News location:

Canberra Today 13°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

May: Stanhope signs off with a kiss

The Fitzgerald family, sisters Isabelle and Sophia, Vivienne and Michael.

CANBERRA’S goodwill shines in May. The Fitzgerald family from Christchurch were invited by Rotary to enjoy a week’s R&R in Canberra. It’s been eight months after their lives were shattered by the earthquake.

Enthusiastic Oaktree Foundation members, from left, Regan Byrnes, Steph Wright and Keyta Slattery readying for five days of living on $2 a day. Photo by Silas

A crew of young Canberrans decide to have a break, too, from their comfortable lifestyle. They are running the “Live below the Line” campaign, by spending five days from May 16-20 on $2 a day, to raise money for educations projects in poor areas.

A gesture of goodwill is what Catherine and Steven Le would have expected, after their wedding reception at the Royal Canberra Golf Club was interrupted by a storm and the club’s leaking ceiling. What arrives instead is the full bill, intact with no discount for the mayhem.

More dramatic is Jon Stanhope’s resignation after 10 years as Chief Minister.

“CityNews” columnist Michael Moore reviews Stanhope’s political career concl;uding that there are two sides to the ACT’s longest-serving leader: the social justice attitude and his absolute ruthlessness in pursuing his goals.

Stanhope seals his political life with a kiss to wife Robyn, while Kate Gallagher vowed to be the new Chief Minister with a promise: hard work. `

She certainly has a lot of hard work to do; why not start with rubbish collecting? “Gadfly” columnist Robert Macklin suggested. Macklin sees rubbish collection as a great hole in Canberra’s civic needs that cries out to be infilled, and says it’s a great chance for the new leader to make a name.

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews