Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management, David Littleproud says agricultural businesses will benefit from the Federal Government’s economic stimulus package. Agriculture, fisheries and forestry will get a boost from several support measures in the package designed to support economic confidence, encourage investment and protect jobs.

$1 billion will be directed to a regional and community fund to support industries including agriculture impacted by coronavirus. “The instant write-off threshold has been increased from $30,000 to $150,000 for businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million. There’s accelerated depreciation deductions to encourage investment for the next 15 months. Businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million will be able to deduct an additional 50% from asset costs in the year they were bought.”

For small businesses, the life blood of the community in regional and rural Australia, there’s a 50% subsidy for apprentices. The incentive also includes a tax-free cash boost of up to $25,000 for eligible businesses that take on a worker between 1 January and 30 June this year.

David continued, “There will be another economic shot in the arm locally with the one-off payment of $750 to pensioners and those on Newstart. Take advantage of these measures to grow your business, to increase production and keep our regional and rural communities strong.”

Red Bend College students Tori McRae, Maddie Hopkins, Elliott Ruhmann and Ella Burke with You Choose founder and presenter Melissa McGuinness.

On Friday, 13th March, Red Bend Catholic College received a visitor with a very important message for the students. In 2012, Melissa and Peter McGuiness lost their 18-year-old son when he drove, speeding, under the influence of alcohol, into a stationary vehicle. The crash killed Jordan and four of his passengers. Melissa and Peter have since turned their loss into a means of preventing such senseless tragedy for others. The You Choose Youth Road safety charity Melissa and George created, travels the country giving road safety presentations to schools and youth organisations, with a mission to facilitate changes in thinking and behaviour among young drivers and passengers.

Melissa personally delivered a 75-minute interactive presentation which shared intimate dynamics of a family that could truly be anyone’s family. From the perspective of a Mum about the life of her son, a teenager who was a much loved, good person. But a teenager whose tragic choices on one night shattered five families; and left a miserable legacy for himself and his loved ones.

The presentation was relatable and immersive for the students. No one was left unaffected by Melissa’s story that taught the students that they each have the ability to save lives and to protect their families and others from the horror of road trauma through the power of choice.

You Choose has been acknowledged by a broad range of educators, police, policy-makers, academics and most importantly parents and teenagers as a unique and highly effective approach to facilitating changed behaviours in young drivers and practically reducing youth road trauma.

As of March 2020, approximately 16,000 students from 65 schools have participated in You Choose and in doing so, have become advocates for changed driving behaviours. This program has been developed and achieved while Melissa works a ‘day-job’ four days per week, and Peter works full-time five days per week.

Member for Riverina and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack

Member for Riverina and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has welcomed the Australian Government’s $17.6 billion economic stimulus package, saying it will help keep rural and regional businesses open and people in jobs during the coronavirus crisis.

“I’m particularly pleased $1 billion has been budgeted to support regions and communities which have been disproportionately affected by the economic head-winds the coronavirus has created, including those heavily reliant on industries such as tourism, agriculture and education,” Mr McCormack said.

“Tourism, agriculture and education are three important pillars of the Riverina and Central West economy and we need to back them all the way.” Mr McCormack also welcomed the strong emphasis on supporting small and medium businesses, keeping apprentices and trainees in jobs and household stimulus payments which will benefit the wider community.

The package has four parts:
• Supporting business investment.
• Providing cash flow assistance to help small and medium sized business to stay in business and keep their employees in jobs.
• Targeted support for the most severely affected sectors, regions and communities.
• Household stimulus payments which will benefit the wider economy.

The one off payment to pensioners and those on Newstart should come as a huge relief to those who are inevitably feeling the pressure of poverty, pressure that is exacerbated by panic shopping and hoarding pantry items which has significantly reduced the amount of basic staples that socio-economically disadvantaged people often rely on.

Forbes Lions Park was a sea of purple for the International Women’s Day champagne breakfast.

Last Sunday saw record numbers in attendance at the annual International Women’s Day Champagne breakfast organised by Forbes Shire Council. Forbes women arrived bright and early and impeccably dressed for the sell out event at Lions Park, which was beautifully decorated in purple, a colour used on International Women’s Day for its historical association with justice and dignity.

Guests were treated to a diverse line-up of inspiring, resilient and successful women. Guest speakers included business-woman Louise Bernardi, Forbes Preschool Director Amy Shine, trailblazer and boilermaker Natasha Schmalz and mental health advocate and agricultural icon Sally Downie. The list of inspiring speakers would not be complete without Forbes’ very own Mayor Phyliss Miller, whose personal story of strength, resilience and determination is one that proves women should never be underestimated. Deputy Mayor, Jenny Webb was MC and Gracey Denhem-Jones lent her beautiful voice to the day, keeping guests entertained.

Entertainment provided by Gracey Denhem-Jones.

Louise Bernardi, who is involved in several charities aimed at empowering disadvantaged women, spoke about how “empowered women, empower women”, a fervent reminder that while having allies in male dominated workplaces is important, it is the support of other women that inevitably leads to success in gaining equality. Forbes Preschool Director Amy Shine has worked to ensure that Forbes Preschool is a beacon of support, inclusivity and community involvement and national recognition is testimony to this.

While Australia has made leaps and bounds in terms of legal equality since the first wave of feminism, there are still many women who are faced with attitudes of dismissal and failure to acknowledge women in the workplace in male dominated fields. Natasha Schmalz and Sally Downie shared their own experiences in the boilermaker and dairy farming industries that were disappointing, yet unsurprising. Despite this, both ladies were confident in the continued progress of change in attitudes towards women.

Forbes Lions Park was a sea of purple for the International Women’s Day champagne breakfast.

 

Kim Muffet, Penelope McGufficke, Wendy Muffet, Olivia Turner, Emily Brotherton, Wayne O’Neill and Lisa Cameron represented Grazing Down The Lachlan at the 2019 Australian Tourism Awards gala evening in Canberra.

Last weekend Forbes’ very own, Grazing Down The Lachlan was awarded Bronze in the Festival and Events category at the 2019 Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.

Grazing received the accolade in front of industry representatives from across the Nation at a gala evening held at Canberra’s National Convention Centre on Friday evening.

Queensland’s Groundwater Country Music Festival took out gold in the category, while The Unconformity contemporary arts festival in Tasmania was awarded silver.

The award rounds out Grazing’s most successful year since its inception in 2017, having been awarded silver at the Regional Tourism awards and gold at the NSW Tourism Awards last year, as well as a sell-out event for the third year running in 2019.

Chair of Grazing Down The Lachlan Committee, Wendy Muffet said, “Grazing has exceeded our expectations in every way and recognition at the National level is truly the icing on the cake. Grazing’s success is an example of what this amazing little river town of Forbes can achieve when we all pitch in.”

The Australian Tourism Awards are the tourism industry’s peak Awards – recognising and promoting excellence in tourism across every state and territory.

The award was well earned, the ever-humble husband and wife team and 2020 Forbes Citizens of the Year, Kim and Wendy Muffet, were keen to thank and recognise the volunteers and community, with Wendy saying, “Heartfelt thanks to our sponsors, the local Wiradjuri mob, our volunteers and the small local businesses that work alongside our dynamic volunteer committee to make the magic happen.” Wendy has never missed an opportunity to show her appreciation to the community and volunteers who make the event possible.

Woolworths Forbes is calling on residents to get behind Share the Dignity’s annual Dignity Drive this month and support the fight to end period poverty for those women in need across the region.

With over 3 million Australians living under the poverty line and the number of women experiencing periodic poverty across NSW on the rise, local residents will be able to help make a difference to their region by donating a sanitary item via the Dignity Drive boxes located in Woolworths Forbes throughout March.

Woolworths Forbes Store Manager, Noel Reardon said: “Last year we saw so many of our customers generously donate to the Dignity Drive. It was heart-warming to see how enthusiastic they were in helping us support local women in need.”

“We hope our customers will get behind Share the Dignity again this month and help us raise vital supplies for girls and women experiencing poverty, homelessness and domestic violence.”

Deborah Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer of Share the Dignity, said: “While the number of vulnerable women in Australia is sadly growing, we remain committed to our vision to eradicate period poverty in this country. When you are shopping at Woolworths this March, Share the Dignity encourages you to think, “one for me, one for her”, because while it may seem like a small gesture, we know small dignities make a big difference.”

Funds committed by Woolworths from the sales of sanitary items in stores across the country over the past year have been used to purchase ‘Dignity Vending Machines’. Known as ‘Pinkboxes’, the machines dispense free period packs to women and girls supported by domestic violence services, homelessness hubs and schools.