WEEKLY COLUMN Friday, 17 June 2016

Mole River Dam feasibility study get the green light

More than half a million dollars will be invested in a feasibility study into a new dam on the Mole River, two months after I led a delegation to meet Federal Water Minister Barnaby Joyce to raise awareness of the issue.

The Minister last week announced that $550,000 will be put toward assessing the feasibility of damming the Mole, potentially delivering greater water security to irrigators in the Border Rivers catchment.

I can say with certainty that the funds are a direct outcome of local representation. I first met with Border River irrigators in late 2015 to discuss the advantages of a dam on the Mole River to level out some of the boom-bust flows of the system. The idea was first considered 30 years ago, but has never gained traction.

The Minister advised us to lobby my State counterparts to seek Commonwealth funding for a feasibility study. We did so, and the NSW Government applied to the Commonwealth’s National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. Last week’s announcement is the successful result of that process.

Confronting the awful truth about Myall Creek

History is often a “process of forgetting”, as some commentators have observed, but at Myall Creek last weekend, I urged people towards the process of remembering.

It was my third visit to the annual Myall Creek Memorial commemoration ceremony, held as a reconciliation gesture on the site of the 1838 massacre of 28 unarmed Aboriginal people by 10 white and one African stockmen.

I believe, as I said at the gathering, that modern Australia is better off for confronting such uncomfortable truths such as those presented by the Myall Creek Memorial.

Only by acknowledging that such things happened, by being openly ashamed that they happened, can we reconcile the past with the present and move forward as one nation. Because unusually for the day, the murderers of Myall Creek were prosecuted and hanged, we have a memorial to reminds us of this appalling incident.

But other mass murders every bit as appalling have been quietly forgotten. They are seldom in the history books, or on Wikipedia, to give people today a true reckoning of the cost to Aboriginal people of white colonisation.

I hope that by acknowledging these events we stitch up the wounds and divisions of the past, and carry our shared scars forward as one people.

$201, 000 to support high-value irrigation in the Moree district

Two agricultural enterprises near Moree will add another 16-17 staff after receiving more than $200,000 from the State’s Murray Darling Basin Economic Diversification Program.

Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton and I announced the funding at Stahmann Pecan Farm, near Pallamallawa, on Tuesday.

Stahmann Farms received $51,000 to support an expansion of its orchard, backed with a solar-powered irrigation system. The other recipient, Grove Fruit Juice, will use its $150,000 grant to also expand its orange orchard near Moree.

Both these enterprises are outstanding examples of agricultural diversification and intensification in the Gwydir Valley. For a relatively modest public investment, each business will undertake expansions that will give employment to another eight or more people at each site, and ensure more money flows through local Moree businesses.

Stahmann Farms, which produces 80 per cent of the pecans eaten in Australia and also exports to Asia, plans to expand its existing pecan orchard by 110 hectares (22,000 trees) and irrigate them using a solar-powered high pressure drip system.

Grove Juice intends to develop another 80 hectare orchard (39,000 trees) to complement the 217 hectares of oranges already in production, and install a drip irrigation system to ensure the most efficient use of water.

Face and a place for Uralla’s Z-NET

Uralla’s Australian-first energy efficiency drive now has a “face and a place” with the opening of a new office to host the town’s Z-NET (Zero Net Energy Town) initiative.

I opened the office last Friday afternoon, in Uralla’s Neighbourhood Centre, and announced an additional $21,000 in State Government funding to keep the doors open.

Z-NET is an important, straightforward and smart concept. It suggests that by making some well-understood changes to how we construct buildings and source energy, we can run our communities without needing to draw on massive supplies of energy from elsewhere.

No-one underestimates how challenging it is to change a town and a culture that has been built around a different energy model, but the important thing is that Uralla is trying, and bit by bit, succeeding.

I’ve been an active supporter of the Z-NET project. My last funding announcement for the project secured $50,000 to employ Z-NET co-ordinator Steve Griffith. Overall, Z- NET has received more than $170,000 in State Government support.

Further funding this week

 The Inverell RSM Civilian Rifle Club received $1,882 to upgrade its veteran shooting range as part of the state government’s 2015/2016 Safe Shooting Program. This will allow the club to undertake safety upgrades to stop butt portion of the shooting range at Inverell.  Gymnasts training at the Armidale City Gymnastics Club will get more bounce for their money with a $5,615 NSW Sport & Recreation grant to purchase competitive-level sprung beams for the facility.

Four locals recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

I warmly congratulate four of the region’s outstanding contributors who were recognised in this week’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list in the Order of Australia.

Aboriginal community advocate Suzanne Blacklock AM of Tingha; University of New England nursing and midwifery educator Professor Kim Usher AM and Gurley community leader Moree Plains Shire Councillor John Tramby OAM were all recognised, as was Ashley NSW Rural Fire Service volunteer Alec Byers with an Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM).

These awards recognise the people who are the glue that keep our rural communities working. Aunty Sue, Professor Usher, and Cr Tramby and My Byers have collectively given years of selfless service to people and causes in ways that help far more people than those immediately around them.

Our communities are absolutely dependent on these people, and those like them, who give and keep on giving in ways that make their communities better places to live in.

Armidale district to star on national TV this weekend

Popular Armidale tourist attractions will feature in a new episode of Sydney Weekender, a show with more than 130,000 viewers, thanks to a partnership with the NSW Government to promote the array of experiences on offer across the State.

The episode features Fleet Adventures’ helicopter flight over the spectacular Oxley Wild Rivers Gorges.

Showcasing this special attraction through Sydney Weekender is a terrific way to help boost tourism and demonstrates the NSW Government’s commitment to supporting regional towns and cities across the State. The Sydney Weekender episode will air at 5.30pm this Sunday, 19 June, on the Prime Network across NSW and the ACT.

Finding our region’s hidden treasures

I’m urging our community to nominate women volunteers from the region to be honoured on the NSW Hidden Treasures Honour Roll. Women who work in volunteer roles play a huge role in giving our community its pulse.

Our community wouldn’t be what it is today without their often unrecognised work. The Hidden Treasures Honour Roll is a lasting archive to recognise the women volunteers who are so often the unsung heroes of our regional communities.

The government will announce the latest names to go on the Honour Roll during a National Volunteer Week launch at the annual NSW Rural Women’s Gathering, hosted by the women of Broken Hill on 28-30 October 2016.

To nominate a Hidden Treasures volunteer, you can complete your nomination online (www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/rwn/activities/hidden-treasures/hidden-treasures) or download a nomination form and share a few paragraphs about why your nominee is worthy.

For more information contact the Rural Women’s Network on 02 6391 3612 or email [email protected]. Nominations close Monday 1 August 2016.

Work underway on Gilbralter Range Gwydir Highway improvements

Work is now underway along two kilometres of the Gwydir Highway at the Gibraltar Range, to improve drainage and road safety for motorists.

The state government has allocated $1 million to the project to replace kerbing, which will reduce the impact of water along the road during heavy rain. I urge motorists to keep in mind the changed traffic conditions that will be in place for four months on the Gibraltar Range section of the highway.

For the safety of motorists and workers the speed limit will be reduced to 60km/hr. Traffic will be reduced to one lane alternate flow using traffic lights during work hours. Work will be carried out Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm and Saturday 8am to 1pm.

Today and the weekend

I was on the road today in Uralla and Moree Plains Shires announcing funding from the state government to replace the Mehi Creek Bridge near Gostwyck and widen the Mosquito Creek Road intersection at Pallamallawa. I’ll provide further details in next week’s column.

Tonight I will be opening a unique art exhibition – Wonksy Unleashed – at BackTrack Armidale’s shed. It promises to be a great evening with artwork like no-one’s seen on display in Armidale before!

Tomorrow I will be in Inverell for the Northern Tablelands and New England National Servicemen’s Association 20th anniversary march and luncheon. I’ll also be heading out to Tingha for an event with the Rural Fire Service and then back in Inverell to attend the annual changeover dinner of the Inverell Macintyre Lions Club.

Adam Marshall Member for Northern Tablelands