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Canberra Now: News in 90 seconds for Thursday February 9, 2017
By Doug Dingwall
Good morning Canberrans.
Those of you on Monday to Friday shifts are over the hump day. The weekend is drawing nearer. If you were enjoying the brief reprieve of cool weather, some bad news. Temperatures are still expected to reach 40 degrees tomorrow, and 41 degrees on Saturday. Summer is far from over.
For the latest news this morning, read on.
The boys club?
The macho culture is alive and well, and affecting women in the federal public service. That's according to a study by University of NSW workplace academic Sue Williamson.
She conducted 150 interviews and focus groups at two large Canberra departments, whose identities weren't disclosed as a condition of participating in the study. Dr Williamson said she was shocked by some of the things she heard.
Here are some examples: condescending language, women being called girls, women doing all the office house-keeping, women photocopying the documents for the meetings, and women putting the water on the table.
Read Noel Towell's report here.
'Left in the dark'
Subcontractors have fears they won't be paid after ACT construction firm SMI went into administration on Tuesday. The company was taken into administration by RSM Australia Partners, and the total money owed to subcontractors and suppliers is so far unknown. But one subcontractor, who didn't want to be named, said amounts owed ranged between $10,000 and $80,000.
SMI also had five contracts with the ACT government, and its financial strife has left work on these projects unfinished.
RSM will call a first creditors meeting soon, and until then Master Builders ACT said it is assisting subcontractors.
Read the story on it here.
Convention centre controversy
There are calls for the ACT government to reinstate funding for business case work on a new convention centre, which was put on the backburner this week in the mid-year budget update. David Marshall, who is chairman of the tourism industry advisory council of the Canberra Business Chamber, said he was very disappointed to learn on Wednesday that the $8 million set aside to get the project to investment-ready stage had been removed from the coming budget.
He rubbished Chief Minister Andrew Barr's claim that the project had been shelved because of lack of interest from the Commonwealth. Rather, the federal government wanted a business case and detailed proposal before it could make a financial commitment, he said.
To Liberal senator Zed Seselja, Mr Barr's blame of the federal government was "an absolute cop out".
For the full story by Kirsten Lawson and Finbar O'Mallon, click here.
Not sour grapes ... but bitter ones
Winemakers in Canberra have a special reason to hope for an end to the hot weather. They say it could lead to a poor vintage, and warn the warmth could make the grapes more bitter. Winemaker Frank van de Loo of Mount Majura Vineyard has noticed fewer grapes on the vine than usual, and said this could also be caused by the recent heat.
His warning comes after Canberra sweltered through its hottest January this year, exceeding the maximum average temperature record by half a degree.
Claudia Long has the story.
Roo cull plan
The kangaroo cull will no longer need an annual licence under a new kangaroo management plan. Instead, it will be cemented as a regular annual event at Canberra's nature reserves.
The plan was released on Wednesday for comment.
Currently, the Parks and Conservation service must apply for a licence for the annual cull - and the licence can be appealed. But this week, the minister declared kangaroos a "controlled species", which allows the cull to go ahead without a licence.
Read more of Kirsten Lawson's story here.