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
The Main Works proposal for the redevelopment of the Australian War Memorial includes massive changes to the original design and setting that impact the institution's character and damage its heritage values, according to a submission from the National Trust of Australia (ACT). The public consultation period on the Main Works proposal closed last Friday (10 September) and attracted hundreds of...
News
Reports that ivermectin – a veterinary drug commonly used to treat parasites in animals – is being used by some Australians as a human treatment for COVID-19 has vets worried that people are putting their lives at risk. The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) says that while a version of ivermectin is sometimes prescribed by doctors to treat parasites in humans, the drug...
Arts & Culture
Cooma folk duo Cielle Montgomery and James Church have been making sweet music since they met at a live-in intensive before the Tamworth County Music Festival six years ago. Performing as Montgomery Church, the pair have just released their second album, Where The Quiet Can Hide, but like artists everywhere at present, are unable to tour. After wowing audiences at...
Opinion
South Sydney star Latrell Mitchell's timing could not have been worse. Not only was his sickening hit on the Roosters' Joseph Manu late, but it also came a few weeks out from finals. Now both players' seasons may be over - Manu with a fractured cheekbone, and Mitchell after being charged with a grade two reckless high tackle, which brings a...
Opinion
The worst possible place to have the weakest link in Australia's COVID-19 chain of defence would have to be Sydney, and yet here we are. In past times there may have been mass resignations for such an obvious stuff-up, but these days all we get is more spin and more deflection. Seven weeks into the Sydney, and now regional NSW...
Opinion
If you're one of those Canberrans who fled the capital to the South Coast as soon as the COVID lockdown was announced, shame on you. Yesterday afternoon a convoy of vehicles lined the Kings Highway on the way to their coastal bolt holes or hastily booked accommodation to wait out some or all of the seven-day period. Sure, you may...
News
Government should go hard and long to get the best value out of COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a new study from the Australian National University. Research just published by a team of modellers, economists and public health experts from the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health and the University of Melbourne highlights the...
News
A new poll has undermined claims from the Australian War Memorial that it has the support of most Australians for its controversial $500 million redevelopment, which a former Memorial director has called a "Khaki Disneyland". The Australia Institute poll comes as tree felling and demolition of Anzac Hall gets underway at the Memorial after the National Capital Authority's approval of...
Opinion
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith is showing more self-restraint than most when it comes to the Morrison Government's pandemic performance, presenting a picture of equanimity when asked whether she is frustrated at all. Her NSW counterpart, Liberal Brad Hazzard, on the other hand, hasn't held back, frequently lashing the PM and Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. "I'm not going to...
News
The National Capital Authority has approved early works to support the $500 million expansion of the Australian War Memorial, despite only three of the 601 submissions supporting the project. The decision was met with a barrage of criticism from opponents who questioned whether the NCA was capable of doing its job properly. But the Memorial said it was a welcome milestone...
News
The pilot of a plane that ploughed into a paddock near Sutton in April appeared to lose control of the aircraft before it went into a spin and steep descent, hitting the ground nose first, according to witnesses. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has released a preliminary report from its investigation into the crash of the Cessna R172K light aircraft...
Opinion
What price the nation's memory? For the Morrison Government, it seems that memory is highly selective as it continues to hold out against providing the $67.7 million in extra funding that the 2020 Tune review recommended for the National Archives of Australia so it could digitise significant historical material and meet its statutory obligations. When the Federal Budget was handed...
Arts & Culture
A trip to Europe might be off the cards for the foreseeable future, but you can go one better and time travel to ancient Greece, thanks to a blockbuster exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (NMA) opening in December. Featuring 180 objects which explore the theme of competition through sports, politics, drama, music and warfare, the collection from the...
Opinion
Here we go again. Victoria is in a seven-day lockdown to control a COVID-19 cluster sourced back to a hotel quarantine in Adelaide where a man contracted the virus and unknowingly carried it to Melbourne. How has it come to this? Right from the start of the pandemic, the Commonwealth has fudged its responsibilities, deferring to the states and territories...
News
A US proposal to ban the import and sale of kangaroo products used in the manufacture of football boots has been described as one of the most comprehensive own goals in the history of improving the iconic Australian marsupial's welfare. Canberra's George Wilson, an Honorary Professor at the ANU, and John Read from the University of Adelaide, who have 80 years combined experience...
What's On
There are many beautiful objects in newsman Trevor Kennedy's eclectic and vast collection, but it's their connection to Australian history and the Australian story that stirs his passion for them. "I've got this weird view that everything historical about Australia is beautiful," he says. "You can make up your own mind about whether or not it's beautiful." When he started...