Dubbo Photo News & Dubbo Weekender

Columnists & Opinion

The price we pay

There’s a saying, “what goes up, must come down”. It’s gravity of course but apparently petrol prices over a long weekend are one of the few things which defy even the laws of physics. $1.56 for a long weekend in a region in drought makes about as much sense to this motorist as walking barefoot to Sydney. We all know there are lots of reasons why fuel prices fluctuate and it’s reassuring to know the…

Is there media protection in Australian politics?

Imagine the media firestorm if it was Julia Gillard having an affair with a staff junior member? Her fitness to lead, her moral character and political judgement would have been raked over in fine detail. It would have been the lead story of every news bulletin and the source of thousands of words in editorials and opinion pieces. Ponder the scenario of Gillard going to an election under that sort of the scrutiny, and the…
A ewe sleeps with her lamb at the Sippels’ property last week. The surrounding saltbush is providing protection from the cold southerly wind as well as providing all the feed they need. Photo: Supplied

Déjà vu as PM visits region

Déjà vu. John Howard. Déjà vu. Kevin Rudd. Déjà vu. Tony Abbott. Now Déjà vu, Malcolm Turnbull. All well-intentioned prime ministers, of that there’s no doubt. The idea is that if the PM arrives to a devastated drought-stricken property, and there’s a photo opportunity with a hard-working farming family and their kids scratching around in the dirt, that it will invoke sympathy and understanding in metropolitan areas. And that’s great. But we also need the…

Conquering fear can be a walk in the park

The air was cool and brisk as I made my usual morning stroll to the radio station where I worked as a 22-year-old. In the park lived a homeless man who I was more than a little bit afraid of. His dishevelled appearance and rugged demeanour ensured for some time I avoided the park and took a longer route to my place of employment. I played it safe. Fear comes to our mind like a…

Sky’s the limit for central NSW camping adventures

Leaving out names to protect the innocent, here’s a ‘great outdoors’ yarn to celebrate Camping Month which has been given a nod on the main cover of Dubbo Photo News this week. Exhibit A is an Australian family of five, camped wild and in the snow at the top of a remote snow-covered American mountain in the heart of mountain lion country (evidenced by the paw prints everywhere in said snow, discovered on a spotlighting…

We need a warning please: ‘The following news program isn’t suitable for human consumption’

The great thing about Dubbo Photo News is you can pick it up knowing your kids or grandma can read it without feeling too racked with survivor guilt, helpless, depressed or lost, just because of a picture they’ve seen or story they’ve read. If we do tackle the harder issues they’ll generally be in our Dubbo Weekender section, and for sensitive issues, we follow the guidelines of Mindframe, a national media initiative used for reporting…
The Sir Donald Bradman statue in Cootamundra, on the Captain’s Walk they have in the park there. Photo: Supplied

Learning from Bradman: Work-life balance

Those who know me well understand my appreciation for Sir Donald Bradman as a cricketer and a human being. My twitter feed is often littered with statistics and facts highlighting my admiration for the great man. A lesser-known story about D.G. Bradman is reflected in a plaque at the Bradman Museum. It conveys the message that Sir Don had lobbied for Australian players to have their wives stay with them at the end of a…
Illust: Paul Dorin.

The Budget Emergency we are meant to forget

The 2018 Federal budget was released on Tuesday night, and our printing deadline means this article was written last weekend, but it is easy to predict what Treasurer Morrison announced in his budget speech. Lower and middle income tax cuts. It is a federal election year, so this needed to be an election budget, and the phrase ‘tax cuts’ is a guaranteed vote winner. Factor in 30-plus losing News Polls, the heat from company tax…

Giving up the ghost online and what it means to you

A GHOST tour in Edinburgh was where I first discovered the morbid truth about why Victorian headstones often had bells attached. Buried by mistake? Ring urgently for service. We’ve come a long way since then, and thanks to modern medicine can be certain when someone’s been ‘called home’ before doing the needful. If you’re squirming a bit in your seat at the thought, it’s natural. The D word is nobody’s favourite and talking about it…
It’s a matter of urgency

It’s a matter of urgency

Why someone wouldn’t slow down in their car while passing an active emergency, as a demonstration of common sense if anything, is a mystery. Thankfully, from September this year, everyone will be required to slow to 40km/h on all NSW roads when police, ambulance, fire, SES or rescue vehicles are stopped and have their red or blue lights flashing. It’s part of a one-year trial which will be monitored by the NSW Government and which…

Cricket – It’s business as usual at Australia’s national sport

Ask me to name two things about professional cricket, and two grand illusions come to mind. Firstly, the mass hallucination that cricket is our national pastime, engrained in that fantastical notion of ‘Australian values’, and the national team represents these values of ‘a fair go’ and good-hearted larrikinism to the world. Secondly, the misconception that cricket is a noble game rich in gentlemanly conduct and sportsmanship, linked back to the days of the gentle sound…

The business of charities

National charities are businesses. As hard as it is to accept it just has to be. I have a lot of conversations with different people who have concerns with money going toward administration and wages, and that sort of thing, for charity organisations. At the end of the day, I can tell you, if it wasn’t for someone being paid we wouldn’t have these charities, which make a big difference when you are going through…