Tony's Desert Island Discs 2026

Many of you, my friends, would be familiar with the BBC radio program Desert Island Discs, yes?

The premise being that you imagine yourself cast away on a desert island and choose eight audio recordings (including specific performances) you would like to take with you.

Here are mine:

Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life

Steve Miller Band: A Journey from Eden

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess - Cleo Laine and Ray Charles

We Get Requests - Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Ed Thigpen

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 - Ferenc Fricsay conducting the BPO

Vaughan Williams: Tallis Fantasia - Sir John Barbirolli conducting The Sinfonia of London

Vivaldi: Gloria in D - Kings College Choir Cambridge

Schubert: Lieder on texts of Goethe - Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

What would be yours?

Tony's Favourite 50 Sitcoms

Tony’s favourite 50 Sitcoms

Bewitched

I Dream of Jeannie

My Favourite Martian

F Troop

The Beverly Hillbillies

Gilligan’s Island

The Ghost and Mrs Muir

Hazel

The Life of Riley

Nanny and the Professor

My Three Sons

The Bob Newhart Show

Hogan’s Heroes

McHale’s Navy

The Dick van Dyke Show

The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Julia

Get Smart

Cheers

I Love Lucy

Mash

Schitt’s Creek

My Name’s McGooley, What’s Yours?

Bless This House

Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em

Man About the House

Robin’s Nest

George and Mildred

Sykes

Fawlty Towers

Please Sir

As Time Goes By

On the Buses

Hancock’s Half Hour

And Mother Makes Three

And Mother Makes Five

Till Death Us Do Part

Dad’s Army

Mr Bean

It ‘Aint Half Hot Mum

Gimme Gimme Gimme

The Vicar of Dibley

Steptoe and Son

Are You Being Served?

Porridge

Open All Hours

The Good Life

Yes Minister

Yes Prime Minister

My Family

ANU gets its heart back as University House reopens to the public

By Claire Fenwicke

Six years and $121 million later, the Australian National University finally has its heart back – just in time for its 80th birthday.

University House was one of the buildings damaged in the devastating 2020 hailstorm, which saw thousands of cars written off, homes destroyed and about 80 percent of the ANU campus damaged.

Master of University House, Professor Peter Kanowski, said the building’s age simply meant it couldn’t withstand the original storm, exposing the interior to the elements.

“We’ve got something like 64,000 bespoke roof tiles, and they were more or less 70 years old, and they didn’t stand up to the hailstorms,” he explained.

“All of those tiles got cracked by the hail, so when it rained a few weeks later, the water penetrated the ceiling down through the building, took out the fire system, the building had to be evacuated, and then came COVID.

“And so the building sat empty for two years with only possums living here until the university and its insurers agreed on how we’d repair it.”

It’s taken about 1500 workers to repair the building.

Asbestos, lead and mould damage needed to be remediated before works could even begin. This was followed by the restoration of each roof tile and the replacement of the copper panelling. All the gas pipes were removed, and the building completely electrified and brought up to standard with modern building codes.

Inside, leather and wood panelling needed to be revived and all the damaged furniture painstakingly brought back to life.

Books and artworks weren’t spared, but they’re also back to their original states.

“University House has been the ceremonial heart of the ANU since it was opened in 1954, and for the last six-and-a-half years we haven’t had that heart,” Prof Kanowski said.

“It’s been a hole in the life of the campus, and it’s so wonderful to be back and open again.”

University House includes a Great Hall decorated by the Leonard French mural ‘Regeneration’, multiple recreation and dining rooms (including a famous beer garden), 97 bookable hotel rooms and 60 rooms for postgraduate students.

They feature Fred Ward-designed and built furniture, and the original underfloor heating in the bathrooms.

The building was designed by Professor Brian Lewis and awarded the 1953 Sulman Medal for Architectural Merit.

His son David Lewis (who was seven when the building was originally opened) described University House’s closure as a “deprivation” for both ANU and the community.

“[Having it open again] is obviously great because it adds to the atmosphere … [provides a chance] to meet other people and that’s a real pleasure,” he said.

Master of University House Peter Kanowski (in the Great Hall) says the ANU’s heart is back. Photo: Claire Fenwicke.

Design and oversight of the restoration was undertaken by heritage architects Lovell Chen and the building work by Hindmarsh Construction Australia.

Lovell Chen’s Audrey Ong said the building’s simplicity actually made restoration even more challenging.

“Trying to restore the original heritage fabric was a challenge, but there was a lot of research that went into understanding the materiality, understanding the methodology, and trying to faithfully restore and repair that,” she said.

“Some of the original heritage fabric on the building includes … terracotta tiles, parquetry flooring, leather panelling, wood leather panelling, to the walls, acoustic ceiling tiles, so they are very specialised trades.”

The asbestos, lead and mould remediation – along with the extent of the damage – meant many parts of the building essentially had to be stripped back to its shell.

Hindmarsh Construction’s project manager, Alex Morgan, said workers touched every area of the project.

“We needed to take the building apart before we could put it back together and start the restoration,” he said.

“It was very fulfilling to be able to bring it back to where it used to be.”

To prevent similar damage in the future, waterproofing membranes have been installed.

Most of the building’s repairs were covered by insurance, with the rest paid from funds ANU had already set aside for infrastructure.

Prof Kanowski said this opening was another healing moment for the university.

“The ANU community’s getting back a place where they can meet, formally and informally, to relax, interact with people that you don’t see in your day-to-day role, whatever that happens to be, and that’s already started to happen,” he said.

“The bar’s been open for four days and [already] people were moving furniture around down in the bar and just reoccupying the building.

“It’s given the university a special place to welcome the community back that we haven’t had for the last six-and-a-half years.”

University House will be officially reopened on Friday, 14 August, ahead of an ANU campus community day on Saturday, 15 August.

First published at Region, August 7, 2026

Tony's top 50 albums (not including classical)

In no particular order...

Deep Purple - Machine Head

Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

Stevie Wonder - Innervisions

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Elton John - Captain Fantastic

Steve Miller Band - A Journey From Eden

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young - Déjà Vu

The Beatles - Abbey Road

The Beatles - The White Album

Led Zeppelin Four

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

Bad Company - Bad Company

Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run

Carol King - Tapestry

Neil Young - Harvest

Neil Diamond - Hot August Night

Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid

Alan Parsons Project - The Turn of a Friendly Card

Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Focus - Moving Waves

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

Rick Wakeman - The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park

Santana - Inner Secrets

John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis again

Cleo Laine and Ray Charles - Porgy and Bess

Mel Tormé and the Marty Paich Dek-Tette

Frank Sinatra - Strangers in the Night

Doobie Brothers - Minute by Minute

Gordon Lightfoot - Gord’s Gold

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Jimi Hendrix - Electric Lady Land

Abba - Voyage

David Bowie - Blackstar

Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly

Michael Franks - The Art of Tea

George Benson - Breezin’

Moody Blues - Seventh Sojourn

Woodstock

Joe Jackson - Night and Day

Creedence - Cosmos Factory

Melanie - Melanie

Harry Chapin - Verities and Balderdash

Bob Marley - Legend

Dave Brubeck - Time Out

Queanbeyan's Omar Musa wins $60,000 Miles Franklin award

Omar Musa took out the prestigious award with his novel, 'Fierceland'.
Picture courtesy Impact Week 2026 Singapore

By Liz Hobday

When Omar Musa discovered he’d won Australia’s premier book prize, he literally stopped in his tracks.

The author was in the Philippines when he received news he had taken out the Miles Franklin Literary Award, leaving him standing still in the middle of the street.

“I was just gobsmacked, totally blown away,” he said.

The author from Queanbeyan took six years and 21 drafts to write his second novel, Fierceland, and said he never expected his efforts to be so recognised.

“It’s hard work, you’re broke most of the time, full of self-doubt and imposter syndrome, as well as exciting breakthroughs and adventures along the way,” Musa said.

The winner of the prestigious $60,000 book prize, awarded annually to a novel of the highest literary merit about Australian life, was announced at a ceremony in Sydney on Wednesday evening.

A globe-spanning family sage with mythical elements, Fierceland is the story of Sydney artist Roz and tech entrepreneur Harun, who return to the island of Borneo for their father’s funeral.

Their family’s wealth was built on the palm oil trade and the novel deals with colonialism, capitalism and the destruction of Borneo’s rainforests.

Must said he was careful not to be heavy handed exploring those issues, keeping human drama at the centre of the tail - although one of its main characters is the rainforest itself.

“You still want it to be an exhilarating experience for a read - it’s about being playful, even when you’re dealing with matters of life and death, power and exploitation,” he said.

Musa has family ties in Malaysia but was born and raised in Australia.

He was nervous Fierceland might romanticise or oversimplify Borneo, an island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

He relocated to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of the Malaysian state of Sabah, while writing.

Musa tried to replicate the texture and musicality of Malaysian English or “Manglish”, adding readers in Sabah and Sarawak especially welcomed the local references and slang.

“I’m really proud of that, I hope it’s just the beginning and it cracks the door open for a lot of people who were born and raised there to tell their stories,” he said.

It’s estimated Malaysian Borneo has more than 80 native languages and Musa found people who spoke 16 of the tongues to include various translations of the one poem in Fierceland.

The author has also published four books of poetry, four hip hop, records, written a play and held solo exhibitions of his woodcut prints, making it not surprising, he views the demarkation of various art forms as somewhat contrived.

But Musa sees novels, in particular, as a radical way of creating empathy, because readers enter into the thinking of characters different to themselves.

“We need literature and art that pushes the boundaries and creates new vocabulary more than ever, because ultimately, sharing stories is a humanising process, in a world that is so often keen to dehumanise and demonise people,” he said.

First published in The Canberra Times, Thursday August 6, 2026

Sculpture honours Canberra’s ‘Soup Kitchen Lady’

The late Stasia Dabrowski

A life-sized sculpture of Canberra’s ‘Soup Kitchen Lady’ Stasia Dabrowski has been unveiled in Garema Place, close to the spot where she fed people in need every Friday night for more than three decades.

Created by artist Louise Skačej, the sculpture commemorates the Polish immigrant and long-time volunteer, who ran her mobile soup kitchen in Garema Place from 1982 until 2018. Dabrowski died in 2020.

Each week she prepared homemade vegetable soup, bread and drinks for people in need, as well as providing companionship and practical support. By 2000, she was serving more than 300 people each Friday night, with the number growing to about 500 by 2005.

Dabrowski initially funded the operation herself, babysitting and cleaning houses to pay for ingredients. Every Thursday she would peel and cook about 180 kilograms of vegetables in preparation for the following night’s soup kitchen, which was eventually supported by several Canberra organisations.

Her community work earned her numerous honours, including Canberra Citizen of the Year in 1996, ACT Senior Australian of the Year in 1999 and ACT Local Hero of the Year in 2017. She was also an Olympic torchbearer.

The ACT Government announced the $300,000 sculpture project in 2024 and selected Skačej for the commission last year. Skačej worked with Dean Colls, Isabeau Colls and Mads Hillam, with Australian sculptor Peter Corlett as mentor.

The sculpture forms part of a government program to increase the representation of significant women in Canberra’s public art collection. New Ngunnawal Dhawura artworks, including four illuminated poles and a seat featuring laser-cut totems and stories, have also been installed in Garema Place.

First published at Canberra City News, August 7, 2026

Neeman to play Kelly’s unfinished Sonata

Edward Neeman at the keyboard. Photo: Peter Hislop

By arts editor HELEN MUSA

Virtuoso pianist Edward ‘Teddy’ Neeman will become part of a move to restore the reputation of one of Australia’s most gifted composers when he performs Frederick Septimus Kelly’s unfinished Sonata in F minor in Canberra next week.

The sonata, the centrepiece of Neeman’s lunchtime recital in the Larry Sitsky Recital Room at the ANU School of Music on August 11, was the last major work Kelly left behind before he was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, aged just 35.

Best remembered today as an Olympic gold medal winning rower, Kelly was born in Sydney but built an international reputation in Britain as a virtuoso pianist and composer. A close friend of war poet Rupert Brooke, he fought at Gallipoli, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery, before being redeployed to the Western Front. He was killed on November 13, 1916.

Neeman became fascinated by Kelly’s music through Canberra musician and Flowers of Peace director Chris Latham, whose long campaign to revive Kelly’s legacy has included recordings, concerts and the recent documentary Elegy.

Latham persuaded Neeman to learn the sonata for commemorative performances in Canberra and Melbourne marking the 110th anniversary of Kelly’s death.

“It is a great piece and I think it hasn’t yet been done justice,” Neeman says.

He believes the work deserves to be heard alongside the established piano repertoire. While composer and Neeman mentor, Larry Sitsky, wrote of it in his survey of Australian piano music as conventional, in the style of early Chopin or Hummel, Neeman hears something much more ambitious.

“It is far more adventurous than that,” he says, explaining how dense, satisfying and challenging it is for a pianist.

Only two complete movements and part of a third survive from what is believed to have been intended as a four-movement sonata. According to Neeman, Kelly worked feverishly on the manuscript until the day before he left for active service on the Western Front in May 1916.

The Canberra recital is effectively a preview for Latham’s larger commemorative project in November. Neeman and his pianist wife Stephanie will take part by performing the sonata on November 13.

Neeman’s recital, part of a lively ongoing lunchtime series spearheaded by staff at the ANU School of Music will also include works by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Elisabeth von Herzogenberg.

Lunchtime recital, Larry Sitsky Recital Room, ANU School of Music, August 11.

First published at Canberra City News, August 5, 2026.