Dubbo Weekender 22.11.2014

Finalist & Winner at the 2014 NSW Regional Media Awards

Saturday 22.11.2014

FREE

www.dubboweekender.com.au

Stamping out violence Meet the men speaking out for Dubbo’s White Ribbon Day campaign. P11

4

DA

LE

WHE

?

VE

D S ’ A E R

A Y S

Sport LC70 SCCC Corolla Ascent Still from recommended price Manual Hatch WorkMate Manual

$ 62,990 23,990

$

With Air-conditioning and GPA Trayfrom

s

$

driveaway [A]driveaway

[A]

300 Capped Price Servicing* $ 130 Capped Price Servicing*

TOYOTA COROLLA ASCENT • Automatic • Fuel Efficient • Ideal First Car • Bluetooth BE23GH

HiLux 4x2 SCCC WorkMate Personalise your Manual Turbo Diesel Still from price RAV4 AWD with With Air-conditioningrecommended and ELA Tray Prado GXL $ Turbo Diesel $ Autofrom driveaway [A] $

CQS41Q

1,000

[A] driveaway * 210 Capped Price Servicing

FORD FALCON XR6 UTILITY • Alloy Tray • Tow Bar • After Market Alloys • Head Turner

$ 61,990 24,990

170 Capped Price Servicing* [B] Genuine Accessories

$

HOLDEN COMMODORE SSV UTILITY • 6SPD Automatic • Tow Bar • V8 Power • 1 Owner BKN67C

ONLY $12,990

ONLY $19,990

ONLY $23,990

TOYOTA TARAGO GLI

HOLDEN COLORADO LTR

HOLDEN COMMODORE SSV

• Toyota Certified Used Car • 8 Seater • Automatic • Low KLMS BA20BD

ONLY $28,990

• 4X4 • Turbo Diesel • Automatic • Bull Bar WTQ54O

NOW $30,990

• Leather Seats • 6Spd Manual • Sat Nav • Low KLMS CHI44N

ONLY $35,990

Corolla Ascent Sport Manual Hatch

23,990

$

from

driveaway [A]

130 Capped Price Servicing*

$

SUZUKI KIZASHI

• Remainder of Warranty • 6SPD Manual • Dual Exhaust • Only 3500 KLMS CPD23C

NOW $26,990 TOYOTA PRADO GXL • Automatic • Turbo Diesel • Tow Bar • Reverse Camera CVE17A

ONLY $47,990

HiLux 4x2 SCCC WorkMate Manual TurboCAMRY Diesel RZ With Air-conditioning and ELA Tray SPECIAL EDITION Kluger Grande

your Corolla Ascent Sport HILUX BLACK LC70 SCCCPersonalise from recommended price RAV4 AWDStillwith Manual Prado GXL HatchStill from recommended price SPECIAL EDITION

WorkMate Manual

$ 24,990 28,990

$

from

from

driveaway [A]

driveaway [A]

$

HOLDEN CRUZE CDX • Leather Seats • Cruise Control • Manual • Alloy Wheels CTW05T

driveaway

300 Capped Price Servicing*

[A]

Genuine Accessories[B]

* 170 Capped Price Servicing 130 Capped Price Servicing*

$

62,990 1,000

$

With Air-conditioning and GPA Tray

Standard with Sat Nav & Heated/Ventilated Seats

$

TOYOTA PRADO GXL • Manual • Turbo Diesel • 4X4 • Priced To Sell BL20TO

TOYOTA LAND CRUISER • Diesel • Steel Tray • Steel Bull Bar • Steel Side Rails BS61JC

ONLY $13,990

ONLY $23,990

ONLY $24,990

TOYOTA KLUGER KXR

TOYOTA FJ CRUISER

TOYOTA PRADO GXL

• Reverse Camera • Cruise Control • 7 Seater • Bluetooth CQT42A

ONLY $29,990

• Roof Rack • Tow Bar • Nudge Bar • Electric Brakes CJU50M

NOW $38,990

OPEN

SUNDAY!

• Turbo Diesel • Automatic • 8 Seater • 4x4 BJF20D

ONLY $39,990

61,990 23,990

$

Limited Stock!

Turbo Diesel from Auto

$

$

driveaway 210 Capped Price Servicing* $ *

[A]

driveaway

[A]

130 Capped Price Servicing

HYUNDAI IX35 HIGHLANDER • Tow Bar • Turbo Diesel • Automatic • Leather Seats CTW03R

NOW $26,990 TOYOTA HILUX SR5 • Hard Cover • Nudge Bar • Tow Bar • Automatic CVE17A

ONLY $39,990

HiLux Manu

With A

24

$

from

170 Cap

$

’Tis the season to increase your sales The best retail sales period of the year is upon us.

And there’s no better way to reach more Dubbo people than through the pages of Dubbo’s ONLY locally-owned newspapers – Dubbo Photo News and Dubbo Weekender.

PHOTO: ALTRENDO IMAGES / THINKSTOCK

Deadlines vary, so please call to reserve your space.

Our business is to help you increase sales during this very important season.

Call Sarah Porch, Alexandria Kelly or Donna Falconer today, and together we’ll create an advertising campaign that will meet your needs, respect your budget, and exceed your expectations.

6885 4433

DUBBO WEEKENDER 22.11.2014

CONTENTS FEATURED THIS WEEK

FROM THE EDITOR

Jen Cowley Too high a price to pay for the thrill of a kill

I A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

11

Stamping out violence

13

“Don’t pigeonhole me”

18

A rose by any other name

Meet the men speaking out for Dubbo’s White Ribbon Day campaign.

We talk to Linda Burney, the deputy leader of the NSW Labor Party and Member for Canterbury

Taking a step back in time with Dunedoo’s landmark White Rose Café

26 Weekender Arts

Orana Arts shines the spotlight on Aboriginal story telling

REGULARS 4 Tony Webber 6 Natalie Holmes 22 Greg Smart 24 James Eddy You’ll also love...

28 Hear See Do Etc. 30 Play: Puzzles & Stars

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Sales Manager Donna Falconer | Sales Representatives Alexandria Kelly, Sarah Porch | Office 89 Wingewarra Street, Dubbo NSW 2830 | Tel 02 6885 4433 | Fax 02 6885 4434 | Email sales@panscott.com.au

CONTACTS & CREDITS | Email feedback@dubboweekender.com.au | Online www.dubboweekender.com.au | www.twitter.com/DubboWeekender | www.facebook.com/WeekenderDubbo Published by Panscott Media Pty Ltd ABN 94 080 152 021 Managing Director Tim Pankhurst Editor Jen Cowley News Editor Natalie Holmes Photography Kaitlyn Rennie, Alexandra Meyer, Steve Cowley Design Sarah Head, Hayley Ferris Reception Leanne Ryan General disclaimer: The publisher accepts no responsibility for letters, notices and other material contributed for publication. The submitter accepts full responsibility for material, warrants that it is accurate, and indemnifies the publisher against any claim or action. All advertisers, including those placing display, classified or advertorial material, warrant that such material is true and accurate and meets all applicable laws and indemnifies the publisher against all liabilities that may arise from the publication of such material. Whilst every care is taken in preparing this publication, we cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions.

Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. The editor, Jen Cowley, accepts responsibility for election comment. Articles contain information of a general nature – readers should always seek professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances. Corrections and comments: Panscott Media has a policy of correcting mistakes promptly. If you have a complaint about published material, contact us in writing. If the matter remains unresolved, you may wish to contact the Australian Press Council. © Copyright 2014 Panscott Media Pty Ltd. Copyright in all material – including editorial, photographs and advertising material – is held by Panscott Media Pty Ltd or its providers and must not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the Publisher.

n the 36 hours that pass between me typing these words and this week’s edition hitting the stands, between four and five of the world’s precious remaining rhinos will be slaughtered by poachers.

Most will die agonising deaths in the African bush – their faces hacked off to feed a voraciously growing South East Asian demand for rhino horn that authorities and conservationists seem all but powerless to stop.

In 2007 in South Africa – home to some 80 per cent of the world’s remaining wild rhino population – 13 of these incredible creatures were killed by poachers. Last year, that figure exploded to 1004. That’s 77 times more dead rhinos in the space of six years – a 7723 per cent increase. This year, South Africa is on track to “better” that gruesome record.

When the 20th century dawned, there were half a million rhinos wandering across the African and Asian continents. Today in Africa, there are just 25,000 white rhinos, and the black rhino population has been decimated to a mere handful in conservation terms – recent counts put the figure at just over 5000.

Across the globe, including here in Dubbo at Taronga Western Plains Zoo with its world renowned black rhino breeding program, there are thousands of passionate people fighting tooth and nail to try to stem the tide of illegal rhino horn trade and to ensure the survival of this astonishing species which, unlike some others, is endangered by human encroachment rather than evolution.

The rhino has been listed by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) as endangered since 1977, and the IUCN (International Union or Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species has them marked officially as critically endangered.

So it seems counter-intuitive at the very least that someone would be able – legally – to pay $US350,000 for the “thrill” of shooting dead an endangered black rhinoceros in the name of conservation. But that’s exactly what one cashed-up American hunter paid earlier this year – buying at auction one of the permits issued annually by CITES to Namibia for an export quota of up to five hunterkilled black rhinos.

In response to global efforts to diminish the value of, and thus the demand for, rhino horn, American authorities have joined other countries, including Australia, in prohibiting the import of black rhino trophies.

On this occasion, an exemption was sought by the winning bidder on the auction held by the Dallas Safari Club, which has argued the money raised will go directly to rhino conservation, and that the animal targeted will be an aging, non-breeding male whose removal will actually aid breeding management.

News of the auction set off a predictable and justifiable furore around the world, and US authorities are now said to be re-thinking the granting of the exemption, much to the chagrin not only of the Dallas Safari Club, but proponents of “managed hunting” of African megafauna.

As unpalatable as it is, there is an argument for the careful management of certain species to maintain a healthy genetic mix or to control populations – think, for instance, of kangaroo culls here in Australia or of some of the many carefully controlled breeding programs designed to ensure the genetic viability and sustainability of threatened species.

Proponents of “responsible hunting” of megafauna argue that this kind of “harvesting” amounts to a process of sustainable natural resource management and certainly, in some instances, this may well prove an effective conservation policy.

It’s a complex and emotive issue, and there are many cultural, economic and environmental facets to the fight against poaching and the illegal wildlife trade that those observing from afar cannot hope to fathom.

But from this onlooker’s perspective, to claim conservation as motive for shooting an endangered black rhino – of which, remember, there are fewer than 5500 in the wild – is like setting up a street stall to sell crack as a fundraiser for a rehab unit. It makes no semblance of sense to me.

The problem inherent in the argument for the sanctioned killing of rhinos – regardless of their genetic value to the herd – is the message it sends that a rhino is worth more dead than alive. Whether you’re hunting “legally” or poaching to fuel the blackmarket trade, the message is equally lethal.

Earlier this year, I was privileged to see a rhino in the wild and it was an experience unequalled in terms of impact on my understanding and appreciation of wildlife conservation. As I watched from just metres away this massive mother and her baby waking up in the misty African morning, I couldn’t help wondering how anyone could line such a creature up through the sights of a rifle and pull the trigger.

Having been born and raised on land, I understand that sometimes there’s a need to shoot animals, but I’ll never for the life of me understand the “thrill” some people apparently feel from killing another living creature simply for fun.

While I find the idea of game hunting particularly abhorrent, as long as it’s legal those who consider it sport are free to indulge whatever thrill they’re seeking.

But at what point is the price of that thrill too high? **Disclosure: Jen Cowley sits on the board of directors of the Taronga Conservation Society.

“

To claim conservation as motive for shooting a rhino is like setting up a street stall to sell crack as a fundraiser for a rehab unit.

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014 5

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Tony Webber

>> Tony Webber is big-boned and has a big a**e to go with it.

Breaking toes and tailors’ hearts as the big man hits three figures I

’ve hit three figures.

Kilos that is. Nothing to be proud of, but I’d been on annual leave and admittedly let myself go a bit.

In fact to say I’d “let myself go” is to say a runaway locomotive has strayed from the timetable.

I have never been mistaken for Mr Squiggle but before you can say “who drank the mayonnaise” I weigh more than most east European motor vehicles.

I like a beer. The 12th one is probably my favourite.

Yep, no mystery glandular disorders, no blaming carbs. I put on weight the old fashioned way: shovelling in enough food and drink to cork a volcano.

On holiday there’s more time for eating and let’s say I made the most of that opportunity in the way lions make the most of the wildebeest migration.

In the end caterers were supplying my evening meal, or as they called it: “a banquet for eight”.

I’m still exercising but you can’t eat your way out of a burial mound of mixed grills and expect 20 minutes on the walking machine to have you looking like a whippet.

I first noticed it in clothing: a button-up fly gave way and strafed a group of bystanders.

Now I’ve gone from barely fitting into seats on planes and buses to not fitting in the back of a ute.

Furniture creaks underneath me; there’s prolonged muttering at the airline check-in counter and

6

the zoo’s larger herbivores give me the eye.

Funny thing is while my torso makes the Hindenburg look like a party frankfurt, I’m still awaiting the arrival of adult-sized legs.

The length is adequate but there are real similarities between my lower limbs and under-watered eucalyptus saplings – picture a flamingo with a beer gut, and James Hird’s hair.

This genetic deficiency combined with my vacation bulk means any exertion aimed at weight loss leaves my buttocks feeling like they have been nailed on, as if they are cyclone shutters and my arse is a seaward-facing window.

And that’s not where the downside ends: there’s everything from diabetes and premature death to the embarrassment of being escorted out of the all-you-can-eat buffet.

The upside is being as big as Jupiter gives me a real presence when I walk into a room – like a Spanish galleon in a bird bath.

No-one crowds my personal space even though it’s now the size of the Amazon basin.

That’s because if I step on your toe at this girth there’s no beg pardons, just the sound of small bones breaking, and screaming that’s only drowned out by the ambulance siren.

Walk in to buy a suit and you don’t just get the respect that goes with the challenge of concealing beer tits as big as wedding cakes with a polyester jacket. They look

“ No-one crowds my personal space even though it’s now the size of the Amazon basin.

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

at you the way the mouse in the serpent tank looks at the snake.

They know that much fabric is going to cut into their bottom line unless I agree to a jacket and two pants combo made out of newspaper – and that’s going to get ugly in the wet, speaking of bottom lines.

And you get into a crowded elevator looking like an elephant seal that’s swallowed a steamer trunk and people take notice – they take notice of the weight limit sign and they get out.

But I can’t bask in this glory long term unless Sumo heads

downunder or the next cutting edge fashion trend is a stomach that doubles as a shade structure for outdoor diners.

I know I need to get back to my presentable weight. Even periodic sobriety can’t be ruled out.

My body is a temple but it needs to lose a few rooms and a veranda with lint in its navel.

But no fad diets – I’ll do it the old fashioned way: restraint and exercise, but if you see a tapeworm the size of a moray eel advertised let me know. feedback@dubboweekender.com.au

Visit our boutique gift shop...

Keepsake Christmas Decorations Boxed Stationery, Cards and Quirky Gifts Children’s Toys for Creative Development

DUBBO’S PRINTER FOR 68 YEARS

P: (02) 6882 1233 166 Brisbane St, DUBBO NSW 2830 Email: admin@printingworks.com

EXTENDED TRADING HOURS UNTIL CHRISTMAS: 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday (to 9pm Thursday) & from 9am Saturday

D PRIN 66781 (TS) PhotoNewsAdvert.indd 1

18/11/14 8:17 AM

22.11.2014 THE DAY IN HISTORY: In 1956, the first Olympics held in the southern hemisphere opened in Melbourne with junior world mile record holder Ron Clarke lighting the flame.

In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy, 46, was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas.

In 1989, newly elected Lebanese President Rene Moawad died in bomb blast that also killed 17 other people in Syrianpatrolled Muslim West Beirut.

In 1990, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigned after 11 years in office.

In 1997, New Zealanders Robert Hamill and Phil Stubbs arrived in Barbados from the Canary Islands in their boat, Kiwi Challenger, after 41 days, 1 hour and 55 minutes – a record for rowing across the Atlantic.

In 2009, Barbara Williams, mother of Melbourne gangland killer Carl Williams, was found dead in her bedroom after taking an overdose.

BIRTHDAYS: Those born on this date include writer/director and Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam in 1940 (age 74); tennis star Billie Jean King in 1943 (age 71); guitarist and actor Steven Van Zandt in 1950 (age 64); actors Jamie Lee Curtis in 1958 (age 56) and Mariel Hemingway in 1961 (age 53); footballer Robbie Slater in 1964 (age 50); tennis player Boris Becker, in 1967 (age 47); and actor Scarlett Johansson in 1984 (age 30).

23.11.2014 THE DAY IN HISTORY: In 1890, the independent Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was separated from the Netherlands.

In 1980, an earthquake in Naples, Italy, killed 4800 people.

In 1923, Australia’s first radio station, 2SB Sydney, went on the air.

In 2004, in a disputed Ukraine election, the day after opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared himself the winner, officials determined that Kremlin-backed Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was the real winner.

In 2010, the Australian Crime Commission dropped a fiveyear investigation into actor Paul Hogan’s tax affairs but a civil case against the Hollywood star by the Australian Taxation Office continued; and South Korean officials said North Korea bombarded the South’s Yeonpyeong Island, killing two civilians and two marines and injuring 18 others.

BIRTHDAYS: Those born on this date include comic actor Harpo (Adolph Arthur) Marx of the Marx Brothers in 1888; composer Johnny Mandel in 1925 (age 89); tennis player Lew Hoad in 1934; musician Bruce Hornsby in 1954 (age 60); swimmer Shane Gould in 1956 (age 58); cricketer Merv Hughes in 1961 (age 53); rugby league player Dallas Johnson in 1982 (age 32); and actor/ singer Miley Cyrus in 1992 (age 22).

JUST A THOUGHT: “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” – John F. Kennedy

8

NEWS ANALYSIS

Seven Days

BY NATALIE HOLMES Dubbo Weekender News Editor

One Eye on success A

crowd nearing 200 people braved the end of a scorching hot day to pay homage to local filmmakers at the second annual One Eye Film Festival held on the back lawns of Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC) last Friday night.

Despite temperatures climbing to 40 degrees throughout the day, as the sun set, the crowd settled in for an hour of music by local musicians Billie Palin and Clinton Hoy, before the festival was opened

by ABC Open producer, Alison Plasto, who also curated the program this year.

A total of 22 short films (some shorter than others!) by 10 local filmmakers were shown on the big screen, including the short feature film, Kandy, made over the past six months by Dubbo Filmmakers and a cast and crew of locals.

Dubbo Filmmakers representative Kim V. Goldsmith said the evening was a great success and there was a sense of excitement about the year ahead as a result.

“We have some very talented filmmakers in our ranks and many more within the community who are yet to come forward.

“However, after Friday night there have been several approaches from people wanting to be involved in the group and next year’s One Eye Film Festival.”

The festival has grown over the past two years, with eight more films shown this year than last year. It’s expected that it will continue to grow, along with the audience.

“The outdoor setting was perfect and there’s great potential for the crowd to grow in this space, along with diversity and calibre of the program.”

Film topics on Friday night included camping, bushfires and zombies.

Misblueblud tastes victory again Misblueblud brought home the bacon for local trainer Jim McMillan in Race 2 at Wellington Race Club’s Neil Veech Memorial race meeting last weekend. In the mare’s second win in 20 starts, she ran home strong with Anthony Cavallo on board, beating the more-favoured Burbie to the post. Only a handful of diehard punters turned out in the hot conditions for the meeting, with some colts and fillies dressed up and others taking a more casual approach to the day. It was a winning day for Cavallo, who also claimed Race 3 on Jellybean Jack and a close second on Melisandre in the fourth.

Crowd favourite Greg Ryan won this race on Just Danish by Miss Copenhagen, trained by Dubbo’s Clint Lundholm. He also got home on Mudgee-based Burren Junction Spy in Race 5 of the six-race program. Long shot Maybe Me was scratched from Race 4 after leaving his jockey on the fence, and possibly scraping his leg.

Weather-wise, the day was in stark con-

trast to the same meeting last year, which was cold and rainy, and called off after Race 3 due to the slippery conditions on-course.

Bushfires keep personnel busy A fire that started at Mcanallys Road at Brocklehurst late on Sunday afternoon was brought under control on Tuesday this week, after two days of burning steadily.

The fire, which destroyed at least 35 ha, was believed to have been sparked by the use of fencing equipment in the area.

The response team included RFS tankers, 45 volunteers, a grader and two fixed wing aircraft bombers fighting the fire, NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Orana team manager Superintendent Lyndon Wieland confirmed.

While the fire burned a lot of farmland, households in the area were fortunate to escape damage.

Meanwhile, Saturday night’s strong winds did nothing to aid the cause of firefighters battling a fire that started on Bunglegumbie Road, near the city airport, just before 7pm.

Six trucks from Dubbo and Delroy stations joined 14 RFS trucks to battle the blaze. Luckily, nearby homes and the nearby airport, were unaffected.

A fire at Rawsonville Bridge Rd was also extinguished at the weekend.

Smoky start to season A foray into the smoky depths of the Parisian Underground will be just one of the spectacular shows for spectators to soak up at Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre (DRTCC) in 2015, following the facility’s season launch on Sunday afternoon.

Dressed in an elegant bejewelled gown teamed with sparkling silver slippers, DRTCC manager Linda Christof introduced the line-up of shows, which was interspersed by film clips and live performances from members of Dubbo Theatre Company, who had the audience in stitches with their Fawlty Towers routine, dancers from Dubbo Ballet Studio, along with freestyler Joseph Simons, singer Joey Gibbs and local ballroom dancers Cassandra Donnelly and Joel Tongue, among others.

Christof said that rather than being tacked on to a regional tour, Dubbo was now at the centrepiece of many touring shows, giving testament to its success as a venue since opening in 2010.

Police officer charged A Western Region police officer was charged with seven counts of common assault (domestic violence-related) on Monday and will face court next year in rela-

Greg Ryan on Just Danish moves up on Anthony Cavallo on Melisandre in Race 4. Photo: Dubbo Weekender/Natalie Holmes

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

tion to alleged domestic violence matters.

The 43-year-old inspector, who is attached to the Western Region, was issued with a Future Court Attendance Notice and will appear in Dubbo Local Court on January 7.

He was suspended with pay.

Six fatal crashes calls for appeal NSW Police are appealing directly to motorists to stop and take note of their actions after six deaths on the state’s roads.

Two accidents occurred in the Central West this week, following last week’s horror week which left five people dead in three separate crashes in Coonabarabran, Molong and Canowindra.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Command acting assistant commissioner Stuart Smith said there was a need to appeal directly to individuals after the horrific number of fatalities.

“While the road toll currently sits at 10 fatal crashes and five deaths down on this time last year, there is a need for motorists to take personal responsibility for their actions,” he said.

“Police continue to enforce road safety, however we need those that use our roads to consider their own actions and not place themselves, their passengers and other road users at risk.

“Speeding, drink or drug driving, not wearing a seat belt or correct helmet – all of these actions are pretty basic, but if caution is not used can result in lives lost.

“Take a break when travelling long distances and don’t become distracted by a mobile phone,” he added.

In the Central West, a man died after a blue Ford Falcon crashed into a tree on the Bylong Valley Way in Kandos, near Mudgee, in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The other person in the vehicle was airlifted to hospital with multiple injuries. Officers from the Metropolitan Crash Investigation Unit are investigating the accident.

A 43-year-old was also killed on Calga Rd, Coonamble, on Friday night, after crashing his Toyota Landcruiser.

Other fatal accidents were recorded at Appin, Tenterfield, Manyana and the Pacific Highway in the past week.

Hangman’s Collection protected Dubbo City Council has been awarded a $2000 Federal Community Heritage Grant to fund a significance assessment of the Old Dubbo Gaol’s Hangman’s Collection.

The Hangman’s Collection is a complete set of rare items used for executions throughout NSW, including 13 ropes of various sizes, weights and pulleys, condemned man’s mask, hangman’s kit and the gallows.

Old Dubbo Gaol’s visitor experience officer Chris Anemaat said the Hangman’s Collection was rare; however the national significance of the collection had not yet been assessed.

“The significance assessment will allow the Old Dubbo Gaol to make reasoned judgements about the importance of the collection and will allow for a better approach towards conserving and preserving the items, increase access and information and will also allow for future grants and

YOUR VIEWS

History has a long memory

The scene of the 2014 One Eye Film Festival. Photo: supplied

the livestock markets, while the saleyards as a whole also saw a $4 million upgrade. The progress on construction at the $5.7 million state-of-the-art Barden Park athletics centre was also singled out for special mention.

The report shows council as having recorded a net operating surplus of $13.61 million – putting it in a “sound financial position” according to Mayor Dickerson.

The report also details annual statistics across a wide range of council services. Some of the statistics include: • 694 development and complying development applications approved (up 13% from 2012/2013) • 271,453 cattle and 1,588,70 sheep sold through Dubbo Regional Livestock Markets (record throughput) • 277,726 people visited Council’s cultural and recreation centres (up 10% from 2012/2013) • Administered 2,246 free immunisations in partnership with the Western NSW Local Health Network (down 9% from 2012/2013) The report is now available online at Council’s website and printed copies are available on request from Dubbo City Council.

A drag strip for Dubbo?

The gallows at Old Dubbo Gaol. Photo: supplied

programs to be created.”

This year, Federal Government grants worth $386,577 were distributed to 73 community groups and organisations from around Australia to assist in the identification and preservation of community owned but nationally significant heritage collections.

nounced in mid-2015.

“The Macquarie View estate is an exciting development for Dubbo and for the wider Orana region,” Walkom said.

“A new housing development such as this one brings many benefits to our community and economy as a whole.”

New housing estate officially opened

Gold star for city’s report card

There was not a red carpet in sight but Dubbo’s newest residential estate was officially opened by Regional Development Australia (RDA) Orana chairman and Dubbo City Councillor John Walkom on Monday.

The estate, located off Hennessy Drive in South Dubbo, represents the city’s newest prestige land subdivision now being released to the public. It’s been in the planning pipeline since 2006, and is currently being developed by Penrith-based civil contracting company, JK Williams. The estate will be developed under seven construction stages with a total of 40 blocks to be released under the first stage, with Stage 2 expected to be an-

Residents will be pleased to know their city is “on the up” according to council’s 2013/14 annual report presented and available for public perusal this week. Construction, business development and new investment activity is driving positive growth across Dubbo.

Projects long in the planning are coming to fruition, according to Mayor Mathew Dickerson, who says the city will reap the rewards of that planning for years to come.

The mayor listed big ticket items such as the $2.7 million terminal and car park upgrade at the airport, along with the Talbragar Street roundabout completion and the installation of rubber floor matting for the cattle pens at

Meanwhile, council announced late this week that at its November meeting on Monday night, it would consider a development application for a 1/8 mile drag strip on the Newell Highway north of Brocklehurst.

The applicant, Dubbo City Car Club Inc, is seeking approval to develop a facility of approximately 200 metres) with a drag strip, burn out pad, formation lane, pit facilities, scrutineering area, spectator mounds, car parking facilities and mobile caravan style food service facilities.

Chair of council’s Planning and Development Committee, Cr Lyn Griffiths said the proposal dates back to 1999 when Council resolved to sell the applicant a 55 hectare parcel of its Greengrove property for the purpose of developing an international-class drag strip.

“The development application has received much interest with 18 submissions received in respect of the proposal, including two petitions from the surrounding residents of Wandarra Estate.

“Council will next week need to consider the matter taking into account submissions both in support and opposition of the proposal and the report prepared by Council staff,” Clr Griffiths said.

Members of the public who wish to address council must register their intent by 10am, Monday, 24 November 2014 by contacting Council’s Manager Governance and Risk, Michael Ferguson on 6801 4000 or Michael.ferguson@dubbo.nsw.gov.au.

Re: Gough’s true believers show their boo colours – Weekender 15/11/14 Tony Webber, you may be interested to know that the “boos” at Mr Whitlam’s memorial service were nothing compared to those uttered by hundreds of fed-up and angry voters who gathered at the Dubbo Civic Centre to express their profound disgust with Mr Whitlam and the Labor Party prior to the election of Malcolm Fraser in 1975.

Rarely do conservative people express themselves in the outrageous ways left leaning buffoons do.

In years to come both Tony Abbott and John Howard will be lauded by many Australians, including quite a few in whose circles you probably move.

- Kelvin Hampstead

Your feedback welcome – online + hard copy DUBBO WEEKENDER encourages online readers (via www. dubboweekender. com.au) to comment as a selection may be published each week. Email addresses must be supplied for verification purposes only, not publication, and destructive personal or offensive comments will not be published online or in hard copy.

Dubbo Weekender supports constructive debate and opinion. Letters to the editor are welcome via email feedback@ dubboweekender. com.au, fax 6885 4434, or post to 89 Wingewarra Street Dubbo NSW 2830.

Letters should generally be 250 words or less, and may be edited for space, clarity or legal reasons. To be considered for publication, letters should include the writer’s name and daytime contact details.

Weekender regular Sally Bryant is on leave this week. Her regular column will return next week.

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

9

WHAT I DO KNOW

Stephen Lawrence: “Unfairness really pushes my buttons” He’s travelled the world fighting for justice and loves his job as principal legal officer for the Aboriginal Legal Service in the western region.

But Stephen Lawrence, newly pre-selected Labor candidate for the NSW electorate of Dubbo says he’d give it all up for a seat in parliament.

AS TOLD TO Jen Cowley PHOTOGRAPHY Kaitlyn Rennie I’ve moved around quite a bit during my life. I’ve been in Dubbo since 2010, but I was born in Griffith. My parents moved to Wollongong when I was about three and then at about 10, we moved to Sydney. I left there when I was 20 and went up to Darwin and did various things up there, including working on the pearling boats. I moved to Canberra to study law and after graduating, I worked in Canberra as a prosecutor and began working as a solicitor in 2002. I spent three years in the Solomon Islands as a public defender, working as a part of a regional assistance mission.

It was fascinating. It was a turning point in my life in a lot of ways. I got a job, which at the time was being advertised for a much more experienced person, but I was lucky and got through. The role was as a public defender and I was there to represent people charged with conflict related crimes arising out of the war in the Solomons. So I spent three and a half years representing ex militants, ex war lords...

In a place like the Solomons you become part of that community; you see things from a different perspective. I was representing everyone from simple village people through to political leaders charged with trying to overthrow the government. So you get a real understanding of the country. And you see this place and this culture that’s totally different to your own, and that is operating in a totally different way. That’s very life changing.

I’ve done a lot of work in terms of conflict related stuff and war crime stuff.

You’ll often hear people talk about war criminals and people who are alleged to be involved in those most grave crimes as epitomising evil. These acts are terrible acts, but then you meet and represent the people who were charged with doing them and in some ways they’re so ordinary.

We like to believe that our way of life and our way of living as individuals is reflective of our moral worth or integrity. There are people in Australia doing it hard, but overall, as a country, we are so incredibly lucky. And that’s why we enjoy the social relations we do and the standard of living we do.

I’ve just spent 12 months in Afghanistan. I’m on a thing called the Australian Civilian Core Register, it’s a part of

10

the Department of Foreign Affairs. The ACC is basically a standing body of civilian experts who are ready to deploy to conflict and post conflict situations.

They advertised for lawyers to go and work with the Parwan Justice Centre at Bagram, which is the biggest American Military base in Afghanistan. There’s a court there that exists to facilitate the trial of insurgents captured by America, Australia and the UK. I went there to work with the Afghan lawyers, to do training and mentoring and to help to have those trials happen.

And so I was working with Afghan people – many of the same sort of people who’ve come to Australia over the past 20 years, many on boats.

You just get an understanding of the essential humanity and the ordinariness of the vast majority of the people in the world, who, if you get to know them, you realise you have more in common than in difference with them. It sounds clichéd, but it one of those experiences that makes you appreciate the place we have here.

For me coming back from Afghanistan to here was like coming back into my refuge, coming back into such a relaxing, friendly place – a safe place physically and emotionally. In Bagram, we

were getting indirect fire, a few times a week, so rockets and mortars hitting the base, so we had to get used to living with alarm systems – we had to take cover.

It was frightening at times, and I wasn’t going out fighting a war which is the truly difficult and horrendous thing. But it was frightening, particularly being in Kabul and having to transit to and from the embassy to the airport. And when there was indirect fire, sometimes you’d hear it, you’d feel it; but it’s one of those things about humans, you just get used to it.

You get used to incoming fire coming regularly and you become almost nonchalant about it. But there is a certain mobile phone ring that is exactly the same as an indirect fire thing, and sometimes when I hear it I jolt.

I was caught in the middle when the rioting began in the Solomons in 2006, when there was so much fire and destruction. For a long time after that if I saw a coil of smoke in the distance, my stomach would turn. When you see such a violent upsetting of the social order, of your acceptance of the reality in front of you, it affects the human mind in ways that are really complex and profound.

I’m the principal legal officer with the Aboriginal Legal Service in western

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

NSW. It’s a tough job; the ALS is a really important organisation. The courts deal with the end product of social problems, of social policies that have failed.

It’s really important and challenging work. I love my job.

I’m elected to parliament, I’ll miss my job, but being a member of parliament is stepping up in terms of advocacy and in terms of the good you can do in the world in a very marked way. It’s something I can really look forward to if I’m lucky enough to be elected.

Unfairness really pushes my buttons.

People being mistreated. People not getting their rights. For instance, I’ve been campaigning for the past few years for reform of the NSW driver licensing laws and it’s finally coming to fruition.

We have this very draconian situation where the law is making criminals out of people who don’t actually need to be criminals. We are seeing for instance, people who may never had committed a road safety offense, who are not a threat to public safety on the roads, being disqualified for the next 20 years – because they’ve grown up poor and illiterate; haven’t been able to get licensed, haven’t been able to pay fines.

People get on the roundabout of the court system and gaol. Last year a parliamentary committee made some recommendations to create a pathway back to licensing for people, particularly those who haven’t committed any public safety offenses. They’ve also recommended the abolition of what’s called the habitual offender scheme, which is where the RTA tacks on an additional five years of disqualification after court order disqualification is imposed if you have committed three or more offenses. This is not about condoning people driving unlicensed, or people driving disqualified, it’s about attacking those underlying reasons why they are disqualified.

In regional communities, if you can’t drive you’re further marginalised – people are gaoled, there’s no prospect of work, their children are unsupervised so they also enter the system.

So this is about trying to get the parliament, but also the courts, to recognise the role the law and the criminal justice system plays to entrench disadvantage.

Only through attacking those structural and underlying social problems, will you reduce crime rates, which is a particularly important issue in Dubbo where crime rates are basically twice the state average and that’s totally unacceptable. It’s a result of the social problems, and the social problems are a result of various social policies that haven’t worked.

We need to be smart about what we are doing. A lot of it is about money – you have to put money and services in, but it’s not only about money. For example, you can go to gaol at a point where you don’t have a birth certificate or a driver’s license, and you can be detained all that time. But when you leave gaol, neither of those things has been addressed.

A smarter approach is to address those sort of things when people go into prison, and be released in a way that makes them more able to reintegrate into society, which is always difficult of course.

FEATURE

White Ribbon Day on November 25 is Australia’s campaign to stop violence against women. Each year, men put their hands up to be involved in the bid to stamp out the issue once and for all. Weekender spoke to the local men behind the faces of the 2014 poster to ask their interpretation of the day and what it means to participate. WORDS Natalie Holmes PHOTOGRAPHY Kaitlyn Rennie Jethro Geier - youth worker and barista, 27

I

’m in the process of becoming a White Ribbon ambassador.

Men’s violence against women is the issue here and it’s a huge problem. A lot of people aren’t aware that one in three women will be physically or sexually assaulted – it’s a major issue that needs to be addressed by men. This awareness campaign is an opportunity for guys to challenge their mates. It’s a peer-based movement that aims to change and transform attitudes rather than victim-blaming. A lot of attitudes are that women are a minority and I’ve witnessed sexism and misogyny among my peers. I hang around in the gaming culture and there’s a certain language that’s acceptable in that group.

It’s a bit of an eye-opener when you look into it and add it into your repertoire. I’ve been offended by it and that guys find it funny to make rape jokes. They think that because women dress in a certain way and the way they behave is justifiable, but it’s not. I’m not demonising men; this is a minority group, but it’s about blokes speaking up and saying it’s not okay. It’s also about awareness and that one woman dies every week from domestic violence – that’s happening way too much.

Are these guys monsters that crawl out from under a rock to do this or are they normal guys that aren’t coping with their issues?

It’s a complicated issue but we just need normal blokes to think about it and bring awareness to it. I’ve been told that I’m just trying to make women like me by doing this but when you are passionate about something, you need to speak out. I think we’ve got an issue

that’s systematic and it’s not just about blokes hitting women. We have a society that doesn’t realise there is this inequality happening. Bad jokes enable these attitudes to develop which creates a normality. There’s a certain portrayal of femininity in the movies or the media and men feel like they are losing power and control but they are irrational fears and we should be listening to women.

•••

Bill Greenwood - former police officer and returned serviceman, 66

T

his is the opportunity for men to speak out against any and all forms of violence. As a policeman, I saw a lot of assault cases, and it’s quite apparent that there’s not only physical violence against women at play but mental and psychological violence and men testing how they can manipulate them. There are on-flows that worry me, and particularly working on child assault cases, if children are aware and they see what’s going on. And assault is sexual, physical, mental. Familywise, I haven’t seen this occur, but I did see so many instances in my professional life. It was disheartening to see people manipulated but it’s a very real thing. Violence can be sexual, psychological or physical and it’s all forms of violence that we need to stop.

As a returned serviceman, we all came back with problems from the war we’ve been involved in and it’s hard on the women who supported us while we were away. On White Ribbon Day, I will

“ One woman dies every week from domestic violence – that is happening way too much.”

– Jethro Geier

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

11

be very keen to air my thoughts publicly and I am very pleased to be involved and very honoured to be asked. They ask different people every year and I was very pleased to think I am now one of them.

I want to speak out and ask all male service members to take a stand against this. I’m very pleased to stand up and tell everyone and ask them to take a stand.

•••

Chris Suey - indigenous service officer with the Department of Human Services, 31

W

hite Ribbon Day is where all men stand together and promote one message and hopefully stamp out domestic violence and violence against women. Growing up in the small town of Walgett, it was something I witnessed (regularly). It wasn’t experienced in my life, but I saw it. I was pretty happy to be asked to do this; it was something I wanted to do. And the more men we get up to talk about and promote it, hopefully, we’ll stamp it all out. It would be great to be there on the day to promote it and spread the word wherever I can – this is something I’m very passionate about and I’d love to do it again if I’m able to. It’s a really great event to be involved in and I really wanted to promote the message and try to prevent it from happening.

•••

Mark Carter - mixed farmer, 43

T

his is to stop any violence against women and I became involved to be the face of the farming community. I think it’s a terrific concept – it comes down to men to stop that kind of violence. I haven’t had any exposure to violence against women myself but it’s about awareness. Just because I haven’t experienced it doesn’t mean I can’t be involved. Actually, being part of this has brought me up to speed with what’s happening out there.

It was a bit of a shock because I haven’t been exposed to it and if you’re not exposed to it, it’s a bit raw. It’s good to keep your mind open though. A lot of farmers aren’t exposed to it so if my face rings a bell and makes them want to see more about the campaign, then it’s done.

It’s all about education and exposing people to the problem. It’s good to have community involvement and that’s how a community works.

I didn’t know any of the other men and we are all from different walks of life getting involved. My reaction to being asked to do this was one of surprise.

I’ve never had exposure to violence against women and I was pleased to be asked. But it’s awareness and for any of my friends who’ve seen it and made a comment, it’s exposure in the media and it’s all about educating people. It’s good for me to have become involved because awareness is important. It’s hard to get men engaged and that’s why it’s a good program.

•••

Murray Kruger - personal trainer, 23

T

o me, it does mean making a stand on men being abusive against women.

It’s good to know there’s a whole stack of guys standing up for violence against women.

I grew up in a caring community in New Zealand and you heard about it happening just like you do in Dubbo but there weren’t too many people I knew. It’s really encouraging to

12

The statistics >> Fewer than half of women who experience domestic violence report the assault to police. >> Additionally, only 30 per cent (18,000) of the estimated 60,000 adult sexual assaults are reported to police each year. >> One woman is killed every week in Australia by a current or former partner. >> In a 12 month period, between five and ten per cent of Australian women experienced at least one incident of physical and/or sexual violence by a man. >> One in three women in Australia will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. >> The most common location for physical assaults to occur for women is in the home.

see men taking a stand.

I worked in security and saw people getting aggressive but we were able to sort things out verbally rather than physically which is how it should be. Men get drunk and everything escalates quite quickly and I can see how it can happen.

I also did Brazilian jujitsu and can see how powerful something like that can be. An event like this broadens your awareness and I felt particularly proud to be chosen to be in the campaign.

It’s pretty good to know that you can help promote the cause and that young people can look up to me and say “this guy is a personal trainer and is involved in this”. It gives me a sense of pride and makes me feel better knowing it can make a difference and influence someone else’s life. If it’s something they’ve grown up with, it’s hard to change.

But it’s about bringing about changes in society. If it means I can put the word out and change the community for the better, then I am all for it. >> White Ribbon Day will be marked in Dubbo from 9am to 10.30am on Tuesday, November 25 at the Cyril Flood Rotunda. Everyone is welcome.

A dear mission

Kirrily Dear describes herself as an “Aussie-born, middle-class, approaching middle-age female”. She took up running six or seven years ago.

“Lying on the lounge one Sunday afternoon, borderline overweight, stressed and with my face almost permanently attached to a wine glass, I decided I needed a hobby. Running seemed simple enough.

Ten kilometres seemed a reasonable goal. I somehow went from that to developing an addiction to ultramarathon.”

Earlier this month, she set out to run 860km in 12 days through regional NSW to honour and learn from the outstanding work underway to stop men’s violence against women ahead of White Ribbon Day. She started in Walgett on November 14 and will end up in Forbes on November 25.

“My longest run to date is 262km, so 860km is a massive personal challenge.”

Describing her reasoning for the challenge, Kirrily writes on her website: “I’m a fan of the work they are doing and the approach they are taking to bring about change. In 2013 I had an idea for this run and approached White Ribbon about it. They have been incredibly supportive in turning this idea into reality. I am funding this project completely from my own pocket and through the generosity of supporters providing goods and services.

One day, Kirrily hopes that the community can be free of all forms of violence.

“It is my opinion that violence is like a social cancer.

It comes in many different forms and it maims and kills without discrimination.

I’ve chosen to focus on one form of that ‘cancer’, which is currently the most common form. That being men’s violence against women.

My hope is that some of the lessons we learn through this journey will have flow-on benefits to stopping other forms of violence, regardless of whether the perpetrator is a man, woman or youth.”

When she’s not running, Kirrily is a mad keen gardener and runs her own business.

Source: whiteribbonultra.com.au

Kirrily’s run: • Day 1 (began on Friday, November 14): Walgett, Burren Junction (92km) • Day 2: Burren Junction, Wee Waa (53km) • Day 3: Wee Waa, Narrabri, Boggabri (96km) • Day 4: Boggabri, Manilla (76km) • Day 5: Manilla, Tamworth (45km) • Day 6: Tamworth, Spring Ridge (86km) • Day 7: Spring Ridge,Coolah (89km) • Day 8: Coolah, Mendooran (66km) • Day 9 (Today, Saturday, November 22): Mendooran, Dubbo (73km) • Day 10: Dubbo, Yeoval (69km) • Day 11: Yeoval, Parkes (69km) • Day 12: Parkes, Forbes (42km)

Getting help If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence, there is help available: • Domestic Violence Line 1800 65 64 63 1800 671 442 TTY (Hearing impaired) • Rape Crisis Service 1800 424 017 • Interrelate Family Centres 1300 736 966 • 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732): 24 hour, National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/ or sexual assault.

• Relationships Australia – support groups and counselling on relationships, and for abusive and abused partners.

1300 364 277 Website: www.relationships. com.au • ASCA (Adults Surviving Child Abuse) A service to adult survivors, their friends and family and the health care professionals who support them.

1300 657 380 or www.asca.org.au • Lifeline 131 114 Source: whiteribbon.org.au

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

What is White Ribbon Day? The campaign works through primary prevention initiatives involving awareness raising and education, and programs with youth, schools, workplaces and across the broader community.

Globally, White Ribbon is the world’s largest male-led movement to end men’s violence against women. Originating in Canada in 1991, White Ribbon is now active in more than 60 countries.

White Ribbon began in Australia in 2003 as part of UNIFEM (now UN Women), formally becoming a Foundation in 2007.

White Ribbon Australia observes the International Day of the Elimination of Violence against Women, also known as White Ribbon Day, annually on November 25. White Ribbon Day signals the start of the 16 Days of Activism to Stop Violence against Women, which ends on Human Rights Day (December 10).

Q&A

Linda Burney: “Don’t pigeonhole me” Linda Burney wears many hats – role model, mother, politician and passionate advocate for diversity. The deputy leader of the NSW Labor Party and Member for Canterbury spoke with Weekender about politics, family and why she doesn’t like to be pigeon-holed. WORDS Jen Cowley PHOTOGRAPHY Kaitlyn Rennie You were the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the NSW Parliament. Tell me how that factors into your political life.

I’ve never allowed the media to pigeonhole me as “the Aboriginal person in Parliament”.

So you don’t want to be a “token”.

Absolutely not and I’m very clear about that, but the Aboriginal community is so proud that I’m there (in parliament) and they feel a great ownership of me which is really lovely. Interestingly, the seat I represent, Canterbury, is an extraordinarily diverse seat and many of the people of the electorate have come out to Australia or their families have come out, often because of conflict and land loss and persecution. They really were excited that they were the electorate that was actually going to elect the first Aboriginal person into the NSW Parliament. They understood how significant that was. Clearly I take a great deal of interest and I’m very vocal on Aboriginal issues that are being dealt with through the parliament.

So you find it hard to separate your Aboriginality when certain legislation comes before you.

Exactly. And I would never do that.

People actually look to me, including sometimes members of the government who ask for my advice on Aboriginal protocol and cultural issues.

So you’ve managed to bridge that political divide in some ways?

The NSW Parliament is one of the most adversarial in the country, there’s no doubt about that. But you have very good relationships with everyone within the parliament, cross benchers as well as government people. Clearly there are people that don’t have a relationship with because I just think their policy positions are so unacceptable to who I am and what I believe in.

But there is an element of humanity?

Oh, there is. Question Time is where you see the fireworks, but outside of Question Time, most legislations are supported by both sides of the house.

There will be honest differences, but you cannot survive political life without having relationships across the parties.

As a woman in politics, what do you think can be done to get more women interested? Is it a case of women having to step up?

No, it’s about critical mass. The more women there are in there, the more attractive the place becomes to other women.

What do you think it is that stops women from stepping up to the plate?

I think a lot of women are stepping up now, but it’s been traditionally such a masculine environment. The way decisions are made, the way arguments are formed; the debating. The fact that it’s so time consuming and there’s no one who goes into parliament where their family doesn’t have to make sacrifices.

Have you made sacrifices?

My children have. Your relationship sometimes becomes very difficult particularly if you are a politician from the country or from interstate, and particularly if it’s in Canberra – you’re away for long periods of time. I was just saying today to someone that I’m so excited – and it’s pathetic – but I’m so excited that I’m going home tonight. I don’t have to

go out; I’m going to cook a really simple meal; I’m going to have a glass of wine, and I’m going to have a normal night.

You’re never really off duty are you?

Well, the thing that people don’t understand, and I think this is the most off-putting thing and the most difficult thing, is that you lose your privacy when you become a politician. It’s gone. If you are out in public, you have to be careful the whole time, and your children are fair game as well. It’s that lack of privacy that’s hard – that everything about your past; your family is fodder. It’s very, very, very difficult. I have a very tight circle of friends. I don’t socialise a lot, and most of my socialising is at home, it’s not out in the public. It’s tough. And the other thing is that you have to look after your health so well. It’s very easy to forget your health and your wellbeing and it’s hard work.

You talk of home – you are Wiradjuri, so do you feel you’re on home ground here?

I am, but my people are from the other end of Wiradjuri country; it’s one of the biggest nations in the country, and it’s the biggest in NSW. We’re from down in the Murrumbidgee end of Wiradjuri territory.

You had an interesting childhood – it’s been reported you were one of the stolen generation.

No, a lot of people say that, but I wasn’t. My mother was a non-Aboriginal woman, born in 1957, in a small country town. I was born out of wedlock – a white woman having a black baby... you can imagine in those days. It’s still spo-

ken about in the town I grew up in. I don’t know the whole story, but she actually left the hospital without me. But her uncle and aunt – they were non-Aboriginal people – raised me, which was an amazing thing for them to do. They were in their mid-60s – they were brother and sister, they’d never been married themselves. To take on a little black kid, a brand new baby, in that environment, was astounding.

And you didn’t meet your dad until you were 28 years old.

That’s right. It was the night before I had my first child. And what was incredible about that was that I discovered that I had ten brothers and sisters I just didn’t know existed. And it’s a statement of the times that we grew up in. And the town I grew up in was only about 40 minutes’ drive from my brothers and sisters, and for all that time and I didn’t know about them.

Do you maintain a relationship with them now?

Yes, I do. My dad’s dead now, but I do keep a relationship with them. You can’t put back those years. And they are very proud of me.

So how did you come to take that step into politics?

It was just a natural progression for me. I’d been a member of the (Labor) party for a long time, but I’d worked in a very high profile level in the Aboriginal Affairs space. I was a good communicator, and obviously I had a good high profile. It was actually Anthony Albanese who worked with me very closely to get a pre-selection which I ran, and won. And

the rest is history. It’s 12 years now. I’m about to go into my fourth term. It’s like the blink of an eye. I remember when I was campaigning in 2003 for that election, and suddenly, where once I was a brand new person in parliament, now I’m one of the more senior, experienced people in there.

Who inspires you politically and in life?

Anthony (Albanese) was really important. A lot of people inspire me politically but in life? I don’t have a very good answer to that. I’m a very keen observer of people. I have people I hold in extremely high regard and there is a suite of people who I try to think about – who they were, what they were like. Carmel Tebbutt is a good mate of mine. I see her as one of the finest politicians I’ve seen. But you know, where I take most of my lessons and inspiration is from people who are humble; ordinary people who have done extraordinary things, that’s where I get my inspiration from.

How does Linda Burney relax?

Linda Burney gardens, and I walk at least three or four times a week and I have a lifetime habit of reading every night before I go to sleep.

What’s on your nightstand?

It’s in my bag actually; Julia and Julia – you know that woman that wanted to cook 500 French recipes in 365 days?

And I’m reading Sean Dorney, the ABC correspondent’s book on PNG at the moment. They’re the two on my nightstand right now.

Are you able to switch off?

Yes, I am.

Do you have to train yourself to do that?

Absolutely I did. When my husband (Rick Farley) got very sick and then subsequently died I did a whole lot of things around meditation and I did two years of grief counseling. I have learned to be able to train myself to stop going through my mind at night.

Is that a self-preservation technique?

It’s absolutely self-preservation.

And have you been able to mentor others to do that?

Yes. I do a lot of mentoring.

Is there life after politics for you?

Oh God, yeah. I have another career in me. I am interested in doing something in the international aid arena, and I’m very passionate about the Pacific and Asia, our part of the world.

In what way? What drives you in that direction?

I’ve travelled to a lot of Asian and Pacific countries and I think particularly for Australia and the Pacific, we see those places as a holiday destination, but most of them are failed states. People are poor, environmental degradation is shocking, and if it wasn’t for aid, most of those places would be in even worse condition than they are.

The reason I’m reading Sean Dorney’s book on PNG at the moment is because of a parliamentary association trip I did.

When you are a member of parliament, you get about one or two in your whole career, and most people go to New York or London, looking at public transport or something. Everyone thought I was crazy, but I went to PNG. Oh man, it is tough. It is a tough, tough place. And people just couldn’t believe that I chose to go to PNG. But that’s the sort of thing I’d like to do with life after politics.

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

13

ON THE SOAPBOX

Slanted social contract puts public on the periphery S

o the G20 Summit has been and gone.

Amid all the hoopla and shenanigans of the event it may have passed people by unnoticed that we actually, as a nation, regressed some one thousand years.

This is not an accurate count, but one based on my increasingly fragile recollection of TV shows I watched some decades ago. In this case, one about Chinese history.

It was once illegal for the people of China to gaze upon the impressive (and no doubt impassive) visage of their emperor. The emperor was the “tianzi”, the Son of Heaven, chosen via the super special Mandate of Heaven to rule over the already heaving masses of Chinese.

When he went on a tour of the land his many attendees would run around with large banners to block the view of the general public so they couldn’t see him.

It was a crime to compare yourself to the emperor in any way, leading to the thought that saying “I’m feeling a bit hot here today, should I open a window for you?” would lead you to seeing your body at the top of the stairs as your head

Comment by ANDREW GLASSOP As a ‘jetsetter’, Andrew Glassop has always enjoyed the art of conversation.

bounced merrily down to the bottom.

The main residence’s name said it all – the Forbidden City.

Well Beijing may have the Forbidden City, but Brisbane now has the Piss-off Precinct. Locals, including part time locals who had travelled many miles to be there, were not allowed into the G20 precinct unless they were searched, interrogated and generally abused by blue clothed members of public allowed to carry guns. It reached the point where the seditious act of carrying eggs was seen as evidence of a likely crime unless you could prove you were just taking them directly home to make an omelette. How do you do that? Must you also be carrying some type of cheese? Porcini

“ Beijing may have the Forbidden City, but Brisbane now has the Piss-off Precinct. ”

mushrooms? A Jamie Oliver cookbook?

A senior NSW policeman was reported as having said that “overkill was necessary in these times of terrorism” or some such nonsense. Isn’t the definition of overkill that it’s wasteful and extravagant? Not anymore; mark that one down for next year’s Macquarie dictionary: “Overkill: (noun), just enough, sensibly sufficient, not in any way wasteful or extravagant.”

We are not allowed to see our very betters any more except through their own carefully managed media bites.

Who didn’t sit glued to their seat as they watched a number of helicopters, one of them due to carry Barack Obama, warm up on the tarmac of a Queensland airport? Thrilling television, edge of seat anticipation; like waiting for a picture of Kim Kardashian’s arse to be downloaded to your laptop. A helicopter that might one day carry someone who deems themselves important is now an object of semi-divine importance and we watch it in awe and wonder.

In 1762 Rousseau wrote that “man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains”. In probably an overkill of words and general syntaxical-type cleverness he went on to say that we choose to wear chains because we have formed a “so-

cial contract” with society for the general good. We agree to have laws that limit our freedom because they help keep us safe – I am not free to steal your car and you are not free to stab me. It’s a winwin situation.

But the social contract has to maintain its social part if the contract part is to have any meaning. And at present we are moving away from that at an alarming rate. The public is not to be consulted or listened to anymore, indeed the opposite is more likely to be true. Our political masters decide that we are terrorists if we have eggs, that it’s impolite to boo at people who are dedicating their lives to making yours a misery, that people should not be allowed to know if police are spying on their internet use, that we can’t be told what is happening to refugees or free trade agreements, nor how many people we are dropping our humanitarian bombs on and what evidence we had to suggest that Saddam Hussein was a nuclear powered monster well worth the many hundreds of thousands of deaths his overthrow took.

As for actually having your voice heard? Forget it. We public are the least necessary part of the social contract these days. We are indeed in chains, but no longer freely choose them.

New Year’s Eve Fireworks Family friendly, alcohol free fireworks display at

9pm on New Year’s Eve at Caltex Park Activities • Carnival amusements • Food vans • Drink stalls • Ice cream • Coffee Gates open at 5pm • Gold coin entry www.dubbofireworks.com.au • www.facebook.com/DubboFireworks

14

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

COMMENT

It’s child’s play being an aunt with benefits A s it turns out four of my six nieces and nephews were born within two weeks of each other. November has become party central in my family and don’t I love a good kids’ party?

There are sweets and sausage sizzles and fizzy drinks – all things I enjoy but don’t consume on a daily basis due to... I don’t know... adulthood?

But the dark side of being a woman over 30 at a kids party is people seem to want to ask “are you clucky?” or “so when are you having kids?”. Never mind finding someone I may actually want to procreate with, but it seems a highly personal and somewhat rude question, mostly from strangers (my immediate friends and family wouldn’t bother asking me such silly questions; either they’re too smart or too afraid).

My sisters and sister in law all have different styles when it comes to gatherings, but they all leave me chewing over the age old question: How do they do it? Followed closely by: How could I ever do it?

Having kids is a big deal. It takes your time and energy and sleep and money. And that’s kinda everything. These women (plus my many girlfriends who

Comment by Madeleine Allen

Regional ex-pat Madeleine Allen has a background in media and communications. Her passions are pop culture, politics and ideas, some of which she shares here.

are mothers) are the superheroes of my world. It’s a cliché but it’s so very true.

And don’t forget the dads, who are stepping up big time to raise these little people into fully fledged humans ready for the big bad world.

For some reason, that overwhelming need or want to have children just hasn’t struck me, and that’s okay. Probably for the best, actually. Being an aunt appeals to my all-fun-no-responsibility personality. I get to have my cake and eat it too, with hugs and laughs and quality time with the children (some now adults) in my life, as well as checking out when they become too overbearing... or I need a nap.

We’ve been part of the Dubbo community We’ve been part of the Dubbo community for over

30 years!

30 years!

30 years!

Some argue that having children is the meaning of life, or adds meaning to your life at least. But with so much else to do with a life, why is it considered strange that some women choose not to go down that path? In my family I am often referred to as PANK – an acronym for Professional Aunt, No kids.

And while I don’t like to say I’ll never have kids (and perhaps I can’t even have children, who knows?) it is a role and title I’m quite comfortable with right now.

Last weekend I had the honour, as the biggest little kid at my niece’s birthday,

for over We’ve been part of the Dubbo community for over “ I get to have my cake and eat it too, with hugs and

laughs and quality time as well as checking out when they become too overbearing... or I need a nap. ”

to break the amazing handmade Pinata my sister-in-law had painstakingly made full of kids lollies. Apologies for ruining your handy work SIL, but it was a lot of fun!

It’s moments like these that make me realise we all have a role to play in children’s lives, and this is mine. Breaker of piñatas! Watcher of Disney! Rider of bikes! Very important things to be involved in when it comes to raising kids.

But after a weekend of cake, excitement and new presents, right now I think I’ll treat myself to a siesta. Because I can.

oPEN SATurdAy’S

bEST TrAdE-IN’S

FINANCE oN SITE T.A.P

Home of:

Western Plains Automotive is a local family

MASSIVE Birthday SALE

owned and operated business that has been Western Plains Automotive is a local family Home of: Mercedes-Benz established for 30 years right here Dubbo. owned and operated business that hasin been Western Plains Mazda Western Plains Automotive is a local family Home of: Mercedes-Benz Come in and with ourhere friendly and established for meet 30 years right in Dubbo. owned and operated business that has been Western Plains Mitsubishi Western Plains Mazda knowledgeable whofriendly areMercedes-Benz ready Come in and meetstaff, with our and to help established for 30 years right here in Dubbo.

Western Plains Nissan Western Plains Mitsubishi make the purchase andare ownership ofPlains yourMazda knowledgeable staff, who ready to help Western Come in and meet with our friendly andVEHICLE pURCHASE IN NOVEMBER wItH ANy Western Plains Nissan new vehicle a pleasurable experience.

Western Plains Mitsubishi make the purchase and ownership of your

OR

$1000 CASHBACK

$1000 OF GENUINE ACCESSORIES

knowledgeable staff, who are ready to help

Western Plains Nissan new vehicle a pleasurable experience. make the purchase and ownership of your new vehicle a pleasurable experience.

Proud Sponsor of Dubbo Rugby Club Proud Sponsor of Dubbo Rugby Club

Sponsor S A LProud ES • S E RofVDubbo I C E Rugby • PAClub RTS SALE S V•I CSEE•RStreet, V I C E • PA R T S S A LE S59• -S71 E RVictoria PA R T SDubbo

59 - 71Street, Victoria Street, Phone 02 6884 4577Dubbo 59 - 71 Victoria Dubbo Phone 02 6884 4577 www.wpa.net.au www.westernplainsautomotive.com.au Phone 02 6884 4577 www.westernplainsautomotive.com.au www.westernplainsautomotive.com.au /westernplainsautomotive @WPADubbo @westernplainsauto /westernplainsautomotive /westernplainsautomotive @WPADubbo

@WPADubbo @westernplainsauto @westernplainsauto

Cash back offer available for eligible new and pre-owned vehicles ordered between the 01.11.14 and the 30.11.14. Cash back amount available via redemption at Western Plains Automotive or substituted for a reduction in the final drive away price of equal cash back value or substituted for equal value of genuine manufacturer accessories. This offer is not in conjunction with any other offer or discount at time of purchase. Excludes Fleet, Government, Wholesale and rental sales. Motor Dealer Licence No: MD047044.

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

15

two by two

Rachel Mills and Donna Rees The prevention of hearing loss is close to the hearts of these two mums, who not only work together as support teachers but co-founded the Hear our Heart project as a way to continue educating communities. AS TOLD TO and PHOTOGRAPHY Natalie Holmes Donna Rees:

M

y interest in hearing goes back a long way but I never really knew a hard of hearing or deaf person until my daughter Haylee was diagnosed with hearing loss and was hard of hearing when she was two. She’s now 22. From that diagnosis, my interest in helping her and other young children that were in need grew.

At the time, it was a huge shock for Dave and me, but our support teacher Leanne took an interest in helping Haylee and us as parents and spent a lot of time over and above her duties in helping us. We enrolled in sign language classes; as parents, we were very keen to provide a layered environment for her.

Because of Haylee’s learning, I decided to train as a teacher of the deaf because I found it fascinating. I had been a visual arts and PDHPE teacher before that and I am now a teacher for conductive hearing loss/otitis media. It was an interest that was necessary for Haylee and we took it on for growth and enthusiasm.

We met John Theobridge when doing an interview to receive support. He had a deaf child as well as providing support for teachers of the deaf and he was very supportive. He talked us through the grief of any disability label on a child – it’s confronting on so many levels of their development and growing up. He was empowering teachers.

It made me more determined to make sure people are more aware of these things. When I became a teacher of the deaf, I was dealing with hundreds of kids with otitis media, which is preventable.

I did my training when I was pregnant with my son Jake and my waters broke when I was writing my last speech assignment (laughs). I studied at Griffith University and I was the first person to do it remotely.

Having Jake (who ended up getting otitis media – or glue ear – and bronchiolitis) and Haylee was going to early intervention and Dave hurt his knee playing footy, it was a big year but I was determined to pass because I wanted to do it for Haylee and the other kids.

I have now been doing the role for 19 years and I provide support across the state out in all the remote areas working closely with people doing hearing loss prevention. We were finding children with preventative hearing loss that required intervention so we created Hear our Heart as a non-government organisation to cater for prevention, awareness and detection; diagnosis and treatment – pathways with a very strong emphasis on education and building a rapport with families.

Hear our Heart came about because there was a need.

Rachel was already working as a casual teacher when we met. The amount of time she was putting into it was phenomenal. Rachel is passionate about helping children and seeing the needs in the community. She won’t say no, she just keeps going! The enthusiasm Rachel puts into the project is phenomenal. We bounce off each other and support each other. We work very closely and Rachel is very infectious; the project is infectious! We’ve taken on the need to plan to get it right for our area so that’s what we’re doing.

Rachel Mills:

I

was a classroom teacher at Bunninyong Public School when I became interested in this. I went on maternity leave in 2008 and did a day a week for Donna in the hearing support team when I came back in 2009. The work was there if I wanted it and the principal allowed me to have a transfer of duties which I’m extremely grateful for.

I’m now a part of the hearing support team at Dubbo Public School. Working with otitis media is like an addiction. Once it’s in your blood, you can’t go back! I like giving a helping hand to families and the general satisfaction I get is humbling. I’m not a teacher of the deaf – I’m more interested in otitis media because it’s preventable.

A lot of the kids I see don’t get the kind of help they need. I like everything that’s fair and equitable and it’s not fair if they’re not getting what they deserve. I keep going because these kids keep missing out. To be able to continue in this role and help so many families in

16

the community is extremely rewarding.

My own family has been supportive too, including my husband Andrew. We have three boys and Sam, who’s 10, had otitis media which resulted in hearing loss. But otitis media is preventable and treatable and I fell in love with my role because kids keep needing help. That’s what drives me. It’s a dream job that people trust us because they know we want to help their kids.

Donna is my absolute total inspiration. She’s my boss at the Department of Education and I couldn’t do this without her support.

I was reading Julia Gillard’s book and she wrote about someone believing in her and I feel that Donna believes in me. I have great pleasure in saying that she’s not my boss or colleague, she’s my friend. The first 12 months of doing otitis media with Donna, I was like a sponge. I went and Googled everything she said so that I could learn more! But no amount of (instruc-

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

tion through) classes could teach me what I’ve learned – it’s definitely been a train-on-the-job kind of role.

Having the trust of local ear specialists and knowing they want to keep training and helping us has been positive so that we can continue helping other kids.

I stir things up and Donna puts it into perspective; everything Donna and I have done in our otitis media role that works, and works well, we’ve put into one big package with Hear our Heart. We always ask each other’s opinions before making a decision about the project.

People call us the Dynamic Duo sometimes. Donna and I are never too proud to go out into the community and sit down with people and show them how to keep their ears and their children’s ears dry and clean.

In the ways of hearing, we complement each other. We are teachers and parents as well and Donna knows all the policies and I complement her in other ways. It’s the perfect partnership!

MY14 CRV DTIS

MY15 JAZZ VTI-L DEMO

$20,490

S/N – H997

FREE REGO & CTP

$43,990

S/N – H973

S/N – H987

MY15 CITY VTI

MY14 CRV VTI-LT

$39,990

$26,490

S/N – H938

CIVIC VTI-S

MY1 JAZZ VTI

$19,490

$23,990

MY15 CITY VTI-LM $25,490

S/N – H1002

S/N – H1000

FREE EXTENDED WARRANTY

FREE REGO & CTP EXTENDED WARRANTY

LIMITED EDITION - ONE ONLY

S/N – H994

ONLY AT SAINSBURY HONDA DUBBO

2009 HOLDEN COMMODORE SV6

2012 HYUNDAI i45 ACTIVE

2012 KIA CERATO Si

$13,990 S/N – U9723

$12,990 S/N – U9716

$17,990 S/N: U9725

2010 SUZUKI APV

2007 NISSAN NAVARA D40 STX

2010 PEUGEOT RCZ

11,990 S/N - U9749

$22, 990 S/N – U9755

$28,990 S/N – U9767

2003 MAZDA 6

2007 MITSUBISHI 380 VRX

2011 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LIMITED

$9,990 S/N – U9775

$11,990 S/N: U9784

$37,990 S/N: U9832

6884 6444 • 1/13 Bourke St, Dubbo www.sainsburyautomotive.com.au

“People trust Sainsbury’s”

FEATURE

Dunedoo’s White Rose Café has been a landmark for weary western region travellers for nearly a century and a recent facelift is helping to make sure the tradition continues. Weekender took a step back in time with new owners Karleeta and Gerry Ryan.

WORDS and PHOTOGRAPHY Jen Cowley

I

take a step through the doors of the White Rose Café, and suddenly, I’m five years old again. Barely tall enough to see over the glass fronted cabinet that holds all manner of forbidden sweets; looking longingly along the gleaming formica-ropped counter to where the lady in the apron is making milkshakes – plunging the dipper into the vast vats of icy milk beneath the gleaming hinged lids and slurping great streams of sticky strawberry syrup into tall shiny tumblers.

Sitting expectantly at the marble top table, my legs swinging above the red and white chequered tiles of the floor – a big old fan stirring the soupy summer air as I wait with my

18

parents, or grandparents, for the rare treat that is “dinner out” or “luncheon” on the way to or from Sydney.

Like so many western-regioners throughout four generations, this place is etched deeply into my childhood memories, as it will be into my own children’s recollections – where no trip to or from the “big smoke” would be complete without a stop at Dunedoo. And the White Rose Café.

T

he fortunes of this humble country establishment have waxed and waned over the years since it first opened its doors to the good people of Dunedoo in the

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

“ We didn’t win the lottery, but that ticket changed our lives.”

1930s. But, save for a brief hiatus just a handful of years back, The White Rose Café has served as a meeting place for locals, a respite for weary travellers and a “fuelling” station for hungry truckies for the best part of a century.

And while the menu may have changed a little and the mood of the décor has ebbed and flowed along with fashion and fortune, enough of the original style and ambience has remained to give visitors a healthy serving of nostalgia.

It’s something that instantly charmed Karleeta and Gerry Ryan who became the “new” owners after a chance visit through

town and, literally, a gamble that paid off.

“During a holiday trip to Queensland, we had a bet on a game of cards and the loser had to buy a lottery ticket. We’d made a point of stopping at all the little towns on the way back to Kandos, including Dunedoo, where I decided to check the ticket to see if we’d won anything,” says Karleeta, who is sporting a retro black, white and red apron and has taken a short break from serving the constant stream of Sunday customers.

“So I went into the newsagency just up the road to check the lottery ticket, and when I came out, Gerry nodded in the direction of the White Rose and said, “That little café’s for sale.” I said don’t even think about it.”

But think about it they did. The café was closed – for

the first time in its life – when the couple spotted the “for sale” sign, and over the next few months (the café was closed for seven) the couple visited Dunedoo at various times of the week to get a feel for the town and the passing trade. It ticked all their boxes.

“So Gerry quit his job at the mines and we opened the café back up in March 2013.

“We didn’t win the lottery, but that ticket changed our lives.”

T

o the best of their knowledge – the precise history is “a bit fuzzy” according to Gerry – the White Rose “Refreshment Rooms” first opened somewhere around 1932.

“We’re not sure of the timeline of who owned it when,

but we had a bloke came through a while back who said his grandfather, the original owner, sold the place to Nick Ferris, who had a number of cafes throughout the region.”

Regardless of the exact details of its heritage, the Ryans are sensitive to the iconic place of the White Rose Café in local folklore, and of the grand tradition of the role of such establishments in regional community history – and they’re determined to be faithful in their efforts to return the café to former glory.

“We wanted to keep it as authentic as we could. We’ve kept the marble topped tables, and I often think, wow – if these tables, and these walls could talk!” Karleeta says with a warm laugh and a glance around the café that’s bustling with late spring Sunday afternoon trade.

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

19

FEATURE “We’ve kept the original ceilings and we’ve repainted. We’ve kept as much as we can and added to it. The counter, the lit mirrored cabinet and the lolly counter are all original. So are the tables and the phone booth,” says Gerry, pointing to an old red traditional phone box tucked in the corner, which once helped serve the town’s public telecommunications needs.

“The big milk counter with the metal milk vats is still there – but we’re not allowed to use them now because of food safety regulations,” says Karleeta, who adds that she’d love to be able to make milkshakes “the old fashioned way”.

“Gerry also re-did the floor. It had lots of chips out of it and it was a bit of a mess and we couldn’t match the tiles exactly. So we had to lift what we could and then get the closest we could. I think it’s come up pretty well.”

Indeed it has, along with an impressive front step redesigned to include a hand-tiled mosaic of, funnily enough, a white rose.

“The step was a real mess – it had been patched up with tar. A friend suggested the mosaic and I thought, yes I can do that. So we recycled as many tiles as we could, and the result is quite a talking point,” says Karleeta proudly.

The couple’s efforts have not gone unnoticed.

“People want to stop and chat and tell us their memories – it’s lovely. They tell us stories all the time about their memories of visiting the White Rose Café during their childhood. We have visitors who tell us they can remember stopping here on the way through to Sydney and they have a real flashback when they come through the doors.”

The couple says they thought about changing the name to “something funky” – but the

thought was short-lived.

“Everyone was aghast,” says Karleeta with a laugh. “They said “everyone knows the White Rose Café – you can’t even think about changing the name”, and they’re right. This place is known all over, not only locally but all over the state and interstate as well.”

L

ike many small country towns, Dunedoo has a welcoming spirit that has seen the Ryans embraced as honorary locals since reopening the town’s iconic meeting point.

“The locals have been lovely – really welcoming. But the best part is all the people we meet.

When we do give up working, we have a book full of business cards that people have given us and made us promise to look them up. That’s probably the best part – the people,” Karleeta says.

“If someone had told me ten years ago that I’d be running a café in Dunedoo, I’d have laughed them out of the room. But I once visited a fortune teller and he told me that whatever I’d done when I was younger would be what I’d return to. I grew up with my mother running the roadhouse at Ilford. So it looks like fate had this in the cards.”

Gerry chimes in: “And I don’t mind coming to work now. Working in the mines, I just worked for the money – I didn’t really enjoy it. But now I get up at 6.30 every morning, but I honestly don’t mind. I enjoy coming to work.

“We certainly don’t get paid for the hours we work, but that’s small business, isn’t it? Fifteen hour days aren’t for everyone, and we’re too old to keep it up forever, but we’ll keep going as long as we can because we love it. We just love it.”

SHOWING AT ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER UNTIL 4TH JANUARY METRO HOTEL ON PITT

One night’s accommodation in a Superior Deluxe room inclusive of buffet breakfast for two and late checkout at noon

METRO APARTMENTS ON DARLING HARBOUR

One night’s accommodation in a loft style apartment inclusive of a bottle of sparkling wine and late checkout at 11am

Visit www.metrohotels.com.au for more information or call 1300 305 723

20

Advertising space supported with a smile by

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

ADVERTORIAL

Business in changing times with Phil Comerford, Scolari Comerford Dubbo

Property developers face ATO scrutiny T HE ATO is examining arrangements where property developers are using trusts to return the proceeds from property developments as capital gains instead of income on revenue account.

ATO Deputy Commissioner Tim Dyce said the ATO has “begun auditing property developers who are carrying out activities which conflict with their stated purpose of capital investment”. He said a “growing number of property developers are using trusts to suggest a development is a capital asset to generate rental income and claim the 50% capital gains discount”.

Mr Dyce warned that penalties of up to 75% of the tax avoided can apply to those found to be deliberately using special purpose trusts to mischaracterise the proceeds of property developments.

The ATO says the arrangements it is concerned with display all or most of the following aspects: l an entity with experience in either developing or selling property, or in the property and construction industry, establishes a new trust for the purpose of acquiring property for development and sale; l in some cases the trust deed may expressly state that the purpose of the trust is to hold the developed property as a capital asset to generate rental income. In other cases the trust deed may be silent as to its purpose; l activity is then undertaken in a manner which is at odds with the stated purpose of treating the developed property as a capital asset. For example: • documents prepared in connection with obtaining finance for the development may indicate that the dwellings constructed on the land are to be sold within a certain timeframe and that the proceeds are to be used to repay the loan; • communication with local government authorities overseeing building approvals may describe the activity as being the development of property for sale; and • real estate agents may be en-

The White Rose Cafe today

gaged early in the development process, and advertising to the general public may indicate that the dwellings/subdivided blocks of land are available to be purchased well in advance of the project’s completion, including sales off the plan; l the property is sold soon after completion of the development, where the underlying property may have been held for as little as 13 months; and l the trustee treats the sale proceeds as being on capital account, and because the trustee acquired the underlying property more than 12 months before the sale, it claims the general 50% discount for capital gains (in other words, it treats the gain/profit in respect of each sale as a discounted capital gain).

 The ATO said it was concerned that arrangements of this type could give rise to various tax issues...  The ATO said it was concerned that arrangements of this type could give rise to various tax issues, including whether: l the underlying property constitutes trading stock under the tax law on the basis that the trustee is carrying on a business of property development; l the gross proceeds from sale constitute ordinary income under the tax law on the basis that the trustee is carrying on a business of property development; and l the net profit from sale is ordinary income under the tax law on the basis that, although the trustee is not carrying on a business of property development, it is nevertheless involved in a profit-making undertaking.

The ATO said it has made adjustments to increase the net income of a number of trusts. It said penalties will be significantly reduced if taxpayers make a voluntary disclosure.

We work with successful business owners who wish to enhance their lifestyle by:  increasing their profits;  improving their cash flow;  focusing on growth;  protecting their assets; and  preparing their business for maximum sale.

Ask us how.

scolaricomerford.com.au The White Rose “Refreshment Rooms” circa 1930s. Photo: Supplied

Area 6, Level 1, 188 Macquarie St, Dubbo Office: 1300 852 980 Fax: 1300 852 981

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

21

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Greg Smart

By his own admission, Greg Smart was born 40 years old and is in training to be a cranky old man. He spends his time avoiding commercial television and bad coffee.

Growth no holy grail as economic hopes trickle down I

listened to the pronouncements at the G20 summit.

Growth. We must have growth.

Growth creates jobs. Jobs feed growth.

Growth will destroy poverty. Growth is the Holy Grail. Growth!

Growth has become the single word answer to the woes of the world – espoused by politicians and economists as the answer to third world poverty, first world unemployment and a reliance on government welfare.

Leaving, for a moment, the issue of us living in a finite world, the idea of growth being the panacea for the world’s ills is extremely simplistic.

During the G20 summit, Treasurer Joe Hockey announced the growth target for G20 countries is over 2.0 per cent, but does that mean exactly? Is he measuring in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)? The number of jobs created?

An increase in business profit? Sounds very arbitrary.

For several years, the World Bank has been advocating the concept of “natural accounting” as the best measurement of economic growth. Natural accounting includes such diverse factors as the degradation of ecosystems and the contribution of forests to air filtration. Natural accounting values raw materials in ways not previously included on a tradition balance sheet and aims to “move the world beyond a GDP matrix to focus on all assets that a country needs for longterm growth and well-being”.

The World Bank uses “natural capital” to describe the contribution of a country’s natural ecosystems to the well-be-

ing of its citizens and recognises the singular use of GDP ignores the depletion of wealth brought about by water degradation, air pollution or overfishing for example.

Treasurer Hockey has declared climate change should not overshadow economic growth, and PM Tony Abbott has declared coal as “good for humanity” – a view which could once be argued, but that time has passed. The planet we live on is justifiably asking to be included in the growth measurement. After all, it’s the only one we have.

Of course, politicians will always link growth with jobs, because jobs mean votes. Under the current free marketeers’ reign, the theory is to get out of the way of business, reduce business taxation and regulation, then prosperity will ‘trickle down’ to the working classes through the creation of jobs. More people working means more personal income tax is collected by government, which helps balance the books.

Trickle Down Economics is now widely rejected as an economic lever for creating jobs. Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz declares Trickle Down Economics to cause inequity by

redistributing wealth upwards, by hollowing out the middle class and causing a rise in poverty in developed countries (such as the G20.) He believes the inequity lowers overall demand, which hurts the bottom line of business, causing them to lay off workers or outsource to cheaper overseas countries – the exact opposite of what Trickle Down Economics is meant to achieve.

Stiglitz and many economists advocate the middle class as the drivers of growth in the economy. This was true of the US and Australia in the 1950s, and is currently very much so in China.

Our biggest trading partner has mandated its GDP must grow by at least 7.5 per cent annually, compared with growth of less than 3.0 per cent in most other G20 countries. This massive growth is fuelled by the creation of a middle class, who can now afford to purchase housing, cars and consumer goods because they now have disposable income.

Fortuitously for Australia, our mineral and energy resources have played a large role in China’s growth. But resource booms never last and China is increasingly looking at the air pollution blocking its skies and thinking about so-

“ The planet we live on is justifiably asking to be included in the growth measurement. After all, it’s the only one we have. ”

lutions. The China-USA emissions deal signed at the G20 shows China is serious about being a player in the quest to lower emissions and will grow its presence in the green technology market.

Where does that leave Australia?

For every story about coal remaining an essential part of our economic future, there is a story about Australian green technology scientists and entrepreneurs leaving our shores to pursue opportunities overseas. This is not only a brain drain but means high end manufacturing which could be happening here is being done overseas.

The Free Trade Agreement between China and Australia will open up markets in agriculture, health and education services, which is a good thing if ownership of the supply chain stays in Australian hands. The same goes for economic ties with India.

Meanwhile, our government continues to pin our economic growth to mining, housing and retail, and reduce funding for education and scientific research. As a result we can look forward to further laments that house prices have “only” gone up 7.0 per cent in the past year and that the retail sector is “doing it tough”.

The government will want me to contribute to retail growth this Christmas, but it won’t be possible. Stagnant wages and the rising cost of living have priced me out of the market. There is no longer any disposable income in this once middle class family.

But at least I’ll be saved from the aural assault of the in-store Christmas carols.

WESTERN PLAINS CULTURAL CENTRE

Handmade Art Markets Handmade Art Markets

Saturday, November 22, 9am -12noon Held on the grass area of the Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo Confirmed Stallholders for the day include:

The Meadow Floral DesignSaturday • Saddler &November Co • Hippymama 22Tie-Dye • Georgie & Boo Saw Pit Creek Timber • Crafty Foxes • Made by Jen • IK Sews • Dinky Coo and many more 6801 4444 Wingewarra St, Dubbo 22

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

LIFESTYLE BOOKS

YOUNG READERS JUST $14.95 EACH

AND GOOD DISCOUNTS ON THESE

The Book Connection 178 Macquarie Street, Dubbo • (02) 6882 3311 • OPEN 7 DAYS

COMMENT

James Eddy

James Eddy also exercises his freedom of speech on stage with Dubbo Theatre Company, in his classroom at Dubbo College and from the stands at any good AFL match.

“Moon landing” moments worthy of our attention

I

’m pretty crap at planning. It’s just one of the reasons that neither NASA nor the European Space Agency, nor any of the other space agencies around the world have asked me to help them burst into the final frontier.

I’m so crap at planning that almost no details of our family holidays are ever left for me to organise. To illustrate this, 15 years ago my wife started planning our first summer holiday to Fraser Island, in June. We had only been dating for six months at the time. She told me exactly what she was doing. I nodded in all the right places but my brain hadn’t computed what was happening until I found myself suddenly on the pristine sandy shores of Lake McKenzie in early January of the following year. At the time, I was quite surprised to find myself there (and if you’ve never been there, go...it’s really nice).

The truth is that I would have enough difficulty telling you what’s going to happen after lunch. I know I will be doing something, and it will probably be productive (60/40 chance), but today I probably haven’t planned it to any extent.

This, for me, makes the landing of the Rosetta space craft on comet P67 entirely amazing! I wrote about it a number of weeks ago, so I won’t go into too many details, but if you are unaware the European Space Agency launched this thing more than a decade ago. That means someone must have had the idea maybe a decade or so before that.

On top of this, far from the spontaneous Hollywood rocketry of the film Armageddon, they had to calculate the 10 years of flight path for this space jalopy to meet its target. They had to loop it around the sun four times, using the Earth and Mars to slingshot it four times to get enough speed for it to zoom out towards Jupiter’s orbit, taking the inside lane to intercept the comet in August this year. The maths does my head in!

To put it into very uncomplicated terms, in a vast empty sea of nothingness, an insignificantly itty bitty speck was spat from a tiny dot and then trav-

elled for several billion kilometres to pull up alongside (not “crash into”) a blip that was comparatively only a bit bigger than the speck itself. Freaking amazing, no?

So they landed it (the probe), but it toppled into a hole and it ran out of power soon enough, yada, yada, yada. They had me at “ten year flight plan”.

In other news that also seemed to get eclipsed by Tony Abbott’s opening speech at the G20 (among other things), was the similarly AMAZING tale of Darek Fidyka, the Bulgarian ex-paraplegic (now there’s a term that could catch on).

About a month ago he made the news when he got up and walked despite having suffered a severed spinal cord from a knife wound four years earlier. This is no small potatoes, but we seemed to have moved on, in anticipation of the next ridiculously incredible scientific milestone. Seriously, I recall that people

made a big deal of landing on the moon (I actually missed it because my neglectful parents brought me into this world four years too late, not realising just how much I would have liked to have been around to see it) and they were still making a big deal about it a decade later. This recent medical “moon landing” moment seems to have faded somewhat into premature obscurity, and I want to reignite the party spirit.

In the late 90s, there was a hum in scientific circles about the potential for stem cells to be a miracle cure for a whole bunch of stuff, from amputated limbs to smoke-damaged lungs and any other malfunctioned body bit. Christopher Reeve became a major proponent for research into the use of stem cells.

Reeve recognised it as a potential cure for his quadriplegia. The research suffered a major blow due to the bad publicity from using experimental foetuses (understandably). Thankfully we later

“ So they landed the probe but it toppled into a hole and it ran out of power soon enough, yada, yada, yada.

They had me at “ten year flight plan”. ”

found that you could source stem cells from umbilical cord blood which was much more ethical. More recently we have found that cells from all over our body can be reprogrammed to behave like stem cells. It’s really opened the flood gates.

Anyway, the story of how Mr Fidyka got some of his swagger back is pretty cool in itself. Professor Geoffrey Raisman at University College, London came up with the idea some time ago and first realised its potential when he implanted stem cells into the severed spine of a quadriplegic mouse back in 1997. He tells the story of how he got this cute little guy to raise its once limp paw to his finger which convinced him that he was on the right track to getting the lame to walk again.

After that, if you had been paying attention, you would have noted that in 2012, a group of neuroscientists (I think the collective noun is ‘a gaggle’ but I may be wrong) were able to get a paraplegic dachshund called Jasper to run again.

They had taken cells from the inside of his nose which were known to regenerate fairly readily, and injected them into the damaged section of its spinal cord.

At the time the pioneers were cautious about promising possible human cures.

Two years later, Darek Fidyka took his first steps in four years.

Prior to this, the worry was in how surgeons would reconnect each of the thousands of super-fine nerve fibres in the spinal cord with its partner on the other side of the wound. Raisman realised it didn’t matter; that if we could simply coax the two ends to grow back together, the brain would sort out the rest.

It’s not a simple procedure and it is yet to be replicated in people, but it has developed a possibility. If embraced by neurologists the world over, is sure to revolutionise this field and wreck the wheelchair industry.

Two miraculous moments in science and they happened in the space of the last month. And you were there for them. Thank your parents you got to be here in time.

Tom Guthrie tells the story of an early Tasmanian pioneer and his role in the longest sheep droving journey in Australian history RRP $75.00 • Available now at...

The Book Connection 178 Macquarie Street, Dubbo • (02) 6882 3311 • OPEN 7 DAYS

24

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

ADVERTORIAL

HELICOPTER VIEW

Cr Mathew Dickerson

Media & Marketing Minute

Mayor Mathew Dickerson was born and bred in Dubbo and is married with four children.

Compiled by the Sales & Marketing team at Dubbo Photo News/Dubbo Weekender

The grunt to drive business.

Overcoming quiet times.

Over-shoulder view shows H the grass is not always greener

I and welcome to our Marketing Minute. This week’s opening ad (above) packs some punch. The big and well-worded headline gets the message across very quickly that this species is in real danger of extinction.

The grunt to drive business

P

icture a hot day in the middle of summer. Your kids traipse behind you, brows dripping with sweat, feet aching. As you walk past another family, their children look noticeably more refreshed as they lick their ice-creams and hold their ice-cold soft drinks. Your kids just about twist off their heads as their eyes follow the moving ice-creams and they continue looking back over their shoulders.

The inevitable question follows. “Can we have an ice-cream, Dad? “No,” you reply, explaining that they had the option previously of a toy or an ice-cream and chose the longer-lasting satisfaction of the toy over the shortfix of the treat. “But those kids have an ice-cream and I saw a toy in their bag as well.”

Again you go through the drawn-out process of explaining that, just because someone else has something, it doesn’t mean you have to have it as well. Knowing the full circumstances of every individual that walks past with an ice-cream is difficult and somewhat fruitless.

Unfortunately, the syndrome I call LOMS (Look Over My Shoulder) is the second most disappointing aspect of human behaviour I have noticed during my almost eleven years on council (the number one being NIMBY).

So many times I hear a member of the public; or a developer; or a proponent; or a committee; or anyone – say they should be given exactly the same outcome as someone else. Forget the minutiae – the outcome was X for them so why can’t it be X for me? If you take out the comparison aspect and focus on just the individual outcome, I think everyone would be much happier.

Think about the example of an employer giving a wage rise to employees.

Imagine the employer takes one employee aside one evening and asks him if he is happy with a 20 per cent wage increase.

You can imagine most employees would be very happy with that outcome. The employee goes home that day and celebrates with his wife and talks about how great his boss is. The world is good.

The next morning the boss announces that, apart from one employee who has agreed to a separate wage increase, all employees will receive a 30 per cent wage increase effective immediately. Imagine how infuriated the first employee would be. His individual circumstances have not changed. His increase has not been changed in any way whatsoever.

But his mood has changed. Everyone can understand how this employee feels, and that’s where I see a common problem at council. We all take so much time with LOMS that we forget to focus on our own circumstances and on arriving at reasonable outcomes based on what we can control.

This is not just a problem in Dubbo. I have spoken with councillors and mayors across this nation. They all face the same issue – whether it’s based on neighbouring development applications or water charges between neighbouring local government areas (LGAs).

Now, don’t get me wrong. I actually like the idea of having comparative information and comparative data to ensure there is transparency and accountability in the actions of councils and I don’t ever want to see a situation where we can’t talk about neighbouring LGAs and neighbouring developments. Where I see this being used detrimentally is where the information is used as the only basis for the argument rather than as one of the factors.

I dream of the day when people present their arguments to council based solely on their circumstances and work through ways to present their information in a better light that relies solely on their information. This is unlikely for a range of reasons, not the least of which is our legal system which has a principle known as “stare decisis”. That is, judges are obliged to respect the precedent established by prior decisions when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts.

With that as a background, it’s easy to see why so many people look at what is happening elsewhere when discussing their issue with council.

“ We all take so much time looking over our shoulders that we forget to focus on our own circumstances. ”

CHANNEL 7 boss Kerry Stokes last week declared that national advertisers are getting back to the grassroots of marketing by returning to the traditional mediums of newspapers and TV – because only these platforms have the “grunt to drive business”.

While local country newspapers such as Panscott Media’s Dubbo Photo News and Weekender have continued to grow in recent years, it’s no secret that the big national newspapers such as The Sydney Morning Herald have taken a financial battering as their traditional sources of advertising revenues have transferred online.

So it is interesting that Kerry Stokes, who also has interests in newspapers and magazines, is now witnessing the turnaround. That temporary flow away from traditional media is now returning as big businesses realise that, while an online presence can help keep a conversation going between two people, it’s TV and newspapers that have the influence to attract mass customers and make sales.

Stokes says he’s seen big advertisers go away from traditional media to try online strategies, only to return three months later and spend more – as if to catch up for lost ground.

“Even in newspapers we have had experiences where advertisers have dropped advertising and come back in a hurry because if you want to drive people into supermarkets on Thursday, you need the major circulating paper in the city that day to do that,” Stokes told The Australian.

The ideas bank HERE’S three more marketing ideas for SMEs from our ideas bank: 1. Send thank-you cards to valued customers. For example, if you’re a plumber, do it after every job.

2. Return all phone calls or reply to all emails the same day.

3. Take a successful businessperson to lunch and ask them questions.

Is it quiet at the moment?

WHEN the going gets tough, the tough spend more on advertising! Yes, it sounds like a shameless plug, but it’s also what works for most successful businesses.

Sadly, we’ve heard from a couple of Dubbo businesses in the past few months who said they don’t want to advertise because it’s too quiet. Now that’s a strategy that never works. On this point, our Sales Manager Donna Falconer uses these wise words as part of her email signature: “For a business not to advertise is like winking at someone in the dark. You know what you are doing but no one else does.” – Stuart H. Britt, US advertising consultant.

We suspect that because you’re reading this Marketing Minute you’re already one of the proactive marketers in the Dubbo business community, and so shutting down the advertising lifeline is not on your radar. But if you do know someone in business who could use a sympathetic ear, invite them to give us a call.

Over the years we’ve helped many local businesses develop effective marketing strategies (mostly involving at least some print, because we’re believers!).

Sometimes we’ve helped them do it on a very limited budget, too.

Here at Panscott Media, we’re always happy to brainstorm marketing strategy with other local business people like ourselves.

When you write: Tip #5 HERE’S another in our series of handy copywriting tips from Richard Bayan’s book “Words That Sell”.

5. Be accurate. Be sure you get the facts straight. Don’t leave yourself open to claims of false advertising by making statements that can’t be substantiated.

Above all, be truthful. Resist the temptation to distort the facts in pursuit of an easy sale.

A marketing idea?

THERE’S news from Oxford, England this week that a home with a giant fiberglass shark sculpture appearing to crash through the roof has just come on the rental market for about $3500 per month. The home of the “Headington Shark” is a well-known local attraction.

We thought this news story might give you some inspiration – sometimes a gigantic mascot or figurine or other object at the front of your building can make your premises distinctive and memorable. Think about it...

– Until next week, think big and think different... and sell well!

“Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.” — Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder

89 Wingewarra St Dubbo | Tel 02 6885 4433

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

25

ARTS

Spotlight on Aboriginal story telling WORDS Kim V. Goldsmith PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Boud

T

he performance of contemporary Aboriginal stories on the stages of regional theatres and performance spaces is not yet part of mainstream cultural programming.

Yet, the expression of Aboriginal culture through storytelling has a history that far outdates Western culture, which makes its absence from the mainstream public arena noticeable and remarkable.

An ambitious project getting underway in Dubbo next weekend goes to the heart of story-telling and aims to address the absence of opportunities for regional Aboriginal creators, artists and performers.

Titled Staging Stories, those behind the project plan to create a regional Aboriginal theatre network to support and develop new Aboriginal works that tell the stories of those in regional communities.

Funded by Arts NSW, the project is a partnership between Orana Arts, Fire Station Arts Centre, Playwriting Australia and Moogahlin Performing Arts.

Over the next six months, a series of workshops and creative ‘labs’ will be held in Dubbo to develop and perform scripted works, look at writing for specific performance outcomes, the development of stories and characters in drama, and analysing performance.

Regional arts development officer with Orana Arts, Alicia Leggett has no doubt the project will see the development of authentic, contemporary theatre, developed, created and performed by Aboriginal creatives for audiences across Australia.

“This project is about providing opportunity for anyone of Aboriginal heritage to tell their own stories.

“There are a few Aboriginal theatre companies in Australia and the development opportunities arising from this program provides an avenue to get regional stories created and presented. I believe Orana Arts has an artistic responsibility to help make this happen.”

Leggett says even though Orana Arts is driving Staging Stories and the playwriting workshops and intensive creative ‘labs’ are in Dubbo, they are looking for anyone of Aboriginal heritage, living in regional NSW and over 16 years of age, who is interested in writing, acting and directing.

National organisation, Playwriting Australia, will be overseeing the professional development aspects of the

Songrites performance

project, which will provide a range of opportunities over the coming seven months.

As an organisation it receives and assesses hundreds of script submissions, as well as supporting, developing and promoting new plays and artists, and bringing new Australian works to audiences through public performances, playwriting workshops and master classes.

Playwriting Australia’s artistic director, Tim Roseman says Staging Stories gives his organisation a unique opportunity to deliver their playwright training courses in a regional community.

“There is enormous potential for new talent to be uncovered through Staging Stories, especially new voices

and perspectives that are too often missing from Australian theatres.”

The introductory workshop being offered by Playwriting Australia next weekend is a fun and accessible entry into storytelling structure, giving participants the opportunity to create a character, write dialogue and see it performed by actors.

Following the last workshop in June 2015, there will be an intimate presentation performance in Dubbo. >> Anyone interested in being part of the Staging Stories project, including participating in next weekend’s workshop can contact Orana Arts’ Aboriginal Arts Development Officer, Melissa Ryan on 0409 245 020.

Robert Salt: a write of passage WORDS and PHOTOGRAPHY Kim V. Goldsmith

R

obert Salt is a Dubbo-based writer and visual artist excited at the opportunity and prospects offered by the Staging Stories.

Growing up at Brewarrina, he says he had few creative opportunities.

“I’ve always been an avid reader. I remember in high school I was always wanting to read, and jotting down stories when I was 14 or 15.

“In the past three or four years in Dubbo I’ve been a lot more interested in screen writing and writing of stories. Dubbo has a really strong writing and art scene so I’ve been fortunate to have that avenue.”

Describing himself as culturally connected to Brewarrina and western NSW, Salt has lived on different countries and nations, including Tamworth, Maitland, Sydney and now Dubbo.

“I’ve a lot of experience across NSW and a lot of stories to share.”

Several events in Salt’s life are responsible for bringing his writing to the fore in terms of being a priority in his life, including his move to Dubbo to be closer to family, the passing of his mother earlier this year, and his

26

recent 40th birthday – giving him a feeling of more “cultural authority” to now write about his experiences.

“I’ve had an interesting and varied life; I’ve listened to my mother who was Aboriginal, and my father who is non-Aboriginal – both had interesting lives that they shared with me, which I’ve tried to relay through my writing.

“I’ve taken an eclectic approach to it, combining my history with my mother’s and father’s histories, the countries and nations I’ve lived on, and my extended family and friends I come into contact with.

“My writing comes from a very personal place. It is very literal, biographical.

“I’ve been doing a lot of writing on Aboriginality, which relates to a person’s connection to Aboriginal identity and culture. Coming from mixed cultural heritage, I’m able to draw on the good and bad of both cultures.”

Salt says he’s had no formal training as a writer and considers himself very

“raw”.

“I’m very unstructured and there’s a part of me, deep down, that would like to remain that type of writer.

“I write with a lot of passion and heart and I have a slight fear that if I do become trained I might lose some of the creativity and passion.

“As an Aboriginal writer I really believe we need to have a balance of emotion and passion with some structure and a professional presentation of our writing that will then be accepted into the non-Aboriginal writing world.”

He has already experienced seeing his words on paper acted on stage, at last year’s Short+Sweet theatre event in Dubbo.

It’s something that excites him and he’s keen to explore this side of his creativity further, particularly given his tendency to visualise as he is writing.

“As I’m getting older and more into script writing, I’m looking at some

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

of the more well-known Aboriginal script writers, like Kevin Gilbert...and I’ve done a fair bit of reading on Sally Morgan, and learning more about what they’re writing about.

“I’d like to get away from political Aboriginal content though...sharing more about what it’s like living in Australia in 2014.

“As an artist and a writer I probably call myself a social commentator, which I think is my mother’s influence. She was a very strong Aboriginal woman who came from a family of activists.”

Salt believes mainstream Australian audiences are ready for Aboriginal stories to be told, but he’s also keen to gain broader acceptance as a writer.

“I’d like to have my writing judged and liked on its own merits, not because I’m writing about an Aboriginal topic or I’m an Aboriginal writer.

“I want to emotionally connect with people and get them thinking about their own lives.

“There’s a part of me that’s always conflicted about how I present my writing, so I’ll be keen to see how it’s received in the workshops.”

THE Write STUFF

For established and emerging local writers The Write Stuff is dedicated to helping both established and emerging local writers and poets explore and develop their literary art. Each week, Val Clark offers tidbits of interest and assistance based on her experiences as a consumer, blogger, teacher and practitioner of the wonderfully rewarding craft of writing.

T

“ Although my laptop isn’t my demon, guilt has been sitting pretty heavily on my shoulder.

From the bookshelves

by Dave Pankhurst The Book Connection, Dubbo

Life and other distractions oday I’m feeling like an utter failure. A loser.

I signed up for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and was off the blocks like the proverbial rocket. But I have been shot down by the lurgy. I don’t know exactly which breed of lurgy it is but it’s the one that has me coughing and sneezing with just enough energy to press play on the remote and watch British dramas.

I’m up to series 12 of Dalziel and Pascoe, with a few ABC iView murder and mayhem programs – and I’m not talking about the news. When I do exert myself – wham, I’m back where I started. Are you feeling my pain?

Although I might be feeling like a failure I have to recognise that I’m really not. It takes 50,000 words to “win” at NaNoWriMo. I won last year, all rockets blasting, with a last minute boost of energy.

Until a week ago I was on target with 20,027 words. Now I have 12 days to write just under 30,000 words. That’s 2500 words of first draft each day. Probably five hours actual writing each day.

I’m not whinging here – just making a point to myself and other writers who find life gets in the way of art.

Ann Rickard, in the introduction to Not Another Greek Salad, writes about her encounter with writer’s block. “I could not even look at my laptop, let alone sit down and turn it on. The laptop became a demon that taunted me every time I skirted around it, making me miserable with shame, tortured with guilt.”

Although my laptop isn’t my demon, guilt has been sitting pretty heavily on my shoulder.

Why? Because I’m a NaNoWriMo co-Liason for this huge area called “elsewhere” (anywhere in Australia

ADVERTORIAL

that is not a coastal city) and I want to set a stunning example. Oh, how have the mighty have.

On the upside, I’m 20,000 words into this book; a book I really like… well love, actually. To be honest I really love them all, which is good because how can I expect my readers to give up hours of their time, their life, to step into the story and commit to following the trials and tribulations of characters I’m not passionate about?

If you have a book in you, why not come to one of the NaNo writeins just to get started? Hopefully my MoJo will be back by Saturday.

In the meantime back to coffee, chocolate and the final episodes of Series 12.

What’s on for writers in Dubbo: • NaNoWriMo Write-Ins: Saturday, November 22 – 10am-3pm and Sunday, November 30 – 11am-3pm. Library meeting room. Come and go as you are able.

• Dubbo children’s author, Pat Clarke will be launching her latest book Howie The Yowie at the Dubbo Branch of the Macquarie Regional Library on Saturday, November 29at 1pm. This is another delightful book, again illustrated by Graeme Compton, which would make a great Christmas gift for the slightly older reader.

• Saturday, December 6: The Outback Writers’ Centre discussion meeting from 10am-1pm in the conference room of the Dubbo branch of the Macquarie Libraries. Short AGM followed by announcement of the Boldrewood Award winners. Members give readings of their poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, discuss their work, share their interests in writing, give and receive encouragement; the 300 word challenge is Escape/What is love? Light lunch to celebrate the end of a great year. Contact outbackwriters@gmail.com.

• ABC Open 500 theme, My Secret Fear – submit online.

Val Clark has published short stories, articles and poems in national and international magazines and anthologies, placed and won in writing competitions and written and directed plays for adults and students. She is passionate about creativity and encouraging new and emerging writers. Val regularly runs creative writing workshops for adults, teenagers and children.

A new definition for democracy?

I

T has become clear that when a country’s leaders want to divert attention from the real problems being faced, here and around the world, they raise the subject of Global Warming or Climate Change. They divert the focus on reality and put it on an invisible issue. It is a “science” supported by 97 per cent of scientists specially selected to make that assessment, and doesn’t draw on the work of scientists who do not support the thesis.

No doubt letting us know that they were doing something, a month ago the United Nations raised the subject for the first time in a few years, when at the same time they were doing so little about the Ebola Crisis. Barrack Obama at last found it necessary to mention Global Warming to detract from his recent loss of control in both the USA Senate and Congress. He doesn’t mention his other problems.

David Stockman has written “The Great Deformation” which details the corruption of capitalism in America. It is a searing response to the recent myriad financial catastrophes. It counters conventional wisdom dealing with an 80-year revisionist history of how the Federal Reserve in particular has fallen prey to the politics of crony capitalism and the ideologies of fiscal stimulus, monetary central planning, and financial bailouts.

The book skewers those who have introduced agendas that bloated the welfare state and depleted the revenue base.

Sound familiar?

Peter Schiff goes further in the 2014 edition of his book “The Real Crash” which describes “America’s coming bankruptcy” but also provides both personal and national solutions to that crisis. America has been enjoying a government-inflated bubble – one that is now proving to be dangerous. The stock market continues its illusory gains; the US Government nearly defaulted on its debts and the solution was to raise the debt limit, to spend yet more money and go deeper into debt to China. And now Obama puts Global Warming on top of his agenda to divert attention from the real problem.

Stepping back into the 1980s, a handful of scientists came to believe that mankind faced catastrophe from runaway global warming, and since then it has become the vehicle for politicians to land us with programs which promise to be the biggest cost in history.

Booker, in “The Real Global Warming Disaster”, details how in London, October 2008 the House of Commons spent six hours discussing what was potentially the most expensive piece of legislation ever put before a British Parliament. It progressed through parliament to the third reading of this bill dealing with runaway global warming, with massive support, and just before the final vote, one parliamentarian drew the Speaker’s attention to the fact that outside the Palace of Westminster, it was snowing. It was the first October snow in London recorded

since 1934, 70 years earlier. It went on to be the coldest winter in 30 years – the Climate Change Bill was passed 463 votes to just 3.

That same year the American winter was so cold that snow fell in New Orleans and Houston. And despite predictions to the contrary, sea levels around the Maldives and Tuvalu have actually fallen four inches since 1993.

It becomes possible that to divert our attention from the growing problems of the former Australian government, Kevin Rudd placed so much emphasis on the Copenhagen conference. Paul Kelly has updated “Triumph & Demise” which explains in depth the problems of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years in Canberra.

The G20 conference of world leaders was another opportunity to bring climate to the fore and divert attention from other priorities. Due for release in February 2015 is a book by Bill Browder entitled “Red Notice” which clarifies the corruption, murder and politics in Russia.

Written by one of Putin’s most wanted, it includes how in November 2009 an emaciated young lawyer, Seregei Magnitsky, was led into a freezing cell in a Moscow prison and beaten to death by eight police officers. His crime? To testify against the Russian Interior Ministry officials who were involved in a conspiracy to steal $230 million of taxes paid to the state by one of the world’s most successful hedge funds. Magnitsky’s killing has remained un-investigated to this day.

The book is an expose of a whitewash

by Russian authorities. Browder should know – he was the hedge fund manager who employed Magnitsky – and the book takes us through the money trails of London and New York.

Mark Latham has written “Political Bubble” which has a subtitle “Why Australians Don’t Trust Politics”. In this he explores how parliamentary democracy has lost touch with the people it is supposed to represent. He cites the example that politics has become more tribal, with left and right wing fanatics dominating formerly robust, mainstream parties.

Latham represented a party with heavy dependency on union power. A publication last year was “Australia’s Secret War” which provides many examples of the tactics unions used to severely disadvantage the Navy during WWII. Not a lot has changed when we read today’s media which details the corruption of political influences across the spectrum.

The priorities of our elected politicians become subservient to other developments. There is so much evidence of powerful companies avoiding tax, financial institutions manipulating results, international businesses playing musical chairs with funds, and courts at various levels making decisions that the community challenges. There needs to be a new definition for democracy.

Enjoy your browsing, Dave Pankhurst

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

27

PEOPLE

WEEKENDER DIARY hear ll Dubbo Rock ‘n’ Roll When you think of the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll era, the names that come to mind for most are Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. If you want to hear this great music in a different style then HSDE recommends this event for you! The Sun Records All Stars is a musical concert based on the Memphis-based recording company that brought these stars into the music industry. The concert is full of live music and pants-wetting dialogue that will take you back to where it all began. The concert will show at 8pm on December 10 at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre. To hear more, visit www.drtcc.com.au or phone 6801 4378.

ll Talk of the town If you are interested in the broad cultural pursuits of Dubbo, then come on down to hear about how Dubbo is changing to meet the needs to build a united cultural community and the groups that are pushing to make this happen. The Dubbo Cultural Forum is celebrating 12 months of community partnership after four forum meetings, with the next upcoming meeting to be held on Tuesday, November 25, at the Community Arts Centre, WPCC. The meeting will commence at 5.45pm for networking to start at 6.15pm. The forum is necessary in order to address the need for a cultural development officer for Dubbo as this is a key issue on the agenda.

see

Talking to...

Mary Bullock Primary school teacher, Mary Bullock, has been teaching our youngest generation for the past seven years, after graduating from Newcastle University. In her spare time away from school, Mary participates in Amateur local plays, with her most recent production being Much Ado About Nothing. AS TOLD TO and PHOTOGRAPHY Kaitlyn Rennie On my bedside table at the moment is... tissues.

Life has taught me that when it comes to the opposite sex... luck has a big part to play in who you end up with.

My top albums of all time are: 1. Anything of Michael Buble 2. Michael Jackson’s Top Hits All other music I listen to is on Spotify.

If I had to name my best loved movies they would be: 1. The Star Wars Movies 2. Seven brides for Seven Brothers I draw inspiration from... my parents, art and books.

I believe... life is meant to be experienced.

I don’t believe... people are bad. There’s always some good in everyone.

The one thing that will always make me cry is... funerals.

I always laugh when... someone falls over.

I’ll never forget... my first day in Sydney. Overwhelming!

What I know now that I wish I’d known sooner is... the first of anything is always the hardest.

I never thought I’d... own a house.

ll Ballet Variety Gala It’s the Dubbo Ballet Studio’s 80th anniversary and to wrap things up, they are holding a Ballet Variety Gala on November 24 at Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre. The show will begin at 7pm and will feature dances from a variety of genres such as the celebrated Open Jazz – Let the Groove Get in, along with this year’s most successful group routines and a range of new pieces created specifically for the Variety Gala.

Want to find out more? Contact Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre on 02 6801 4378

or visit www.drtcc.com.au ll It’s on again at the Amaroo December is fast approaching and what better to kick off the weekend than with another live concert at Dubbo’s Amaroo Hotel. Joel Fletcher and Savage are coming to Dubbo and bringing with them what they do best; hip-hop, R&B, electro and Melbourne bounce, featuring their lead single ‘Swing’ from their debut album, ‘Moonshine’. They will be performing on December 13 from 9pm until late. To find out more, visit www. facebook.com/amaroohotel or phone 6882 3533

do ll Spring Car Boot Sale Book a stall at the South Dubbo Veterans and Community Men’s Shed for their spring car boot sale on today (Saturday, November 22) from 9am to raise money for the running of the shed and the benefit of members. There will also be sale goods produced at the shed, ranging from preused push bikes, potted plants, tools, household goods and furniture. A barbecue lunch and cold drinks will be available. The sale will be held at the shed located at 60 Palmer Street. For more information contact Brian Bolton on 6882 9865 or 0413 491 413.

ll Call for Stalls Do you have talent you wish to showcase? Well today is the day!

Head on down to Western Plains Cultural Centre at 76 Wingewarra Street for the Handmade Art Markets, today November 22. From 9am until 12 noon, keen young locals are invited to show off their talents and products in a fun and friendly environment.

Please note that goods sold must be made locally and sold by the producer, close friend or family. For more information and to book your stall, call WPCC on 6801 4444.

etc ll Get More Skills Disability Funding Workshop If you know someone with a disability or mental illness, encourage them and their families to take part in the NSW Consumer Development Fund ‘My Choice Matters’ workshop. It is specifically run to encourage those living with a disability on how to become more confident towards managing support and services. It provides individuals and their families with opportunities to talk about their future and consider the options available to them. The workshop will be held at Western Plains Cultural Centre on Monday, November 24 from 10am to 1pm. Lunch will be provided. To register visit www.mychoicematters. org.au/what-s-on.html or phone 1800 144 653 or 02 9211 2605

ll Cancer Council Saving Life Campaign 2015 Everyone wants to eradicate cancer but we haven’t quite got that far yet, so come along to the NSW Cancer Council’s Saving Life Campaign 2015 to share your stories and show the NSW Government why change matters.

The campaign outlines five ways in their Vision for Change that the NSW Government can use to help beat cancer. The campaign will be held at Dubbo RSL Club, Brisbane Street on Wednesday, December 10 from 12 to 2pm with a light lunch and refreshments provided.

RSVP by Wednesday, December 3 to Camilla Barlow. Email camillab@nswcc.org.au or phone 6392 0800. Places are limited, bookings essential.

DRTCC OFFERS QUALITY ENTERTAINMENT MONDAY 24 NOVEMBER, 7PM

SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER, 1PM AND 7PM

SUNDAY 14 DECEMBER, 11AM AND 5PM

SHOW DETAILS & BUY TICKETS

DRTCC.COM.AU Keep up to date – join our mailing list

BOX OFFICE HOURS MONDAY FRIDAY, 9.30AM - 4.30PM AND 1 HOUR PRIOR TO THE SHOW BAR OPEN BEFORE & DURING INTERVAL MOST SHOWS 155 DARLING ST, DUBBO (02) 6801 4378

PRODUCED BY DUBBO BALLET STUDIO

PRODUCED BY DUBBO BALLET STUDIO

PRODUCED BY STEPPING OUT DANCE FACTORY

The Variety Gala will round out this year’s celebrations for DBS’s 80th Anniversary. We will be flashing back through time with some new pieces created especially for the Variety Gala, as well as presenting some of this year’s favourite and most successful group routines.

Presenting their very own unique interpretation of this classic Shakespearian romantic comedy.

With everything from Dukes to donkeys, fairies to fools, this show will thrill everyone with its magical layers of humour, language and of course extraordinary dancing!

Mermaids, unicorns and fairies will frolic, enchanted gardens will come alive, the deep seas will glisten and a carnival will come to life. Our talented cast ranges from ages 2 – 18 years and showcases Stepping Out’s spectacular year of dance.

VARIETY GALA

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

IMAGINE

A facility of Dubbo City Council.

28

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

GETTING SOCIAL Ladies Probus meeting

By KAITLYN RENNIE The Dubbo City Ladies Probus members, and some of their husbands, gathered at Masonic Village Hall on Tuesday, November 11. The purpose of the meeting was to hear Dr Joe Canalese, from the University of Sydney, explain proposals to encourage young doctors to practice and remain in regional hospitals and clinics.

Morning tea, alongside some cold drinks, tea and coffee, was accompanied by the information, followed by large amounts of discussion between members.

Dr Joe Canalese with Nora Reece Jean McLeod, Helen Wheeler, Jess Plummer, Mary Parkes, Dorothy Logue, Frances Zumbo

Joan Scott, Dawn Serisier, Jill Irving, Marie Francis and Millie McGuinn

Annemeike Neville, Marie Norris, Liz Lamble, Pam Goodall, Babette Davis

SESSIONS FROM THU NOV 20 UNTIL WED NOV 26

COMFORT, STYLE & VALUE

$10.00 TICKETS 3D EXTRA

STANDARD CINEMA $10

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1 (M) Daily: 10.30 11.30 1.10 2.30 3.45 5.15 6.30 8.00 9.00 INTERSTELLAR (M) Thu - SaT Mon - WeD: 11.00 2.00 3.00 6.30 8.15 Sun: 11.00 3.00 6.30 8.15 LET’S BE COPS (MA 15+) Daily: 11.10 1.30 4.00 6.30 8.50 FURY (MA 15+) Thu - SaT Mon - WeD: 11.00 5.30 Sun: 11.00

READINGCINEMAS.COM.AU

DUBBO PH: 6881 8600

VICE R E S Y A D E SAM rds

Ca Business & Photos s r e t s o P Large ic Design h p a r G • Flyers inating m a L • g n i Bind ooks Invoice B… and much more

OUR FULL COLthat!

We can do cretariat Dubbo Se y

p Shop Colour Co ubbo ie Street D

ar 270 Macqu & RTA) Eagle Boys (between 5577 p: 02 6884

.au sec.com b u .d w ww

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014 DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 00.00.2014291

PUZZLES & PLAY FIND THE WORDS

WEEKENDER SUPER CROSSWORD

This is a theme puzzle with the subject stated below. Find the listed words in the grid. (They may run in any direction but always in a straight line. Some letters are used more than once.) Ring each word as you find it and when you have completed the puzzle, there will be 9 letters left over.

They spell out the alternative theme of the puzzle.

Getting around

alight bus city coach conductor convenient driver exit fares ferries

fly helicopter hydrofoil late liner monorail office pass planes position

purser queues rest roads rush hour ship shuttle station taxi terminal

terminus ticket timetables towns trains trams underground urban

© australianwordgames.com.au 830 n Solution at bottom

WEEKENDER SUDOKU Place a number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each small 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine.

This week’s theme: MARCH OF IDES

ACROSS

1. Keanu of “The Matrix” 7. “- in Calico” (1946 hit) 11. World Cup lover, say 20. Is covetous of 21. Mature nits 22. Greek love goddess 23. It’s not too light or too heavy 25. Practices to compete in 26. Put on, as clothes 27. Friend 28. With 50Down, “No need to shout!”

30. A couple of 31. Big, diverse collection 36. Gets laryngitic 40. Quarterback Manning 41. Stars’ cars 43. Parcel (out) 44. Lily-family member with long, narrow leaves 48. Dictatorship 51. Greeting statement in Mac ads 53. Stag’s mate 54. Road surface stuff 56. – -Detoo 57. Indexing aid 58. Scoop 63. Indira Gandhi’s maiden name 64. Low-altitude clouds 66. Roman love god 67. Dog pests 69. PDQ 70. Hit into 74. Verdi heroine 78. West Point

freshman 80. Wash up 81. Agrees to participate 83. Hyundai sedan 86. Dwelling 90. Fish-catching tool 91. Giant of myth 92. Theta lead-in 93. African antelope 94. Horn noises 96. “To Kill a Mockingbird” father Finch 98. Requiring no proof 103. Exploitative

type 104. Extend apart 105. In advance of 106. Dry red wine 109. 1980s David Hasselhoff series 115. Bruins legend Bobby 116. Made angry 118. China’s Chou En- 119. Tote around 121. The Pelican State 125. Tourist office publication 130. They’re very

unegotistical 131. Suffix with million 132. Start 133. Most drowsy 134. Marvel superheroes 135. Has the wheel

DOWN

1. Senator Harry 2. Provide funds for 3. “- knew that!”

4. By means of 5. Shocking fish 6. Detroit-toMemphis dir.

7. Make – out of (refute) 8. Ben Affleck film flop 9. Dresden cry 10. Etiquette guru Baldrige 11. Fill up fully 12. – Book Club 13. One-named flamenco fireball 14. Dernier – (latest thing) 15. Nearly forever 16. Hwys. and blvds.

17. Ides of March date 18. “- Like Alice”

(Peter Finch film) 19. Pianist Peter and a Roman emperor 24. Pollutioncontrol org.

29. Sacred song 32. Actor Johnny 33. Draw out 34. YouTube clip, for short 35. Right-angled pipe bend 37. Author Tan 38. Prioritize again 39. Views rudely 42. Film director Preminger 44. Israeli native

45. Mag. staffers 46. Parisian king 47. Go by bicycle 48. “Have a bite” 49. Here-there link 50. See 28-Across 51. “- living!”

52. Gym pads 55. Intro painting class, maybe 59. Amiable 60. Actor Hirsch 61. Cocktail mixers 62. Roman fountain name 65. Evaluate 68. Ice cream

flavour, briefly 71. Playwriting awards 72. Pre-Easter stretch 73. Lemon piece 75. “A House – a Home” 76. With 106Down, Pepsi One and Coke Zero 77. Hill makers 79. Armed cavalry soldier 82. “Great” czar 83. “One thing – time” 84. Acne bit 85. Ides of March cry 87. Carpentry file 88. Ltr. encloser 89. Rapa – (Easter Island) 95. Like the x- or y-axis, briefly 97. Fancy vase 99. Actress Sommer 100. Levy on real estate 101. Memostarting abbr.

102. Erfurt article 104. Economizes 106. See 76Down 107. “I’m on -!” (casino cry) 108. Blot out 110. Harsh light 111. Sanctuary 112. Bolo, e.g.

113. Beethoven’s “Für -” 114. More impolite 117. Hang in there 120. Figures out 122. Deep anger 123. Eat dinner 124. Sundial’s 3 126. Crater edge 127. – Alamos 128. – reaction 129. Sporty truck, for short

Tip: This is an international crossword. To add an extra challenge it occasionally uses the US spelling for answers. 1110 n Solution next week

GO FIGURE

>> AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW: One letter stands for another. In this sample, A is used for the three Ls, X for the two Os, etc. Single letters, apostrophes, the length and formation of the words are all hints. Each week the code letters are different.

1110 n Solution next week

TRIVIA TIME 1. LITERATURE: What 19thcentury novel’s opening line is, “Call me Ishmael”?

2. HISTORY: The Battle of Hastings was fought for control of which country?

3. FLASHBACK: Name the artist with the album entitled “School’s Out”.

4. MUSIC: Who sang the duet in the pop song “Ebony and Ivory”?

5. GEOGRAPHY: Where is Mount Vesuvius?

6. LYRICS: Name the song that contains this lyric: “If you took all the girls I knew when

30

I was single, And brought them all together for one night, I know they’d never match my sweet imagination, Everything looks worse in black and white.”

7. INVENTIONS: Who pioneered the concept of a blood bank?

8. ENTERTAINERS: Which entertainer is also known as “The Divine Miss M”?

9. AD SLOGANS: Which company featured the ad slogan: “A diamond is forever”?

10. FAMOUS QUOTES: What 20th-century civilrights leader said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”? n Answers next page

1110 n Solution next week

OUT ON A LIMB

DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

>> The idea of Go Figure is to arrive at the figures given at the bottom and right-hand columns of the diagram by following the arithmetic signs in the order they are given (that is, from left to right and top to bottom). Use only the numbers below the diagram to complete its blank squares and use each of the nine numbers only once.

1110 n Solution next week

by Gary Kopervas

Except where otherwise noted, all Puzzles&Play material © 2014 King Features Syndicate

CRYPTO-QUOTE

PUZZLES & PLAY THE WEEK AHEAD

week commencing 24.11.2014

ARIES

LIBRA





Mar 21-apr 19 While it seems that chaos is taking over, you get everything back to normal, even if it means being more than a little assertive with some people. Expect to hear more job-related news soon.

Sep 23-Oct 22 You should be seeing some positive results following your move toward repairing that unravelling relationship. There might be some setbacks, but staying with it ultimately pays off.

TAURUS

SCORPIO





apr 20-May 20 Expect to be able to move ahead with your workplace plans now that you have a good idea of what you might have to face. You also can anticipate a welcome change on the home front.

Oct 23-nOv 21 Encouraging a friendlier environment in the home could go a long way to help dissipate anger and resolve problems, especially those affecting children. It won’t be easy, but you can do it.

GEMINI

SAGITTARIUS



May 21-Jun 20 A quieter period settles in, giving you a chance to catch your breath, as well as allowing for more time to handle some important family matters. The arts dominate this weekend. Enjoy them.

CANCER



Jun 21-Jul 22 The frustrations of last week have pretty much played themselves out. You should find things going more smoothly, especially with those all-important personal matters.

LEO



Jul 23-aug 22 Once again, you find a creative way to resolve a pesky problem in short order. However, a matter involving a possible breach of confidence might need a bit more time to check out.

VIRGO



aug 23-Sep 22 Reuniting with an old friend could lead to the sharing of some great new experiences. But be careful you don’t find yourself once again being super-critical or overly judgemental.



nOv 22-Dec 21 A recent act of kindness is beginning to show some unexpected (but very welcome) results. On another note, expect to hear more about a possible move to another locale.

CAPRICORN



Dec 22-Jan 19 The good news is that the surefooted Goat can rely on his or her skill to get around obstacles in the workplace. The not-so-good news is that new impediments could turn up later.

AQUARIUS



Jan 20-Feb 18 A change of pace is welcome but also confusing. Before you make decisions one way or another, be sure you know precisely what it is you’re being asked to do.

PISCES



Feb 19-Mar 20 Don’t fret if you don’t get the gratitude you think you’re owed for doing a nice thing for someone.

There might be a good reason for that. In any event, what’s important is that you did it.

BORN THIS WEEK: You have a way of making the sort of wise decisions that ultimately shed new light on dark situations.

Be creative in applying your forecast to the actual circumstances of your life. For entertainment purposes only.

THE ANSWERS & SOLUTIONS Last week’s Super Crossword 1003

Last week’s Go Figure 1103

Open Weekender Coffee & meals magnolia cafe

sPoRties

• Warm up and enjoy a steaming hot drink with; Breakfast, lunch, morning or afternoon tea • Delicious variety of gluten free options • Relaxing, Friendly atmosphere • Open 7 days 9-4 • Take away available

• Open Saturday and Sunday from 9am • Restaurant open from 11.45am2pm and 5.45-9pm.

73 Wheelers Lane, 6884 5997

old Bank RestauRant • Open Saturday 12 til late • Good food • Good music • Good times • $12 lunch specials

232 Macquarie Street, 6884 7728

ted’s takeaway • Open Saturday and Sunday 8.30am-8pm • The big value in takeaway food.

• Great weekly specials.

26 Victoria St, 6882 7899

Village BakeRy cafe • Open Saturday and Sunday 6am to 5.30pm.

• Gourmet pies • Mouth-watering cakes • Delicious pastries • Gourmet French garden salad baguettes and salads.

• Perfect breakfast and brunch • Morning tea • Lunch • Afternoon tea

113 Darling Street (adjacent to the railway crossing), 6884 5454

Clubs & Pubs PastoRal Hotel • Open Saturday 10am to 4am, Sunday 10am to 9pm.

• Restaurant open for lunch and dinner.

• All desserts home made.

• Open Saturday and Sunday for balcony breakfast’s from 8am - 11.30am • Serving Bill’s Beans Coffee

Birch Avenue, 6884 1955

Gyms

Whylandra St, 6884 2396

amaRoo • Open Saturday and Sunday from 10am • Bistro specials everyday for lunch and dinner • Night club

81 Macquarie St, 6882 3533

commeRcial Hotel • Restaurant open 12-2pm and 6-9pm • Free function room hire • Huge beer garden • Kids playground • Large screen broadcasting all major sporting events

161 Brisbane Street, 6882 4488

shoPPinG duBBo gRoVe PHaRmacy • Open Saturday 9am til 12 noon • Giftware • Jewellery • Homewares

59A Boundary Road, 6882 3723

tHe atHletes foot • Open Saturday 9am til 2pm • Everything you need for the perfect fit for your foot

176 Macquarie Street, 6881 8400

GroCeries

Rsl aquatic & HealtH cluB

caRlo’s iga soutH duBBo

• Open Saturday 7.30am-5pm • Open Sunday 8.30am-3pm • Gym • Indoor pool • Sauna • Steam room • Squash courts

95 Tamworth St, 6882 2029

Cnr Brisbane and Wingewarra Streets, 6884 1777

shoPPinG

• Saturday 7am-8pm • Sunday 8am-8am • Weekly specials, friendly service, • delicatessen, fruit and vegetables, grocery items

dmc meat and seafood • Open Saturday 6am to 3pm • Huge variety, bulk buys and red hot specials weekly.

duBBo antique & collectaBles

55 Wheelers Lane, 6882 1504

• Open Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 3pm • Antique furniture, china, cast iron, old tools and collectables.

• Open Saturday and Sunday 7.30am to 6pm.

• Great weekly specials and friendly service.

4 Depot Road, 6885 4400

tHe Book connection • Open Saturday 8.30am to 4pm.

• Sunday 10am to 2pm.

• New and used books • Over 60,000 books in store.

178 Macquarie St, 6882 3311

quinn’s myall st newsagency • Saturday and Sunday from 5am- 1pm.

• Newspapers, magazines, stationery supplies.

tHe swisH galleRy

• Open Saturday and Sunday from 9am.

• Riverview Bistro 12pm to 2pm and 6pm to 9pm.

• Relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

This week’s TRIVIA TIME answers: 1. “Moby-Dick”. 2. England. 3.

Alice Cooper, in 1972. 4. Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. 5. Italy. 6.

“Kodachrome,” by Paul Simon in 1973. Kodachrome was Kodak’s 35mm camera film. Over the years Simon switched back and forth between “looks better in black and white” and “looks worse in black and white”.

It’s not known whether his switch was because Kodak used the song in commercials. 7. Dr Charles Richard Drew. 8. Bette Midler. 9. De Beers.

10. Martin Luther King Jr.

• Open 10am-1pm on Saturday and 10am-10pm on Sunday • Restaurant open 12-3pm and 6-9pm

duBBo Rsl cluB ResoRt

cluB duBBo

Last week’s Crypto-Quote 102o

macqauRie inn

110 Talbragar St, 6882 4219

Cnr Brisbane and Wingewarra Streets, 6882 4411

This week’s Find the Words solution 830 All aboard

101 - 103 Erskine Street, 6884 2044

272 Myall St, 6882 0688

• Open Saturday 8am to 1am Sunday 8am to 10pm.

• Quality entertainment, blackboard specials in the bistro.

Last week’s Sudoku 1003

Clubs & Pubs

• Open Saturday 9am to 12pm.

• Distinctive jewellery, creative contemporary decor for your home and stylish gifts.

29 Talbragar St, 6882 9528

BRennan’s mitRe 10 • For all your DIY projects, hardware, tools and garden products • See us in store for great specials • Saturday 8am-4pm • Sunday 9am-4pm

64-70 Macquarie Street, 6882 6133

oRana mall sHoPPing centRe • 52 Specialty Stores, Big W, Woolworths and Bernardi’s SUPA IGA. • Easy Parking, now also with approx. 160 undercover.

• Food Court • Saturday 9.00am – 5.00pm • Sunday 10.00am – 4.00pm • www.oranamall.com.au

Cnr Mitchell Highway & Wheelers Lane, 6882 7766

magnolia nuRseRy • Open Sunday, 9am til 4pm • Quality plants • Garden decor • Giftware

iga west duBBo

38-40 Victoria Street, 6882 3466

thinGs to Do westeRn Plains cultuRal centRe • One of the largest galleries and museums in NSW • An ever-changing array of exhibitions and events including top national exhibitions.

76 Wingewarra Street, 6801 4444

old duBBo gaol • Open Saturday and Sunday 9-5pm • Large display of animatronics and holographs providing a realistic insight into a bygone era of prison life.

90 Macquarie Street, near the old clock tower, 6801 4460

taRonga westeRn Plains Zoo • Open Saturday and Sunday 9-4pm.

• The zoo’s encounters and shows offer visitors truly special experiences with their favourite animals.

Obley Road, off the Newell Hwy, 6881 1400

tRike adVentuRes • Book a ride Saturday or Sunday • Available for town tours, special occassions, outback pub lunches or just blasting along with the wind in your face

1300 TRIKES (1300 87 45 37)

If your busIness Is oPen for business eaCh WeeKenD call us for a great rate on a lIstIng here – 6885 4433

73 Wheelers Lane, 6882 25

to have your business featureD here, Call 6885 4433 DUBBO WEEKENDER The Dubbo Photo News Weekend News Magazine 22.11.2014

31

“Wear a white ribbon on November 25 to show your support for eliminating violence against women” “Support and believe women who are experiencing violence” “Talk about stopping violence with other men” “Swear an oath to put a stop to violence”

GLADLY SPONSORED BY

3KRWR1HZV '8%%2

Part of Dubbo’s ONLY locally-owned newspaper group

Join us Tuesday 25th November for a Free BBQ breakfast from 9 till 10.30 am at the Rotunda on Macquarie Street EVERYONE IS WELCOME!