CityNews 211007

KEEPING UP THE ACT / POKING FUN AT POLITICS It’s been a year, what do we think of this mob?

PAUL COSTIGAN

Lost lime kilns that helped build Canberra

NICHOLE OVERALL

Discovering the pros of probiotics

CLARE WOLSKI OCTOBER 7, 2021

Well written, well read EWS’ ‘CITYN 00% 1 STAFF ATED N VACCI

GARRY NEEDS A HAND Can GARRY MALHOTRA’s amazing charity food service be saved?

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NEWS / mental health

Mental health services in crisis as cases soar

By Belinda

STRAHORN PEOPLE are waiting several months to be able to access a psychiatrist in Canberra, with an expert warning the situation is “disturbing” and it is concerning that people are being turned away.

Some specialist mental health workers have closed their books and aren’t accepting new clients, while others are taking on additional work to deal with demand as waitlists blow out.

Dr Fatma Lowden, a Canberrabased psychiatrist and chair of the ACT branch of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) says patients in Canberra are waiting between three and six months to see a psychiatrist.

“That’s a major concern,” Dr Lowden says.

“I’m disturbed by the waitlist and concerned by the general shortage of psychiatrists in both the private and public system.”

Dr Lowden says there’s been a shortage of psychiatrists in Canberra for some time, but increased demand due to the pandemic has exacerbated the issue.

INDEX

“There’s been about a 30 per cent increase in the presentation of mental health cases since the pandemic started and that’s happening everywhere,” Dr Lowden says.

Dr Lowden says some psychiatrists had “closed their books” and were not taking on new clients forcing patients to seek interstate appointments or appointments via telehealth.

“I don’t close my books, but a lot of my colleagues have had to,” Dr Lowden says.

“There is an overall shortage across the country in terms of psychiatrists and we, unfortunately, have the worst share at the moment.”

Gregg Heldon, who’s had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for nine years, knows how hard it is to access specialised mental health support in the ACT and shared his experiences with “CityNews” on its social media platforms recently.

“Try having PTSD and finding a psychologist or psychiatrist here in Canberra that specialises in the treatment,” Mr Heldon wrote on Facebook.

“You either wait at least six months for an appointment or you go interstate. “And don’t bother ringing ACT Mental Health. I tried twice. Each time I was told they didn’t have a person on site that dealt with PTSD. “I’ve learnt how little mental health support services there are in the ACT.” Dr Lowden says it’s worrying that

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Dr Fatma Lowden… “There’s such a shortage of funds and staffing in community health.” people most in need are unable to receive help in a timely manner.

“There is no doubt that the general shortage of psychiatrists in Canberra is making it difficult for PTSD patients,” Dr Lowden says.

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“They are a huge risk group with a huge risk of mortality and high risk of self harm and it’s a huge concern.

“Any serious psychiatric condition is a huge concern for us and that’s why we need to have the community

mental health systems working really well.”

Dr Lowden has identified a lack of funding as a reason for the “dilapidated” state of community health services.

“There’s such a shortage of funds and staffing in community health,” Dr Lowden says.

“The working system is dilapidated and in huge need of funding. Funding would help increase the services in the public system and help get these people treated. The system is in desperate need of repair.”

As a means of addressing the case overload within the public system, Dr Lowden says RANZCP is looking at ways to encourage colleagues in private practice to help address the backlog of cases.

“We are looking at how we can get psychiatrists in private practice to work in the public system to reduce the burden,” Dr Lowden says.

“There are also some general practitioners that are interested in treating these patients, so if we can organise a regular supervision program or some psychiatrist support for GPs they can be more involved in the treatment because it is a very specialised area.

“It’s our task to work together to use all the available resources and psychiatrists both in public and private.”

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SEVEN DAYS

How a good dob brings out the inner-busybody “I NEVER thought dobbing and snitching was part of the Australian character,” bemoaned former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

He recently copped a $500 fine for not wearing a face mask in Manly having been outed by a photo taken by an observant passer-by who unselfishly shared it with NSW police.

“I think as soon as we can leave this health police state mindset behind us, the better for everyone,” he harrumphed.

Maybe, but there are at least 2052 Canberrans who might disagree.

That’s the latest number to date of “compliance complaints” (ahem, snitching) the cops have received since the ACT’s “short, sharp” week of lockdown started on August 12.

They don’t tell us how many of the reports they followed up on, but they did say they have arrested 48 people for allegedly breaching the health directions

and, similarly, issued 62 infringement notices.

So, what’s with lockdown snitching? Is covid turning us into a nation of dobbers?

Hugh Breakey, the deputy director of the Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law at Griffith University, told me on the “CityNews Sunday Roast” program (2CC, 9am-noon) there was clearly a place for reporting wrongdoing – it could halt bad behaviour, see wrongdoers punished, help set societal expectations and prevent harm. But it wasn’t always the right thing to do.

He said would-be dobbers needed to carefully think about exactly what behaviour they’re reporting on and what rule it breaks.

“There is no point calling authorities if the behaviour you’re dobbing on has a reasonable explanation,” he said.

“Perhaps what you assumed was a violation wasn’t ever one at all, because the person had a valid exemption (such as a medical reason for not wearing a mask).

“In a pandemic, rule breaking can have grave or even deadly consequences, especially for vulnerable populations.

“On this basis, repeated and flagrant violations are especially worth reporting.”

But Hugh said there’s a little bit of the

“self-righteous busybody” in most of us.

Dobbing can deliver a sense of authority and power.

“While it’s not easy to objectively survey your own motivations, it’s worth trying to make sure your heart’s in the right place,” he said.

NOT for a second to trivialise the reasons why the police want to identify this man, but he looks like half the male population at the moment.

They created a face-fit image in relation to a sexual-assault investigation.

But there’s not a lot to work with other than he was seen around the Ainslie shops’ public toilets at about 10am on September 14 and he looks like this.

READER (and letter writer) David Hunter, of Belconnen, inspired by the idea of moving the Kingston Railway Station to a more central commuting location, wrote to share an idea.

“The idea is a railway loop,” he says. “As the Barton Highway is being upgraded, why not add a railway track, making a loop from Goulburn, Queanbeyan, Canberra, Murrumbatemen, Yass, back to Goulburn. Most of it is already there.

“A regular local service would reduce

road traffic, assist the future when we can’t afford to drive, and spread the population with the opportunity to access Canberra easily, quickly and efficiently.”

Given the grief of building even an economic argument for the light rail and the prospect of dealing with two governments, David, it’s going to be a slow train coming.

AND finally, a young man who occasionally wrote bright, insightful columns for “CityNews” is leaving town to get behind a microphone for the ABC in Broome.

His day job was as the breakfast program producer at 2CC, an uncompromising, hard slog of a job which he did with scarily good grace, humility and unflagging enthusiasm for, oh, more than seven years. During that time he won three national awards as a producer and the unstinting admiration of his colleagues.

He couldn’t be better prepared by better people in the ways of broadcasting.

Eddie Williams, it’s time to shine.

Ian Meikle is the editor of “CityNews” and can be heard on the “CityNews Sunday Roast” news and interview program, 2CC, 9am-noon.

Storm season rattled roofs and disturbed sleep when the night sky opened to a shuddering storm of lightning and thundering rain late on Thursday (September 30). Storm-trooping news snapper ANDREW CAMPBELL, not one to miss nature’s firmament, was out in it.

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NEWS / cover story

Garry’s Helping Hands urgently need some help

By Belinda

STRAHORN DONATIONS of food and money are “desperately” needed to meet a “huge” demand for a Canberra man’s covid food relief service.

Garry Malhotra, 33, has used $60,000 of his own money since launching his meals and hamper service “Garry Malhotra – Ken Behrens Helping Hands” at the start of Canberra’s latest covid lockdown.

Since August, the service has cooked and delivered more than 150,000 free meals to those needing support during lockdown.

But stocks are almost depleted and “urgent” donations of food and money are needed to keep the service going.

“We are really struggling,” Mr Malhotra says.

“We desperately need food donations and if anyone wants to donate money they can do that, too.”

Thousands of meals a day are prepared by Mr Malhotra, members of his extended family and about 10 volunteers from a commercial training kitchen in Narrabundah.

Mr Malhotra – who is the CEO of course provider AIM Institute of Health

6 CityNews October 7-13, 2021

Garry Malhotra, who makes thousands of free meals a day… “I like to see people smile, but I am tired and I don’t have the capacity to keep using my savings.”

Photo: Holly Treadaway and Sciences – says meals and hampers are then delivered by volunteer drivers not just to doorsteps but to staff at covid-testing and vaccination clinics and to the Canberra Hospital, Calvary Hospital and Queanbeyan Hospital.

Volunteers have also started delivering meals and hampers to people in

Queanbeyan, Bredbo, Goulburn and the Yass Valley.

“The demand is huge,” says Mr Malhotra.

“We were hitting 8000 meals a day at one stage but now we are back to 2000 to 3000 meals a day and 40-50 hampers a day.”

It costs between $4000 and $5000 a day for the service to prepare its meals and hampers.

One of the biggest challenges, Mr Malhotra says, is buying enough stock.

“We use about 200 kilograms of rice, 150 kilograms of pasta, 150 kilograms of chicken and 100 kilograms of vegetables a day,” he says.

“I publish a list of food items that we need on the Facebook page each week, so if anyone can donate those foods items like chicken, rice, pasta and vegetables it would be greatly appreciated.”

Mr Malhotra, who was born in India, posts each day’s menu to the service’s Facebook page and people can submit an order form.

There are two different meals offered a day, one vegetarian and one non-vegetarian, with the range including curries, stews, pasta and rice dishes.

The idea behind the food-relief service came to Mr Malhotra when he was in hospital recovering from an appendix operation.

“I was thinking about all the people, in particular the senior citizens during the lockdown and wondered what I could do,” says Mr Malhotra who then put a post on social media offering home cooked meals.

“Within a few hours my inbox was flat out.”

Initially, Mr Malhotra and his family were cooking and delivering the meals themselves with Mr Malhotra’s heavily pregnant wife and seven-yearold son also helping out.

“We have a lot of help now, but we could always use more volunteers,” Mr Malhotra says.

“Doing this makes me happy, I like to see people smile... but I am tired and I don’t have the capacity to keep using my savings.”

The uptake of the meal service has been so overwhelmingly successful that Mr Malhotra would like to see it continue beyond the current covid crisis, recognising the fact that many people in the community would benefit from a nutritious meal on a regular basis.

“I’d like to continue this after the pandemic, we’d like to become a charity and offer meals on the weekends to the homeless or the needy from the training facility at Narrabundah,” says Mr Malhotra.

• To place an order for a meal or hamper, fill out a form on the Garry Malhotra Ken Behrens Helping Hands Facebook page.

• Food donations can be dropped off at the AIM Institute of Health and Sciences at 61 Jerrabomberra Avenue, Narrabundah.

• Donations of money can be made via the Go Fund Me website.

YESTERDAYS

Lost legacy of lime kilns that helped build capital THE old, pockmarked brick wall with two small, arched openings at its base, fronting an “eggcup shaped” internal chamber, had remained hidden for years thanks to the menacing coverage of blackberry brambles.

From 1924, for almost two decades the Marchiori Lime Kiln and Quarry, located in the valley known as Jumping Creek, to the east of Queanbeyan’s river and the Ellerton Drive Extension, had provided material to help construct the nation’s new capital.

Abandoned for almost 80 years and left to the vagaries of nature, with its recent re-emergence thanks to the clearing of “Day of the Triffids”-like vegetation, some have taken to social media to ask about the story behind the brick, stone and timber structure.

According to historian Brendan O’Keefe, the kiln – almost 2.5 metres deep, 3 metres wide and 2 metres high – was originally built by a then newly arrived Italian Francesco (Frank) Petralia.

By 1928, his “lime-burning, terrazzo and marble business” was owned by Arminio Marchiori who’d settled in Queanbeyan around that time, having also emigrated from Italy four years earlier.

Arminio was responsible for the addition of a second kiln.

As early as 1851, the newly appointed police magistrate,

Capt Alured Faunce, established a mine in the then “Primrose Valley”, attempting to unearth copper, silver and lead. Unlike not-so-distant Captains Flat, there was little yield and would-be mining moguls gave it away.

Natural limestone was, though, in abundance – hence why before Canberra, it was called the “Limestone Plains” – and Marchiori’s operation was one of a number in the area.

Another in the valley had been run by John and William Gibbs in the 1860-70s.

Bricklayer Moses Morley also tried his hand at “Stringybark Hill”, close by what’s now the Holcim Quarry.

It lasted from the mid-1870s until the turn of the century.

Further upstream on the Queanbeyan River is the better known White Rocks Kiln – virtually at the base of the sheer 50-metre-high rockface that gave it its name. That kiln was the 1920s enterprise of Charles T Beazley.

As confirmed in Brendan O’Keefe’s 1994 book “Limeburners of the Limestone Plains and Beyond”, lime is important. For those who don’t know (ie: me), the Romans used it to make concrete and effectively “revolutionised architecture”.

It was labour-intensive to churn out. First the rock had to be quarried, then crushed.

Layers were piled into the cylindrical chamber, a fire kindled at the base near the air inlets, or “eyes”, to “burn” it.

A quick Google search suggests on average, 25-30 tonnes were produced in a batch, taking about “a day to load, three days to fire, two days to cool and a day to unload, so a one-week turnaround was normal.”

Abandoned for 80 years… the old Marchiori lime kiln that closed in 1943.

With the 1887 arrival of rail in Queanbeyan, competition became tougher as supplies were sourced from Goulburn and Sydney. Come 1930, Arminio Marchiori’s lime-burning business is recorded as the last in the region, his product produced onsite until 1943.

“It was hauled to the Federal Capital in his 30 hundredweight Chevrolet where it was used not only in construction, but as a fertiliser on Canberra’s gardens and as a purifying agent in sewerage treatment,” says Brendan of the industrious immigrant’s efforts.

Now with the kiln revealed to the world once more, the QPRC is intending to restore

the brickwork, rehabilitate nearby walking trails and create open spaces as components of a proposed residential

Photo: Nichole Overall

development.

Well does it deserve then, to be a symbolic site for many a Canberra-region resident who

can look proudly at the stuff holding the bricks of their houses together – or to the blooming roses in their gardens – and thank Mr Marchiori for helping make it happen.

As an aside, another historic local construction facility was the substantial Mason Brothers’ Brickworks, off the Captains Flat Road.

The bricks manufactured

by Wal Mason were used to construct Hotel Queanbeyan in 1926 (he also built Mt Stromlo Observatory).

Known to patrons as the “Top Pub”, the hotel was significant as the first three-story building in Queanbeyan (67 rooms – although no Room 13). Wal selected the commanding position not only for its view over the town, but also proximity to the train station – and the Canberra border.

This display of entrepreneurialism was courtesy of prohibition, when from 1910 it was illegal to have a drink in public in Canberra. Revoked in 1928, almost a century on, Wal’s pub maintains its top spot as closest to the capital.

For more by Nichole, see anoverallview.wixsite.com/blog

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CANBERRA MATTERS

It’s been a year, what do we think of this mob?

THE ACT political parties have had enough time since the October, 2020, elections for voters to see what they are about.

A key measure is the reality of commitments to urban development issues. No more worthy doing-words words and colourful pamphlets.

Who among them have a believable passion for urban design and a commitment to planning that delivers aesthetics, good architecture, landscapes, heritage, greenery, biodiversity, equity, health and wellbeing; and who has the ability to empathise with the aspirations of the people who love this city?

Last year the Canberra Liberals had the shadow of Zed Seselja hanging around – despite a fun campaign to Dump Zed in 2019. It looked as if the Liberals were to deliver a form of conservatism that would not sit well with most of the ACT electorates.

The Liberal voters had a dilemma about how to vote Liberal but not endorse this conservative fringe. The Liberals crashed and were almost thrown out with the rubbish!

With a new leadership under Elizabeth Lee, Liberal-leaning voters expressed a sigh of relief. But how do they explain the Liberal meeting a month or so ago that had Kevin Andrews as the key speaker? That being Kevin Andrews federal MP responsible for the so-called “Andrews

Elizabeth Lee either needs to change the Canberra Liberals’ priorities by doing positive stuff to empathise with what people are concerned about or risk being seen as a fizzer.

Bill” that restricts the ACT making its own laws.

At the same event, the Liberals had fun auctionThe bin the Canberra Liberals narrowly avoided at ing a lump of coal. Does the the last ACT election.

Photo: Paul Costigan Canberra Liberal leaderthey could do better if they were in ship think that would government. appeal to this electorate?

All is not looking good for the CanThe Canberra Liberals howled berra Liberals if they have to face an about the Labor initiative to provide election right now. Elizabeth Lee either $2 million of taxpayers’ funds for needs to change the party’s priorities people to shop locally. Instead of by doing positive stuff to empathise asking whether the scheme made with what people are concerned about sense in mid-2021 (it might have 12 or risk being seen as a fizzer. months ago), the Liberals perversely They can no longer sit on the fence encouraged the questionable over-use on urban issues and simply hope that of the program. Screaming a lot and the Labor/Greens coalition’s failure publishing negative press releases on residential concerns will deliver do not make the party look as though

them to government. A believable, whole-of-party commitment to urban matters is absent from the Canberra Liberals.

Enough has been said in this column on previous occasions to register that the ACT Greens are yet to move very far beyond making worthy announcements.

The leadership is yet to deal with the greenwash that they and their coalition partners are overseeing in urban development, green infrastructure, biodiversity, heritage and the list is endless.

Despite this failure and the Canberra Liberals’ disconnect with the electorate, I suspect that the ACT Greens voters would largely stick with the “Cult of Shane” if an election were held today.

However, if Labor were to be honest with the residents and were to get real on key urban issues, a few Greens votes could easily travel back to Labor. That could be the gamechanger that would deliver fewer ACT Greens MPs to the Assembly.

Could Labor win enough votes to deliver a Labor government with no hangers-on? Given that Chief Minister Andrew Barr has been

performing slightly more maturely during the pandemic, this is possible.

Ageing-in-place may be suiting him.

However, he still has the occasional hissy fit when responding to awkward questions – even if, at times, the media queries seem stupid.

The issue for residents is that Labor is tied to the ideology of local rampant developers. If Barr could cease being the leader of the barbarians making a mess of the city, this would make a huge difference to how people cast votes.

Then there is the credibility of independent candidates. There have been very few in recent elections that have sounded real. Fingers crossed that one or two can cut through in 2024. But they need to get organised and out there very soon.

Three years to go. Stay safe.

Paul Costigan is an independent commentator and consultant on the visual arts, photography, urban design, environmental issues and everyday matters.

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PROFILE / Derek Holyoake

Hero cheers on war as the best years of his life I COME from a large family, one consequence of which is that I have a very large extended family.

Each of us is, of course, unique and we all have life experiences that are similarly unique, and which should be appropriately celebrated.

There are nevertheless people whose lives, for one reason or another, have elements that are extraordinary and invite special recognition.

One such person in my family is my brother Rick’s wife Terrie’s stepfather, Derek Holyoake.

Derek was three months old when he arrived in Australia from England, in 1924, with his parents Ralph and Bertha, and a two-year-old brother John.

The family settled in Kerang.

Three more children, brothers Denis and Frank and a sister Pamela were born, in quick succession.

Tragically Derek’s mother Bertha died in 1934, aged 36, when Derek was 10. Derek has retained a heart-breaking letter she wrote from the Women’s Hospital, Carlton, in the week before her death.

She said, in part: “I am getting along alright but feel very weak, can’t bother to read, but will be okay soon. My wound is still painful, and it is not healing as it should. The stitches are septic, which of course does not make things too pleasant.

However, it is not much good grumbling is it.”

Following Bertha’s death, Derek’s father Ralph, perhaps overwhelmed at the prospect of caring for five young children or simply consistent with contemporary mores, left the children in orphanages in Melbourne and returned to Kerang.

Derek remained in the orphanage until his 14th birthday, in mid-1938, when to the surprise and apparent consternation of his father, the orphanage advised that, having reached working age, Derek could no longer live there and insisted his father collect him.

Two years later, following the outbreak of war, Ralph, a veteran of World War I and determined to again serve in the armed forces, enlisted in the Australian Army.

Intent on serving overseas, Ralph was concerned his responsibility to care for his

Young Derek Holyoake as a new recruit and, more recently, with his medals. dependent 16-year-old son would cruel his chances. With what might be charitably described as commendable lateral thinking, Ralph resolved his dilemma by dragging Derek down to a recruiting station, fudging his age and enlisting him in the Australian Navy.

Derek says he still recalls, with clarity, the words his

sundayROAST Talking to the names making news.

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father spoke to him following his enlistment: “Derek, the Navy will look after you.

You’ll be safe with them”.

Derek was, following initial training, assigned in January, 1941, to the cruiser “HMAS Hobart”. Within weeks of turning 17 he found himself, in July 1941, on active service in the Mediterranean Sea, at that time possibly the hottest and most dangerous theatre of the war.

Derek first experienced live action at Suez when a crowded troop ship, “RMS Georgic”, was set ablaze by a direct hit from a German dive bomber.

“Hobart” was instrumental in saving passengers and crew of the “Georgic” and in controlling the fire to save the ship.

In one of life’s myriad coincidences, in 1949 my parents and four of my siblings migrated to Australia from England aboard “Georgic”.

In its Mediterranean tour of

duty, “Hobart” was repeatedly attacked by German bombers and was heavily engaged in supporting forces in the Western Desert, notably at Tobruk, the reinforcement of Cyprus and in operations against Syria.

Derek recalls that after the sinking, near Tobruk, of “HMAS Parramatta” by a German U-boat on November 27, 1941, some of the few “Parramatta” crew that survived the sinking were assigned to “Hobart”. Sadly, 138 of the 162 members of the “Parramatta” crew were killed – one of whom was my wife Robyn’s uncle, Max Poyser.

As Japan entered the war, the “Hobart” transferred in early 1942 firstly to Asia, notably to Singapore and later the Pacific, and was involved in the Battle of the Coral Sea, and other major engagements in the South Pacific in which she was repeatedly attacked

by Japanese aircraft and threatened by submarines.

On July 23, 1943, “Hobart” was struck by a torpedo fired by a Japanese submarine and suffered severe damage and casualties. After the torpedo strike Derek says, the first thought to come into his mind was his father’s promise when he signed him up that: “You’ll be safe now”.

Ironically, Ralph was deemed by the Army to be too old for active service and never left Australia.

Sadly, Derek’s older brother John, whom Derek regrets he never got to know because they grew up in separate orphanages, was killed, aged 20, in New Guinea, in action against the Japanese.

At the end of the war Derek remained in the Navy for another eight years in which he saw active service on the aircraft carrier “HMAS Sydney” during the Korean War. Derek is now 97 years old and one of the dwindling number of heroes of the defence of Australia in the time of its greatest peril.

I am proud to know Derek.

While he would never agree with me, I feel that he has given more to Australia than it to him. Derek was 29 when he left the Navy having served for 13 years through two major wars.

I recently asked him how he remembered his time in the Navy, and he said, without hesitation: “They were the best years of my life”.

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CANBERRA BUSINESS CHAMBER

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‘It is clear how critical small business is to the success of the territory’

Never a more important time to join chamber WITH 30,858 private businesses that employ more than 62 per cent of jobs in the ACT, Canberra Business Chamber (CBC) CEO Graham Catt says it’s never been more important for Canberra businesses to be part of a strong business community.

“It’s been clear that since the lockdown on August 12, businesses across the ACT have been significantly impacted,” says Graham.

He says 9500 local businesses have applied for the government’s businesssupport payments and while many of these businesses have had to close during this time, even those who have been able to operate have had to deal with pressing concerns, such as supply chain or staff issues.

“We know from talking to businesses that they are looking for information at this time,” he says.

“They need to know how to manage their team, stand down staff or handle redundancies. There is also the ongo-

CEO Graham Catt… “We have been encouraging the government to speed up processing times for support-payment applications.” ing issue of vaccination and how that impacts the workplace.”

Graham says the CBC has been working hard to develop timely information for its members about all the relevant issues such as support payments or changes in restrictions.

As a not-for-profit, membershipbased organisation, Canberra

Business Chamber has supported local businesses for 90 years.

“Small businesses need someone in their corner, to give them a seat at the table and understand their concerns,” he says.

“Especially employing businesses need a partner to help navigate the complexities at the best of times, let

alone right now.”

Advocacy is a big part of CBC’s work, especially at present. Graham says he meets with the government three times a week to receive updates, but also crucially to provide feedback from members and advocate on their behalf.

“We have been encouraging the government to speed up processing times for support-payment applications,” says Graham.

He says CBC played a key role in amending the lockdown rules to allow business operators to enter their business to fulfil online orders and this is one example of how immediate the chamber’s advocacy efforts are.

Despite the challenges of the bushfires and covid, Graham says that in the 2019-2020 financial year, there was a growth of 800 new businesses in the ACT, led by a strong increase in micro and small-sized business.

“With the growth of the private sector as a whole, it is clear how critical small business is to the success of the territory,” says Graham.

Visit canberrabusiness.com

Canberra Business Chamber is offering new members the first three months of annual membership for free. Small businesses signing up before October 15 will receive: • Access to the Employer Assist team for instant advice, templates, contracts and more.

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• Complimentary or discounted tickets to Canberra’s premier business networking events.

• Their voice heard by the ACT government and community through CBC’s advocacy.

More details, including terms and conditions at canberrabusiness.com

CityNews October 7-13, 2021 11

POLITICS / national cabinet

More secrets being hidden in national cabinet NATIONAL cabinet has been an effective intergovernmental committee in assisting Australia to fight the scourge of COVID-19.

However, even though the Prime Minister has called it a “national cabinet” it is simply an intergovernmental body. It is not a cabinet.

It is not entitled to cabinet privileges and protections.

While the rest of the country was focusing on lockdowns, the spread of the virus and vaccinations, Senator Rex Patrick, from SA, has highlighted the game being played by some in the federal government. Through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), he has forced the government out of its first attempt at secrecy.

Unfortunately, it is making another.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet denied access to certain records of the “national cabinet” along with some documents he had requested regarding its rules, how it made decisions and what decisions would be binding.

The claim was that this “national cabinet” was a committee of the federal cabinet and, as such, the information could be protected as cabinet-in-confidence.

The notion was patently false. The AAT found in Patrick’s favour. It is brilliant that this crossbench senator

While a small number of protestors are using violence to make a point about their right to freedom from vaccination, much more important civil liberties are being eroded. was able to hold the federal government to account and illustrated the advantage of a diverse membership of a parliament.

The “national cabinet” is not a new idea. It is really a change of name.

It was established in March, 2020, to replace the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The idea is that governments reach a co-ordinated position and then each jurisdiction implements the decision as seen fit by the various governments.

Anne Twomey, a professor of constitutional law at Sydney University, pointed out in “The Conversation” that a real cabinet is accountable to the parliament from which the government gains its power.

She added that cabinets make collective decisions for which each member is equally responsible. She pointed out: “To maintain this collective responsibility, records of who argued for and against a decision are

National cabinet… a real cabinet is accountable to the parliament from which the government gains its power, says Prof Anne Twomey. kept strictly confidential for decades.”

The notion of cabinet-in-confidence allows appropriate functioning of a cabinet in taking collective ministerial responsibility – also known as cabinet solidarity. I should point out that one of the features of my own time as an independent minister, as well as with others in similar circumstances since that time, is that there were exemptions allowed to this principle of cabinet solidarity.

However, a meeting of the leaders of different jurisdictions, even having been labelled a “national cabinet”, does not take power from a single parliament nor does it require collective responsibility.

When Justice White, of the AAT, brought down his decision he said: “Use of the name ‘national cabinet’ does not, of itself, have the effect of

making a group of persons using the name a ‘committee of the cabinet’.”

The Prime Minister had the option of appealing the decision of the AAT. However, such an appeal would have little chance of success in overturning the decision of Justice White.

The approach taken by the Prime Minister was even more appalling.

Instead of testing what is appropriate through our legal system, the government simply introduced a Bill.

The COAG Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 seeks to amend legislation to ensure definitions of cabinet includes the national cabinet.

The NSW Council for Civil

Liberties, in an article by Rebecca Payne, argued: “This cannot be seen as anything other than a blatant and cynical attempt to avoid transparency by including within the definition of cabinet something that cannot properly be called a cabinet at all.”

While a small number of protestors are using the streets and violence to make a point about their right to freedom from vaccination, much more important civil liberties are being eroded. Should this legislation be successful, the reasons behind decisions taken in the “national cabinet” will remain secret for 30 years.

At a time when trust in politicians and our democratic systems are being eroded, the last thing that’s needed is more secrecy – particularly across all jurisdictions in Australia.

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

Do you have a friend or neighbour who cares for someone living with disability, mental illness, chronic illness or who is frail aged?

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Let them know that Carers ACT provides support services to family & friend carers in our community, as the Carer Gateway service delivery partner for the ACT. For assistance, call the Carer Gateway at 1800 422 737 or visit www.carersact.org.au

12 CityNews October 7-13, 2021

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NEWS

Rites of passage camp takes teenagers to men

By Nick

OVERALL WHEN 17-year-old PJ Lennon arrived at the “Rites of Passage” camp in Byron Bay, the first thing he had to do was lock his phone in a wooden box.

“I’ve basically never gone a day without my phone so I was nervous about it,” said PJ who, with his father Peter, had just driven 10 hours from Canberra for the camp.

There were about 30 other fathers and sons, who had come from all over Australia for the five-day ceremony that serves as a stepping stone for the boys’ transition into manhood.

But to PJ’s surprise, he said the second he locked his phone in the box he was “perfectly fine”.

Apart from only wanting it to check in on his girlfriend, he described the five days without technology as “eyeopening”.

Over the course of the camp, Peter and PJ shared stories with the other men, underwent challenges and took time to reflect away from the distractions of day-to-day life.

“You could tell at the start people were nervous, but by the end a real sense of community had formed,”

lence and sexual assault a lot.

“A lot of this is because we have men who are physically men, but they still have all the boyhood behaviours.”

Peter says the camp is about reclaiming a ceremonial rite of passage akin to the way indigenous societies celebrate the transition into manhood.

“For most of history, boys were raised by the community and had a range of male mentors Teenager PJ Lennon (left) with his father Peter at the and uncles to help guide Byron Bay camp. them during this transisaid PJ. tion,” says Peter.

The “Rites of Passage” camps have “But today, in western society this is been taking place throughout the rarely the case, with boys being raised world for more than 20 years and now, by extremely hard-working parents in large part inspired by the experi- just trying to make ends meet. ence that he and his son shared, Peter “There’s an African proverb that Lennon is bringing them to Canberra. says ‘the child who is not embraced “I think we all know something is by the village will burn it down to going on with our boys,” says Peter, feel its heat’ meaning that children who works with the Mental Health desperately need connection, love, and Foundation. community.

“There’s high levels of mental ill“If these needs aren’t met, they’ll ness, suicide rates are high, you’ll of- cry out for help and even resort to ten talk to parents who say their boys risk-taking behaviour and the Rites of are all of a sudden withdrawn, living Passage movement is about the comin their bedrooms. munity stepping up and reclaiming “We see issues with domestic vio- their responsibility to raise the com-

usic, M e r o M un...

More F

THE CLASSIC BREAKFAST with Holmsey & Jen

5.30AM TO 9AM WEEKDAYS How to listen: 1053 AM DAB Radio • www.2ca.com.au Smart speakers (just say “Play 2CA”) 14 CityNews October 7-13, 2021

munity’s kids.”

In Canberra, the camp will be held at the Greenhills Conference Centre in Stromlo, situated by the Murrumbidgee River and overlooking the Cotter valley.

“It’s really about knowing you’re being removed from society to undergo a transition,” says Peter.

“The boys are separated from their normal life, the camps typically take place in the bush, there’s a real atmosphere of reverence.”

One of the most powerful elements of the camp, says Peter, is the opportunity for the fathers and sons to share stories, many of which they’ve never heard from one another before.

“Try telling a teenager how to be a man in this world or try telling them how to live their life, it just doesn’t work,” he says.

“That’s why we use storytelling instead, and why it’s such a powerful tool.

“Some of the stories we tell are mythical with a lesson, some are personal stories that some boys may have never heard from their father before.

“There are topics covering grief, connections with their mother or father, relationships, sex, and all of it happens in a safe space.”

Peter says the boys also undertake a challenge to help them realise their strength and give them resources to draw on for when they face difficult times in their future.

Afterwards, an honorary ceremony takes place where the father or another important male figure steps up to tell the boy the strengths they see in them.

“I cried when I was honouring PJ, I just could not get my words out,” says Peter.

Also deeply moved by the ceremony, PJ will be helping Peter with the Canberra camps as a “returning young man”, helping to foster conversation and guiding those on their first experience.

“I learnt a lot about myself, my family and life and it was really nice to feel like an adult on the camp,” says PJ. “I think it really can help other boys and men, especially those who could be in a rough spot.”

Originally planned to begin in Canberra this month, covid has delayed the camp until April.

But with the added pressures that the pandemic has put on young men, Peter says the lessons of the “Rites of Passage” camp have never been more relevant.

“What I think these camps show is that, given the right space, men actually are willing to share very easily and be vulnerable with one another,” he says.

More information at facebook.com/ reconxted or from peter.lennon@ mhf.org.au

NEWS Government urged to sign no new tram contracts THE ACT government needs to provide evidence that Stage 2 of the Light Rail represents value for money and provides better environmental benefits than other options, say the leaders of three inner-south community groups.

The auditor-general’s “Report on Light Rail Stage 2A”, released on September 24, has raised considerable concern in the Canberra community, say John Bell, Deakin Residents Association; David Denham, Griffith Narrabundah Community Association and Richard Johnston, Kingston Barton Residents Group.

“This report casts serious doubts about the thoroughness and credibility of the economic analysis underpinning the 2019 Business Case for Stage 2A,” the trio says in a joint statement.

“The auditor-general has recommended that it be revised, updated and made publicly available for scrutiny.

“We call on the government to sign no new contracts on Stage 2 until the whole Stage 2 project is subjected to comprehensive and robust economic and environmental impact analysis, including thoroughly assessing feasible alternatives, before committing this large investment.

“We also want to know how much Canberra rates will have to be increased to pay for light rail.

“All of this information then needs to be made public.”

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul.”

PHOTO: ES Fotografi. DANCER: Charlotte Seymour.

Martha Graham

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LETTERS

Tram 2A, ‘unforgivable’ waste of public money THE auditor-general’s report on the “economic analysis” of Light Rail Stage 2A, released and reported on citynews.com.au (September 24), is excoriating.

Even the previously announced and ridiculously low benefit cost ratio (BCR) of 0.4 will clearly not be achieved because of already known increases in costs such as the need to retrofit the trams to run on battery power only, as required by the NCA. The economic analysis also failed to account for the massive disruption costs of raising London Circuit, to provide an acceptable gradient for the steel-wheeled trams.

The supposed benefits are “predicated on the project being a catalyst for the acceleration of development of the Acton Waterfront” but, as the A-G says, no evidence has been provided to support this dubious proposition.

A scenario that assumed Acton Waterfront would occur regardless of Light Rail 2A saw the BCR falling to 0.21, even including unexplained and abnormal “land use and wider economic benefits”.

This project is obviously based on appallingly flawed analysis and is an unforgivable waste of public money. It must be stopped immediately.

Richard Johnston, Kingston

This government should be ashamed THE auditor-general’s recent report on the Light Rail Stage 2 Business Case of August, 2019, highlights the absurdity of the Stage 2A of light rail.

However, it will be simply ignored by this ideological government, as was the A-G’s report in 2016 on Stage 1.

One may recall that the Stage 2 Business Case, when made public in August 2019, had all cost estimates redacted out. However, the A-G has obviously gained access to the redacted costings, which helps a great deal to further explain how absurdly uneconomic Stage 2A (let alone all of Stage 2) really is.

First, the A-G’s report cites a figure of $23 million for development costs, for which the government has recently let a contract for $98 million.

For the 1.7-kilometre line, the report cites $162 million for construction, $82 million over 14 years for operations and maintenance (O&M), plus the $23 million for development, for a total through-life cost of $268 million, in $2019, all discounted at 7 per cent per annum. It should be noted that this assumed discount rate grossly underestimates the real projected cost. A 7 per cent per annum discount rate is patently in error as it implies that the government will be paying that rate of interest on capital borrowed (all of it, given that the government is in deep debt already).

Note though, as pointed out by the A-G, that the business-case estimates cited exclude several very large costs, outside construction and operations, such as those for raising London Circuit, even though this is being done only to accommodate the tram.

Nor do estimates include the cost of extra trams, wire-free operations, and certain infrastructure.

To put things into perspective, my estimates for Stage 2A (excluding London Circuit etcetera), made in and discounted to 2019, assuming 20 years of O&M, were $290 million for construction and interest, 16 CityNews October 7-13, 2021

DURING lockdown, my wife and I have been walking about two kilometres each day to a coffee and a toilet stop, and then walking home.

Lyneham has been one of the few places, within about two kilometres, that offered both coffee and a public toilet.

Today (September 30) as we approached Lyneham we discovered that, apparently, without notice, the Lyneham public toilet has been demolished and turned into a building site.

We had to beat a hasty retreat, to a nearby shopping centre that still has a public toilet.

Leon Arundell, Downer

training of our elite athletes, one of its major functions was also to provide support and encouragement for healthy Australians of all ages through sporting activity.

Even elite athletes age and good health and fitness should be encouraged in all phases of life for all of us.

Unfortunately, the introduction of the Sports Commission reduced the effectiveness of the once great AIS, breaking it down to fund another layer of bureaucracy.

As a government institution, it is most important to oversee that our taxpayer money is not to be wasted. However, that should not be at the expense of its vital community service and, for that matter, it is not the role of the organisation to run at a profit.

So any comparison to commercial enterprises, gyms, etcetera, which must remain viable, would appear to be no argument.

An economic fact is keeping people fit and healthy throughout their whole life, not just in their senior years, reduces stress and expense on the health system and also raises general mental health and well being.

Our health system works very hard to avoid stress and peak demand.

The timing of the closure of this facility would have to be the absolute worst, planned and executed by the most ruthless and insensitive administrators.

With the hidden realities and outcomes of the covid pandemic barely having reached the surface, we are sitting on the edge of the abyss of social, mental and emotional turmoil.

It is at this time that these sporting/ activity facilities and programs should be looking to expand and be encouraged, not shut down. Next minute there will be grants given to encourage such activity!

There are probably many, many people hiding away in fear from this pandemic, too embarrassed and not wanting to dent their egos any further to admit their situation needs some help.

The necessity for gentle encouragement, to “leave the cave” for physical, mental and emotional stimulus and recovery is paramount and should be everyone’s priority and duty of care.

In this instance with the AIS there is probably an even bigger agenda at play. For example, when the facilities are deemed to have little or even no further use, they will be targeted for a speedy demolition, making way for the developers’ grand new plans! All too common a trait in Canberra in recent times.

David Hunter, Belconnen

All for Kim and her policies

We have to accept responsibilities

Letter writer Denis Wylks’ alternative route for the tram south. $150 million for O&M, for a through-life cost of $440 million. Adding $98 million already committed for planning, gives a cost of $538 million.

This is a very long way from the $268 million cited in the A-G’s report. What a bargain for 1.7 kilometres of line that is going to take twice as long for commuters to use!

To add insult to injury, the business case itself says the expected benefit-to-cost ratio would be only 0.4 to 0.6 and it would be a waste of time to comment on the rubbery patronage figures.

This government should be thoroughly ashamed of itself for its wanton waste of our taxes.

Max Flint, co-ordinator, Smart Canberra Transport

Covid means we can’t afford more trams IT is now perfectly obvious to me that, in the current covid financial crisis, we ACT ratepayers cannot afford Shane Rattenbury’s now obsolete toy tram, nor can we accept: The years of traffic chaos caused by the absurd proposal to raise the level of London Circuit so that another set of traffic lights can be installed to further disrupt traffic in Commonwealth Avenue.

The demolition of the existing mature trees lining Commonwealth Avenue south of the lake and the replacement of the existing trams with “wire free” trams required within the Parliamentary Triangle.

However, if this Labor/Greens government insists on continuing its attack on the poor and needy of Canberra, I would suggest an alternative route for the tram, which will alleviate these three problems.

The alternative route south from the city centre continues in a southerly direction from the western leg of London Circuit and proceeds parallel to Commonwealth Avenue, to the west of its existing cloverleaf exits, to cross Parkes Way with a new bridge and to cross the lake using the existing northbound carriageway of Commonwealth Avenue Bridge, with the existing northbound traffic lanes relocated to a new bridge between the existing two bridges (more on this in a future letter).

South of the lake, the route will avoid the parliamentary triangle by diverting to Flynn Drive and up to State Circle, thence to Woden via the existing Adelaide Avenue median strip.

Denis Wylks, Holder

Just like NSW, Andrew?

IN the recent past, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said there is no way he wanted the ACT to go the way of NSW. Yet on Monday, September 27, when he revealed the territory’s path out of lockdown, he warned the ACT faced hundreds of cases a day once restrictions were lifted.

That’s a couple of thousand cases a week!

Sounds very much like NSW when comparative populations are considered.

Murray May, Cook

One less place to spend a penny

ERNST Willhelm (Letters, CN September 23) erroneously concluded that I did not bother to refer to the Kim4Canberra website. I did.

My letter merely implied that her time would be more productively spent advocating her policies, which I mostly agree with, instead of on more statues of women. I believe law professor Rubenstein to be an outstanding independent Senate candidate and wish her well in her quest for a seat.

Mario Stivala, Belconnen

‘Ruthless and insensitive’ timing FURTHER to Belinda Strahorn’s report “Seniors angry at sinking of swim session” (CN September 30), while the AIS is for

I AM very willing to accept Hugh Dakin’s “right” (“I disagree with the lockdown”, Letters, CN September 23), and just as willing to accept the position of people who protest, violently or otherwise, for their “right” not to be vaccinated.

But, I do so only if he, and all such “freedom lovers”, take responsibility for their choices.

At a minimum, I believe such people should provide an absolute acknowledgment that they would not be entitled to any medical assistance, at any level in Australia, should they become COVID-19 infected.

They should also agree that they similarly will not be entitled to any government assistance whatsoever. And they should be required to compensate fully anyone else that can be shown to have been covid

infected by their (selfish) choices.

The point is obvious: we all have to accept our responsibility to take all possible measures to protect everyone in the community.

We can’t just pick and choose which of the properly formed medical and governmental decisions we “agree with”.

Lawson Lobb, Kingston

Filling the fossil-fuel gap GREG Cornwell wrote: “We need clear and honest solutions, not more confusion” on climate change (CN September 23).

I have been an Earth scientist since 1968, and I have some understanding of the climate-change action that Mr Cornwell finds so confusing.

According to the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report of August 6, at the present glacial rate of emissions reduction, the world has no hope of meeting its various Paris Agreement targets, and some rather drastic action has become necessary.

The first step is for the world to reduce its greenhouse gases as much, and as rapidly, as possible. This necessarily involves leaving most of our fossil-fuel reserves in the ground, beginning with Mr Cornwell’s “black gold”: the coal that fuelled the Industrial Revolution more than 230 years ago, and is 100 years past its use-by date.

Renewable energy, predominantly from solar and wind sources is filling the fossil-fuel gap, but further efforts must be encouraged and accelerated to displace fossilised fuels as quickly as practicable.

Emissions-free “green” hydrogen, made by electrolysis of water using renewable energy, is making inroads into the transport industry, whether in bulk liquid form (eg, in aircraft) or in fuel cells.

Finally, we must cease our reckless “harvesting” of our native forests, and revegetate any land not needed for sustaining life on Earth. Australia and Brazil should take special note.

Dr Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin

They’ve made the world...

THEY’VE made the world a place where family is less valued and connected, which leaves children without core stability; where mums are sent to work, so that the kids can be raised by childcare; where ma ‘n’ pa are shipped off to nursing homes, so that complete strangers can take care of their needs; where porn is everywhere and addictive, and men in particular are divorced from reality; where promiscuity is the norm, and where predation, mistrust and broken hearts all follow; where food is completely filled with crap, and crap is often sold to us as food; where art is now cheap entertainment, and the entertainment is either violent or sleazy; where tantrums and fights have increased in my area, no doubt thanks to the added burden of lockdown; and where the leaders in this country still want me to think that the response to covid is all about our health.

Victor Bosso, Queanbeyan

Write to us Let loose to: editor@citynews.com.au

MORE LETTERS Playing ‘spot the stooge’ at the presser

Letter writer David Hunt’s collection of speed-van photos.

Call off the speed traps FRIDAY, August 13, was more than an unlucky date on the calendar.

On this date, the ACT government began a lockdown, initially touted as one week. As every ACT resident now knows, we are into October and still into lockdown.

Since August 13, the ACT has on average had 16 new COVID-19 cases a day.

While other states and territories around Australia have sought to restrict movement to assist our health-care professionals, the ACT has failed abysmally.

A quick check of arterial and feeder roads will show there is a lot of public movement around Canberra, despite the so-called lockdown.

On Wednesday, September 22, as authorised by ACT Health orders, I drove from Woden to pick up a prescription from the chemist.

I was stunned and shocked as the final insult to the people of the ACT and Canberra, to see the ACT government had authorised the reintroduction of its radar speed-trap vans.

It seems for the ACT government, that despite its citizens being unable to return to school and people having to stay home, it’s so desperate, it needs to set mobile speed vans on Canberra’s public, who are already weary and fed up with Barr’s government and lockdown.

These vans which number around eight, feature an operator hiding in a white transit van pointing a laser in both directions, trying to catch speedsters.

While I am sure we all stick to the speed limit, these vans are designed to nitpick and are mostly positioned in highly controversial positions around the ACT. This includes positions such as at the bottom of the slope (pictured photo), behind bushes on a median strip or in a short space of road, (pictured photo) where the speed sign has changed quickly.

I call on the Barr government to get its act together, sort out why there is so much road movement between the townships within Canberra and call off your speed-trap dogs of war during such a challenging time. Operating these speed vans is not a road-safety measure during a pandemic, but an insult to every ACT road user and citizen.

I also call on Andrew Barr to sort out his lockdown mess and to reopen ACT as soon as possible. At this stage, his uncertainty and dithering are costing the ACT business community hundreds of millions that comes in a time when the ACT has already been locked down with losses in 2020.

If the lockdown had been done properly by Labor in the ACT, then Canberra’s ACT public wouldn’t be in this mess.

Meanwhile, almost every member of the public in Canberra is suffering because of the stuff-ups.

At this rate we’ll still all be locked down at home with 16 cases a day, in November.

Maybe we can hear a few less laughs and jokes at the covid press conferences, especially when so many people are hurting in the ACT. And not just from COVID-19.

David Hunt, via email

IN “Seven Days” (CN September 16), columnist Ian Meikle describes Andrew Barr’s deft sparring with the press as “stepping over” and “leaning… into”. The Chief Minister must be navigating those stepping stones on the pathway forward, outlined on the “Roadmap to Covid Normal Freedom-land”!

May I add a “shout out” to Barr for daring to identify by name and, shock-horror, even the media organisation who asked the question! Apparently this was quite confronting for the 4th Estate. It even had our venerable Aunty ABC reaching for the smelling salts when their Radio 666 text line “lit up” with demands from listeners that the media should show some basic manners by identifying themselves – preferably mid-lob before firing down another question.

This was the day when the two federal bubble-boy insiders gate-crashed “our” local press conference with their rather obvious vested interests on full display.

I mean imagine, the cheek of it! Demanding transparency from the media, excuse us! When did it fall out of fashion anyway? It happens all the time. If the media really are asking questions just in the public interest, then surely what’s the issue? I can’t be the only one playing “spot the stooge” during the Q&A part of the daily “presser”.

Michael A Crowe, Hawker

Lion Sancia Wheeler with Wilson the kelpie.

Tale of a dog and a Lion COME lockdown or no lockdown, the work of the Lions Club of Canberra Brindabella continues.

On hearing of a disabled man in the neighbourhood who was in need of help and, following the recent death of her beloved dog, Lion Sancia Wheeler stepped into the breach by taking his then nine-month-old kelpie for walks.

Sancia has been training dogs for 45 years, on and off. Although a very intelligent dog, Wilson the kelpie, tested her. However, after nine months of twice-daily walks, they are making some progress and, although very easy to teach tricks to, Wilson is not so eager to learn to walk nicely on the lead.

Wilson didn’t see the “outside the yard” world until Sancia came along, so the dog’s had to learn that traffic wasn’t going to hurt, roads could be crossed even if there was traffic, smells were the most amazing thing and jumping koppers logs and climbing up the slippery-dip were the most fun a dog could ever have!

Verlene Marshall, Lions Club of Canberra Brindabella

All that in just two years IN a letter to “CityNews” (September 9), I spoke of the terror of COVID-19 and lava flows. Serendipitously, a few days later parts of the Canary Islands were virtually overrun with lava, with some saying the flows may go on for several months.

Although the types of harm differ, it is not beyond the realms of comprehension that those refusing to vaccinate may be compared/contrasted to those refusing to stop smoking – the latter affecting others with second-hand smoke. It has taken 50-plus years to achieve about 84 per cent of Australians as non-smokers. It will have taken just over two years for 80 per cent of Aussies to have reached double-jab, anti-virus status.

Now that’s worth a contemplative pipe.

Colliss Parrett, Barton

OPINION / light rail

The stubborn generation that won’t let go of the car Trained planning professional *DAVID JONES says the combined cost of Stages 1, 2a and 2b of the ACT’s light rail are roughly the same as the financial costs of around 10 years worth of car crashes in Canberra.

ALMOST every argument I hear against investing in mass transit reeks of ignorance and general hostility to change.

In a recent citynews.com.au opinion piece columnist Paul Costigan said investing in light rail means taking away hospital beds.

The trauma caused by our current reliance on cars routinely ties up a significant portion of Canberra’s health resources, including our hospital beds.

The cost of road trauma in Australia is around $30 billion per year. Based on the ACTs percentage of Australian road fatalities, the financial cost of Canberra’s road trauma is more than $200 million a year. That figure rivals Canberra’s entire annual transport budget. It represents over 10 per cent of Canberra’s annual health budget.

That figure doesn’t include road building or maintenance costs, just the financial cost of crashes. Nor does it include other external costs associated with everyone driving cars either, such as environmental damage or increased rates of childhood asthma from pollution, increased cardiovascular problems from environmental noise pollution, or increased community health costs caused by physical inactivity.

It doesn’t include the financial costs associated with the poor mental health of our children, who have grown up unable to independently explore their communities thanks to parents’ legitimate fears that their child will be killed by a motorist.

It doesn’t include the costs of owning and running private cars, which for a two-car family can easily be 25 per cent of an average household income. It also doesn’t include lost opportunity costs families endure every year by having no choice but to fork out for expensive transport appliances.

The combined cost of Stages 1, 2a and 2b of the ACT’s light rail are projected to cost roughly the same as the financial costs of roughly 10 years worth of car crashes in Canberra. Every tax dollar we spend on transport infrastructure that gives Canberrans options to leave their cars at home, is a dollar well spent.

Every medium to high-density development near mass transit is also an excellent thing. We have a rapidly growing population and a housing affordability crisis. We need to build mediumdensity, mixed-use areas all over this city to cope.

We also need to build mass transit all over this city, as the private car is dangerous, and is the most spatially unsustainable form of transportation humans have ever adopted. Like it or not, the end of the era of the private car is coming; to be honest, it can’t come soon enough.

The original Griffin plan for Canberra saw what’s now Adelaide Avenue as being a grand boulevard of sorts with a range of uses and a range of building types.

Unfortunately, car-centric planning of the ‘60s and ‘70s instead saw the corridor become an “internal freeway”, devoid of character, devoid of buildings and dangerous to anyone not in a car.

Contrary to popular belief, many of Canberra’s green spaces were not spared by the NCDC for the sake of green space, but rather, to minimise the potential for traffic congestion to occur. See Paul Mees’ peer reviewed article titled “A centenary review of transport planning in Canberra, Australia” for more about this topic.

The key development priority of post-World War II Canberra was not to build a grand capital city for people; it was to build a city where driving a car is easy, no matter what the consequences.

The NIMBY community council members typically represent a vocal portion of an older generation. A generation that stubbornly continues to advocate for the low-density, car-dependent environments they’ve lived in since the mid-20th century, despite overwhelming evidence that these environments are fiscally and environmentally unsustainable, inequitable, dangerous, and bad for our physical and mental health.

If only Canberra’s younger generations had the time and resources of Canberra’s retired public servants to form their own community council clubs, we’d likely hear far more YIMBY messaging than NIMBY rhetoric about Canberra’s light rail.

We’d hear about how people who live in medium to high-density housing and commute via public transport are responsible for far fewer carbon emissions than suburban RZ1 dwellers who are forced to drive cars everywhere.

We could have more discussions based on facts and science, rather than nostalgia. We could get on with the job of undoing the planning mistakes of the second half of the 20th century and build a better Canberra. *EDITOR’S NOTE: David Jones is a pseudonym.

“CityNews” would not ordinarily publish unsigned work, but I felt the issues he raises were an interesting addition to the public-transport debate. In a private note to me he says he wants to see genuine and drastic change to Canberra’s built environment and transport systems for the sake of our physical and mental health. This is an edited version of the original commentary on citynews.com.au CityNews October 7-13, 2021 17

HEALTHY EATING

Discovering the pros of bacteria in probiotics Dietitian CLARE WOLSKI offers a friendly word about… bowel movements!

WHILE it might not be polite conversation, gut symptoms and bowel movements are part of my daily vernacular.

Many of the clients I work with experience gastrointestinal symptoms which can vary from multiple loose bowel movements in a day, having uncomfortable gas, bloating in the abdomen or constipation and difficulty passing a movement.

When investigating the causes of these symptoms, the balance and variety of our gut bacteria is a key piece of the puzzle and probiotics are one tool to potentially improve gut symptoms.

Probiotics are live bacteria that we can consume through supplements and food. They help to improve the number of good bacteria in our gut, which then helps to improve our health and wellbeing.

It’s important to distinguish probiotics from prebiotics. Prebiotics are the parts of our food that feed the bacteria in the gut. Prebiotics include the fibre in fruit, vegetables and wholegrains, as well as the bi-products of fermented foods such as sourdough bread, kimchi and sauerkraut.

While there is bacteria in these fermented foods, they may not survive the acidity of the stomach. The benefit of fermented foods is that the bacteria has already broken down some components in the food, which will help to feed the bacteria in the gut.

Research has shown that certain strains of bacteria can reduce the incidence of constipation, while others can improve symptoms of gastrointestinal bloating, urgency, and loose bowel movements.

I have worked with several clients experiencing these sorts of gastrointestinal symptoms and found that trialling certain probiotic strains has helped to alleviate or reduce the severity of their symptoms.

While this isn’t the case in every circumstance and many clients have other structural and functional causes for their gut symptoms, trial-

ling a probiotic can be an easy way to improve symptoms and rule out an imbalance of bacteria as the cause of the issues.

There is growing evidence that gut bacteria has a huge impact on a wide range of health outcomes.

Some of the other documented impacts of probiotics include: • Support of the innate and adaptive immune systems, which may help to reduce risk of respiratory tract infections.

• I mproved regulation of stress hormones, including cortisol through the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

• Moderation of inflammatory cytokines, which can reduce depression and anxiety related symptoms.

As a result of these benefits, more people are wanting to make sure that they have the right balance of bacteria in their gut to support these aspects of health.

However, the scientific understanding of all the various strains of bacteria in the gut and how they interact with one another is still in its infancy.

While scientists and health professionals are starting to understand that our microbiome has an impact on many facets of health, it’s difficult to prescribe specific strains of bacteria for particular conditions.

As a result, there may be strains of bacteria that have little to no impact on your health beyond a placebo effect or they are not consumed in a high enough dose to cause a clinical change.

If you are experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms or wanting to use probiotics to support your health, speak to a qualified health professional about more specific strains of probiotics to improve symptoms and whether this is a good option for you.

Clare Wolski is a practising senior dietitian at The Healthy Eating Clinic.

DESPITE the vagaries of recent days of rain, hail, storms and the odd tornado, it’s hard not to be captivated by the mesmerising gold of spring’s bountiful canola crop. This photograph was taken out towards the grain-growing countryside near Galong, an hour north west of Canberra, using a drone to reveal a vivid reminder of nature’s changing seasons.

OPINION

Imagine living in a world without packaging and plastic RICK FORSTER is perturbed at what’s happened in society that’s changed our shape.

AS country lad, I can only remember seeing an obese adult once, and I paid sixpence to see her as the “Fat Lady” at the Cootamundra show.

We had no school buses and I was nearly eight before I went to school. I spent 10 years at boarding schools and in all that time I never knew one obese child nor any that suffered from an allergy to nuts.

I’m an old man now – a pre-war model, in fact – but I’m perturbed at what has happened in society that has changed our shape.

Firstly, we had no junk food, nor coffee shops. Almost everybody drank tea.

18 CityNews October 7-13, 2021

Secondly, there were no supermarkets as we know them now, just grocery stores, butchers’ shops and fruit and vegetable markets.

Thirdly, very little plastic was used in food packaging. Butchers and fishmongers wrapped meat and fish in white paper, groceries were weighed out and put into paper bags and vegetables were generally not wrapped up at all. Drinks such as lemonade or cordial came from glass bottles.

All children drank milk, either fresh from the cow or, in urban areas, milk delivered every morning by the milkman who would fill up a billy that was left outside or later in glass bottles.

The most prized milk cows were Jerseys or Guernseys, which yielded around five per

cent butterfat. The bigger producers were Friesians or Holsteins, whose milk was much less creamy. By law, the minimum butterfat content of sold milk was 3.2 per cent.

There was no bottled water, only tap water, and no sports drinks. Fizzy drinks or ice creams were considered a luxury. Sweets were limited to children and were a treat.

Children had extraordinary freedom, roamed through the bush, built cubby houses or treehouses, played in the dirt, had many pets and walked or rode their bicycles or ponies to school.

Apart from canning and bottling there was very little food preservation and harmful ingredients such as benzoates, nitrites and sulfites were not used.

The clothing we wore was made from natural fibres such as cotton, wool or even silk and not from petroleum or plastic products.

There was no Terylene, Rayon or Nylon; no

drip-dry or iron-free shirts or trousers and very few people, apart from cowboys, wore denim.

Incidentally, there were no gymnasiums as we know them now, only a few boxing establishments. Fitness was achieved by physical work, running, walking and sport and school sports were compulsory for children.

The changes in weight and child health in two generations may have been due to the “advancements” from the life described above – plastic packaging and clothing, fast food, food preservation, changes in milk choices, irregular meals, sweets and sweet drinks, physical fitness or even through not picking up the antibodies that kids may have done when they had more freedom to play in the dirt or explore in the bush.

So what do we do? Do we try and change shape or do we carry on the way we are?

If we carry on we will continue to have medical problems ranging from diabetes to

bad knees, heart attacks and short lives.

Perhaps the most difficult problem lies in packaging and plastic. Packaging makes everything so attractive and helps preservation.

Apart from clothing our children in petrol, plastic waste is forming islands in the sea, being consumed by the fish we eat and is now discovered to be breaking up into nano-particles that may lodge anywhere in our bodies, including our brains.

To be realistic I don’t think humanity has the discipline to markedly change its dietary regime – and to stick to it – and there are huge vested interests in the production of petroleum products.

Governments can tinker around the edge to adjust plastic consumption, but it’s largely up to us to try and protect our environment.

The Cootamundra “Fat Lady” was certainly ahead of her time!

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

INSIDE

RICHARD CALVER

Sheena’s new job raises eyebrows

By Helen

MUSA WHEN it was announced recently that NSW south coast arts identity, author and cultural advocate, Sheena Boughen, would become the chair of the Australian String Quartet, eyebrows were raised in some musical circles.

For Boughen, one of the country’s busiest strategists, who has worked with organisations as far apart as the Institute for Sustainable Futures, BHP Billiton, Oxfam and Rio Tinto, lives not in Sydney, Melbourne or even Adelaide, but at Barragga Bay just south of Bermagui.

The region is home to the Easter Four Winds Music Festival, over which she presided as CEO for years, winning the National Arts Leadership Award from Creative Partnerships Australia in 2017 and an Order of Australia medal in 2018 for spearheading its development, which included raising $3 million to create Nature’s Concert Hall on the festival site.

Now a busy cultural tactician who travels the country coaching CEOs, she is adamant a national arts organisation does not have to be based in a big metropolis.

Frankly, she says, she took her time before deciding to take the chair.

“The ASQ has its home at the University of Adelaide and the staff are there, but over the years it’s had board members in every state except for the NT – it’s a national board,” she tells me by phone from the south coast.

The ASQ travels to every state at least twice a year and Boughen is quick to include the ACT as a “state”, noting that there are exceptionally faithful audiences in Canberra.

The 35-year-old quartet is determinedly national and international, with the aim of creating a distinctly Australian character, but she is keen

How we saved a French wine

ARTS IN THE CITY

This is no ordinary Joe’s theatre

By Helen Musa ONE usually has to be dead for this to happen, but the centrepiece of Daramalan College’s Issoudun Performing Arts Centre will be the Joe Woodward Theatre. Woodward is alive, well, directing plays and writing for “CityNews”. Issoudun is the French city where inspirational Catholic priest Jules Joe Woodward… alive and well.

Chevalier built his basilica.

SHORTIS and Simpson are confident of going ahead with an end-of-year satirical show, “A Shot In The Arm”, featuring songs such as “Fifty Shades of Gladys”, “The Jabs and the Jab-Nots” and “My Gogs Fog Up”. So far only the Carrington Inn in Bungendore has opened for bookings (December 2-3, trybooking.com), but other dates are also planned for Canberra, Jamberoo and Bowning.

South coast arts identity Sheena Boughen… “I enjoy talking to audiences – to underplay audiences is madness.” to assert the quality of the arts in the regions too, saying: “Regionally, we have world-class arts events and initiatives equal to any in the world”.

Proof? In 2019 at Four Winds, where the ASQ was playing, a Canberra donor saw them and commissioned a new work.

Boughen’s views about the arts, she believes, come from her upbringing, with both her parents performers of classical music in Brisbane.

Her father was the sacred music expert and organist Robert Boughen and her mother, Christina Urquhart Boughen, was the pianist who curated the City of Brisbane Civic Concerts Program for 25 years. The State Library of Queensland has recently taken their joint archives, a huge musical collection.

“Bless my parents,” she says. “I grew up with the belief that it was essential to find beauty in music and education… I want to interest people, to produce a change.”

A great believer in the unity of Australians within the wider social

diversity of our country, she is attracted to the ASQ’s decision to choose more and more to perform in intimate small places, as it did on Kangaroo Island after the bushfires, “simply because the community was in need of something… people saw that if they brought in small groups for a concert, they could also play in schools or bookshops, in an adaptable way that could become suitable for all Australians”.

The ASQ has a small staff but an extensive band of supporters and Canberra-trained violinist Stephen King is now in charge of digital engagement and learning as part of a plan to lift the profile of the quartet.

Earlier in the year, she notes, King staged a VR concert, “Square Circles”, with didgeridoo legend William Barton joining the ASQ musicians.

“In the future, we’re going to see digital engagement in learning and language other than a concert, which if done in different ways will excite people… we are also looking for ways to collaborate,” she says.

After prevaricating, Boughen decided she really did want to lead an organisation that engaged in challenges while commanding intense loyalty.

“People are already buying tickets for the ASQ in Perth,” she says.

“There’s something about this small group who use the word ‘engagement’ a lot, but make it true by engaging with the audiences after concerts by having a drink and a conversation.”

Although still busy with her own paid work, she plans to get to SA as often as possible. She met all the other board members several months ago and hopes to be with the quartet each month on the road to meet audiences.

“I really believe in the power of communication with people. I really feel we have to go out and explore,” she says.

“What we experience should be a model, instead of every minute talking about funding.

“I enjoy talking to audiences – to underplay audiences is madness.”

DIRECTOR Tom Papas, best known in Canberra as founder of the Veterans’ Film Festival, is staging the SciFi Film Festival (October 15-31), streaming via Aussie online platform Hyvio.

Made up of 80 “mind-bending” science fiction and fantasy flicks – 13 features and 67 shorts curated from 28 countries. It features the world premiere of “Say Yes Again”, a Taiwanese movie about a marriage proposal in which a young man relives the day of his proposal over and over again until he gets the response he wants. Book at scififilmfestival.com PEOPLE’S Choice voting for the inaugural annual National Capital Art Prize, billed as the first Australia-wide competition for paintings of any subject, has closed. The online shop to purchase artworks has opened at nationalcapitalartprize. com.au and plans are going full steam ahead for the exhibition/awards night on Friday, October 29, with the exhibition open to the public at Aarwun Gallery, Gold Creek, October 29-November 14.

ANNE Dunn, executive director of Sydney Dance Company since 2010, has been appointed executive director and co-CEO of Sydney Theatre Company following Patrick McIntyre’s resignation in June to become the CEO of the National Film and Sound Archive.

CHRISTOPHER Samuel Carroll’s stage adaptation of Albert Camus’ “L’Étranger” (“The Stranger”), will now go ahead after a covid-induced postponement. At the Ralph Wilson Theatre, Gorman Arts Centre, December 8-11. Book via agac.com.au

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CityNews October 7-13, 2021 19

WATCH IT! / streaming and stuff

Endearing appeal of Dahl and all his characters IN their biggest deal to date Netflix has acquired the entire works of beloved children’s author Roald Dahl, meaning a bunch of new takes on everything from “Willy Wonka” to “Matilda” are well on their way.

The half-a-billion-dollar deal will undoubtedly have the Disney mice miffed.

Their streaming service, Disney Plus, wants to be the one-stop-shop for all family entertainment.

But Netflix securing itself hours worth of whimsical entertainment may very well be its golden ticket to getting the subscriptions of families in the streaming wars.

The appetite for Roald Dahl, who died in 1990 at the age of 74, is certainly still out there, even after multiple attempted takedowns of the author by mainstream media outlets calling out some of his racist beliefs.

But even now, a Dahl story sells every 2.6 seconds, says his grandson who runs the Roald Dahl Story Company and who shook hands with Netflix.

The world’s largest streaming platform won’t leave a stone unturned here.

They already have a new take on “Matilda” coming up, the story of a girl discovering telekinetic powers and who, of course, became famous in the 1996 Danny DeVito film, which is also on the streaming platform.

British author Roald Dahl... stories today sell every 2.6 seconds.

However, their upcoming “Matilda” production will be an adaptation of the broadway musical inspired by the book, which has also become a major international hit.

That’s just the start though, Netflix has got blueprints for 19 productions based on the author’s stories.

Of course, among the first promised and plugged is a new spin on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” from Taika Waititi, a NZ comedian whose career has skyrocketed since its breakout in 2014.

His film “What We Do in the Shadows”, a quirky comedy about a group of housemates who happen to be vampires, has become a cult classic and spawned a television series

“Fantastic Mr Fox”... endearing and aesthetically entrancing. spin-off on Binge.

The series is certainly serviceable, especially for viewers looking for some outlandish laughs, but doesn’t quite capture the raw charm of the original flick made on a tight budget in Wellington that, sadly, can’t be found on any streaming platforms at the moment.

Since then Waititi’s blockbuster works such as “Thor: Ragnarok”, the third instalment in the Norse God’s Marvel film trilogy, and “Jojo Rabbit”, a comedy where the actor bravely cast himself as Adolf Hitler and somehow pulled it off, have a home on Disney Plus and been huge successes.

With a track record like that, Waititi’s

Wonka has some potential, but the director will certainly have to pull something out of a top hat here to make it work.

Interestingly, the 1971 “Willy Wonka” film with Gene Wilder is nowhere to be found in the streaming world even with its 50th birthday this year, but the 2005 Johnny Depp take can be watched on both Binge and Amazon Prime.

For those looking for a cracking Dahl adaptation kids and adults can enjoy on

Netflix right now though, it’d be hard to go past the endearing and aesthetically entrancing “Fantastic Mr Fox” from 2009.

Wes Anderson’s zany direction and the film’s unique animation style capture that imaginative wonder of the book to a degree unseen before.

If there was ever a plan to have another film or TV series crack at “Fantastic Mr Fox”, it’d be a tall mountain to climb indeed.

Ultimately, Netflix’s acquisition of Dahl’s works is another clever move capitalising on this entertainment era’s craving for nostalgia and will go a long way in one-upping its competitors in the streaming world.

All the while, Disney continues its relentless endeavour of turning animated classics such as “Dumbo” or “The Lion King” into live-action remakes.

Amazon has dropped billions on franchises such as “The Lord of the Rings”, which will have its own spin-off series out about a year from now.

How long or how far can this golden age of remaking and readapting go on though?

Is that the sound of the bottom of a barrel being scraped somewhere in the distance?

THEATRE

Tony likes ‘As You Like It’

By Helen Musa

ACTOR-teacher-directorproducer-photographer Tony Knight has no idea where Lakespeare, Shakespeare by the Lakes, got the idea of asking him to direct its 2022 production of Director Tony Knight.

“As You Like It”, but he’s very up the immersive Butterfly Theatre, glad they did. asked: “Why don’t we do something Knight, best known in the Australian theatre scene for having headed the acting course at NIDA for 19 years, teaching people such as Cate Blanchett, Essie Davis and Jacqueline MacKenzie, is a man of many parts.

He’s been busy directing a Shakespeare-in-the-park initiative in Adelaide, where his production “Thou, Nature, Art My Goddess” took place in Stockade Botanical Park on September 26.

Staged by Butterfly Theatre, it was a compilation of Shakespeare’s best songs, speeches and sonnets that highlight our relationship with nature, staged outdoors with original music and free, but under booking restrictions – that’s probably the way Lakespeare will have to go next year.

It came about in the time of covid in Adelaide when, despairing of social media announcing that “theatre is dead”, Knight and his colleague Bronwyn Ruciak, who heads 20 CityNews October 7-13, 2021

in the theatre foyer?”

That was because, under covid restrictions, foyers have more capacity than theatres and “Shakespeare in the Bar”, staged with four actors, was the very successful result.

“Then we were contacted to do the same thing down on the Fleurieu Peninsula in a hotel, then Bronwyn, who lives near Stockade Park, got in touch with the local council and things started to snowball,” he explains.

Now they’re planning to do Shakespeare in the vineyard, also on the Fleurieu Peninsula, in late October.

“The Stockdale Park show ran about an hour and was a case of Shakespeare’s greatest hits, but people seemed to warm to the informality of it,” he says.

Brought up in Sydney, schooled at Sydney Grammar, Universities of Sydney and NSW and The Drama Centre, London, he has hitherto

been a big-city boy.

But during 2015, while teaching the musical theatre course at Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore, he was bitten by a venomous Vietnamese centipede. Misdiagnosed, the consequences ended up being so serious that he was flown back to Australia to his sister, who lives in Adelaide and offered respite.

Now he’s been living there for six or seven years.

“I’m no longer a city person…

I’m living in Port Willunga, so after Sydney and Singapore, I’ve gone rural,” he says.

He’s been co-directing twohander plays such as Suzie Miller’s “Reasonable Doubt” and David Ives’ “Venus In Fur”, and plans to do something new but low-key next year.

He hasn’t been to Canberra for quite a while and is looking forward to it and he’s met some of the people involved in Lakespeare, more recently via Zoom.

“It came out of the blue and I thought, I’d absolutely love to do this,” he says.

“I’ve always wanted to do ‘As You Like It’, though I’ve done most of the comedies, but not that one and not ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’.

“I couldn’t be happier.”

Information about “As You Like It” at lakespeare.com and crowdfunding donations for Lakespeare via mycause.com.au

WINE / Viognier

How we saved a French wine from sinking Roast pumpkin… utterly amazing.

Photos: Wendy Johnson “Chengdu Snow”... smooth, creamy and exotic.

DINING / XO and ILY

A lot of love in the package XO and ILY are in love. That’s in love with providing restaurant-starved Canberrans with quality take-away, dinner-care packages that make the heart go pitter patter.

The two restaurants are collaborating and offering a “Love Package” during lockdown for $50 a head. If you’re a southsider you order through XO and pick up in Narrabundah. If you’re a northsider, through ILY and pick up in New Acton. The menus change weekly so the menu is never stale.

Our love package began with a stunner of a salmon dish. The cured salmon was a vibrant colour and the packaging used ensured the food came beautifully presented (I am becoming obsessed with takeaway containers).

The avo was creamy, the wasabi provided a hit of heat, the fennel a slightly crunchy element and the ponzu soy a mysterious element. A perfect start with the dish travelling exceptionally well.

The roast pumpkin was utterly amazing… the nicest pumpkin dish I’ve had in a long, long time. Again, the combo of textures and flavours impressed. The pumpkin had its skin on (loads of vitamins there) and the salsa verde was carefully thought through. We loved the hazelnut, pepitas and wild rice.

Protein came in the form of white, cut chicken, which was super moist and delicate with a ginger and scallion salsa. It was delish with the gai lan (Chinese broccoli) with confit garlic.

While every dish was gold-star worthy, the

Plated cured salmon... the avo was creamy, the wasabi provided a hit of heat, the fennel a slightly crunchy element and the ponzu soy a mysterious element. Photo: Wendy Johnson pièce de résistance was the dessert, once again travelling well in XO and ILY’s carefully sourced packaging.

It looked so beautiful – a kaleidoscope of colours. The name of the dessert was “Chengdu Snow” (does it snow in Chengdu?).

The chilli white chocolate was perfectly balanced and decorated with goma and mandarin. It was smooth, creamy and exotic.

Want more!

The Love Package is testament to what XO and ILY do so well. Well-thought out food.

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XO and ILY are strong local supporters, both in the produce they work with and their respect for regional wines. In addition to the Love Package, Clonakilla riesling and Nick O’Leary shiraz are available at $50 a bottle.

While I don’t want lockdown to continue, I do want XO and ILY to continue with their “Love Packages”. How wonderful it would be.

The “Love Package” is available Friday and Saturday evenings only, from 5pm-8.30 pm and pick-up only (trust me, well worth getting in the car). Orders must be placed no later than 2pm the day of, but can be pre-ordered in advance.

ROOF MAINTENANCE

THE French are mad at us about submarines. I say, what the heck, we weren’t Lyon, we just got a bit Pissy, we have nothing Toulouse and just tell them to go away and have a Nice day.

a current release Clonakilla viognier at $55 a bottle and the Clonakilla Viognier Nouveau at $30 a bottle. Given that the Mount Avoca had cost me $25 through a wine club (I checked and it’s still available at $26 a bottle from the same source, if I were inclined to re-join). I bought the Nouveau.

This vomit of French mispronunciaI thought I would further consult tion was, in part, inspired by my being Russell and asked why is it “nouveau”? corrected on how to say “viognier” by He said that it meant “new” and I started Russell, of Vintage Cellars Manuka, when to count backwards from 10. He said I went to buy a comparator to better most viognier is made using French Oak, consider why I had so taken to a Mount which was expensive. So, not only does Avoca 2019 organic viognier. the nouveau come from new vines but it This wine had a wondrous bouquet is fermented in stainless steel. of fresh stone fruit and mandarin peel I put it to the taste and found that and, on the finish, was as if you it was fresh and fragrant, with had been sucking a peach stone, much less punch than the Mount in the best possible way. It was Avoca but also with a stone fruit a complex and interesting wine finish. This medium-bodied, with great depth. It gave my semi-sweet varietal is a food bland midweek vegetarian risotto wine and the Clonakilla went a lift and I lamented that a quarter well with that night’s dinner of of the contents of the bottle had spicy barramundi. ended up in the cooking.

I called the winery to get It is made by a Halliday further information but just got five-star winery located in the the answering machine and Victorian Pyrenees, obviously left a plaintive message about a name we’ve stolen from the follow up. I didn’t hear back but French. The winery was certified quel dommage. organic in 2016.

According to a couple I went to Vintage Cellars to get of sources, viognier nearly a Canberra District equivalent. I disappeared in the 1960s. It asked for a “v on eh”. Russell said: occupied a small corner of the “Do you mean a ‘vee-oh-neeThe Clonakilla Rhone around Condrieu where aye’?.” I immediately thought “cult wines” were made, but was Viognier of another French town, Bitche, saved by Yalumba in this country Nouveau. but suppressed any negative and by a number of Californian thoughts and agreed that was the varietal wineries. Yalumba still makes a highly I sought. regarded viognier, the Virgilius. The 2018 I asked about the Clonakilla viognier sells for around $50 a bottle. But the because two years ago I had shared the point is we rescued this varietal. We now taste of a splendid 2016 Clonakilla with own it and make our own world-class the editor of this august journal when he wines from a grape variety that was hosted me on 2CC’s “CityNews Sunday almost lost to the French lexicon 50 Roast” program. years ago. Let’s drink more of it.

As with the Clonakilla shiraz viognier And, perhaps, a mean-spirited bon of that same year, this was a wine that debarras to our French popped. The 2016 was mouth filling colleagues both with a peachy delight, a taste sensation, regarding the liquids which we shared with the hopefully we drink and those envious listeners of that show. But, alas, we sail (or sink) in. the shelves had no 2016. I focused on

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CityNews October 7-13, 2021 21

GARDENING

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Flowering wisteria in Jackie’s garden.

Photos: Jackie Warburton

Endemic Indigofera australis is flowering now.

have aromatic oils in their leaves around your outdoor space. Move any water sources from close by and try to interrupt the breeding cycle of mosquitoes.

space and are high maintenance. I train mine really hard and it’s planted at least four metres from the house. It is time consuming to prune in winter and a light trim in summer is also needed to keep it under control.

The cascades of blue or white flowers are really pretty to see when grown in the right spot and are very popular. There are two main species grown in Canberra and the most common is Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) and the other is Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda). Both have their merits but researching the right one for the right spot is the key. They are deciduous and lose their leaves in winter and need good drainage to grow well.

Let’s get out and right into it WITH longer days and daylight saving upon us, there’s more time to spend in the garden after work and to cook (and eat) outdoors.

Magpie season is in full swing, and all types of birds are nesting their young. It’s important not to feed wildlife too much, so they don’t then become too dependent on us as a food source.

Planting specific plants such as nectarflowering shrubs and spiky shrubs is a way of creating food and protection for small birds from predators. Having a water dish in the garden for the birds is also a good way to attract birdlife to the garden. Try to keep water sources out of full sun and keep the dish or bird bath clean.

OCTOBER is one of the busiest times for the open gardens calendar for many charities.

Unfortunately, a lot of these events have been cancelled due to covid.

Gardens of this calibre take a lot of time and preparation to get organised and can take years to bring together. When we are able, let’s support open gardens. It’s a good opportunity to have a look and see what other people have grown in our climate and gather ideas for your own garden. It’s always inspiring to hear the stories and journeys from other people’s gardens.

AS the weather warms the mosquitoes come out. There are many tried and tested methods of getting rid of these pests. To keep them at bay, plant Mediterranean herbs such as oregano, mint, thyme, garlic, peppermint and plants that

YE S WE’RE OPEN

IF starting a veggie patch in your garden, ensure you have the space for moving groups of vegetables of the same family around. This is called crop rotation. This method of vegetable growing is also designed to minimise pests and diseases building up in the garden and it’s also a long-term way of controlling pests organically.

A four-year crop rotation is a good start for a family to eat from, four garden beds with plant families in each – solanaceae, legumes, brassicas and root vegetables.

All these vegetable groups need different requirements to successfully grow, and this is the importance of crop rotation. Growing flowers around vegetables is also an important part of the biodiversity we are trying to create.

Beneficial insects and bees are needed for vegetables to grow. The bees pollinate most fruit and vegetables and are a necessity in all gardens.

There are many local garden club websites offering advice for what to sow and grow.

Growing vegetables is very satisfying and a great introduction to gardening.

I AM looking forward to my Paulownia tomentosa flowering for the first time. I read it can take many years to flower and had worried I’d planted it too close to the chook run and it was getting too much nitrogen. Hopefully, we don’t get any more frosts from here to see the flowers this year. jackwar@home.netspeed. com.au

MY wisteria will be out in full display this week and next. Wisterias are not suitable for a small

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PUMPS - TANKS - IRRIGATION - FILTRATION 22 CityNews October 7-13, 2021

PUZZLES PAGE

FREE PUZZLES EVERY DAY AT citynews.com.au

Your week in the stars

By Joanne Madeline Moore

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General knowledge crossword No. 802

October 11-17, 2021 ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 20)

CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT

Rambunctious Rams: this week there’s the potential for explosive Sun-Pluto power struggles with an authority figure, work colleague or loved one (especially on Sunday). The situation is further complicated by Mercury being retrograde. So calm down and try to communicate with extra care and diplomacy, otherwise you could over-react and do or say something you later regret! Strive to be uncharacteristically patient and make frustration your friend.

THOUGHTLESS BUREAUCRACY HURTS SMALL BUSINESSES

TAURUS (Apr 21 – May 21)

I am writing in support of small businesses that are in disarray from the recent lockdown.

It will be very easy to say the wrong thing to the wrong person, as Mercury is retrograde. Making controversial comments will just land you in hot water, so think things through and choose your words wisely. You can also expect some delays or disruptions to your daily routine. A fun and flexible attitude will help you navigate the week in a more positive fashion. The weekend favours socialising with family and exercising with friends (in covid-safe ways).

GEMINI (May 22 – June 21)

When it comes to communication and conversation, you’ve certainly got the Gemini gift of the gab. But Mercury (your patron planet) is in retrograde motion (until October 18) so be careful you don’t blurt out remarks that you later regret.

Try to be disciplined with yourself and compassionate towards others. Take the time to contemplate the wise words of birthday great Oscar Wilde: “Our ambition should be to rule ourselves, the true kingdom for each one of us.”

CANCER (June 22 – July 23)

There could be cross words between you and a relative, as you seem to be heading in different directions. Remember the good times you’ve enjoyed together and search for common ground. Things will look a lot brighter in the morning. Your motto for the week is from birthday great Eleanor Roosevelt: “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” If you are single, you could find yourself falling for a business colleague or a work mate.

LEO (July 24 – Aug 23)

Mercury is reversing through your communication zone, and there’s a challenging square between Pluto and the Sun. So try to avoid online arguments and run-ins with authority figures. If you are the person in charge, then resist the urge to be bossy and over-bearing. Behaving like a demanding diva will get you nowhere fast!

Try to be extra patient… which is not one of your natural virtues. For some lucky Leos, Jupiter blesses a community project or a joint venture.

VIRGO (Aug 24 – Sept 23)

This week Mercury (your patron planet) is in retrograde mode. So the more unreliable, unpredictable and demanding others are, the more you will shift into fussy, finicky, obsessive mode. You’ll feel less stressed if you take ten deep breaths, try to relax and keep things in perspective. Remember – you can’t control what other people say and do, but you can control how you respond. The weekend is good for rebooting your budget or going on an outdoor adventure.

Down

4 To be engaged in deep thought, is to be what? (7) 8 Name a soldier of the lowest military rank. (7) 9 Which childhood disease is characterised by softening of the bones? (7) 10 Which pointed instruments are used for sewing? (7) 11 To perform surgery, is to do what? (7) 12 What is a cicada often called? (6) 14 In which English city is Scotland Yard? (6) 18 To be shaped like a hollow cylindrical object, is to appear what? (7) 21 To be stupid, is to be what? (7) 22 What must be knocked down in a game of skittles? (7) 23 Name an Australian high-ranking officer. (7) 24 What is inflammation of a mucous membrane, especially of the respiratory tract? (7)

1 Which breed of dog usually has a long, silky coat, and drooping ears? (7) 2 Name the smallest element of a graphic image that can be produced in a VDU. (5) 3 What are matelots more commonly known as? (7) 4 Which term describes a human being? (6) 5 What is mother-of-pearl called? (5) 6 Reykjavik is the capital of which Arctic republic? (7) 7 To follow in order, is to do what? (5) 13 What, in Australia, is the main executive organ of government? (7) 15 Name a renowned Australian Test leg-spin bowler, Bill ... (7) 16 What is the car of a balloon called? (7) 17 What is a local operating division of a company, or the like? (6) 18 Which medicine invigorates or strengthens? (5) 19 Name a person who suffers from Hansen’s disease. (5) 20 Which term is applied to the Brisbane AFL team? (5)

FREE SUDOKU EVERY DAY AT citynews.com.au

LIBRA (Sept 24 – Oct 23)

The Sun, Mars and Mercury are transiting through your sign, which highlights your charm, creativity and joie de vivre. But Mercury is in retrograde mode (until October 18) which increases your tendency to be indecisive and sit on the fence.

So try not to be too wishy-washy this week! Focus on the things you do well, as you appreciate and celebrate your Librans talents. Be inspired by birthday great Oscar Wilde: “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”

Solution next edition

Across

Sudoku hard No. 301

SCORPIO (Oct 24 – Nov 22)

On Friday, the Sun and Jupiter encourage you to reach out and help a family member or someone within your local community. Then the Sun squares powerful Pluto (your ruler) on Sunday, which boosts your temperamental streak and your Scorpio control-freak tendencies. And you may feel like you’re stuck in a rut or even going backwards. The more stubborn you are, the more challenging the week will be. So keep your options open and try to be more flexible.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 – Dec 21)

Prepare to inspire others with your high spirits and contagious enthusiasm. You’re at your buoyant best on Friday, when the Sun and Jupiter boost confidence levels and put extra wind in your Sagittarian sails. But a situation (involving friends or finances) looks complicated on the weekend, when someone could misinterpret your actions. Ask for some clarification, otherwise you could find yourself jumping to hasty conclusions! Patience is the key.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 20)

The mid-week Venus/Saturn connection is promising for confidence levels, long-term love, a business partnership and planning your future direction. An unresolved personal problem has got your head in a spin but do your best to sort out any ongoing dramas. A work colleague, client or customer could be anything but reasonable on the weekend. Try to project a cool, calm and collected Capricorn persona, as you focus on being extra positive and productive.

Disclaimer This column contains general advice, please do not rely on it. If you require specific advice on this topic please contact Gail Freeman or your professional adviser.

Authorised Representative of Lifespan Financial Planning Pty Ltd AFS Lic No. 229892.

AQUARIUS (Jan 21 – Feb 19)

Copyright Joanne Madeline Moore 2021

Solutions – September 30 edition Sudoku medium No. 301

PISCES (Feb 20 – Mar 20)

Expect flashes of creative and spiritual inspiration on Friday, when your imagination and intuition kick in. The rest of the week looks intense, as retrograde Mercury stirs up inner compulsions, submerged secrets or hidden resentments. You could also become possessive about a person or material object. Try to keep things in perspective and learn to let go. As birthday great Hugh Jackman observes: “You can’t go through life obsessing about what might have been.”

Solution next edition

Crossword No. 801

You’re keen to expand your world via exciting foreign friendships and international contacts. If you link up with like-minded people, then it will open new doors of opportunity. But Mercury is retrograde so it will take time. You also need to be careful what you post online, as a casual comment could be taken out of context and lead to controversy. Expect the sparks to fly on the weekend, when the Sun/ Pluto square stirs up a problem from the past.

The issues seem to be defective administration and lack of thought in the subsidies available. I always remember that at the end of any government decision is a person who just may not be able to afford to put food on the table.

I lodged a number of applications for clients early in the lockdown. These clients have had one, two or three form letters saying that their applications were being worked on.

Interestingly, the one that was lodged a week ago has received payment. One I lodged the week before that was sent back with a request to resubmit information, but the information was all correct and it was unclear what was required. A day later I received a hurry up, asking where the information was, yet it took two weeks to send me the form letter requesting the information!

This begs the question of what happened to all the earlier applications. Surely they are dealt with in order of receipt or does the ACT government use LIFO ("last in first out")?

THEN there's the client who operates an outdoor-event activity.

They have four hectares of land that requires regular mowing. It takes three lawn mowers, so they asked the ACT government if they could have three people mowing simultaneously.

They were told they could have five for click and collect, which they don’t do, or two for anything else. Yet they could have five people for a picnic!

THEN there are the clients who earn less than $75,000, so are not registered for GST and can’t apply for the ACT covid-support grants. Whereas, if they operate in NSW they are eligible for government assistance. Many of these unregistered clients run viable micro businesses.

Why not apply for the Centrelink disaster payment, you may ask?

Well, if you are in receipt of parenting payment, which is probably less than the covid disaster payment, you are not eligible for the covid disaster payment.

THEN there's the hairdresser with a large salon space employing 10 staff, who can all be on site but only five clients at a time. So twice as many staff as clients. This is going to impact heavily on the salon’s profitability or should I just say they are bound to make a loss under these conditions.

MANY small business clients prepare their BAS on a cash basis and their accounts on an accrual basis and they may not get paid for 60 days. They are obliged to prepare the application for support on a cash basis. Despite the fact that they have not been able to work for the last eight weeks, their income has not dropped by 30 per cent so they are unable to apply. Their lost income will occur after the grants close on October 7 and the next eight weeks will be very lean.

THEN there are the clients who are so distressed that they want to close their businesses down because they cannot see a way forward. This is tragic.

Small business is the backbone of this country. It is time the governments – state and federal – thought about all of these anomalies so Australian citizens are not left in poverty.

If you need help with your business, cash flow or tax matters, contact the friendly team at Gail Freeman & Co Pty Ltd on 6295 2844.

02 6295 2844 Unit 9, 71 Leichhardt Street, Kingston ABN 57 008 653 683

(Chartered accountant, SMSF specialist advisor and Authorised Representative of Lifespan Financial Planning Pty Ltd AFS Lic No. 229892)

info@gailfreeman.com.au | www.gailfreeman.com.au Follow us on Facebook

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@gailfreemanandco

bit.ly/3bcXEZl CityNews October 7-13, 2021 23

Jamala Indulgence Package The zoo to yourself???

Almost! Just you and a few others…mainly animals!

For an expected 2 weeks only, we are going to open Jamala while the zoo is still closed. A few lucky Canberrans* will enjoy 25 hectares of animals, gardens and tranquility, along with the luxury and extravagance of Jamala Wildlife Lodge!

With the Jamala Indulgence Package on selected nights from 15th – 28th October, guests will enjoy: •

Exclusive use of the zoo with only 200 animals, other guests, security and staff present.

•

Free encounters with our beautiful animals. This could include a Meet-a-Cheetah, meerkat, giraffe, lion, tiger etc. Note: some interactions will only be available to double vaccinated visitors, but other options will be available.

•

Reserve wine list – for the first time, even better than our current top-shelf list!

•

Option of upgrading to the Seclusion Package: in-room dining and a private guide.

•

An afternoon hamper in your room, or outside in your ‘private zoo’!

•

A guided tour of your zoo, with strictly limited tour participants.

Conditions: •

Subject to Government regulations continuing to allow the above

•

If Government regulations change, guests may be required to have in-room dinner and breakfast service.

•

If restrictions are imposed on tours and encounters numbers, guests may be given a voucher to return at a later date midweek to undertake these.

•

The cost of the package is more than normal Jamala tariffs. *Plus interstate guests if borders are re-opened.

As we are currently running on reduced staff, we would encourage you to website before calling!

*Plus interstate guests if borders arehead re-opened. to our

@jamalalodge @jamalawildlifelodge

02 6287 8444 | www.jamala.com.au info@jamalawildlifelodge.com.au Canberra, AUSTRALIA

Canberra