Celebrating Nightcap, 40 years on

Photo & story Eve Jeffery

On Sunday, a group of invited guests were treated to a very special event as part of the 40th anniversary of Nightcap National Park at the Rummery Park campground near Minyon Falls.

The event was a chance to celebrate the people, place, history and Widjabul Wia-bal traditional owners, which together, make Nightcap such a special place.

Stories about the history and music of the protest movement that was a catalyst in the protection of rainforest, old-growth forest and wilderness around the world were delivered from the likes of Nan Nicholson, Dailan Pugh and Hugh Nicholson, and included pre-recorded messages from Bob Brown and Bob Carr.

need to do to keep going despite all those failures’.

Dailan Pugh said the Gondwana refuge was created over 20 million years ago.

Nicholas Shand 1948–1996

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Nan Nicholson said it was great to be a part of the event and celebrate a win.

‘That’s what we were here for. But, I think we need to remember that there are a lot of losses along the way’.

‘It’s good to look at the victories and pat ourselves on the back, but think about those failures and what we

He said, ‘It was degraded by a century of logging. It’s been protected over the last 20 to 40 years.

‘But I think it’s facing its biggest threat in the next 20 to 40 years because of climate heating, and we’ve got to save it again. And that requires all of us doing something to achieve that.’

John Roberts Jnr spoke emotionally of his father, Uncle Goongie, John Roberts Snr, well known for his efforts to protect the natural places on Widjabul Wia-bal Country.

Holds all our stories

‘My grandfather Lyle told my father that we have to get this place protected as it holds all our stories’, he said. Other speakers and presenters included Tricia Waters, musicians Neil Pike,

Terri Nicholson, Ray Flanagan and Nina Saunders. Dr Rob Kooyman spoke, as did Dave Milledge, Dave Newell, Steve Axford, Catherine Marciniak and John Grant. NPWS rangers, Andrew Rogers and event organiser and team leader, Matt Wiseman, gave updates on flood recovery works. The event closed with a screening of Give Trees A Chance, a film about the Terania Creek protests presented (in the film) by Jack Thompson.

Filmmaker chronicles Wilsons Creek Road

Filmmaker David Bradbury, based in Wilsons Creek, has put together a short film on the poor condition of the valley’s road, 16 months after the 2022 floods.

Bradbury says, in the video, for the rates he pays being in the hills, he receives no sewage, water services or a decent road, but ‘gets the garbage taken away and the grass cut by the side of the road’.

‘My rates will go up from $1,746 a year to over $1,800’ he told The Echo 12 months after the mayor and senior Council staff held a meeting in Wilsons Creek with residents, Bradbury says nothing much has progressed.

To see the video, visit youtu.be/f1ACbDlNxUw.

Feds promise $2B on social housing

The announcement by the federal Labor that they will immediately inject $2 billion into social housing ‘shows clearly what the Greens can do’, Mandy Nolan says.

As Greens candidate for the federal seat of Richmond, Nolan is contesting the local seat, which has been held by Labor MP, Justine Elliot, for nearly 20 years.

The $2B promise is the latest in ongoing negotiations between federal Labor and the Greens, the opposition and cross bench, which has seen Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) stall in the Senate. The bill was again blocked by the Greens and coalition on Monday, and will now be debated in October.

On Saturday, PM Anthony Albanese made the announcement and told the Victorian Labor Conference,

‘The last decade has seen the proportion of social housing decline from 4.7 per cent to 4.2 per cent of households’.

‘Demand for social housing has increased almost three times as fast as the growth in population’.

Last week, Labor announced there would be guaranteed annual funding from the HAFF, relenting to Greens pressure that the market-based fund may not disburse any money at all, if it did not make a return in a given year.

Guaranteed funding

The ABC reports that the federal housing minister has offered to guarantee a $500 million yearly spend on housing in return for crossbench support.

The Greens have been demanding Labor invest more in public and affordable housing immediately ‘not after the next election, as Labor’s Housing Australia Future Fund, the HAFF, would do’.

‘Thanks to the work of the Greens, thousands of new public and social housing homes will become available in the next two years’ says Nolan.

‘The Greens pressure is paying off, but we’ll continue our push for relief for renters. They cannot be forgotten.’

The Greens are calling for a nationally-coordinated freeze and limit on rent increases, to help the millions of Australian renters facing endless rent rises.

Nolan adds, ‘Labor have shown that they won’t act on big issues, like housing and climate, without pressure from the Greens. That’s why I’m running, to push for better.’