Reporting season delivers flood of words about Lismore’s fate
NSW Premier promises to ‘rebuild and retrain’ communities for a safer future.
In the corporate world the month of August is known as “reporting season”, the time when companies announce the results of their previous financial year’s trading. August 2022 has earned a special claim to the title through the release of several high-level government reports on diverse matters.
One, reported elsewhere in this magazine, was the report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
Another, of particular interest to residents of the Northern Rivers, is the report of the NSW Parliament’s Legislative Council (LegCo) Select Committee on The Response to Major Flooding Across New South Wales In 2022.
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- Written by: Robin Osborne
Read more: Reporting season delivers flood of words about Lismore’s fate
Flooded Lismore a finalist in Wynne Prize
Well-known artist Geoff Harvey looked no further than the flooded city of Lismore as inspiration for his entry to this year’s prestigious Wynne Prize, awarded to the best landscape painting of Australian scenery, or figure sculpture.
The dramatic work made the final cut – 34 selected from 601 submissions - but in the end was not judged the winner.
Geoff said, ‘I painted this image of the recent floods to help me come to terms with what had just happened to Lismore. My own house was washed away in the surging floodwaters and completely destroyed. Fortunately, no one was hurt as it was vacant at the time.
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- Written by: Robin Osborne
Retirement reflections
I arrived in Lismore in 1979 and my aim was to get a job as a GP. I had already tried to get work in Pt Lincoln a major fishing town on Eyre Peninsular where an uncle lived. After a flight there with partner Jeni Binns we returned having not secured a job – no vacancies.
I then drove to Lismore and again stayed with another uncle at Teven and tried to get work in this region. The same problem arose in that trying to get work as a GP in Alstonville or Lismore was met with the same response ie no vacancies.
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- Written by: Andrew Binns
Paul Archer - Counsellor for Adolescents
I have always had an affinity with adolescents, which is why I became a secondary school teacher and stayed committed to this work for 25 years. In 2013, I completed a Masters in Psychotherapy, greatly deepening my understanding of adolescence and my efficacy as a teacher.
I left teaching in 2020 and established a practice as a counsellor/psychotherapist for adolescents. I have always had a sense of empathy and understanding of the adolescent population, especially those who are often labelled in negative ways due to their behaviours. Adolescence is such a vulnerable time in life, one filled with so many possibilities, opportunities and pitfalls. I am here to help.
I have a thorough knowledge of adolescent development which embraces existential, neurological, biological, psychological and sociological perspectives.
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- Written by: Paul Archer
Spring / Summer Editorial 2022
On the Northern Rivers we are starting to see recovery from the devastating floods of March 2022. The recovery is patchy for businesses and householders in the worst affected areas, with many operations closing forever and others still only functioning at a fraction of their former levels. It has been a long and challenging eight months on the North Coast and the future for the area is still unclear, as Robin Osborne reports (page 8).
Dr Stephen Moore and Dr Mark Noble have closed their practices due to the flooding inundating their rooms. For other doctors also at the end of their careers but not directly affected it is an appropriate time to retire from practice. Dr Binns reflects on his time on the North Coast as a general practitioner on page xxx and on page yyy we acknowledge the huge impact he has had on both the general and health communities of the North Coast.
Encouragingly, the recent NORPA production of “Love for One Night”, staged outdoors at the Eltham pub, has been well received (page zzz) and received national press coverage. The play (although the term hardly does it justice) addresses the transient nature of loss, both material and relationship-wise, through a series of loosely connected vignettes. Where there is life, there is hope and life is certainly reblooming again in the local arts scene.
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- Written by: David Guest
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