Plus cannibal toads and takeaway pizza. Welcome to Galah Weekly, our award-winning newsletter keeping you up to date with regional headlines that matter, plus other delightful things from life beyond the city. By Dean Southwell, who would pay to see a mockbuster.
Regional Australia’s population is tipping 10 million and still growing but apparently the regions aren’t getting their share of overseas workers.
The Regional Australia Institute said its analysis of recently released Australian Bureau of Statistic figures showed the population outside capital cities had increased to 9.91 million by last year. The fastest growth was in towns relatively close to major cities, but even smaller regional areas had grown by 2.7% in the past six years.
Institute CEO Liz Ritchie said more than half the national population growth was driven by overseas migrants, yet only about 17% of them moved to the regions.
In February 65,000 jobs were advertised online in the regions, including critical workers such as doctors, teachers and tradies. Ritchie said it was time for a national conversation about changes to regional needs and how migrants could fill more of these jobs.
Ritchie’s comments come as both major parties head towards a federal election saying they want to cut immigrant numbers.
Meanwhile, the NT government wants to encourage FIFO gas and mining workers to settle in the territory as part of an effort to double population growth.
Plan a journey to the charming village of Nundle in north-west NSW this autumn to experience vibrant foliage, crisp mountain air and warm country hospitality. Explore creative indie stores, listen to live music, sample local produce, see awe-inspiring landscapes or join a community event. Feel the Nundle welcome for a day, or a stay. Learn more here.
A large portion of the population of Castlemaine was due to walk the red carpet for the “world premiere” – and brief screening season – of a homegrown remake of the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park this weekend.
Jurassic Park: Castlemaine Redux is a mockbuster – a frame-by-frame remake of the original produced on a $3000 budget – featuring a volunteer cast and crew of 150 who mostly live in and around the central Victorian town. About 1200 free tickets have been snapped up for four showings of a film where props included dinosaur heads bought from Big W supplemented by bubble wrap and bean bags.
It’s the brainchild of Castlemaine teacher and former film critic and video editor John Roebuck. He told Galah this week he still struggled to explain why he and five friends decided to continue the project that began as a spur-of-the-moment idea three years ago.
In that time Roebuck and wife Ella Mulvey have welcomed a baby and a children’s book deal.
Tickets to the weekend showings were free because the remake effectively breaches copyright, although Roebuck said “Universal Pictures would have to be pretty bad sports to shut us down”.
He’s adamant that, unlike the original blockbuster series, there will be no sequel.
“I only finished the film on Sunday and it looks far better than I expected,” Roebuck added, paying tribute to the cinematographer, a landscape gardener with a quality camera who wanted to branch out into film.
Mining giant Glencore has confirmed it will take the last copper ore from its Mount Isa underground mine at the end of July.
The intended mine closure was announced in 2023 and will end a century of continuous operation. About 500 jobs will be lost, down from original estimates of 1200.
Meanwhile, Glencore is seeking federal and state government support to maintain Mount Isa’s copper smelter and its Townsville refinery.
Mining at the company’s George Fisher zinc and lead mine will continue. Glencore is also examining the feasibility of reopening an open-cut zinc, lead and copper mine.
Glencore produces 99.7% copper anode at the Mount Isa smelter; then it’s taken to the Townsville refinery, where an electrolytic process delivers up to 300,000 tonnes of 99.995% pure copper each year for wire and cabling.
A genetically modified cannibal cane-toad tadpole that never grows up could be a secret weapon in efforts to control the invasive pest.
Macquarie University biologist Rick Shine is one of the scientists who has been working to create a cane-toad hatchling that won’t progress past its tadpole stage.
He said his team had genetically engineered tadpoles to be larger and even more cannibalistic than they usually are. Trials have shown they eradicate other cane-toad tadpoles and eggs with no impact on native frogs. The next step is field trials in WA later this year.
While genetic intervention might help control the toad, gene editing is being considered as an option to help save the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.
App-based home delivery of takeaway food is apparently coming to a town near you.
Uber Eats, whose drivers are a common sight in the nation’s major cities, has announced a major push into regional Australia with 67 locations added to its mix.
The company is pitching its expansion into the regions – which it expects to drive $45 million in revenue – as a boost for the economy, jobs and restaurants in more than 100 towns including Port Augusta, Broome and Mount Isa.
It will be interesting to see how that business model translates to regions where customers are spread a little further and whether the delivery costs will match city prices.
Galahs on the ground have told us of several bread boxes operating in their necks of the woods. This follows last month’s story about the honesty-box system run by Mount Martha baker Michelle Ball.
Elisabeth Hatzistavrou, of Bendigo, is a big fan of In Knead, a sourdough baker at Buninyong just south of Ballarat.
Toby and Ali Anderson operate a micro-bakery at Frog Rock, near Mudgee. Though it’s not a full honesty-box system, Anderson says customers collect their bread from a mailbox or at nearby High Valley Cheese Co.
Qld outback reader Georgi Westland gave a shout to a couple of honesty options beyond bread. She mentioned Prairie Honey, “just over the railway line” in Prairie, and the watermelon cart opposite the Burdekin Duck Roadhouse north-east of Charters Towers. Westland says both are accessible via the Flinders Highway between Townsville and Mount Isa.
Note from Annabelle: A massive thank you to fellow independent media platform The Squiz for becoming a Patron of the Arts sponsor for our upcoming Galah Regional Photography Prize.
The Squiz has committed to a $6000 acquisitive pledge, and now one of the works from the exhibition has their name on it. I want to say it’s going straight to the pool room, but I think it’s destined for their office walls. Will you join The Squiz and become a Patron of the Arts sponsor, too? All the details are here.
Don’t forget, you can shape the future of regional photography by voting for the Galah Regional Photography Prize People’s Choice award. The winner will be announced at the exhibition party at the New England Regional Art Museum in Armidale on 2 May.
And if you’re lucky enough to be in the NSW New England region, the exhibition of finalists’ works is open until 8 June.
There is a great piece in The Weekend Australian Magazine this weekend about Galah Regional Photography Prize finalist Ellie Marinakis and the photograph she took of her brother Ben and his mate Paul – the lead image at the top of this newsletter. It was a 41-degree day in January, and the two of them had nearly 300 ewes to shear in this shed at Werrimull in the far north-west of Victoria.
“No air-conditioning,” laughs 28-year-old Ben Rankin, on the right. “We each had a fan and a sweat towel, but it was impossible to stay cool.” Read the story here.
About 170 pieces of Wedgwood’s finest ceramics and designs feature in this exhibition drawn from the UK’s Victoria and Albert Museum collection. At Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, Qld, until 24 August. Read more
Newcastle painter Patrick Mavety’s work celebrates the beauty of his surroundings and aims to counter the “brooding artist” trope. In this series he captures the landscapes of Maitland and surrounds. At Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW, until 1 June. Read more
One for the calendar for those interested in hard-to-find produce and all things rosella – the hibiscus, not the bird. Petersen’s Farm is the only commercial grower of the plant in south-east Qld and has run the Big Rosella Field Day since 2016. At Petersen’s Farm, Woolooga, Qld, 3-4 May. Read more
Drawn from the National Gallery of Australia collection, Single Channel brings together moving-image artworks from 2000 to 2019 by some of Australia's most significant artists. The exhibition focuses on works by First Nations and Australian artists. At Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Nowra, NSW, until 19 July. Read more
Interview: Emma Hearnes
Cooma sheep farmer-turned-regenerative agriculture champion Charles Massy knows first-hand the toll that drought and land degradation can take. But rather than accept decline, he transformed his farm – and his thinking.
Tell me about the land you live and work on.
Our farm spans 2000 hectares and consists of 40-million-year-old red and black treeless basalt and 440-million-year-old red granite and metamorphic rock covered in thick native bush. We’ve recorded more than 150 different bird species, along with various reptiles, mammals and some endangered reptiles and marsupials.
You started exploring regenerative farming in your 50s. What inspired that shift?
As a lover of nature and a trained zoologist and human ecologist, I gradually realised that the traditional set stocking and industrial fertilisers my family had used for generations were destroying our grazing and native ecology. It seemed a no-brainer to shift to a nature-positive strategy.
Regenerative agriculture can seem complex. How would you explain it in simple terms?
Regenerative agriculture isn’t complicated. Lots of leading regenerative farmers explain it as “getting out of the way of mother nature”. It’s about letting natural systems self-organise back to a better state. It’s a concept I find extremely exciting and explored in my 2020 book Call of the Reed Warbler.
What are some ways you do this?
We practise rotational grazing, meaning livestock graze in large groups for short periods – one to three days – before moving on, ensuring they eat only about half the grass. Then, we allow the pasture to recover for at least four months. We’ve also planted about 70,000 native trees and shrubs over the years to restore biodiversity.
Galah Weekly is taking a break on Easter Sunday. See you again on Sunday 27 April.
We’d love to hear about the news, events and people that should be making the headlines in the Galah Weekly newsletter. Share what’s new(s) in your neck of the woods with us at newsie@galahpress.com
