To mark the 30th anniversary of “CityNews”, social historian and journalist NICHOLE OVERALL has written an eclectic history of Canberra and beyond over the past three decades. Here is the first instalment – 1993.

WHAT do prostitution, politics and paywalls have in common? Each has their price. And so are they just some of the often thorny subjects ably addressed in the intrepid coverage and ongoing presence of “CityNews” in Canberra over the last 30 years!

From origins as a modest, newsprint tabloid, “CityNews” today is a gorgeously glossy and artistic weekly magazine with a strong online presence. 

Over three decades it’s explored and presented life in the national capital region – news, business, opinion, arts, social, and yes, with much ado about politics. It continues to be backed by local businesses of all sizes, types and offerings, ensuring it remains accessible to all. 

Long-time (and suffering) editor and owner Ian Meikle, with his vast experience gleaned from time with “The Advertiser” in Adelaide, “The Australian” in Sydney and at the helm of “The Canberra Times” for almost a decade, has since 2005 remained devoted to producing a quality publication providing quality reporting, commentary and insight. 

In generating engagement, debate and conversations, “CityNews” evolves with ever-changing times.

It’s stood tall against doomsayers portending “print is dead” with the advent of the online world, the proliferation of social media (MySpace, anyone? First major player to globally extend its cyber-tentacles in 2003), digital footprints, clickbait and pay-per-click. 

Three decades on and here it is, still going strong. Dispensing informed content that, if it can be found elsewhere, usually comes at a price. Thirty years developing a masthead that’s become a known and trusted brand, an integral part of the Canberra landscape.

It was 1993 when it all began, and so let us begin at the beginning in looking back at some of the highlights – and lowlights – of what was soaking up our attention locally …

When everything old is new again

The “unexpected” re-election of a fifth-term Labor federal government with an agenda encompassing native title legislation; the nationwide hunt for a serial killer; the country’s “worst ever mouse plague” and a Victorian State of Emergency with every river in flood; plus a gunman on the loose in Canberra = a dramatic year.

Added to that, the excitement of one of “the greatest astronomical discoveries of this century”: Mount Stromlo Observatory scientists shedding light on “dark matter”, that which makes up 90 per cent of the universe’s mass.

Emerging from recession, Paul Keating downs John Hewson at a time of low inflation, falling interest rates (down some 12 points to just over 5 per cent) but stubborn levels of unemployment (around 11 per cent). 

The water-cooler topic of the moment is the Native Title Act 1993, providing for claims by indigenous peoples to traditional lands after the Mabo decision of the previous year. 

With the grisly discovery of five mutilated bodies in Belanglo State Forest following two others found in the same location, calls arise for the unsolved disappearance and murders of four women from the Canberra region to be re-examined.

In other news of local note, doctors, nurses, teachers and the public service threaten strike action; smoking is banned in Canberra shopping centres and venues; the future of popular Summernats is in question with ACT Attorney-General Terry Connolly stating the focus shouldn’t be “the boobs, the booze and burn-outs”; and on Australia’s winning bid for the 2000 Olympics, hope of “improved transport links” between Canberra and Sydney (such as a “300km/h rail system that would link them in 75 minutes”).

Canberra names a suburb for the recently deceased surgeon and World War II hero Lieut-Col Sir Edward “Weary” Dunlop (85), while on Remembrance Day, November 11, a crowd of some 20,000 bear witness as the remains of the Unknown Soldier, returned from the battlefields of France, are entombed at the Australian War Memorial.

At month’s end, a gun-wielding maintenance supervisor crashes his ute bearing wired gas bottles through the front doors of the six-storey Jolimont Centre in the heart of Civic. Sparked by a failed relationship, Felipe Ruizdiaz will be the sole victim of his rampage.

As 1993 draws to a close, Federal politicking is again forefront with a scandal enmeshing the electorate of Canberra erupting. It would come to be known as the “Sports Rorts Affair”.