Category: Newcastle News

A man has died in a two-vehicle crash in Muswellbrook yesterday.
About 6.30pm (Tuesday 16 December 2020), emergency services were called to Thomas Mitchell Drive, Muswellbrook, after reports a Hyundai Getz and a Nissan Pulsar had collided.
The Hyundai driver and sole occupant, a 28-year-old man, died at the scene.
The driver of the Nissan, a 20-year-old woman, was freed by Fire and Rescue NSW and airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in a serious condition. A 10-year-old girl, who was travelling in the back seat, was also flown to hospital suffering suspected fractures.
A seven-week-old boy in the same vehicle escaped injury but was taken to hospital to be checked as a precaution.
Officers from Hunter Valley Police District established a crime scene which is being forensically examined and have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
A report will be prepared for the Coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident, or dashcam vision, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.

A man will appear in court next month after crashing his car into a parked vehicle while allegedly intoxicated earlier today.
Police will allege that, about 4.50am (Thursday 17 December 2020), a 35-year-old man was driving his Mazda 6 west along Sandy Point Road, Corlette, when he lost control and crashed into a parked car.
His vehicle rolled and landed on its roof near Foreshore Drive.
Emergency services were called and officers from Port Stephens – Hunter PD attended and spoke with the driver who was not injured.
He was breath tested and provided a positive result. He was arrested and taken to Nelson Bay Police Station where he submitted an alleged breath analysis reading of 0.176 – in the high-range category.
He was charged with high range PCA, and his licence was suspended.
He is due to appear in Raymond Terrace Local Court on Monday 25 January 2021.

Police are appealing for public assistance to locate a man missing from the Hunter Region since last week.
Vainenooroa Tuaratini (known as ‘Scotty’), aged 25, was last seen about 3am on Saturday 9 December 2020, on Bridge Street, Muswellbrook.
He hasn’t been seen since.
Officers from the Hunter Valley Police District were notified of his disappearance later that morning and commenced inquiries into his whereabouts.
Police and his family have concerns for Vainenooroa’s welfare due to a medical condition.
Vainenooroa is described as being of Pacific Islander appearance, about 175cm tall, of solid build, with brown eyes and short black hair.
When last seen, he was wearing green camouflage cargo shorts and a faded green t-shirt.
Vainenooroa is known to frequent the Belmore and Lakemba areas.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.

With Newcastle to grow to around 187,000 residents by 2030, City of Newcastle has invested $24 million into the construction of a new landfill site at Summerhill Waste Management Centre.
The Cell 9 project will cater for the city’s waste disposal needs for the next 10 years and is complemented by the work of the Resource Recovery Centre, which has already diverted more than 3,100 tonnes of recyclable product from landfill in its first 12 months of operation.

The new landfill cell will take almost three million cubic metres of waste materials that are unable to be recycled, with the equivalent of 280 Olympic swimming pools of earth and rock excavated during its construction.
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the Cell 9 project was delivered on time and under budget, allowing the City to continue to deliver low-cost waste services while focusing on increasing the amount of waste diverted from landfill.
“This massive project is just one of a suite of waste-related initiatives we are undertaking to future proof our city and prepare for our growing population,” the Lord Mayor said.
“The landfill will work in conjunction with the Resource Recovery Centre, which since opening at Summerhill in September 2019 has already diverted over 3,100 tonnes of waste destined for landfill, including chemicals contained in paints and batteries.
“Our plans for the site also include a state-of-the-art organics recycling facility, which will divert food waste from landfill and transform it into compost, redirecting 900,000 tonnes of food and garden organics from landfill over 25 years.”

Manager Waste Services Troy Uren said the cell has been constructed with a focus on protecting the local environment.
“Cell 9 has been engineered with a high-tech protective synthetic clay liner to prevent any seepage into the ground,” Mr Uren said.
“The material from the cell’s excavation has also been put to good use, with the City’s Bushland Regeneration team repurposing sandstone to restabilise bush and creeks in rehabilitation works.
“Once Cell 9 is operating, the landfill gas extraction system will be extended to capture methane, a harmful greenhouse gas. This is converted to electricity at the on-site power plant and fed into the grid, currently powering 2500 homes and saving around 8000 tonnes of greenhouse gas every month.”

China’s reported plan to indefinitely block Australian coal exports has exposed the Morrison Government’s longstanding neglect of coal-dependent communities, according to Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon.
Ms Claydon said that the Newcastle-Hunter region would be among the worst-affected regions if the trade ban is confirmed.
“The vast majority of Australia’s coal leaves our shores from the Port of Newcastle, and China takes 20 per cent of our exports,” Ms Claydon said.
“If this trade ban proceeds, it will be a significant hit to our economy – costing local jobs and hurting the families that rely on the sector for their livelihoods.”
Ms Claydon said the Morrison Government spent years actively obstructing the creation of new markets and jobs in regional Australia, making the ban more damaging than it otherwise would be.
“We’ve been left highly vulnerable because the Morrison Government has aggressively blocked efforts to reduce our overreliance on coal, while it sabotaged any moves to a low-carbon future,” Ms Claydon said
“Newcastle has been left high and dry by a government that has no plan for the future – no plan to drive a low-carbon economy, no plan for jobs and no plan to protect communities like ours from these inevitable global shocks.”
Ms Claydon said it was ‘deeply disappointing’ that the situation had got to this point.
“This has been foreshadowed for months now, with coal ships lined up off the coast of China unable to offload since October,” Ms Claydon said.
“The fact the Morrison Government has allowed Australia’s relationship with China to deteriorate so dramatically is unacceptable.”
Ms Claydon also called on the Morrison Government to ‘get serious about diversifying our regional economy’.
“Newcastle has the potential to be a clean energy superpower, but the Morrison Government’s war on renewables, coupled with its failure to invest in new industries, has scared investors and put local jobs at risk.
“The Government needs to pull its head out of the sand and get serious about preparing our region for the future.
“It could start by pulling out all the stops to make the Port of Newcastle’s $1.8 billion Multipurpose Deepwater Terminal a reality.”

A man has died in a single-vehicle truck crash in the Hunter region today.
Just before 11am (Tuesday 15 December 2020), officers attached to the Hunter Valley Police District, along with other emergency services, responded to reports of a single-vehicle truck crash on the Golden Highway, about 10km north-west of Jerrys Plains.
The prime mover, with attached trailer, was travelling east along the Golden Highway, near Edderton Road, when it left the road and crashed heavily into an embankment.
The driver and sole occupant of the truck, a 56-year-old man, died at the scene.
A crime scene was established, and police have commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Police have dismantled an alleged drug-supply network operating in Lake Macquarie.
In May 2020, detectives from Lake Macquarie Police District established Strike Force Loxton to investigate the supply of prohibited drugs, mainly methylamphetamine, in Morisset and other areas on the western side of Lake Macquarie.
So far during the investigation, 11 people have been charged with various drug and firearm offences and remain before the courts.
Following further extensive inquiries, about 8am yesterday (Tuesday 15 December 2020), strike force detectives – with the assistance of Northern Region Operational Support Group and Strike Force Raptor North – executed five search warrants and two firearm prohibition order warrant in Morisset, Wyee, Kingfisher Shores and Dora Creek.
During the warrants, police seized methylamphetamine, cocaine, cannabis, about $100,000 cash, replica firearms and knives.
A 39-year-old Dora Creek man was arrested at commercial premises in Dora Creek.
He was taken to Toronto Police Station and charged with supply prohibited drug on an ongoing basis, deal with the proceeds of crime, and possess prohibited weapon. He was refused bail to appear at Toronto Local Court today (Wednesday 16 December 2020).
A 36-year-old man was arrested at a Kingfisher Shores property. He was taken to Toronto Police Station and charged with supply and posses prohibited drug, and possess restricted substance.
A 39-year-old woman was arrested at a Wyee property. She was taken to Toronto Police Station and charged with supply and possess prohibited drug and possess prohibited weapon.
A 48-year-old man was also arrested at a Wyee property. He was taken to Toronto Police Station and charged with possess prohibited weapon and breach weapons prohibition order.
All three were granted conditional bail to appear at Toronto Local Court on Tuesday 19 January 2021.
Investigations are ongoing.

A man has been charged with murder over the death of a three-month old infant in Newcastle earlier this year.
Emergency services were called to a unit on Fowler Street at Hamilton South about 10.40am on Tuesday 4 August 2020, after a three-month old girl was found unresponsive.
The infant was taken to John Hunter Hospital where she was declared deceased.
Officers from Newcastle City Police District established Strike Force Giffen to investigate the circumstances surrounding the infant’s death.
Following extensive inquiries, detectives attended a Maitland property about 11.30am today (Wednesday 16 December 2020) and arrested a 24-year-old man.
He was taken to Maitland Police Station and charged with murder and sexual intercourse with child under age of 10 years.
He was refused bail to appear at Maitland Local Court tomorrow (Thursday 17 December 2020).

A lively mix of theatre, dance, music and comedy will see the Civic Theatre shrug off its disrupted 2020 season with a vibrant new schedule of shows for the year ahead.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said the launch of the 2021 subscription season came just days after the NSW Government rolled back more of its COVID-19 restrictions, allowing indoor venues to increase numbers of seated patrons to 75 per cent of capacity.

“It’s an opportune time for Novocastrians to get out of the house and back into the theatre to experience the exhilaration of hearing live music or the emotional journey of live theatre in person, and to share those experiences with friends or family in a COVID Safe way,” Cr Nelmes said.
“Few industries were hit harder by the economic impact of COVID-19 than the performing arts, with live performances among the first to shut down and the last to have audience restrictions eased.
“City of Newcastle adopted a highly proactive response to help mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the creative and performing arts, introducing a wide range of programs and grants to support the sectors, while also continuing to plan for our inaugural flagship arts festival, New Annual, which will be held February 12-21, 2021.
“The Civic Theatre subscription season will provide another crucial boost to the embattled sector, while also delighting theatregoers with what is a perennial highlight on the arts calendar.
“I congratulate the Civic Theatre team for curating such a strong program for 2021 and encourage Novocastrians to consider taking advantage of the subscription options, which are a great way to plan a string of social occasions while making savings on the cost of a night out.”
While COVID-19 forced the suspension of most of the 2020 subscription season, Civic Theatre Manager Leonie Wallace said the new schedule provided an opportunity to reprogram many of the highlights from this year alongside some new gems for 2021.

“The season is designed to appeal to a wide range of tastes, including musicals, dramas, children’s shows, and this year features presentations from Opera Australia with Bizet’s Carmen and Sydney Dance Company’s Impermanence,” Ms Wallace said.
“It will also include standout favourites like The Wharf Revue, The Gospel According to Paul and both the Melbourne and Sydney comedy festivals, while local productions, Awkward by Catapult Dance and Do Your Parents Know You’re Straight? from Bearfoot Theatre will feature in February as part of New Annual, presented by City of Newcastle.”
The 2021 Civic Theatre Subscription Season goes on sale to the general public on Friday 18 December, following a special presale for current subscribers, which launched today.
The Civic Theatre 2021 Subscription Season brochure can be viewed at https://www.civictheatrenewcastle.com.au/season-2021.