Working hard for the Hawkesbury community

I am very saddened to hear of the passing of Dorothy Phipps. When I joined the Richmond Players dramatic society in 2006, Dorothy had already been a mainstay of the troupe for decades.
She served sixty-nine years with the organisation, alongside various other community involvements as a teacher, member of the CWA and many other groups.

Her presence serving tea in the intermission of shows and her staunch support (including financial support when the Players were in danger of falling apart, many years ago) marked her as the kind of constant, reassuring presence that good communities can never have enough of. Never married, nevertheless she became everyone's Nan.

Once, I had cause to drop by her house to get a cheque signed for the Players. She had just arrived home, driving her own car well into her eighties. She invited me in to take tea and scones, which of course she had made herself.
"You're lucky I caught you. I was just out visiting my Aunt!"
"Your Aunt?" I exclaimed, incredulous. "And how is she?"
"Well enough," Dorothy explained, "For someone who's 102!"

Such was the stuff Dorothy and her kin were made of. I will miss her terribly.It is with great regret and the deepest sadness that we at Richmond Players wish to advise you of the death of our beloved Director, Dorothy Phipps OAM. Dorothy has been our guiding light, inspiration, greatest supporter, benefactor and overall treasure for decades now. She began her association with Players in 1954, after being introduced to the company by her brother, John. She joined the cast of Little Lambs Eat Ivy, and from there began a love affair that only ended yesterday morning. At this time funeral details are not yet available.

2022 was Richmond Players’ 70th year, and in that time, Dorothy had some 280 or so roles to her name. They included acting, directing, producing, set building and painting, teaching, mentoring, front of house and back-stage roles aplenty. She held almost every possible position on Committee over many years, including Secretary, Vice President, President and as our Director since 2011. She had a special love for fostering talent within the youth of the community, and she almost single-handedly ran the Junior Players for decades. Many of her former students still visited her and all spoke fondly of their time with her. There are many patrons too, who have come along to Players shows and remember being served tea and coffee by Dorothy as she masterfully employed the most enormously oversized teapot.

Dorothy was awarded life membership of Players in 2007; she is a life member of the CWA; a recipient of an Australia Day Award, and most notably the Order of Australia medal, in 2012, for services to a community for which she gave so much of herself. Without this devotion, Players would not be here now celebrating its 70th anniversary. Her generous support, the depths of which no-one will ever truly know, enabled Players to navigate its darkest times and emerge as it is now; a healthy and vibrant place whereby anyone can come and try their hand with all things theatrical.

Anyone who met Dorothy will have a lasting memory of her; for that is the kind of lady she was. Always smiling, always happy, always generous with her time, support and genuine interest of those with whom she met. A truly unforgettable and decent person in times where those qualities are becoming increasingly rare.

For the last few years of his life, Dorothy cared for her brother John as his health declined. So as Dorothy now takes her final bow, we are sure she will be reunited with him, resting comfortably in God’s care; and both perhaps keeping a careful eye on proceedings to make sure we all still aim to get things right. Richmond Players extends its warmest love, sincerest gratitude and deepest sympathy to Dorothy’s family in this most difficult time of loss for them.

Richmond Players thanks Dorothy for her near lifetime of service and generosity. Her legacy cannot be overstated and will always be remembered with the highest regard. Our loss is immeasurable and our grief profound, but we find solace in the smile and optimism Dorothy always exhibited as she remains our beacon forever.

Rest peacefully now, Dorothy; content in the knowledge you were one of the community’s and God’s great servants. We will miss you. ... See MoreSee Less

5 days ago

At Council's meeting tonight, I moved a motion to adopt "Option 1", the variant of the route for the new Grose River Bridge that swings widest around, and which avoids the demolition of, the Wilcox home. The motion passed with the dissent of only a couple of Councillors. The process now will be to re-exhibit the Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) with this settled route as our preferred option for public comment.

This decision comes at the end of a long process; one that has caused enormous anxiety and heartache for some. Frankly, we should have been at this decision point years ago. I'd like to acknowledge the pledge of the mayor to instigate investigations about how a situation arose which purportedly quarantined any property from consideration, when the engineers should never have been fettered in that way to come up with a truly fair solution.

When I moved back in September that we should reconsider the routes, I was told that it was unlikely a Ausroads-standard-compliant road could be found that saved the Wilcox home. Or it would not have the same flood immunity. Or that Transport for NSW would walk away from the project and not act to acquire the requisite land. I'm glad we stood our ground, and lo-and-behold, none of those claims were true!

I think this is a win for the community, and lament the situation that has led to so many delays in the project (which I explained in the video link below).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuF-kUkjoSY ... See MoreSee Less

7 days ago

There’s no doubt The Voice went off the rails last week when I interviewed Anthony Albanese.

I think it’s clear the PM should never have proposed a set of words for insertion into our Constitution - that the Voice be able to make representation to both Parliament and Executive Government, and on all matters, when he spoke at the Garma Festival last July.

That’s because Mr. Albanese lifted, nearly verbatim, those words from a submission authored by Noel Pearson and a couple of other Indigenous academics to a Committee on Constitutional Recognition in 2018.

It was one of 18 submissions it received, and in its final report this Committee concluded more work needed to be done, including on the wording of the Constitutional amendment.

It was an undemocratic process for Mr Albanese to float those words over others, without justification and without asking his Attorney-General to produce a legal opinion on those words to change our most important legal document.

Because of this mistake, Mr. Albanese created legal doubt.

And this legal doubt is best explained using the metaphor the PM used with me in likening this Voice referendum to “building the Sydney Harbour Bridge.”

The Prime Minister told me:

"The way that Noel Pearson has put it, Ben, is that you are making a decision over whether there be a Sydney Harbour Bridge or not and then you decide how many lanes it will be, which will go in what direction, what the toll will be, some of that detail."

That metaphor may be fine if the government were proposing only a Voice to the Parliament.

But Mr. Albanese is asking us to build an altogether different bridge - by suggesting we bake into our Constitution that The Voice is able to make representation on any matter to Executive Government.

With the words he put forward, you can’t have legislation limiting the capacity of the Voice to be able to make representations to Ministers and Public Servants.

If you allowed the Voice – under the Constitution – to be able to make representation to Ministers and Public Servants, the Voice could go to the High Court if they felt they were not being listened to.

That’s what Section 75 (5) of the Constitution allows, and this is the central concern of former Justice of the High Court, Ian Callinan, who is on the record with this legal opinion.

So, after telling me he never bothered to get government legal advice on those draft words he put forward, Mr Albanese then said he outsourced this advice to some former High Court Judges.

He named only Bob French, telling me this legal opinion is on the record.

It is not.

I think it’s clear Mr. Albanese and Noel Pearson struck some sort of backroom deal, and roped in Bob French to give his tick of approval.

I’m glad that since our interview with the PM, the Attorney-General has said his department is now involved.

Building a bridge without a blueprint is asking for trouble.

The PM has got to stop referring to reports, including that Calma-Langton report, which only ever laid out options for a Voice.

The Terms of Reference to the Advisory Group made clear it wasn’t allowed to make a decision on which final option should progress to testing.

If Mr. Albanese wants to get this issue of constitutional recognition on the right track, he must explain what a Voice would look like and sound like - before we go to the ballot box.

And this blueprint should, at the very least:

Lay out a clear demarcation of what laws and policies the Voice would advise upon.

Explain how the Voice would differ from the representative body we already have in place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.

It’s called the Coalition of the Peaks.

He needs to explain too how the Voice would intersect with the work of the dozens of Indigenous specialist organisations we already have out there, such as the National Native Title Council.

And this blueprint should explain how the Voice would be different to the previous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission – or ATSIC – which was in place between 1990 and 2004.

The clearer the blueprint for the Voice, the greater the likelihood that the final formula of words for the Constitutional amendment will win parliament’s approval and gain the necessary majority of voter support at Referendum.

There’s a lot on the line here.

Most importantly - recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in our Constitution.

There is no mention of them.

They belong in our Constitution.

This is long overdue.

But as it currently stands - constitutional recognition and The Voice are tied together.

If The Voice goes down, so does that important recognition.

The PM has a lot of work to do.

In the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday, reporters spoke to dozens of Indigenous people in capital cities, country towns and remote communities, from Townsville to Tasmania, and Broome to Adelaide.

“The goal was to go beyond the political debate in Canberra to better understand the opinions, concerns and questions of ordinary Indigenous Australians about the proposed Voice to Parliament.

"Most said they would vote yes, some with enthusiasm and others with more cautious optimism.

"Some said no, citing suspicion, or doubts about how constitutional change would affect Aboriginal sovereignty. Many were undecided. And nearly everyone had questions."

Which is why, today - I want to put out this challenge to you.

Can we come up with a more simplified Constitutional amendment to the one Mr. Albanese put forward last year ?

If we’re to give a Voice to one section of society over another, we need to ensure it doesn’t clog the workings of the government or risk endless litigation.

If the PM wanted a much smoother road ahead, he’d legislate The Voice.

It’s his policy.

He’s the boss.

He can do it whenever he wants.

And put the Question of Constitutional Recognition to the Australian people.

If he insists on us voting on both, he’s got to do more homework on The Voice to convince Australians to come onboard.

To use his example of building a bridge.

The plans we’ve seen so far aren’t safe.

The PM revealed last week that everyone can have their say - via a Parliamentary committee process this year.

So put your thinking caps on.. especially any lawyers listening.

Send me an email with your suggestion - [email protected]

The PM’s suggested set of words won’t make it all the way to the ballot box. ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago

Having now fielded several calls from people who think I am running at the upcoming State election, I feel the need to state that no, I am not running this time.
I am flattered by the support.
I will however have more to say about the State election over the coming weeks.

Photo: Artificial Intelligence generated image from the prompt "Man at a lectern giving a political speech in front of a large number of Australian flags." ... See MoreSee Less

2 weeks ago

Family. Community. Vocation. I am so incredibly blessed. Our house is filled with the laughter of children. And the sound of my passive-aggressive present for my nephews. Merry Christmas to you all. ... See MoreSee Less

1 month ago

Leprechaun sighting at Pitt Town as seen from Lynwood Golf & Country Club tonight. ... See MoreSee Less

2 months ago