THIS is Deborah Pearse’s gorgeous photo “Survival” that won her first prize in the 2015 Helping Wetlands Flourish category and the People’s Choice Prize winner 2015 of the annual Wetlands in Focus Photography Prize.  

The 2016 awards are open for entry with prizes for the best shots of wetland plants, animals, landscapes and wetland volunteers. It’s free to enter and submissions are open until the end of February to wetlandcare.com.au

LOCAL food blogger Bec Cuzzillo has landed a spot on the Hoi Polloi menu at Old Parliament House with her Bob Hawke-inspired politician burger.

“The Full Yard”, comprised of a beef rissole, grilled pineapple, mayonnaise, tomato chilli relish, cheddar cheese, sliced beetroot, caramelised onion and iceberg lettuce, was selected after a month-long, democratic, public-voting process.

And its name? Bec drew inspiration from the former PM’s uni-days world record for drinking a yard glass of ale in less than 12 seconds.

“I’m excited that I can take my friends to a restaurant in the historical grounds of Canberra and order a burger that I created. It’s pretty weird, but very cool and makes for a fun story,” she says.

Feeling lucky?

IN the year ending November 30, nine players in the ACT won $89.9 million in NSW Lotteries’ division one prizes with Gungahlin named ACT Lotto Hotspot, where $51 million was won with two tickets. The biggest wins were the $50 million Powerball prize won in May in Gungahlin, and the $30 million Oz Lotto prize won in mid-December last year from a ticket bought in Woden.

While these locations may inspire the superstitious, NSW Lotteries’ spokesperson Belinda McDougall was having none of it saying:

“Regardless of where a ticket is purchased, every number on every ticket has an equal chance of being drawn”.

Nevertheless, here are the postcodes with most frequent division-one wins across all games: Two wins: 2912 Gungahlin and 2606 Woden. One win: 2615 Charnwood, 2617 Evatt, 2900 Tuggeranong, 2903 Wanniassa and 2602 Dickson.

Something to complain about

SWEARING, overly sexual and ill-mannered behaviour and affairs have all featured as issues in the list of most complained about advertisements in 2015.

“What we can see from the list is that complainants are particularly concerned with seeing behaviour in advertisements that they view as inappropriate,” Advertising Standards Bureau CEO Fiona Jolly said.

An advertisement which featured a young boy saying “bloody” topped the list, with 161 complaints. An advertisement for an online dating company for married people looking to have an affair was the second most complained about, and another showing a woman licking chip flavouring off a man’s lip came in third.

Advertisements that featured a stereotypical depiction of a woman in a bad mood while on her period, a sweaty man wiping himself at the gym, a woman flicking a belt at a snake and one in which a woman refers to her cat as a “big pussy” also featured in the 10 most complained about list.

“While some people may not like to see ‘bad behaviour’ in advertising, the content of many of these advertisements did not breach the code,” Ms Jolly said.

The board found that just over 70 advertisements breached different sections of the code this year. Of the 10 most complained about advertisements, only one was found to breach the code.

The top five most complained about ads this year are:

Holden Ltd: TV ad features a man driving and complaining about “Bloody caravaners”. Dismissed, number of complaints: 161.

Ashley Madison – Avid Life: TV ad features men singing about “looking for someone other than my wife”. Upheld, number of complaints: 138.

Fantastic Snacks Australia: TV ad shows a wife licking chip flavouring off her husband’s lips. Dismissed, number of complaints: 85.

Unicharm Australasia: TV ad features a woman in a variety of stereotypical scenarios related to having her period. Dismissed, number of complaints: 76.

Sportsbet: TV ad featuring a sweaty man wiping himself at the gym. Dismissed, number of complaints: 71.