Plus horses, hounds and heart. Welcome to Galah Weekly, our newsy newsletter keeping you up to date with regional headlines that matter, plus other delightful things from life beyond the city. By Anna Rogan, who is eyeing her rapidly depleting firewood stores with concern.
Every year during the July school holidays I panic about our diminishing firewood pile and wonder if holidaying in a warmer location might be cheaper than running our woodstove. With a reported 25% of Melbourne households and 35% of regional Victorian households using firewood for heating, I’m certainly not alone. As winter drags on, I’ve noted roadside FIREWOOD 4 SALE signs with no small amount of envy and curiosity. How does anyone have firewood to spare at this time of year?
Data from the Victorian government points to a thriving black market, with illegal tree-felling in protected forests doubling in the past three years. Victoria’s Conservation Regulator — along with Parks Victoria, and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action — are charged with protecting areas of high conservation or cultural significance. The team includes specially trained intelligence staff and authorised officers who investigate, patrol bushland and deploy tactics similar to police sting operations to crack down on illegal felling and theft, and you can read all about it here.
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Indigenous groups have demanded the Qld government investigate alleged breaches by coalmine operator Adani at Doongmabulla Springs wetland in Qld’s central north. The Nagana Yarrbayn Cultural Custodians group alleges Adani has breached conditions that protect the culturally significant and nationally important site. Scientists have detected drops in water levels in bores around the springs since mining started, and they allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and in the springs themselves. Adani rejects the claims, saying it has been fully compliant with environmental conditions.
While we’re on the subject, we loved this recent story in Nine’s Good Weekend by regular Galah contributor Ryan Butta. He returned to his hometown of Muswellbrook, in the NSW Hunter Valley, to investigate how the promised opportunities from coal mining have panned out for the town in the past decade. Spoiler alert, he finds an expanded open-cut mining sector, a hollowed-out community and dust — everywhere.
A new $32 million waste processing plant has opened in Tasmania’s north west. The Dulverton Organics Treatment Facility will soon start collecting food organics and garden organics (FOGO) from households and primary industries in the region and has the capacity to convert 50,000 tonnes of green waste to about 16,000 tonnes of compost each year.
While FOGO collections aren’t new, the infrastructure and environmental approvals to operate the service in many regional areas can be challenging. “It's not as simple as having a paddock out the back and using that facility,” says JustWASTE consulting director Justin Jones. “You need high-tech environmental controls, odour controls [and] leachate controls.”
Dulverton is now working with councils on Tasmania’s west coast and King Island to extend the service to more remote communities.
As more electric cars zoom along main streets and highways, major manufacturers have turned their attention to farm machinery. Electric tractors up to 100 horsepower are now available in Australia. While electric machinery is better for the environment and may be cheaper to run than diesel-powered alternatives, experts say Australian conditions present unique challenges for many producers looking to make the switch.
The entire Galah team, even those of us who aren’t horse riders, would like to submit our applications to join the Northern Hunt Club, a horse-and-hound hunt club with a twist. The female-led club based in northern Tasmania maintains long-held English traditions—horse riding in scenic landscapes, hound hunting, a mid-hunt tot of port—without killing animals. So, what exactly do the hunters and hounds hunt? A pre-laid scent of aniseed or roadkill. Long-time member Sandra Atkins says it’s all about "the thrill of riding a horse, hopefully one that you know, and going across all these wonderful properties across Tasmania”.
In other female-led club news, the Country Women's Association of WA has voted to change its century-old constitution and allow men to become associate members. The new membership doesn't provide voting rights but does allow men to contribute to the association’s community-building mission.
It’s a significant step towards gender diversity of all kinds. WA CWA’s Trish Langdon said that while there is currently no specific provision in the constitution to recognise transgender people, they are welcome. "My sense is if people want to join the CWA, they need to abide by our values and our core businesses. It's not there to make a political statement,” says CEO Langdon. “I know some fabulous transgender people who would make a fabulous contribution."
Annabelle’s last fortnightly letter from the editor sharing her love of Agave americana garnered passionate responses from on-the-ground Galahs both for and against the plant, and the team has now been schooled on two important points.
While wise Galah editor Helen routinely wears safety goggles in the garden, the rest of the team has a more laissez-faire attitude to protective gear. Perhaps hearing your gardening-injury stories will convince us to take our safety more seriously — if you have one, hit respond. We’d love to hear from you.
And thank you to all those on-the-ground Galahs who suggested themes for next year’s magazines. We’ll keep you posted.
I’m back from leave and grateful to Michelle Crawford for taking good care of the Weekly while I was away. I jumped straight into the action this week, hitting the road to interview Amanda Lawler and visit her incredible cloud hedge at White Lodge in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges for an upcoming issue of Galah magazine.
Speaking of upcoming magazines, for the next “Pleasure” issue we’re scouting for stellar examples of what we’ll call “pleasure palaces”: regional outbuildings and structures inspired by whim, folly and amusement, rather than common sense or utility. We’d love to hear from you if you know of such flights of fancy; we’re thinking unusual sheds, whimsical chook runs, impressive outdoor shower rooms, ingenious backyard saunas, pigeonniers — send them to helen@galahpress.com
Preparations are underway to open artist studios in unexpected places (hay sheds, cow barns, converted water tanks, sea containers, renovated train carriages) in WA’s Margaret River. More than 140 artists will exhibit works, host workshops and reveal their studios throughout the region, from Busselton to Augusta, on 7-27 September. Read more.
Celebrate the people, culture and heritage of Childers, one of Qld’s most charming towns (though Helen admits she’s biased about her hometown, in the state’s south-east). Enjoy artists, live music, market stalls, street performers, carnival rides, cane-fire tours, a Bollywood street event, opera by the lake and a picnic in the vines. On 25-28 July. Read more.
The not-for-profit organisation Women in Media offers free professional development, industry research and networking opportunities for women at all career stages in media roles including reporting, advertising, copywriting, photojournalism, even drone-jockeying. Next month it’s staging its annual national conference in Sydney including an oration fundraising dinner to support work that’s more important than ever at a time of industry strife and masthead closures. On 8-9 August. Read more.
Interview by Emma Hearnes.
Social worker turned full-time photographer Lauren Murphy works out of The MAST, a vibrant studio and gallery space she created to house talented Gippsland creatives. Murphy’s work is imbued with a deep compassion and connection to her subjects.
Your love of photography started young. What pulled you in?
My deep appreciation for photography started very young. My grandparents lost everything, including photo albums, in the Ash Wednesday bushfire. Growing up without access to those family photos made me realise how vital photography is to engage us with our history.
What have you been working on lately?
A year ago I gave my daughter a diary to note the misogynistic words thrown at her and female-identifying friends. From this, we decided to create a project together for International Women’s Day, a series of posters (with help from Si Billam) to paste in Melbourne’s Hosier Lane. This project resonated deeper than I anticipated. This was a very heart-led project that we hope to continue by gathering the voices of others.
How does your role as a mother inform your art?
I think the biggest impact has been the confidence I’ve gained to let my playful side out. It’s reignited a curiosity for life and made me more present, fearless and persistent. Being a single parent for 10 years, I’m so driven to make my children proud of who I am and how I make others feel through my work. They are my anchor for self-reflection.
You were one of the finalists in the Galah Regional Photography Prize last year. Can we expect to see more entries from you?
Absolutely. It was such a joy to be a finalist and have my portrait of William Downie hanging alongside Australian photographers I greatly admire. Annabelle has created a very special event, and I’m sure the awards will create an important archive of regional photography stories.
This week has brought what we can only assume is the final(ish) chapter in the Ladies Lounge saga at Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art. In case you missed it, several Picasso paintings on the walls of Mona’s women-only club were moved to the loos after a discrimination ruling deemed the club unlawful.
This week those paintings, along with other artworks displayed in the Ladies Lounge, were revealed to be forgeries created by artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele four years ago.
The forgeries are the latest in a series of publicity-garnering stunts by Kaechele, the wife of Mona owner David Walsh. These included a synchronised performance in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal culminating in a choreographed dance out of the courtroom to the tune of Robert Palmer’s Simply Irresistible.
The saga has certainly vaulted Mona into the headlines. But is it brilliant performance art or “childish and unprofessional”, or a bit of both? We’ll let you decide.
We’d love to hear about the news, events and people that should be making the headlines in the Galah Weekly newsy. Share what’s new(s) in your neck of the woods with us at newsie@galahpress.com
