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Thursday, October 26, 2023
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Passage of Time mural charts Trangie’s history
Narromine camera A dandy day out at club wins award Narromine Races STORY: PAGE 10
STORY: PAGE 4
STORY & PHOTOS: PAGE 16
Grassfire Narromine’s Dr Niro contained at Trangie Wikramasinghe wins By SHARON BONTHUYS THE NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) reported that fi refighters and waterbombing aircraft worked to contain a grassfi re burning in the Enmore Road area in a southerly direction towards Dandaloo Road, west of Trangie, on October 21. The NSW RFS issued warnings that residents south-west of Trangie should prepare and check and follow their bushfi ire survival plans. Trangie residents expressed relief and thanks on local social media following the containment of the fi re. Temperatures are expected to dip later this week before returning again to spring highs next week, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Fire danger ratings THE NSW RFS website lists 21 fi re weather areas across NSW. The Narromine Shire is located within the Lower Central West Plains area which also includes the local government areas of Bland, Forbes, Lachlan, Parkes, Temora, Weddin and Dubbo. In this fi re weather area, the fi re danger rating currently remains “high”, which equates to “be ready to act”. The NSW RFS website says that “fi re danger ratings and total fi re bans are determined each afternoon for the following day. Continued page 3
distinguished service award By SHARON BONTHUYS POPULAR Narromine General Practitioner (GP) Dr Niroshini Wikramasinghe, known fondly as “Dr Niro”, has received a Distinguished Service Award from the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) for providing significant service to rural communities. Dr Niro was not present when the award was announced during the ACRRM Rural Medicine Australia conference in Hobart last week. The award has surprised the humble and quietly spoken GP, who has lived in Australia since 2012, and is now a Practice Principal at Narromine Shire Family Health Centre. Dr Niro was nominated for the award by Dr Marina Parente, who with Dr Andy Caldin is a senior medical officer at the Narromine Health Service. Ref lecting on the award, the Sri Lankan-born GP said: “It’s recognition not only for myself but also for other international medical graduates who work in and service small rural communities in Australia.” As well as being a committed Rural Generalist in Narromine and the surrounding region, Dr Niro is a dedicated supervisor to international medical graduates and reg-
Dr Niro Wikramasinghe has received the 2023 Distinguished Service Award from the ACRRM. PHOTO: SUPPLIED. istrars, helping them attain the skills to provide excellent healthcare. “The simple reason I chose rural generalism is that I felt I could make a difference in this welcoming community,” Dr Niro said. “I started working in Nar-
romine as a trainee GP in 2014 and then I decided this is where I’m going to be, and I’m here still. I live in this amazing little community that is very welcoming to a doctor like me and my practice, and they’ve believed in me. “I’m the Practice Prin-
cipal now and they’ve put trust in me to take that position and keep the practice going. I’ve had a great team behind me helping me with that,” she said. When asked what inspired her to supervise future Rural Generalists, Dr Niro says it was the encouragement of her colleague and ACRRM Fellow, Dr Neil McCarthy. “I have been very fortunate to have experienced Rural Generalists as my mentors, including Dr Robert Kirkby, Dr Dean Wright, Dr Sam Wakista and Dr Neil McCarthy, and I still remember words of wisdom from them,” Dr Niro said. “Supervision and mentoring is a wonderful way to nurture junior doctors to be who they want to be.” Dr Niro took on the Practice Principal role at the Narromine Shire Family Health Centre during the pandemic, a very difficult time for health services all round. The practice now has two GPs who have received the ACRRM Distinguished Service Award. Dr Neil McCarthy also received the award in 2021 for more than three decades of service to rural communities, working in Warren before moving to Narromine in 2015.
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