Mark Coulton (Parkes, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'd like to recognise the community of Brewarrina in my electorate. Brewarrina is on the banks of the Darling River in north-western New South Wales. It's the home of one of the oldest man-made structures on earth: the fish traps, which have incredible cultural significance to the local people. Bradley Hardy, a local man, undertakes the tours and does a wonderful job in explaining to visitors the importance and the history, both the good and the bad, of the area and the significance of the fish traps.

Brewarrina Shire Council, led by mayor Philip 'Ocker' O'Connor, now have a workforce that matches the local population: 80 per cent of the workforce of the Brewarrina shire are Aboriginal folk, including directors, and they've just been successful in some grants to do major roadworks. I was at Goodooga in the Brewarrina shire a few weeks ago to see local people on heavy earthmoving equipment building absolutely first-class roads that will help not only their connectivity back to Brewarrina and other places but also the links through to Queensland. We were able to give the Brewarrina bore baths a grant through the Drought Communities Program. They were upgraded by a local workforce. During the start of the pandemic, up to 80 caravans were camped out at these bore baths. They are so well done.

I'd like to finish up and mention a young lad who's a friend of mine. I first met Christopher McHughes, otherwise known as Burra, when he was a student, probably about 15 or 16, at Brewarrina Central School some years ago. He's really stepped up in the role of local leadership. He's in charge of the team of firefighters under the mitigation unit for the NSW Rural Fire Service. During the pandemic, he led his team to support their local community. They delivered food parcels to the elders, and while they were there they helped allay some of their fears about vaccination, and they supported the young folk. As a result, the level of illness in what could be a very vulnerable community was incredibly low up until now in the pandemic. There's been a big effort from the local community and a big effort from Burra and the leadership he's shown. Sometimes these western towns get portrayed in the city media as disadvantaged, but quite often the heart, and the soul, and the strength and the beauty of these areas don't get mentioned. I wanted to do that today.