Spring has sprung and what better place to celebrate than Parkes’ newest plant nursery, Dirty Gloves Nursery. Mitch and Casey Miles along with their three children, Finn (five), Noah (two) and Harper (9 months), seized the opportunity when news that the towns local nurseries were closing their gates permanently. 

The family of five, at the time, struggled to find sufficient childcare to return to previous work and so they decided to take their already small hobby of growing vegetables, succulents and other garden ornamentals, and turn it into a small home nursery. 

“I was already selling a few things from the front garden, so to erect a shade house in our paddock and expand what we had to offer was a very exciting opportunity” Miles said. 

Boasting a variety of trees, flowers, grasses, bushes, natives, fruit and nut trees, roses and vegetables, Dirty Gloves Nursery has all you need to make your garden shine with colour, texture and fragrances. 

There’s even a selection of garden art available from concrete statues to welded flowers and animals, even glass flowers made from recycled plates. 

“We like fun and creative ways to spruce up the garden. There’s no shortage of creativity amongst our family members,” said Miles. 

Although the nursery has been operating since January the urge to share some of the spring fever has prompted an open day event. Surrounding communities are encouraged to come and enjoy a free sausage sizzle, and picnic on the grassed area at the front of the nursery to celebrate the new business’ first spring. 

“We are very excited to share our love for gardening with the people of Parkes and surrounding communities,” Miles explained. “With the prices rising across all other living expenses we want to offer quality plants and garden art at an affordable price.” 

Dirty Gloves Nursery open day will be this Saturday 16th September from 10am – 2pm at 54 Corcoran Road Parkes. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.

Results from the 11th Seniors Social Survey.

From 20th September, the Age Pension, the Veteran Payment, the Disability Support Pension and the Carer Payment will receive an increase because of indexation. 

The maximum rate of the single Age Pension will rise by $32.70 per fortnight, taking it from $1,064 to $1,096.70. For couples, it will increase by $49.40 per fortnight, taking their combined payment from $1,604 to $1,653.40. 

Chief Advocate Ian Henschke said while people who rely on the Age Pension will welcome the increase, under the current system pensioners are still behind, especially when inflation is unusually high.

Several other government payments will also be increased on 20th September in line with announcements made in the May Budget.

A welcome change is the 15% increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance. The maximum rate for an eligible single renter will rise by $27.60 to $184.80 per fortnight, for a couple by $26 to $174. 

“It’s a good start but more needs to be done to help” Mr Henschke said.

“More can be done to support older people doing it tough. As recent National Seniors research showed, a greater proportion of people with low incomes and those who are renting are suffering from cost-of-living pressures,” Mr Henschke said.

“For example, 39% of older renters told us they were experiencing severe cost-of-living impacts compared to only 11 % of older homeowners.

“What we need is additional targeted support for people with limited means and to stop punishing those who need to work. 

“We want a change to income test rules for pensioners who want to work and work more. We will continue to fight for a system that improves people’s lives.”

The Forbes, Lachlan and Parkes Shires have been listed as at high risk in NSW.

Australia Post will lend a helping hand to high-risk communities across Australia by supporting Australian Red Cross deliver Pillowcase workshops, an initiative aiming to help kids in schools across the nation understand the importance of being prepared for a disaster. Since 2019, Australia Post has raised more than $1.8 million for Australian Red Cross and contributed towards supporting 470,000 people across 133 emergency events. 

Over the next three years, Australia Post is expanding on its support to include the Pillowcase workshops, a disaster preparedness education program for 8 to 10 year-old students living in areas at high risk of disaster, like bushfires and flooding. The workshops teach kids practical skills like what to pack for an emergency and how to prepare their minds for the thoughts and feelings that may arise before, during and after an emergency. 

Australia Post will support Australian Red Cross to provide Pillowcase workshops and resources – including supplying the emergency kit pillowcases. 

Australia Post Executive General Manager of Community, Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement, Tanny Mangos, said that Australia Post’s unique presence in regional and remote Australian communities meant it was important to contribute to, and support, disaster resilience. 

“Working in every community across Australia, our team members are often at the frontline of disaster. We see firsthand how a disaster can affect a community. 

“Ahead of what is already being predicted as a hot, dry summer, our work with Australian Red Cross on Pillowcase is especially critical. The workshops and resources will arm children in high-risk areas with practical skills in the event of extreme weather like bushfires. 

“As disasters increase across Australia so does the impact on our communities and wellbeing. Evidence and research continue to show that preparing both psychologically and practically for an emergency improves people’s ability to cope with their impacts.” 

When you think fake products, you’d be forgiven for not having food items like honey at the top of your list, from meat and seafood to dairy – not even herbs are safe. 

There are six types of food fraud practices in the food industry: mislabelling, adulteration, substitution, counterfeiting, dilution and concealment. The goal is to deceive the consumer into paying a higher price for a product that is not what it claims to be. 

What can we do about it? Government intervention can protect the industry. Policies around minimum prices for materials. Thankfully, now we have DNA technology which makes it easy to take a quick extract of tissue of meat to determine if it’s really what it’s labelled as. In some cases, we have low-tech options. For example, the freezing point is a very old test that industry can use. For example, the freezing point of milk can indicate if water has been added.