The Nationals’ Federal Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack, has thanked the people of the Riverina and Central West for endorsing him to serve as their representative in Canberra for a third term.

“I am humbled the people of the Riverina have placed their trust in me once more to be their strong advocate in Canberra,” Mr McCormack said.

“With the Riverina’s new boundaries, many people in the electorate have put their faith in me for the first time to deliver for them as their Federal Member. “I am delighted with the result in Riverina and I will continue to be a strong advocate for the region in the next Parliament.”

Mr McCormack also paid tribute to the hard-working volunteers who worked on his successful campaign, as well as the other candidates who stood for Riverina for a hard-fought and respectful contest. “I want to thank my volunteers who gave up countless hours of their time to stand out in the cold helping me at polling booths, both at pre-poll and on election day,” Mr McCormack said.

“The other candidates in the race for Riverina have generated a genuine contest of ideas during the eight-week election campaign and our communities are stronger for having such passionate people wanting to represent them.”

While it will still be a number of days before the nationwide result is finalised, Mr McCormack said earlier this week, the election had delivered a resounding result for The Nationals elsewhere in the country. “Though Capricornia and Flynn in Queensland are still too close to call, the people of regional Australia have overwhelmingly endorsed The Nationals as the party to represent the needs and interests of their communities,” Mr McCormack said.

“I want to congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce, on a toughly fought and successful campaign in New England, as well as Damian Drum in Murray, who pulled off a spirited victory in a tight three-cornered contest.”

The MP was in Forbes during the election campaign to announce funding for the Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre as part of the Safer Streets program. Two closed-circuit television cameras will be installed at the centre at a cost of $13,600.

The Aboriginal web resource of the NSW Cancer Council is celebrating its first birthday. Launched during NAIDOC Week 2015, the site is designed for Aboriginal people affected by cancer, their community and carers, and health professionals to access information and resources.

“A year after going live, trends for what type of content visitors find most useful have become apparent,” said Annemaree Binger, Regional Manager Cancer Council NSW Western Region. “Aboriginal people told us that they wanted stories about Aboriginal people’s experiences with cancer, particularly stories about people who have survived cancer.”

These stories are popular, as well as stories from the community. One story called Robin Payne’s journey was a particular favourite. Practical pages, such as accommodation information for patients and carers, were also popular, as were research results, according to Annemaree.

Cancer is the second most common cause of death for Aboriginal people, who are 60% more likely to die from cancer than non-Aboriginal people. Committed to reducing these inequalities, Cancer Council NSW investigated the reason behind the increased death rate and assessed the cancer experiences of Aboriginal people in NSW through the Aboriginal Patterns of Cancer Care project (APOCC). Insights from the project have informed the content and structure of the website.

Honorary Professor Dianne O’Connell, lead researcher on the project at Cancer Council NSW, says that the APOCC project has provided Cancer Council NSW with a detailed understanding of the gaps in cancer care for Aboriginal people, including the barriers that are likely to prevent access to appropriate and timely cancer care.

“The information on our website for the Aboriginal community is designed to target the gaps identified by the research in clear and culturally appropriate formats.” Visit Cancer Council NSW’s website for Aboriginal people at: http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/aboriginalcancer/

For almost 40 years, the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days has been putting people living on the land in touch with the latest information, best practices and hundreds of exhibitors. Small farms, hobby farms, tree changers and small family holdings have been a focus, as it is often these ‘new chums’ that need a ‘leg up’ in dealing with all those things that need doing on the land, be it fencing, rain water storage, choosing livestock, machinery and implements or a robot drone to go fetch the sheep.

Equestrian activities have been growing in popularity at the event, reflecting how horses are increasingly the focus of many small, rural holdings. Come to the new display areas and enjoy talks from presenters such as Mark Langley and Merje Summiloff who will talk about horse starting and equine psychology.

A healthy dose of retail therapy is provided, Fashion Parades run three times a day, and the Founders Pavilion is packed with gourmet treats, fashion exhibits, private schools, health and home wares to satisfy to neediest shopper.

Events this year include three times a day fashion parades, displays from craftsmen such as Roy Davi the Leura bodger and a new permanent feature, the Festival of Yesteryear, a celebration of how things were done in the good old days. See you at the Mudgee Small Farm Field Days 15th & 16th July, for more information see www.mudgeefielddays.com.au

The team at News on Rankin are looking forward to be offering the same great, friendly service shoppers have enjoyed from long serving local newsagents Ken and Margaret Nock.

Following an announcement last week that the Nock’s would be closing their Lachlan Street store, the News on Rankin team will continue to service the distribution areas of South Forbes as well as their current North Forbes territory.

“We’re excited to be welcoming Kerry Stephenson, who has delivered the papers for the Nocks for close to a decade, to our team,” said Gabe McMillan, News on Rankin owner. “Kerry will be continuing the service to all South Forbes residents and sub agents.”

The team at News on Rankin are working hard to ensure a smooth transition for all customers as they embark on a new chapter for the Rankin Street business, as well as ensuring services continue as usual for the Forbes community.

“I would love to take this opportunity to thank Ken and Margaret for their contribution to our industry over the past 30 years as well as their commitment to the business community of Forbes for this time,” Gabe said. “It’s been an absolute pleasure to be dealing over the years both as a customer as well as business associate.”

“Ken and Margaret have offered a wonderful service to their clients for a long time and I want to ensure that with my team we continue to offer excellent customer service,” said Gabe. “I encourage anyone with queries to contact myself or one of my team and we will be more than happy to answer any questions for customers.”

Entries are open for the 25th NSW Small Winemakers Show 2016 to be held at the Forbes Youth & Community Centre. Judging will commence on 22nd August and conclude on 24th August, while entries close on Monday, 11th July.

The show is open to all NSW and ACT wine producers that crush a maximum of 500-tonnes annually. The show is not open to any winery that is wholly owned or partowned by a large wine producer. The show has gone from strength to strength over the past 25 years. It grew from only 81 entries from 13 wine producers in 1991, to 580 entries from 91 wine producers in 2015.

To celebrate this special year of judging, some of the favourite judges and chairmen of the past 25 years were invited. Mike De Iuliis of De Iuliis Wines in Pokolbin returns as Chairman of Judges for the third year. He feels the show is more relevant today than it has ever been. “I think the longevity of the show is a testament to its relevance to the industry. It is such an invaluable tool for a small wine business to be able to have your wines assessed alongside your direct competitors.”

Wine Show President, Mark Watts, is also looking forward to the 25th year of the show and to welcoming back some familiar faces. The exhibitors’ tastings will be held on Friday, 26th August between 4.30 and 8.30pm at the Forbes Youth & Community Centre. The tasting will be open to the public from 6:30pm.

The presentation dinner, showcasing the trophy winning wines, will be held on Saturday, 17th September from 7pm at the Forbes Town Hall. For more information and entry forms go to the show website – www.nswwineshow.com.au or email smallwine@nswwineshow.com.au

Next time you visit a new mother in the maternity ward at Forbes or Parkes hospitals, follow the signs to Yinaagalang Nguranggu – Wiradjuri for woman’s place. If you need pathology, look for Guwany Barramali – to take blood.

A project to integrate Wiradjuri language signage and translations into the new Forbes and Parkes Hospitals has won a top award in the Western NSW Local Health District. A record number of 50 projects were entered for the Chief Executive’s Award at the Western NSW Local Health District’s annual Living Well Together Health and Innovation Awards. Lachlan Health Service’s Mali Marambir Ngurang: to make better place Lachlan was named the winner.

The project also received a Highly Commended in the category Closing the Gap in Aboriginal Health Disadvantage. The project provided for key directional signage around the hospitals to be written in English beside the Wiradjuri interpretation, which is then translated back into English.

Local Wiradjuri Elders worked closely with Dr Stan Grant, co-author of the Wiradjuri dictionary, to ensure the words were correct and close to their English meaning. The project aimed to make the hospital spaces more inviting and less daunting for Aboriginal people. More than 20 key places in the hospitals have bilingual interpretation. The English translations also helps to educate non-Wiradjuri people about the Wiradjuri language. For example, the Wiradjuri words Marrin Mumali (to rub the body between the hands) points to the physiotherapy department and Mungarr Ngadhurinya (care for kidneys) points to the renal department.

Ngaagigu Mulunma, (to see inside) is used for medical imaging and Ngurang Mindyali (to be fixed fast) are the words for operating theatre. Waluwin Ngaan (healthy mouth) points the way to oral health and Wambuwanbunmaldhaany (medicine maker) points to the pharmacist. The NSW Government provided $113.7 million to redevelop the Forbes Hospital and build a new Parkes Hospital.

Lachlan Local Area Command invited local community leaders to get a taste of aspects of police work as part of an initiative to develop a greater knowledge and understanding of policing. The second Community Awareness of Policing Program in Local Area Commands (CAPP in LACs) was held at Parkes Police Station recently.

Participants in the program experienced various aspects of police work, including highway patrol, defensive tactics, criminal investigation and forensics. “CAPP in LACs is an exciting community engagement project that offers the opportunity for our community leaders to get to know us and the diverse range of services we have to offer,” said Lachlan Local Area Commander, Superintendent Chris Taylor.

“The program provides members of the community a chance to experience what it is like to be a police officer. It is a real eyeopener, showcasing the varied and complex duties of policing.”

Participants included Councillor Chris Roylance, representing Forbes Shire and the Forbes Business Chamber; Councillor Barbara Newton, Deputy Mayor of Parkes Shire; Stefanie Loader, Managing Director, NorthParkes Mines; Jenny Doecke, Aboriginal Medical Service, Murrin Bridge; Michael Ostler, Principal of Parkes East Public School and Councillor Dennis Brady, Lachlan Shire.

The Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre received a welcome gift this week of $13, 600 for the funding of two closed-circuit television cameras. Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack made the announcement on Tuesday as part of the Safer Streets program that supports communities at the grass roots to help address crime and anti-social behaviour.

“This has come as such a big surprise and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” said Aileen Allen, Secretary of the Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre. “We keep on spending money we should be using for development, because of vandalism at the centre.” Michael said the cameras would be beaming images straight to the Forbes Police Station to ensure the culprits were caught and faced the full punishment of the law.

Forbes Shire Deputy Mayor Graeme Miller said he was pleased the funding had been announced as the centre had a lovely setting at the lake and needed to be respected and not damaged. “The Forbes Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre Inc has done a great job with the development of the centre and unfortunately it has been the target of vandalism since it opened in 1996,” said the Deputy Mayor. Plans are underway to place at least eight Aboriginal sculptures around Lake Forbes if a grant application is successful. New barbeque facilities were recently installed. Aileen wants the whole community to enjoy the facilities any time.

The annual Lachlan Valley Caravan Bush Rally was held at the Kiacatoo Hall grounds last week. The popular rally saw 29 caravans arrive to enjoy a week of camping in a bush setting beside the Lachlan river. Campers were serenaded by resident muso’s Rod, Rob, Jim and Colleen.

Each morning the campers feasted on dampers with the camp cooks seeing who could cook the best before a plate of jaffles and toast for breakfast and pots of soup on hot coals for dinner. The club would like to thank all the woodcutters for the firewood they gathered and Judith Buttriss for keeping the coals alight in the early hours.

For those who haven’t seen it, The Church in the Paddock was another highlight with its lovely domed ceiling and mosaics. As the weather turned wet the campers retreated to a hall for their Biggest Morning Tea, with tasty food coming from the caravans, decorations and raffles. A total of $617 was raised, with all money going to Cancer Research. The mood of the rally turned silly when members dressed up for the skit pantomime, Cinderfello. Helen Pitt and Ruth Armstrong gathered all costumes for a hilarious few hours!

President, Peter Bright, then presided over the club meeting, welcoming all for attending and reports were read and business discussed. It was noted that Lachlan Valley are one of the four biggest clubs in NSW.

Lots of games of rummy and scrabble were enjoyed over the week while fishing and games of tennis were popular for those who were fit along with bush walks. At the end of the week winter seemed to quickly set in so all campers were happy to head back to their home comforts!