A SMALL guarantee: this week’s “Seven Days” will contain no mention of the American President-elect.
Despite him, the week was punctuated with plucky pollies, especially the Greens recidivist MLA Caroline Le Couteur, returning to the Assembly as the recycled member for Murrumbidgee. She bravely went where her leader and cabinet member Shane Rattenbury seemed unprepared to tread during the last Assembly and has loudly announced she will refer an ACT government decision on the waiving of money and taxes during the sale of the Brumbies’ Griffith headquarters to the territory’s integrity commission. Brave, save for the fact we don’t have a corruption watchdog yet, just the pre-election promise of one. I heard that sigh!
The member for Canberra upped the intimidation, forcing the Russian driver to agree to apologise (and sort out the repairs).
“For Canberra residents to be physically intimidated by diplomats hiding behind immunity is inexcusable,” the Labor MP said. “Diplomatic immunity is not licence to intimidate and threaten members of the community.” Go, Gai!
President David Sommerville says: “The closure of the museum will see some beautiful old carriages sold to pay off debt, some removed from Canberra to other heritage groups interstate and some may even be scrapped with parts of Canberra’s heritage gone forever.”
“If the government isn’t exercising the requisite control over spending and doing everything in its power to maintain competitive growth drivers in the economy, then it is much easier to get in a very tough situation quickly,” he chided.
PRIMARY school teacher Brigitta van Reesch (now Brigitta van Deas) invited all her grade one students at Holy Trinity Primary School in Curtin to her wedding, straight after school, of course, at the Holy Family Church in Gowrie. “They are part of my life so I wanted to share the day with them,” she sweetly said.
LIKEABLE Craig Allen, who has been filling in since Virginia Haussegger resigned from the ABC’s local, nightly news bulletin last month, has been overlooked for the multi-talented Dan Bourchier. The former Sky reporter will not only read the 7pm TV news Monday-Thursday, but also host breakfast on ABC 666. Craig mops up with the Friday-Sunday bulletins.
AND giving away his job in the public service after almost 40 years, we say goodbye to the remarkable Nic Manikis, who has retired. His achievements in multicultural affairs are credited with changing the face of Canberra, especially his shepherding of the wildly popular National Multicultural Festival. Well done, Nic.
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