‘O the month of May, the merry month of May!’ – Thomas Dekker
Canberra was named the most sustainable city in the world, with excellent public transport and air quality. But young people are worried about their planet’s future; an estimated thousand school students went on strike, calling on the Federal Government to act on climate change before it was too late. And the ACT Government announced two years of free registration for newly purchased zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) and second-hand ‘grey’ imports until June 2024, and challenged the rest of Australia to follow its lead.
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout started for people over 50, and a new vaccination clinic opened at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce. The Federal Budget committed to fund capital works upgrades for the National Portrait Gallery, the National Film and Sound Archive, and the National Library. “A long overdue step in the right direction,” thought Chief Minister Andrew Barr. And the ACT Government announced a reworked version of the #ChooseCBR discount voucher scheme, offering $2 million worth of discounts, would start in June.
31 years after homosexuality stopped being considered a mental disorder, a panel of queer and gender diverse Canberrans at the Legislative Assembly discussed issues they faced – and local politicians promised to do the reform work necessary.
We met some inspiring Canberrans. Nine women were awarded 2021 YWCA Canberra Great Ydeas grants for ideas ranging from a new collective network of women composers to a new platform to buy and sell second-hand clothes.
Louise Momber, Mother’s Day Classic ambassador, dreamed of a cancer-free future as she fights for women with breast cancer, using her skills as a journalist and her insight as a mother and daughter.
Twenty-two-year-old refugee Pah Bleh spent 15 years living in a camp on the Thai border, and is saving all his money and putting his future goals on hold to bring his girlfriend, still in the refugee camp, to Australia.
Sue Webeck, the new CEO of the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT, planned to bring conversations about domestic violence prevention into the spotlight.
The residents of Kangara Waters Aged Care and Retirement Village knitted 100 scarves during lockdown for those less fortunate, and raised $1,400 for charity.
Crace mum Melissa Hadley spoke about the difficulties of accessing specialist paediatric healthcare in Sydney in a year of border closures.
Teenage entrepreneur D’Shontéa (Téa) Devow was named a finalist in the 2021 7News Young Achiever Awards, for her online giftware store Téa&Belle – set up when she was 10.
Three local athletes – basketballer Marianna Tolo, BMX champion Caroline Buchanan, and skateboarder Ethan Copeland – were the subjects of a new mural unveiled at the Canberra Centre, celebrating their sporting achievements in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympic Games.
National Volunteering Week celebrated the six million Australians who volunteer; CW talked to four public-spirited locals who volunteer with the ACT Emergency Services Agency, putting out fires, preparing the community, and making maps. Wear Orange Wednesday thanked SES volunteers for their service, and almost 400 members gathered on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin. And International Nurses Day honoured ACT nurses for their hard work during the pandemic as frontline workers and in vaccination clinics.
And the moon turned to blood. (Or, as Macbeth remarked, ‘making the green one red’). No apocalyptic omen this, but simply a spectacular lunar eclipse turning the full moon red.
