Plus bug bites and chemical traces. 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 won’t have insects on the menu.
If you thought this month’s federal election result would finally end the division over Australia’s energy future, think again.
It’s still dividing political parties and communities, even as the roll-out of renewables in regional areas surges.
Sharp differences over energy policy and a regional future fund were key factors behind the National Party’s split this week from the Liberal Party-led Coalition for the first time in almost 40 years. The split might only be temporary, with talks to patch up differences starting late in the week.
Nationals leader David Littleproud, whose party is still committed to the controversial nuclear energy policy effectively rejected at this month’s election, said renewable energy had lost its social licence and country communities wanted change.
The Nationals also wanted the Coalition to continue its election commitment to a regional future fund for infrastructure, a universal service obligation for telecommunications, and policies to improve supermarket competition.
The Nationals retained 15 mostly regional seats in the House of Reps while the Liberal Party was reduced to just 28.
In Victoria, farmers in the path of renewable energy projects said they might lock their gates to builders and contractors even as the state government outlined its major transmission plan.
The NSW government has approved a $312 million solar farm for the Richmond Valley, south of Casino, which is expected to provide enough power for about a quarter of the homes in the Northern Rivers area. Still subject to federal approval, it is one of three proposed for the region. Only two of the 40 public submissions supported the project, which includes a battery system that aims to release energy to the grid outside daylight hours.
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Volunteers in a tiny NSW town will launch an art exhibition this spring to help raise funds for the hall that’s been at the heart of the community for 90 years.
Waukivory (population 94) is about 16km from Gloucester. Its community-owned hall was built on land donated by a local farmer in the 1930s – so was the fire station next door.
Local progress association secretary Kathy Baxter and retired teacher Anne Andrews are two of the driving forces behind Colours of Waukivory, a two-day exhibition that will feature paintings by Andrews’ farmer-artist husband John and fellow local artists Meg Tulk and Richard Rawbone. Rawbone’s father Grahame will display bespoke wooden furniture.
Anne and John Andrews moved to a farm at Waukivory about 10 years ago. Proceeds from his regular Monday art classes go to hall maintenance. Baxter co-ordinates tai chi sessions, and other events in the hall include Christmas parties, trivia nights and regular morning teas for a group of local women who have been meeting for 40 years.
The exhibition, which has been planned for months, was originally scheduled for early next month. Organisers made a late decision to postpone it this week as parts of NSW faced devastating floods.
Victorian councils have joined farmers and firefighters in opposing the state’s new emergency services tax.
The old version of the tax, levied through rates, funded the Country Fire Authority and Fire Services Victoria. The new tax will also help fund the SES, Triple Zero Victoria and other emergency service agencies.
All Victorian ratepayers will pay a higher levy under the new tax, but farmers – many of them CFA or SES volunteers – face increases of 150%.
Premier Jacinta Allen has defended the change, which is expected to raise $1.6 billion in the next financial year, saying that without it other areas of the budget would need to be cut.
Water NSW believes it has narrowed down the potential sources of “forever chemicals” discovered in the Blue Mountains water supply last year to a petrol tanker fire and explosion in 1992 and a rural fire brigade.
Two dams in the area were disconnected from the water supply last year after traces of PFAS chemicals showed up in testing.
Firefighting foam used to control the tanker fires more than 30 years ago is believed to be responsible for some of the contamination. Water NSW also identified the Medlow Bath Rural Fire Brigade Station, which stored and used firefighting foams containing the chemicals, as another likely source.
Anyone fancy a cricket with that glass of cabernet? It’s a question being considered by Australia’s fledgling insect industry as it seeks ways to overcome consumer squeamishness.
Coonawarra winery owner Luke Tocaciu has been offering visitors edible insects along with their wine tasting for the past year. He says many first-time consumers are surprised by how good they taste.
Public squeamishness about eating insects, which the industry acknowledges is a barrier to growth, is being tackled as part of a $2 million University of Adelaide research project. Professor Kerry Wilkinson said insects are a potential high-value source of protein for humans and pets as well as offering options to deal with food waste.
How do you change the story around domestic violence? What’s it like for a victim seeking support in regional or rural Australia?
For almost two decades Carly Ravenscroft has been trying to provide answers to those questions. It’s a career path she felt destined to take from the moment she heard Tracy Chapman sing Behind The Wall, as a child growing up in the Blue Mountains in the late 1980s.
Ravenscroft features in the latest Galah podcast, Christmas at a Women’s Shelter, which was recorded just before Christmas last year.
No, it’s not a light subject. But, as Ravenscroft says, it’s a public issue we should talk about more often.
You can find Galah on Apple or Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
In case you needed a reminder, winter is fast approaching and so are winter celebrations across regional Australia. The Newbridge Winter Solstice Festival includes a ticketed medieval banquet in the NSW central tablelands village on 20 June and the Winter Solstice Festival on 21 June. Read more
This exhibition challenges viewers to reflect on the relationships between humans and birds, as well as broader ecological systems. At Singleton Arts and Cultural Centre, NSW, until 3 August. Read more
A playful and deeply personal tribute to childhood and cultural identity, Chinese Restaurant Playground by local artist Steffie Yee will be a highlight of Maitland Regional Art Gallery’s winter program, on 21 June-24 August. Read more
Highlights of Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery winter season include the International Art Textile Biennale 2025 and Archie Moore’s Mīal. From 30 May. Read more
More than 240 motoring enthusiasts will leave Bathurst next week for 11 days on the roads of rural and remote NSW and Queensland on the way to Cairns to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The Outback Car Trek has raised more than $36 million since it started in 1990.
Jen Manning will again be one of the trekkers. She has always loved cars, motorbikes and bush exploration. Nothing has changed now she’s a grandmother. She trained and worked as a nurse before meeting Just Cuts founder Denis McFadden on a blind date. They live on Berry Mountain, north of Nowra. Here she talks about why she supports the Outback Car Trek, which starts with a wacky hair-cutting event in Bathurst on 29 May.
What do you love about country life?
Small towns have a way of putting their arms around you. I love the authenticity and can-do attitude of country people. Nothing is a problem in the bush. You just work it out.
How did you become involved in the trek?
I’ve always loved the adrenalin of speeding down a dirt road. Just Cuts had been a supporter of the trek and Denis had been part of it already. He persuaded me to join and now I think I’ve done it 17 times. We used to run three cars, but now it’s just Denis and me in a '65 Mustang.
Why are you so keen to see more women involved?
It’s a great way to see Australia and experience some of the challenges people in the bush face daily. This is all for a great cause and it’s a privilege to help the RFDS.
What does it take to be involved?
You need to prepare vehicles and equipment, be ready for a few nights sleeping on the ground, carry enough fuel to cover long distances and bring spare parts and tyres to survive the tough roads in old cars. You’ll be washing bull dust out of every crack and crevice. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but it could also be the most fun, best-ever thing you’ve done in your life.
What are some of the highlights of past treks?
Everyone is dedicated to helping each other. You’ll see people organising impromptu raffles at outback pubs to raise money so School of the Air kids can visit the ocean for the first time. We get rare access to two-million-hectare stations, where owners fly in or drive long distances to feed us and let us cross their land. The scenery is breathtaking.
Samuel Johnson is known for his award-winning turn as Molly Meldrum in a TV mini-series and his cancer fundraising work. In the Victorian town of Tallarook, he’s also known as the local postie.
Johnson, who won a Gold Logie in 2017, has been open about his struggles with mental health, personal tragedy and alcohol. He says having to head out on his bike three mornings a week on his delivery round guarantees there are three nights when he’s not “misbehaving”.
Since 2012, Johnson’s main focus has been Love Your Sister, the charity organisation he co-founded with his sister Connie, who died of cancer in 2017. Love Your Sister has raised more than $20 million, largely aiming to deliver precision medicine to cancer patients, especially those living outside major centres.
Johnson’s story was featured on ABC TV’s Australian Story this week.
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
