Latest news with #Gunnedah
ABC News
19-05-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Gary-Jon Lysaght
A short-lived weather event was able to sweep up a country market stall and throw around stock. 47m ago 47 minutes ago Mon 19 May 2025 at 4:07am Michael McCormack says images in a country NSW shop window depicting himself, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart as Nazis are "vile" and "abhorrent". Tue 1 Apr Tue 1 Apr Tue 1 Apr 2025 at 6:33am 33-year-old Timacoy Williams has been refused bail after police found two suspected homemade explosives in his vehicle, forcing them to close the Sturt Highway in the Riverina region for eight hours. Tue 1 Oct Tue 1 Oct Tue 1 Oct 2024 at 4:33am Nathaniel and Jeremiah Schmetzer have been remembered as being full of life and love at a twin ceremony in NSW's south. Sat 22 Apr Sat 22 Apr Sat 22 Apr 2023 at 6:29am Residents in Gunnedah, Wagga Wagga and Forbes are being ordered to leave their homes. Thu 3 Nov Thu 3 Nov Thu 3 Nov 2022 at 3:42am Flooding will cut off some communities, but in places like Brewarrina the rejuvenating inflows are more than welcome. Fri 17 Dec Fri 17 Dec Fri 17 Dec 2021 at 3:24am Floodwaters moving quickly through inland rivers across New South Wales has sparked a warning for people to reconsider swimming in affected areas. Wed 15 Dec Wed 15 Dec Wed 15 Dec 2021 at 8:58pm Teachers at a Dubbo public school aren't striking today, to allow for the return of students after a fire destroyed buildings there last week. Tue 7 Dec Tue 7 Dec Tue 7 Dec 2021 at 12:54am The cause of a fire that destroyed four classrooms at a Dubbo school is to be investigated. Thu 2 Dec Thu 2 Dec Thu 2 Dec 2021 at 7:20am The north-western New South Wales community of Brewarrina is set to have a majority Indigenous council after this weekend's local government election, with seven of the 10 candidates identifying as Aboriginal. Tue 30 Nov Tue 30 Nov Tue 30 Nov 2021 at 9:02pm An early childhood centre in Bourke, 750km west of Sydney, is providing play sessions and developing kids' motor skills online, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues across western NSW. Fri 1 Oct Fri 1 Oct Fri 1 Oct 2021 at 9:43pm Brewarrina has only seen two cases of COVID-19 during Western NSW's outbreak, faring much better than its neighbours. Here's how the locals did it. Wed 29 Sep Wed 29 Sep Wed 29 Sep 2021 at 11:01pm Grocery store manager Paresh Patel and his staff are among those doing all they can to help the community weather the pandemic. Tue 28 Sep Tue 28 Sep Tue 28 Sep 2021 at 8:32pm The Mungindi Community Store is set up in the town's RSL and bowling club, providing locals with the opportunity to get essential goods as border closures drag on. Mon 27 Sep Mon 27 Sep Mon 27 Sep 2021 at 8:36pm A resident of the St Mary's aged care facility in Dubbo has passed away. Health authorities said she had significant underlying health conditions. Wed 22 Sep Wed 22 Sep Wed 22 Sep 2021 at 4:32am The Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Services, which supports around 5,000 people, requested the move after being alerted to internal financial discrepancies. Mon 20 Sep Mon 20 Sep Mon 20 Sep 2021 at 4:58am The COVID-19 death toll in western New South Wales has reached seven, after three more deaths were recorded. Fri 17 Sep Fri 17 Sep Fri 17 Sep 2021 at 7:05am People living in Walgett in north-western New South Wales no longer need to isolate while awaiting COVID-19 test results, aiming to raise numbers in a town which saw only 80 tests on Monday. Tue 14 Sep Tue 14 Sep Tue 14 Sep 2021 at 6:19am Low vaccination rates, few GPs and a system that was limping before the pandemic began could be a recipe for disaster in regional NSW, doctors warn. Fri 10 Sep Fri 10 Sep Fri 10 Sep 2021 at 11:17am Only 2,200 COVID-19 tests were carried out in the LHD yesterday and health authorities say the simultaneous decline in case numbers is "extremely worrying". Thu 9 Sep Thu 9 Sep Thu 9 Sep 2021 at 7:08am An Aboriginal man in his 60s from Dubbo has died in the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney after contracting the Delta variant. Wed 8 Sep Wed 8 Sep Wed 8 Sep 2021 at 5:02am Health authorities in western NSW are urging Aboriginal people to mourn the death of an Enngonia woman by attending livestreamed funerals and staying at home. Tue 7 Sep Tue 7 Sep Tue 7 Sep 2021 at 6:24am An unvaccinated Aboriginal woman in her 70s, from Enngonia, north of Bourke, is the second person to die from COVID-19 in western NSW. Mon 6 Sep Mon 6 Sep Mon 6 Sep 2021 at 5:37am In locked down Dubbo, Wiradjuri elder Frank Doolan praises the Indigenous community's response to a COVID crisis heaping pressure on their lives and emotional wellbeing. Sat 4 Sep Sat 4 Sep Sat 4 Sep 2021 at 2:55am As the city passes 500 infections, it remains at the centre of the regional New South Wales caseload, with health officials repeating calls for people to get tested in greater numbers. Thu 2 Sep Thu 2 Sep Thu 2 Sep 2021 at 5:44am
ABC News
11-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
Children evacuated during Vietnam War's Operation Babylift are on a quest to find their families
Elizabeth Wray was 18 months old when she arrived in Australia in a cardboard box. She was one of thousands of children evacuated from Vietnam at the fall of Saigon 50 years ago as part of Operation Babylift. "We were, I'm told, almost in shoe boxes, strapped down … to hold us all in and to make sure there was as many babies jammed into that plane as possible," she said. The quiet toddler was adopted by a family in the rural New South Wales town of Gunnedah. She was the only non-white child in the area, and was raised with the understanding her birth parents were dead. "There was no one for me to look for, so suck it up. Move along. You're an Australian." Now in her early 50s and with four daughters of her own, Ms Wray is not so convinced. "Surely I would have grandparents, maybe brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles. "I still have hope, and I think that's what we have to hold on to." Five decades since the end of the Vietnam War, the children of Operation Babylift have embarked on a quest to find their biological families. Last month, Ms Wray joined a group of 13 adoptees who cycled almost 300 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City to Sóc Trăng over four days. They heard stories of mothers returning to orphanages after the war, asking for their children back. In return, they distributed food packages and 100 DNA kits. The trip was spearheaded by Viet Nam Family Search, a group founded by fellow Vietnamese-Australian adoptee Sue-Yen Luiten. "We laughed, we cried, we experienced the cathartic journey of riding … as well as going on an emotional journey," Ms Luiten said. Thirty women who had given up their children during the war came forward to request more information about the DNA process. It is a complex job that requires sensitivity and care, but there is a feeling among the adoptees of racing against the clock. Rohan Samara also took part in the ride. He was just two months old when he was scooped up from a Vietnamese orphanage and brought to Australia during Operation Babylift. Malnourished, he spent a month in a Sydney hospital before being adopted by a family in Canberra, where he has lived ever since. His birth certificate lists both his mother and father as "unknown". He suspects he may have been born in Cambodia but brought across the border. When he turned 39, Mr Samara decided to return to Vietnam for the first time to visit the orphanage he came from. "We were very blessed to have met a nun who was there during Operational Babylift. "When we were leaving she said, 'I held you on my breast as a baby, I hold you in my heart forever. It doesn't matter where you are in the world, come back here and you'll have a home'." On last month's pilgrimage, he found himself scanning the faces of women he passed, searching for recognisable features. His biggest desire is to let his mother know he turned out fine in Australia. "The decision my mother made at the time, she can go to her deathbed in peace, knowing it was a really good decision," he said. Regardless of whether he is successful in tracking down blood relatives, Mr Samara said he had found an "instant connection of brotherhood and sisterhood" with the other adoptees. "Throughout our lives, our story had been quite rare, but when we were all together, it was absolutely beautiful," he said.
