Why I remain a New England New Stater 7 - the case of the big river

Note to readers: This post is one in a series using personal examples to illustrate why I continue to support both agitation for New England self-government and self-government itself. Agitation, because its very existence forces forces the Sydney Government to consider New England interests. Self-government, because there are some things that we cannot achieve without this.

Once upon a time there was a big river. Rising in what is now called the New England Tablelands, it wound its way from the mountains to the sea.

To the area's original Aboriginal inhabitants, it was a great resource, giving them access to riverine and maritime resources. The European invaders attracted by land and resources such as timber were also struck by its size - they called it the big river. They founded towns and villages along its length. Grafton, the valley's capital, became a major inland port and one of the four biggest towns in New England.

Early on the valley's people became unhappy. They complained that all the revenue from land sales -a major source of revenue - was spent in the colonial capital of Sydney. They launched an independence movement to establish a new colonial government in Northern NSW. This died down, although they did extract some concessions.

Inland, the new Great Northern Railway snaked its way north, attracting freight. Worried, Grafton's civic leaders agitated for a railway to service the valley's hinterland. This agitation failed many times.

Federation and the new century saw local discontents reach another head.

Following the decision of the Sydney Government to stop the ferry service that linked the two parts of Grafton across the river, a local doctor launched a protest campaign that quickly turned into a new independence campaign for the North. War intervened, but then the campaign resumed centered on the North Coast Development League. This quickly created a sister league inland, laying the base for sustained agitation throughout much of the twentieth century for Northern independence within the Federation.

In 1967 the valley voted for independence from NSW. The overall vote was no because a sustained anti-campaign by the Labor Party led to a very strong no vote in its Newcastle stronghold.

The independence movement went into decline. As it did, so did the valley. What was not properly recognised at the time was that the very existence of the separation movement with its broader linkages was central to political recognition.

Today the river still flows. But the valley itself is much diminished.

Now counted as part of the Mid North Coast instead of the major element in what was called the Northern Rivers, squeezed between the growth of Coffs Harbour in the south and Richmond in the north, the valley has become a postscript.

I find this sad.

Return to introductory post

The Koori Mail - New England's national indigenous newspaper

For a little while, an Aboriginal colleague at the office has been lending me copies of the Koori Mail to read. That colleague is leaving, so I am going to have to take out a subscription if I want to continue to keep in touch.

The Koori Mail is, I think, one of the few if not the only New England publication with truly national reach.

The paper was founded in in 1991 by Owen and Sue Carriage. In 1992, it was taken over by a company called Budsoar Pty Ltd, jointly owned by five Aboriginal organisations on the North Coast of New South Wales- Bundjalung Tribal Society (Lismore), Bunjum Aboriginal Co-operative (Cabbage Tree Island), Kurrachee Co-operative Society (Coraki), Nungera Co-operative (Maclean) and Buyinbin (Casino).

The Koori Mail remains an entirely self-funding, wholly Aboriginal owned company. The board of directors comprises one member from each of the five Aboriginal organisations that own it, with twenty percent interest from each.

The paper's mission is to report news and relay advertising of interest to indigenous Australians and people interested in indigenous affairs. It covers news from around the nation and accepts contributions in the form of stories, poetry, news, photographs and artwork.

For a long time the paper was the only national voice of the indigenous community. Today it has developed into a strong fortnightly voice with an audited circulation of 90,000.

North Coast Architecture - a note

In Diary of a travelling trainer - day two: Grafton, Sydney talking about my drive around South Grafton I noted there was a very distinct feel to North Coast architecture. Since then, I have kept an eye out for any material that might tell me something about the history and style of the buildings, but so far without luck. For that reason, I thought that I might put down a few rough notes for my own benefit.

Looking just at Grafton, you find the older buildings in both Grafton and South Grafton towards the river, essentially the old port areas. Because this was a timber area, wood construction was important. So we have two story pubs of wood construction with verandahs; there is a distinct style feel here including decorative use of wood that can also be found in the Macleay Valley to the south.

To analyse this, I really need to get photos to allow me to compare and contrast features.

The older houses in Grafton are not necessarily large but often very attractive. There seems little of the town house style architecture found in Armidale, although in both places iron lace work was commonly used as a decoration.

Outside the towns, the remains of the now diminished dairy industry with its milk sheds can still be found. As a child driving down from the Tablelands I always noticed the shift to the dairy style. Smaller houses, low, wood, with the milking areas nearby.

In part because of the connection between architecture, climate and economic activity, there appear to be shifting styles across New England. I always took this for granted. However, with change styles seem to be blurring, hence the need to document now.

Southern Cross University's Whale Studies

New research which investigates the migratory movements of humpback whales between Antarctica, the east coast of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and the west coast of Australia, has been presented to the International Whaling Commission.

The three reports were prepared by Southern Cross University’s Whale Research Centre using photo-identification catalogues of humpbacks from Hervey Bay, Ballina, New Zealand, Western Australia and Antarctica. The research involved collaboration with scientists from the South Pacific Whale Research Consortium, The Centre for Whale Research, Western Australia, the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries, The International Fund for Animal Welfare and Greenpeace International.

You can find more details here.

View of Lismore 1891

This photo of Lismore in 1891 is from the A J Campbell collection held by the National Library in Canberra. The raw, cleared, nature of the ground is typical of New England towns during the period.

The Clarence River - a few notes

Photo: Clarence River, Grafton

The web frustrates me some times. I am used to getting information from the web, but often there are gaps.

The Clarence River is one such gap. This is a big river, yet I cannot find a proper description. So I thought that I should record a few basic facts.

The facts that follow are taken from various sources. I have not attempted to link all sources.

Key facts:

1. The largest coastal river catchment in NSW at 22,700 square kilometres in the New England ranges extending into southern Queensland.
2. Largest of all NSW coastal rivers - flows up to 16,800 m3/s have been recorded at Grafton while the average annual discharge is approximately 3.7 x 106 ML/yr.
3. Length around 394k (394 miles).
4. Road distance from river mouth to Grafton 62k.
5. Main tributaries Mann River, Nymboida River, and Orara River.
6. More than 100 islands form part of the Clarence River system.
7. The limit of tidal influence is Smiths Falls near Copmanhurst, about 105 km from the ocean.

Key references

1. http://www.naturalresources.nsw.gov.au/estuaries/inventory/clarence.shtml

Lismore's CBD feels the pinch of dollar drain

Interesting story in the Lismore Northern Star about the challenges facing retailers in the Lismore CBD where retail sales are down. Part of the problem is apparently due to a revamped Lismore Shopping Square, but Lismore also faces a broader problem.

According to Lismore Unlimited president Phil Hanlon. Lismore shopper dollars are being lured away from its CBD not just by a revamped Lismore Shopping Square, but to a Gold Coast made more accessible by improved roads. “You can be at Robina or Pacific Fair in an hour and a half and shop all weekend – you can’t shop in Lismore all weekend,” he said.

Mr Hanlon suggests that the dollar drain was more dramatic than most people realised, estimating between $200 million and $300 million crossing the NSW/Queensland border from the Northern Rivers each year.

Pressure on Lismore has also also came from the coast where, over the past few years, retail business between Lennox Head and Byron Bay had doubled.

Lismore is fighting back, trying to reach the 750,000 people living just over the border in Queensland. But it's not easy.

I found the story interesting in its own right, but also because it illustrates some of the changes taking place in New England, changes that help explain New England's relatively poor economic performance together with the decline in its sense of self-identity.

Our problem is that New England is squeezed, cannibalised, between the growing Sydney and Brisbane conurbations.

In an earlier story I spoke of the way in which Newcastle in the south was now being treated by the Sydney Government as simply another part Greater Sydney. This story shows the fragmentation process in the north.

Like Mr Hanlon, when I was chair of Tourism Armidale I used to talk about the opportunities offered by the big population concentrations to the north and south of Armidale. But it's very hard to do anything meaningful to fight back when everything has to be done at an increasingly fragmented local level.

Southern Cross University, Richmond Valley Council combine to support economic development

Southern Cross University has formed new links with the Richmond Valley Council to support and promote the economic development of the region.

The University and the Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding on February 8 that will pave the way for joint projects in the areas of economic development, tourism and the environment. A ground breaking student internship scholarship is one of the proposals being discussed. Professor Paul Clark, Southern Cross University Vice-Chancellor, said he looked forward to working closely with the Council.

"We have a strong commitment to the communities in our region and are delighted to formalise this arrangement with the Council,” Professor Clark said.

“We will now be looking at opportunities for research, and social, environment and economic development in the Richmond Valley.”

Southern Cross University has formalised arrangements with a number of councils throughout the Northern Rivers region and is working closely with councils in the Mid North Coast area.

Richmond Valley Council Mayor Cr Charlie Cox said the Council welcomed the opportunity to engage with and develop the relationship with Southern Cross University.

“The Memorandum of Understanding provides for Council and the University to work on a various initiatives that can assist with outcomes for the community,” Cr Cox said.

Southern Cross University - Bundjalung Nation Mapping

In December a new project was launched at Southern Cross University intended to give indigenous communities a greater say on how their traditional lands are managed and preserving the wisdom of Elders.

The new project is a joint venture between the University, the Bundjalung Nation Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Natural Resource Management Committee, Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority, and Department of Environment and Conservation National Parks and Wildlife Division.

The project has seen the creation of a highly secured, user-friendly computer-based record keeping system through which communities can record and own their cultural knowledge. It is designed to be administered and controlled by indigenous communities, with important or significant information only able to be accessed by those persons delegated by the local Aboriginal community.

Communities can record oral, visual and written histories, photographs, films and any other kind of digital media about their cultural places and landscapes and file them on the database for the benefit of future generations.

“A few years ago I became extremely concerned that Indigenous cultural knowledge and traditions were not being recorded or passed on to the younger generation,” said Dr David Lloyd, senior lecturer in the School of Environmental Science and Management and cultural mapping project manager.

“It seemed this would be lost within a very short time if some real effort was not made to preserve it.“

After consultation with indigenous communities they decided to work cooperatively with us and use modern technology to record their ancient wisdom, heritage and cultural traditions.

“The first community we have worked closely with are the Aboriginal people of the Tweed-Byron region and we are now encouraging other communities to get involved.“

Maclean's 104th Highland Games

Photo: Highland Dancers, Maclean

Browsing around, I was fascinated to discover that Maclean will be holding its 104th Highland games over the weekend of 21 and 22 March 2015.

New England has a strong Scottish connection. One stream of settlers came from the highlands via the Hunter to the Clarence Valley. For a period there was even a gaelic newspaper.

A second, wealthier, stream came to take up land on the New England Tablelands with a special concentration around Glen Innes, another centre proud of its Scottish connections.