Higgins
News in Brief
- Higgins turns 40 (It was gazetted in 1968).
Commemorative
tea towels available now.
- Higgins puma not spotted recently – may
not
exist after all.
- Pink Poodle spotted outside newsagent-
unfortunately exists (joke- would love to hear from the mystery pink
poodle
owner or anyone who knows them).
- Henry Higgins birthday parade attracts
eccentric and excited crowd.
- Higgins crime rate less than 10 years ago,
possibly because telly has gotten better.
- Biggest lemon tree ever still producing on
Pennefather St.
- Cracker night makes mums mad (but none of them
do anything about it).
- Scandal: Donuts being made in
dark right under
residents noses. Why the secrecy?
Henry
Higgins Birthday Parade
June 30 was Henry
Higgins birthday, and Higgins residents came out in the dozens to
celebrate and join in the inaugural Henry Higgins Birthday Parade.
We
talked with one of the revellers....
 What do you think of the parade
today?
Yeah pretty good. Been to a few of this sort of thing and it has a
great vibe by any standards. I’ll definitely be comin' back
again.
What other parades
have you been to?
Kaleen was not bad a few months back but not as professional as this
one. I thought there could have been more food stalls.
What were the
highlights?
Oh Christ. So hard to choose. Did you see the giant Henry Higgins
birthday float? It nearly killed a dog. It was amazing. And the
commemorative Higgins donuts were good. I hesitated at $3.50 but they
were worth it. Amazing likeness too. 
Did you take the
public holiday?
Yeah my boss wasn’t real happy about it. Said he’d
never
heard of it but he was convinced when I showed him the website and he
saw what an important cultural event it is. In fact, he's gonna take
the day off too next year just so he can come to the parade.
We are very
impressed by your outfit. Well some of the local fellas are anyway. The
hairdresser too. What inspired you?
Well I thought it was gonna be more of a gay mardi gras. Woops.
Photoessay
-
Dogs of Higgins
This edition we
give you the chance to get to know some of
the canine residents of Higgins.
  
  
  
Higgins
Houses - synonymous with comfort and dignity
The
suburb of Higgins holds a special place in the history of the
development of the nation’s capital. Mid-last
century, the
Australian Government was desperately trying to woo its public servants
from Melbourne and Sydney to Canberra with the promise of sparkling
new brick-veneer homes.
Thus, from the mid sixties to
the mid seventies, with the transfer of public
servants, and the accompanying construction workers, retailers, postal
and police workers (combined with the inevitable high birth rate that
goes with relocating all those people to a strange land with no TV) the
population of Canberra burgeoned from about 70,000 to
200,000.
Unfortunately there weren’t enough houses in the sheep
paddock
that was early Canberra, so lots had to be built and fast.
Materials and labour were hard to come by. Whilst sheep are
pretty clever, they don’t make very good plumbers.
So, the National Capital Development Commission was set up to oversee
the task of building houses for all, and to develop our
nation’s
capital ‘as a place in which to live in comfort and
dignity’.
The epitome of comfort and dignity, Higgins has its fair share of the
12000 or so ‘government houses’ the NCDC built
during this
time. Money was tight, but economies of scale were achieved
by
repeating the same handful of designs throughout the suburb, and making
bulk purchases of materials. To avoid the embarrassment of
all
houses looking the same, slightly different coloured bricks were used,
and designs were mirror-imaged or even rotated on the block.
In the early seventies, the standards of workmanship in the govie
house started to be questioned. There were suspicions too
many
corners had been cut when problems arose, such as fuses blowing when
two appliances were turned on at a time. In response, new improved
designs were introduced offering luxury living with separate shower
recesses and even separate shower rooms, concrete floors in wet areas,
oil and gas heaters, double carports and….even some two
storey
houses!
As money for building new houses ran out, houses were offered for sale
to their tenants. The NCDC then used that money to build more
houses. Once sold, these much revered houses became
affectionately known as ‘ex-govies’.
Sadly, towards the mid seventies, once Canberra’s population
had
grown large enough to pull together its own rugby team, the
Government’s focus shifted. Falling into line with
the rest
of Australia, they introduced means testing so that public housing was
targeted to those in need. (Up until then you just had to
work in
the ACT, and put your name on a waiting list). The hay-day of
the
celebrated govie house was over.
Today, Higgins contains perhaps the highest density of unmodified
ex-govie houses of that period, due to the high level of cultural
awareness of Higgins residents. As such, it stands as a proud testament
to the govie house legacy, and its contribution to the unique suburban
atmosphere of our nation’s capital.
Meet
the Locals
- Windsor Castle in Higgins?
Look at these 2 charming
couples. One lazing at the south coast Canberra style, thinking about
getting a house in Higgins; the other at Windsor castle. Hoi Polloi
spoke to the Aussie couple, and we discovered THEY ARE BOTH BORN ON THE
SAME DAY AS PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE!! (well, he on his and she on
hers.)
 
This got us thinking. Could Higgins be the astrological
equivalent of Windsor?? What do the two places have in
common? So the Hoi Polloi offered their services to help contact
the royal couple and find out if they shared the same tastes as the
Higgins pair.
The MSN conversation went like this:
T and M: Hi, this is
going to seem a very strange letter but we are writing because we have
exactly the same birthdays as you two!! And we wanted to know if we are
at all similar? So we thought we’d ask you a few key questions
and see. We love fish and chips, do you?
W and K: Yes how uncanny! We love fish and chips
T and M: We have just
bought a 4 wheel drive so we can do outdoor sports, carry our kayaks
and go orienteering and camping at weekends, but we love to cycle
around when we can. What about you?
W and K:
Yes, both of us love taking out the 4 wheel drives. Willy takes out the
tank occasionally when friends come over and we don’t want to be
seen going camping. Sometimes Harry brings one too! Great fun.
T and M: We are hoping to
buy a house in Higgins in Canberra ACT. There are some beautiful spots
there on parks and you can have a dog and a garden. Plenty of room to
put all our outdoor toys. What about you?
W and K: Wow, dogs, garden, parks, outdoor toys! That sounds just like Windsor!
T and M: That’s amazing. You really should come and visit!
W and K: We’d love to visit. Thankyou so much. I’m amazed at how similar we are. I cant wait to tell Harry.
Do
You Know Your Neighbours?
Ever
wondered what’s going on over your neighbours fence? A quick
look at the ABS
2006 census reveals we are extremely average!!
 FACT:
There are 3025 Higginsonians. 24
are Indigenous (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander). 648 were born
overseas.
FACT: Some of us speak
Spanish,
Finnish, Greek, Vietnamese and/or Mandarin…
FACT:
We beat the national average for the number of professionals living
here, but
have less tradies. We
blow the national
average out of the water for people who work in Central Government
admin,
tertiary education, protective services and defence.
FACT: We are a bit younger than
the rest of Australia; the median age of Higginsonians is 35 (national median
is 37)
FACT:
Whilst we earn a bit more than the national average, we pay a bit more
in rent (its worth it though).
FACT: And for those who are looking for love, 51%
of Higginsonians have either never
married or are separated, divorced or widowed.
If
you want more info visit the ABS website.
Short
Story
Competition
We
had so many entries we had to put them on a separate page.
Thanks everyone for your inspired efforts.
This
months
Competition
Email us at
editor@higgins.org.au
and tell us where it is. If you dont
know, take a walk around your suburb and keep your eyes peeled. You
could win a prize.
Letters
to the
Editor
Spotted your web address down at the shops. good fun. I have long being telling
work mates that Higgins is the new Red Hill, now I can prove it!
Thanks, Castieau St.
I’m a fan of Hoi Poloi. That mysterious puma must be a concern for the locals, is it some how linked to the café delays?
Will Missy be at the café opening? Is the man hole a secret entrance to the café? So many questions!
Thank you Hoi Poloi, you make living away from Higgins almost bearable.
Former resident ‘M’
If
you've something to say to us, please email editor@higgins.org.au
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