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SEPTEMBER 24-30, 2020 | LOCALLY OWNED & INDEPENDENT | FREE!
LIVING WELL FARMERS in the region still talk about former local businesswoman Grace Aubusson who would happily open her business at odd hours of the night if it helped them get on with their harvest. That standard of customer service might be one reason she became the city’s first businesswoman inducted into the Rhino’s Jean Emile Serisier Honour Roll. Over her lifetime, she volunteered countless hours for the betterment of others. Though in her early 80s now, she still loves long walks, going for drives and, when not restricted by COVID, seeing her friends and family. Several years ago, Grace received a dementia diagnosis, which is challenging, not just for her, but the half a million Australians currently living with dementia and the 1.6 million people involved in their care. Of equal challenge is society’s tendency to define a person by their diagnosis and the prevailing misconceptions it has about the symptoms. It’s why Dementia Action Week (September 21-27) is an important reminder for communities that a diagnosis does not mean a person is incapable of living a meaningful, active life, but that a little support makes a lot of difference. Mrs Aubusson is pictured this week with UPA Bracken House Dubbo carer Sudeep Sam Alex.
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FLOODPLAIN WATER WARS
By JOHN RYAN
HARD on the heels of last week’s koala debacle which has seen Deputy Premier John Barilaro take mental health leave from parliament, the Nationals have been dealt yet another humiliating defeat.
Water minister Melinda Pavey’s floodplain harvesting announcement, aimed at allowing enormous amounts of overland water flows to be diverted into irrigation dams before it enters the river, has been blocked in the Upper House. But Dubbo Nationals MP Dugald Saunders says it’s a vote
against a regulation that would have seen everyone looked after. Independent MLC Justin Field garnered support from the ALP, Shooters Fishers and Farmers, The Greens, Animal Justice Party and One Nation, passing the Upper House by 22 votes to 16. Mr Field said the regulation in-
troduced in February this year exempted floodplain harvesting in the state’s North West from the requirements to hold a water access licence or to have approvals for works collecting and storing that water. “The current situation is totally unacceptable. Dams are full
Labor, Greens and Shooters Fishers & Farmers join forces to block Nats’ plan
in the Northern Basin while the Darling River has stopped flowing again and the Southern Irrigators are left with reduced allocations. Clearly something is broken with the system,” Mr Field said. Continued page 2
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