In the photo are representatives of the Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre, Binaal Billa, Yoorana Gunya, the Wiradjuri Language Group, Red Bend Catholic College, Forbes High School, the Catholic Education Office, CatholicCare, the Forbes Shire Council, St Laurence’s Parish, St Vincent de Paul Society Wilcannia-Forbes and St Vincent de Paul Shops Wilcannia-Forbes present at the ceremony last Thursday.

The Vinnies store in Forbes held a special ceremony last week. A plaque was mounted in the shop to acknowledge traditional custodians. “The ceremony was an opportunity to share with each other, to recognise the injustices towards our Aboriginal community, and to learn and walk forward together in hope,” said Elizabeth Young, pastoral worker. “We were inspired by the new Reconciliation Action Plan for the St Vincent de Paul Society in NSW with the aim to create a culturally safe and friendly environment where First Nations Peoples are welcomed, respected and employed.

Indie pop act Loretta from Sydney entertained Forbes students last week. The band members are Max Jacobs (guitar), Ellis Hoare (vocals) and Nico Scali (keys, guitar).

Forbes High School students received an exclusive performance by Sydney’s alternative pop act Loretta last week in their school hall.

The indie band played to an excited audience, including students for Forbes North Public School, as a promotion for the upcoming Mini VANFEST next weekend.

The students did not mind having their school day interrupted. In fact, it was quite a memorable day to have an up-and-coming band perform in their school hall. Some students even got a photo opportunity with the band members afterwards with a lot of fist bumps happening.

“It was great to get the kids excited and let them know it’s all happening and going ahead on the 9th of April,” said singer Ellis Hoare.

Being in the VANFEST line up is equally exciting for Loretta members Ellis, Max Jacobs on guitar and Nico Scali on keys and guitar as it will be their very first festival performance. “We’ve done a little headline tour at the beginning of the year after COVID, but we’ve never done any regional stuff before,” said Max.

Loretta played three songs at the Forbes High School last week to give the students a taste of their music style which is described as indie pop. Their first release ‘Come Over’ from late 2018 achieved over 500,000 streams worldwide and made the Australia’s viral 50 chart.

After a string of well received releases in 2021 including ‘Late Night’, ‘All I Know’ and ‘When I saw U’, their latest single is ‘Running Time’. They are also working on the band’s debut EP for release later this year. “We will potentially feature songs from the

EP at VANFEST, but will definitely do hits and songs doing well on Spotify,” said Ellis.

“We look forward to playing our music to a new crowd. It looked like the kids had a great time today,” said Max. “It is great to write good music, and we love to rock it up in live shows.” The three of them have have played together in various incarnations since their high school days in Sydney.

For further information and music, go to www.lorettamusic.com.au

VANFEST

Mini VANFEST at South Cirle Park Forbes next Saturday is a teaser one-day version of the much-loved weekend festival planned for later in the year. Next Saturday’s event is open to all ages with free entry for kids under 10. There will be carnival rides, market stalls, family activities and a huge line up of Aussie artists including Julia Stone, Jarred James and Holy Holy. Get your tickets at https://tickets.oztix.com.au

The Federal budget delivered on Tuesday night had many measures for the Riverina and Central West in health, defence, infrastructure, social services and easing cost-of-living pressures, according to Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack.

Cost Of Fuel: Events abroad are pushing up cost-of-living pressures, and the government is cutting fuel excise in half. Australians will save 22 cents a litre for the next six months. This could mean a saving of $30 a week for a family with two cars, or $700 over the next six months.

Extending Tax Relief: Around 61,700 taxpayers in Riverina will benefit from tax relief of up to $1,500 this year, made up of the $1,080 low and middle income tax offset and a $420 cost of living tax offset.

Cost Of Living: Government is also providing a one-off cost of living payment of $250 for Australians most in need. In Riverina, these payments will be delivered to: 20,326 pensioners; 6,607 disability support recipients; 2,258 carers; 8,233 jobseekers; and 14,180 eligible self-funded retirees.

Health: Charles Sturt University will receive $14.8 million through its Rural Clinical School to establish training sites and accommodation at Cootamundra and Parkes.

In the year of the Queen’s Jubilee grants will be made available to organisations to plant thousands of trees throughout the Central West and Riverina to honour the legacy of Queen Elizabeth II and her 70 years of service to Australia and the Commonwealth.

Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said eligible groups and organisations could lodge an expression of interest (EOI) in tree-planting grants being made available through the $15.1 million Planting Trees for The Queen’s Jubilee Program.

Grants from $2,500 to $20,000 will be available to a broad range of organisations, with each Federal electorate eligible to receive up to $100,000 for up to 10 projects. To be eligible, applicants must have an Australian Business Number and be an incorporated not-for profit entity or eligible government entity. Schools and churches are also eligible to lodge an EOI, subject to sponsorship criteria which is available from Michael’s Wagga Wagga electorate office.

Trees planted may be native or non-native, but must be regionally appropriate and grow to more than two metres tall when mature.

EOIs for the Riverina electorate can be lodged until 5pm on Thursday, 31st March. EOIs should include a short description of the project, total cost, grant funding sought, why the project is important to the community and contact details.

Expressions of interest forms can be requested by emailing michael.mccormack.mp@aph.gov.au or by contacting the electorate office on 6921 4600. The office can also provide further information about eligibility of organisations and the type of trees which can be planted.

The Queen has visited Australia 16 times and on many of these visits planted trees leaving a long-lasting reminder of the special occasion for the people in those communities. The Queen is said to have planted 1,500 trees throughout her reign.

The hall at Forbes High School turned into a ‘rock stadium’ for a while on Wednesday when Sydney’s alt pop act Loretta gave the students a taste of what they can expect to see at the mini VanFest on 9th April in Forbes. The students could not believe their luck and many of them wanted to meet the band members afterwards. Students from Forbes North Primary School were also invited to attend.