Stay cool at the Museum and Art Gallery
HUNTING ELUSIVE MINIFIGURES: Maverick Cameron, aged 7, from Brookdale, getting help from Museum Education and Public Programs Officer Angus Cawdell-Smith in tracking down the hidden LEGO® Minifigures.
RECOGNISING LOCAL HEROES: Events Officer Amy McDonnell and Acting Destination & Events Coordinator Emma Corbett proudly announce the nominations for the 2025 Australia Day Awards.
Year, Environmental Citizen of the Year, and Walk of Honour inductee.
“These nominees have worked with great dedication, devoting time and energy into making Wagga Wagga a better place for all of us to live,” Cr Tout said.
“It is wonderful to see them being recognised for the outstanding work they do for our community.”
The thirteen nominees are:
• Haylee Burkinshaw
• Zita Denholm
• David Dunn
• Uncle Hewitt and Aunty Dot Whyman
• Lylah Howard-Jenkins
• Joshua Hunt
• Gregory Johnson
• Saba Nabi
• Peter Quarmby
The 2025 Australia Day Community Committee is excited to announce that 13 residents across five categories have been nominated for the 2025 Wagga Wagga Australia Day Awards, recognising their generous contribution to the community.
Mayor of the City of Wagga Wagga Councillor Dallas Tout said Council was pleased to receive nominations including Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the
• Michael Redgrave
• Leanne Scott
• Robyn Weedon
The city’s Australia Day Awards Ceremony will be held at the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre on Saturday 25 January from 6pm.
Free general admission tickets to the ceremony are available through the Civic Theatre booking office in person, over the phone by calling 02 6926 9688 or online at civictheatre.com.au
Families and friends are also invited to come together for a series of events at the Riverside precinct, starting with the Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri and First Nations ‘Murun-dhu’ – I Live, I Breathe event on Saturday at 5pm, and on Sunday morning, Australia Day, to enjoy the traditional free community breakfast and Citizenship Ceremony.
Following the conclusion of the citizenship ceremony, residents can stroll over to the CSU Riverina Playhouse for another ‘Murun-dhu’ – I Live, I Breathe event.
The Murun-dhu community events have been organised by Mawang Gaway in partnership with the 2025 Australia Day Community Committee and supported by City Council.
For more details about Wagga Wagga’s Australia Day 2025 activities, visit wagga.nsw.gov.au/community/ annual-events/australia-day
This summer holiday, stay cool at the Museum of the Riverina and the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery.
Head to the airconditioned comfort of both the museum and the gallery to not only beat the heat but also enjoy one or more of the great activities and wonderful exhibitions now on show.
The museum’s Botanic Gardens site is offering a variety of workshops, tours and free activities designed for all ages – what’s more, you'll be able to enjoy a free icy pole in the process!
Museum Manager Luke Grealy confirmed these activities will include the ever-popular LEGO® Minifigure Hunt, which is back on until 2 February.
“This time they're searching for diprotodon dinosaur bones, and they figured the Museum of the Riverina's Botanic Gardens site is the perfect place to look,” Mr Grealy said.
“We’re asking our visitors to help us stop them by finding all the LEGO® Minifigures hidden throughout the museum and go into the draw to win one of three prizes these school holidays.”
Other free activities until 2 February include making chalk art on pathways and colouring-in sheets featuring coldblooded animals.
“We are presenting workshops on everything from decorating sun-safe hats to making gecko-shaped stickers.
“We also encourage locals and visitors to check out the two new free exhibitions at the Museum’s Historic Council Chambers site including ‘The Lex Factor – From Wagga to the World Stage’ and the ‘2024 Bald Archy Prize’.”
For more information about the museum’s activities, head to museumriverina.com.au/whatson
Art Gallery Officer (Learning & Engagement) Astrid Reed is calling on all creative kids to come to the Art Camp program at the Gallery between 14 - 17 January.
“There’s something for everyone: morning workshops are for younger kids, and afternoon sessions are for creative teens,” Ms Reed said.
“All our workshops are inspired by the gallery's exciting summer exhibitions, which people can visit for free.”
Ms Reed said the workshops include opportunities for young ones to create colourful landscapes using the wet felt technique, while a practice-building drawing workshop will be available for creative teens.
“These sessions are not just a great opportunity for imaginative kids to practice their skills, but also for them to play and experiment with new materials and ideas.”
Morning sessions are 10am - 11.30am; afternoon sessions are 1pm - 3pm. Most of the workshops cost $15, and bookings are essential.
For more information about the workshops and to book a place, visit waggaartgallery.com.au/whats-on/ programs-and-events
AWARDS: 2024 Wagga Wagga Australia Day Awards.
Council’s major program of civil works for the rehabilitation and renewal of several key connector and heavily used roads, as well as numerous suburban roads, continues to roll out across the Wagga Wagga Local Government Area (LGA).
The program is being delivered in several separate packages by contractors and Council’s infrastructure and civil works teams.
Director Infrastructure Services Henry Pavitt said the contractors started works on some of these packages in late 2024, completing the rehabilitation and sealing of sections of Vincent Road, Kyeamba Avenue, and Featherwood Road in December.
“Now that the Christmas – New Year break is over, they’ve fired up the machines and have hit the ground rolling,” Mr Pavitt said.
“It is a significant program of works, with quite a few key roads which see a lot of commuter and commercial traffic on the list to be stabilised and rehabilitated.
“This includes multiple sections of
Bakers Lane between Dandaloo Road and Matilda Crescent at Governor’s Hill.
“The wetter than usual winters, springs and even summers that we’ve experienced in recent years, along with flooding from the big storms of 2022, took their toll on this stretch of road.
“It will undergo road stabilisation and rehabilitation works to improve and strengthen the pavement, providing a safer and smoother surface for all road users.”
The Bakers Lane rehabilitation works are expected to start on Tuesday 14 January and take two days to complete, weather permitting.
Contractors resumed their works program on Wednesday 8 January with the rehabilitation and new sprayed seal on the stretch of Main Street in Lake Albert.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Visitor Economy Development Officer Cassandra Farquharson and Destination and Events Coordinator Kimberly Parker with the draft Destination Management Plan.
Still time to help shape the future of tourism in Wagga Wagga
Residents and local tourism businesses will have the chance to find out more about Wagga Wagga’s Draft Destination Management Plan and have their say about the future of tourism in the city at one of the upcoming community engagement sessions.
The draft plan was placed on public exhibition at the end of November 2024, but there is still time to provide your input, with feedback accepted through to Sunday 16 February 2025.
Council's Destination and Events Coordinator Kimberly Parker says the plan aims to provide a strategic direction for the development of Wagga Wagga’s visitor economy through to 2034/35.
“We spent 12 months doing community consultation, talking with locals as well as businesses, industry and stakeholders to understand where they see opportunities to continue developing tourism and events for the city and surrounding region,” Ms Parker said.
“From the consultation process, we were able to identify four key destination themes, which will help shape tourism in Wagga Wagga: First Nations; agritourism and culinary; water and nature; and creativity, culture, and place.
“These themes are reflected throughout this plan and the four key strategic areas where we see the visitor economy
During January, contractors are also scheduled to carry out pavement rehabilitation works on sections of Gregadoo Road, Ziegler Avenue, the intersection of Graham Avenue and Gumly Road, and Oura Road at the North Wagga end.
Motorists are advised to drive to the conditions, follow instructions from traffic control and obey speed limits.
Other infrastructure and civil works slated for the first part of 2025 include the bridge rectification and road rehabilitation works on Ivan Jack Drive in the CBD, and a new package of rehabilitation works at several locations across the city and its suburbs.
For more information about the program of works, visit haveyoursay. wagga.nsw.gov.au/roadworks
growing for Wagga Wagga.
“Now we’re after feedback from community and industry on what has been captured to ensure that the final strategy reflects the key focus areas to develop over the next decade of tourism in the city.”
Over the next five weeks of the public exhibition period, Council will host a range of opportunities for people to find out more about the draft plan and provide their input.
There will be a static kiosk at locations across the city, including the Airport, Civic Theatre, Civic Centre, Art Gallery, and the Museum of the Riverina’s Botanic Gardens site.
“We will also be visiting our rural villages, alongside Council’s Agile Library, to chat with locals and gather their feedback,” Ms Parker said.
Residents and businesses are also invited to drop in to chat with the team over a coffee to share their feedback at one of our café pop-ups, while an industry briefing session for local tourism businesses will be taking place on Thursday 30 January.
Tourism operators can register to attend via a link on the haveyoursay. wagga.nsw.gov.au/dmp page, but are limited to two representatives per business or organisation.
Details on all engagement points and pop-up events are on the Have Your Say page where you can also read the draft plan and share your feedback. Copies are also available at our Visitor Information Centre or the Civic Centre.
The public exhibition period closes on Sunday 16 February 2025.
And the award for Pet of the Week goes to – Oscar!
This feline with his black and white mask is a male domestic short hair, approximately 12-18 months old. Oscar is extremely affectionate towards people, loves the limelight, and enjoys the company of other cats too. He can be playful, but his top priority is searching for a warm lap to settle on. The adoption fee for Oscar (ImpC24/0507) is $256, which includes lifetime registration, microchip, first vaccination, de-sexing, flea and worming treatment, FIV test and ID tag.
Labourer (Gregadoo Waste Management Centre) Remuneration: $2,116.86