Thousands brave scorching hot day to revel in 169th Show

Temperatures soared on Show day but that didn’t curb the enthusiasm of thousands of locals and visitors who flocked to Toodyay last month for one of the best country agricultural shows in WA. Bushfire brigade volunteers switched from knocking down traffic cones with high pressure hoses to spraying laughing kids running through the water, while gasping Show chickens cooled off with water on the chookhouse roof. Sideshow Alley (above) was a magnet for kids and the evening fireworks display was the best ever. More photos in digital edition Page 5.

Voters call for change

Toodyay’s new council, (front table, from left): Crs Steve McCormick, John Prater, Danielle Wrench, Charmeine Duri and Rosemary Madacsi. Rear bench: new Shire President Mick McKeown (centre) and new Shire Deputy President Shelly Dival (right).

 

By Michael Sinclair-Jones

TOODYAY has two new civic leaders with Cr Mick McKeown as Shire President and new Cr Shelly Dival as his Deputy.

Cr Dival topped last month’s shire poll with 663 first preference votes, or 42 per cent of the 1569 ballots cast.

Former shire president Rosemary Madacsi polled second with 290 primary votes (18.5 per cent), and former shire deputy president John Prater filled the third vacancy after a 10-year absence with 220 votes (14 per cent).

More than half of Toodyay’s 3639 registered voters didn’t vote, meaning nobody got more than 18 per cent of all votes in the electorate.

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Large Toodyay no-show for Aboriginal Voice referendum

MANY Toodyay voters appear to have ignored last month’s compulsory Federal Referendum to give Aboriginal people a Voice in Australia’s Constitution.

Of the 1286 votes cast in Toodyay, 75 per opposed the Voice, which was defeated in WA (64 per cent against) and nationally (60).

The local turn-out represents only a third of all electors listed in the Shire of Toodyay.

This excludes postal and absentee votes, which usually accounts for up to 15 per cent.

Contractors blamed for late rates bills, no tip passes, wrong accounts

CONTRACTORS have been blamed for this year’s late shire rates notices, incorrect account numbers and lack of tip passes.

Toodyay Shire CEO Suzie Haslehurst said some other shires, including the Shire of Harvey, had undergone similar difficulties.

Ms Haslehurst said Toodyay rates notices were lodged with the contractor for an Australia Post mail out on September 20 but the contractor was eight days’ late.

This meant instalment dates for part payments had to be changed after the rates notices were sent out.

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Miner shatters Julimar residents’ dreams

By Michael Sinclair-Jones

DUST, noise and a massive open-cut mine planned next to their homes have dismayed a group of Julimar residents who say their bush lifestyle dreams have been destroyed.

The affected residents include artists and writers (pictured right) who say their properties have been ruined and lives permanently disrupted – with worse to come.

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Former WA Nationals Party leader backs Yes vote

Former State Opposition and ex-WA Nationals Leader Mia Davies joined about 100 supporters at a Toodyay ‘Yes’ vote rally for this month’s Voice Federal Referendum on Saturday October 14. “I see it as a positive for our nation, a moral obligation,” the Wheatbelt MP said. “It is about bringing people together, not creating division – it is a message of love.”

$50,000 for top Wagyl barrister

AUSTRALIA’S former top law officer has been hired to defend Toodyay real estate agent Tony Maddox (left) against a charge of allegedly breaching Aboriginal heritage law.

Mr Maddox has engaged former Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter to fight a charge that he allegedly damaged an Aboriginal heritage site by building an unauthorised vehicle crossing over Boyagerring Brook on his Nunile property.

The State says the waterway is the home of the Wagyl, an Aboriginal spiritual belief.

Mr Porter’s fees for a three-day Perth trial next year are expected to cost up to $50,000.

Mr Maddox said the State had allowed him to resume pumping bore water into the creek to form a small artificial lake on his property.

Embattled residents face Julimar moonscape

Chalice Mining’s worksite at 229 Keating Road where the company has announced plans to create a massive open-cut mine measuring nearly two kilometres across, 1.5km wide and more than half a kilometre deep on a scale similar the world-famous Kalgoorlie Superpit.

By concerned local residents*

IF YOU were to believe Chalice Mining’s marketing hype about its latest discovery of palladium in Julimar and its “world class”, “low impact” and “leading exploration techniques that recognise environmental sensitivities,” you could be forgiven for thinking it’s the next lean green cure for the state’s climate and cash-flow woes.

Until, that is, you ask the local residents like us who live on the doorstep of this planned behemoth.

Chalice Mining’s public relations strategy trumpets “community engagement” as one of its “top priorities”.

Well, we the residents beg to differ.

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*Names and addresses supplied.

Night noise to travel up to 20km

Chalice mine worker shuts gate at site of planned 2km-wide Julimar superpit.

Richard Wilkinson* (Retired sound engineer)

RECENT events have prompted me to readdress the anticipated noise disturbance and transport logistics of a proposed large open-cut mine in or near the Julimar Forest.

I wrote in The Herald last year that assuming a base noise level of 90 decibels – similar to that of a noisy motorcycle – the intrusive effect of a large open-cut mine in a quiet environment such as Julimar could be felt up to 20km away.

Even then, a light sleeper may have to close their bedroom windows year-round to get a good night’s rest.

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Six candidates vie for three council vacancies

THREE sitting councillors and a former shire deputy president are among six candidates contesting three seats at this month’s Toodyay Shire Council elections.

The former shire deputy president is Toodyay Race Club President John Prater.

The other candidates are Shire President Rosemary Madacsi, Shire Deputy President Beth Ruthven, Cr Susan Pearce and newcomers Ray Mills and Shelly Dival.

A postal ballot of all 3638 registered Toodyay electors opened on September 15.

The new council will meet soon after the poll closes on Saturday October 21 to hold a secret ballot in the council chamber to elect a shire president for the next two years.

The council agreed earlier this year reduce its size from nine to seven members.

Cr Phil Hart did not seek re-election to the smaller council.

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