Plus a dream game and farm felonies. 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 thinks bending the rules sometimes makes sense.
Regional and disadvantaged schools are bearing the brunt of an Australian teacher shortage considered among the worst in the world.
An OECD report found 63% of Australian regional schools reported teacher shortages and more than 40% of secondary principals said shortages were compromising education.
Broome Senior High School principal Matt Burt, one of the longest-serving school leaders in the WA Kimberley less than a decade after moving from Perth, said retaining teachers was a challenge and shortages were worse “the more regional you go”.
A NSW study released this year found teachers suffer levels of stress and depression three times the rate of other occupations and about 30% of teachers are considering leaving the profession before retirement age.
In WA, 280km south of Perth, the Gairdner Primary School has a principal but no students after parents opted to send their children to schools outside the area when concerns partly sparked by teacher shortages went unanswered.
Hear more about the issue in Galah’s recent podcast, Country Schools Crisis, with Galah editor-in-chief Annabelle Hickson in conversation with journalist-author Gabrielle Chan.
Meanwhile, the NSW town of Deniliquin demonstrates the flow-on effects of regional shortages. It struggles to attract and retain essential workers such as teachers and nurses because they can’t find daycare for their children.
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Here’s a ray of hope in bush education at the WA outback mining town of Leinster, which is celebrating the graduation of its only year 12 student.
In a town where students typically board at a sister school in Esperance or in Perth, the Leinster Community School believes Sea Sokra'a might be the only student to have completed her entire education at the school.
She moved to the town with her Fijian parents when she was three and finished her education online via the School of Isolated and Distance Education.
A central Victorian netball club has found a way to ensure a club stalwart played a dream game alongside her teenage granddaughter.
Maree Bagley has played about 650 games of netball, many of them in the past two decades for Newstead Football Netball Club in a career that started at Castlemaine in the 1970s and includes a league life membership and coaching stints at several clubs.
Her granddaughter, Scarlett Ramsay, 13, has already been identified as a potential elite-level player. The Newstead club quietly sought permission from the league, which flexed the rules to allow Ramsay to play with her grandmother in the C grade game.
Neither was aware they would be playing together until the captain made a speech just after the warm-up.
A pioneering citizen scientist is one of many who has watched birdlife surge as a landmark far-west NSW wetland has been fed by floodwaters this year.
Geoff Looney has spent 50 years in the Broken Hill region and for the past 30 has photographed more than 200 bird species in the Menindee Lakes.
Looney has run fishing and bird-watching tours in the region and has documented his observations for monitoring group NSW Bird Atlassers, whose spokesman said Looney’s dedication had helped inform conservation efforts.
A South Australian regional council has put itself at the centre of a debate over short-stay rentals with a proposal to charge commercial rates for properties rented on platforms such as Airbnb.
The City of Mount Gambier has proposed the change, which would see rates more than double for property owners now being charged a regular residential rate even while earning income from short-term renters.
The council argues the properties are being used to generate profits, but it has been criticised by ratepayers and groups representing short-term rental landlords. Councils in Adelaide and Brisbane already apply commercial rate scales to short-term rental properties.
It comes amid a national housing crisis and widespread concern that short-term rentals deprive long-term tenants.
The NSW government is considering making it easier to build second homes on rural land as it deals with the housing shortage. Some councils allow it but town planners say regional rules are inconsistent and there’s a huge demand for housing that allows intergenerational living, particularly on farms.
A scientist who is also a traditional custodian of Gutharraguda/Shark Bay in WA has been awarded a $250,000 national prize to recognise his marine conservation work.
Michael Wear, the founder of Indigenous-owned fishery and marine restoration business Tidal Moon, was awarded the Prime Minister’s Science Prize for Science for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge systems.
Matt Dodds, a Glen Innes STEM teacher whose innovation is credited with inspiring more young women to study physics, won the prize for science teaching.
Queensland air quality and health researcher Lidia Morawska took the top award.
Almost 90% of NSW farmers say they have been the victims of crime, with about a third of them saying it had happened at least seven times.
The University of New England surveyed almost 1200 farmers, who reported trespass, stock theft and illegal hunting on their properties.
While farmers such as Binnaway grazier Brendan Phillips spoke of the stress of losing mobs of sheep to thieves, the survey also found fewer than 30% of farmers who have experienced theft reported it to police.
Galah marketing guru and Yes, Chef columnist Sophie Hansen is usually our go-to person for all things food. But she has abandoned us for a few weeks and was last heard from in Italy, bound for Slovenia. (And, yes, we’re a little envious.)
Hansen would want us to remind you of the deliciousness of Galah Issue 13, and in particular why it features spuds, spuds and more spuds.
We meet the Spud Sisters, for whom potatoes are “a business, a way of life and their one true love”, and they’ve shared with us their tips and tricks on choosing and cooking perfect taties.
The title of this exhibition is inspired by Qld regional artists Jane Henry and Sue Neale’s penchant for using objects from nature in their art. Works feature feathers, botanical fibres and more. At Field Trip Gallery, Brisbane, 14-18 November. Read more
Painter Larissa Blake operates from a studio in an industrial shed on the outskirts of Orange. This exhibition features exuberant colours to interpret traditional genres. At Peisley St Gallery, Orange, NSW until 22 November. Read more
Originally a chance to show works by pioneering Lithgow conceptual artist Ian Milliss, this exhibition also includes abstracts from 10 other regional artists and is one of the international satellite events of the Biennale Internationale D’Arte Non-Objectif (BIANO-08). At Wayout Artspace, Kandos, NSW, until 16 November. Read more
This is a NSW Southern Highlands community celebration of folk music and arts, performance held over three days. Events are held in venues within walking distance of rail links and shops. At Bundanoon, NSW, 21-23 November. Read more
Last year Maddie Steer’s work was shown in an exhibition showcasing young artists. This year the Albury university student has returned to her hometown as a curator. After the student exhibition, Steer volunteered and worked as a visitor experience host at Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) while studying art curation at Melbourne’s Monash University. She hopes to follow her passion when she finishes her degree next year. Here she talks about George Street, the exhibition she came home to curate.
Tell us about growing up in Albury and your interest in art? I was always interested in creating and I have fond memories of art at school all the way through to Year 12. MAMA was always a great place to visit on a rainy day and my parents were always finding new galleries and museums to visit around Australia.
How did you go from volunteering to curating an exhibition so quickly? That’s mostly due to the delightful team at MAMA. After my work there and studies they knew I’d be determined to create a successful exhibition.
Is it daunting? The imposter syndrome can hit sometimes, and I reckon it’ll still take some time for me to fully comprehend I’ve been able to curate an actual exhibition. Mostly I was just happy to get my hands dirty and do the best job.
Why is the name of this exhibition meaningful? At first I loved photographer Narelle Autio’s work George Street (Angel) because it depicted a young person with angel wings getting into a taxi and leaving for somewhere new. It’s also the same name as my childhood street, though it was named after the Sydney CBD street. It signifies my fondness for my childhood in Albury as well as my new-found connection to another city.
Is there a single work in the exhibition you find particularly special? Margaret Olley’s Lilies (our opening image above) is particularly special as it signifies my affection for my home. When I was younger, my mum would have lilies all around our house alongside colourful clutter and art.
The George Street exhibition is part of a season of programming offering new perspectives on the Murray Art Museum Albury collection and shows until 1 February.
A Broken Hill street sign stolen repeatedly by thieves who probably don’t realise its intended meaning is creating more than a nuisance in the mining city.
The Slag St sign is a nod to piles of mining byproduct rather than an Aussie insult to be souvenired, but replacing it has been a regular and costly event for the council.
There’s a more serious side for long-term residents, who are concerned the absence of a street sign might cause life-threatening delays if emergency services need to find them.
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
