Wests Tigers have been in the news for all the wrong reasons during the summer. Last week came news that general manager of football operations Phil Moss had left the organisation. This was hot on the heels of the Robbie Farah dramas, which made the Concord based club look like a basket case leading into Christmas. Today’s news is a little more positive: the club has partnered with mental health organisation beyondblue for the next three years. The new partnership will see Wests Tigers and beyondblue work together to raise awareness of depression, anxiety and suicide prevention in Australia and to reduce any associated stigma.
♦ At the golden wedding anniversary of well known local couple, John and Jan McLaughlin, South West Voice was seated at the same table as Campbelltown Labor icon, veteran councillor Meg Oates. When the conversation came around to the seat of Macarthur, I reminded Meg how she had stood twice against Pat Farmer. I asked Meg if she remembered the front page headline I wrote as editor when Farmer easily won the first time in 2001: It took Cr Oates just a second or two to recall it was – drumroll please – “Farmer rolls Oates’’. It went on to win the headline of the year gong in the annual Fairfax Community Newspapers award, but there’s more to the story. Watching that year’s Fisher’s Ghost Festival parade I said hello to Liberal Party MP John Ryan, who was in the NSW Upper House. The election was a few weeks away but Ryan was convinced Farmer would roll Oates. And there and then a great newspaper headline was born. If the best headline award included a cash prize I would have shared some of it with John Ryan, but unfortunately it was only a little trophy.
♦ We came across a document that fell off the back of a truck and which had some details about the Australia Day honours in Liverpool. We’re not party poopers so we won’t reveal who the citizen of the year is except maybe give a little clue: it’s a man and he works in the health/medical area. But we can also reveal that a fairly well known Liverpool identity was in the running but missed out. All will be revealed at Woodward Park on Tuesday, January 26.
♦ Those residents east of the Georges River who are trying to stop the intermodal project were not amused when one of their members discovered what looked like a recruitment ad online for the Moorebank Intermodal Company (MIC). Resident were already up in arms about the date and times of the Planning and Assessment Commission (PAC) hearing dates on February 1 and 2, and the location, Bankstown Golf Club. Emailed complaints have been flying through cyber space ever since, some to PAC and others to the Ombudsman. You’ve got to feel for this small but dedicated army.
♦ Liverpool Council is claiming a record attendance of 17,000 people at Chipping Norton Lake to celebrate New Year’s Eve. They reckon that’s a whopping 7,000 more than last year. No doubt having X-Factor finalists Jess and Matt, Gang of Brothers, Dauntless Movement Crew, Jessica Jade, as well as rides, food stalls and a big fireworks display played a role in reeling in the public.
♦ Just minutes ago news started rolling in about housing development getting the nod at the land around Macquarie Fields House, which could mean the end of the Scenic Hills, especially if the proposed cemetery at Varroville also gets the nod, as expected. Not to mention Scenic Hills land being sold off at Hurlstone by the State Government. It could be crunch time for the Scenic Hills.
