Indigenous Festival

Friday October 15, 2021

NEWS Get Ready - Above average cyclone season tipped

PETER MCCULLAGH

THE forecast for the coming cyclone and storm season is not good news for residents in the Far North.

The Bureau of Metrology has predicted greater than average cyclone activity, with increased rainfall and the potential for widespread flooding.

Each year, approximately 11 cyclones enter Australian waters with four expected in Queensland and at least one to cross the coast. This year the Bureau has predicted a 65 per cent chance of an above average number of cyclones and lows in Australian waters.

Residents are urged to commence with their cyclone and storm preparation and Get Ready for the coming season.

Get Ready Queensland Week, October 10 – 16 is a time to commence preparing for what Mother Nature will throw our way this year.

Get Ready Queensland Ambassador Johnathan Thurston said Queenslanders can get ready in three simple steps.

“All we need to do is prepare an emergency plan, pack an emergency kit and make sure our insurance is up to date,” Mr Thurston said.

“By taking these simple steps now we can make sure we protect what’s most important to us.

“If everyone can take some time to be prepared for disaster season, it means that our emergency services can focus on the people who really need help in a disaster.

“The only predictable thing about Queensland’s weather is its unpredictability so let’s not leave anything to chance this summer,” he said.

Across our regions local councils are stepping up their preparation for the coming season. Cassowary Coast residents know only too well the devastating impact of cyclones, having survived the fury of Cyclones Larry and Yasi.

Cassowary Coast Regional Council Mayor, Mark Nolan is urging the community to complete three simple steps to prepare and protect your household:

STEP ONE:

The best way to ensure everyone knows what to do and where to go in an emergency is by keeping a Household Emergency

Plan. Sit down with your family and make a list of important contacts like family and friends who live out of town, doctors, insurance providers, utility providers, emergency meeting places, and details on where you would stay if you needed to evacuate quickly. You can build your emergency plan through the Get Ready

Queensland website here: www.getready.qld.gov.au/ plan. STEP TWO:

Keep a waterproof kit full of emergency supplies you’d need to last at least five days at home if you were isolated due to flooding. Include plenty of non-perishable food and water; a torch; battery powered radio, toiletries including tissues and hand sanitiser; face masks; disinfectant wipes; spare batteries, gas cooker, medication, cash (eftpos may not work in power failures) and board games to help pass the time. For the full list of items to pack in your emergency kit visit www.getready.qld.gov.au/get-prepared/3-steps-get-ready/ step-3-pack-emergency-kit STEP THREE:

Both renters and homeowners should ensure they have appropriate coverage for disasters and be familiar with their coverage details.

Make sure your home and contents and all other insurance cover (like boat or caravan) is up-to-date and provides adequate cover for your unique needs. Call your insurer if you have any questions about your policy.

All local councils in the north have a Disaster Dashboard online. The Disaster Dashboard draws all the essential web feeds into one site allowing residents to access the very latest information from the Bureau of Metrology, Ergon, Main Roads and essential weather and disaster warning.

You can find your local Disaster Dashboard by Googling your local govern ment area plus Disaster Dashboard.

BE PREPARED

Indigenous festival rich in heritage

PHOTO: Singer-songwriter Merindi Schrieber, mother to Wawumun and grandmother to Aisha-Jade

PETER MCCULLAGH

THIS Saturday, Fogarty Park will be once more host the UMI Arts, Big Talk One Fire festival.

Celebrating its eighth festival, the program will commence at 1pm.

The highlight of Big Talk One Fire is its stage program featuring a high calibre of Indigenous artists including young and rising talent, 11-year-old Wawumun, along with 16-year-old Aisha Jade and the shining stars of Torres Webb, Simone Stacey, Merindi Schrieber, Rochelle Pitt, SeeBreez and Nightshift Cairns, and legendary David Hudson.

A truly cultural immersion with a laid-back family vibe, Big Talk One Fire also features activities for kids, weaving, fashion, tastings, and knowledge sharing of native foods, plants and medicine, crafts, and information stalls.

Big Talk One Fire’s event organiser Liz Cavanagh said Big Talk is a free, fun, and family-oriented event and one of UMI Arts’s signature ways of helping community stay connected while supporting the creative industry of north Queensland’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Peoples.

Big Talk One Fire will be a total celebration of Indigenous arts with 14 performing artists on stage and 16 art and craft market stalls including renowned artist Paul Bong, and Bush Tukka woman, Samantha Martin.

UMI Arts Executive Officer Peter Lenoy said he is looking forward to this year’s iteration of a very popular festival that is all-inclusive, drawing people together from near and far for a day of cultural recognition and celebration. “UMI Arts’ Big Talk One Fire promotes the best of North Queensland Indigenous culture to a large and varied audience.

More information can be found on the UMI Arts website: https://mail.umiarts.com. au/programs/big-talk-one-fire

CAIRNS Rainbow Crossing

Nae Weysenfeld with daughter Kasia Weysenfeld at the newly installed rainbow crossing.

COUNCIL has added a splash of colour to the Esplanade to celebrate the Cairns Pride Festival with the installation of a rainbow crossing throughout October.

The rainbow crossing will be in place between Aplin and Shields streets, just north of the Night Markets, until Tuesday 23 October.

The Pride Festival has been running for more than 13 years and is now supported by the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health (QC), a not-for-profit, community-based organisation that promotes the health and wellbeing of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Sistergirl and Brotherboy people and communities in Queensland.

Full details for the Cairns Pride Festival events can be found by searching for the Cairns Pride Festival on social media.

QC Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Reynolds said the organisation was proud to support the local volunteers who run the Cairns Pride Festival, and pleased to see the rainbow crossing back on the Esplanade in 2021.

“Our communities can really use spaces for connection, remembering, and the beautiful links that Pride can bring right now as we visibly celebrate who we are,” she said.

We are so excited to continue the tradition of the rainbow crossing on the Esplanade, including the ‘ochre’ stripe with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, representing the proud diversity of our communities in the Far North.”

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