Time for some good news stories! I must confess to being a fan of live theatre and have even acted in a few plays myself. I played the King in The King and I at the then-Narrabundah High School in 1967 and the leading man (Petruchio) in Kiss Me Kate in 1968. After leaving Narrabundah High, I had a few bit parts with Canberra Repertory (in Icarus’s Mother and one other play I can’t recall), as well as modest roles in The White Horse Inn (Emperor Franz Josef) and as pilot Lt. Buzz Adams in South Pacific with the Muswellbrook Amateur Theatrical Society in 1977 and 1978.

I was therefore delighted to see an excellent play, The Chalk Pit, written and directed by former Narrabundah College drama teacher Peter Wilkins, at the new Mill Theatre in Fyshwick. I attended with my old friend Julie McKaren-Benson, of ex-Democrat fame, who is a playwright and filmmaker herself. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and had a great talk with the cast and Peter afterwards over a convivial glass of red.

The play The Chalk Pit cleverly and convincingly follows the career of Thomas John Ley, a Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly from around 1918 to 1946 with the National Australia Party. Ley was a womaniser and murderer, infamous for defrauding many innocent people with a fake cure for the prickly pear plague that was devastating rural land in NSW and Victoria during the 1920s and 1930s.

Ley killed at least four people who could have exposed him, and probably a fifth. He was finally convicted of murder in the UK in 1946, but his death sentence was commuted to detention “at His Majesty’s pleasure” due to insanity. He survived in prison for six months before dying of a brain aneurysm.

Peter Wilkins told me he had read Ley’s diary, which suddenly tapered off mid-sentence. It’s likely that Ley died while in the process of writing it.

I thoroughly recommend a trip to the Mill Theatre for lovers of live theatre.

Last Thursday, I had cause to walk through one of my favourite taverns in Canberra – Moby Dicks at Kippax. My old friend Darcy Henry has long since retired, and many residents of NW Belconnen will remember Darcy fondly as a much-loved publican, as well as a colourful racing identity and all-around good bloke.

The current owners and staff, however, are to be congratulated on fitting out the tavern with bunting and large Australian flags, both inside and on the windows, in preparation for Australia Day. I drove past it again on Monday 27 January, and the decorations were still up.

Moby Dicks has been expanded in recent years and now serves great pub food in a family-friendly atmosphere. It has always been popular with tradies and locals and sponsors many community events. It’s great to see the old tavern still doing so well.

Indeed, it seems that this Australia Day saw a significant increase in people across our great land coming together to have a good time, give thanks, and celebrate all that is good in Australia.