TIKALARA Park is probably the most historic area in Manningham and is located at the junction of Mullum Mullum Creek and the Yarra River.
It is historic on two fronts, from both Aboriginal and pioneer perspectives.
Access to Tikalara Park is gained either by walking west from Beasley’s Nursery on Warrandyte Road, north from Aumann’s Nursery on Websters Road, or east along the Yarra Trail from Petty’s Orchard on Monckton Road.
On reaching the junction of Mullum Mullum Creek and the Yarra River, you will find a small viewing platform that faces north up the river.
If you stand on the viewing platform, you will see a deep-water area immediately in front of you.
This is typically a breeding place for fish and a protected resting area for eels.
In tribal times, it would have been a busy fishing and swimming place.
Looking upriver from the platform, you will see a rapids area two hundred metres to the north.
This was not only a crossing point but was also where fish and eel traps would have been typically located.
Along the shady banks of the river would have been where freshwater mussel farms were located.
On the land to the right of these rapids is a rise that is above the spring flood level, so this was the typical location for a small village.
These river junction locations typically contained half a dozen or more bee-hive-shaped permanent houses that were two metres high and three metres across.
Jimmy Dawson, a local settler who arrived in Warrandyte in 1840, recorded the construction of these turf-block houses.
The frame is made by a circle of three-metre wattle saplings being driven into the ground.
The saplings were then bent into an igloo shape and secured.
The structure was then sheeted in bark and blocks of turf stacked against the frame, with the grass facing outward.
As the grass continued to grow after construction, the houses ended up looking like shaggy igloos, but were amazingly strong and durable.
A little chimney hole was always left at the apex of the structure.
The artefacts found in this raised area adjacent to the river crossing suggest that a village was located here.
The subsequent farming and grazing activity from 1838 on might have alone been enough to erase evidence of such prior Aboriginal housing — but it is more than likely that more deliberate action took place.
The first colonist in this area, and the first in present-day Manningham, was Major Charles Newman, who arrived in 1837. Looking to the right from the viewing platform, you will see Pontville, the permanent house he built in 1844.
It was an Indian-style three-room bungalow with surrounding verandas and is the oldest pioneer building still standing in the mid-Yarra region.
However, and rather ironically, the first dwelling Major Newman built in 1838 was a turf-block hut.
This was done with contracted convict labour, and it stood in the bracken-covered area right behind the present-day viewing platform.
Although it is not recorded, we can safely assume that the brief of the convict labourers was not just to build the Major’s turf-block hut and construct his fences.
It would also have included explicit instructions to obliterate any nearby Aboriginal houses.
The turf-block hut they built for the Major was a single-room dwelling.
It had a large chimney taking up the wall on the eastern side next to the creek and a doorway and window facing north up the river.
The south side of the hut was windowless and faced a bluff, so the west was the only direction from which Aboriginal people could approach the hut.
To cater for this eventuality, the Major had narrow slit windows constructed on the west side, and he kept an array of muskets propped beside each window.
This was so he could fire at any natives who dared to try and cross “his” land. Local oral history records that he did this regularly and with lethal intent. In response to the Major’s open hostility, Aboriginal people regularly broke down his fences, burnt his paddocks, and drove off his stock.
Such events are not only recounted in local oral history, they are also directly evidenced in letters of complaint the Major wrote to the government in New South Wales about his paddocks being burnt and stock being driven off by the natives.
There is one other feature in this area worth a look at, and it is reached by heading east from the viewing platform along the wooden walkway and then 50 metres or so south.
Here, you will find a pond, probably with some ducks in it. This is not a dam. It is the remains of a slurry pit made by the Major to produce the bricks with which Pontville was built.
The kiln accompanying the slurry pit is long since gone, as are the saw pits for cutting timber and the original wooden roof tiles.
Jim Poulter is a local historian.
Columns
An interview with Emma Wood
OVERCAST AND empty was the mood in Warrandyte when I met Emma Wood on Referendum day in the local Now and Not Yet Café to chat to her about her plays, directing, her writing processes, A Hit and Miss Christmas, and a variety of other topics too personal to make it into this article.
As I await Emma’s arrival, I order a loose-leaf oat chai and look through my research notes for a last bit of preparation. Emma has written and published three 15-minute one-act plays: Real World 101, Voices, and Women of the World, and five full-length plays: Water Child, Mr Bennet’s Bride, A Hit and Miss Christmas, The Third Act, and Piece of Mind — which incidentally is being performed in February next year at Lilydale Atheneum, directed by Susan Rundle.
She also recently collaborated with Warrandyte Theatre Company and Ballarat National Theatre Company, producing A 2020 Vision — an online curation of lockdown experiences “constructed entirely from the words of local residents” and wrote a verbatim script called Turning Points in collaboration with stroke survivors, performed in 2019.
Before she moved to Warrandyte, Emma worked, lived, and wrote in Newcastle, New South Wales, where her play Water Child won Best New Play at the 2012 City of Newcastle Drama Awards.
Women of the World won the Audience Choice award at Short and Sweet Manila 2017, and A Hit and Miss Christmas and The Third Act have been finalists in UK and US competitions.
Not a bad feat for someone who wasn’t planning on being a writer.
I’ve chosen a seat at the window near the door, and I take Emma by surprise when she enters and looks around.
I’m sitting there like a gremlin, grinning up at her.
“Hi!” I say with a wave as she takes a step back to get me in focus.
She gives me a big smile and hug and joins me at the table.
She orders a turmeric latte, and we share a raspberry, apple, and white chocolate muffin.
What strikes me about Emma the most — apart from us being tall lady buddies — is her reflective nature in her writing and her personality.
She is always interested in making sure she’s creating a safe and open environment for people to share and feel comfortable, especially in the acting and directing space.
Perhaps that is a monocle of her high school Drama teaching style, but I feel it’s an intrinsic element in her general, good-humoured nature.
A Hit and Miss Christmas will be the first time Emma has directed one of her own scripts.
During their first table reading at the hall, Emma was sure to make the distinction to her cast that she wanted them to see her as the director and not the writer.
“I don’t think it’s fair to the cast to be going here’s the script, and then next week, so here’s the script, and I’ve just got these changes.
“No one is ever in a play and doesn’t have some things where they are like, ‘ugh, this is hard to work with’.
“I want them to be able to say to me as a director so I can put aside my writer feelings and go ‘okay, cool, let’s work this as director and actor’.”
Emma went on to say co-directing with her friend Anika Means allowed her to focus on directing.
“You can sometimes have blind spots in your own work, and we’ve known each other long enough that she can be quite frank with me.”
Emma wrote her first play, Water Child, when she was 35 with a one-year-old.
“I woke up one morning with an idea.
“It was burning enough to get me out of bed at 4am and start writing.
“You know, when you’re in a flow, it just feels really good; I was absolutely in the zone.”
Emma credits ideas as “just coming to her”.
However, as she talks, it’s clear that her unconscious and conscious observations of subjects and experiences that ignite her passions seem to ruminate around in her mind until a story starts to form.
Playwriting is her way of expressing what she sees in the world.
She shares them as plots and characters on a journey of transformation that an audience can relate to.
Allowing for a contemplation of the watcher’s own life through the lens of a relatable or un-relatable character and being entertained by it.
And that’s exactly how A Hit and Miss Christmas “dawned on” her.
It was a combination of “being around community theatre companies long enough to realise that there’s quite often a bit of a scramble for a festive feeling play [at the end of the year], and there just aren’t that many to choose from.”
She said that while looking at the American community theatre scene, she noticed that many theatre companies would just do A Christmas Carol every year — and that’s where the idea came from.
She said there is always tension in theatre companies between people who want to bring something more contemporary and edgy, and the champions of the bums-on-seats classic who don’t care if it has been seen 10 times; they need to fill the coffers.
“When I wrote A Hit and Miss Christmas, my intention was to write just a laugh-out-loud comedy with absolutely no meaning, and I couldn’t do it! [Laughs]
“So eventually what came through was a desire to write something that was genuinely festive, but I suppose in a way it’s also a bit of a love letter to community theatre.
“There’s always argy-bargy, but there’s also friendship, and there’s sometimes potential for transformation.
“And I’ve always thought that was a beautiful thing about theatre, so I just thought I’d explore that a bit too.”
I’m pleased to say that Emma’s passion and energy for writing, our drinks, and the warmth of Now and Not Yet Café effortlessly cast out the surrounding gloom of the day.
I hope you have been as uplifted as I was by her humour, insights, and willingness to share so deeply and frankly about her process.
A Hit and Miss Christmas is premiering for the first time in Victoria later this month at Warrandyte Theatre Company, with eight performances over six evenings and two matinees between November 17 and December 2,
www.trybooking.com/CKUUF.
Are you getting ready to sell in spring?
SPRING IS usually a busy time in Melbourne for those thinking of buying or selling real estate.
To make the process as smooth as possible, here are some things you can do to get ready to sell your property in spring.
Make your house picture perfect First impressions count, so start packing and decluttering as soon as possible.
You want your house to look as attractive as possible for prospective buyers.
Cluttered houses often look smaller than they are, so decluttering creates an illusion of space, making your home feel larger.
If this seems too overwhelming, ask for help. There are many service providers that can assist with getting your house prepared for sale.
Property stylists, packing and decluttering services, landscape gardeners, and real estate agents can provide tips that may be beneficial in preparing your house for sale.
It is also an opportune time to have a working bee with family and friends, and perhaps even a garage sale to get rid of unwanted clutter.
Choose your real estate agent
If you have been looking to sell for some time, you may already have developed a relationship with a real estate agent who you will use to sell your property.
If not, start researching or asking around for some referrals. Ask friends or trusted colleagues about their experience and who they would recommend.
When selling your property, you are likely trusting your real estate agent with your biggest asset.
So, it is important to get this decision right and select someone you are completely comfortable with who can guide you through the process.
Have your Contract of Sale and Section 32 Vendor Statement ready
Instructing your conveyancer or property lawyer at least 2–3 weeks before putting your home on the market is ideal.
That way, the Contract of Sale and Section 32 Vendor Statement will be ready for your first open inspection.
Things that your conveyancer or property lawyer may need from you to complete a Section 32, Vendor Statement include:
- Details of any structural or non-structural works completed on the property over the last seven years.
- There may be further requirements in this respect, and your Conveyancer or Property Lawyer will be able to guide you; If your home was built less than seven years ago, there are additional requirements around providing Domestic Building Insurance, Occupancy Permit and Building Permits.
- Now is a good time to locate each of those so that they are ready to provide.
- Copy of pool/spa registration and pool/spa barrier compliance.
- Any easements or covenants on the property and checking to ensure that there has been no non-compliance.
- Lists what services are or are not connected.
What you need to know about Section 27 Deposit Release
If you are relying on the release of the deposit from the sale of your home to purchase your new property, you need to ensure that you are aware of how the Section 27 Deposit Release process works — so that there are no surprises that leave you in an unfortunate financial predicament.
A number of requirements must be met if you wish to apply for the early release of your deposit. You should discuss with your conveyancer or property lawyer when instructing them that you would like to access the deposit before settlement so that they can walk you through the process and discuss whether you meet the appropriate criteria.
There is a common assumption that your deposit can just be released once the Contract of Sale is unconditional; however, this is only sometimes the case and, in most circumstances, not that common.
Before you purchase
Before you sign the Contract of Sale, it is extremely important to have the Contract of Sale and Section 32, Vendor Statement looked over by a property lawyer or conveyancer.
They will review and advise you of any matters that may be detrimental or that you may need to look into further before purchasing the property.
This will give you a comprehensive understanding of the property and help you decide whether this is the right property for you.
Selling your property is a big moment in your life, so preparation is the key, and surround yourself with a team that can support you in getting your desired result.
And don’t forget to take a moment to stop and smell the roses.
Louise Aitken, Conveyancing Manager at Madison Sloan Lawyers in Park Orchards.
Triggers that it is time to update your estate plan
MOST OF US put our estate planning in place and tick it off as done.
However, we need to be mindful that our life changes, and so do our circumstances.
So, it is important that we also review our estate planning documents regularly to ensure that they are still relevant to your circumstances and reflect your current wishes.
Some triggers that it is time to update your estate planning documents are:
You marry or separate
If you have married since you put your current Will in place, it is time to update it as the very act of marriage revokes any Will you have in place unless that Will was put in place in contemplation of your marriage.
Many people are caught out by this little fact and are unaware that their Will is no longer valid.
If you have entered a de facto relationship since putting your Will in place, reviewing whether you wish to make any amendments to your Will and Power of Attorney documents is a good idea.
In instances where you have separated or divorced, it is highly unlikely that you wish for your former spouse to receive your assets or undertake the role of your executor, so it would be prudent to undertake a review and update your estate planning documents.
You have children
Having children should be an immediate trigger to update your Will.
However, I am often surprised by clients who have not updated their Will for 15 or 20 years, and their Will does not make any provision for their children as it was put in place before their birth.
Has someone passed away or become incapacitated?
If the person you listed as your executor or the guardian or your children have died or become incapacitated, it is imperative that you review your Will so that you can list someone else to undertake one of these important roles.
Likewise, if a beneficiary passes away, you should review your Will to ensure that you have made provision for what will happen to their share of your estate.
Prospectively, you may wish to change who will receive the share of your estate they would have received.
A beneficiary can no longer manage their own affairs
The circumstances of a beneficiary you may have listed in your Will may have changed.
They may no longer be able to manage their own affairs, whether through incapacity, addiction, or other personal challenges.
In such instances, it is ideal to review your Will to ascertain how best to make provision for this beneficiary.
It may mean creating a particular vehicle in your Will whereby their inheritance is held in a trust for their benefit and prospectively controlled by your executor or another trusted person.
Have you commenced a new business, established a company, Trust or other structure?
Often, we hold significant assets in businesses, company structures or Trusts.
It is imperative that if you make any changes to these structures or establish any new structures, you review your estate planning.
Implementing or changing one of these structures without looking at your estate planning holistically may leave you exposed and create problems when you are no longer here.
Your Superannuation or Life Insurance arrangements have changed
If you change your superannuation arrangements, it is important to make sure that you have in place a current and valid Binding Death Nomination that provides a direction to the Trustee of your Superannuation Fund as to where you would like your superannuation to be paid at the time of your death.
You should also regularly review your life insurance arrangements to ensure that you are adequately insured and have the appropriate beneficiary on any life insurance policy.
Have you acquired significant assets that you wish to make provision for?
If you have recently acquired assets that you wish to leave to a specific person at the time of your death, you need to make provision for this in your Will.
Additionally, if you have recently sold a particular asset that you had bequeathed to someone in your Will, it is a good idea to update your Will to take account of this asset no longer being part of your asset pool and perhaps making provision of an alternate asset to that specific beneficiary.
By regularly reviewing your estate planning documents, you can easily identify any amendments that may be required and action these so that they are up to date and reflective of your current wishes.
Melisa Sloan is an Estate Planning and Property Lawyer based in Park Orchards. For more information, go to: madisonsloanlawyers.com.au.
Climate change threatens platypus in your river
Photo Melinda Casey
HOW MANY of us have wandered down to the Yarra, Birrarung River in Warrandyte in search of the ever-elusive platypus?
We know they call this special part of the world home, but these cherished creatures are under threat.
From habitat loss and urbanisation to pollution and climate change, our platypus friends face numerous challenges.
Keep reading as we explore the dangers they confront and discover the urgent actions needed to safeguard their existence in the heart of the Yarra, Birrarung River.
Human activities such as damming upstream, excessive water extraction and alterations to the riverÕs flow disrupt the delicate balance necessary for the platypus to thrive.
These changes reduce water quality, impacting the availability of the platypusÕs favourite prey, including crustaceans, insects, and small fish.
Moreover, sediment accumulation, nutrient runoff, and invasive species further degrade their habitat, making it increasingly challenging for these captivating creatures to find suitable shelter, construct their burrows, and rear their young along the banks of the Yarra, Birrarung River.
Humans are also masters of pollution.
Industrial and agricultural activities and urbanisation introduce toxic chemicals such as pesticides, fertilisers, heavy metals, and plastics into our waterways.
Unfortunately, these pollutants contaminate the platypusÕs vital food sources, leading to long-term health problems and reproductive complications.
Chemical contaminants can accumulate in their bodies, compromising their immune systems and can result in untimely deaths.
The ingestion of plastic debris, mistaken for food, poses a severe risk, causing blockages in their digestive systems and leaving them vulnerable to starvation.
In the ever-changing landscape along the Yarra, Birrarung River, our platypus companions also face a heartbreaking loss of their precious homes.
Deforestation, land clearing, and rapid urban development encroach upon their habitats, leaving fewer places for them to forage, nest, and raise their young.
The loss of vegetation along the riverbanks exacerbates the situation, contributing to increased water temperature, bank erosion, and instability.
This combination threatens their survival, as the platypus population becomes fragmented, and their genetic diversity diminishes.
The encroachment of human activities takes a toll, leaving these remarkable creatures vulnerable to environmental changes and the outbreak of diseases within the heart of the Yarra, Birrarung River.
And on top of everything else, there is climate change.
Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall patterns disrupt the delicate equilibrium of their habitat.
Heatwaves and altered weather patterns make it difficult for platypuses to regulate their body temperature, leading to stress and reduced reproductive success.
Extreme weather events like droughts and floods wreak havoc on their homes, washing away nesting burrows and leaving individuals displaced.
These environmental disruptions pose immense challenges to the platypus population, straining their ability to adapt and survive amidst the changing climate along the Yarra, Birrarung.
So, despite all these threats, how can we help?
Reduce pollution by properly disposing of waste.
Participate in local clean-up events to remove litter and plastics from the river.
Follow fishing regulations, use barbless hooks, and release non-target species promptly.
Join local conservation groups such as the Friends of Warrandyte State Park, volunteer for platypus monitoring programs, and contribute to fundraising efforts of organisations that protect our waterways.
Advocate for urgent action on climate change.
Maintain healthy riverbanks by minimising disturbance and avoiding activities that contribute to erosion along the river corridor.
Spread the word about the importance of platypus conservation within the community.
By actively engaging in these actions, we can all contribute to the long-term conservation of the platypus in the Yarra, Birrarung River and ensure their survival for future generations.
Charlotte Sterrett is a member of WarrandyteCAN a local climate change action group that campaigns for positive changes to reduce the impacts of climate change.
Find WarrandyteCAN on Facebook for more information
Birrarung stories: Jindi Worobak: Healing through ceremony
IN THE mid-1980s, I decided to try and understand the concept of The Dreaming as closely as possible.
Academic publications proved to be of little help, as they tended to be detached, esoteric ramblings about the term’s etymology.
However, this did show that there were deeper layers of meaning implied.
This was then reinforced by some tribal people I spoke with, who assured me that the term “The Dreaming” was, in fact, “just right”.
So, I decided to read every Dreamtime creation story I could find, and in doing so, a deeper pattern to the stories soon became apparent.
All these primary creation stories began in an empty darkness in which the Spirit of All Life began to Dream, and the first Dreaming was of Fire.
My first thought was: “Wow, this is the Big Bang; only the universe is being imagined into place by a Supreme Being”.
These creation stories then all told how after Dreaming of fire, wind, rain, earth and sky, land and sea, the Spirit of All Life grew tired but wanted the Dream to continue.
So, life was sent into the Dream to make it real, and each Creator Spirit was given a piece of the Dreaming jigsaw to guide their actions.
Then, when they had finished their work, the Creator Spirits each surrendered their Dreaming to become the landmarks and animals we see today.
Finally, the only remaining creature with consciousness and knowledge of The Dreaming plan was mankind.
So, it is the job of mankind to protect The Dreaming by caring for the Land.
However, we cannot do this as individuals; we need to do it in ritual association with each other and pass on the Dreaming Secrets to the next generation to prepare them for their responsibilities.
In a very real way, traditional Aboriginal thought systems hold that human perception and human ritual are important elements in defining reality.
We are still connected to the original Dreaming through our own Personal Dreaming, and just like the Spirit of All Life imagined the world, human consciousness and ritual hold reality in place.
Aboriginal people were the first post-modern thinkers. In this vein, many Aboriginal people have, over the years, expressed to me the idea that there is a ritual answer to every problem.
This idea is well illustrated in traditional culture, specifically in how inter-tribal disputes were prevented from spiralling out of control.
For instance, if the traditional “payback” system continued to escalate and aggravate tensions between two tribes, the respective Elders from the tribes would meet and agree on a ritual resolution.
This was known in some languages as “Jindi Worobak”, which means “Come together after a dispute”.
The ceremony agreed on might or might not include a time-limited ceremonial fight between the tribes, but it would undoubtedly include ceremonial healing and cultural exchanges.
This included speeches, ritual smoking, dance performances, and games.
The point was that after the ceremonial resolution, all further payback was strictly forbidden, and any breach was subject to immediate and drastic punishment by your own tribe.
The point I am leading to is, why not adopt the Jindi Worobak approach and create a special ceremonial event where all Australians could “Come together after a dispute” and make it a National Day of Healing? Such a day might, for instance, start with a Sorry Time speech by an Aboriginal Elder, highlighting the historical issues behind the dispute.
This could then be followed by a traditional Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony in which all attendees would, in turn, ritually cleanse themselves by bathing in the smoke.
After this, there could then be cultural exchanges, in which, for instance, various ethnic groups within the community could perform and teach their traditional dances.
Ending such an event with a traditional Australian barbeque would also be entirely appropriate.
The only question remaining would be, what particular date would be the most symbolic, on which to hold a series of ceremonies across the country, where all Australians could come together after a dispute? What date could best serve to recognise our past difficulties, and become a new day of national healing, when we could all move forward together as Australians? Well, I have just had a random thought.
Why not put aside January 26 and celebrate it as Australia’s Jindi Worobak Day? Local Councils around Australia could even lead the way.
Councils are uniquely well-placed to coordinate the contributions of local Aboriginal and ethnic groups.
They are also best placed to include a Citizenship Ceremony as part of a National Day of Unity.
As my Aboriginal friends have always said, there is a ritual answer to every problem.
|So, if Australia Day is a problem, why not make it the answer?
Jim Poulter is a local history author.
His articles are freely available through Reconciliation Manningham; find them on Facebook for more information.
Hope — the greatest motivator
ONE OF THE first things I do when I start with a new client is search for a sense of hope in them.
It doesn’t matter whether they present with anxiety, depression, lack of friendships, school problems, or family issues.
If I can find what they are hopeful about, even if it is buried down very deep, we can engage their motivation for change.
We find a preferred vision of their life and start making purposeful steps towards it together.
But what is hope?
Some people think it’s just a feel-good emotion.
Like watching a romcom that is all about Hollywood’s expectations of love.
I mean, how many people really do “that run” to the airport to stop their great love from flying away in the real world?
Hope is so much more than that.
Hope is a feeling of anticipation and craving for a particular outcome.
It’s not all unicorns and rainbows, but positively pragmatic and rooted in the reality of what is possible.
That is what makes it so powerful as a motivator.
It pushes us to understand and clear obstacles, channel energy into learning, and use the approaching goal to fuel more hope and confidence.
It’s a self-generating positive energy source for change and growth.
Research shows us that hope has many positive benefits in our lives.
People with higher levels of hope have better health behaviours, physical health, less chronic disease and live longer.
The mental health and well-being aspects are evident in lower levels of anxiety and depression, less stress, better social support, and more resilience.
Studies have shown that hope was a better predictor of academic achievement than IQ and athletic success than training and confidence.
In other words, it’s the holy grail of mindsets to have.
It has been suggested that those with higher hope are more likely to set learning goals that promote personal growth and change.
Those without hope are more likely to set mastery goals that aren’t particularly challenging and give up if they hit obstacles very early.
This continues their feedback loop that having hope is pointless because they “succeed” anyway.
In being hopeful, we look for solutions to the obstacles rather than just focusing on the obstacles.
Hope is flagging for a lot of our young people right now.
If we remember that hope is pragmatic and rooted in the real world, let’s look at the types of evidence they see around them.
They will inherit climate change but currently have little power over the decisions currently being made.
Overall living costs, which we are all constantly talking about, including housing prices, make it seem like having their own house when they grow up is impossible.
The pandemic that took such a vast toll on their lives and development and the notion it could happen again, the war in Ukraine, and rising Russian threats to the West.
Bringing it closer to home, how many young people struggle with school or university because of remote learning?
How many young peoples’ grades took a nosedive?
How many young people’s social groups or families struggled over the past few years?
This is all viewed as evidence that the world has become increasingly unpredictable and frightening and their place in it cannot be relied on.
Whether it comes from us or others, doubt can also eat away at the foundation of hope.
For our young people, parents, teachers, coaches, grandparents, other extended family members, or family friends can intentionally or accidentally plant the seeds of doubt.
I’m sure all of us can remember when an adult said something that planted doubt about what we could achieve and, what it did to us, how it felt.
It literally can take the wind motivation from our sails.
It doesn’t mean we tell every young person they can be an astronaut or Prime Minister.
But, it does mean we role model and teach them how to problem solve obstacles, hopefully for things that are important to them.
We need to show them hope in action where we can.
Whether that is taking a risk in looking at a promotion for yourself or trying out that new exercise regime to deal with a health problem.
We can discuss our hopes and dreams with them and actively determine courses of action to get us there.
When given the chance, our young people want to help us achieve our hopes the same way we do for them, and many are incredibly smart at coming at things from angles we would never see for ourselves.
They can also be quite blunt in calling us out on our BS.
Equally, we want to help them identify and maintain their hopes for themselves.
This might be pointing out evidence of what they have achieved to date, when we saw them overcome previous obstacles, that we believe the doubting voice in their heads isn’t accurate.
Hope is the best motivator there is for our young people.
Have a good think about what you are hopeful for and make time to talk to your young person about their hopes and dreams.
Until next time folks!
Natalie Rinehart (B.A.Sci (Psych); Grad.Dip.App.Psych)
Young Person & Family Counsellor/Life Coach, Author
www.youthlifecoach.com.au
youthlifecoach@healthpriorities.com.au
0425 735 106
Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung: What’s in a name?
THE HUMAN SENSE of identity and belonging is multi-layered.
At an immediate level, we can identify our belonging to a family, a locality, and a community.
From there, it broadens to a matrix of various communities of interest, such as your membership of a profession, sports club, recreational pursuit, or religious affiliation.
At increasingly broader levels, we can identify as belonging to a region, a state, a nation and a particular cultural heritage.
Within these various layers of personal and group identity, there are often also competitive elements.
For instance, your best friend at work may barrack for a rival football team, and this might then involve some friendly banter and mock mutual derision.
The point, though, is that in-group and out-group psychology does not necessarily lead to deep alienation and antagonism between individuals or groups, even though, of course, it sometimes does.
Traditional Aboriginal society was no different in that there were many overlapping layers of personal and group identity.
These successively involved your family and totemic relationships, a shared geographic water catchment area, a language group of several catchment areas, and then an even broader federation of adjacent language groups.
However, just like Victorians might refer to West Australians as “Sand Gropers”, Queenslanders as “Banana Benders” and South Australians as “Crow Eaters”, so too did Aboriginal people have derisory nicknames for other Mobs.
This was clearly demonstrated in the early colonial period in Sydney when an Elder named Mahroot was asked what was the name of the people at Liverpool.
His reply was “Cobrakalls, same as you call the French people”.
As Cobra was the Aboriginal name for a foul-smelling mollusc that the Liverpool people ate and regarded as a delicacy, he was, of course, saying that they were snail-eaters.
More than that, though, he was probably implying that the Liverpool Mob were known as “Bad Breath People”.
Jimmy Dawson, who settled at Warrandyte in 1840 and then moved to the Western District in 1844, had a similar experience.
In recording the names of various languages in the Western District, he was told various nicknames that meant things like “Drawlers”, “Bleeding Lip”, and “Seaweed Speakers”.
These nicknames have since become institutionalised as the traditional language names in the area, because Jimmy Dawson’s is the only record, and Aboriginal humour was not accounted for in accepting the names.
There are many other instances across Australia of joke names being mistakenly adopted as traditional Aboriginal names, but I can give a couple of pertinent examples closer to home.
The Dandenong Valley catchment area of the Dandenong Creek, Cardinia Creek, and Bunyip River from Bayswater down to Kooweerup, was occupied by a Woi Wurrung clan, the Ngaruk Willam Balluk.
In context, Ngaruk refers the rocky southern slopes of the Dandenong Mountains down to Westernport Bay, whilst Willam-Balluk means “home country of these people”.
However, they were colloquially referred to by others as the Balluk-Willam and this changes the meaning to “Swamp People” or even more accurately, “Bog Dwellers”.
A very apt name for that area.
As can be seen from the preceding example, Aboriginal tribes very often take their name from the major river of their area.
The proper name for the Yarra is Birrarung, so the locals referred to themselves as the “Birrarung-Willam-Balluk”, but were commonly known by their language of Woi Wurrung.
To the surrounding tribes, however, just like the snail-eaters anecdote, the Birrarung people of the Woi Wurrung were given a nickname by their neighbours that reflected their dietary habits.
This nickname was Wurundjeri, which means “Witchetty Grub Eaters”.
However, in 1835, Batman’s surveyor John Helder Wedge, mistakenly thought that the name of the Melbourne river was “Yarra”.
The local Birrarung people therefore, quickly adapted to the Whitefella change and began referring to themselves as the “Yarra Tribe”.
This situation is tacitly confirmed by the Aboriginal Protector William Thomas, who kept a daily diary from when he started in 1839 to when he died in 1867.
In his diary, he makes about 400 references to the Woi Wurrung people but not one single reference to the name Wurundjeri.
However, just before his death in 1867, he drew a map of the Yarra Valley and Westernport area in which he marks Coranderrk, the Aboriginal Reserve, which had been established in 1863.
So, the map was obviously made at some time in the four years after that.
Then, across the map of the Yarra Valley area, he superimposed the words “Wurundjeri of the Woi Wurrung”, thereby clearly showing that the name Wurundjeri had only gained some currency after 1863.
The inescapable conclusion is that when Coranderrk was established in 1863, the non-locals there continued to refer to the locals by their nickname of Wurundjeri, and the locals simply got used to it.
The net result is that nowadays, we all routinely refer to the Wurundjeri as the traditional owners when originally it was just their nickname.
Jim Poulter is a local historian and a member of Reconciliation Manningham.
Find out more at: facebook.com/reconciliationmanningham
Image: Merri Creek,Plenty Ranges, Charles Troedel NGV
Proposed changes to working-from-home deductions
MANY OF YOU will now be accustomed to claiming expenses incurred whilst working from home (WFH), a lot of this largely due to the lockdown measures put in place during the early years of the pandemic.
With much of the workforce WFH, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) instigated an $0.80 per work hour “shortcut method” for claiming home expenses from March 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022.
The shortcut method has been very popular, as the expenses included could be claimed based on the production of a timesheet or work diary — much simpler than the Fixed Rate Method or Actual Cost Method.
New guidelines in development
The ATO is in the final stages of updating the methods available to claim WFH expenses for the 2022/23 tax year and beyond.
The Claiming a deduction for additional running expenses incurred while working from home — ATO compliance approach PCG 2022/D4 document is a good indicator of what taxpayers looking to claim WFH expenses in the 2022/23 financial year can expect.
I have reproduced key points from this document; these new guidelines will likely take effect from July 1, 2022.
The draft guidelines indicate that from July 1, 2022, the $0.80 method and its predecessor, the $0.52 per hour rate, will no longer be available and will be replaced with the Revised Fixed Rate of $0.67 per hour.
The ATO will allow taxpayers to continue to claim their actual expenses or use the Revised Fixed Rate Method, as explained below:
- You do not need to have a separate home office or dedicated work area set aside in your home in order to rely on the information in this guideline.
- If more than one taxpayer in your household is working from home at the same time, each taxpayer will be able to rely on the guideline provided that each taxpayer meets the requirements for deductibility.
- Taxpayers working in the same household at the same time can choose to use either the revised fixed rate or actual expenses method.
- If you do not use the revised fixed rate method, you will need to use the actual expenses method.
- The information should be interpreted to be in effect from July 1, 2022
The Revised Fixed Rate Method covers the following additional running expenses you incur on a fair and reasonable basis by using the revised fixed rate of $0.67 per hour worked from home.
- Energy expenses (electricity or gas) for lighting, heating/cooling and electronic items used while working from home.
- Internet expenses
- Mobile and/or home phone telephone expenses, and
- Stationery and computer consumables
To calculate your total deduction for running expenses using the Revised Fixed Rate Method you:
- a) Calculate the number of hours you worked from home during the income year based on your records.
For only the 2022/23 income year, you need to keep:
- A record representative of the total number of hours worked from home from July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022.
- A record of the total number of actual hours you worked from home for the period January 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023.
Note, for 2023/24, and later years, you must keep a record for the entire income year of the actual number of hours you worked from home during that income year.
- b) Multiply the total number of hours you worked from home during the income year by 67c per hour.
- c) Calculate the work-related decline in the value of any depreciating assets that you used to work from home during the income year and any other running expenses incurred and not accounted for in the 67c per hour rate.
- d) Add the amounts calculated from b) and c) above, and this total will be the amount you claim as your deduction for working from home at D5 in your Work Related Expenses Schedule of your tax return.
Further information can be obtained from the Draft Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2022/D4; it can be found on the ATO website or by entering the above title into your search engine.
Note that the document is still in its draft form but is indicative of what will be legislated; please check the ATO website or ask your financial advisor for details when it reaches its final form.
The content of this article is not intended to be relied upon as professional advice and should not be used as such.
If you have any questions, you should consult a registered tax agent.
Brian Spurrell B A, B Com, Dip Ed, FCPA, Registered Tax Agent.
Director, Personalised Taxation & Accounting Services Pty Ltd
PO Box 143 Warrandyte 3113
0412 011 946
www.ptasaccountants .com.au
Preparing for the worst: top five estate planning mistakes
THE BEST WAY to take care of your family and loved ones in the event that you are no longer here is by putting in place a comprehensive Estate Plan.
The documents that comprise your Estate Plan must be well drafted to ensure that your wishes and intentions are clear so that everything happens the way you would like it to happen upon your death.
If your estate planning documents, such as your Will, are incomplete or ambiguous, it may result in people that you do not wish to receive your assets receiving them, or prospectively a claim being brought against your estate, which would be both costly and time-consuming.
Let’s look at the five most common mistakes to avoid when putting your estate plan in place.
Putting in place a DIY Will
If you are inclined to use a “do it yourself (DIY) Will kit” or personally prepare your own Will to save money, be warned that it may often cost your estate money after you die.
DIY Wills are often ambiguous, and your wishes and intentions may not be clearly defined, and at worst, your Will could be deemed invalid.
A high level of care is required to make your Will a legally binding document, and your Will and other estate planning documents should be put in place by an estate planning lawyer, who will be able to provide you with the appropriate legal advice in respect to your circumstances and ensure that you have a comprehensive, well-documented estate plan in place that is reflective of your wishes.
Poor choice of Executor
In appointing someone as an Executor of your Will, you give them the keys to everything you own and control.
That’s big.
You, therefore, need to appoint someone that you trust implicitly to undertake this role.
Appointing someone who resides overseas as your Executor can present challenges, as can appointing an elderly parent in some instances.
Often people elect to appoint two executors jointly, and if you are inclined to do so, I would encourage you to think of the following:
Do they know each other?
Will they work together as joint Executors of your Will?
Is there any conflict between them?
Will they focus on your wishes and the best interest of the beneficiaries?
Essentially, when appointing an Executor, you select the person you trust the most.
Gifting assets that you do not own
In putting your estate plan in place, it is important to understand what assets you own individually and what assets you control.
Many people fail to understand that you cannot gift joint assets, trust assets, or company or partnership assets in your Will.
You may only gift assets if you personally own them.
Joint assets, such as a joint bank account or a property owned jointly with another person, cannot be gifted as such assets will automatically pass to the surviving joint owner.
Concerning your superannuation, most superannuation funds allow you to nominate a beneficiary by putting in place a binding death benefit nomination, directing where you would like your superannuation to be paid at the time of your death.
Not putting the Power of Attorney documents in place
Putting in place a Power of Attorney document allows you to appoint someone to make financial, legal, guardianship and medical decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated and can no longer make your own decisions.
If you do not put this document in place, someone may be appointed as your guardian and administrator to make these decisions on your behalf, and they may not be the person you would have chosen to make these important decisions.
It is, therefore, imperative that the Power of Attorneys are an integral part of an estate plan.
Failing to update or review your estate plan
Life changes.
An estate plan you put in place 30 years ago is unlikely to be relevant today.
If you don’t review your estate plan regularly to accommodate your changing circumstances, you may leave yourself and your beneficiaries exposed.
By regularly reviewing your estate plan, you will be identifying any major life events and the need to update your Will to ensure that it is current and reflects your wishes.
The content of this column is not intended as a substitute for seeking professional advice.
If you need the services of a legal professional for any content covered in this column, consult the relevant professional.
Melisa Sloan is an Estate Planning Lawyer based in Park Orchards; find out more about her business at madisonsloanlawyers.com.au.
Making a bee-friendly garden
I HAVE ALWAYS had a love of bees.
My dear old dad used to call me “Bees Knees”, I assume because I had skinny legs and knobbly knees – but maybe because he thought I was.
Bee emblems, embossing, and art are scattered around my home.
My absolute favourite bee is the good old English Bumble Bee.
I have beautiful memories of them in the gardens of Giverny and Versailles on trips.
Giant, slow-moving bumble bees that bounce off you if they run into you. Home in Warrandyte, we have our beautiful Blue-banded Bee.
I had always wanted to learn beekeeping and wear the groovy gear, but of course, time was always short, and it always seemed such a huge endeavour.
I contacted the Victorian Apiarist Society and tracked down a local beekeeper who would come and set up his hives on my acreage and maintain them for me.
I get the gorgeous bee chit-chat from my “Dietmar” and jars of honey from my bees.
I thought that when Dietmar came to assess my property, I would be able to prettily point over there to a pretty spot in the garden for the hives to look pretty, but no.
The hive position decision on the property was a long and complicated process based on wind, flowering gums and shrubs, and access to water.
So, the hives are in a position that is not “pretty” and not somewhere I would have chosen at all, but the bees are happy and content and very industrious and produce beautiful Yellow Box honey.
Now I try to fill my garden with as many varied flowering shrubs as possible, so I always have something flowering at all times of the year.
Water is always a concern for them, especially over the summer months, and I often sit for an hour just watching the coming and going of the bees from flower to flower and from water bowl to water bowl.
Four hives in winter, two in summer. If you don’t have time or room or are wary of bees in general, you can get some great bee hotels that will encourage native bees into the garden.
Kids will love being involved in setting your hotel in position.
Not only do the bees love all the shrubs I am planting (currently, they love the salvias, camellias and the Erysimum or native wallflowers), but they also love herbs.
Herbs are a great addition to the garden, intermingled with other trees and shrubs, in the vegetable garden, in pots or even in cane baskets (which you should never throw away).
They will eventually rot down, but they look beautiful, planted with herbs or bulbs.
I currently have big cane washing baskets full of daffodils, and I will soon plant the bearded irises.
No rest for the wicked.
Most herbs need a good supply of sunshine, and often in the right area in the garden, they will tend to grow like weeds.
If you don’t cut off the seed heads, you will find new ones popping up to replace the old ones.
And the bees won’t want you to deadhead them either.
If you feel the need to deadhead, only deadhead half of them. I have borage popping up everywhere at the moment.
Beautiful pale blue flowers will soon appear, though I just have the serrated fuzzy borage leaves at the moment.
Bees love borage, and so do I.
I have pink borage seeds to sow soon – something new I picked up somewhere, or did someone gift them to me?
Basil, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, parsley, lavender, coriander, chives, lemon balm, and mint. Bees love them all; so plant them all.
They even love onion weed, dandelions, thistles and nettles, so there is always a reason for you to have a couple of weedy plants somewhere in the garden.
“Oh, they are for the bees”, not “I can’t keep on top of the weeding”.
Most plants that flower are brilliant for pollinators.
Grasses, flaxes, and foliage plants are brilliant in the garden but make sure that you add plenty of flowering shrubs for the bees.
My grevilleas at the moment are a smorgasbord for bees and birds.
They are alive with activity.
Also, if you have bees or are trying to attract them to your garden, try only using natural methods for pest eradication.
There are plenty of natural products and recipes online to get rid of caterpillars and aphids from the garden, but sometimes you just need to pop on some gardening gloves and pluck them off.
It is quite therapeutic.
If you do this and you have chickens, you will be the most popular person in the hen house, as the chooks will love their little insect treats.
My go-to cheap aphid spray is a squirt bottle with a teaspoon full of crushed garlic (I buy the cheap no-name jar of it), a squirt of dishwashing detergent and fill to the top with water.
Give it a good shake, strain and then pop it back into the bottle.
Spray on the roses in particular.
It seems to work for me.
It is meant to deter possums too.
Also, I was looking online and found that you can buy boxes of ladybirds to combat the aphid problems in your garden.
What a gorgeous gift for someone.
There are four common garden species of ladybird in Australia.
The common spotted ladybird is bright orange with black dots on its back.
They are a predator of aphids, scale insects and mites.
An adult ladybird can eat up to 2,500 aphids during their lifetime.
The fungus-eating ladybird has very bold black and yellow colouration.
Both adults and larvae feed on mildew fungus, a common problem in gardens in September.
Have a gorgeous September in the garden. Plant up herbs, and throw around seeds with gay abandon.
Enjoy the first days of spring.
Bee Happy.
The environment as a living entity
BIRRARUNG STORIES
THE CONCEPT of the Dreaming is a little bit difficult to understand for people brought up in a culture believing in objective science.
The Dreaming puts that reality was originally forged in an act of imagination by the Spirit of All Life.
To make the dream objectively real, life was then sent into the Dream in the form of Creator Spirits who each carried a part of the great Dreaming Plan, like pieces of a giant jigsaw.
The Creator Spirits then completed their part of the giant jigsaw of creation work, and after this they surrendered their Dreaming to become the landmarks and animals we see today in the natural environment.
According to Aboriginal religious belief, mankind is therefore now the only being that has retained consciousness and free will, and so is charged with sole care of the real world.
The Spirit of All Life, or Wandjina, therefore now rests in the land and although watching and listening, plays no further part in the unfolding of human affairs.
Aboriginal people therefore believed in a non-interventionist Supreme Being.
So, Wandjina is always depicted with eyes but no mouth.
This is because God sees everything, but says nothing.
The idea of God resting in the land and leaving everything in human hands, very strongly conveys the Aboriginal belief in the sacredness of the land, and that human beings are solely responsible for its care.
To reinforce this notion of the sacredness of the environment, Aboriginal people have a belief in a complex spirit world that surrounds us.
Anything with a form or shape, even inert objects, is regarded as having an essential being and Dreaming of its own that must be respected by human beings.
Although this idea may seem simple, it has complex ramifications.
A tree has a spirit, the copse that the tree belongs within has a spirit and the forest to which all the copses belong also has its own spirit.
A rock has a spirit, a rocky outcrop has a spirit and the whole hill has a spirit.
A river has a spirit, each area of the river and each creek leading to the river all have their own Tikalara or “Spirit of Place”.
We are therefore surrounded by a complex, overlapping spirit world.
Anything created also gains a spirit.
If a bird makes a nest, the nest gains a spirit.
If a person makes a digging stick, a spear or a shield, these all gain their own spirit.
When it is all boiled down though, the belief in a complex multi-layered, overlapping spirit world is simply a device by which respect for the environment is guaranteed.
As an illustration of this I was many years ago walking in Framlingham Forest with the iconic Elder Banjo Clarke and his young grandson, who was carrying a stick.
The grandson dragged his stick along the ground and was softly admonished by Banjo to never make a mark on the ground unless it was for a reason.
Disappointingly, the Aboriginal belief in a pervasive surrounding spirit world has often been dismissed as just ‘Animism’.
This is a category reserved for supposedly fallacious pagan beliefs that inanimate objects can and do have a soul.
There was a great love by Europeans following the period of Enlightenment, of creating taxonomies or hierarchies that placed Western thought systems at the top and Aboriginal thought systems at the bottom. Unfortunately, the power of these ideas still exists today.
At the time Australia was colonised in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Christian views of the day could not countenance the idea of anything other than human beings possessing a soul.
Such dismissive views clearly show an ingrained unwillingness to understand how belief in a complex spirit world could actually be part of a coherent broader set of religious ideas.
Or that it could be compatible with belief in a Supreme Being.
It certainly wasn’t compatible with the Christian idea of an interventionist God.
In reality, the belief in a complex surrounding spirit world is not so far from our mainstream life experiences today.
Our differential use of the words ‘house’ and ‘home’ gives some clue to this.
We build a house, but when we move in it gains a spirit and become our home.
As individuals, we each demonstrably have our own spirit, but when we band together with others for a mutual purpose, we then gain a team spirit and a common identity.
We will often sit in a quiet park and feel the spirit of the place.
We will stand on top of a mountain or look down a majestic valley in quiet wonderment of the power and beauty of what we see.
Just imagine what it was like to be an Aboriginal person seeing the wonders and embedded stories of your Country every single day.
Not just seeing these creation wonders each day, but also knowing that you were responsible for protecting it and maintaining its Dreaming Secrets.
Image: Untitied (wandjina) attributed to Jack Karedada
Work photographed at National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Warrandyte Primary launches Reconciliation Action Plan
STUDENTS AND TEACHERS at Warrandyte Primary School were excited to officially launch their Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) this
month.
The school community has been privileged throughout term two to work alongside Aboriginal Elder Arbup Peters and Kira Peters, who
both work for the Victorian Education Department.
Kira is the local Koorie Engagement Support Officer (KESO), as well as being a primary school teacher herself.
During a whole school assembly, Arbup welcomed everyone to country with a traditional Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung welcome.
He explained how important the welcome is to the Traditional Owners, as they welcome people to their land.
Parent Dione and ex-student Zara Veal attended and spoke during the assembly.
They were both involved in initiating the school’s RAP, which began three years ago when a Grade 5 student wanted to start the process of formally recognising the school’s plans and vision for reconciliation.
Students from the Junior School Council talked about the importance of reconciliation, acknowledging wrongdoing from the past and moving forward to create and develop positive relationships.
They explained how important it is to understand the role Traditional Owners have always had in looking after Country and their special
relationship with the land.
Performances by students of a song entitled Wominjeka, meaning “welcome”, and Kutju Australia, the National Anthem in Luritja, a language of First Nations People from the Northern Territory, was enjoyed by all.
Another visitor was Aunty Loraine, a Taungurung Elder who has written a book entitled Bijil Ba Wudhi Deberra, or Bijil and the Moths.
The story tells of a family going to the High Country during summer, trapping and roasting Bogong moths to eat.
The people used the stars to tell them when to go and Songlines to give directions, singing instructions as they travelled.
Aunty Loraine talked about some of her work developing language resources and preserving Aboriginal languages for present and future
generations.
One of the highlights for many attending was the performance by the world-renowned didgeridoo musician, Ganga Giri.
Ganga is a rhythmic didgeridoo virtuoso and percussionist, originally from Tasmania, whose passion and infectious energy had everyone joining in with animal actions and clapping rhythms.
Principal Nieta Manser concluded the assembly by saying how proud she is to be a part of this, especially to be present, as this was the first time we raised all three flags on our new flagpoles; Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and Australian.
Scan the QR codes (right) to view Arbup’s moving Welcome to Country
and the Raising of the Three Flags and Dione and Zara’s speech on WPS’s commitment to Reconciliation.
Warrandyte local produces first book in Taungurung and English
Aunty Loraine with Matt Burns, CEO of the Taungurung Land and Waters Council
By CHEWY
LORAINE PADGHAM, a long time Warrandyte local, has written a children’s book in the Taungurung
language, with English translation.
The Taungurung people, of which Loraine is a member, live on and care for the land in central Victoria.
Their territory commences at the Great Dividing Range and encompasses the land on which the towns of Yea, Alexandra, Mansfield,
Kilmore and Broadford now stand.
Bijil Ba Wudhi Deberra (Bijil and the Moths) tells the story of a young Taungurung boy who accompanies his parents on their annual adventurous trip to the high plains in summer to participate in cultural activities, renew friendships with other clan members and to harvest Bogong moths.
The book had its first public reading at Warrandyte Primary School as part of their activities recognising and celebrating Aboriginal culture, where it was received with great interest from the children present.
The book includes a QR code that enables the reader to listen to the story read in Taungurung.
Copies of the book can be purchased from the Taungurung website,
taungurung.com.au
The Screen Wars: How to stop it tearing your family apart
IT’S A WEDNESDAY night.
You have finally finished up work in the home office.
The kids have been home from school for an hour.
You stick your head in on teen number one; he’s in front of his computer with Discord chats on one screen and a fast-moving game he’s yelling at on another.
You check on teen number two, and it’s pretty much a mirror image, except she’s laughing at Tik Tok.
Your next shift has started without you, and you already feel like you’re on the losing side.
The Screen Wars: phones, tablets, laptops, PCs playing all the games, social media, funny videos, messaging services, school requirements and work access all in one.
The war started well before COVID, but let’s face it, COVID has bought it into starker focus.
The screens that allowed us to connect became our lifeline to work, school, friends, and entertainment.
We have all become so reliant on them that we have forgotten how to function with less.
So, how can we reduce their overuse without an all-out war?
This is a question I am so often asked by the parents of young people I see.
Our need for up-to-date information, especially during the lockdowns, was intense in recent years.
There were daily press briefings on rules, numbers, and the heartbreaking toll of deaths.
Each time we picked up the screen, there was a sense of “I know what I need to”.
We still need information but not as frequently.
Letting our icy grip loosen on the screens will take time and conscious choices by our families and us.
Don’t blame the kids, ourselves, or the screens.
They did the job, and they kept us going.
We were all so sick of seeing each other or pretending to be ok over lockdowns that it was easier to say, “ah, let them do it,” while we cosied up with Netflix or our friends on Facebook.
But now, like that partner you want to break up with and go back to being friends, our focus needs to change.
A big step is a family plan/contract that is built with input from everyone whilst calm.
It needs to be clear how long screens can be used over weekdays/weekends and maybe a day a month with no rules.
Where possible, get your young people to decide when they will use their allotted time.
You cannot ask anyone to go from eight hours a day to 30 mins.
There will be a complete family revolt.
Most importantly, you as the parents need to lead this by role modelling it.
Young people will quickly shut down if there is one rule for the grownups and one for them.
So, if there are no phones at the table, get a phone basket, and everyone pops theirs in.
If its no screens before school, then everyone needs to.
If rules get broken, the contract needs to have agreed consequences.
If people start slipping screens before school, turn Wi-Fi off for that period.
But don’t pull out heavy-handed consequences straight away.
We want to bring about the change gently, with love, with humour and with an understanding that this is not easy.
Decide on other things to help fill the time.
You can’t take away and leave a gaping time hole.
If your kids like a bit of sport, head down to the local basketball courts or football ground, get some exercise equipment or do yoga.
If your kids are more creative — get the art stuff out.
Get the cameras out and print out the best ones for the walls.
Music or podcasts — the non-screen silence can be unnerving for some at first.
Do home mani-pedis, facials, or hair treatments together.
Or solo ones like scented baths, et cetera.
Each person learns how to cook a new meal that they love.
Get them with their friends in person.
Make a firepit for fires with marshmallows.
If there are extra jobs around the house, they could make a few extra bucks out of — get them on those.
Ask your kids if there is a new skill they’d like to learn — car maintenance, carpentry, cake decoration; find a short course together.
Finally, we need to reteach ourselves and our kids how to be without constant screen attention.
This isn’t an overnight venture; it will take time and conscious awareness.
Talk to your young people over time about how they are going with it.
If they say it’s hard, then validate that it IS hard.
Share your experiences of what has and hasn’t worked for you.
It’s incredibly important to remain calm, collegial, and full of praise for the steps your family make in overcoming this issue.
Until next time folks!
Natalie Rinehart (B.A.Sci (Psych); Grad.Dip.App.Psych) is a Young Person & Family Counsellor/Life Coach
0425 735 106
Image: Pixabay
Time to prepare for tax time in 2022 —Part 2
LAST MONTH this column explained the importance of getting your deductible expenditure records in order, to ensure you maximise your work-related deductions.
It focused on the two options available for claiming work-related motor vehicle expenses.
This month’s column will explain the three alternative methods for claiming home office expenses at label D5 in your tax return.
During the 21/22 financial year, many of you would have been required to or would have elected to work from home and most likely incurred significant additional expenses.
You may have received financial support either by reimbursement of specified costs such as Zoom software or computer/office equipment or by way of a specified allowance.
Employer reimbursements for out of pocket home office expenses are neither treated as assessable income or the expenses claimable as allowable deductions.
The provision of an employee working from home allowance will appear on your income statement provided by your employer or available from your ATO myTax account.
This allowance is taxable income and must be disclosed in your tax return in the salary or wages section in the box labelled Allowances.
Alternative options for claiming working from home expenses
To offset the tax on your allowance, you will need to claim deductions at D5 for the actual costs you have incurred; three methods for doing this have been outlined below.
a: The temporary COVID hourly rate of 80 cents per hour method.
This simple method requires minimal record-keeping and applies from March 1, 2020, to June 30, 2022, and I expect it will be extended to June 30, 2023.
If you elect to use this method, enter “COVID hourly rate” in the Description box — the letter H in the expense type box — and enter 100 in the business per cent box.
You should also indicate how you derived the number of hours worked in the space provided.
The 80 cents rate per hour covers all costs associated with working from home, including heating and cooling, electricity, cleaning, mobile phone, internet, computer consumables, and office furniture and equipment depreciation.
You cannot claim separately any other costs of working from home.
Apart from simplicity, the other advantages of this method are:
- You don’t need to have a separate or dedicated area of the home set aside for working as a private study.
- If the household has more than one resident working from home, they can also claim under this method.
- The only records required to be kept are time records such as diary records, timesheets, rosters, or any employer documents setting out required working hours and dates you commenced and ceased working from home.
b: The 52 cents per hour rate plus expenditures not included in the hourly rate method.
This alternative method prevailed prior to March 1, 2020, and is still available and may be preferred when significant costs are incurred that are not fully recovered by the 80 cents hourly rate method.
Home office expenses covered in the 52 cents hourly rate are running costs, including electricity and gas and depreciation of office furniture.
Other costs that may be claimed separately include office stationery and supplies, telephone and internet, and depreciation of office equipment such as computers, printers, scanners et cetera.
However, a disadvantage of this method is that you will need to apportion the costs not covered in the 52 cents rate between work-related usage and private usage.
For guidance on acceptable methods for apportioning phone, computer and internet expenses, go to the ATO website and search for document QC 46119.
This method is often favoured because it avoids the need to record and apportion gas and electricity and may regain popularity again once the 80 cents COVID hourly rate ceases to be available.
c: The actual expenses method.
The equation:
(Expense x percentage of floor area) x percentage of weeks the area used for work
This method may be used as an alternative to claiming 52 cents per hour for running expenses such as lighting, heating, cooling, and cleaning.
You will need to work out the floor area of the part of your home that is used exclusively for work purposes and calculate that as a percentage of the total floor area.
Next, work out the percentage of the year you have used your dedicated work area or study for work-related purposes — after allowing for days in the year the work area was not utilised due to weekends, holidays, or illness — and then apply the reduced percentage to the amount of each of the above running costs.
Example:
Annual electricity cost is $5,600, the study area as a proportion of total floor area is 12 per cent.
Total weeks the study was used (in the financial year) for work purposes after allowing for four weeks of holidays and one week for illness is 47 out of 52 weeks which is 90 per cent.
Therefore, the deductible portion of the annual electricity bill claimed would be:
(5600 x .12) x .90 = $605.
Choosing a method
Suppose you cannot quantify your deductible home office expenses using either the 52 cents per hour method (method b) or the actual expenses method (method c).
In that case, I suggest you use the 80 cents method (method a), but make sure you can demonstrate how you arrived at the number of hours you worked at home.
If you have significant running costs but have insufficient expenditure records, you may prefer to use method b.
However, you will still need to work out the deductible portion of all other home office costs.
If you elect for method c, you must have records to show how you have calculated the work-related portion and have evidence of the costs incurred.
Claiming home office expenses is one area of your tax return where diligence on your part in retaining records and using the method that gives you the highest deduction may be well worth the effort.
The content of this article is not intended to be relied upon as professional advice and should not be used as such.
If you have any questions, you should consult a registered tax agent.
Brian Spurrell B A, B Com, Dip Ed, FCPA, CTA, Registered Tax Agent.
Director, Personalised Taxation & Accounting Services Pty Ltd
PO Box 143 Warrandyte 3113 Ph: 0412 011 946
www.ptasaccountants.com.au
Conscious breathing: what is it and how to optimise the benefits
[WELLBEING]
By LAURA ROODHOUSE
Photo: Rubin Utama
Facilitator Bryden McGregor
BREATHING IS something we unconsciously do every single day, however when done correctly and consciously, there’s some incredible power to breathing.
Roughly eight years ago, when I was first fully immersed in the health and wellness space, I came across breathwork through a facilitator who just returned to Melbourne after teaching for some time in Germany.
It was the newest health fad across Europe and seemed somewhat straightforward, however, I soon realised that this underrated practice had some incredible and transformative benefits.
Practising conscious breath also made people so empowered when they recognised that breath is so readily accessible.
It can be done anywhere and at any time.
Before I started practising breathwork and mindful breathing, I really had no idea just how shallow my breath was.
As I became more consistent in my practice, I realised that I was only going as far as my chest, and when I became stressed or anxious the shallow breathing was only making those feelings worse.
While the body is a complete masterpiece, there are ways and tactics to better harness the breath for holistic benefits.
Firstly, breathing into the nose brings a purification and detoxification process that happens as the air passes through the nostrils and towards the lungs.
The nostrils filter, warm, and humidify the air in a way that the mouth cannot.
At times, breathing through your mouth is necessary (increased physical activity, sinus issues), but consciously breathing through your nose will purify the air especially in very dry or cold environments.
It has also been proven that breathing through the nose will increase air flow to arteries, veins and nerves — increasing the overall oxygen update and circulation.
In breathwork, we teach that conscious breath will then move towards your stomach as your diaphragm contracts and the belly expands as your lungs fill with air.
It is a highly efficient way to breathe as it pulls down on the lungs creating negative pressure in the chest, resulting in air flowing into the maximum area of your lungs.
I often prompt the feeling of breathing into your stomach first, before allowing the breath to fill up into the lungs.
For a more mindful approach to your breath, hold this breath for up to eight seconds, allowing the heart rate to slow down.
This will help to calm the nervous system to reduce anxiety and stress, it also helps to put the body into deep relaxation.
On the release of your breath, focus on releasing your stomach first, allowing the exerting breath of carbon dioxide to travel up the body through the lungs, up the air passage, and release the full breath through the mouth.
It is nurturing for the body to also place the left hand on your heart or chest, and your right hand on your stomach.
Feeling the tactile flow of breath throughout your body.
Our breath is synonymous with life.
To be alive is to be breathing, so, when we can intentionally change the way we breathe, we change the way that we respond to life itself — and this can be incredibly powerful.
Whether it’s taking a deep breath to pause and take time out to respond, or to do a few cycles of breathing to ease anxiety, we’re able to change our internal states which leads to change in everything external to us.
Other benefits of breathwork include: deep relaxation, reduction in anxiety and stress, improved sleep, boosted immune system, increased energy, released trauma and trigger patterns, release of stuck emotions held in the body, rebalance of the nervous system, release of blockages of built-up body tension, as well as freedom from limiting beliefs and behaviours.
Remember to breathe.
Laura Roodhouse is the owner of Wellness by PP wellnessbypp.com
A warm welcome back to the theatre for Visitors
REVIEW
IT IS A GLORIOUS return to the stage at the Mechanics’ Institute as Warrandyte Theatre Company presents Visitors by Barney Norris.
Nerves were frayed a little as the already-COVID-delayed opening night was threatened by yet another setback in the form of a massive thunderstorm, and its companion blackout, in the hours before curtain call.
However, the storm passed, and we were welcomed into the theatre, with a gentle, poignant, witty production, about love, family, relationships, and aging.
The auditorium was thoughtfully, socially distanced with café style seating, with candles at each couplet — there was no bad seat in the house, even with additional release of seats as the lockdown rules eased.
The deft hand of the Director, Grant Purdy, guided the four performers to weave a beautiful, if heart-aching tale, taking us on a journey through the light and shade of our autumn years.
Some cast members are well-known to audiences, and others are new to the Warrandyte stage.
Carol Keating, as Edie, spends almost the whole two hours on stage, where we watch her slide slowly into dementia.
We are with her through the ebb and flow of her battle with her deteriorating mind, as her adoring husband (played by Reg Ellery) supports her as best as he can as his own body begins to fail him, and he battles to keep the family farm running.
As the dysfunctional, distant son, Stephen, Don Nicholson nails his character as a man who doesn’t fully understand how to relate to people.
The ensemble family perfectly paints the prickly relationship formed when parent and child don’t see eye-to-eye, especially when it comes to life’s big decisions.
But the biggest bouquet must go to newcomer Meg Davies, she gives a masterful performance, transitioning from awkward interloper to tender carer and then turns on a dime to unleash her fury as a woman scorned.
The simple set, the understated lighting and uncluttered audio (with the well-choreographed squeaky floorboard a standout moment) supported the beautifully written script and thoughtful direction.
Visitors runs until December 10, so head to trybooking to scoop up a couple of the few remaining tickets of the 2021 season.
WTC returns for 2022 with Follies Goes off the Rails in March, a season of One-Act Plays in May, Blackbird in July, the long-awaited Calendar Girls in September, before Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge in November.
Tax implications of receiving COVID-19 financial support
THIS MONTH WE will turn our attention to Government grants, payments and stimulus programs that have delivered desperately needed financial support for individuals and businesses impacted upon by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
There has been such a complex array of support measures and reliefs that we have never experienced before and therefore have no prior experience or knowledge of how or whether these benefits are taxed.
JobKeeper (from March 30, 2020 to March 28, 2021)
JobKeeper payments are assessable as ordinary income to businesses that were eligible to receive the payments.
As the JobKeeper payments must be on-paid to all eligible employees, the payments, even if in excess of an employee’s normal wage will be a deductible expense to the employer.
In the hands of employees, the JobKeeper payments received will be assessable income and will appear as salary or wages, or an allowance or top up on the employee’s income statement or payment summary.
If you are a sole trader who has received JobKeeper payments the receipts will be reported as business income at the label “Assessable government industry payments” in your personal tax return at item P8 Label G or H.
If your business is a partnership, trust, or company, you need to report JobKeeper receipts in your business tax return at item 6 Label Q.
Cash Flow Boost (from March 12, 2020 to September 30, 2020)
Irrespective of whether your business operates as a sole trader, partnership, trust, or company, if your business received cash flow boost credits they are treated as non-assessable non-exempt income (NANE) and do not need to be included in your business tax return and neither is GST applicable.
Commonwealth COVID-19 Disaster Payments to individuals
This payment was announced on June 3, 2021 in response to the May/ June 2021 Victorian lockdown and was designed to provide weekly assistance to eligible individuals be they full time, part time, or casual workers who have lost hours of paid work due to state imposed health restrictions.
How much of the Disaster Payment an individual receives will depend upon factors such as the location of the applicable health order, the period the individual is claiming for and the hours of work they lost.
On August 9, 2021, the Government passed legislation retrospectively making these payments NANE income, tax free in the hands of the recipient.
TIP: If you received such payments in June 2021 and have already lodged your 2021 income tax return, make sure the ATO makes an appropriate adjustment to your tax return if you included this income as part of your assessable income.
Victoria COVID-19 Economic Support Measures (BCAP)
The Victorian Government’s Business Costs Assistance Program provides grants to small and medium business impacted by public health restrictions.
Top-up payments announced since July 28, 2021 are jointly funded by the Commonwealth and Victorian governments.
The first round of the Business Costs Assistance Program provided targeted support of $2,000 to businesses that were most likely to have incurred direct costs as a result of the Circuit Breaker action during February and March 2021, and is no longer available.
The Business Costs Assistance Program Round Two was launched in June 2021 with an expanded list of eligible sectors compared to the initial program, offering payments of $2,500.
In July 2021, the Business Costs Assistance Program Round 2 July Extension was launched to give businesses that that had not previously applied for the program, or had since become eligible, the opportunity to apply for an initial payment of $4,800.
Both the Business Costs Assistance Program Round 2 and the Business Costs Assistance Program Round 2 July Extension are now closed, but recipients are eligible for a series of subsequent automatic top-up payments.
Note: Businesses must be registered for GST and Business must operate in an eligible sector listed in the list of eligible ANZSIC classes in order to be eligible.
These payments are income tax free and GST free.
Victoria Small Business COVID Hardship Fund
On July 28 it was announced that a new fund would be set up to pay grants of $20,000 to small businesses that:
- had an ABN and was registered for GST on and from July 28, 2021,
- suffered a reduction in turnover of at least 70 per cent for a two-week period since May 27, 2021,
- have been ineligible for other Victorian Government COVID-19 support packages launched on or after May 27, 2021,
- have an annual Victorian payroll of up to $10 million in 2019–20.
- It has been confirmed that this grant payment is tax free.
Business Cost Assistance Program Round 4 — Construction
This program will remain open until 11:59pm on November 9, 2021 or when funds are exhausted, whichever is sooner.
One-off grants of $2,000 are for eligible non-employing construction industry businesses, and one-off grants of $2,800, $5,600 or $8,400 are for eligible employing construction industry businesses, based on payroll size and to qualify:
- Must have a worksite located in metropolitan Melbourne, the City of Greater Geelong, Mitchell Shire or Surf Coast Shire.
- Must have incurred direct costs because of restrictions in place between September 21 and October 4, which have not been partially or fully recovered.
- Must not have been able to operate remotely between September 21 and October 4.
- Must not have received a Business Costs Assistance Program Round 2 or Business Costs Assistance Program Round 2 July Extension payment or Small Business COVID Hardship Fund payment
- Must be in the list of 26 eligible ANZSIC classes.
- Must be registered for GST on and from September 24 2021.
It is also assumed these grant payments will be declared to be tax free.
Please refer to the Business Victoria Grants and Programs for further details on all available Victorian Government COVID-19 business assistance, particularly if you are seeking commercial tenancy relief or are a sole trader or microbusiness working for yourself or have one to two employees with an annual turnover of less than $75,000 and are not eligible for Victorian Government COVID-19 business support grants.
The content of this article is not intended to be relied upon as professional advice and should not be used as such. If you have any questions you should consult a registered tax agent.
Brian Spurrell B A, B Com, Dip Ed, FCPA, CTA, Registered Tax Agent. Director, Personalised Taxation & Accounting Services Pty Ltd
PO Box 143 Warrandyte 3113 0412 011 946
www.ptasaccountants .com.au
Transformation close to home
Meeting with remarkable trees
REMARKABLE TREES is a monthly reflection on the old, the sacred, the mysterious and the poetic.
Although some of our travel distance restrictions have been lifted, when I first put pen to paper for this month’s tree, my best option was to stay close to home.
While wandering around the garden and contemplating on trees as a reflection of life, I noticed a large one previously very much taken for granted, like something you grew up with that became part of your furniture.
It is a Sweet Pittosporum (pittosporum undulatum).
Local from south-eastern Queensland to north-eastern Victoria, sweet pittosporum is considered a pest species in Manningham and neighbouring LGAs.
Despite this, the fine specimen on my parent’s property has been growing for 50 years now.
Over the years, all its offspring have been removed as they can spread rapidly via the digestive tracts of birds who enjoy its berries.
So what is it about sweet pittosporum that suits this particular time?
Adjusting to “COVID life” during the last two years and being a mindfulness meditation practitioner, there has been endless opportunity to reflect on my thoughts and attitude towards others.
Recently in group discussion, we agreed we have felt challenged by vax versus anti-vax, mask versus no mask, those who appear to throw caution to the wind and consequently initiate yet another lockdown, and more recently, protests spattered with anger and violence.
I am quick to disapprove initially, because like many, I am a bit fed up.
Following up with my friends however, I am startled.
Some of them have charged headlong down the conspiracy road.
Others insist on the dangers of vaccination and produce “evidence” to support this.
Some have been abusive because I chose to vaccinate while others who have well-considered their choices and taken responsibility for them could not have been more respectful of my own.
Certainly, life can deliver surprises.
In pondering with the latter friends, we ruminated on attitudes that seem to be manifesting in the world at large; the polarising divisiveness that omits a certain kind of poison into society that excludes all who differ in belief.
Hence my attention is drawn to sweet pittosporum.
Somewhere in my learning I adopted the belief that pittosporum was poisonous.
I believed it omitted a toxin that prevented other plants from growing. I thought the leaves were poisonous when in water, preventing all pond life from thriving.
In considering this, I realised I could have been wrong all along, and that what mattered was to find recent, well- presented, peer-reviewed research done by qualified people.
In pursuit of this, I find that sweet pittosporum indeed has a substance some other native plants don’t like, but has no more poison than any other tree that absorbs nutrition from soil such that nothing else can easily grow underneath it.
Instead, I find it is the protective shade of its dense, dark green canopy that discourages other plants from taking seed.
As a tree, it presents a conventional, storybook shape of being broader than it is tall.
It’s laurel-like leaves are thick, strong and glossy, and as it expands with the energy of spring, the tips manifest as swirls of bright, enthusiastic freshness.
While in bloom, it expresses a profusion of creamy, bell-shaped flowers that fill the breeze with the sweet, heady perfume.
The bees respond, and beckoned by curiosity, I lean into the hum of honey production and the busyness of the bee world in action.
Later in the month I can expect clusters of bright orange fruits that reveal a sticky red interior with black seeds — a food source for birds and mammals.
Far from being poisonous, it unfolds its benefit to others and proves to be as much a part of the bigger picture as any other tree.
So here is the interesting part.
Some authorities declared it as not noxious in Victoria while others state it is a significant environmental weed, which returns me to opinions that I’m sure most of us have had around all things COVID.
I’m guessing we all have opinions about who or what is noxious or significantly pesky in our society.
But come closer to home.
In asking me to check in, this fine- looking piece of sweet pittosporum garden furniture, makes me consider again and again what my own thoughts and actions create in the world.
In disapproving of those with different ideas, I run the risk of categorising them as a toxic pest and therefore unbeneficial to society.
In resisting them, I mirror the very resistance I disapprove of, thereby becoming complicit in the divisiveness I don’t want.
This supposedly-toxic tree on my home ground presents the challenge of our times; to question fully our opinions and reactions and to act with the utmost integrity, care and skilful means regarding our values and the society we want to create.
Jennah is captivated by the quiet presence of trees and is currently training to facilitate Forest Therapy.
If you have a favourite tree you’d like to share, please email her jennahmrose@outlook.com
Classic Movies: The Day the Earth Stood Still
A MAN COMES down from the Heavens with a message of peace for all mankind.
He lives amongst us as a simple carpenter.
When the powers that be reject his message, he begins to perform miracles to get their attention.
The authorities become afraid and murder him.
An angel opens up the place where his body lies and on the third day he lives again.
He ascends back to the Heavens, promising to return again when the world is ready to hear his message.
Sound familiar?
That is in a nutshell the story of the Day the Earth Stood Still – perhaps made more relevant to more secular audiences when the visitor (Klaatu – Michael Rennie) comes down from the stars in a spaceship (more believable to some than an immaculate birth) and wants to address the United Nations with his message/warning that the world needs to come together to survive.
While he waits for his answer, he lives in boarding house under the name of John Carpenter (Get it? Lives amongst us as a carpenter?).
He befriends a widow, Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray).
His fearsome sidekick, a robot named Gort that speaks in tongues, is his Angel helper and waits on the spaceship until he is needed.
John Carpenter teaches Helen to speak the immortal words “Klaatu berada nikto” and instructs her to give the message to Gort in the event of anything happening to him.
The United Nations rejects his message of Peace and togetherness, so Klaatu warns that he will give them a demonstration of his powers at noon the following day.
And sure enough, right at that time, the power goes off around the world.
Well, that gets everyone’s attention and even the US military become afraid of him.
As he addresses the world, a nervous soldier panics at the sight of his next gift (we will never know) and Klaatu is shot dead and his body stored in a military warehouse.
Mary goes to an offline Gort and utters the message as she was taught.
Gort comes on line immediately, goes to the warehouse and rolls back the doors, emerging with Carpenter’s limp and lifeless body.
He takes him back to the spaceship and Klaatu emerges next day, hale and hearty.
He announces that the world is not yet ready to hear his message and we have all missed our chance, but if we’re good he promises to return one day when we need him most.
Then the spaceship takes off from the Whitehouse lawn and Klaatu ascends back into the Heavens.
This 1951 version of the film is one of the most seminal sci-fi stories of the canon.
The 2008 version starring Keanu Reeves has amazing special effects, but only a fraction of the impact of the low-budget 1951 story.
In fact, when the almighty powers of Klaatu are released in 1951, we are in a lift and see little of the chaos assumed to be going on outside, aside from a few stalled cars.
In 2008 we see it all, plus a raging and angry Klaatu, but somehow, we remain unchanged and disinclined to mend our ways.
Gort, the 1951 robot/angel of the story, has been listed as one of the top five giants of all time.
He is portrayed by Lock Martin, who was actually seven and a half feet tall.
At the time of making the film, the message of Peace was not popular with the government while it was engaged in war with Korea.
Robert Wise, who directed the film, said that it was virtually impossible to obtain any help from the military at that time in the way of tanks, artillery or even uniforms.
So soon after World War Two, peace was already a bad word.
The film begins with Klaatu’s spacecraft circling the earth at unbelievable speeds before landing on a baseball field in Washington, being tracked on WW2-style big table maps with tokens pushed along by long sticks.
With the recent release of the now-famous “tic-tac” UFO footage, the similarities in the accompanying soundtracks are quite marked.
What would happen if a spaceship landed on the lawn in front of Parliament House these days?
Would we immediately assume hostile aliens?
Or would it presage peace on earth?
How many aliens would end up on Manus Island?
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