Terania Times #105

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is is a community magazine so we want it to be lled with articles from members of our local community!

We welcome your articles, photographs, stories and other contributions.

It’s always a good idea to have someone else read it to see if it makes sense. Please keep articles to under 800 words, letters under 300 words and include a phone number in case we need to contact you. All letters are, as far as practicable, left in their original form. Some stylistic or formatting alterations may be made to t layout requirements but the spelling, grammar, punctuation, expression, opinions and information they contain are all their authors’ own work.

Executive contributors

Editor, Advertising Enquires & Layout

Ray Flanagan Accounts Betty Ryan Cover photograph - Koala by Hugh Nicholson

T.T. #105 contributors

Bob Keane Jason Gough Cath Lewis Rupert Reid Samuel Alexander TCCC committee Robyn Kelly Ivy Young Dale Paget Maggie Ritchie Keith Gasteen

Lina Svensson

Terri Nicholson Andy Putnam Nan Nicholson

Helena NorbergHodge Hugh Nicholson Aliison Kelly Peta Wright Alison Bath Zoe Dodd Brad Mustow

Editorial

Disclaimer

e views and opinions expressed in Terania Times are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the editors, the advertising or administrative team members.

Happy New Year!

January/February 2023 Issue 105

Welcome to our rst publication for 2023. I hope you enjoyed some holiday time if that was on your agenda.

First up, an apology for Jason's Music Notes column last edition. I missed the second page - duh! So, the rst half is repeated with the full text.

One noteable change to a regular column, Postcards From the Rainforest, is that the author has changed. Up to now Susan Paget has written this column. Susan's partner Dale will now share the column with Susan. Welcome on board Dale!

And a welcome to long-time Terania resident, Andy Putnam. Andy will be writing the Open Mic report to take some of the load o me.

We are looking for a community-minded person to take over managing payments for advertisements. It's not a big job - involves sending out invoices and keeping a simple spreadsheet. Get in touch if it's something you would like to help with. Currently this task is being done by Betty who would like to pass it on since her computer has 'passed' to the Great Electronic Graveyard and is not to be replaced. e serialised book ' is Civilisation is Finished", is coming to an end. e dialogue between Rupert

Read and Samuel Alexander concluded in our last edition, however the postscript by Helena NorbergHodge is, I think, well worth a read. So Helena's contribution will feature in this and the following edition of TT. She is a linguist, author and lm maker, founder and director of the international nonpro t organisation, Local Futures, a pioneer of the new economy movement, and the convenor of World Localization Day. She is the author of several books, including ‘Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh’, an eye-opening tale of tradition and change in Ladakh. is month (December 2022) is the anniversary of the death of our former illustrious cartoonist, and overall delightful human being, John Revington. So, in honour of John, I have included one of his cartoons on page 5.

All the best to all our readers for 2023!

Ray Flanagan

Terania Times C/O Ray Flanagan 43 Ross Rd e Channon, NSW 2480

Road Kills Soar across the Region

Friends of the Koala (FOK) has been actively working in the region for over 35 years rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing koalas. FOK is asking the public to be ever more vigilant on the roads, particularly at night. Koalas are on the move, along with other wildlife and we have been hit with a spate of road kills many of them mothers with joeys on their backs. In the last three months we have had 30 koalas killed across the region.

Recently, we have had three deaths at the Bruxner Highway/ Tatham Road turno . Two of them within

two days of each other, one of them was a mother with a joey. anks to the member of the Public who called our 24/7 days a week hotline, our rescuer Ina, was able to check the dead koala and discovered that she was lactating. She searched the sides of the road and found the joey, which we named Seeanna who is now being rehabilitated at FOK's Koala Hospital.

It is imperative that people take notice of koala zones and slow down particularly dusk to dawn.

We currently have in care a koala from e Channon which we have named Taika. Taika arrived with a nasty ear infection and chlamydial conjunctivitis. He was happy to be rescued and has put on

almost a kilo in ve days – we think it is all the leaf in his belly! He also had quite severe chlamydial conjunctivitis, so he’s got a bit going on. It will be wonderful to see this boy improve over the next few weeks – his eyes and ears are already looking so much better.

Should you see or accidently hit a koala please

ALIISON KELLY

contact:-

Friends of the Koala 24/7 hotline on 6622 1233.

Please report all sightings to our Report a Sighting on the website so we can track where koalas live and consider becoming a member.

Taika (meaning Tiger) patiently takes his treatments and supplements.

Keith’s tribute to Father Malcolm –Anglican Priest on North Stradbroke Island and the Archbishop of Brisbane’s Special Envoy on Indigenous matters to Lambeth, the Anglican equivalent of the Vatican

Father Malcolm grew up in a small seaside village with its family graveyard attached to the Church. He was a strong, active youth and probably surprised many when he decided to study eology and take the cloth. For 45 years he ministered to his ock, living in Brisbane’s Bayside suburbs and on North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribar).

I rst encountered Malcolm in 1987 when he buried “Old Johnny”: in a co n built and decorated by Dennis Monks, Ian Gaillard, Chris Pooh and myself. Johnny was *Oodgeroo’s handyman on her 5 acre block at Moongalba, her sitting down place. (*Oodgeroo Noonuccal, formerly Cath Walker, was a celebrated Australian poet- Ed.)

To this day no one knows how Oodgeroo got title to this land, but such was her status here and overseas, that no one dare challenge her. For years she hosted school groups, took them down to the mangroves to pick quampi (stick oysters) and gather paperbark (oodgeroo) for writing on, lining coolamon for picanini and a host of other uses. She taught them stories, games, arts and craft. But it rained a lot on the island. at year, 1987, a group from Terania and e Channon visited Oodgeroo and when they came back Ian Gaillard put out the word for us to gather materials and build a meeting house where Oodgeroo could do her work with school kids and stay dry.

And so the Sweet Dreams Team was born and the rest, as they say, is history.

Su ce to say that on the third trip in 1988 the Land Rights Colours, red, black and yellow, were painted on the roof and that afternoon the Bjelke-Peterson government collapsed and Joe and Flo were no more.

The Evening Nibble

Keith Gasteen regales us with his eclectic stories

Father Malcolm buried Johnny, Oodgeroo, Oodgeroo’s grand daughter; Patti (the mother of the Noonuccal Kunjeil dancers), and God knows how many other family and community members right down to Oodgeroo’s older son, Dennis. In 2019 I delivered (through his eldest son Raymond) a short and pithy Eulogy addressed to “the sons and daughters of Dennis Walker”. It began: “Charlie Perkins rang me the week before he died. “Tell Dennis I think he’s on the right track with his Treaty Business, and I want to come down and have a yarn as soon as I am feeling a bit better”. But perhaps the most spectacular burial Malcolm conducted was for Vivian, Oodgeroo’s favourite son. He was a ne dancer, playwright, painter and actor, and a close friend of the Keeper of the Queen’s Music, who put his address as C/- Buckingham Palace, and who wrote a Requiem to be played at Vivian’s funeral.

e family was distraught at the news of his death and knew it was going to take weeks and thousands of dollars to get him back for burial, using conventional channels. So Malcolm rolled up his sleeves (so to speak) and jumped on the rst available Qantas ight to London. ere he went straight to the Funeral Home, ordered them to put Vivian in a body bag, ll it up with dry ice to ensure he survived the return journey and put him in the boot as excess baggage. e whole round trip took less than a week and cost little more than a return airfare. at was my mate, Father Malcolm.

Needing to get my own life back on track after working seven years with Dennis, I didn’t have a lot to do with Malcolm for the next 15 years. I knew he was doing great work educating his Church to the new realities and understandings opening up after Mabo in 1992, when 'Terra-Nullius' was nally put to bed as the legal basis for the British occupation of this land we all call Australia. And I knew he was involved in Treaty Talks between the

Noonuccal people represented by Dennis and Aunty Colleen, and the dancers Noonuccal Kunjeil, with Joshua Walker, the Lead Spokesperson and Songman on the one side; and His Grace the Archbishop of Brisbane and his seven Bishops, representing the Greater Brisbane Area, on the other. And so it came to pass that the prestigious groups came together for Treaty Talks.

Fine progress was made on the rst day but all those excited expectations were dashed on the Rocks of Intransigence on the following day. With the smell of the feast being cooked and anticipation of a great feed – it all came to naught when Dennis demanded that the Archbishop sign on the dotted line as a symbol of good faith, in proceeding with the talks. But His Grace said that he could not in all conscience sign this document because he needed more time and it seemed too risky. And with that the little children quietly stood up and drifted away, followed by the young adults, leaving the eld to the Archbishop, his beautiful, sympathetic woman Bishop and her six Brother Bishops on one side and Dennis, Aunty Colleen and Songman, Joshua, on the other.

Joshua observed that Jesus took risks, while Aunty Colleen said that White people were forever o ering her people the ‘icing on the cake’. But the icing always melted before they could enjoy it.

And even though I saw Malcolm one last time after that, I never fully understood what had happened. So that when Malcolm and I did have our nal meeting in the Spring of 2018, he simply told me he was going to “shame the Archbishop”. “Don’t shame him”, I begged, “Let me write him a letter”, but of course, I never did.

On our last meeting his hands resembled mine, gnarled, horney and cracked. “I am building an octagonal house on the island, made out of besser blocks and I’ve got lung cancer, so they only allow me one of these a day

(continued from page 4)

(cigaro)”. So we sat in the glorious the glorious warming sun for a couple of hours, yarning, smoking and probably a cuppa as well.

Just two old mates revelling in each other’s company.

It nearly killed me when I heard the news of his death; so much un nished business: I had a load of camphor wood slabs for house furnishings and the like.

In the turmoil following his death, his long term partner called me. (She had worked for ve years on Archbishop Demond Tutu’s sta at the end of the Apartheid Era when Mandela was nally released from Robyn Island to bring his people together and avoid a catastrophic civil war). She asked me to help get the Noonuccal Kunjeil dancers safely to the memorial service, where they would perform their ceremony for him.

I had Covid at the time and phone contact with Songman Joshua was proving di cult. So I walked down to the beach at Lennox Head, gazed at the ocean and thought to myself “Now this sand ends up on Stradbroke Island, even on to Frazer Island. But that’s too slow”. en I saw a group of terns, mainly juvenile, resting calmly on the beach and basking in the feeble sunshine. So I asked them to take a message to Joshua from me and straight away I got a good feeling in my guts. Two adult terns rose up, maybe 20 metres in the air, opened their wings like a boomerang as they gracefully returned to the sand. And I told that to Malcolm’s partner and she said “Oh yes, Malcolm loved to go down to the beach to watch the terns!”.

And so when the time came for the Dancers to commence the ceremony to liberate Malcolm’s spirit and send it on to its eternal path, (having looked up the St. John’s Cathedral website with its photos of this magni cent Gothic cathedral), I saw them emerge from the Dardanelles room where they had painted up to take up their position in front of the Great Altar and, facing the 1,000 plus congregation, start their presentation. I was seated at our dining table, head in hands, elbows on the table, and I knew every word and every dance by heart because I'd worked with them for 30 years. Suddenly I felt sleepy, so I got up and walked over to the bed in my shed. When I awoke 45 minutes later Noonuccal

Kunjeil had done their job and I had done mine.

In keeping with his status, Noonuccal Higher Man, from henceforth, his name will not be spoken, nor his image displayed again. Vale my friend.

e link to all this is in the journal Common eology <www.commontheology. com/archives/winter13.pdf>

Revo’s cartoon

You could be forgiven for thinking that all is well with stopping the Dunoon Dam (the DuD).

Well, sorry to say that the DuD is still with us. e Widjabul Wia-bal burial sites, and the rainforest, platypus and koala habitat in the dam footprint are more at risk than ever.

First an update: Feb 2022 - e newly elected Rous councillors voted yes to a motion by Big Rob to bring the DuD back onto the Future Water 2040 Plan. is was prior to any sta brie ng, communication with Traditional Owners, or listening to expert recommendations. Rous has since initiated further studies on the DuD site, especially cultural heritage studies. is is against the express wishes of Widjabul Wia-bal elders and has been done without consulting them.

Apr 2022 - the Dept of Planning and Environment (DPE) signed o on the previous Integrated Water Cycle Management Plan (IWCM), which did not include the DuD. However Rous has kept that quiet and continued to move forward with the 'dam studies'.

Oct 2022 - Rous councillors approved a awed Regional Demand Management Plan, against expert recommendations. Questions arose as to whether Rous is t for purpose.

Nov 2022 – the Far North Coast Regional Water Strategy was released. https://water.dpie.nsw.gov. au/plans-and-programs/ regional-water-strategies/ public-exhibition/far-north-

Dunoon Dam Update

(It's not over yet)

coast-regional-water-strategy e DuD is not on its short list of recommendations. Its environmental impact is rated as Major/ Extreme and it fails the costbene t analysis,

However, the Strategy does discuss a combined option of construction of the DuD with expansion of Rous bulk water system, at an estimated cost of $815 million!

Even worse, the Strategy recommends leaving it to the LGAs and Rous to determine whether to proceed with the DuD. e local LGAs are not capable of making science-based decisions on this important issue. Many of their councillors do not even accept the science of climate change, they are strongly committed to the dam and they are hostile to Indigenous wishes to protect country.

In early November, Rous conducted a phone push-poll asking constituents to choose from four sources of water supply, with the DuD being the rst choice. Comprehensive water e ciencies, which are considered internationally to be the fastest and cheapest way to obtain the largest volume of water, were not o ered as an option.

Dec 2022 – we now know that the pro-dam lobby is considering using the DuD as an election issue for the March 2023 state elections. Our community, which will be the one to su er the most from the construction of the DuD, needs to become informed about the issues.

Brie y, the DuD is:

1. the most expensive option for ratepayers because it is unlikely to attract state or federal funding and will have

to be paid for upfront. e cost has gone up to $514 mill over 40 years, or $815 mill if combined with an expansion of the Rous network.

2. the least secure option against drought and a drying climate because it is entirely dependent on rainfall. Modern recommendations for water supply are for least 50% non-rainfall dependent sources. We already have a dam – the rest should come from more reliable sources, eg by eliminating the current 18% wastage we would increase the supply by 18%.

3. the most o ensive to the Widjabul Wia-bal people who have said repeatedly that they do not accept the destruction of their sacred burial site.

4. the most destructive of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, endangered ecological communities, and habitat of threatened species.

How can you help?

Firstly, get informed so that you can talk to other people. Have a look at the Water Northern Rivers website for fully referenced information waternorthernrivers.org/ Ask questions of us at WNR – no question is too silly! We are all learning

all the time.

Secondly, buy the 2023 calendar which features Widjabul Wia-bal senior knowledge holder, Uncle John Roberts, on the cover. He said to WNR, and to many of his people, "you have to stop that dam", right up to the last days before he died in May this year.

Buying the calendar helps keep the campaign front of mind and is a great Christmas present. $20 each. All proceeds to help the campaign.

- e Channon Market, Water Northern Rivers stall

- Gussy Gus’s Food Van at 117 Magellan St (where Resilient Lismore was) on Tues-Fri.

- South Lismore PO

- Dunoon PO

It will be available in Mullum, Ocean Shores, and other places soon - if you have a shop/stall where you would like to stock them let us know.

You can order online also if further away:

- pay at waternorthernrivers.org/donate (add $5 for postage pls) and send screen shot and your address to waternorthernrivers@gmail.com

photo :calendar cover>courtesy Water Northern Rivers

Monty is a wild python and a semi regular visitor to our property, e Rainforest Farm. We can go a month or two without seeing him but then he’s baaaaack, and he’ll hang out for a few days, often lounging around with a bulge in his belly and a satis ed look in his eye. e “Monty” moniker was given to our python by a funny friend a few years ago. Monty is a boy’s name but he could just as easily be a she.

When we rst met Monty, Sue and I were fresh o the boat from the city and our scaley visitor was a youngster.

“Sue! Sue!” I yelled, excitement and caution pulsing through me like venom.

I snatched my mobile phone. Snap. Snap … I hit zoom (because I don’t want to get too close) Snap. Snap. en I stood back and watched a David Attenborough documentary unfold on my Tuntable Creek veranda. He climbed a vertical post using nothing but the friction of his belly and a tower of six packs doing continuous crunches. It was hypnotic.

I knew Monty wasn’t venomous but the previous owner of our home had warned us she was bitten by a python that snuck into the house and then into her bed. e stu of nightmares, right? She shared this “by the way” news nugget AFTER we moved in. She also told us about the time she rescued her bite sized Chihuahua from a python’s jaw. Let’s just say, this has kept us very mindful of never leaving doors open.

But these alarm bells were forgotten when I met Monty. e diamond patterns of deep green, black and beige are a mathematical wonder: as precise as a technical drawing and as glorious as a nely machined textile.

I was unsure how Monty would react to me and equally uncertain about how I should behave around him. But we now have an understanding. I keep my distance and he keeps his. We know we’re both wild animals and shouldn’t

Postcards from the Rainforest

Dale Paget is a writer and a tv producer/director who lives in Tuntable Creek

be trusted.

But with each appearance at the farm our inquisitive friend brings a smile. I watch him do circuits of our patio. First along the barbeque, then across the day bed and up the veranda post. Next, he wraps himself tightly around our snakebite kit. He poses brie y as if to mock me. en he disappears into the safe and warm darkness of the ceiling.

One winter morning I pulled out the mower and there was Monty wrapped around the engine. After I got over the shock of a viper on my Honda, I took it as a sign Monty didn’t want me to mow that day. Instead, I took some happy snaps to share with friends and family. I get two kinds of reactions to Monty photos: Warm appreciation and ice cold terror.

giant frangipani tree. He was last seen spearing head rst into the critter rich jungle below.

A few days later while overseas on a holiday, I got an email from the funny friend who, a couple years before, had given Monty his name.

“In your absence Monty has gone berserk,” he wrote. On the next line was a link to a news story. “Five-Year-Old Bitten and Dragged Into Pool By Huge Python”

WTF!

e python looked about the size of Monty. Yikes!

With time both Sue and I have come to enjoy a warm, peaceful - dare I sayfuzzy feeling, watching Monty snoop around the house.

A few weeks ago Monty surprised Sue on the veranda. “Well hello,” she said, standing up quickly. Hovering a metre behind her was the long neck of our slinky serpent. He had snuck up behind her on his way to taking a nanny nap in the roof.

In the afternoon we found him curled up like a rope under an outdoor table. We put a hold on BBQ preparations while Monty rested for an hour or two. After I lit a re, Monty slid away, climbing onto the roof and then stretching across a metre wide gap to a

e story about Beau, a ve year old from Byron Bay who was attacked and dragged into a pool by a three metre long python, was so bizarre it made headlines around the world. Beau’s dad Ben seemed unfussed by the ordeal, telling a radio station that pythons are a fact of life in the area. “Look … it is Australia,” he said.

He’s right. It is Australia. ings in the bush can bite, sting and even kill, though most of the time they want nothing to do with you.

Still, as I head back to the farm and await another Monty Python show, I’m now rethinking our relationship and wrestling with a curly question: Is our magni cent Monty, friend or foe?

Greencath Gardening

Citrus Stink Bugs (Musgravia sulciventris)

Years ago I was removing stink bugs from my lemon. I looked straight up and actually saw a drop of orange goop dropping down and before I could blink it landed past my spectacles and into my eye. Grimacing with severe pain, I ran to the laundry and ran water over my eye. Soon my neighbour was driving me to emergency where they put in local anaesthetic drops for the chemical burn of my cornea and a patch to protect my eye. I worked in that particular emergency department at the time, I was given a week o . at is the power of the stink bug, not only does it stink, but its defensive chemicals can really cause damage to skin and eyes. ey can spray at a target 0.6 metres away.

I haven’t had stink bugs on my relatively young citrus (lemon, lime, mandarin, pomelo, calamunchie, nger lime) up until now. ey seem to have found my place, and I am now regularly forced to get rid of them. Carefully.

A native insect that once ranged

March. Because they go through 5 di erent stages (or instars) it seems as though there are 5 di erent insects.

e eggs are distinctive, a clutch of around 10 bright green balls on the underside of a leaf.

e emerging nymphs are pale green with orange eyes that moult to a pale yellow colour, that moult again to bright orange, then moult to the nal dark bronze large insect 25mm long.

e problem with these bugs is that they suck the sap from new growth, and cause young fruit to turn yellow-brown and drop o . Usually the distinctive odour of the stink bug after brushing by the citrus is the key to their presence.

Insects that prey on the stink bug include the assassin bug and parasitic wasps. ere are ways to control the numbers of stink bugs:

1) Physical removal

Best to wear long sleeves and protective eyewear. From experience glasses are not adequate, eye safety goggles, or swimming goggles are good. Don’t look straight up but approach a stink bug from the side.

Put detergent into a container with water and use tongs (so the smell doesn’t get on your hands) for grabbing them o the plant, or use rubber gloves. row them to the corner of the garden after a few hours.

Some intrepid gardeners vacuum the stink bugs, not using the house vacuum cleaner (you never get the smell out!), and using a vacuum with disposable bags.

Blasting stink bugs with the garden hose then collecting them is another method.

2) Chemical sprays

Pyrethrum will kill stink bugs, but also any other insect such as bees or ladybirds. Eco-oil may smother the young nymphs, but not the larger stink bugs.

I believe pulling them o your citrus is the way to go. Good luck with it!

from coastal SE Queensland to northern NSW, but now has spread south to Bega

in NSW and some inland citrus growing areas of Qld and NSW. e stink bug, or bronze orange bugs, appear at the end of winter, and mate late November to early

Cath Lewis shares

more from your vegie patch

Citrus Stink Bugs (Musgravia sulciventris)

photos: all courtesy Cath Lewis

The Channon

Craft Market Inc.

ROBYN KELLY

2022-

e Big Big Year!

What an amazing year we are waving goodbye to, the markets are rebuilding with an incredible group of ne artists and producers who create the beautiful atmosphere and sell and barter their goods.

From the hills, valleys and coasts the cottage industry is recreating itself, ring up the kilns, digging up the gardens,

potting up the owers, retro tting that recycled clothing, whittling those spoons, sewing up the undies, brewing the tinctures and magic, picking the veggies and fruit, making the wax melt, creating beautiful adornments for the body and the home, all under our nose.

We love our region, we love the makers, bakers, the growers, the providers, the ones who create the things that make our lives abundant

and our bodies well.

Our markets never lost the spirit that was created in 1976 in the heart of our village, it prides itself on the established principles to create a space for the community to gather. Of course many things have changed in the 48 years, like us all, some hurdles, some massive wins and of course those times when we lost dear close folks who shared our heart spaces and our community.

We collectively created this market and that's what we really admire, so if you have been a stall owner, a current stallholder, a community member of an organisation that served their group, a past committee member, a patron, we thank you for your support in 2022.

To our patient and wonderful team members who come once a month to help host the market, you totally rock, thank you for your commitment to the market over the past year and being there for everyone and hosting our beautiful market.

Please let your friends, family, colleagues, the whole world know. We are here, on the 2nd Sunday of the month, established in 1976 by some

very clever people! Coronation Park, e Channon! inking you want to be a stallholder?

Jump onto our website and pre-register, we will get in touch. thechannonmarket.org.au

inking you want to come and meet some groovy people who manage the markets, e Committee?

Please email us, we meet once a month at a venue to be determined.

Our next meeting will be 11th January 2023.

Interested please email Christine - secretary@ thechannonmarket.org.au

Wishing you all the best for a fabulous end of 2022 and a wonderful start to 2023.

Part of the Dunoon Public School Marimba Ensemble at the September 2022 Market

Environment & Society

Anthropogenic induced climate change in the Anthropocene. We’ve all heard of it now. Most of us have lived it now. Barely any of us are arguing its existence now. What has caused the situation that is the worsening climate crisis that lies before us now? Carbon emissions. We’ve all heard of them now. Gaseous carbon products (carbon dioxide, methane) are released into Earth’s atmosphere as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels, as well as the result of biological reactions involving industrial agriculture. Sounds simple right? If the climate polluting fossil fuel industry is at fault are renewables going to save us? When we welcome the holy age of the full implementation of ‘renewable’ energy then we will be able to continue life as it has always been known to us (consumerist colonial capitalism).  at’s the seemingly simple surface layer anyway but as we descend deeper into the web of questioning we may nd complexities arise. Why all this burning of fossil fuels and massive extractive industry anyway? What are we hoping to produce with all these activities? Pro t. Endless pro t. e concept that has propped up the last 500 years of colonial capitalism on Earth as it has attempted to erase our memories of any other ways of being. e capitalist economic system relies on extraction of labour and resources of the majority to produce large pro ts for the few. e system relies on exponential pro t growth for stability- if pro t ceases to grow and were to become stable, not to even mention decrease, then the

entire system begins to collapse (every depression and global recession you can think of). To bring it back to our original point, the extraction

colony so-called ‘Australia’, many resources are consumed and the highest rate of mammal (many completely unique) extinction on this

descended the web we have explored the possibility that it is not just fossil fuels at the root cause of climate change but the colonial capitalist economic system which has driven it into being.

and combustion of limited fossil fuels in this case, must increase always and for all time eternal for the current economy to remain stable.

How does this happen? e companies that hoard the money at the top of socioeconomic pyramid need YOU to consume as much as is un-naturally possible. Our consumption = their production. is has lead to complex marketing strategies that brainwash us to believe we need more and more, to the creation of unrepairable objects with short lifespans and to the excessive consumption happening every minute. Energy is no exception. It drove the age of industrial capitalism and drives the age of glorious digital capitalism into which we are dipping our toes. Is the exchange of fossil fuels for renewable energies which require rare earth minerals for their infrastructure merely a pacifying tactic?

e climate crisis is part of a much broader existential crisis we are facing as organised life on Earth which also includes pollution, loss of biodiversity and ecological collapse, land degradation and resource scarcity. In this

planet is happening right here. Many of the people who lived in the most colonised places on Earth that are still exploited for slave and unfair labour as well as extremely dangerous working conditions consume the least resources and provide most of the resources for the wealthy countries to consume. ese places are often the most a ected by climate change and other crises (the Paci c Nations, the Africa’s, Southern American Nations and South-East Asian Nations). As we have

My question for you today is: is ‘green technology’ really going to save us? Can the crises be averted without addressing the issue which really created the crises? While many live in poverty others live in gluttony. Without addressing the fundamental problem that wealthy corporations and coerced governments rely on the continued labour exploitation and oppression of the economically depressed countries to prop up a colonial capitalist economic system there can be no pathway to paradise. e green solution that is being sold is a lie. ere is no saving us all without climate justice for us all.

Respect for country, respect for each other

Léandra Martiniello

L andra Martiniello takes a look at current environmental & societal issues

Open Mic ‘22 in review

The Channon Open Mic provided a space for many musicians this year and in many di erent combinations. Performers ranged in age from 10 to beyond 70 and played a wide variety of genres.

Some played covers, others played originals, some accompanied their own hand drumming and others sang to a backing tape. ere were even some who made it up as they went along, but there was plenty of fun and song.

However the year began precariously and the January Open Mic scheduled at the Tavern was cancelled due to wet weather whilst the February Open Mic was cancelled due to oods.

March, April and May were too chaotic and e Tavern was no longer available due to extensive damage caused by the ood.

By June things had begun to settle and we decided to play outside the hall beginning a new Open Mic era and breaking a long connection to the Tavern. It was a friendly, layback start that promised more and by July we were playing inside the hall.  e acoustics in the hall are good and the atmosphere is conducive to listening and appreciating music. ere is a link between performers

and audience not based on local proximity but rather the natural desire to entertain and be entertained. People also mingled outside the hall, listening from a distance and appreciating the natural space. It remained that way till the last Open Mic of the year in November except for October when rain once again interrupted proceedings.

Fortunately for the OM we performed earlier in the month at e Channon Market with many familiar faces providing hours of entertainment.

A new edition was an hour of dance prior to the OM. anks to Dullah who

has now conducted three dance sessions. ey are a great way to warm up the space and connect to performances.

Our next OM is set for February 2023. Who knows we may return to the tavern next year. Either way we look forward to o ering a forum for performers, dancers and audiences alike. All new and previous performers are welcome at the 2023 Open Mic.

Ray Flanagan

Andy backed by Ray on drums and Jack on double bass at The Channon Hall

musicnotes*

Jason Gough takes a look at music that is not so well known but well worth a listen

Daniel LanoisProducer Musician Genius

Now before you say "oh, I've read this before", yes it should be familiar. Last edition I printed only half of Jason's article - forgot to scroll down to page 2. So we agreed I would run the full article this time. If you're interested in music I can recommend reading the full article.

Sorry Jay!

Ed

Music production is a rare art and hard to quantify. Each producer is unique in their methods but their role is to make the hits. ey sort the wheat from the cha

and guide the musicians to making their songs beautiful and saleable. For the most part producers are unknown and y under the radar with the limelight cast on the musicians. Famous producers include " e Fifth Beatle" George Martin, Rick Rubin and Phil Spectre. Often they are accomplished musicians in their own rights

Canadian musician and producer Daniel Lanois who is relatively unknown but is held in highest regard within the industry. His production credits include a star-studded list of musicians including U2, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Neil Young, Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris. He has won an amazing seven Grammys for his work.

moved and attached to this album. Daniel was instrumental along with production collaborator Brian Eno in bottling U2's magic for a huge and adoring audience. e mid-eighties was fertile ground for Lanois. 1986 saw him co-producing the mega hit classic album, So, with Peter Gabriel.

who apply their skills behind the scenes to lift their colleagues up and create by proxy. Brian Wilson and Dr Dre t this description. Which brings me to French

A recent read of Lanois' autobiography Soul Mining (a musical journey) gave me insight into the making of this unique musician producer. From humble roots spring great things. Born in Hull Quebec and raised by his hard working and supportive mother in Hamilton Ontario, Lanois found solace in music and technical innovation from a young age. He started on a recorder and graduated to guitar and then lap steel guitar. Daniel did the hard yards as a young man touring pubs in timber and mining towns. At home he and his brother Bob created a recording studio in their Mothers’ basement; what they couldn't a ord, they built themselves. At one point their Mother actually took out a second mortgage so her sons could level up with their gear. is resourcefulness and innovation translates into Lanois' producing method. He is known for taking odd and interesting steps to create the perfect sound.

My early experience with Lanois’ amazingly deep and emotive soundscapes was U2's Joshua Tree album (1987). At 16 I was deeply

For those who want to explore Daniel Lanois and his particular sound I would suggest his album, For the Beauty of Wynona (1993).

is is one of mine and my partner's favourites. As both artist and producer Daniel has complete licence of expression. His lyrics are a shifting ramble of sentimental themes. Love, lust, loss, delity and family are all explored with a slightly intangible freedom. e listener can relate but is left wondering a little at the meaning. It’s a compelling mystery. I also love that Daniel pays homage to his roots with traditional Quebecois themes and sounds. e true star of this album is Lanois' e ect layered guitar sounds that soar and dominate. It is his true voice. After For the Beauty of Wynona check out the soundtrack to the movie Sling Blade (1996). Lanois worked on this in close collaboration with the director Billy Bob ornton. It is a beautifully curated collection of songs punctuated with more of Lanois' searing guitar explorations. From there move to albums that he produced for other artists. It’s then that you can clearly hear his in uence permeate through more than a few of the most popular and loved tracks of our time. Enjoy.

photos Daniel Lanois>Other Voices

Tuntable Creek Public School

t 66886212, f 6688 6397

e tuntableck-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Tuntable Creek sta and students would like to begin by wishing everyone a peaceful and happy Christmas after what has been a very tumultuous year for so many in our Community. e spirit of community is what keeps our place going through both good and bad times. As a school, the strength comes from working together as students, parents and teachers to embed a positive culture of well being. is year our school has implemented the Zones of Regulation as an overarching well being program. Our timetable has been built around this so that students start with a check-in to indicate how they are feeling and strategies to support them to be ready to learn. It is important that we set students up for success during the day-socially, emotionally and academically. is program has supported students so well this year. It’s about acknowledging that it’s OK to feel these emotions and know that everyone is here to help you through. e explicit teaching in a smaller school also provides students with a sense of con dence and achievement.

Would you believe that our school – on this site- is turning 100 in 2023. Whilst we started further down the road originally, the school was moved to the present site, o cially opening in 1923. While we are not sure what will happen in a years’ time, we do know that we will celebrate the schools 100 year achievement on the long weekend in October- Saturday 30th September.

If anyone has any stories or photographs from the past 100 years, we would love to hear from you. We are going to put together two books to celebrate the occasion. One will build on the 75th anniversary book and the other we will make as a photographic memory of the past years.

ALISON BATH - PRINCIPAL

This Civilisation is Finished

Conversations on the end of Empire - and what lies beyond - Rupert Reid and Samuel Alexander

POSTSCRIPTUM: Helena Norberg-Hodge

honoured to collaborate with Samuel and Rupert, both of whom are friends and people I greatly respect. ey are among the rare academics who have the courage to go beyond the con nes of narrow specialisation to speak out, to question the dominant narrative.

e crisis of our civilisation compels us all to search for root causes of our global problems, which in turn takes us beyond reductionism, beyond single issues, and calls into question what we really mean by ‘progress’. On deeper inspection, we nd that ‘progress’ is actually changes wrought by a global techno-economic system. A system which has come to threaten all life on earth. Where Samuel and Rupert use the term ‘civilisation’ in this context, I favour ‘technoeco-nomic system’ because it helps us realise that the problem is not with human society itself, but rather with the inhuman system that has been imposed upon us. As we familiarise ourselves with the structures of this system—its drivers, mechanisms, and consequences—we become aware that it is a product of economic policy borne out of blindness and outdated colonial assumptions; it is neither inevitable nor unchangeable.

It’s of vital importance to distinguish between two very di erent forms of progress. e past century has seen cultural trends that can generally be termed ‘progressive’; we are moving away from the outright barbarism of

I’mthe days of colonialism, and lessening the stronghold of white supremacy and patriarchy. e economic trajectory, however, has remained out of touch with those changing values, and has continued on a straight line from colonialism. Wealth inequality has expanded to record extremes, and slavery, cultural destruction, and domination over nature have only become more insidious. From its very inception in 17th-century Britain, the global economy set out to invade and undermine local economies, extract their wealth, and amalgamate them into a monocultural, centralised system. is was originally achieved through conquest, genocide, and slavery. In the modern era, with ever greater specialisation within large-scale technological systems, it has become increasingly di cult for individuals to recognise the overall impact of their actions. Whether worker, consumer, politician, or CEO, it’s virtually impossible to be sure that you are not harming ecosystems or people on the other side of the world. It’s as though our arms have grown so long we can’t see what our hands are doing.

It is the global system that we need to examine more carefully in order to understand what has been happening to our societies over the last three or four decades. I want to add to the discussion about ‘information de cit’, to argue that a lack of information is in fact a major issue. We’ve been blind to the workings of the globalising economy, to the corporate overhaul of our society and all its institutions—the

emergence of a de facto global government of corporations and banks. Big industry has managed to serve its growth prerogative by convincing national governments to ratify a series of trade treaties that have rolled out the red carpet for multinational business and nance, at the expense of people and local communities. e global players have been given the green light to scour the globe in search of the cheapest labour and laxest regulation, while local economies have been undermined, overregulated, and destabilised.

is has pulled people the world over into an accelerating rat-race, in which even the jobs of CEOs are threatened by megamergers.

e production of virtually all our needs has been subjected to the pro t-obsessed speculations of foreign investors and algorithms, gearing the entire world towards more energy and resource-intensive, wasteful, mechanised massproduction and trade over vast distances. e absurdity of this system is perhaps most poignantly demonstrated by the phenomenon of redundant trade—countries are now routinely importing and exporting identical quantities of identical products. e UK, for example, imports hundreds of thousands of tons of milk, bread, and pork per year, while exporting hundreds of thousands of tons of milk, bread, and pork per year. Subsidies, taxes, and regulations—mechanisms that should be ours to use to shape the economy in whichever way we see t have been channelled into building up the infrastructure for

resource-intensive, centralised economic control.

We have not been given this bigger-picture perspective. In its absence, we have been told that it’s our fault that climate change is worsening; we are in denial, sel sh, and unwilling to change. e corporate-controlled massmedia has distracted us with celebrity scandals and a schizophrenic theatre of left-right politics. Although this can all sound rather conspiratorial, as I alluded to before, it’s my conviction that even CEOs and decision-makers are subjected to the same blindness that has kept us as citizens immobilised. ey are caught up in bureaucracy, seeing the world through abstractions, trapped in a ‘big is better’, ‘growth is good’ narrative.

Although we regularly experience the consequences of systemic breakdown in our own lives, until recently, few have been connecting the dots between the issues we face on both personal and planetary levels and the economic juggernaut that has come to dominate the globe. We have not been told that the system driving climate change and species extinction is, in fact, the same system that is widening the gap between rich and poor, creating poverty and unemployment, and pushing each one of us to run harder and faster just to stay in place.

is kind of blindness has served to keep us divided, self-blaming, bickering about single issues and absorbed in a politics of identity, while the underlying sickness of civilisation spreads.

Your Life Matters Workshop

Petrea King

Quest for Life Foundation

Some of you may have attended the Petrea King workshop on the 30th of October 2022. Most of you would agree that it was bene cial to all of us in some way. e very honest and vulnerable way in which Petrea presented, truly helped us to connect with her from the very beginning.

Some touching stories were shared, and our hearts were opened and some of us shed tears. We learnt about epigenetics and neuroplasticity in the brain and about what happens when one experiences stress and trauma. We learnt about the 4C's: control, commitment, challenge, connectedness - Regaining control over our responses; A commitment to living - prioritizing food, water,

exercise, communication, and forgiveness; A sense of challenge -what are our beliefs, and how we unconsciously slide into our default mode network (reacting rather than responding); A sense of connectedness towards ourselves, our friends, our community, and what it is to have a sense of belonging by being heard, seen, and acknowledged.

We were asked to challenge saying ‘I am’ to saying, ‘I feel’, as ‘I am’ makes it seem like a long lasting and permanent way of being while ‘I feel’ has more of a sense of being eeting and / or transitory, as all things are. We can do this by identifying our feelings, giving ourselves permission to feel what is arising, and feeling whatever arises with awareness.

A great quote during the workshop was ‘our issues are in our tissues’… Let’s reframe - any problems we have are being stored within our cells and therefore in the tissues of our body. Just consider what the repercussions of this may be?

We had a great brainstorm

PETA WRIGHT

exploring what it is that we enjoy, what brings us into the ow of life, looking into what was referred to as our task positive network. We created a very large list which goes to show there's a huge pool of things that can resource us and bring us into a place of peace or calm. Many of us contributed to that list and we all got a bit clearer about the things that bring us back to our own sense of well-being.

We really hope you enjoyed this workshop and may the bene ts continue to ow to you and beyond.

with

from

TCCC COMMITTEE

would like to warmly wish our families, community and friends a lovely end of 2022 Christmas break. After such a testing year we are looking forward to a positive 2023 coming our way!

2022 has been a challenging year for all and we really value and appreciate our beautiful, resilient Channon community. A special thanks to our volunteer parent run committee of Erin, Laura, Lucy, Louise and Rosie. Our preschool committee is so important in assisting in the decision making process and aiding in the smooth running of our community preschool.

eir help and support is very much appreciated! We are always looking for new members to join and contribute, so if you can spare an hour for our monthly meetings please let us know and attend our AGM in March.

We would like to thank our amazing community for your ongoing support this year through our takeaway

Wecurry fundraiser, e Channon Market charity of the day and roadside stall. Currently we have beautiful wrapping paper packs featuring the children’s artwork for sale for $5. Please keep donating excess produce to the stall, but we ask that NO bric-a-brac or unwanted household items be left there, thanks.

e children have all been busy practising for their end of year concert with Emma from the Conservatorium of Music in Lismore. We are all so excited to be able to celebrate this year with our friends and families, after so many years where we were unable to do so because of Covid. It’s also a special time when we formally farewell our older children who are o to “Big School” next year and acknowledge the children who we will see again in the new year.

If you have a child who you would like to enrol for 2023 we have spaces available. Our preschool operates on Tuesday/Wednesday/ ursday 9am-3pm with extended

hours available from 8.30am3.30am. Please contact the e Channon Preschool on 66886330 or email thechannonchildrenscentre@dodo. com.au

First day back for Preschool in 2023 is Tuesday 31st January and playgroup will be Wednesday 8th February. Playgroup runs from 9am-10.15am and is a gold coin donation. We do require your child to be immunised to attend playgroup and please bring along a hat and a snack for your child.

Warmest wishes from the sta at e Channon Preschool, Lisa, Sheree, Marie and Allison.

photos: preschoolers>courtesy TCCC

Tuntable Creek Landcare Inc.

The latest activities of TCLC

Jingi Wala folks!

Our Landcare year wound up with a quiet workday behind Coronation Park on December 4. Some decent rainfall over the previous couple of days had refreshed the plantings we did at our November workday where a mixture of rainforest species donated by Ingela Ohlsen were planted in memory of Pontus Ohlsen and Jasper Ball in the area left of the entrance to the market stallholder carpark. Nan has dubbed the area ‘Bottletree Scrub’ due to the fairly tall Bottletree which along with other native trees she has released from the weedy understorey. Next time you’re down at the oval, take a minute to see if you can spot the Bottletree and check out the latest plantings and watch as they grow.

All the plantings behind Coronation Park are looking pretty good. Flood-bent trees are sending up vertical growth in an e ort to re-balance themselves and the dead wood has been sawn up and repurposed as mulch

and habitat. e entire site has been receiving a regular brush-cut and the trees have been staked, taped and mulched with bark chip. e latest plantings have now settled in and are in their maintenance phase. While small they are easily lost in the fecund weed growth and will require occasional hand weeding and re-mulching around each tree and some careful brush-cutting between them as they establish.

If the idea of caring for your local public space while getting together with a few friends by the burbling creek appeals then please consider spending some ‘down time’ nessing the site. It’s such a lovely space to be in and we’d love to facilitate formation of a satellite group of Tuntable Creek Landcare Inc. consisting of local residents to be known perhaps as ‘Friends of Coronation Park’ who can carry on caring for the good work already done. If you are interested, please contact Nan Nicholson on 0428886335 or email us at tuntablecklandcare@gmail.com

Something we can all do is look for vulnerabilities in our local environment and ponder the project possibilities they present. We can all imagine project ideas such as riparian repair around a favourite swimming hole; creating koala corridors between neighbours; planting frog habitat around dams; introducing re as a management tool in suitable places or perhaps building and installing nesting boxes for birds and gliders. You may have a section of creek that has been scoured by the oods and is prime for planting or fencing to keep the cattle out, or a landslide that needs remediation, or a wish to discuss with neighbours the connectivity of koala habitat and plan for koala habitat enhancement.

A landholder from Koonorigan who is keen to enhance koala habitat on her land came to our last meeting where she presented her plans and asked for our consideration and support. Her plan ts well with a long-held vision our group has had to establish a koala corridor

LINA SVENSSON

along the Koonorigan ridge providing connectivity to existing koalas and habitat plantings at Rose Road and in the Tuntable Creek valley. Connectivity of koala habitat and food trees is paramount when creating good places for them to live and the survival of our local population relies on landholders working together to identify existing koala habitat and looking for good ways to enhance/ provide connectivity. We are very happy to support the ‘Koonorigan Koalas’ as a satellite group of Tuntable Creek Landcare Inc. and we look forward to the connections we build both for koalas and the community.

Often, it’s how to plan and deliver a project that presents obstacles and that’s where the Landcare network comes in. Landcare groups, like ours, can assist to bring people, project ideas, information and potential funding together. In the past few years our group has expanded its role to encompass the auspicing of community grants and (continued on page 18)

Don leading field day attendees on an educational tour of the koala habitat plantings at Auracaria Wildlife Sanctuary in Rock Valley!

Ending the year with a BBQ and cake at Coronation Park!

photos: Don tour leader, Don, group at BBQ>Lina Svensson

(continued from page 17)

has helped deliver several community-based projects such as the Bridge to Bridge, Nightcap Connector and Rural Landholder Initiative projects. Richmond Landcare Inc, our umbrella organisation, regularly o ers free educational workshops and eld days on locally relevant topics which bring people together with the information and networks that can assist us to care for Country.

e most recent event was a eld day at Auracaria Wildlife Sanctuary which focussed on koala habitat and bush regeneration. In November, e Channon Resilience Inc. hosted the Building Resilient Landscape’s day at e Channon which brought the community together with guest speakers on Indigenous land management, Bush Regeneration, Sustainable soil and runo management on farms and Permaculture

design for food security. is was an interesting mix of perspectives that hold their commonality in sustainable soil and water management and environmental protection. ere’s still a lot to learn so please make the most of these opportunities as they provide invaluable ways to improve our knowledge and our connections with each other and to land stewardship.

is year we were extremely fortunate to have snuck in two fundraisers before the oods. We thank e Channon Craft Market and e Channon Tavern for their regular support and the funds raised have enabled us to purchase an electric brush-cutter and other tools that will assist our work in the future. Also, a heartfelt thank you to all who have

Sudoku Puzzl3s

contributed in one way or another to our Landcare year especially in the wake of the challenges presented post ood.

Our volunteer committee is ready to be of service again in 2023 when we look forward to connecting with you. Regular workdays are held on the rst Sunday of each month with the next one set for February 5, 2023. Send us an email at:-

tuntablecklandcare@gmail.com if you’d like to become a member and/or be included on the mailing list. ere are many ways to contribute apart from hands on regen work and the social aspects of participating can’t be overstated. A big welcome to our new members and together we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!

ese puzzles have a rating (from 1 to 6) according to the degree of di culty. I will usually include one puzzle in the upper range and one in the lower range (solutions on page 19). Happy solving! LEVEL 1 LEVEL 5

Sudoku is a puzzle based on pure logic. e numbers 1 to 9 are used, no mathematics is required to solve the puzzles. e grid consists of nine boxes and nine cells within each box. Each column and each row must contain one each of the numbers 1 to 9. And each box must likewise contain one each of the numbers 1 to 9.

photo landcare group>Nan Nicholson

Group gathered for Tuntable Ck Landcare's November workday