Parkes Phoenix Editor

Maggi Barnard has been with the Forbes Phoenix since 2021 and loves writing about her community.

Free Heavy Vehicle Forum In Forbes

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Registrations are open for this year’s Central West NSW Heavy Vehicle Breakfast Forum at the Forbes Inn on Thursday, 30th June.

Local farmers, contract harvesters, couriers, truck drivers and transport company operators are invited to attend.

“We are really excited to be back and to be able to deliver this format which allows for more two-way discussion about the topics that are affecting the local freight industry,” said organiser Melanie Suitor, Parkes, Forbes and Lachlan Shire Councils’ Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer.

This year will feature three sessions: 1) Effluent, load restraint and Chain of Responsibility from 7.10 – 8.10am; 2) Heavy vehicle access from 8.30 – 9.40am; 3) PBS vehicles from 10 – 11am. You can register for all of the sessions, just one or two.

The forum is free, but registration is required for catering purposes. To register online at: https://forms.office.com/r/ETBbmuA2K1, via the Councils’ Facebook pages or call Melanie on 6861 2364.

ATO Priorities For Tax Time 2022

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced four key focus areas for Tax Time 2022.

The ATO will be focusing on:

• Record-keeping

• Work-related expenses. To claim a deduction for working from home expenses, there are three methods available depending on your circumstances. You can choose from the shortcut (all-inclusive), fixed rate and actual cost methods, as long as you meet the eligibility and record-keeping requirements.

• Rental property income and deductions. If you are a rental property owner, make sure you include all the income you’ve received from your rental in your tax return, including short-term rental arrangements, insurance payouts and rental bond money you retain.

• Capital gains from crypto assets, property, and shares.

Assistant Commissioner Tim Loh said: “It’s important you rethink your claims and ensure you can satisfy the three golden rules.”

The golden rules are:

• You must have spent the money yourself and weren’t reimbursed.

• If the expense is for a mix of income producing and private use, you can only claim the portion that relates to producing income.

• You must have a record to prove it.

Strong Support For CanAssist

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

An impressive 126 players supported a fundraising drive for Forbes Can Assist playing a 4-Person Ambrose Medley last Saturday.The players included a big contingent of travellers from Sydney, Wollongong, across the border and neighbouring towns. Thanks to the generosity of businesses and individuals there were many prizes to be won.

With a record score the scratch winning team of Peter Dawson, John Betland, Nicole Nicole Death and Alison Hearne posted a 61.This bettered the previous best score of63 recorded in 2014, which was achieved insunnier conditions.

The Handicap Winners were: Lee Grierson, Caleb Hanrahan, Luke Simmons and Sam Sykes with 52 ¾ nett. Handicap runner-up: 56 ¼ G & B Travier, P & F Friedel; third: 58 ¼ – Harry Callaghan, Jack Hartwig, Tom Toohey, Jordan Brett; fourth: 58 ½ – Glenn Beasley, Wayne Holz, David Woods, Steven Walker; fifth: 58 7/8 – Peter Tisdell, Robert Webb, David Rhodes, John Zannes.

Nearest the pin: 1st : Ladies – nil; Men –Jordan Brett; 9th : Ladies – Sharon Grierson; Men – Wade Ritchie; 18th : Ladies–Lindy Cowhan; Men – Clint Hurford.

3rd Hole Pro Shop Super-Pin: PeterDawson (3.5m); Second shot on the 12th: Ladies – B Duncan; Men – Caleb Hanrahan.

This weekend starts a run of championship events with the men’s and women’s 4BBB Stroke and Handicap Championships tomorrow. On 25th June the women play their Foursomes Championships over 27 holes, while the men play their Foursomes Champs on Saturday and Sunday over 36 holes. Players are needed for the Men’s LVDGA Championships at Peak Hill on Sunday. Contact Steve Betland.

By Short Putt

How did you celebrate the Queen’s Birthday long weekend?

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Tim West: I worked over the weekend at Boys to the Bush and enjoyed spending time at home with my family.

Kristy Butler: I visited Sydney for the Vivid Festival and watched the senior state netball titles.

Jared Demamiel: I was working over the weekend with the kids at Boys to the Bush and watched the footy in Parkes.

Queen’s Birthday Holiday Is Not Really Her Birthday

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

The Queen’s Birthday Holiday was celebrated on Monday in NSW following the celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee from 2nd to 5th June. (Photo: Geo News)

Why did we celebrate the Queen’s Birthday Holiday on Monday, 13th June, when Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21st April 1926?

Even more confusingly, why is it that the ACT, NSW, NT, SA, Tasmania and Victoria celebrate the Queen’s Birthday Holiday on the second Monday of June each year, but in Western Australia and Queensland the holiday is celebrated in October?

It turns out that the holiday has origins long before Queen Elizabeth II. The holiday tradition started in 1788 when Arthur Phillip, the Governor of NSW at the time, established the holiday to celebrate the birthday of King George III, the first European king of Australia.

The birthday was always celebrated on the actual date of the monarch’s birthday until 1936, the year of the death of King George V, Elizabeth’s grandfather. His birthday was 3rd June and the date has since stayed around early June.

Western Australia chooses to forgo the holiday in June since the previous Monday is already set aside for Foundation Day. In Queensland, the Labor Bligh government changed the Queen’s Birthday in 2012 from the traditional June date to the first weekend of October to better spread out the public holidays in the second half of the year.

Honour’s lists are proclaimed twice a year in Australia. The Australia Day list is on 26th January, and the Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List is proclaimed on the June date each year.

Mayoral Notes

June 17, 2022 by Mayor Phyllis Miller

What a wonderful winter weekend of events we have ahead of us. I’m excited. We are hosting our first ever ChillFest tonight. This free family night booked out very quickly.

Tomorrow is our major Frost and Fire event. The ski dam is looking amazing, ready for you to enjoy major local and headline entertainment, including Thirsty Merc and the Sydney Fire Dancers and fabulous fire inspired food and drinks.

There are a lot of people coming to town, so make sure you give them all a big friendly Forbes welcome.

If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, it is a great opportunity to use your NSW Discover vouchers before they run out on 30th June.

With more rain predicted next week, I remind everyone to please drive to the conditions. We have a lot of damaged roads in our shire and it is important people take extra care until they can get fixed. We are working hard to respond to immediate road needs with many, many kilometres of roads damaged during the floods and with ongoing major rain events. Never have we been so busy trying to short term patch roads, which often still have water over them, as well as maintaining our overall road improvement works that continue around the shire all year round. We appreciate your patience and urge you all to be careful.

I’d like to remind all community groups to book in for one of the Community Funding Workshops on 24th and 27th June if you need help creating a winning application for Council’s Community Funding Program. Submissions close on 31st July.

Mayor Phyllis Miller

Do You Recycle Your Receipts?

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Check if receipts are thermal. Run your fingernail firmly across the paper and if its thermal it will leave a mark. Make sure you check both the front and back side of the receipt.

Thermal receipts cannot be recycled. The ink used on the ‘thermal’ type paper contains BPA (now banned in specific types of plastic) and is tricky to remove during the recycling process. Due to the type of ink used that contains BPA it is easily transferrable and contaminates what it comes into contact with.

Unfortunately thermal receipts need to go into general waste, or you can refuse receipts and ask the business to email them if you need to keep them for record purposed.

Actor Sam Webb In Forbes For Mental Health Expo

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Actor and mental health champion Sam Webb will be speaking at a free mental health event in Forbes on Tuesday, 21st June at Forbes High School from 11:30am to 1:30pm.

Actor and mental health champion Sam Webb will be the guest at a free mental health event in Forbes on Tuesday, 21st June.

Community members are invited to the Forbes Mental Health Expo organised by CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes at Forbes High School Hall from 11:30am to 1:30pm.

Sam, who is known for his appearances in Home and Away, Neighbours and Australian Survivor, co-founded the mental health charity LIVIN in 2013 after the death of a good friend to suicide.

“We’re thrilled that Sam Webb has come on board,” said Kate Shambrook, CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes mental health programs manager.

“He is committed to helping people and organisations understand the importance of mental health and making wellness a priority. We think the community will gain a lot from his talk. “Mental health as an issue is growing in communities, especially in young people and it is an area of concern.”

Kate invited schools, parents, carers, students and other community members to the expo. Representatives from mental health support providers at Forbes will also be at the event for community members to meet and talk to. It is free to attend, but people are asked to register through Eventbrite.

Croquet Results

June 17, 2022 by Pegging Out

Only 18 players turned up for Aussie Croquet on Saturday as the long weekend took a few players away. There were four players who won three games: Robin Pols, Cheryle Toohey, Ray Burridge and Neville Spry

ALL CLOSE GAMES: Neville Spry and Ray Burridge 14 John Farah and Merv Langfield 13; John Cole and Cheryle Toohey 14 Joan Littlejohn and John Browne 12; Robin Pols and Merv Langfield 14 Lorraine Todd and Noel Jolliffe 12; Cheryle Toohey and Neville Spry 14 Lorraine Todd and John Cole 12; Jill Rubie and Tony Thomson 14 Elvy Quirk and Bruce Field 10; John Allegri 14 Geoff Coles 10; Neville Spry 14 Lorraine and Alex Todd 10; Jill Rubie and John Allegri 14 John Browne and Joan Littlejohn 10; John Cole and John Farah 14 Merv Langfield and Marie Spry 10; Cheryle Toohey and Ray Burridge 14 Bruce Field and Tony Thomson 10; Geoff Coles and Robin Pols 14 Elvy Quirk and Noel Jolliffe 10; John Farah and Geoff Coles 14 Merv Langfield and Bruce Field 10; Noel Jolliffe and Ray Burridge 14 Jill Rubie and Tony Thomson 10; Elvy Quirk and Robin Pols 14 Alex Todd and Merv Langfield 10.

What a beautiful sunny day it was for golf croquet on Tuesday when we saw some sun for first time in a while. There were five players who managed three games: Robin Pols, John Cole, Geoff Coles, Colleen Liebich and Tony Thomson.

BIG WINNERS: 10—3 John Cole and John Farah, Noel Jolliffe and Mal Smith; 9—4 John Farah and Tony Thomson, Carolyn Neilsen and Jeff Liebich, Kevin Rubie, Barry White and Neville Spry, Colleen Liebich and Mal Smith.

By Pegging Out

Victoria ‘Glides’ To Gold On Her Debut

June 17, 2022 by Maggi Barnard

Year 11 Red Bend student Victoria Simpson went with the Australian women’s Gliders team to Thailand and came home with gold. The amazing Gliders team won the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) Asia Oceania Championships in Phuket after being undefeated in their march towards the trophy beating Iran, Thailand and Japan. Congratulations to Victoria and her team on an inspiring performance!

Parkes Phoenix Editor

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