Jack Olsson is the oldest veteran to travel to Borneo next week for the 70th anniversary of the WWII OBOE campaigns. Photo: Jamila Toderas
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At the age of 96, Canberra veteran Jack Olsson is preparing for a journey of respect.
The retired Bruce accountant will be one of eight veterans from around Australia who will return to Borneo next month to mark the 70th anniversary of a highly strategic campaign of World War II.
He took part in the OBOE landings in British Borneo in May 1945, costing the lives of 114 Australian servicemen, including three men from Mr Olsson's troop.
"I'd like to see their graves and shed a little tear for them," he said.
- One lucky person is $50 million richer thanks to a Powerball ticket purchased in the ACT.
- The mass demolition of more than 1000 Canberra homes contaminated with Mr Fluffy asbestos insulation is poised to begin from next week.
- Liberal MP Warren Entsch and Labor MP Graham Perrett are prepared to team-up on a same-sex marriage bill in a potential circuit-breaker that would end the political impasse over the social reform.
- A man who received 37 letters from the Child Support Agency in one day is not an isolated case, with the public service outfit battling for years to control a computer system that just cannot stop spewing out correspondence.
- Two weeks after the budget Australia's economic outlook is bleak. Mining as well as non-mining firms are planning to slash investment in the year ahead, cutting total investment spending by 21 per cent.
- Senator Katy Gallagher has grilled the Finance Department over the Immigration Department's bid to potentially move out of Belconnen, demanding an end to uncertainty at Senate estimates on Thursday.
- Department of Human Services secretary Kathryn Campbell has apologised to her workforce after some of them were depicted as rodents, then toilet paper on an internal online platform.
- Australia's soccer chief Frank Lowy was on Thursday night flying into the eye of a FIFA storm in the wake of several high-profile arrests as allegations of bribery, fraud and corruption will force an investigation into Australia's failed bid for the 2022 World Cup.
ACT Brumbies player Robbie Coleman will line up at inside centre on Friday night. Photo: Jeffrey Chan.
The ACT Brumbies have been without "one of the world's best players" in Matt Toomua for "six of the last eight games" and they're confident utility Robbie Coleman can get the job done at inside centre against the Pretoria Bulls.
Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham says their season is "on the line" going into the final three rounds, while captain Stephen Moore says the return of Wallabies prop Scott Sio from a knee injury will be a "massive boost".
- An alleged $500,000 theft of Australian football funds by a suspected corrupt former FIFA executive has been referred to the Australian Federal Police by independent senator Nick Xenophon.
- Canberra Raiders halfback Sam Williams has no issues with the collision that caused him to be hospitalised with a collapsed lung, but he believes referees need to ensure playmakers are protected when kicking.
- Thanasi Kokkinakis has overcome injury, a two-set deficit and three match points to oust seeded Australian countryman Bernard Tomic in an epic second-round French Open clash in Paris.
- Out-of-favour Bronco Daniel Vidot is poised to bolster Canterbury's back-line stocks by shifting to Belmore before the June 30 transfer window closes.
- Tuggeranong coach Nicole Bowles has downplayed her team's only loss of the ACT netball league season last weekend.
- NSW skipper Robbie Farah was struggling to breathe at half-time in Origin I because of a shoulder injury which threatens to rule him out of game two.
9:30am: Police are asking drivers travelling south on Gungahlin Drive to slow down while the road surface is repaired. Southbound traffic has been reduced to one lane.
8:39am: Watch out: there's been a two-car crash on London Circuit at Edinburgh Avenue in the city.
8:05am: Looks like that prang just off Langton Crescent has been cleared.
7:55am: Keep an eye out if you're heading to work in Parkes. There's been a crash next to the Treasury Building, just off Langton Crescent.
Drive safely on your commute and let us know if you see any traffic problems on the roads via @canberratimes, but only when its safe to do so.
To celebrate the opening of The Green Shed cafe in Garema Place, they're giving away free gelato and free rides on the carousel. The fun starts at 10am and continues until 9pm. They're claiming there's heaps of gelato to go around, but it won't hurt to get in early.
The Brumbies play the Bulls at GIO Stadium. Tickets from ticketek.com.au.
Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow comes to Canberra Theatre with a lineup of home-grown and international comedians. Also on Saturday at 7.30pm. Tickets adult $46.90/concession $42.90 from canberratheatre.com.au.
Palliative Care Australia is hosting a trivia night with the theme 'celebrate life, talk about death' at the Labor Club, Belconnen. Tickets are free but you can book here.
Raw Canberra is bringing together more than 30 local emerging artists working in fashion, music, visual and performing arts, music and more for a one-night extravaganza at the Belconnen Arts Centre. Tickets $16.50 through RAWartists.org/Canberra/sensory or $20 on the door.
The National Portrait Gallery will host a free highlights tour of its collection focusing on the story of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at 11.30am every day during Reconciliation Week, ending on June 3.
ACT Parks and Conservation Service will undertake a rabbit control program at Pine Island Reserve until June 30 - it will involvepindonethe rabbit
With federal parliament moving towards a possible vote on same-sex marriage, Hackett couple Veronica Wensing and Krishna Sadhana are excited but wary. Photo: Melissa Adams.
For three-and-a-half heady days in late 2013, Hackett couple Veronica Wensing and Krishna Sadhana were a legally married couple, both revelling in being a "Mrs" and feeling their relationship was finally equal to others in the community.
They were one of 31 same-sex couples who were lawfully married in the ACT for up to five days until a High Court ruling found their marriages to be unconstitutional and their unions null and void.
"I feel less excited this time around. I don't want to believe it until it happens," Ms Wensing said.
Click cartoon for more David Pope.
A tiny forest of mushrooms caught the attention of one entrant in our autumn photo competition. Photo: Tell Eastwood.
To enter our winter photo competition, send a maximum of three photos to photocomp@canberratimes.com.au as attached JPEG files and include your name, address, phone number, photo title, a description of the photo and the date it was taken.
Photos must be between 150 kilobytes and one megabyte. Winners will take home a share of the $1000 prize.
Today: Partly cloudy. Patchy morning fog. Slight chance of a shower early this morning. Winds northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h tending westerly in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late afternoon. Min, 9, max, 16.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Patchy fog in the early morning. Light winds becoming west to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the morning then becoming light in the evening. Min, 1, max, 13.
Sunday: Partly cloudy. Patchy morning fog. Slight chance of a shower, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming northwesterly 20 to 30 km/h during the morning. Min 2, max 13.
Monday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers in the morning. Winds northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h turning west to southwesterly during the morning. Min 2, max 11.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Light winds. Min -3, max 12.
Wednesday: Sunny. Light winds. Min -3, max 13.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Light winds. Min -2, max 14.
