Former Forbes resident, Tony Mileto, took us to a few of the places around Forbes that holds the fondest memories for him.

Born in Sydney and raised on the Central Coast of NSW, Tony moved to Orange at the age of 12, where he completed his schooling and eventually followed his long time ambition of becoming a Police officer.

Upon following through with his dream of joining the Police Force, Tony chose to be stationed at Forbes Police Station where he served for just over three years. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, Forbes was a 24-hour police station back then, it’s not anymore,” said Tony.

Whilst reminiscing about his time as a police officer in Forbes, Tony went on to talk about why he initially joined the police force: “I chose to be a police officer because there is no greater honour or privilege than to represent your community, and that is what I wanted to do, serve the community. That’s what I enjoyed during my time in Forbes,” said Tony. 

During his time with Forbes Police, Tony was also the School Liaison Officer and described himself as passionate about working with kids at risk. He knows many kids come from challenging backgrounds and beleives it is always worth investing time in our youth as they are our future.

During Tony’s three year stay in Forbes, he proudly talks about his time spent enjoying local sport. Tony said he spent two years playing with the Forbes Magpies reserve grade team and then one year playing with the Forbes Platypi, stating “I thoroughly enjoyed playing with both clubs”.

After his three years in Forbes, Tony returned to Orange, where he continued his work with local youth while working at Orange PCYC, before moving into more mainstream police work. 

Tony worked in different specialist areas of the police force until he was unfortunately involved in a serious motor vehicle accident while on duty. Tony was in a police vehicle when another driver drove head first into his vehicle. Whilst he eventually recovered, that accident ended Tony’s police career. He went on to become a Factual Investigator, which involves investigating serious motor vehicle accidents.

“My life changed when I came across a motor vehicle accident where three young boys were killed at Billpin,” said Tony. Following this, he committed himself to making our roads safer, for young people and the community as a whole.

In 2017, Tony joined Orange City Council, so that he could have a platform to make a positive difference in his community, and that is where his political journey started.

Tony is extremely passionate and dedicated to serving the communities in his region which include Parkes, Forbes and surrounds. Tony explained that in order to actually make things happen, “You need to do it at the highest level, and that is why I have joined up with a strong political party like The Nationals who I know can deliver.” 

 

Parkes will feature in a documentary about the family history of Peak Hill resident, and well-known indigenous artist, Irene Walker.

Back in 2006, Irene was researching her family history. Upon entering her great grandmothers name, Nelly Bungil (Nanny Nelly) in an online search, she discovered photographs of her great grandmother that had been made into a sculpture.

Irene was not aware of any stories about a statue being made of Nanny Nelly, however, it turned out there were family members who did know, and one of them was Irene’s brother Arthur Ridgeway. 

Irene’s eldest son, Daniel King recalls a trip he made with his uncle in 2001, where he first saw the statue. 

 “We basically went down to the vaults of the Australian Museum and into a room. There was this white sheet over a lifesize figure, we took the sheet off and there was my great-great grandmother,” said Daniel.

“The statue was absolutely lifelike, it was literally like she was standing there.” Daniel also sadly recalls seeing the the pain in her eyes.

More than 20 years after first seeing the statue of Nanny Nelly, Daniel has been awarded funding from the Adelaide Film Festival to produce a documentary about his great-great grandmother. The feature length documentary will will premiere at the 2023 Adelaide Film Festival, and air on NITV.

In 1996 Nanny Nelly’s daughter, Victoria Walker (Nanny Kempsey) was walking through the Australian Museum when she saw the statue and recognised that it was actually her mother. 

Nanny Kempsey was part of the stolen generation, at the age of eight she was taken into custody by the Aboriginal Protection Board and sent to Cootamundra Girls School. She didn’t see her mother again until she was 17 years old when she received notification that her mother, Nanny Nelly was dying and had requested to see her. She stayed by her mothers side until her passing. 

Upon seeing her mothers unclothed statue on display in the Australian Museum, Nanny Kempsey wrote to the museum to have the statue removed from display. However, after consulting with family members, she then wrote to the museum again, allowing them to keep the statue, specifying that it could be put back on display under the condition that they clothed Nanny Nelly’s statue, identified Nanny Nelly and told her story. 

Irene Walker first saw the Nanny Nelly statue on a trip with Daniel in 2018, when it had been relocated to Penrith. Knowing that Nanny Nelly was unclothed, she requested the museum place a sheet around her.

Irene described seeing her great grandmother as an amazing experience. “It was the pinnacle moment for me, it was like looking at a real person,” said Irene. She has visited Nanny Nelly several times since this and describes it as wonderful.

The Australian Museum has committed $150,000 to the restoration of not only Nanny Nelly’s statue, but of two other statues that were commissioned at the same time. 

The three statues of a young boy, an older male and a woman, were commissioned in 1938 as a way of preserving an image of full blooded Aboriginals who were believed to be a dying race, when the census revealed a decline in the population. 

Nanny Nelly’s family are retracing her steps in the feature length documentary titled “Her Name is Nanny Nelly”. Part of that journey is to find the families of the other two statue subjects, the older man, Jimmy Clemence and the young boy, Harold Marsh.