Local Elder gifts Mayor

If you’ve visited the Kiama Council Chambers recently, you may have noticed two new pieces adorning the desk of Mayor Neil Reilly.

gong/Illawarra-Shoalhaven in its remit, which would have stretched from Wollongong down to Batemans Bay.

At the same time, Jacki Johnson was appointed the City Commissioner for the Illawarra-Shoalhaven. She will continue to assist the NSW Department of Planning and Environment with metro planning, along with the continued on p5

Croxford wants fewer Councillors

Kiama Council may have two fewer elected representatives in the future after one of its current Councillors lodged a notice of motion to reduce the number of Councillors from nine to seven.

Councillor Mark Croxford lodged the motion, saying that reducing the number of Councillors would improve Council’s efficiency and effectiveness, as well as save $43,460 per annum that could be better spent on delivering services.

Kiama’s population is significantly lower than neighbouring Councils but has a much smaller ratio of residents compared to the number of Councillors.

According to data for the 2021 financial year from a NSW Government report called Your Council, Wollongong had 16,637 residents for each Councillor, Shellharbour had 8,695 residents per Councillor and Shoal- haven had 8,417 people per Councillor. By comparison, Kiama has 2,598 residents per Councillor.

“Kiama is classified as a Group 4 Council, along with 25 other Councils in the same classification,” Councillor Croxford says.

“Analysis of other Group 4 Councils indicates that Kiama may be considered overrepresented compared to other Councils in the continued on p.13

The pieces are actually two igneous rocks gifted to Mayor Reilly for his 70th birthday by Aunty Gwenda Jarrett, a local Aboriginal elder and native title lead for the south coast of NSW.

Mayor Reilly told The Bugle about the significance of the gift and how his friendship with Aunty Gwenda developed out of a mutual respect for each other.

“One of the first people I met formally when I was made Mayor in January 2022 was Aunty Gwenda. We’ve had a very strong connection since then, based on our mutual respect for each other.

“We have met maybe once or twice a month since then, and Gwenda and I are very dedicated to making sure there is a mutual respect between the First Nations people and the Council that represents everybody in our local Government area.”

Despite requesting no presents for his birthday, Aunty Gwenda and her husband, Uncle Stan, still felt compelled to show their appreciation for Mayor Reilly and their relationship.

The rocks come from Saddleback Mountain, and were painted by local Indigenous artist Aunty Jodie Stewart, who has also created artwork for NAIDOC Week, which takes place from 2 July to 9 July this year.

“The two rocks indicate concentric circles, which mean whoever you are, you’re in the circle, you’re part of this mob,” Mayor Reilly says.

“It doesn’t mean you’re an Indigenous person, or a Scottish person, it doesn’t mean anything else other than you’re a part of this mob, and I think there’s something lovely about that. All these concentric circles representing all the different peoples in our LGA, we’re all the same mob.”

“Outside of that is like a yarning circle, and those little U-shaped graphics around the outside. That means that being the same mob, we can and we must talk to each other all the time and be in constant communication. We believe that’s key to being in this mob.”

Even though Aunty Gwenda made it clear that these were a personal gift to Mayor Reilly, the rocks will remain continued on p.7

WHAT’S ON

KIAMA FARMERS’ MARKET

Every Wednesday

Surf Beach or Kiama Uniting Church, 2-5pm

SENTRAL’S OPEN MIC

Every Thursday

SENTRAL Youth Cottages, 5-7pm NAIDOC WEEK

2-9 July see below

ILLAWARRA RAMBLERS COASTAL WALK

Tuesday 4 July

G’gong Train Station, 10-2pm

SCHOOL HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES

3-14 July see page 9

WINTER ART EXHIBITION

Until 5 July

Old Fire Station, Kiama, 10-3pm

KIAMA WINTER FESTIVAL 7-12 July see page 9

G’gong Pics and Flicks

Margrete: Queen of the North Friday 7 July

Gerringong Town Hall, 7pm

AUTHOR TALK at KIAMA

LIBRARY

Tony Gilmour: South Coast Aboriginal Housing: New Perspectives

Saturday 8 July 2-4pm

THE BERRY BOWLING

CLUB MARKETS

Sunday 8 July 9-2pm

HOME EXHIBITION until 9 July

Fern Street Gallery, G’gong, 10-4pm

DIAGON ALLEY TWILIGHT MARKET

Friday 14 July see right

What’s On is compiled by Cassandra Zaucer. Events coming up: contact cassandra@ thebuglenewspaper .com.au or 0491 686 975. Items are published at the Editor’s discretion.

News team: 0412 415 101

Belinda Woodfield GM 0411 728 770 belinda@thebuglenewspaper.com.au

Brendon Foye 0413 091 543 brendon@thebuglenewspaper.com.au

Cassandra Zaucer 0491 686 975 cassandra@thebuglenewspaper.com.au

Advertising: 0428 662 499

Veronica Bardsley

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G’GONG ROTARY MARKETS

Saturday 15 July

Town Hall, 8.30-1.30pm

KIAMA SEASIDE MARKETS

Sunday 16 July

Black Beach, 9-3pm

ROSE PRUNING WORKSHOP

Sunday 16 July

Peace Park, Kiama, 10am

ANNA DA SILVA CHEN and LEE CHEN CONCERT

Sunday 16 July see below

JAMBEROO VILLAGE MARKETS

Sunday 30 July

Reid Park, 9-2pm

There’s more on the app

For a comprehensive guide to What’s On in our region, check out The Bugle App to find out about live music and events.

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