Category: Newcastle News

The safety of our communities, customers and staff is our top priority.

City of Newcastle is following advise from the NSW Government on the recent outbreak of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). We take advice on all public health matters from the state and federal health departments.
Our staff are monitoring developments daily and assessing any potential impact on city services and events.
We aim to maintain our current level of service to residents and businesses during this period.
All staff have been reminded to practice good hygiene by covering coughs and sneezes, washing their hands thoroughly with soap and water, and using alcohol-based hand sanitiser. Council is committed to our community’s safety and whilst the risk is currently very low, we ask residents to take precautions.

Feeling unwell?

If you develop a fever, a cough, sore throat or shortness of breath within 14 days of overseas travel, seek medical attention.

• Call your GP​
• Visit the Emergency Department
• Call Healthdirect 1800 022 222

More information is available on the NSW Health website and www.nsw.gov.au/coronavirus websites.

Police are appealing for public assistance after a Muswellbrook home was targeted in two suspicious blazes in the past week.
About 4.30am on Saturday 7 March 2020, NSW Fire and Rescue crews were called to a home on Bligh Street, Muswellbrook, after reports the front of the home was well alight.
Crews extinguished the blaze a short time later.
Then about 5am today (Tuesday 10 March 2020), neighbours contacted emergency services after the same home was fully engulfed in flames.
Fire crews extinguished the blaze a short time later, with officers attached to Hunter Valley Police District establishing a crime scene and commencing investigations.
The home was vacant on both occasions, with the building completely destroyed.
Police are appealing for anyone who may have heard or witnessed any suspicious activity in the area in the early hours of either Saturday 7 or Tuesday 10 March to contact Muswellbrook Police on 6542 6999 or to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Unsolved Homicide detectives have charged a man over alleged sexual assaults, which were uncovered during inquiries into the suspected 1997 murder of Bathurst teenager, Jessica Small.
Jessica Small, aged 15, was abducted by an unknown man in the early hours of Sunday 26 October 1997 from Eglington, near Bathurst. She has not been seen or heard from since and a 2014 Coronial Inquest found that she had been murdered.
Detectives from the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Unit are continuing to re-investigate the circumstances surrounding Jessica’s abduction and suspected murder under Strike Force Carica II.
As part of their inquiries, strike force investigators received reports a teenage girl had been sexually assaulted by a man known to her in the Bathurst area in the mid-90s.
Following extensive investigations, a 43-year-old man was arrested at Newcastle Police Station earlier today (Tuesday 10 March 2020).
He was subsequently charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
Police will allege in court that the man sexually assaulted the girl, who was known to him, in 1994 and 1996, when she was aged 17 and 19.
The Bruinbun man was refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court today.
Investigations under Strike Force Carica II are ongoing.
A $1 million NSW Government reward remains in place for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person/s responsible for Jessica’s disappearance and murder.

Police are appealing for public assistance after an armed robbery in the Hunter region overnight.
About 8.45pm (Sunday 8 March 2020), a man entered a fast food restaurant on Lawes Street, East Maitland, armed with a baseball bat.
The man threatened an employee before he fled the scene with a sum of cash in an easterly direction along Lawes Street.
Officers attached to Port Stephens-Hunter Police District attended a short time later and established a crime scene.
The man was last seen wearing dark coloured clothing with his face covered.
Police are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage of the nearby area to contact Maitland Police on 4934 0200 or to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

A man has died following a crash in the state’s Hunter region yesterday.
About 12.40pm (Sunday 8 March 2020), emergency services were called to Tomago Road, Tomago, after reports a Mitsubishi ASX had crashed into a tree after colliding with an Izuzu D-Max.
The Mitsubishi driver, a 75-year-old man, died at the scene.
The Izuzu driver, a 32-year-old man, sustained serious internal injuries and was airlifted to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
The passengers, two women aged 66 and 26 and a 2-year-old boy, suffered minor injuries.
All were transferred to John Hunter Hospital for treatment.
Officers from Traffic and Highway Patrol Command established a crime scene, with the Crash Investigation Unit to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Any witnesses or anyone with dashcam vision who were in the area at the time are urged to come forward.
 

The skills, culture and adaptability of First Nations people will be showcased at Newcastle Museum when the improvisational genius of the famous Bush Mechanics is complemented by a display of locally made possum skin cloaks and weaving. 
The hit ABC documentary series Bush Mechanics, which combined the mechanical resourcefulness of Central Australia’s Walpiri men with their humour and music, was a TV phenomenon in 2001.  
Four episodes in which they replaced car parts with tree boughs and cleverly used other bush resources, such as mulga, spinifex and sand, as tools and spare parts, were watched by more than 3 million viewers.  
An EH Holden they cut the roof off to use as a makeshift trailer, a Ford Fairlane adorned in a water-dreaming painting and a driver-simulator cobbled from random machinery and a computer monitor, feature among their handiwork in the Bush Mechanics exhibition from the National Motor Museum. 
^{The old Holden lopped by the Bush Mechanics.}
Specially commissioned art, displays showing their clever “nyurulypa” (good bush tricks) and an augmented reality app that explains the Ford Fairlane painting, feature among the exhibition’s interactive components. 
“The City of Newcastle invests around $15 million in delivering cultural facilities in our city year in year out, and our Newcastle Museum plays a vital role in telling our stories and showcasing wonderful Australian talent like the Bush Mechanics,” Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said.  
Joining the Bush Mechanics display, Cultural Resurgence will showcase woven and possum skin works created by local Aboriginal community groups, such as the Mindaribba Local Aboriginal lands council, the Awabakal Elders group and various school groups with both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students and their teachers with local organisation Speaking in Colour.  
“In all of these programs cultural enrichment is paramount,” Managing Director of Speaking in Colour Cherie Johnson said. “In all of these programs cultural enrichment is paramount. 
“The diversity of individuals’ knowledge and abilities vary; however, we have found the hunger to learn and create is shared by all. Over the course of this program it is beautiful to watch the students become the teachers, sharing what they have learnt with their friends and family. We have witnessed generations share and work together on projects that many have not had the chance to do before.” 
^{Walpiri-style driver simulator.}
Newcastle Museum Director Julie Baird said she was excited to have the two exhibitions on display together.  
“Bush Mechanics, with its desert mob Walpiri way of solving problems and the local Speaking in Colour weaving and possum skin cloaks created by both young and old, allows us to celebrate the culture and ingenuity of our First Nations people,” Ms Baird said.

Bush Mechanics and Cultural Resurgence are free at Newcastle Museum until 30 May.

A man has been charged with possessing child abuse material in the Lake Macquarie region yesterday.
About 9.30am (Thursday 5 March 2020), detectives from Lake Macquarie Police District executed a search warrant at a home on George Street, Holmesville, following reports a man was allegedly disseminating child abuse material over the internet.
Detectives spoke with a 49-year-old man and allegedly found child abuse material on his phone.
Following inquiries, computers, computer storage devices and mobile phones were seized by police.
The man was arrested and charged with one count of possess child abuse material.
He was granted conditional bail and is due to appear at Toronto Local Court on Tuesday 24 March 2020.

Police have charged two people and recovered jewellery, laptops and housebreaking implements when a stolen car was spotted in the Lake Macquarie area yesterday.
Officers from Lake Macquarie Police District had been investigating the theft of a Kia Cerato from a Newcastle shopping centre on 24 February 2020, when the vehicle was spotted in Speers Street, Speers Point, about 11.30am (Friday 6 March 2020).
A 30-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man were arrested in the stolen car and were taken to Belmont Police Station.
When police searched the vehicle, they recovered jewellery and laptops, alleged to have been stolen, as well as housebreaking implements.
The woman has been charged with enter enclosed land and be carried in conveyance without consent.
The man has been charged with trespass, be carried in conveyance without consent, possess housebreaking implements, and goods in custody suspected of being stolen.
Both have been refused bail to appear in Newcastle Local Court today (Saturday 7 March 2020).

A man has been charged after a police officer was injured while dispersing a large party at Lake Macquarie last night.
About 10.15pm (Friday 6 March 2020), officers from Lake Macquarie Police District were called to a large party at a home on Bridgewater Close, Eleebana.
On arrival, officers located more than 100 people in the street, and a number of people proceeded to throw glass bottles at police.
One officer was hit by a bottle, sustaining minor injuries, and a police vehicle was damaged. Additional police attended and dispersed the crowd.
A man is alleged to have harassed a police dog, and attempted to incite the crowd to further attack officers.
The 21-year-old was arrested after allegedly failing to comply with a police direction. He resisted before being restrained and taken to Belmont Police Station.
He was charged with fail to comply with direction, behave in offensive manner in/near public place/school, and resist or hinder police officer in the execution of duty, and granted strict conditional bail to appear at Belmont Local Court on Wednesday 8 April 2020.
Police are investigating the incident and as they continue their inquiries, they would like to speak to anyone who has information on attendees of the party.
 

New education department data shows around 140,000 apprentices and trainees have been lost under Scott Morrison’s third term Liberal Government, and it’s holding our nation back.
Scott Morrison created this tradie crisis.  It’s hurting our economy, and denying Australians jobs.
As a result, we now have shortages of bricklayers, plumbers, hairdressers, bakers, electricians, mechanics, panelbeaters, and other critical trades.
No part of Australia is safe.  Every state and territory has lost apprentices and trainees.

We’ve had many businesses, big and small, tell us that they’d love to grow, to take on more staff, but that they can’t find people with the right training.
In fact, the Australian Industry Group says 75 per cent of businesses report they are struggling to find the qualified workers they need.
At the same time, there are almost two million Australians crying out for work or looking for more hours.
Scott Morrison’s failure is criminal.
The Liberals have cut around $3 billion from TAFE and training.
Australia has fewer apprentices and trainees today than when the Liberals first came to office.
There are more people dropping out of vocational education and training courses than finishing them.
By locking Australians out of education and training, the Liberals are locking Australians out of jobs.