Wilcannia Public Forum

On the road to Broken Hill

This time last week, Life Matters was broadcast live from Wilcannia. And last Tuesday night, a good proportion of the people of that small river town – on the Darling River a couple of hundred kilometres from Broken Hill – got together to talk about the central issues in their place.

But this is one of those local stories that tell us something about the whole country – in many different ways.

The panel - Community Forum, Wilcannia

The forum was hosted by Bill O’Brien, General Manager of the Central Darling Shire Council, and featured a wide range of voices: nurses, teachers, youth workers, shopkeepers, artists and elders.

Today, we played an edited version of that forum.

So imagine if you will a community hall on a cold winter’s night, with both the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag flying at the front; and with a group of women in the kitchen out the back, who’d travelled over 100 km in from the Menindee Lakes district to put on a spread at the end of the night.

John Cobb, National Party Member for Parkes, at the Community Forum

Julie was on the panel too – as a guest and observer, along with Peter Jinks from ABC Far West NSW (based in Broken Hill) – as well as community elders William Bates, from the Wilcannia Community Working Party and Bill Riley from the Darling River Action Group.

Following the public forum on the Tuesday night (repeated today) - Life Matters broadcast live from the Wilcannia Telecentre: so please find below a series of pictures from that Broadcast.

John Cobb, Federal Member for Parkes; Senator Aden Ridgeway; Rex Little, Area Commander

Wilcannia hospital

William Bates and Aden Ridgeway

Senator Ridgeway with local historian Neville Crisp, community leader and Chair of the Working Party William Bates, Centrelink worker Christine, and elder and chair of the Darling River Action Group Bill Riley

Senator Aden Ridgeway; Bill O'Brien, General Manager, Central Darling Shire Council

Bill Riley and William Bates

Further information:

Central Darling Shire Council
http://www.centraldarling.nsw.gov.au/

Far West Area Health Services
http://www.fwahs.health.nsw.gov.au/

Story Producer and Researcher:

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