but I do have long white hair”. Four years touring the world followed, cut short by covid.
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“I was going to let this birthday pass by quietly,” she says, “but Andreas [her son] and friends decided that we should celebrate with bells.” When she squeezes in time for our chat, she’s just back from delivering her Taiwanese guest, Grace Peng Hsiao-yin, to the airport. They’ve been collaborating for around 12 years, and Peng, founder and director of Dancecology, will be back in April to help celebrate 35 years of Mirramu and 15 years for her own company. But before all that, Dalman is about to “hop” into her car and head for the Sydney Festival, where Sue Healey’s video installation, Six Icons of Australian Dance, is screening. Dalman, naturally, is one of the icons. When not tearing around country roads, she’s managed to fit in rather a lot of writing, and has a new book coming out shortly on her dance practice in nature. That, as followers of her work will know, has been a powerful theme in her work. Although when she worked at the Australian Dance Theatre and in Europe, it was always indoors, when she moved to Mirramu she was able to dance with nature in mind, like the time I saw her dance in the middle of the then dried-out bed of Lake George. Another key thrust in her career has been her involvement with Aboriginal dance and spiritual traditions. Brought up in the relatively con-
servative milieu of Adelaide, she made a concerted effort in the 1960s to find out to meet Aboriginal people, landing on her feet during a visit to the Darwin festival. She was introduced to elders, met poet-activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker), took her dancers to Pitjantjara lands then, when prominent Albert Aboriginal dancer Albert David joined Mirramu Dance Theatre, was invited to meet artists in Yirrkala, East Arnhem land, a visit that eventually resulted in the Morning Star project in 2012-2013. Dalman’s immediate future is full. She’s been invited to Adelaide for two extended visits this year to collaborate with First Nations dance artist Daniel Riley, her former protegee and now the director of Australian Dance Theatre. Together they will create works for the ADT’s 60th celebrations. Likening their relationship to a ribbon of connection, she says: “I met him when he was 12 and have followed his dance journey… I think he might’ve even been a little bit my referee for the Dublin job.” As for ageism, she tells me: “We need only look to indigenous communities… they show enormous respect to elders and Daniel has done that for me as the founder of Australian Dance Theatre. “That, for me, is a highlight that I never expected in my life.”
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CityNews January 25-31, 2024 11
LETTERS
Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au
The whole light rail set-up stinks to high heaven Jack Kershaw is perfectly correct in his criticism of the PPP (Public Private Partnership) delivery method (Letters, CN January 18), which has been used from the inception on light rail, as a stitch-up by the lead contractors and the unions to exploit (even extort) the public purse. Remember that there has been a longstanding memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the UnionsACT and the ACT government which gives a virtual veto power over any ACT government tender preparation and selection as well as conditions of any contract entered into. PPP contracts are also much more expensive in financing, in that the government can borrow money more cheaply than the contractors. Yet the government chooses to pay the contractors more to borrow plus their profit mark-up on top of that. Of course, the whole light rail set-up stinks to high heaven, but Labor must obey its union masters and to hell with the taxpayers. Given the outrageous contract price for Stage 2 of $577 million (for construction only, mind you), the Liberal Party should revisit and qualify its support for Stage 2A and, at least during the election campaign, promise a detailed independent investigation into the Stage 2 contract, notwithstanding claimed contractual confidentiality. Light rail has been from the outset and remains a financial disgrace! Max Flint, co-ordinator, Smart Canberra Transport, Erindale
tors to global warming are yet to begin reducing their emissions. For example, the Snowy 2 disaster with its $10 billion blow out (the cost of two large scale 1 GW nuclear reactors) might have been avoided by spending more time on an extensive geological investigation of the tunnelling route. John L Smith, Farrer
Roll on the solid-state, all-lithium battery
dose of dorin
Paying a huge price for rushing into renewables Eric Hunter (Letters, January 18) cites “the experts’ conclusion that nuclear is an uneconomic and time-short proposition for this country compared with renewables” as if these claims were irrefutable. Whether an electricity grid covering eastern Australia based on solar, wind, battery and hydro energy sources linked by an unprecedented power transmission network is economically the best remains to be seen. It might even be argued that the
environmental costs of this approach are unacceptable, or that the maintenance costs of such a widely distributed system will be uneconomic in their own right. One matter that is agreed is that costs of electricity for the consumer are going to continue to rise for the foreseeable future, whether they be in supply charges or government investment in developing the system. Rejecting nuclear power because the situation is time-short is another contentious argument. We are paying a huge price for rushing into renewables when the big contribu-
In her article “Riches or rubbish: here’s the electric vehicle battery surge” Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson (CN January 18) discusses at some length the fate of exhausted electric vehicle (EV) batteries. She concludes that all batteries are eventually disembowelled for their content of valuable and rare metals, or are consigned to the battery burial ground (euphemistically known as landfill). It need not be this way. Scientists at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have developed a new type of battery that differs radically from the ubiquitous lithium-ion version: the solid-state, all-lithium battery. This has 10 times the electrical capacity of lithium-ion batteries that use graphite anodes; can be recharged at least 6000 times in a matter of minutes, and is not prone to overheating or catching fire. The end result is a battery that will drastically increase the driving range of
EVs and the number of dead batteries being gutted or consigned to the grave. Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin
How about a cruise liner to jazz up lake? Having just returned from an excellent expeditionary cruise of NZ’s Fiordland and subantarctic islands, it occurs to me that Lake Burley Griffin, although beautiful, could do with a bit of jazzing up. How about importing a redundant cruise liner from somewhere, like the little one pictured in Dunedin harbour? It could be moored somewhere nice and central, like Commonwealth Park, and provide some floating restaurants as well as a substantial amount of rental accommodation. I’m not sure about the logistics of getting it to Canberra, but maybe Clive Palmer could help? Richard Johnston, Kingston
Richard Johnston’s photo of a redundant cruise liner in Dunedin harbour.
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WHIMSY
Reaching out to (ie contacting) the jargonauts “Sir, to the best of my knowledge, I have no knowledge of any such knowledge.” – Sir Humphrey Appleby
been investing more in capacity building”) Courageous = foolhardy (as in “That was a courageous decision, Minister”) Decisionmakers = heads of organisations (as in “The meeting comprised all the key decisionmakers”) Meet the diversity target = employ fewer Caucasian men (as in “The department aims to meet the diversity target in 2024”) Facilitate a paradigm shift = do things differently (as in “To meet our targets we need to facilitate a paradigm shift”) Have a frank exchange of views = disagree (as in “We had a frank exchange of views at the meeting”) In strategic alignment = in agreement (as in “We should seem to be in strategic alignment with what the minister wants”) Impact = affect (as in “This decision will impact everyone”) (I suspect it’s crept into common usage because a lot of people don’t know the difference between effect and affect and don’t want to appear ignorant.) Key stakeholders = interested parties (as in “In Defence, we find it best to avoid having key stakeholders involved”) Leverage synergies = co-operate (as in “To get the task done we will leverage synergies across departments”)
Jargon is defined as “words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand”. Jargon in the Australian Public Service (APS) serves a dual purpose, acting as linguistic shorthand among professionals, while simultaneously creating a barrier for those outside the bureaucracy. Defence has its own special jargon to create a barrier from the rest of the APS as well. I felt there was a need for the APS to be more accountable and responsive to the needs of the public; hence this week’s column – a user’s guide to APS terminology. Some of the more common examples of APS-speak, with public translations (and examples of use) are as follows: Achieve gender equity = employ fewer men (as in “We plan to achieve gender equity in the next recruitment round”) Adopt a holistic approach = get everyone involved (as in “We need to adopt a holistic approach to organising the next conference lunch”) Adopt a whole-of-government ap-
Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby, master of public service jargon in “Yes, Minister”. proach = APS-wide approach (as in “We will adopt a whole-of-government approach to this issue”, but preferably not including politicians or Ministerial staffers). At this point in time = now (as in “We are at this point in time considering a different approach ”) Capacity building = backup systems (as in “Optus should have
Metrics = data (as in “The metrics suggest your agency has been underperforming”) Operationalise strategies for = start working on (as in “It’s time to operationalise strategies for a fast train to Canberra”) Optimise resources = work with what we have (as in “We need to optimise resources to get the job done”) Outcomes-based performance = actual results (as in “The APS does poorly in terms of outcomes-based performance”) Proactively address challenges as they arise = anticipate problems (as in “We will proactively address challenges as they arise so that the project is not delayed”) Reach out to = contact (as in “We will reach out to you for your contribution”) Safe pair of hands = someone who can be relied upon not to make a decision (as in “Margot soon became a department head because the bosses regarded her as a safe pair of hands.”) (Subordinates hate working for people who won’t make decisions) Team members = staff ( as in “Team members will be asked to work
back before they can take leave”) To engage a broad range of stakeholders = consult affected people (as in “We should engage with a broad range of stakeholders before starting the project”) To have a conversation about = discuss (as in “We should have a conversation about this issue”) Town hall meeting = public meeting (as in “We should have a town hall meeting to make it appear that the public is on board”) On a lighter note: Fred copped so many criticisms when he told people he worked for the Post Office that he now says he’s a mail escort. Branch head June was returning to the office when she ran into Ted leaving work 30 minutes early. She asked Ted why he wasn’t working until five o’clock. His reply? “I’m leaving 30 minutes early today to offset coming in 30 minutes late yesterday.” Clive Williams is a Canberra columnist.
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CityNews January 25-31, 2024 13
Weddings
advertising feature
Many elements in making the Big Day perfect Breathtaking gowns for every bride
The venue, the dress, the music, dancing, flowers, catering and more, it’s no easy task organising the special day. This week “CityNews” has gathered together all the expert services you might need to ensure every couple has their perfect day.
Photo: Rowena Hains, Hello Ro Photography
THERE are so many elements that go into making a wedding a dream come true.
A memorable location to suit any style The Royal Hotel Queanbeyan offers a setting to suit all styles, says events manager Bianca Paquay. She says the venue has the “unique and memorable” collaboration of contemporary comforts and amenities, integrated with the historic architecture of the original Royal’s 1920s brick walls. “The Royal Hotel has a picturesque background at every turn, which is a photographer’s dream,” she says. “The most rewarding part is seeing the couples getting ready in the morning onsite before the ceremony, hearts in a flutter in
nervous anticipation; and then returning later to our reception venue with the biggest smiles on their faces – ready to start the party as newlyweds.” She says the main room is accentuated with gold curtains, and complemented by the Japanese maple trees in the beautiful atrium that overflows into an open terrace courtyard that allows an abundance of natural light in to create the perfect ambiance for the event. Royal Hotel Queanbeyan, 85 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan. Call 6297 1444 (ext 2), or visit royalhotelqbn.com.au/weddings
“Over the last 18 years we have probably assisted over 6000 brides with their special gown,” says Annabel’s Bridal Studio owner, Misty Annabel. “We’re very fortunate to be doing what we’re doing, there’s no doubt about it, and we’re all very passionate about it and enjoy it. “We love creating that comfortable but luxurious environment for clients to come in and just feel special and have that escape from the world.” Misty says that Annabel’s Bridal Studio will be having a sample sale in February called the Love Sale and that they will also be at Your Local Wedding Guide expo on February 4. “If people want to see what our styles are like and have a chat with some of our team, that can be a nice introduction,” she says. “We carry mostly Australian designers, and the quality of the product, how they’re made, the construction, means that our clients are getting the best of the best that’s available to them. “It’s always about making that client feel wonderful, feel gorgeous, feel confident, feel comfortable. That’s what it’s about for me. “Without even looking in the mirror they feel beautiful as soon as they put it on and then they’re zipped up and can’t wait to
walk down the aisle to their partner. “That moment is just priceless, that’s part of someone’s memory forever. Misty says that bookings are essential, as the one-on-one time for the tailoring is imperative. “We have a wonderful booking system where people can go online and they can just find an appointment that suits them, or they can go on a waitlist for a specific day,” she says. Annabel’s Bridal Studio, at The Kennedy, suite 2, 28 Eyre Street, Kingston. Call 6295 3984, or visit annabelsbridal.com.au
KINGSTON 6295 3984
www.annabelsbridal.com.au
14 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
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it was
everything we hoped for and more...
T he hidden gem of Queanbeyan...
Steeped in history, RHQ’s Upper House rooftop venue boasts a collaboration of contemporary comforts with the original architecture of the building. The main reception venue is complemented by the Atrium and the outdoor Terrace Courtyard, with their Japanese maple trees and an abundance of natural light. With a venue that can hold up to 120 guests for a reception dinner, every turn provides a picturesque background making it the perfect spot for such a special day. The Royal offers you an unforgettable experience which will be cherished for many years to come.
ROYALHOTELQBN.COM.AU | functions@royalhotelqbn.com.au | 02 6297 1444 ext. 2
Weddings
Lolly Swagman owner Ian Richardson with some of his boutique specialty chocolates.
Wedding favours and place markers in one Lolly Swagman has explored tastes new and old, in the heart of the Southern Highlands, for nearly three decades, says owner Ian Richardson. “We have arrangements with a boutique specialty chocolate maker in Melbourne that offers a customdesigned range of chocolates for weddings and other special events,” he says. “The people we’ve looked after love it because they can do minimum customisation or add what they like, and can find colours to match their wedding theme,” he says. “It is a way of adding something special without the fuss and bother, and it’s budget conscious.
“But, if chocolate is not your thing we have plenty of alternative options. We are just more than happy to help find what will best suit you and represent you.” Ian says he used the specialty chocolates in his own wedding. “The chocolate can be used as both wedding favours and place markers, they do a double duty,” he says. “We can supply anything in bulk or put them in cute little bags, and we’re happy to offer delivery to Canberra, too.” Lolly Swagman, 11 Old Hume Highway, Berrima. Call 4877 1137, or visit lollyswagman.com.au
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Marriages at All Saints are celebrated in the breath-taking beauty of one of Canberra’s most prestigious and historic churches. You and your family and friends will be surrounded by a sense of beauty, awe, tradition, and history, as you exchange your vows. The Rector of All Saints, the Revd Lynda McMinn will be happy to talk through the ceremony with you. For more information contact the church at:
02 6230 9587 3/8 Victoria St, Hall, ACT venetiamajor.com.au 16 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
Phone: 02 6248 7420 Email: admin@allsaintsainslie.org.au
SCAN ME!
Live streaming of the service available citynews.com.au
advertising feature Wedding items that create lasting memories
Anglican wedding in a memorable location
Happy Days Event Hire provides hire items for weddings that are different, fun and ones that will create lasting memories, says owner Natalie Calvani. “Our light-up letters are fun, bright and definitely make a statement at any wedding,” she says. “They’ve become an incredibly popular choice. “We now have the complete alphabet and numbers in two sizes, 60 centimetres and 1.2 metres, which give our customers more options. “Other items we have available to hire are our Mirror Me photo booths and jukeboxes that have over 7000 songs available.” Natalie says there’s music
Anyone looking for the opportunity to have an Anglican wedding ceremony in a beautiful church filled with heritage and history, All Saints Anglican Church would love to help, says secretary to the Parish Council of All Saints Anglican Church Ainslie, Betsy Dixon. “At All Saints, our vision is to share the love of God and love of neighbour within a progressive, inclusive community,” says Betsy. “We are committed to sacramental worship that engages our senses, to social justice and to learning and growing together in faith. “All are welcome at All Saints Ainslie. Betsy says the church building also has a fascinating history. “It was originally built as a railway station for the Rookwood Cemetery in NSW,” she says. “Its architect, James Barnett, was also responsible for the NSW General Post Office, Sydney University Medical School and many other significant buildings. “The use of the Gothic Revival style for a railway station makes All Saints Ainslie an archetypal example of the bold Victorian architectural
from the ‘50s all the way through to today’s top charts, and the jukeboxes are updated every month with the latest music. “Our Mirror Me photo booth is not an ordinary booth. The camera is hidden behind the mirror and takes beautiful photos. “Our packages are all inclusive so there are no hidden costs,” she says. Natalie also says Happy Days takes care of delivery and pick up of all their items, offers DIY options or can help style the day so that it’s a “dream come true”. Happy Days Event Hire, unit 4/66 Dacre Street, Mitchell. Call 6242 7722 or visit happydays.net.au
Owner Venetia Major… “Our diamonds are of the highest quality and expertly set to radiate brilliance for a lifetime.”
Jewellery with a timeless elegance From the first sketch to the final polish, each piece of jewellery is meticulously crafted, says Venetia Major, owner of Venetia Major – Bespoke Jewellery at Hall. “Specialising in custom designed and handmade jewellery, Venetia Major is your passport to a world of unparalleled beauty, with a focus on creating custom engagement and wedding rings that transcend the ordinary,” she says. “Venetia possesses a rare skill, transforming your unique vision into a breathtaking reality. “From the first sketch to the final polish, each piece is meticulously crafted to symbolise
your love story. “Choose from an array of ethically sourced diamonds and precious gems, select the perfect metal, and tailor every intricate detail to match your style. “Our diamonds are of the highest quality, and expertly set to radiate brilliance for a lifetime. Your love is unique, and so should be your ring. “Book a Design Appointment or pop into the workshop in Hall.” Venetia Major – Bespoke Jewellery, 3/8 Victoria Street, Hall. Call 6230 9587, or visit venetiamajor.com.au
spirit. It unites the traditional arts of stone carving and gothic forms with the (at the time) ‘modern’ technology of rail transport.” The church also features two stained glass windows from England, says Betsy. All Saints Anglican Church is not just a heritage-listed building but a thriving, active member of the Anglican Diocese of CanberraGoulburn with Sunday services and many other activities where all are welcome, including the monthly “Saturday Saints” program for young people, she says. All Saints Anglican Church Ainslie, 9 Cowper Street, Ainslie. Call 6248 7420, or visit allsaintsainslie.org.au
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11 Old Hume Highway Berrima 02 4877 1137 CityNews January 25-31, 2024 17
ALL ABOUT QUEANBEYAN
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Fast-growing city has lots to offer visitors and locals Home to artists, politicians, designers and everything in between, Queanbeyan is one the fastest growing inland cities in NSW, according to the QueanbeyanPalerang Regional Council. This week “CityNews” speaks to experts from in and around Queanbeyan who are passionate about what they do and the town they are from.
18 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
Traditional tile finishes make a comeback
The Q’s artistic director and programming manager Jordan Best.
Celebrate the arts with a big year at the Q “Our season kicks off on February 16 with ‘Garry Starr: Greece Lightning’,” says The Q’s artistic director and programming manager, Jordan Best. “It’s a comedy show and Garry Starr tells all of Greek mythology in 60 minutes. “He is unbelievably funny; he is a worldrenowned, award-winning clown and comedian. “We had him twice last year with his show ‘Performs Everything’ and I thought my son might actually die from laughing.” Jordan recommends children don’t attend as ‘Greece Lightning’ does have nudity. “In 2024 we also have the return of our Q the Locals season, supporting local emerging, midcareer and established artists, to present their work as part of our season,” says Jordan. “We kick that off in early March with ‘Happy
Meals, Happy Kids’, which is written by 18-year-old playwright Jade Breen and produced by an entirely young, emerging group of creatives. “It’s funny, it’s political, and it’s about trying to complete a group project at the end of the world. “Tickets for the whole season are available on the website. “We need live performances. It is so good for you because it has the capacity to make you feel good, but most of all make you feel. “It doesn’t matter whether that’s comedy or dance or tribute bands, or classical music or a really serious drama, whatever the thing is that makes you feel, you can see it at The Q.” The Q, 253 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan. Call 6285 6290, search The Q on Facebook or visit theq.net.au
Tile trends have turned to warmer colours and textures blended with classic chevron, herringbone and encaustic looks, says Rivoland Tiles general manager James Hibberson. “Finishes often seen as traditional are making a comeback, with reinvigorated style and colour,” he says. “Terrazzo and marble styles are available with so many great options and attributes that they can work with almost any space.” With showrooms and trade stores in Queanbeyan and Mitchell, the flagship store in central Queanbeyan sits across from a beautiful park, close to cafes, restaurants and shops, servicing people from regional NSW and the coast, James says. He says Rivoland Tiles is a proud family-owned business, built on a strong ethic of customer service and product choice. “We’re one of the largest stockists on the east coast importing unique and exclusive products from Italy, Spain and China, allowing our customers the best choice and competitive prices,” he says. “If customers have found some-
thing they like online, ask us about it. We’re more than happy to help them source that perfect tile. “Our customers make what we do, what we love to do. Working on all aspects of tiling from repairing a sill tile to supplying developments, no two days are ever the same. “Best of all, the people of Queanbeyan are great.” Rivoland Tiles, 100 Crawford Street. Call 6297 4510 or visit rivoland.com.au
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ALL ABOUT QUEANBEYAN Council events for the community, by the community Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council’s (QPRC) events team live and breathe community, says events officer Mel Aitchison. Mel has been with the council since 2013 and has always worked closely with her community. “Living and working in your community connects you to people in a really unique way,” says Mel. “I’ve lived here my whole life and being able to develop events that our community will love is one of the most rewarding parts of my job.” The QPRC events team manages annual events including the Multicultural Festival, Community Christmas Carols and parties, Australia Day celebrations and the Christmas in July markets as well as welcoming new citizens through their citizenship ceremonies, says Mel. “We’re extremely lucky to have such a passionate
network of people supporting our events,” she says. “The upcoming Multicultural Festival would not be possible without the support of the Queanbeyan Multicultural Centre and dedicated volunteers from our community. “Our communities are awesome to work with and each event has a great local feel. “Seeing the local schools, volunteer groups like Lions, Rotary, CWA and SES get involved to ensure everyone has a fun time is always a highlight and makes all the hard work we put into the events worth it. “We can’t wait to see you enjoying fantastic cultural displays, market stalls, music, dancing and so much more at the Multicultural Festival this year!” QPRC. Visit www.qprc.nsw.gov.au/community/events
NSW Premiere Chris Minns, left, with MP Steve Whan.
Whan offers a ‘trusted’ voice for Queanbeyan Queanbeyan has been the Whan family’s home for nearly 27 years and, in his second stint as NSW state member for Monaro, local politician Steve Whan says that while some of the challenges are the same, there are many new issues to address. “I decided to come back into politics because people told me they wanted a local member that they trusted to represent them, who listened and put delivery of key state government services before everything else,” says Steve. “I’m thrilled that after less than a year in office we have abolished the wages cap that was seeing Queanbeyan lose teachers, paramedics and nurses to Canberra and other states. “When I was last member for Monaro we built the
20 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
Queanbeyan hospital and ambulance station – but it’s not good enough to just have new buildings, you have to make sure they have staff and that’s what I have focused on. “That doesn’t mean Queanbeyan misses out on new buildings, planning is on track for a public high school in Googong, stage 2 of Jerrabomberra high and for the upgrade of the ‘spotlight’ roundabout among other things. “Pop into my office on Crawford Street or send us an email if you need help with any state issues.” Steve Whan, 213 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan. Call 6299 4899 or visit stevewhan.com.au
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Return of the rodeo for the 23rd year The Queanbeyan Rodeo is back for its 23rd year and will be held at the Queanbeyan Showground on March 9, says Mark Mills, president of the Queanbeyan Rodeo. Mark has been rodeo president for more than 20 years, and says he has “just got a passion for rodeo”. “For me, it’s a sport with a whole family orientation, whole families are involved, from youngsters through to their grandparents and they all come together on this day,” he says. “We give all the money to charity, and we donate to various charities and community organisations throughout the year, mainly local charities in the Queanbeyan area. “We have probably given over $100,000 in the last two years to charity.” In addition, Mark says all workers at the rodeo are volunteers.
People can expect a full rodeo with “all the bulls and the broncs,” says Mark. “Most tickets are pre-purchased,” says Mark. “If you want to get tickets try and buy them online, there will be a certain amount at the gate, but you might get there and there’ll be no tickets left. “There will be about 10 different events. “It’s a great day of entertainment with comedy clowns and skydivers. “It’s pretty spectacular, it’s one of the largest and highest paying rodeos in the state. “We get huge amounts of people there and they have a great day and night out.” Queanbeyan Rodeo. Queanbeyan Showground, visit queanbeyanrodeo.com.au for tickets, stall holder applications and event information.
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WE NEED
ALL ABOUT QUEANBEYAN
Quality food served with pride Yass Road Takeaway opened in 1988, and quickly became a Queanbeyan favourite, says co-owner Nick Giannis. “We are open from 5am to 4pm Monday to Friday, and we do it the traditional way. “After so many years, we try to keep the same staff on, as that gives us a good team of workers and some familiar faces for customers, and we have some really great customers that come in.” Nick says he and his brother take pride in their work, doing it the traditional way by doing as much as possible themselves. “We come in very early to cut up fresh vegetables, we make our own
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Vacancies for anyone keen to learn big wheel alignments “Our business was established 25 years ago to meet the need for a wheel-alignment service that catered to vehicles larger than a car,” says director of Canberra Truck Align, Melinda Dwyer. “On any given day we may work on a truck, trailer, crane, bus, caravan, 4x4 or even a limousine. “Our wheel alignments include a full check of vehicle steering and suspension components, including shackle pins and bushes, track rod bushes, kingpins, tie rod ends, drag link ends and tyre pressures. “Being a specialist in our field, we’re always on the lookout for keen men and women to join our team to further their current skill or who are genuinely interested in,
and looking for, a start in the heavy vehicle industry.” That might be school leavers that are wanting to start a Cert 3 in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Technology or light-vehicle mechanics wanting to upskill to heavy, says Melinda. “As long as they are interested in the field and willing to learn, they are encouraged to apply. “Probably 50 per cent of our market is trucks and the other 40-50 per cent of our market is now motorhomes and caravans and so forth.” Canberra Truck Align. 14 Bass Street, Queanbeyan. Call 6284 4422 or visit canberratruckalign.com.au
schnitzels and roast meals, it’s just chips and scallops that we get in frozen,” he says. “Most of our customers hear about us through word of mouth, and Queanbeyan brings very loyal customers once you’re established as a local, now we can’t go out to the pub without getting recognised.” Nick says they make sure to keep the shop clean, and present their food nicely, “food we want to eat and be served, is what we give our customers”. Yass Road Takeaway, 51 Yass Road. Call 6297 3479, or search Yass Road Takeaway on Facebook.
Tracey Woodbridge, left, Nick Giannis and Chantelle Morgan of Yass Road Takeaway.
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51 Yass Rd, Queanbeyan 22 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
INSIDE
Mantel’s messages ‘from people I used to be’
COLIN STEELE
Reimagining Kipling through climate-change lens COVER STORY By Helen Musa
In an impressive coup for the Canberra Theatre, Akram Khan’s The Jungle Book reimagined will make its Australian debut at the Canberra Theatre in early February. Khan, one of the UK’s most eminent choreographers, has taken Rudyard Kipling’s celebrated Jungle Book stories as a jumpingoff point for an opus on climate change. Not that Kipling was a slouch in the environmental area, for in his two 1894-5 books, he describes a devastating drought and shows Hathi the elephant and his three sons returning a village to nature. Yes, there will be elephants, but not in the Aida sense. Rather, using state-of-the-art technology, the stage will be dominated by huge hand-drawn animations showing the “silent ones” of Kipling’s jungle. Khan has reimagined the stories into dance as a love note to his daughter, who had confronted him with the words: “You’re doing a piece about climate change, well why are you driving a diesel car?” At age 10, he himself had played Mowgli the man-cub in a groundbreaking production, The Adventures of Mowgli, and was not
Choreographer Akram Khan has taken the celebrated Jungle Book stories as a jumping-off point for an opus on climate change. finished with it. “I wanted to tackle The Jungle Book from my perspective rather than Kipling’s,” Khan has said. “We can’t ignore that he was a racist and an imperialist, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the story was something
that I connected with.” His production, aimed at both children and adults, is no jolly Disney romp with happy, singing animals. Nor will the dancers be dressed and made up as animals, although the
ARTS IN THE CITY Percussionist opens Snow season By Helen Musa The Snow Concert Hall International Series has been announced, along with a new subscription program. First up will be superstar French percussionist Adélaïde Ferrière on February 23 and The King’s Singers on March 21.
personalities of some, such as Bagheera the panther, Kaa the rock python and Baloo the bear, will be present. But the plot, written by actor-writer Tariq Jordan, is not as far from Kipling as you’d think. Mowgli gets separated from her family and winds up in an abandoned city. She encounters a wolf pack led by mother Raksha and father Rama, who take her before a canine council to decide whether she can join the pack. The animals have escaped from zoos, laboratories and circuses when humans have evacuated. In Kipling, Bagheera has escaped from a cage in the palace of Udaipur. Drawing on his own training in the Kathak dance of Northern India and combining it with other traditions, Khan’s choreography aims to “physicalise” the animal world, and reflects the three “deep lessons” he drew from the books – “the commonality between species, the binding interdependence between humans, animals and nature and the sense of family and our need to belong.” Khan’s work has a particular physicality that has a rawness and groundedness, an attack that has been called animalistic, but scriptwriter Tariq Jordan has given each animal a back story. “The premise was animal physicality, based on observation of the physical structure of specific animals and how they walk, their sense of gravity, their inherent intentions, their length of their arms, their torso, spines,” says Jordan.
Conspicuous by his absence is the lame tiger, Shere Khan, Mowgli’s would-be nemesis, who has fallen victim to present-day perceptions of Kipling as a colonial narrator. “Looking at the literature of Kipling, it was important to identify certain strands that would arguably be problematic in today’s culture,” says Akram Khan’s creative associate, the Malaysian Bharatnatyam dancer, Mavin Khoo. “It’s fascinating that in Kipling’s story, Shere Khan is seen as a bad character but there’s also a relationship historically in terms of the assumption that a Muslim character would play that role.” Notably, Disney had used George Sanders to voice Shere Khan as the archetypal, upperclass Brit. The theme of listening is embedded in Jungle Book reimagined so there is an audio soundtrack of Jordan’s script voiced by a team of around 20 actors and a score by composer Jocelyn Pook and sound designer Gareth Fry. Actors recorded the words as in a film, the dancers spent time learning to lip-sync then “body sync”, then the choreography began. “We’ve lost the art of listening,” Khan has said. “There is one place, however, where true listening still reigns… Real listening still happens in theatres.” Jungle Book reimagined is at Canberra Theatre, February 2-3 before proceeding to Perth, Wellington and Singapore, winding up at the Adelaide Festival in March.
Canberra’s greatest Psychic and Wellbeing fair! International & TV Psychic mediums attending!
Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold more than 50 million copies and its theatrical version, involving a menagerie of 75 puppets and created by Jonathan Rockefeller, will be The Playhouse February 1-3. Artistic director of Canberra Youth Theatre, Luke Rogers, has written from the “gloriously gritty city of Glasgow”, where he’s on a research placement with the National Theatre of Scotland for the next two months, discovering what’s happening in youth arts across the UK and Ireland. Revisiting past glories from Basil Hall’s time as director of Studio One, the exhibition Basil Hall Prints from Studio One, 1987-1996 includes prints by Mandy Martin, Jorg Schmeisser, George Gittoes, Raymond Arnold, Garry Shead, GW Bot, Chris Denton and Dianne Fogwell. Opens at Tuggeranong Arts Centre, February 2. South African guitarist Derek Gripper, known for his insightful interpretations of traditional Malian kora music on the classical guitar, is citynews.com.au
French percussionist Adélaïde Ferrière… at the Snow Concert Hall, February 23. Photo: Venera Red bringing his concert, Music from the Strings of Mali, to James O Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery, February 5-6. Lexi Sekuless’s Mill Theatre is swinging into action with Blank by Nassim Soleimanpour. Like his famous work, White Rabbit Red Rabbit, the play involves a joint effort between audience and performer to fill gaps in the script. Actors Christopher Samuel Carroll, Stefanie Lekkas, Ali Clinch, Sarah NathanTruesdale and Heidi Silberman will be doing much of the heavy lifting. Mill Theatre, Dairy Road Precinct, February 3, 10, 17, 23, and 24.
Georgia Pike-Rowney’s contract as the Friends’ lecturer in classics and curator at the ANU Classics Museum has been extended until July 2026, thanks to donations, pledges and commitments from the Classics Endowment Fund. It’s a boost to the Centre for Classical Studies’ teaching and outreach program and to the Friends’ dedication to research. While the Royal Australian Mint’s Deakin gallery undergoes redevelopment, its exhibition and coin shop are located at Canberra Museum and Gallery, where they hope to match their regular 360,000 visitors annually.
Browse through a great selection of stalls featuring crystals, handmade jewellery, tarot cards, books, handmade soaps and candles, clothing, aura photography, psychic artists, wicca and witchy products. Psychic or mediumship readings will be available from 10 of the best psychics from around Australia. Come join us for a weekend of all things spiritual! Where: Ainslie Football club When: 10th & 11th of February 2024 10am - 5pm Admission: $5 per person / Kids under 16 FREE ENTRY www.canberrapsychicfair.com.au
CityNews January 25-31, 2024 23
STREAMING
Sights and sounds of Down Under out in force There’s a lot of things one could call Boy Swallows Universe. A coming-of-age tale about a boy living in working-class Queensland? Yep. An absorbing crime drama exploring the victims of the heroin trade? Absolutely. On top of all that you could even describe this as a funny and tragic teenage love story and still be on the money. It’s perhaps the inability to define Trent Dalton’s spellbinding novel about a deeply troubled family trying to carve out a life in ‘80s Brisbane that makes it so hard to look away from. First hitting shelves in 2018, Boy Swallows Universe has gone on to sell more than a million copies worldwide, making itself a staple of contemporary Aussie fiction that some have gone as far as to call an “instant classic”. Now it’s got the streaming treatment in the form of a new, seven-part series on Netflix that’s been topping the platform’s charts this week. So what is Boy Swallows Universe actually about? At its core this is the story of Eli Bell, a teenage boy who dreams of breaking out of the poverty he’s grown up in and becoming a crime journalist at The Courier-Mail. It’s no coincidence that Eli himself has grown up surrounded by crime. There’s his mother, Frances (Phoebe Tonkin), who is angelic to Eli and his older, mute brother Gus even in her heroin-addicted madness. His step-father Lyle (Travis Fimmel) is a
Felix Cameron, as Eli Bell, and Phoebe Tonkin, as Frances Bell. drug-slinging battler whose belief in the Australian dream has been broken beyond repair. “How do you get to live in a place like this?” asks the relentlessly inquisitive Eli after visiting a luxurious home in Brisbane’s upper-class enclave. “You rob a bloody bank mate,” Lyle tells him. Then there’s his babysitter Slim Halliday (Bryan Brown), a former jail inmate better known as the “The Houdini of Boggo Road” for his numerous daring escapes from prison. Here’s where things get interesting. While “The Houdini of Boggo Road” might
sound like something ripped straight from the pages of a concocted detective yarn, Slim Halliday was indeed a real person who did break out from jail and who served as something of a father figure to Trent Dalton in his own troubled childhood. The author has called his novel and its now adapted series “semi-autobiographical”. While there are clues here and there, the precise amount of his own life that’s funnelled into the story mostly remains a mystery and an intriguing one at that. Transmogrifying a tale like this from the page to the screen was no easy feat. Dalton’s
writing captures the extraordinary in the ordinary, able to imbue something as typical as a bowl of spaghetti with a sense of magic and, just minutes later, horror and make a working-class suburb on the outskirts of Brisbane feel cosmic. Remarkably, the show is able to pull off that same sense of wonder and it’s thanks to a deeply committed cast spearheaded by an
amazing performance from Felix Cameron as young Eli. One thing about Eli is that he cries easily, a trait he often berates himself for given the macho figures that surround him. That’s no small ask for any actor, let alone one as young as Cameron and yet he pulls it off effortlessly while also giving his character a sense of innocent, childlike curiosity. For amidst all the fear of the crime-fuelled world “Boy Swallows Universe” depicts, this is still a sweet and nostalgic spiel about growing up in Australia. And, boy, is it Australian. From lunch orders chock-full of lamingtons to the spluttering motor of a Ford Falcon, the sights and sounds of Down Under are out in force here and that’s not even to mention a banger soundtrack filled to the brim with icons such as The Angels, Men at Work and Paul Kelly. It’s certainly resonated, storming its way to Netflix’s most watched show in Australia this week and also cracking the top 10 in both the US and the UK. There’s a lot of things one could call Boy Swallows Universe. A great TV show can be added to that list.
WINE
Saving the wine world, Winemakers are looking to aluminium cans, plastic bottles and the humble goon sack to replace glass, which is the industry’s main source of carbon emissions, reports JACOB SHTEYMAN. Cask wine, sometimes called boxed wine but lovingly known to connoisseurs as goon, is not only better for your bank balance but could also help save the planet. Glass bottles, the vintner’s receptacle of choice for millennia, are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the wine-making process. Swapping to alternative packaging such as aluminium cans, flat plastic bottles and even goon sacks could more than halve wine’s carbon footprint. A single glass wine bottle generates 1.25kg of carbon dioxide and their production and transport makes up more than two thirds of the industry’s total carbon output, researchers from the University of South Australia and the University of Adelaide have found. “The vast majority of carbon that we see in the winemaking process is actually tied to the bottle,” lead researcher Jakob Mesidis told AAP. “Winemaking is actually a pretty eco-friendly industry – a lot of the carbon it produces it also sequesters. We’re farming so we’re planting new vines, they’re taking carbon out of the air. “If we could find another way to tackle the (bottling) process, we’d be looking at a much more carbonefficient wine industry.” Furnaces require a significant amount of energy and fuel to heat glass up to temperatures where it can be forged into bottles. The heavy weight and inefficient shape of glass bottles mean they take up more space and expend more fuel in transportation. “So we’ve got more ships doing more trips, which 24 CityNews January 25-31, 2024
produces more CO2 because they’re consuming more fuel to move them around,” Mr Mesidis said. By contrast, wine boxes, cans and flat plastic bottles are lighter and more stackable, significantly reducing transport costs. Mr Mesidis said people overestimated the ease with which glass bottles were recycled, leading to unrealistic expectations about their eco credentials. Melting glass down again adds a significant amount of carbon into the atmosphere, and that’s only if it gets recycled in the first place. Because each type of glass has to be recycled separately, it is often easier for companies to send it straight to landfill instead, Mr Mesidis said. Alternatives such as cask wine and Tetra Pak – the material used for juice boxes – do have their disadvantages in that their interior plastic lining can’t be recycled. “But generally all of these (alternative) packages do pretty well (for recycling),” Mr Mesidis said. A survey of 1200 Australians found the mostpreferred alternative packages were cask wine and flat plastic bottles but consumers still favoured glass bottles, which are associated with tradition and prestige. Overseas markets are generally less receptive to boxed wine than Australians, who have more familiarity with the format. It is, after all, an Australian invention, patented by South Australian winemaker Thomas Angove in 1964. “The next challenge is to figure out how do we get industry to give alternative wine packaging a bit more of a chance rather than just putting the onus on the consumer,” Mr Mesidis said. Some producers, especially smaller, less traditional wineries with a younger consumer base, are already citynews.com.au
BOOKS / review
Mantel’s messages ‘from people I used to be’ COLIN STEELE reviews a collection of essays by the late Hilary Mantel, ‘one of Britain’s greatest contemporary writers’. A Memoir of My Former Self, a posthumous collection of four decades of Hilary Mantel’s writings, edited by Nicholas Pearson, her book editor for more than two decades, has been publicised as “a celebration of one of Britain’s greatest contemporary writers”. Mantel died, at the peak of her creative powers, aged 70, on September 22, 2022 following a stroke. Mantel’s career and material success can be divided into two chronological sections, before and after her Thomas Cromwell trilogy, Wolf Hall (2009), Bring Up the Bodies (2012) and The Mirror and the Light (2020), the first two of which won the Booker Prize. The trilogy has sold more than five million copies worldwide and been translated into 41 languages. Mantel wrote 17 books in total. A Memoir of My Former Self , brings together 71 pieces written between 1987 and 2018 for journals and newspapers, such as The Guardian, the New York Review of Books and The London Review of Books. Mantel wrote in 1987: “I have no critical training whatsoever so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly”, which
ensures the continuing readability of the essays, which cover a wide range of topics, from historical figures, such as Henry VIII, Robespierre and Marie Antoinette, to commentary on nationalism, feminism, identity, literature, art and religion. In her essay on the Irish writer John McGahern she notes that religion is, for some, “protection against deeper thought”. Several of her public lectures are included in the collection, notably her 2017 Reith lectures in which Mantel considers the nature of the past, arguing historical fiction is the partner of historical “fact”. She believed that her role as a novelist was “not to be an inferior sort of historian but… to deepen the reader’s experience through feeling”. Several essays cover Mantel’s complex childhood, family trauma, marriage and her health, which was covered in more detail in her 2003 memoir Giving Up the Ghost. Mantel, as a young woman, suffered from an initially undiagnosed condition of endometriosis. Male doctors told her she was neurotic, her pain simply induced by hysteria and depression.
Author Hilary Mantel… a great admirer of Jane Austen. Mantel, who underwent a hysterectomy at 25 endured lifelong physical and psychological stress from the illness and became as she puts it, “an unwilling stranger in my body”. Mantel writes that today, “women’s health isn’t trashed so casually… The women of any family have history written on their bodies. Mostly it’s a story of progress. But our story stops with me”. Not surprisingly, Montel’s feminist viewpoints permeate a number of essays. Her anger at the subservient role of females in Saudi Arabia, “It is apartheid: stringent,
absolute”, based on her time living in the country, comes through strongly in the essay, Last Morning in Al Hamra. Mantel’s 2013 London Review of Books lecture, Royal Bodies, is surprisingly not included in this collection, but it is available in her LRB collection Mantel Pieces (2020). It caused a media furore when she described Kate Middleton inter alia as “a shop-window mannequin, with no personality of her own, entirely defined by what she wore”, framing Kate for a commentary on the commodification of Royal women.
Her essay, The Princess Myth, on the fall and posthumous rise of Diana in the public imagination, exemplifies Mantel’s focus on how the dead live in memory, how power is exercised and the place of women in society. Mantel was a great admirer of Jane Austen. At the time of her death, Mantel had been working on a “mashup” of Jane Austen novels, focusing on Mary Bennett, the least prominent sister in Pride and Prejudice. Readers unfortunately will now never read that but have to make do with Mantel’s long 1998 essay on Austen, in which she reflects that “Austen defies cheap psychology and trite formulation. The contradictions in her life and work are fertile”. Her long essays on female writers, such as Elizabeth Jane Howard, Annie Proulx and Rebecca West show Mantel at her most incisive. On West she comments: “It’s her vices, as much as her virtues, that make her letters so compelling” and sympathises with Elizabeth Jane Howard: “The real reason [her] books are underestimated – let’s be blunt – is that they are by a woman”, noting how Howard had to play second fiddle to Kingsley Amis in their marriage. Mantel’s social conscience is throughout fortified with an independence, at times contrariness, which permeate the essays to reveal a fearless self-portrait, in her own words, delivering “messages from people I used to be”. A Memoir of My Former Self: A Life in Writing by Hilary Mantel. Selected and edited by Nicolas Pearson. John Murray. $34.99.
one goon bag at a time
The humble goon bag could help the wine industry reduce its carbon footprint. This 15-metre goon bag was an eye-catching entry at Perth’s Sculpture by the Sea exhibition some years ago. (Tim Clarke/AAP PHOTOS) turning away from conventional glass formats. Victorian-based Hey Tomorrow and Gonzo Vino sell locally-produced, independent wines in eye-catching designer goon boxes that would not look out of place in a Fitzroy North natural wine bar. “I feel like we’ve had lots of good feedback on the way that the boxes look,” Hey Tomorrow co-founder Sacha Imrie said. “The attention to detail on the boxes just shows you the level of detail that’s in the wines and they’ve got a kind of sophisticated feel to them as well.” Seeing the Black Summer bushfires and the effects of climate change become more apparent every year motivated Ms Imrie to try and minimise wine’s citynews.com.au
carbon footprint. Hey Tomorrow claims its customers have saved the carbon equivalent of burning 3362kg of coal and prevented more than 2000kg of glass bottles from ending up in landfill. The only thing standing in cask wine’s way is its reputation – it has no negative impact on taste and actually increases the product’s shelf life. Better awareness of its environmental credentials could be the key to cementing Chateau de Cardboard as a mainstay of top-end cellars across the country. “I’m calling on Australian consumers to give it a crack because they might be surprised by how much they like it,” Mr Mesidis said. –AAP CityNews January 25-31, 2024 25
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Echeveria… an evergreen that grows well as a ground cover and great for pots and small courtyard gardens.
The ACT’s floral emblem, the native Royal Bluebell… named in 1982 for its horticultural merit. Photos: Jackie Warburton
Good lookers and good growers Echeverias are looking good at the moment. They can multiply quite quickly if grown in the right spot. Some like shade and some like sun but, in general, more sun gets them growing better. Once established, they need little water nor care and grow well in Canberra’s dry, summer conditions. They’re an evergreen that grows well as a ground cover and great for pots and small courtyard gardens. The flowers are borne on small stalks in spring and flower through summer. Once the flowers finish, they should be removed to prevent aphids and other pest insects being attracted to them. This also helps the plant grow faster. Its leaves are fleshy and come in many colours from blue, greens, reds and hybrids of everything between. They are unusual in that their leaf colour can change depending on light conditions. The more sun and the less water will set some echeverias into stress and the colours can be brilliant reds and purples. The greener echeverias need more shade and more water. Echeverias grow as a rosette shape and are decorative as a border plant. They can be propagated by leaf cutting as well, and this is a quick way to grow lots of plants as one leaf is one plant.
Place the torn part of the leaf into sand or propagating mix and leave in a glasshouse or sheltered spot in the garden to grow. Don’t water too often. There are some echeverias hybrids that are highly sought after that have wonderful bumps or warts that are raised areas on the leaf botanically called caruncles. A collector’s plant, they are most unusual, but hard to get through our winters. They can be a little trickier to propagate than ordinary echeverias and need their heads chopped off, left to dry for a week and then the head replanted to make a new plant. The stem should reproduce small pups but those bumps don’t propagate from leaf cuttings. However, if growing this variety of echeveria and the bumps disappear, change the light conditions and they’ll grow back.
germination takes place. When tiny seedlings are strong enough and have at least four leaves, prick out of the punnet and place in a small pot to grow over winter and plant in the garden in spring. I prefer to grow this bluebell by seed where I want it to grow because the shock of transplanting seedlings can be quite high. If conditions are right, it will self-seed the following year and be a great addition to native gardens and woodland or meadow plantings. The most common bluebell to grow is Wahlenbergia stricta and the two species can be confused and hard to tell apart. The W. stricta has lighter blue flowers than its counterpart and also comes in white flowers. The native mammal emblem for the ACT is the southern brush-tailed rock wallaby and the native bird emblem, the gang gang cockatoo.
THE Royal Bluebell (Wahlenbergia gloriosa) is the ACT’s floral emblem and can be seen growing in local bushland and other parts of eastern Australia from spring through to summer. It was named as the ACT’s floral emblem in 1982 for its desirable features including its horticultural merit and design potential in a naturalistic or designed garden. It is a protected species in our local nature reserves and habitat. The native bluebell may still flower sporadically at this time of the year. Seed heads can be harvested once they are papery dry and sown in punnets containing fine sand. Keep moist until
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Jottings… • Sow seedlings of winter vegetables such as brocco li, parsnips and cabbages. • Continue to place flow ers around vegetables to attr act bees. • Feed corn every few wee ks up until har vest. • Keep pumpkin vines gro wing with lots of water.
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HOROSCOPE Your week in the stars By Joanne Madeline Moore
PUZZLES
Lic # 1993 14963
General knowledge crossword No. 916
January 29-February 4, 2024
PLUMBING GAS FITTING & DRAINAGE
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)
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Mercury, Venus and Mars (your ruler) are activating your career/reputation/life direction zone. So it’s time to focus on where you are going, whether that’s your job, volunteer work or your long-term goals. Plus – with your ruler Mars linking up with adventurous Uranus – you’re in the mood to take a calculated risk and do something daring. As birthday great Oprah Winfrey observes: “Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.”
TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)
The planets activate your hopes and wishes and aspirations zones. So it’s a terrific time to dream big dreams, set inspirational goals and make fabulous long-term plans. The Sun and Pluto are transiting through your career zone, so you’re keen to explore professional ideas via talking, texting, reading, writing, conferencing, podcasting and/or posting online. But – if you hesitate or procrastinate – then you’ll miss a creative, transformative opportunity when it appears.
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GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)
When it comes to a close relationship, if you are proactive, look for the best in the person, and work hard on your communication skills, then the partnership will improve in leaps and bounds. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus are activating your humanitarian zone, so it’s time to roll up your sleeves and help others. Be inspired by Oprah Winfrey (who celebrates her birthday on Monday): “If you want to feel good, you have to go out and do some good.”
CANCER (June 22 – July 23)
Find fresh ways to connect with those around you! It’s time to launch a joint venture and/or contribute your considerable talents to a group, club or organisation. The focus is on improving partnerships (whether of the romantic, platonic or business variety) as you manage relationships with extra tact and deft diplomacy. It’s also time to envision your dreams for the future, formulate your goals, and consolidate any travel plans you have in the pipeline.
LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)
This week is fabulous for job offers and promotions, professional projects, and socialising with work mates. But Leo Leaders need to consider: “Am I leading others (with passion and purpose) or just bossing them around?” Do your best to listen closely and accommodate the needs of those around you. When it comes to a friend or colleague, take the time to walk a mile in their shoes – then you’ll have some understanding of what they’re going through.
VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)
You’ll experience the greatest satisfaction if you share your goals and aspirations with other people. Collective collaboration is the key. But are you bored to bits with a hum-drum partnership or your usual routine? With five planets activating your travel-and-adventure zone, faraway places beckon. So start saving and planning your itinerary ASAP. A stale relationship could also be revitalised via a romantic rendezvous or an impromptu weekend getaway.
Down
1 To have slowed a vehicle down suddenly, is to have done what? (6) 8 What was the former name of Zimbabwe? (8) 9 Which agricultural implement is used for cutting grass? (6) 10 What do we call one who indulges in irony or sarcasm? (8) 11 Which Australian politician was known as “The Little Digger”, Billy ...? (6) 12 Name a type of cylinder lock. (4) 13 What are small military motor vehicles? (5) 16 Which biscuits are given to babies when teething? (5) 19 Name the ancient Scandinavian god of thunder. (4) 21 What is another term for a horse? (6) 22 To be present in great quantity, is to be what? (8) 23 What is keen insight also known as? (6) 24 What is a notice for mass distribution? (8) 25 Hold-ups are known as what? (6)
2 Name another term for a hermit. (7) 3 What, in the US, do they call tomato sauce? (7) 4 To be smart or stylish is to be what? (6) 5 What do we call one who gives advice? (7) 6 What are Inuits more commonly known as? (7) 7 Name very small domestic fowls. (7) 13 Kingston is the capital of which West Indian island? (7) 14 What is an inlet of the sea? (7) 15 Name an enclosed sporting facility. (7) 17 To be out of the ordinary, is to be what? (7) 18 What was the former name of Cape Canaveral? (7) 20 To hinder or impede, is to do what? (6)
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LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)
This week’s stars are perfect for problem-solving and creative brainstorming – especially involving family matters. You’ll find close partnerships work best if you accept your relationship responsibilities with a smile. The more you are of service to others, the more your connections will deepen and grow. And – whether at home or at work – don’t be afraid of making mistakes! As writer (and birthday great) James Joyce observed: “Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”
Solution next edition
Across
Sudoku hard No. 359
SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)
Romance is in the air, so make the most of the magical vibes! Community connections and educational pursuits are also favoured. When communicating with others, by all means be creative but don’t get carried away and end up distorting the facts. When it comes to home life and domestic matters, the Sun and Pluto intensify emotions. So it’s the perfect time to get deep-and-meaningful with family members, as you tell them how much you really care.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)
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Sagittarians are the zodiac masters of excess. This week moderation flies out the window as you party to the max, spend too much and overdo just about everything. But you’ll have a lot of fun along the way! Lady Luck is also on your side, but don’t sit around waiting for good fortune to fall into your lap. Apply for that job, enter that competition or buy that lottery ticket! As Sagittarian great Bruce Lee said: “To hell with circumstances… I create opportunities."
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CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)
This week Mercury, Venus and Mars are all transiting through Capricorn. So you’ll be at your clever, charismatic, proactive best most of the time… and your cautious, controlling worst the rest of the time! Try to maximise the positives and minimise the negatives. Romance, friendship, entertainment, and creative projects are highlighted, as you enjoy socialising with family members and close friends. Friday is fabulous for a neighbourhood get-together.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)
Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2024 citynews.com.au
Solutions – January 18 edition Sudoku medium No. 359
PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)
It’s time to banish boredom and extend yourself in challenging new directions! Monday is your luckiest day (when Venus trines Jupiter) and Friday is your most creative day (when your ruler Neptune boosts intuition and imagination). With Mercury, Venus and Mars activating your hopes-and-wishes zone, your mantra for the moment is from Oprah Winfrey (who turns 70 on Monday): “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.”
Solution next edition
Crossword No. 915
The Sun and Pluto are visiting your sign, so you’ll be twice as much fun – and twice as much trouble! You’re searching for creative answers to persistent problems. You’re also feeling adventurous and are keen to revamp an important area of your life, but you may meet with some resistance as you shake loved ones out of their comfort zones. Be inspired by Aquarian actress Vanessa Redgrave: “Ask the right questions if you’re to find the right answers.”
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Public Transport
Viewing Points
Direct buses from City and Woden interchanges to the event
Main hub at Commonwealth Place
All public transport is FREE from 5pm
Listen Live
Six viewing points around Central Basin
General Parking Parking is limited (see map below) Arrive early Allow plenty of time to arrive and depart
Bring a speaker
Trilogy of shows each night
Secondary hub at Regatta Point
8:30PM | 9:30PM | 10:30PM
FREE public transport FROM 5pm! PA R
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Main Hub
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Visit Transport Canberra to plan your journey:
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Accessible Parking Questacon Carpark
Regatta Point Carpark
THANKS TO ACT GOVERNMENT
Event information & registration: