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
News
Public servants have been told to look outside the Canberra bubble so they can focus on the quiet Australians whose voices can be drowned out by lobbyists and interest groups, and win back their trust. Prime Minister Scott Morrison in an address to the Institute of Public Administration in the Great Hall at Parliament House on Monday also said the Australian...
News
A man, aged 71, has died following a motorcycle crash near Queanbeyan on Friday. Police have been told about 1.30 pm, a man was riding along the Kings Highway, near Captains Flat Road, Carwoola, when the bike left the roadway and crashed into a street sign. The man was treated at the scene before being taken to Canberra Hospital in...
News
Australian War Memorial Director Brendan Nelson has launched a broadside against critics of the institution's $498 million expansion, calling them a facile minority out of touch with the rest of the country. Dr Nelson took the opportunity of announcing his retirement from the position at the end of the year to lay down some withering fire on those who have...
What's On
Twelve of the nation's most iconic motor vehicles can be seen in action in Goulburn on Saturday (17 August) when they take to Wakefield Park Raceway in a first for the National Museum of Australia. A Chequered Past will feature the 1967 Brabham Repco BT23A-1 V8 racing car, built and raced by Sir Jack Brabham; the conserved 1948 Daimler DE...
News
The Hilton hotel group is looking to establish a presence in Canberra with an unsolicited proposal to build a five-star complex in the national capital. The bid, which was lodged in May but only just made public, comes from the Hilton Canberra WTTC Consortium, consisting of Sydney-based M20 Pty Ltd and Ledrae Hotels Pty Ltd, and Hilton Hotels of Australia...
News
The population of Bungendore would triple by 2048 under the highest growth scenario in the regional council's new draft plan for the village but development is dependent on an increased water supply. This is now a step closer after the NSW Government advised Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council of a further groundwater access entitlement, boosting hopes of new housing in and around the...
What's On
Legendary blues rock band The Black Sorrows will headline this year's Gundaroo Music Festival in October in a major coup for organisers. The festival, held in the village to the north of Canberra, will take place on Saturday 26 October from 10 am to 10 pm at Gundaroo Park, but there will also be a full weekend of events. Event Director...
Community
A new short documentary film tells the story of a young Canberra family's daily struggle with a disease that may eventually take the life of a little boy called Christopher, who can only communicate through his smile and facial expression. Canberra region filmmakers Daniel Sanguineti and Michael J. Watson have followed a day in the life of the Rogers family...
Economy
Queanbeyan region residents will have to fork out about $100 a year more to meet their rates bill after the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council adopted its Operational Plan, Fees and Charges, and Revenue Policy for 2019-20. Rates, fees and charges will generally increase by 2.7 per cent, which is in line with the rate peg limit set by the NSW Independent Pricing...
News
The ACT will be home to Australia’s largest community-owned solar farm after the proponent reached its $2.8 million investment target, with construction due to start by September. Canberra’s SolarShare will build its flagship 1MW solar farm in the Majura Valley after receiving over $2.36 million from more than 400 Canberra-based community investors and securing an $800,000 loan from local renewable energy...
News
Plans to convert rural land in Sutton into housing would double the size of the village just across the NSW border to Canberra's north. The Cartwright family, through a planning proposal prepared by Capital Region Planning, is asking the Yass Valley Council to rezone 180 hectares so it can develop a combination of large residential and rural-residential lots, with the...
Arts & Culture
Specially commissioned life-sized figures woven by Indigenous artists from the remote Central and Western deserts are now on display for the first time at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra before they head overseas on tour with the acclaimed Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters exhibition. The National Museum says the eight life-sized figures created by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers are...
News
The Australian War Memorial has taken possession of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-111C aircraft that is destined for a new exhibition hall, part of its controversial $498 million expansion to take place over the next nine years. The Memorial said Aircraft A8-134, now at the recently built and completed storage facility at the Treloar Technology Centre in Mitchell,...
News
Region Media, publishers of About Regional and RiotACT, has moved to reassure readers that content on all its sites will remain free, with news this week that the Canberra Times is moving behind a paywall. The Times, which still publishes a pay-for-print edition, has announced that it is introducing subscription packages for online readers, and hoping that its audience will be willing to support its...
News
The ACT is in the grip of a cold snap that has brought snow to higher areas, and given the Territory its coldest May day since 2000 on Monday when the mercury could only reach 9.1 degrees Celcius. The polar blast is set to continue all week with a succession of cold fronts. The Weather Bureau is warning of damaging...
News
Rising numbers of fallow deer in ACT nature reserves have prompted Parks and Conservation to order a cull of the feral animals early next month. The agency will conduct an aerial shooting program in the Murrumbidgee and Molonglo River Corridors and surrounding land from Monday 3 June until Friday 7 June. It says that there are significant emerging populations of...