Vandals damage Aboriginal sites older than ‘the pyramids of Egypt’: ABC Australia Wide

Kevin ‘Gavi’ Duncan and Minmi (Lily) Gugubarra at the Bulgandry Aboriginal Art Site, NSW Central Coast. October 2023.(ABC Central Coast: Keira Proust)

Click the image above to access the ABC recording:

On today’s program:

  • Several sacred Aboriginal sites on the NSW Central Coast have been vandalised, prompting prominent Aboriginal man Uncle Gavi Duncan and young Aboriginal woman Minmi Gugubarra to call for better education within the community about the significance of these sites. Guest/Audio: Kevin “Gavi” Duncan, Gomilaroi, Mandandanji and Awaba man +  Minmi Gugubarra, Wiradjuri woman +  Tristen Jones, University of Sydney historian + A Forestry Corporation spokesperson 
  • An introduced koala population in the New South Wales Riverina is disease free, and genetically diverse, raising hopes for other potential reintroductions of the animal. The Narrandera colony, west of Wagga Wagga is now having its spread along the Murrumbidgee River tracked with drones and thermal imaging, as well as sound monitors to listen to the koala’s distinctive bellowing mating calls on farms and reserves. Guest/Audio: Andrew Baker NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Tony McManus Berrembed Station, Leigh Mathieson Murrumbidgee Landcare 
  • A Kimberley Shire has revealed plans to build modular homes for childcare workers because they can’t afford rentals in the town as prices soar. There’s a huge waiting list in Kununurra, despite there being plenty of capacity at one childcare centre, because of the shortage. The big issue is the housing crisis… no new private homes are being built because the cost of construction remains more than their value. Parents struggling to juggle work say they would like more flexible car options.  Guest/Audio: Vernon Lawrence, Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley chief executive + Lucy Shorter, mother and podiatrist +  and her husband distiller Richard White + Ewin Early Learning Centre manager Jana Adlam.
  • How a humble pineapple peeler from the 1970s changed Ray’s life – Brisbane aged care resident Ray Ashdown has a secret his fellow residents didn’t know until recently. Observing his wife cutting a pineapple in the 1970’s, he wanted to make it easier, so he invented a pineapple peeler.The prototype is now in the Qld Museum’s Social History collection. Ray tells how his gadget changed his life. Guest/Audio: Ray Ashdown, inventor + Liz Bissell, Senior curator at Queensland Museum + Don Ashdown, son 
  • At 90-years-young, great grandmother Valerie Mouritz is running a massive wildlife park in the Wheatbelt and says she won’t be stopping until she gets her letter from King Charlie at 100! She is as fit as a fiddle and says her secret to longevity is just good luck and ballroom dancing. Her late husband started the park decades ago when he put a fence around an emu because tourists wanted to see native wildlife. Guest/Audio: Valerie Mouritz, great grandmother  

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