Canberra CityNews August 3, 2012

citynews.com.au / Steve Gower’s farewell salute to the War Memorial AUGUST 30, 2012

Foster-care chief slams bullying claims as ‘bizarre’ LAURA EDWARDS

Red herring in the marriage debate JOHN KLOPROGGE

Parties start poll dancing MICHAEL MOORE

Yes, please to Nepalese WENDY JOHNSON

Bloom, boom!

SPRING’S DARLING MUSIC FESTIVAL STRIKES A BIG CHORD

Chartered Accountants Insolvency Practitioners

www.kazarslaven.com.au

Phone 02 6285 1310 | Fax 02 6215 8450 | Level 3 Engineering House, 11 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600

Review your past.

Refocus your present.

Rebuild for your future.

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news

www.citynews.com.au / Volume 18, Number 32

‘Bizarre’, says CEO at foster bullying claims THE CEO of community service organisation Communities at Work has denied accusations of “bullying” and a “lack of support” at its foster care program Galilee, calling the claims “bizarre”.

Lynne Harwood says that while she is aware of some staff exits in recent months, they have been “nothing out of the ordinary”, dismissing the claims as “all the work of a disgruntled exemployee who has roped other carers in with them.”

“CityNews” does not suggest that Ms Harwood herself has had any part in the alleged bullying.

Former and current foster carers of the program raised their concerns with “CityNews” after an anonymous tip-off about a “mass” exit by carers.

Galilee, managed by Communities at Work, is a program that places vulnerable children and young people with foster care families in the Canberra region.

According to foster carers who spoke with “CityNews”, there has been a “staff overhaul” in recent years and there is a “lack of understanding about the foster care process”.

Common allegations from carers included “no real support or consideration for carers who need it”, and a deeply imbedded “bullying and intimidation culture”.

One carer, who did not wish to be named, says a recent foster care gathering “really brought

Communities at Work CEO Lynne Harwood...

“There has been no ‘mass’ exit. I’m actually quite shocked by this.”

Laura Edwards reports

home” the “issues” with Galilee.

“At a carers’ morning tea recently, everyone there was just saying ‘how long till you leave’?” she said.

“When we found we were all experiencing the same thing, we knew this is not a problem with us, this is what’s happening. I personally know at least three people who have left because of the issues here and there will be more to come.”

She said there was a level of “intimidation” present where case workers “turn up to your house unannounced” and “search under your bed without telling you what they’re doing or why they need to do it”.

“We have also been told that we are not allowed to contact other carers, which I know is wrong,” she said.

“Galilee will say ‘you know we will take this child away if you don’t co-operate with us.’ They have been known to blacklist carers who have raised concerns or will take away a child if a carer questions them on things like transport for their foster child – even if that child has already been moved many times to different foster homes.

“They’re meant to work in the best interest of the child, but they clearly work in the best interest of their organisation.”

Although the carer is still with the Galilee program, she says she is in the process of looking for jobs at other foster care agencies.

“We volunteer 24 hours a day with our families, our houses, our hearts. We do deserve a little bit of respect,” she said.

Another foster carer, who has since left the program, says carers simply want “their voices to be heard” and that she had constantly raised her complaints with staff members.

“I tried again and again but it fell on deaf ears,” she said.

“If there’s all these carers who say the same thing about Galilee – well surely we can’t all be crazy here. There’s something very wrong happening and all people want is to sort it out,” she said.

But Communities at Work CEO Lynne Harwood said: “There’s always movement; we are aware of a few people going to another agency but there’s always people coming in as well.

There has been no ‘mass’ exit.

Continued Page 6

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news

Teachers top the class

By Laura Edwards PRINCIPAL Roz Lambert and six other teachers from Arawang Primary School, Waramanga, have been nominated for a National Excellence in Teaching Award (NEiTA) for Inspirational Teaching.

NEiTA, a community initiative of the Australian Scholarships Group, holds the awards each year to promote public recognition of the teaching profession; specifically teachers and leaders whose “inspirational” approach to education stimulates student learning.

The awards are based on nomination by parents and students, with more than 1350 nominations received this year.

The teachers will now go in the running to be one of 12 final candidates from around Aus-

tralia to be selected by NEiTA, which could see them win a grant of $5000 to be used for their professional development or a chosen project.

Ms Lambert, who has been principal at the school for seven years, said she believed it was a first for the ACT that so many teachers at one school had been nominated.

“It was both affirming and a very pleasant surprise that so many of our teachers were nominated by parents in the school community,” she said.

“The school has worked very hard in recent years to provide the highest quality teacher in every classroom in the school. Our reward here every day is happy children learning well.”

Finalists will be announced in early October.

More information at neita@asg.com.au

From left, nominees Roz Lambert, Kate Williams, Amy Kovacs-Thomas, Laura Bond, Tina Wilson, Amy Clark and Lynne Kowalik, who were presented with their awards at a Book Week dress-up assembly.

Photo by Silas Brown

Claims ‘bizarre’ says foster chief Continued from Page 5

“I’m actually quite shocked by this.”

When asked whether staff complaints would have escalated to her level, she admitted: “If it was a day-to-day complaint, I wouldn’t know about it,” but added that if a complaint was deemed to be handled unsatisfactorily, it would eventually have come to her.

“With the nature of foster care, there’s always going to be qualms or niggles and we pride ourselves on the rigorous mechanism we have in place to address all that,” she said.

“Any carer has the ability to work through that.

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“I believe this is all the work of an ex-staff member who has left in a less than amicable manner. It’s a personal vendetta and it’s not helpful to the majority of foster carers out there,” she said.

“This staff member is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.”

She says she would be “very keen” to talk to foster carers who “aren’t disgruntled ex-employees and who are truly unhappy” and work through any issues with them.

A source at the ACT Foster Care Association said they were aware of complaints from carers about Galilee but did not wish to be named.

opinion

letters

dose of dorin

Drug cure needed IN defending the Chief Minister in his article “Gallagher shows some spine” (CN, August 16) columnist Michael Moore stated: “It is always easy for someone in her position to make decisions to support the strong, the wealthy, the influential and the powerful”.

True, and that’s just what has happened.

Yet another example of drug policy elites who have a vested interest in supporting harm-reduction approaches that don’t have drug-free lives as an aim or an outcome having their way.

What’s really needed is a cure for drugpolicy scoliosis, and that may just be the coming election!

‘Hume Hilton’ inmates don’t like the cold MARK PARTON tells the story of two convicted crims who hatch a daring but ingenious plan to escape prison, until…

AT first I thought it was the plot for a Vin Diesel/Nicholas Cage movie or even a sequel to “The Shawshank Redemption”.

It’s after midnight and two prisoners load clothes into the beds in the shape of their own sleeping bodies. Then they use an improvised flame to burn the wood in the window frames. I think Nicholas did the burning, while Vin kept watch for the “screws”.

Kicking the glass in, they make their way through the shadows out of the main prison building. There’s dramatic music playing and then the camera pans across to the distance to show that the prison is coincidentally located right next to a helicopter base.

Diesel and Cage sneak towards the first of two fences. By the moonlight, they uncover a pitchfork and a small garden fork.

The tension is enormous. Just one more fence and they’ll be bound for that vacant chopper.

But then this story goes from high drama to comedy.

It’s bloody cold at 2.30am in August in Canberra. So cold that our would-be escapees have made the call to abandon their escape and get back to the warmth of their beds. I still can’t quite believe that they buzzed the prison guards on the intercom to say they wanted to go back to their cells.

And, of course, it all happened right

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here in Canberra, at the so called “Hume Hilton”.

I’m not sure who should be more embarrassed, the prisoners, the guards or the Government.

The pathetically botched escape did create a humorous diversion to this marathon debate about a needle-exchange program at the prison.

Maybe naive, but I will never accept the concept of supplying prisoners materials to assist them in breaking the law. Heroin is an illegal substance whether it’s in a jail or in your backyard.

Surely, if you provide needles for the purpose of drug use, you’re aiding and abetting an illegal activity? And if we have people in the jail who are there because they stole stuff to support their heroin habit, why would we assist them to continue their habit behind bars?

The Michael Moores of the world tell me that we’ll never stop drugs from getting into jail, so we should just help people to shoot up safely. Hypothetically then, if we had a serious heroin problem at a specific Canberra college and had tried for years to stop drugs from coming into the school environment, we’d just concede defeat and distribute needles to all the students at the start of each school day? I think not!

Mark Parton is the breakfast announcer at 2CC.

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Spend to save

CANBERRA cycling group, Pedal Power ACT, is calling on the next ACT Government to increase spending on cycling to save on congestion, parking, road maintenance and other costs.

Bikes use less than one tenth of the road space that cars use. They need less parking space, cause less wear and tear and reduce congestion. They also have health and environmental benefits.

The current ACT Government has an active travel target of six per cent of all work trips to be made on bikes by 2016. This is a good start, but data indicates we won’t meet that target without further investment.

Canberra is at a real crossroads. If we don’t build properly now, we will have big-city traffic jams and parking chaos. We will lose the vibrant, liveable city we all love.

Pedal Power ACT is holding an election forum at Pilgrim House, 69 Northbourne Avenue, Civic at 7.30pm on September 19 to hear from the ACT Greens, ACT Labor and Canberra Liberals about how they will support cycling. Attendance is free and all are welcome.

Find out more at www.pedalpower.org.au.

Brendan Nerdal, spokesperson, Pedal Power ACT

Policy to polemic

ROBERT Macklin has disappointingly retreated from astute observer to personal polemicist in his recent analysis of the Greens. (“Greens turn from Brown to bleak”, CN, August 23).

Not only did he feel the need to make disparaging sexist and demeaning commentary on physical appearance, but projected a Greens demise that contradicts all recent polling data. As the ACT election nears, it is hoped that he may be able to add to the political discourse in a more constructive and informed manner.

Graham Jensen, Torrens

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The new Teddy Bear Shop / advertising feature

Teddies celebrate... you’re in for a big surprise Canberra’s iconic Teddy Bear Shop is moving to a new location in City Walk and, to celebrate the opening, owners Ian and Meg Cutler are planning a Teddy Bears’ Picnic on September 1 with face painting, storytelling, giveaways – and specially-made bear cupcakes!

THE new Teddy Bear Shop, in City Walk, is in a “fantastic spot,” says co-owner Ian Cutler.

“It’s also lighter, brighter and friendlier,” he says, promising a completely different atmosphere to the old shop in Canberra Centre.

The Teddy Bear Shop has been established in Canberra for more than 30 years and is the only specialty teddy bear supplier in town, offering a vast selection of teddy bears and soft toys for kids of all ages, says Ian.

“The range includes the quintessential English Merrythought bears, classic German Steiff bears, as well as great brands like Russ, Hermann and the adorable Isabelle Collection from the British-made Charlie Bears,” he says.

Ian and Meg bought the Teddy Bear Shop five years ago, when it was about to close.

“Our son Chris worked there, so we heard it would be closing and we just thought: ‘We can’t have that’. It’s a classic destination shop – people used to come into the Canberra Centre specifically to shop there,” says Ian. “And we decided to buy the shop – because who doesn’t like teddy bears?”

Now it’s a real family business, with Chris still working at the shop, along with five other regular staff members.

As well as stocking top-quality collectable bears, each with their own birth certificate, the Teddy Bear Shop also offers the “Medibear Service”, a drop-in clinic for any bear in need of care and attention.

“We’ll continue to operate this service in the new store, and we’re happy to fix any bear, even if it

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wasn’t actually bought here,” says Ian. “However, we tend not to touch bears that are very old, as they can often be too fragile to fix (especially after a dog attack!).”

To celebrate the opening, Ian and Meg are planning a Teddy Bears’ Picnic on September 1 outside the shop, with face painting, storytelling, freebies, giveaways – and speciallymade bear cupcakes!

“We’re next door to the Jazz Apple Cafe, and so there will be a range of special teddy bear themed cupcakes available to celebrate,” says Ian. “We’re encouraging families to come along, and for the kids to bring their own bear to join in the fun – or come and look for a new one!”

Ian says there will be some opening specials available, and that the

Teddy Bear Shop will also be offering special deals on a regular basis.

“We’re really looking forward to welcoming people to the new shop, which is a much more practical, spacious and bright environment,” says Ian. Drop in to the new Teddy Bear Shop any time to cuddle a teddy or have a browse, at 222 City Walk, Canberra City 2600. Call 6257 6966 or email hugs@theteddybearshop.com.au

politics / goodbye to the seventh Assembly

briefly

Parties start the poll dancing

Ball goes burlesque

THE final sitting of the seventh ACT Parliament was used by all the parties as an attempt to position themselves for the forthcoming election.

The no-confidence motion in the Chief Minister by the Liberals was their Exocet missile designed for maximum damage after months of small-arms shots over the “data doctoring” affair at the Canberra Hospital.

Although the NT election might give some hope, the ACT situation is remarkably different from the disposition of voters during the Queensland election in March, which resulted in a huge swing away from Labor in that State. In an attempt to achieve the same, the Canberra Liberals battle to undermine the credibility and popularity of the Chief Minister.

However, there is a second tranche to the strategy of the Canberra Liberals. A series of motions and announcements attempt to reinforce their traditional supporters and reach out for others. Deputy Opposition Leader Brendan Smyth presented a motion to the Assembly on payroll tax matters to secure support amongst mediumsize businesses.

“The concerns which have come to my attention”, he said, “highlight how difficult it is for businesses, which have unresolved payroll tax matters,

MICHAEL MOORE says it’s farewell to the Assembly and hello to the hustings as an election looms to plan their activities and to finalise their annual accounts and taxation matters”.

Opposition arts spokesperson Vicki Dunne called for support for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra from the Federal Government – avoiding arguments about where the money would come from in the ACT Budget. She pointed out that the current Commonwealth contribution of $100,000 is in marked contrast to their contribution of around $6 million to Tasmania and SA. Transport spokesman Alistair Coe is pushing an idea to improve safety at schools by installing flashing lights to highlight the 40km/ hour zones. The Liberals have also promised to provide a third kerbside bin for compost and remove the ban on free plastic bags in supermarkets.

The Greens are pursuing their original environmental base while at the same time seeking support for their socially progressive policies.

Amanda Bresnan has made a positive contribution to prisoner health and has recently made sensible propositions about a “safe shelter” for rough sleepers. The motion she successfully guided through the last sitting of the Assembly provides support

for churches and other community groups involved in looking after the most disadvantaged members of the community.

Caroline Le Couteur has launched a comprehensive policy on pedestrian and cycling safety, which is about protecting the environment, building a healthier society and providing transport options for those who most need support. The Greens have promised an investment of $13.5 million if they win government. Whilst winning government at this election is really a forlorn hope – it is fair to say that the Greens are becoming more and more effective at using the balance of power to achieve the goals that drive them.

Shane Rattenbury mourned the “downgrading of the Commissioner for the Environment job classification”, while Meredith Hunter, the leader of the Greens in the Assembly, dwelt on the importance of the Human Rights Commission report in providing a “Blueprint for Youth Justice”.

Labor, under the leadership of Katy Gallagher, has also taken a two-fold approach. On the one hand, Labor wishes to stand on its record of delivering financially stable effective gov-

ernment and being prepared to take the hard decisions that are part of being in government. On the other, her election team is in the media pushing the sorts of issues that have set them apart from other governments across Australia. Attorney-General Simon Corbell has taken the Human Rights issue into a much more fraught area around the right to religious practice while Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr has announced that he will work closely with Tasmania to ensure a co-ordinated same-sex marriage legislative framework that will be difficult for the Federal Government to override.

There is much more to come in the lead up to the ACT election on October 20. However, the electorate is beginning to see differences in what the three main contenders for the election are likely to offer in the eighth Assembly. Of course, there will be overlapping policies between the parties. However, voters ought to see particular policies in the context of what the parties stand for and whether they are likely to have the courage and skills to deliver on their promises.

Michael Moore was an independent member of the ACT Legislative Assembly (1989 to 2001) and was minister for health.

“A TOUCH of Burlesque” is the theme for this year’s ACT Red Cross Ball at the Canberra Hyatt on Saturday, September 8.

The Free-Rain Theatre Company promises to titillate with its interpretation of “A Touch of Burlesque” and Liz Lea will dance on a sea of silk and feathers. All proceeds support local Red Cross programs and services and there will be an auction, raffle prizes and more than 60 silent auction items all donated by local, regional and ACT businesses and supporters.

Tickets, at $195 each, can be secured from calling 0408 484632.

Swap to shop THE Canberra Environment Centre’s Spring Swap & Sale will be held 1pm4pm, on Saturday, September 8. Items for swapping are clothes, bags, shoes, books, DVDs and CDs, while bike parts and seedlings may be swapped or bought.

The sale will be held at the Environment Centre, Lennox and Lawson Corner (by the National Museum). More information at www.ecoaction.com.au

Merici cleans up MERICI College has won the ACT Sustainable Cities Awards for 2012 for its kitchen garden program. An initiative of Keep Australia Beautiful ACT, the awards celebrate achievement in litter reduction and the broader sustainability agenda including water and energy conservation. As well as winning the overall award, Merici also won the Young Legends category award.

CityNews August 30-September 5 11

opinion

Red herring in marriage debate NICK Jensen, from the Australian Christian Lobby, argued on these pages that if we allow same-sex couples to marry, we must extend the same privilege to polygamous and polyamorous (multi-partner) relationships (CN, August 23). I suspect Mr Jensen may be engaging in some mischief-making, but it nevertheless deserves a response.

First, some facts. None of the 14 countries that allow same-sex couples to marry have subsequently legalised multiplepartner marriages – even those that have had gay equality for over a decade. There is no “slippery slope” from one to the other, so it seems like Mr Jensen’s fears (or hopes) are without foundation.

Secondly, none of the groups leading the same-sex marriage campaign have been calling for polygamy or polyamory. Australian Marriage Equality, for instance, was established purely to seek inclusion in marriage for same-sex couples – that is all. Since the marriage equality movement began, we have seen no movement in Australia for multiple-partner recognition, let alone marriage. And the Senator who introduced the first marriage equality bill, Sarah HansonYoung, has said even she does not support multiple-partner marriage.

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JOHN KLOPROGGE challenges the argument that polygamy is part of the same-sex marriage debate Culturally speaking, polygamy and same-sex marriage are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Countries that do allow polygamy generally do not take kindly to gays – in fact, they execute them. And women’s rights in such places are non-existent. So it is hard to claim that a culture that promotes polygamy would coexist with one that allows gays to marry.

And let’s imagine, for a moment, how multiple-partner marriage would look if it ever came to pass in Australia. How would the law deal with issues of group consent?

How would we administer issues like property division, child custody or data collection? The family tax benefits system would have to be re-written, for a start.

Polygamy and polyamory raise a minefield of new issues that simply aren’t raised by same-sex marriage.

Let’s think logically for a moment. Will denying gay couples the right to marry actually ensure that multiple-partner relationships never gain legal recognition in Australia? No, because same-sex marriage is not a pre-condition for this recognition. In fact, countries that allow polygamy arrived there via heterosexual marriage, not via same-sex marriage. Does Mr Jensen support banning heterosexual marriage, then?

In truth, the multiple-partner claim is a red herring. Having failed to persuade anyone of what’s wrong with same-sex marriage, opponents of the reform now seek to link it to something else we find objectionable.

My response is, don’t change the subject.

Parliament is debating the issue of samesex couples’ inclusion in marriage, not polygamy or polyamory – this is clear in each of the Bills currently before parliament.

When Melbourne columnist Andrew Bolt argued that same-sex marriage would lead to polygamy, the response from Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull was swift. He said the slippery slope was the “weakest and worst sort of argument used against any (social) change”. The real threat to marriage, Turnbull said, is not gay couples – it is a lack of commitment between heterosexuals.

Inclusion in marriage is about valuing and protecting the commitment between two consenting adults. Let’s consider same-sex marriage on its merits, not muddy the waters with things entirely unrelated like polygamy and polyamory.

John Kloprogge is the ACT convener of Australian Marriage Equality. john@australianmarriageequality.com

Spring in Gold Creek

advertising feature

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Canberra Confidential Gadfly who won’t say die

go. Rather than the ignominy of demotion, arts editor Diana Streak took the Fairfax voluntary redundancy offer and steps down on September 7. Now, apparently, under pressure from the economic power of the Canberra arts community (who, “CC” is certain, doubtless threatened to lavish advertising dollars on the unwavering local arts pages of “CityNews”) for the retention of a dedicated arts editor, the paper has backflipped and been advertising internally for a staff volunteer to become... tra-la, arts editor.

AFTER 19 years, the redoubtable Don Allan OAM has been dropped over coffee as a columnist on “The Chronicle” as part of the hateful Fairfax economic self-flagellation being applied in Fyshwick.

But Allan, the only original thinker on the inky weekly, is a gadfly who won’t say die. He is continuing his political/community column by self-publishing online, styling it “An ACT Opinion” and seeking modest assistance – like public radio – from donors.

“Sadly, trying to meet the expenses involved in producing the column on an aged pension will not be possible unless I can recoup the loss of the small payment I received for my ‘Chronicle’ columns,” he says, hoping to attract the support of 100 Canberrans at $50 apiece on the promise that it’s “not some quixotic fantasy or the seeking of fame or fortune, but a serious effort to help Garema Court’s original clock and (inset) the keep the flame of free speech and democracy kitchen version gracing the building now. alight in Canberra”.

The column can always be read for free at donallan.wordpress.com, but if you’d like to keep the flaying Scotsman going, call him on 6239 7919 or 0409 308410 or email at dca@netspeed.com.au AIN’T it funny how time slips away? Especially at Garema Court, the big white building facing Garema Place that’s been undergoing refurbishment for months now. Somewhere amid the MEANWHILE here’s a conundrum from the facelift, the giant, landmark clock has been equally cost-challenged “Canberra Times”: First removed and in its stead some wag has put what it announced that the arts editor’s role was to looks like one more suited to a kitchen.

Time changes everything

Arts for income’s sake

Marion welshes on Mike WHILE text messaging has been well used to break hearts, resigning in 160 characters or less is something of a first. 2CC afternoon announcer Mike Welsh’s producer Marion Rae (an adviser to former Greens leader Bob Brown) quit the Mitchell-based radio station, after only a few weeks, via a mid-week text message to the station’s program director.

‘Parrallel’ universe “CITYNEWS” loves exposing silly signs but this one, spotted on the main street of neighbouring Yass by our boarding-school educated gardening guru Cedric Bryant, is a collector’s item. It’s the parallel “r” that gives it away!

Cooking success CATHERINE Haskins and her chef husband Andrew have emailed customers to say their 3seeds cafe at Fyshwick markets will close after lunch on Father’s Day, September 2.

The former owners of Pod Food at Pialligo created the concept of a cafe, gourmet store and cooking school at Majura Park, but moved in more recent times to the upstairs space at the markets vacated by the Japanese restaurant Senso.

The cooking school, they say, has become so popular they have decided to expand, offering more classes, day and night Tuesday-Saturday, hence the cafe had to go.

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scene

B ROUG YOU BY

H T TO

Canberra’s only locally-owned Subaru dealer

ROLFE SUBARU

At the WIC winter dinner and debate, Hotel Realm, Barton At the Cancerian Ball ‘Arabian Nights’, Parliament House

Jane Slack-Smith, Alicia Phillips, Clonagh Riley and Nicole Bain

Mia Horrigan, Hala Batainah and Natasha Weatherburn

Margaret Kellett, Liz Miller, Bev Christie and Suellen Lindsay

Sarah Davis, Kylie Makkink and Heidi Nuttall

Denise Holehouse and Gena Clarke

Melanie Cairns, Andrew Dee and Sally Foster

Jeanette D’Souza, Jaci Sales, Kari Crawford, Amanda Amodio, Brooke Jackson and Haiyang Shi

Michelle Melbourne, Peter Alexander, Joana Valente and Maree Johnston

Carolyn Byron and Sally Dixon

Sandy McDonal and Christine Dobson

Daniel and Joanna Clements with Kirsten Edgely and Brent Gibson

Clare and Adrian King with Katrina Innes

Maryanne and Will Doherty with Sharon Powderly

Helen and Patrick White

Nick and Sonya Georgalis

Gary Bodman with Leanne and Darren Sterzenbach

CityNews August 30-September 5 17

scene

ROLFE SUBARU AT PHILLIP & BELCONNEN

At PCA awards alumni dinner ‘Stardust’ , Burbury Hotel, Barton

At the Xact cocktail party, National Portrait Gallery

Meg Osmand, Jodie McColl and Natalie Clarke

Vanessa Brady and Sarah Crewdson

Jo Metcalfe and Stephen Mufute

Phil Harding, Tony Adams, Danny Cindric and Ben Fuller

Andrew Stewart, Archie Tsirimokos and David White

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Tony Hedley and Peter Sarris

Lisa Capezio, Aaron Copeland and Peter Appeal

Michael McGrath and Scott White

Arch Vanderglas and Louise Barton

John Raineri and Viral Gandhi

Bruce Henry, Paul Middleton, Lisa Henry and Claudio Ciuffetelli

At the National Day of Uruguay

Oliver Pinto, Belinda Young, Tamara Meirelles, Renata Sawicka and Daniel Reategui

Georgian ambassador Vladimer Konstantinidi, Ghana high commisioner Paul Yaw Essel and Malaysian high Gabriela Cabra with host Uruguay commisioner Salman Ahmad ambassador Alberto Fajardo

Michelle Fracaro, Gabrielle Hall and Katie Russell

Lucy Foote-Short and Victoria Foxton

scene At the Ross Divett charity dinner and ball, Hotel Realm

Kate Thistleton and Cathy Bateup

Jane Lansar, Rebecca Jess and Alicia Hewitt

Amanda Brooker, Donna Jones and Karen Brooker

Nathan and Monique Lanham

Wendy Wadeson and Mabelle Rice

Matthew and Kristina Smith

Miranda Rosman and Hayden Grant

CityNews  August 30-September 5  19

puzzles page Joanne Madeline Moore your week in the stars / September 3 - 9

ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

Venus moves into your entertainment zone on Friday, which puts you in the mood for a weekend full of pleasure and passion. Sharing a sport or hobby with family and friends brings mutual benefits (but don’t promise more time and effort than you can deliver). Attached Rams – plan a special romantic rendezvous. For some singles, an established friendship leads to long-term love.

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 20)

Busy Bulls – have you been feeling super-stressed? Venus (your ruling planet) moves into your domestic zone (from September 7 through to October 3) so it’s time to enjoy home sweet home, as you cocoon in comfort or entertain in style. Your quote for the coming week is from philosopher Goethe: “He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.”

GEMINI (May 21 – June 21)

Geminis can be real scatterbrains – all ideas and no action. But you have more chance of putting plans into practice at the moment as Mercury (your ruling planet) moves through practical Virgo (until September 17). Which is just as well, because family, friends and colleagues are looking for less superficiality and a lot more substance. The devil is definitely in the detail.

CANCER (June 22 – July 22)

It’s time to stimulate your brain cells via reading, writing, studying and researching. You’re also in the mood to streamline your domestic space as you renovate or style up a storm. The more organised you are at home, the more enthusiastic you’ll feel about work, relationships and the future. With Venus visiting your financial zone, avoid being extravagant with money.

LEO (July 23 – Aug 22)

Proactive Mars is moving through your domestic zone so you’ll be keen to tackle DIY projects as you paint, polish, cook, clean, design or de-clutter.

Va-voom Venus visits your sign (from September 7-October 3), which boosts your supremely creative and fabulously flirtatious side. Love is in the air on Friday – but don’t spoil the romantic vibes by being unrealistic.

General knowledge crossword No. 375 Across 1 Name a table wine of Bordeaux, France.

8 Of which nationality was Mozart?

9 What is the upper surface of the human foot?

10 What is a legal preventative impediment?

11 Name the occupation of a particular leather worker.

12 What is another term for a strongbox?

13 Name a different word for goodbye.

16 What is a familiar form of address for a child’s father?

19 What is a word that is descriptive of average?

21 Name one of the “voices” in grammar.

22 What is an object made by humans, with a view to subsequent use?

23 To which animal group does the centipede belong?

24 Name the male presiding officer of

LIBRA (Sept 23 – Oct 23)

Luxury-loving Librans – with hasty Mars in your money zone and indulgent Venus (your ruling planet) moving into the extravagant sign of Leo, watch that impulse buys don’t burn a hole in your budget. Unresolved problems from the past could also come back and test you. If you can make decisions with patience and purpose, you’ll have an enjoyable week.

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 21)

Down 2 Name the woven coloured cord worn around the shoulder of military uniforms.

3 What do we call the attendants accompanying a person of rank?

4 Name very slender candles.

5 To be bent over, is to be what?

6 What does it mean, to be marked with a natural hollow in the cheek?

7 What is a likeness between the relations of things to one another?

13 To move forward is to do what?

14 What is the first letter of a proper name?

15 What is the distinctive dress identifying police officers, soldiers, etc?

17 Name an alternative term for a craftsperson.

18 What are inventions or contrivances?

20 What are Morning Prayers?

Solution next week 1

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9 10 11 12 13

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15 19

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17

21 22 23 24 25

Sudoku hard No.87

Solution next week

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Promising more than you can deliver (especially with loved ones and colleagues) is a danger this week, as you over-estimate your abilities – and under-estimate the amount of time you have available. From Friday through to Sunday, resist the temptation to embellish the truth and be less than 100% honest. Sunday is super for breakfast in bed or a long and luxurious lunch.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Romance and intimacy are highlighted this week, as vampy Venus spices up your sex life. So take your partner on a magical journey, or go off searching for your soul mate. The pressure’s building at work but keep plugging away, and don’t expect instant results. The big lesson to learn is how to delegate.

No one (not even a capable Capricorn) is indispensable!

AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

If you’re expecting money from others, don’t hold your breath. With Saturn in your ‘money-from-others’ zone, you could be in for a long wait!

You’re keen to help those around you, but aim to get the balance right between being overly generous and super gullible. On Friday, avoid getting carried away with extravagant promises, vague dreams and pie-in-the-sky schemes.

Daily astrology updates at www.twitter.com/JoMadelineMoore Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2011 20 CityNews August 30-September 5

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With mighty Mars moving through your sign (until October 7), you’re keen to make the most of lucky opportunities that come along. But don’t let your enthusiasm for a project overtake your ability to knuckle down and get the job done. Attached Scorpios – on Thursday, lavish your partner with some extra TLC. For some singles – Cupid pays a visit to your workplace.

You love being independent, but this week favours nurturing partnerships, seeking out joint ventures and stabilising your support network, as Venus moves into your relationship zone. Singles – with Jupiter in your romance zone, sparks are set to fly with a feisty foreigner. Getting into financial debt is a recipe for disaster at the moment. Have fun but don’t break the bank.

7

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VIRGO (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

The Sun and Mercury are both in Virgo all week, so you’re bold and brainy as you dazzle others with your general knowledge and eye for detail.

Positive Mercury aspects also stimulate your study gene so it’s the perfect time to research, rehearse and review. With the power of positive thinking on your side, you can climb any mountain and sail any stormy sea.

a meeting.

25 What describes one with the most sound judgment?

Solutions

Crossword No.374 W C C R E P A I R A R A S T R A N D H V L E A E D R O N E S I P S S K E T C H C R R A N A L O G R T W D R E S S E

A N N O C H I S I T I E G R A E R D O U E N O R S

A B A L L L G A S A T P P R S O V I E

Sudoku med No.87 I S I E S T T E R I S N F A L N C E Y

arts & entertainment

Wendy Johnson

Music made to Bloom

A decade of beautiful music

SPRING’S flowers will be blooming and so will the young musicians, springing up everywhere for the Ainslie Arts Centre’s Bloom Festival.

For music practice is in full flourish in Canberra, and much of that activity is focused on the former Ainslie Primary School, gearing up to be a major musical precinct, housing the Australian National Eisteddfod Society, Canberra Youth Music, Music for Everyone, the Young Music Society, Pro-Musica and a host of local ensembles hiring space.

This is the third Bloom Festival, and if Ainslie resident, Canberra International Music Festival director Chris Latham, has anything to do with it, big things are to come.

September marks the 150th birthday of John Smith Murdoch, who designed Old

Pianist Peter Hislop in full swing at last year’s Bloom Festival.

Arts editor HELEN MUSA previews the Ainslie Arts Centre’s emerging, third Bloom Festival of beautiful music Parliament House, Hotel Canberra (now the Hyatt), Kingston Power Station (now the Glassworks), the Hotel Kurrajong, the Fitters Workshop (now who knows?) and the two arts centres.

It’s fitting that “Bloom” begins at 7pm on Friday, September 7 with “Remembering JSM” – cocktails, an architecture lecture by Rosemarie Willett and a concert featuring Latham on violin, Elaine Loebenstein and Adam Cook on piano and Concurso Internacional de Guitarra winner Callum Henshaw on guitar, all progressing through coloured-coded rooms. At 10pm, there’s jazz with the Alex Raupach Dectet.

The “Remembering JSM” concert will be repeated on September 8 at 7.30pm, followed at 10pm by jazz featuring Canberra quintet The Exceptions.

Open Day is on Sunday from 11am-5pm with favourite Gorman House stalls relocating for the occasion, youth concerts all day and a Music for Everyone tutor’s showcase concert at 5.30pm.

NINETEEN-year-old Anneliese McGeeCollett will be performing the first movement of the Elgar Cello Concerto in

How well the words ‘Wesley’ and ‘music’ fit together, says HELEN MUSA

the Sunday MFE tutors’ concert, conducting a “come-and-try” cello workshop and trying out an original cello made by instrument-maker Hugh Withycombe on Open Day. She is one of the many lively young musicians sharing her skills with the kids at Ainslie, earning pocket money to help put her through music/law studies.

With her cello students aged seven and an ensemble in the 16-17 age range, she’s enjoying the task of getting them to surmount the challenge and size of the instrument, encouraging her young charges to “try to make the nicest sounds you can”.

McGee-Collett started playing when her school’s kindergarten string teacher told her: “You’re the tallest, you can play the cello”. She now studies with former “CityNews” Artist of the Year, David Pereira, for whose tutelage she came to Canberra.

“CityNews” is a proud sponsor of Bloom Festival, September 7-9 at Ainslie Arts Centre, corner of Elouera and Donaldson Streets, Braddon. Bookings to 6230 5880, info at www.cimf.org.au

Front cover subject, cellist McGeeCollett... sharing her skills with the kids at Ainslie. Photo by Silas Brown

Curtain up on lots (and lots) of theatre CAN we have too much theatre in one week?

Free-Rain Theatre Company has Neil Gooding’s musical, “Back to the 80s”, directed by Louiza Blomfield and Leisa Keen at the ANU Arts Centre, September 7-23, bookings to 6275 2700.

Then Tempo Theatre has Derek Benfield’s English farce “Panic Stations” at Belconnen Theatre, September 7-15. Once again (as in “The Mousetrap”), Tempo’s cast is holed up in a house in the country.

Bookings to 6275 2700.

Then there’s “Widowbird” by Canberra writer Emma Gibson, selected for a reading at the Women Playwrights International Conference in Stockholm and inspired by “Antigone”, “Joan of

Helen Musa

the campfire after the showing. Details at www.mirramu.com arts in the city TAKE note, CAPO’s 29th gala is on September 8, not in November and it’s at M16 Artspace in Griffith, Arc” and “A Thousand and One Nights”. not in the National Archives. Patron At the Street Theatre, September 8-16, Michael Bryce will announce the bookings to 6247 1223 or www.thestreet. winners of the CAPO Fellowship, the org.au Rosalie Gascoigne Memorial Award MIRRAMU Dance Company members and the Reading Room CAPO London are about to show us the results of a Exhibition Award. Tickets to 6249 7860. creative fortnight spent in the Yirrkala The accompanying exhibition of more community in north-east Arnhem Land. than 100 artworks is open to the public An informal presentation, “Morning August 31-September 8.

Star” will be seen at Mirramu Creative FLAMENCO guitarist Damian Wright Arts Centre, Lake Road, Bungendore, on heads up the singing, dancing, playing September 2 at 2.30pm. Warming drinks group Bandaluzia, which will be at and hors d’oeuvres will be served around Tuggeranong Arts Centre, September 8-9,

Nepalease to please

bookings to 6293 1443.

IN the fourth tour of Selby & Friends for 2012, director/pianist Kathryn Selby is joined by British violinist Elizabeth Layton, Australian violist Glen Donnelly and much-loved former Canberran cellist Julian Smiles in works by Mahler, Stanhope, Mozart and Dvořák. At the Fairfax Theatre, NGA, 7.30pm, September 3. Accompanied children 14 and under free. Bookings to 1300 511099.

CANBERRA musos have until September 6 to enter Telstra’s talent development program “Road to Discovery”. Up to six local musicians will be selected to perform at the Canberra heats at Stage 88 from noon on October 1. Enter via www. telstra.com/trtd

EVEN if you know nothing about the Wesleyan movement, you’ll know the words to “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing”, just one of more than 6000 (yes, that’s right) hymns written by Charles Wesley.

In part a tribute to that tradition, Canberra’s Wesley Music Centre in Forrest is about to celebrate 10 years since it opened its state-of the-art recording and performance facilities.

Founder and director of music for the centre, Garth Mansfield, tells “CityNews” that, to date, the centre has hosted “thousands” of concerts, becoming one of the most sought-after spaces for small-scale chamber concerts and top-level recording sessions.

To ACT arts-watchers, here’s something to raise eyebrows – not a cent has come from church or government grants. Financed entirely by the Wesley Music Foundation (ACT), which raised more than $2 million to build the centre, it is home to music courses, Founder Garth private music teaching, U3A courses, music exams, master Mansfield. classes and lectures.

The foundation has also helped 84 brilliant young musicians complete tertiary studies through the Wesley Music Scholarships and joined with the Canberra Classical Guitar Society and the Carillon Society to award young composers.

In short, there’s something to sing and play about, and that’s exactly what the centre plans to do in a program that kicks off at 3pm on Sunday, September 2, with former St Paul’s Cathedral organist John Scott playing.

Then, from 12.40pm-1.40pm on September 5 and 12, there’ll be two special anniversary “Wednesday Live” concerts with outstanding young musicians.

On the actual inauguration date, September 8, there’ll be a slap-up dinner, then at 3pm the next day, Sunday, September 9, 10 Wesley Scholars will perform.

And last, something to dazzle – at 7.30pm on Saturday, September 15, there’ll be a kind of double anniversary, when Wesley hosts a tribute to 25 years of the celebrated quartet Guitar Trek, founded by Tim Kain and now comprising Kain, Minh Le Hoang, Bradley Kunda and Matt Withers.

Bookings to wesleycanberra.org.au or tickets at the door.

CityNews August 30-September 5 21

arts & entertainment

Glum glimpse of bully’s world Dougal Macdonald cinema

“Bully” (M) AN important question overhanging Lee Hirsch’s doco about peer-bullying in the US is, should it be shown to children as a school activity?

Unsurprisingly, the film does not examine its potential to push budding bullies beyond just thinking about doing it. In school rooms, offices, playing fields, buses and victims’ homes, Hirsch has filmed bullying in progress, interviewed law-enforcement officers and recorded a high-school deputy principal questioning bullies.

But he gives scant treatment to the influences leading bullies to attack weaker kids.

Despite its clear and unrestrained intention to expose the problem, energised by distressing case stories including two teenagers whose suicides Hirsch examines in interviews with anguished parents, I and a retired teacher left the film feeling deeply pessimistic. A combination of limited powers to react vigorously, and the difficulty of getting kids to tell it like it is, stifled attempts by school staff and law-enforcement officers to deal with it. Victims who look unattractive or don’t conform with schoolyard behavioural norms or, like one 16-year-old girl, are in no doubt about divergent sexuality, coped in their own way with varying degrees of success.

A well-intentioned public movement organised by parents of one of the young suicides to oppose bullying seemed unaware of the harsh reality confronting it.

A scene from Lee Hirsch documentary ‘Bully’.

But we had not seen, nor did we feel confident that there might ever be, a map showing a path to eradicating schoolyard bullying. That perhaps is the film’s ultimate statement, for parents to think about and pray that it never involves their innocent children from either direction.

At Greater Union

“Hope Springs” (M) DAVID Frankel directed Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”, so we may assume that the pair enjoy a comfortable professional relationship. Which needs remembering as Streep plays Kay who spits the dummy about a 31-year marriage from which the sparkle and romance have faded and issues an ultimatum to Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) to undergo counselling with Dr Feld (Steve Carell).

My initial feeling was that Kay was burdening Streep with a character outside her comfort zone.

Reflection corrected that delusion. Despite it seeming otherwise, she does the film’s core character very well, a middle-class southern housewife who loves Arnold and needs him to escape the rut of familiarity and resume active rutting with her. Her libido is

feeling neglected and toey, but not so much so that infidelity is a possibility.

Billed as a comedy, “Hope Springs” does generate some laughter. I doubt that any man could have written dialogue and argument displaying a marriage under stress, as convincingly as Vanessa Taylor. Both sides of the Q&A in Dr Feld’s office are sharp and credible.

I guess Frankel knew how far he might ask Streep to go. As acting royalty, she commands respect. But fully-clothed, middle-aged lovemaking after a fiveyear drought does suspend our disbelief a tad far.

At all cinemas

“Love” (M) ONLY governments have the power to send citizens to certain death in the name of national interest. William Eubank’s debut film as writer and director uses astronaut Lee Miller as a paradigm for humanity’s future. And a bleaker paradigm is hard to imagine.

It’s 2045 and Miller has spent six years alone in the International Space Station, now overdue for a major service. Communication with Earth has stopped.

Non-renewable and non-replaceable supplies are exhausted. We earthlings have become extinct from an unstated cause.

Gunner Wright, as Miller, carries the main acting task. There are no ETs. Tom DeLong’s musical score “Soul Survivor” is effective. The film’s reported budget was $US500,000. It’s a kind of parable, quasi-intelligent tough stuff delivered without compromise, not so much asking questions as suggesting answers!

At Greater Union

Violinist Skye McIntosh.

Hailed sound of Haydn

22 CityNews August 30-September 5

THE Australian Haydn Ensemble is a vibrant, youthful group of performers with international performance backgrounds who perform regularly with top orchestras such as London’s Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Gabrieli Consort on instruments from the 18th century.

Violinists Skye McIntosh and Helen Kruger, violist James Eccles and cellist Edwina Cordingley, will be in Canberra on September 6 to play, (yes, of course) Haydn’s “The Lark” and “The Fifths” and, as befits the season, Mozart’s “The Spring”.

Perth-born Kruger will perform on a rare Gagliano violin from the 18th century that she has purchased with help from The Stradivarius Trust in London –Helen Musa “An Evening in the Palace of Reason,” St John’s, Reid, 7.30pm, September 6, bookings to 0424 072 430 or www.trybooking.com/ BOAT

Chef Surya Maharja... mastered the art of creating delicate dishes with character.

Photos by Silas Brown

Yes, please to Nepalese Wendy Johnson dining

WE were looking for something delicious to treat our tastebuds to and A Taste of Himalaya, tucked into a small spot on Palmerston Lane in Manuka, was our destination.

Owner and chef Surya Maharja, former Hyatt chef de cuisine, is from Nepal and started whipping up authentic Himalayan cuisine many moons ago.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but had heard the goat curry and the “momo”, Himalayan-style dumplings, were sensational. True to the style of cuisine, you’ll find many dishes created with mild gravies, but not many smothered in sweet coconut sauces.

Surya has mastered the art of creating delicate dishes with character. The steamed momo are a case in point – tiny parcels of chicken, garlic, coriander and ginger (you can also choose the vegetable version). The hot sauce served on the side adds heat for those who want to burn, baby, burn.

It’s the goat curry I’m keen on. Goat is a fabulous red meat and more Canberra chefs are using it. It’s low fat, high in nutrition and absorbs spices well. I’m attracted to its intense, earthy flavour. The curry is a true winner, as was the homemade tomato chutney and even those hesitant to try goat were pleased ($18.50). The fish masala wasn’t as inspiring, although the cumin-infused lentil was lovely ($18.90).

The creamy dahl is a point of pride for Surya and, please, order the beaten rice. The rice is parboiled and then rolled, flattened and dried to produce small, crunchy flakes that can be sprinkled on practically any of the Nepalese food. Other traditional vegetarian dishes make their appearance, although the list isn’t extensive.

The menu also offers dishes for the not-so-adventurous, including lamb, salmon and, somewhat oddly, a penne (mains up to just under $30).

A Taste of Himalaya occupies a restaurant space that has been part of Manuka for yonks. It is divided into two distinct spaces with the entrance smack in the middle, a structural issue almost impossible to fix. And the décor? Basic and crying out for more.

A Taste of Himalaya, Palmerston Lane, Manuka. Call 6260 7077, BYO only. Open lunch, Monday-Friday; dinner, Tuesday-Sunday.

Steamed momo... Himalayan-style dumplings.

garden

What’s right for light and shade Cedric Bryant gardening

THE first tinges of green are showing on the weeping willows beside Lake Burley Griffin and soon all deciduous trees will be coming into leaf with many presenting us first with a stunning array of floral splendour.

Older gardens will have a generous amount of summer shade with many plants now in too much shade. This is an ideal time to move them into partial shade or full sun depending on the variety. I have just relocated a group of peonies from a dense shady area to a sunny area, of which they prefer.

Shade can manifest itself in a number of other ways besides trees.

It may be due to a building casting shade, at times brought about by that single-storey house next door adding another storey. Or, horror of horrors, a block of units rise next door and suddenly your whole garden is in shade. This, in turn, can cause a rain shadow presenting further problems.

It is also forgotten how much shade is cast by overhanging eaves.

With the summer sun directly

Shade-loving rhododendrons are surprisingly drought tolerant. overhead, the part of the garden close to the house will be in shade for a good part of the day, and it will get no rain. This is an important area that cannot be fixed by watering. I recommend you do not plant any closer than half a metre from the house under the eaves.

IF you are buying a property and you enjoy your garden, it is vital you take into account several factors: are there large trees that could present problems? Trees near power lines, over underground services (ie sewer, power, gas etcetera) need to be considered.

Do some research on these aspects, as it can be expensive to carry out large-scale pruning or

Tree ferns grow well if given the right environment.

even removing trees, especially in many cases of smaller blocks these days where there is no access to the rear garden.

MOST bulbs prefer full sun, originating in the hottest areas of the world. Tulips do not come from Holland, but originate in Turkey and Turkestan, both very hot places.

They do not like too much shade and will not flower well if in dense shade such as evergreen trees.

Under deciduous trees, spring bulbs have generally finished flowering before trees are in full leaf.

also ideal. So too Hydrangeas, Fatsia japonica and Sarcococca or sweet box, which is a real winner for its wonderful fragrant flowers.

Suitable ground-cover plants include Euonymous “Gaiety” with green marbled leaves and E. “Emerald and Gold”, with its deep-yellow leaves, provide a lift in deep shade.

Winter-flowering Bergenia cordifolia, Cyclamen hederifolium and Viola labradorica along with the wonderful range of hellebores will give plenty of colour.

The list is endless so there is no need to get depressed if, all of a sudden, the garden is ever enveloped in shade.

Things to consider • Do not get carried away about the house when buying, do take a serious look at the garden.

• When buying a house check where services are. It could save you big money later.

• Think about moving sun-loving plants presently in deep shade and vice versa.

• Prune winter-flowering shrubs once the flowers have finished.

• Consider if a house has rear access before you buy it.

WHAT plant will revel in a shady garden? For starters, shade-loving plants like a good natural mulch and what better than fallen autumn leaves rotting away? Most shade-loving plants are acid lovers, often originating in forests and woodlands. Generally speaking, Australian plants prefer full sun. Tree ferns are an exception and one only has to look at them growing in the shade on the Clyde Mountain.

For more specific information of growing tree ferns and acidloving plants, refer to my Cedfacts Garden Information Sheets at www. cedricbryant.com TALL, shade-loving plants include Camellia japonica, (the winter-flowering Camellia sasanqua will tolerate full sun). Daphne, rhododendrons, azaleas and Pieris or Pearl Bush are

CityNews August 30-September 5 23