Distributed throughout the landscape, the archaeology of First Nations Australia is everywhere. Stone artefacts are not rare, but ubiquitous, common, and yet each is unique; as individual as the hands that made and used them.
While the dictum of Terra Nullius was overturned by the High Court with the Mabo decision of 1992, the idea of the ‘emptiness’ of Australia largely retains its power in the imaginative consciousness of white Australia.
The livelihood of its original inhabitants has historically been seen as marginal and precarious, and the population thought of as thinly spread therefore a narrative built on the damage wrought by European diseases and social displacement and violence in the early decades of colonisation.
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Bald Archy collection donated to museum
A collection of satiric portraits from the unique Bald Archy Prize art exhibition will be donated to Council’s Museum of the Riverina.
Council this week agreed to the offer of donation from the estate of the exhibition founder the late Peter Batey OAM which consists of 27 winning portraits acquired from previous exhibitions which first started in 1994.
Part of accepting the donation included Council agreeing to administer a future annual acquisitive Bald Archy Prize Art exhibition and related tour in memory of Mr Batey, who passed away in 2019, and acquire the future winning artworks to add to the permanent collection holding.
Planning proposals deferred
Two planning proposals to rezone land and reduce minimum lot sizes in Gregadoo Road and Tallowood Crescent have been deferred to another Council meeting.
RP-1 PLANNING PROPOSALS – LEP18/0004 AND LEP18/0009 – GREGADOO ROAD AND TALLOWOOD CRESCENT – AMENDMENT TO LAND ZONING AND MINIMUM LOT SIZE REQUIREMENTS OF THE WAGGA WAGGA LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 2010
Update on Chamber MOU
Council received a report providing an update on the first 12 months of the Memorandum of Understanding between Council and the Wagga Wagga Business Chamber.
Although heavily impacted by COVID-19, the Chamber was able to achieve 40 of its 48 objectives and develop a four-year Strategic Plan that supports Wagga Wagga’s small business community and Council objectives.
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Works start on museum upgrade
Council contractors have started work on the Museum of the Riverina capital works redevelopment project at the Botanic Gardens site with the first stage expected to be finished towards the end of this year.
The project will incorporate major improvements to the museum’s exhibition spaces and collection storage areas.
Council’s Project Manager Tom Lemerle said site mobilisation for the project was completed in February after a comprehensive tender period along with design revision and preparation for construction of the new exhibition building currently being finalised.
“Council also received funding from the Federal Government and this funding has allowed us to progress stage two of the museum capital works redevelopment program, which is focused on exhibition design and fit out,” Mr Lemerle said.
Australia s ten biggest inland cities you should visit (or avoid)
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Photo: Nathan White/TEQ
Outsiders could be forgiven for thinking that Australia s interior is entirely empty. All the big cities cling to the coast like a scared toddler to a blankie. What s more, most of the second tier cities are on the coast, too. Australia has got sizeable settlements outside the capitals, but the likes of Townsville, Newcastle, Wollongong, Geelong and Bunbury are also coastal.
There are a few biggish inland cities, though, and some of them offer plenty for visitors. We ve picked out the largest ten, using the latest estimated resident population stats from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The significant urban area measurement – the closest realistic approximation of what the city is – has been used.