2025 – that was the year that was… and here it is, month by month, through the bright eyes of the CityNews columnists – a quirky, serious, funny and sad look at the 12 months just gone. Mr SHUSH CAPITAL, of KEEPING UP THE ACT, takes a poke at October… 

In the spirit of making October great again, the month returned to its Roman roots when it was consecrated to Mars, the god of war.

The first battle came early with the Brisbane Broncos storming the Melbourne Storm in the NRL Grand Final. The real casualty, though, was NSW – and its in-goal pocket, the ACT – which couldn’t even get a dog in the fight. A clear Roman auspice that the tides of war were turning against the once-dominant players.

In other unexpected defeats, the Barr Labor government was shell-shocked when its Minister for Incompetence, Chris Steel, received an historic censure motion over his handling of the MyWay+ ticketing fiasco.

A review described the rollout as “a significant failure” with “almost unanimously negative feedback.” Robert Macklin went further, suggesting the entire farrago of local government was a failure.

All of this came as the chief minister was trying to spruik Labor’s first-year achievements since the 2024 election. Instead of receiving a laurel wreath and triumphal arch in Braddon, our Chief had to humble himself before his subjects with an apology; something Canberrans had not witnessed in decades.

Canberra Liberals leader Leanne Castley smelt blood. Perspicacious from an internal review that declared “the party infighting must stop –  plain and simple,” and a CityNews op-ed column in which she vowed “we are drawing a line in the sand,” Castley went on to mount a spirited attack on her own party.

The trigger was Elizabeth Lee and Peter Cain crossing the floor to support a Greens motion on Assembly sitting days. The sandy line swirled away, and the Liberals resumed their regular infighting. Columnist Andrew Hughes said the Libs, both locally and federally, had now turned self-harm into a tradition; licking their wounds, then tearing them open again with gusto.

Elsewhere, another civil war erupted within the Australian War Memorial over its Ben Roberts-Smith display; the soldier who earned medals for valour and headlines for villainy. Hugh Selby, Robert Macklin and KEEPING UP THE ACT all argued the Memorial had lost its way, while many letter-writers fiercely defended it.

Amid this fog of war, a shaft of sunlight broke through with a surprise ceasefire in Gaza, brokered by the President of Surprises, Donald Trump, and surprisingly agreed to by both Israel and Hamas. The surge of surprises continued the next day when anti-war protesters hit the streets worldwide to demonstrate against… well, the signs were already made.

October also brought the regular Canberra false dawns of spring and the urge to get into the garden. Jackie Warburton planted wisteria, shrimp plants, vines and candytuft before going multi-ball with her column, “It’s planting time for everything!”

Weeding out bureaucratic blight, Jon Stanhope and Khalid Ahmed tackled the warnings ignored on ACT credit downgrades and the creative blame-shifting from the usual ministerial suspects.

Clive Williams whimsied on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and eyebrows, while Antonio Di Dio looked at politeness through the lens of singing nuns. 

In the arts, Helen Musa previewed the musical Newsies and poet Judith Nagala Crispin’s desert-fuelled, Dingo’s Noctuary. We felt the passion of Virginia Haussegger’s feminist manifesto, Unfinished Business, while musician Jo Camilleri revealed his surprising Canberra connections. October festivals included Diwali, SpringOUT and the Canberra Short Film Festival.

In human-interest stories, CityNews profiled a prize-winning young plumber who was also a shooting champion and cancer survivor, and told the rime of an ancient mariner who now mentored kids. 

Colin Steele reviewed books by Richard Osman and Mick Herron, while Nick Overall dissected streaming gems, The Studio, The House of Guinness, Monster, A House of Dynamite, Frankenstein and The Last Frontier.

Wendy Johnson set her chompers on a Civic steakhouse, a Korean anju in Barton, a boutique Braddon bistro, an Indian eatery in Griffith, before some relaxed grazing at Pialligo Estate.

Richard Calver slurped through a sublime Tinta Cão-Souzão (it’s a red, mate), a compelling McLaren Vale shiraz-pinot, a snazzy Tassie savvy-b, Australia’s best riesling, and a discounted shiraz that was not to be discounted at all.

Taylor Swift broke the internet with a new album while the world mourned the passing of Jane Goodall, Diane Keaton and Ace Frehley. 

It was a big and bruising month. 

Keeping up the Act is usually a weekly comic strip making fun of ACT politics.