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Warren
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
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Hakuna Matata! St Mary’s Lion King Junior show, roars into town STORY: PAGE 8
Drivers, beware; roadworks on Dubbo Street underway
Great day-out for all, at the Warren Polocrosse Carnival
STORY: PAGE 10
STORY & PHOTOS: PAGE 18
Colours, animals, landscapes, Gill’s great new show on at “The WAM”
Second beer tax hike this year puts pressure on local watering holes
By HARRIET GILMORE
THE price of a schooner at your favourite watering hole has taken a jump this week, thanks to the second government tax increase this year. The beer tax will increase from $57.79 to $59.06 per litre of pure alcohol, making Australia the third-highest taxed country in the world behind Finland and Norway. The 2.2 per cent increase was introduced last Tuesday (August 1), putting the pressure on local establishments who have no choice but to pass part of the increases on to customers. The Nevertire Hotel have had to increase the price of a schooner by 50 cents, with the Collie Hotel confi rming they’ll have to do the same. Prices in metro areas are tipped to hit $10 a schooner. “It really should have gone up by 70 cents,” said owners of the Nevertire Hotel Sam and Dympna Lawler. “But it’s a fi ne balance between making sure we are covering our costs and the expenses of operating the business and still being an affordable outing for our locals and the community.” Tom and Emily Hancock from the Collie Hotel agreed. “It really hurts us having to pass these huge tax hikes on.
FOR talented Dubbo-based artist, Gill Pedrana, it’s been a long pandemic-induced wait for her latest exhibition at Warren’s Museum and Art Gallery (The WAM) which opens today, (Wednesday, August 9). After hugely-successful shows in Dubbo, Sydney, and Bowral, the new exhibition features a range of Gill’s work from several series created over the past few years. For Gill, as with many creators, however, the COVID lockdowns became the spoiler for all of her artistic plans, halting proposals to exhibit in Sydney in 2020 and 2021. Actively creating art only since 2010, Gill already has a varied range of her works featured locally, including a number of substantial murals at the Dubbo Visitors Centre, Dubbo’s Paramount Tennis Club, and the Dubbo Homestay facility. Her artworks on show at The WAM, include a past series of works on the environment and how introduced species can upset the natural ecosystem. The pieces feature pastel-coloured Australian landscapes and introduced animals including rabbits. Continued page 10
By HARRIET GILMORE
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Owner of the Nevertire Hotel Dympna Lawler has been forced to put prices up by 50 cents a schooner after the second tax increase in a year. PHOTO: SUPPLIED.
But when you buy a beer, it’s not just the cost of the product the price must cover. We need to pay staff, power and bills, insurance, cleaning and
maintenance of the place. And cost of living pressures doesn’t just hit households – it hits us too. People are really feeling the pinch and cutting
spending, and family outings are one of the fi rst things to go,” said Mr Hancock. Continued page 2