Life

Chris Oldfield. Humour, youth and a passion for rural and regional people were hallmarks of SA’s Shadow Cabinet who last week gathered in the clubrooms of the Naracoorte showgrounds. Member for MacKillop Nick McBride welcomed his Liberal colleagues and local constituents to the forum, which was part of an intense three-day tour of the region.

Recent flooding across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia has been declared the most expensive in the nation’s history and a natural catastrophe by trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, as the dire consequences to regional communities become more clearly understood ... In response to the unfolding disaster the organisation is relaunching its Buy a Bale fundraising campaign which was popular during the equally significant recent drought.

Kirstin Nicholson. The residents of ‘Rochy South’ were given a boost to their makeshift living quarters on Sunday when the Cohuna Leos and Cubs spent the day with them and brought much needed supplies. Dubbed ‘Rochy South’, the temporary village set up for Rochester residents displaced by the floods is located on the Elmore Field Days site.

The Shire of Coolgardie’s independently run Meals on Wheels service was recognised on a National stage this week, after winning the Meals On Wheels Australia Service Excellence Award for 2022 ... The program not only provides residents with free and nutritious meals, but it also became a welfare check on clients in our regional towns throughout the Shire.

It’s been an egg-cellent start to the Sunshine Coast turtle nesting season, with six nests laid in seven days. At sunrise on Friday, November 25, expert citizen scientist and Turtle Care volunteer Lesley Dimmock spotted the first turtle tracks on Buddina beach.

In less than 48 hours, Bracknell Lodge was transformed into an arena, hosting the ‘Ride for a Roof’ event raising money for the newly-formed Common Ground Foundation. The event was organised to raise money to purchase a house in Toowoomba in which families can stay while they have a loved one in hospital. And raise money it did.

David Landini, Riverina State Group. The Victorian election, with the re-election of the Daniel Andrews’ Labor government, and the election of seven Greens Members of Parliament, ensures that the suppression of natural resource-based industries such as irrigated agriculture and timber harvesting will not only continue, but actually accelerate and expand. That these Members of Parliament are all urban-based, while the industries being suppressed are all in the country, demonstrates the cultural and economic division existing between the urban and country populations.

Prominent local lawyer Jason Goode, of local law firm Farrell Goode, has been named a finalist in the NSW Law Society’s prestigious Rural Practitioner of the Year award in recognition of his tireless support of this region. Mr Goode, who is joint president of the Riverina Law Society and a member of the society’s rural issues committee, has spent the past 30 years working to bring much-needed attention to the issues that are unique to this area.

The Narrandera Branch of NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Union members took to the streets as part of strike action last Wednesday (November 23). About 15 Narrandera NSWNMA Union Members and numerous community representatives showed their support during a march in East Street ... Taking a stance, the members highlighted their plight of fighting for safer staffing levels by means of more acceptable nurse-to-patient ratios.

Sheep farmer Suzanne Lewis has just published her first children’s book and had no further to look for something to write about than her own front paddock. “Queenie the Quad Lady” is the story of a remarkable ewe that captured Suzanne’s heart after giving birth to four lambs and successfully raising them all despite all the trials and tribulations a sheep can face.

Emma Pritchard. Following a hard-fought campaign which stretched across five-and-a-half years and included a petition with over 11000 signatures, overwhelming community support, and plenty of lobbying by Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis, members of the Iluka Ambulance Action Group and Iluka Bowling Club proudly stood alongside Clarence Valley residents and visiting dignitaries on November 26 to celebrate a significant milestone.

When I came to rural NSW pathology in the 1990's, there were approximately six rural cytology positions employed in the government pathology laboratories in the state and a single rural cytology position employed by the private sector. So the number of trained cytology positions was never large and very much fewer in rural areas. However, as of 2016-17 they are non-existent in any rural NSW pathology setting, private or public sector. Similarly, numbers are greatly reduced for most of the other specialist pathology positions, especially pathologists themselves.

The South Australian Wooden Boat Festival (SAWBF) will be sailing into new territory for the April 2023 Festival, with Coorong Quays hosting the two-day event at the Alexandrina Cove Lifestyle Village, Hindmarsh Island. This biennial occasion will showcase the finest wooden boats from our region and beyond.

Ryan Saunders died in hospital. He was nearly three years old. His parents were worried he was getting worse and didn’t feel their concerns were being acted upon by medical staff. They were right ... When Ryan’s death was found to have been preventable, the Queensland Department of Health made a commitment to introduce a patient escalation process to minimise the possibility of a similar event occurring. It is called Ryan’s Rule.

Charles Jangala Inkamala was born 1968 in Ntaria (Hermannsburg) ... Charles lives in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and began painting with Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists in 2017. He paints significant cultural sites such as Rwetyepme (Mount Sonder) and Yapalpe (Glen Helen Gorge) in stylized detail.

After recent rains in Tennant Creek, the Mozzie Mob is back to work under a renewed program to cleanse the town of the dengue mosquito. NT Health Director of Medical Entomology at the Centre for Disease Control, Nina Kurucz, said a fresh round of home backyard inspections will begin with technical officers in town to conduct inspections to prevent an outbreak.

What do you think will be the three issues uppermost in people’s minds when they cast their vote this election? ... What can you and your party offer the voter that other parties can’t?

Felton Community Hall played host to the Cambooya Landcare Association 2022 Annual General Meeting last week, which saw the group retain a strong financial position and the current committee continuing into the new year ... The meeting included a presentation by guest speaker Ken Keith, who gave a background explanation of Agro-Ecology through his presentation ‘Transitioning to Agro-Ecology in Australian Agriculture - The Landcare Way’.