NEWS Of The Area joined more than 600 delegates and another 200 observers at the Country Women’s Association’s 103rd State Conference in Wagga Wagga last week.
In a statement to media ahead of the conference, CWA of NSW president Joy Beames said, “The high number of motions delegates will be asked to vote on this year reflects the commitment from our members to their communities and the importance of highlighting issues impacting the lives of those in remote, rural and regional NSW communities”.
The theme for this year’s conference, “From isolation to innovation – the threads that bind”, aptly highlighted how women from all over NSW came together to discuss over 40 motions regarding education, health, the environment, agriculture, transport and telecommunications.
These motions ranged from calling on the state government to prioritise feral pig control, to reopening the regional seniors travel card program, to urgently calling for a review of ambulance services.
“Advocacy has always been at the heart of our association and that has certainly come to the fore this year,” Ms Beames said.
President Ros Hopwood from Coffs Harbour, President Jackie England from Sawtell and Faye Owner from the Bellingen branch sat down with News Of The Area during the conference for a quick Q&A.
What are the biggest issues in your community?
Ros: Housing affordability for young mothers is a concern in our community. There is nowhere for them to go.
Jackie: We live in such a lovely, small community and we want to keep that village atmosphere.
Faye: We are also concerned about housing, particularly for women over 55 and for our hospital staff.
How is your branch unique?
Ros: Our branch has a guest speaker every two months to keep our members informed and up to date. Recent guest speakers have spoken about policing, end of life and about frogs (our Ag and Environment study for 2025). Our next speaker is Michael Jeh about Hannah’s Story.
Jackie: We are lucky to have one of the few Baby Health Clinics remaining in NSW. We have been serving the community in this capacity for 100 years. We run a monthly community market with 21 stalls on the fourth Saturday of each month.
Faye: We are a small community and our members are increasing in age. We are still an active branch, particularly our Handicraft Group. Recently we have been able to attract some younger members, like Viola Morris, who bring energy and vitality to the branch.
By Pauline CAIN
