About Ian Bushnell
Ian Bushnell is a career journalist and a former News Editor and Chief of Reporting staff at The Canberra Times, where he was at the centre of some of the capital’s biggest stories.
A Canberra resident since 1995, he and his partner have raised three children here and takes a keen interest in politics, urban development, health, education and sustainability issues.
He has found Canberra to be the most liveable city in Australia, and that it’s a reputation worth fighting for.
He enjoys the ACT’s bush environment and its rich cultural offerings including music, theatre and sport, although as a Collingwood supporter the Giants will always be that other Sydney team.
A lover of fine reds, he believes Canberra is blessed to have so many great wineries on our doorstep.
All Articles
Opinion
I was listening to the news on the radio driving back to the office the other day and there was Donald Trump mouthing off about his impeachment trial and how it was all fake news. I'm thinking, this guy is President of the United States, supposedly the greatest democracy in the world, and this is the model for leadership? He...
News
Former Director of the Australian War Memorial Dr Brendan Nelson has been appointed the next president of Boeing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific. Dr Nelson landed the plum job just weeks after leaving the AWM at the end of the year, although he had announced his departure in August. He will take up the Sydney-based role on 11 February...
Opinion
We have just passed another bushfire milestone in the ACT. It's 17 years since that fateful January day in 2003 when the unthinkable happened and 500 homes and four people perished in the flames that roared down from the mountains. Many still live with the trauma of that day and the beat of a helicopter or a whiff of smoke...
News
A new service to help small and medium-sized food producers in the region become exporters has been launched in Canberra. Not-for-profit Agribusiness Regional Development Association (ARDA) says the Capital Region Export Hub (CREH) aims to boost the export value of businesses in the Capital Region and Southern NSW by $1 billion by 2025. It says the end-to-end service will help small and...
Opinion
It's only to be expected but the calls for a greater slash and burn approach to the landscape have come thick and fast during the ongoing bushfire crisis, given prominence on the usual platforms that play down the links to climate change and global warming. One can understand the logic – reduce the fuel and you reduce the fire, but...
News
Harris Scarfe's Nowra store will close its doors as part of a nationwide shutdown of 21 outlets in preparation for a sale of the pared-back retail business. The Merimbula, Moruya, Ulladulla and Shellharbour stores will continue to trade. News of the closures comes a month after the business went into voluntary administration and Deloitte was appointed receivers, just before Christmas....
News
Both Canberra and Queanbeyan will forego their Australia Day fireworks displays to focus on funding for bushfire relief. The ACT Government says a morning concert in Commonwealth Park to raise funds for those impacted by bushfires will be the focus of Canberra’s Australia Day celebrations this year, replacing the annual fireworks show along Lake Burley Griffin. Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council Mayor Councillor...
News
Potable water is to be trucked to Braidwood and restrictions raised to the highest level possible as the drought and bushfires take their toll on the town's water supply. Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council has announced that from Friday (10 January) water restrictions in Braidwood will escalate to Level 4 and the council will begin transporting potable water to the town next...
News
NSW police have charged two people in the south-east with breaching a state-wide Total Fire Ban order after fires were lit over the weekend, when out of control bushfires wreaked havoc on the South Coast and in the Snowy Mountains. Police said that at 2:30 pm on Saturday (4 January), emergency services were called to Cromwell Street in Cooma after...
News
UPDATE 6.20 pm, Friday, 3 December: The following is an urgent message from the Bega Valley Emergency Operations Centre for people still in Bermagui and north of Mogareeka to Bemboka. We have grave concerns for the lives of people still in Bermagui and north of Mogareeka. Your life is at risk. You need to leave now. If you have friends and family...
News
There is little left of Cobargo's main street after a bushfire roared down from the mountains and destroyed its historic wooden buildings, an unknown number of homes and left two people dead. Cobargo Hotel Motel publican David Allen managed to save his property with the help of local firefighters but many more were not so lucky. He fought back tears...
News
A 74-year-old motorcyclist is in Queanbeyan Hospital in a critical condition after his bike and another vehicle collided on Monday afternoon. NSW police are investigating the crash, which happened about 3:20 pm on McCrae Street near Lanyon Drive in Queanbeyan. Emergency services were called to the scene after reports a Toyota Yaris sedan and motorcycle had collided. The motorcycle rider...
Opinion
It has taken the deaths of two young firefighters for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to cancel his Hawaiian holiday and apologise to the Australian people. But it is going to take a lot longer for the political bushfire to be extinguished and the issue is likely to smoulder, particularly given the government's reluctance to discuss the great big climate elephant...
What's On
Iconic Australian band Icehouse will headline the 2020 Anthems Music Festival, which returns to Canberra under new management and at a new venue. Anthems last played at the National Arboretum in November 2018, causing traffic chaos on the Tuggeranong Parkway, but the multi-artist show will be staged next year at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park on 28 March from 1:30...
News
NSW says it will reduce the number of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park after a new survey revealed an explosion in numbers that is alarming environmentalists and the ACT Government, concerned at the threat to habitat and the water catchment. The 2019 Australian Alps feral horse aerial survey shows that feral horses have more than doubled in numbers over the past...
News
A military veteran and the current Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Matthew Anderson, has been appointed the next director of the Australian War Memorial after a formal selection process. Mr Anderson, a former army officer, will replace outgoing director Dr Brendan Nelson, who will leave the role at the end of this year. Mr Anderson will be responsible for...