Harry Quirk (age 12) recently caught this Flathead on Stockton Beach, Nelson Bay and also mudcrabs at Old Bar.

Parents and supervisors of local learner drivers are encouraged to attend a free workshop which will be held at Red Bend Catholic College in Forbes on Tuesday, 19th March commencing at 6pm.

The free two-hour workshop, ‘Helping Learner Drivers Become Safer Drivers’, will offer parents and supervisors hands-on advice on how to provide the most effective driving practice for learner drivers.

Forbes Shire Council’s Road Safety and Injury Prevention Officer, Melanie Suitor, said the workshops offer practical advice to parents and supervisors on how to help learner drivers become safer drivers.

“Parents and supervisors of learner drivers have a crucial role to play in making our roads safer. That is why Forbes Shire Council has teamed up with Roads and Maritime Services to hold these free workshops.”

“The workshop covers the licensing system, how to use the Learner Driver Logbook including the use of digital logbooks, licence conditions for learner and P-plate drivers, the benefits of on-road driving sessions, tips on supervising a learner driver and more,” said Melanie.

Light refreshments will be available during the workshop. Bookings are essential and can be made by calling Melanie on 6861 2364.

Late last year, the Modern Slavery Bill 2018 was passed Federally in the NSW State Parliament heralding a new statutory modern slavery reporting requirement for larger companies in Australia.

Reporting obligations relate to the steps taken to respond to the risk of modern slavery in the operations and supply chains of the reporting entity and its controlled entities. The reporting criteria are mandatory.

It is crucial that reporting entities begin reviewing their supply chains and collecting data ahead of the introduction of reporting obligations. The first reporting year will be 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020.

At its broadest, the term ‘modern slavery’ refers to any situations of exploitation where a person cannot refuse or leave work because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. The Australian regime defines modern slavery to incorporate conduct that would constitute an offence under existing human trafficking, slavery and slavery-like offence provisions set out in Divisions 270 and 271 of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.

Modern slavery will encompass slavery, servitude, the worst forms of child labour, forced labour, human trafficking, debt bondage, slavery like practices, forced marriage and deceptive recruiting for labour or services.

Entities will need to report if they carry on business in Australia with a minimum annual consolidated revenue of $100 million.

Entities in NSW will be obliged to report under the NSW Act if they have a turnover of $50 million. Corporate groups should obtain specific advice in relation to which entities are required to report and how joint reporting can work.

Once the Modern Slavery Act commences, a targeted regulatory regime will be introduced, under which large businesses will report annually. Those reports will be published on a public register.

If you are in the Trundle district and look skywards in the next couple of weeks, you may see flying objects! No you are not dreaming!

Trundle is about to become the epicentre of Australian paragliding!

The extraordinary Wings Out West Paragliding Competition and exciting Trundle District Bush Dance will be held from the 13th to 17th March.

Forty pilots from around Australia and overseas will be tow launching from a paddock near Trundle to fly around a course anywhere from Condobolin to Dubbo and surrounds, to compete for flatland paragliding glory.

The Trundle community is hosting the paraglider pilots at a community Bush Dance on Friday, 15th March at the Trundle Showgrounds from 7:30pm. All dances will be taught on the night with music supplied by the renowned Kelly Gang Bush Band. It is one of the highlights of the Paragliding Competition, so come along and meet these crazy folk.

Tickets at the door are $15 per adult, $5 per child or $35 per family including a light supper. For more information contact Jen Kelly on 0417 697 770 or see the ad on Page 7.

Also, stand a chance to win a family pass to the Wings out West Paragliding Competition Bush Dance by entering our competition on Page 6. Entries close Wednesday, 13th March at 2pm. Don’t miss your chance to be part of this exhilarating event!

Friday on My Mind – Falling in Love Again – Down Among the Dead Men – Love Is In The Air – Pasadena – Yesterday’s Hero – It’s a Long Way To The Top… all written by some of the most extraordinary songwriters of our time Harry Vanda and George Young, while John Paul Young was at the heart of their hit making era.

John Paul Young and The Allstar Band The Vanda & Young Songbook is a concert celebrating this incredible song-writing duo’s creations.

The songs that gave Australia it’s unique soundtrack during the 60s, 70s and the 80s and still to this day.

With hits written for The Easybeats, AC/DC, Grace Jones, Ted Mulry, Vanda & Young’s own studio unit “Flash and the Pan” to the wealth of hits written for John Paul Young, this show will have you up and dancin’ like it’s 1979.

John Paul Young & The Allstar Band will travel you through the decades of mega hits and John’s own behind the scenes stories about the songs and their making, at a time when music was king.

John Paul Young is one of the most iconic artists in Australian music’s history, with over 4 million world-wide album sales and numerous awards which garnered him an induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2012 John received an Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to charity and the music industry.

The Allstar Band features two of the original members in Warren “The Pig” Morgan who cut his teeth in the original Aztecs, and Ronnie “Rockwell T James” Peel, of The Missing Links and La De Das fame. Both have been with John since the beginning and have been joined over the years by Greg Plimmer, Juan Gonzalez and Michael “China” Walker and this outfit has been together since the early 80s.

This performance is on at Bathurst Panthers on Friday, 29th March and Dubbo Regional Theatre on Saturday, 30th March. To book tickets head to www.abstractentertainment.net.

The Forbes community is brimming with excitement over the announcement last Thursday by Deputy Premier, John Barilaro to commit $200 million in new funding to flood proof the Newell Highway between Forbes and West Wyalong.

The economic value of this grant is significant and Mayor of Forbes Shire Council, Phyllis Miller says the community is very grateful to the Deputy Premier and the government for this commitment and looks forward to the commencement of this project.

This major arterial road sees over 3,000 vehicle movements a day, and is the highway life-blood between Melbourne and Brisbane, and one of the most productive freight corridors in Australia. The impact of the 2016 flood is still being felt by businesses in both of these towns. Estimated productivity losses for the 2016 flood stand at $150 million.

This major project will improve safety for motorists as well as build resilience against future flood events and will address the need for government to spend vast amounts of money in road maintenance and flood detours. State and local roads suffered with over $1 million worth of repair work required after the last flood.

Henry Mattiske caught a Mahi Mahi fish off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii during February.

Red Bend Catholic College

Red Bend Catholic College is a co-educational day and boarding school situated in Forbes. Red Bend has a proud heritage. Prior to 1977, the Catholic education of students in this region was provided by three secondary schools; Our Lady of Mercy College, Forbes; Our Lady of Mercy High School, Parkes; and Marist Brothers’ College, Forbes.

In February 1977, these three schools combined to form one co-educational high school, with the name of Red Bend Catholic College. Since that time, the college has expanded in numbers, in teaching areas and in facilities. The boarding residences, the swimming pool, the Multi-Purpose Hall and Performing Arts Centre, and the Design and Technology Centre have complemented the strong characteristic features of the main college building.

These days the College educates 740 students and offers 150 boarding places.

Red Bend Catholic College will hold their annual Open Day on Sunday, 10th March from 10am to 1pm. Guided tours will be running on the day. For more information call 6852 2000.

Diocese Celebrates Catholic Schools Week

Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese invites everyone to see first-hand the many good things happening in their 18 parish schools during Catholic Schools Week from the 3rd to 10th March. ‘Seeking the True, the Beautiful and the Good’ is the theme for this year’s Catholic Schools Week and Director of Mission and Religious Education, Dr Gerard O’Shea explains the meaning behind the tagline.

“Any sound education must pay close attention to the needs of the person being educated. Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, the consensus about the deepest desire of the human heart – the search for the True, the Beautiful and the Good. The integrated pursuit of truth, beauty and goodness underpins everything of value that our school system offers,” said Gerard.

He said that those who work in Catholic schools, whether or not they belong to the Catholic faith, share this perspective in virtue of their common humanity. “In presenting the religious dimension of a Catholic school, there are further dimensions to be added. Truth will lead us to a truth beyond our intellectual capabilities – faith. Beauty will be perfected by the incomparable harmony and perfection to be found in God – it is the wellspring of hope. Human goodness will be enabled by God to go beyond itself to the most perfect kind of supernatural love,” he said.

Director of Catholic Education, Anthony Gordon said, “Catholic Schools Week is one of the most exciting weeks of the year. Our schools share with their local communities the wonderful learning that is taking place. It is also an opportunity for the community to see the strong values that are offered to each student in a Catholic school.”

“Our dedicated teachers have the opportunity of demonstrating that the best contemporary teaching that personalises learning for each of our students is occurring in our classrooms. The use of technology to assist student learning is also a feature of our schools with every student having access to a Chromebook.”

“Our schools are looking forward to welcoming as many visitors as possible next week and I encourage all parents, grandparents and members of the community to see all the good things happening in their local Catholic school,” said Anthony.

Clean Up Australia Day registrations are now open, so challenge your friends and family to make 2019 the year when, ‘Change Starts with You’. Forbes residents can register to take part in this great event on Sunday, 3rd March. Registration takes place at 8:30am in Victoria Park where participants will receive their clean up kits, some cold refreshments and teams are then sent off to the designated registered sites around Forbes.

Participating in these events is the perfect opportunity to join with family, friends, neighbours and colleagues to remove all the rubbish accumulating in your local park, bushland, beaches and waterways before it kills our wildlife. Online registrations are free and now open at www.cleanupaustraliaday.org.au.

Urging individuals and groups to continue the impetus that Clean Up founder, Ian Kiernan AO created, Terrie-Ann Johnson, Managing Director of Clean Up Australia, is keen to remind us that every Clean Up volunteer is Ian’s successor – and that, like Ian, ‘Change Starts with You.’

“Clean Up Australia Day is the nation’s largest community mobilisation event and 2019 is the perfect time to band together in Ian’s honour, celebrate what has been achieved, show your support for his vision and continue his dream to Clean Up Australia,” said Terrie-Ann.

“Ian firmly believed that every single one of us can and should make a difference.

Volunteer action was his amazingly simple idea, his dream and his inspiration.

“There are so many actions every one of us can take. So why not book-mark today in your journey and join us for a 2019 Clean Up.”

If picking up Rubbish is not your thing, you can still be involved by making a donation.