Newcastle Art Gallery will reveal the winner of the KILGOUR PRIZE 2020 via a livestreamed announcement by Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes on Friday 31 July 2020 at 3pm.
To comply with the latest advice from NSW Health and ensure social distancing is practiced, the KILGOUR PRIZE 2020 winner announcement will be strictly limited to KILGOUR PRIZE 2020 finalist artists, invited guests and media. The livestream will be available to audiences on the Art Gallery’s Facebook and Instagram.
One of Australia’s major art prizes, the KILGOUR PRIZE awards $50,000 for the most outstanding work of art selected by Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton and invited judges, who this year comprise Rachel Arndt – Gallery Programs and Touring Exhibitions Manager, Museums and Galleries of NSW and Stephen Gilchrist – Curator and Lecturer Art History, The University of Sydney.
The KILGOUR PRIZE also awards a People’s Choice of $5,000 to the painting voted most popular by the general public.
This year’s 30 finalists were selected from more than 350 entries received from across the country. The 2020 finalists include artists from the ACT, NSW, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia. The list also features two local artists, Michael Bell and Peter Gardiner, who have both been regular entrants to the KILGOUR PRIZE, with the latter winning the prize in 2016.
“Every year the KILGOUR PRIZE presents some of the best contemporary Australian portrait and figurative painting. Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Australian arts sector, the KILGOUR PRIZE has been an incredible opportunity to encourage and support artists to continue producing and creating works of art. This year’s selected artists present diverse interpretations of the brief, resulting in a very dynamic exhibition,” Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton said.
Funded by a bequest from artist Jack Noel Kilgour, the KILGOUR PRIZE has encouraged innovation within portrait and figurative painting since 2006.
The KILGOUR PRIZE 2020 will be on display from 1 August – 15 November 2020.
For information on the 2020 Finalists and Judges visit- www.nag.org.au/Exhibitions/Future/KILGOUR-PRIZE-2020
ABOUT THE KILGOUR PRIZE
Jack Noel Kilgour (1900–1987) was an Australian artist well-known for his academic approach to landscape and portrait painting. In 1987 Kilgour bequeathed funds for the creation of a major figurative and portrait art competition to be run in perpetuity. As one of Australia’s major art prizes, Newcastle Art Gallery is proud to be the home of the KILGOUR PRIZE.
More information:
https://www.nag.org.au/Kilgour-Prize
Author: admin
SITE SEARCH BEGINS FOR NEW BANKSTOWN-LIDCOMBE HOSPITAL
The south-western Sydney community is a step closer to having a new world-class $1.3 billion Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, with the search now on for a site to build the hospital.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the NSW Government is calling for proposals from landowners of suitable sites in the East Hills and Bankstown region.
“The NSW Government is taking another step on our key election promise to deliver a $1.3 billion state-of-the-art Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital,” Mr Hazzard said.
“We’re launching a thorough selection process to secure a hospital site that is best placed to provide future health services to the south-western Sydney community.”
A Clinical Services Plan is currently being finalised, detailing the new hospital’s services and examining the use of new technologies including virtual care solutions.
The new Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital will provide:
- Expanded emergency services
- Intensive care
- Surgery and interventional procedures
- Women’s and Children’s Health
- Rehabilitation
- Aged health
- Mental health
- Cancer services
- Ambulatory care services
- Community Health Services.
State Member for East Hills Wendy Lindsay said: “Clinicians, staff and the broader community all have a vital role to play in planning the new hospital.
“The community’s input will help shape the future of healthcare in our region, so the new hospital will respond to the locals’ healthcare needs right into the future, and be an enormous asset to our local community,” Ms Lindsay said.
A Request for Information (RFI) will run from 17 July to 28 August 2020, inviting landowners who own potentially suitable sites for the new hospital to nominate their land for consideration.
The emergency department at the existing Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital is currently undergoing a $25 million upgrade which will improve services until the new hospital is built.
The NSW Government has invested $10 billion to deliver more than 130 new and enhanced health facilities statewide since 2011, including the $740 million Liverpool Health and Academic Precinct and the $632 million Campbelltown Hospital Stage 2 Redevelopment.
The NSW Government is also investing $10.1 billion more over the next four years, including more than $900 million for rural and regional areas in 2019-20.
To suggest a site or learn more about the project visit: hinfra.health.nsw.gov.au/newbankstownhospital
Man charged after allegedly sexually touching a child in a Newcastle supermarket
A man will face court today after allegedly sexually touching a child at a Newcastle shopping centre earlier this week.
About 2.20pm on Monday (13 July 2020), an 11-year-old girl was with a family member at a Newcastle West supermarket, when it is alleged a 49-year-old man sexually touched the child whilst inside the store.
The man fled and officers from Newcastle City Police District were notified, commencing an investigation.
Following extensive inquiries, a 49-year-old man attended St Mary’s Police Station and was placed under arrest.
He was charged with intentional sexual touching of a child and was refused bail to appear at Penrith Local Court today (Thursday 16 July 2020).
Man charged after pub patron allegedly glassed – Elermore Vale
A man has been charged after an alleged brawl and glassing at a Newcastle pub at the weekend.
About 11.45pm on Saturday (11 July 2020), two groups of men were inside a licensed premises on Croudace Road, Elermore Vale, when they became involved in a verbal altercation.
It escalated into a physical altercation between two men – aged 26 and 38 – before a 24-year-old man allegedly hit the 38-year-old in the face with a schooner glass which shattered on impact, before a larger brawl ensued.
The older man suffered a deep laceration to the right side of his face, he was taken to John Hunter Hospital for treatment.
Officers from Newcastle City Police District were called and commenced an investigation.
Following extensive inquiries, police attended a home on Nott Street, Edgeworth, and arrested a 24-year-old man about 8.30pm yesterday (Wednesday 15 July 2020).
He was taken to Waratah Police Station and charged with wound person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and breach of bail.
He was refused bail to appear at Newcastle Local Court today (Thursday 16 July 2020).
Police appeal to locate wanted man last seen near Mayfield
Police are appealing for information from the community to locate a man wanted on an arrest warrant for breaching his reporting obligations.
Fakatou Lokuvalu Heitonga, aged 41, is wanted for failing to comply with his reporting obligations as a registrable person on the Child Protection Register.
Mr Heitonga was last seen in the Mayfield area in March 2018.
He is described as being of Pacific Islander appearance, with an olive complexion, shaved black hair, a medium build and approximately 170cm tall.
Mr Heitonga has family in the Mayfield area and has previously held employment in the Thornton and Chester Hill areas.
Police have conducted numerous inquiries and so far, been unable to locate him.
PRIVATISED REEF PROTECTION PLAN STILL IGNORES CLIMATE CRISIS
The release of the 2020-2021 workplan for the Reef Trust Partnership once again shows the Reef requires comprehensive, science-based protection by its proper management authority, and government-wide action on the climate crisis, says Greens Leader in the Senate and Queensland Senator Larissa Waters
“The Liberals would privatise their mothers if they could, and the Great Barrier Reef is the latest casualty of this ideology,” Senator Waters said.
“The Great Barrier Reef has faced three of the worst coral bleaching episodes in its long history in the last five years because of coal-driven climate change. This workplan talks about the need to tackle climate change and transition to clean energy, but does nothing towards that goal.”
“The proposal for tackling coral bleaching is not job-creating climate action, but research into shadecloths.
“The proposal for a ‘national behavioural change challenge’ to tackle climate change focuses on community projects, not changing the behaviour of the fossil fuel industry.
“The climate crisis worsens as the Morrison government dances to its fossil fuel donors’ tune, and now they want praise for researching a glorified sun umbrella for the 50% of coral left in the Reef.
“Shadecloths and Crown of Thorns starfish research are bandaid solutions while the big threats to the Reef – climate change and water quality – continue to be ignored or underfunded.
“This workplan is more rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic by a federal government that ignores and worsens the climate crisis, and underfunds water quality improvement by orders of magnitude.
“The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and Australian Institute of Marine Science, who have an actual mandate to protect and manage the Reef, have been undermined and continue to be underfunded by the Morrison Government.
“The 60,000 people who rely on a healthy Reef, and the World Heritage status of this biodiversity icon, demands so much better from the fossil fuel donation-hooked large political parties.”
Mass UNSW Job Cuts Devastating and Infuriating
Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has labelled today’s news of cuts to approximately 500 full-time equivalent jobs at UNSW, and the amalgamation of nine faculties into six, as devastating and infuriating.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Hundreds of hard-working UNSW staff will bear the disastrous consequences of the Liberals’ callous abandonment of higher education.
“The Morrison government has no shame or sense. Australian universities are in crisis and frankly it’s the Liberals who are squarely to blame.
“The government could have easily extended JobKeeper to universities and provided a new funding package. Instead, their plan is to cut funding and hike up student fees.
“Higher education is a case in point for why the government’s professed obsession with ‘job-making’ and ‘job-keeping’ is all spin and no substance. If they really cared about jobs, they would have invested in universities and protected our invaluable higher education system from disaster.
“My heart goes out to the hundreds of staff who are now facing unemployment during a recession. The Greens will fight on, alongside staff and students, for a jobs-rich, well-funded higher education sector,” she said.
CSIRO PLANS TO CALL THE AEROTROPOLIS HOME
The CSIRO will have up to 450 of the science agency’s staff and researchers based at a new state of the art facility in the heart of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the current CSIRO plan is to relocate many of its Sydney-based staff into a purpose-built facility that would support collaboration and the delivery of cutting-edge science.
The Aerotropolis will be a new focal point for Australian innovation, research and productivity, which is why it is the perfect home for Australia’s national science agency,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“CSIRO is a national icon and would set the tone for the Aerotropolis as an innovation hub which will drive the creation of more than 200,000 jobs across the Western Parkland City.”
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the successful conclusion of negotiations will pave the way for construction on CSIRO’s facility in the Aerotropolis Core to start in mid-2023 and be complete by 2026.
“The addition of CSIRO to the Aerotropolis would confirm the precinct as the future epicentre for science, research, innovation and industry collaboration in the Asia-Pacific,” Mr Ayres said.
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall said the agency’s presence at Aerotropolis would support collaboration and put science and technology right at the heart of this new smart and liveable city.
“The more we can put science in the hands of real people to solve real problems, the better our future will be, so the collaboration and connectedness of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis is an immense opportunity for CSIRO and the future we are shaping for Australia,” Dr Marshall said.
“The Aerotropolis reflects the new generation of CSIRO, agile and diverse, while building on a great 100 year legacy of innovation through collaboration. Sydney is where CSIRO invented fast WiFi and where we will invent the next innovations for our future prosperity and sustainability.”
The plan is for a CSIRO facility of up to 18,000m2 with collaborative workshops and meeting spaces alongside state-of-the-art facilities and laboratories.
The proposed CSIRO facility will benefit from the $11 billion Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport rail which will service the greater Western Sydney region, in time for the opening of Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport in 2026.
REFORMS FOR A WORLD CLASS PLANNING SYSTEM
Drastically reduced planning assessment times, less red tape, and user friendly e-planning tools will help turbo-charge the economic recovery, through an $83 million NSW Planning Reform Action Plan revealed today.
Speaking at a Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA) event, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the plan would build on momentum created by the NSW Government’s efforts to use the planning system to keep people in jobs and keep the economy moving during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The planning system has proved an incredibly powerful tool in our fight against the economic impacts of the pandemic,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“This plan takes us into the next phase of reform, creating a system that is efficient, rigorous, supports our economy and our environment, is accessible online and is easy for anyone to use.”
The changes will slash times as follows;
- Rezoning decisions cut by 191 days (33% time savings)
- Decisions on Development Applications (DAs) for larger, regionally significant projects cut by 91 days (25% time savings)
- Decisions on major projects of significance to the State cut by 20 days (17% time savings).
The Government has also invested almost $10 million to enhance its ePlanning platform and ensure all councils can get online to process DAs more quickly and transparently slash DA processing times by more than half.
“Homeowners can now lodge DAs online from the comfort of their home, making renovating quicker, easier and hassle-free,” Ms Berejiklian said.
All councils will have to adopt the online system by 1 July 2021.
Planning and Public Spaces Minister Rob Stokes said the NSW Planning Reform Action Plan builds on the momentum underway to create a more timely, certain and transparent planning system.
“In the past 10 weeks alone, we’ve approved projects worth more than $1 billion a week, unlocking the potential to create more than 30,000 jobs, 2 million sqm of open space and more than 8,000 new homes,” Mr Stokes said.
“This plan will cut unnecessary duplication of processes and boost resources in our assessment team, so that we can keep as many people in jobs and keep our State moving both now and in the months and years ahead.
“NSW Government agencies are also on notice as part of this plan both to reduce the number of unnecessary concurrences and referrals cases, and reduce those that are outside statutory timeframes, with support from the newly established Planning Delivery Unit that is unblocking projects that are stuck in the system.”
The NSW Planning Reform Action Plan also includes:
- Implementing the next phase of the ePlanning Program to make it easier to interact with the planning system;
- A reduction in applications requiring agency concurrences and referrals, and new benchmark timeframes on key assessment and planning functions;
- Complying development reforms to support emerging industries and fast track government projects; and
- Boost the role and resourcing of the Land and Environment Court by establishing a new class of appeals for rezonings to help unblock the planning system and appoint an additional two commissioners to enable more cases to be heard each year.
For more information on the Planning Reform Action Plan visit www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Planning-reforms
NSW TO LEAD THE NATION IN VIRTUAL HEALTHCARE
The NSW Government will investigate a wider roll-out of virtual healthcare services following the successful expansion of the NSW virtual health system during COVID-19.
The success complements the NSW Government’s record spend on health, with more than $26 billion invested in the NSW health care system over the past 12 months.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said NSW patients and clinicians have embraced virtual healthcare, with a 700 per cent increase in the use of virtual health services over the four months from February to May 2020, compared with the same period last year.
“The social distancing requirements that became a necessity with COVID-19 led to a rapid ramp-up of NSW Health’s virtual care system – with more than 82,000 outpatient appointments delivered via videoconference over four months,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“Virtual healthcare has proven to be particularly effective for follow up and secondary appointments, after a patient’s initial diagnosis at a face-to-face consultation.
“Traditionally, less than a quarter of a per cent of all outpatient services are delivered via videoconference in NSW. However, by May 2020 this had risen to four per cent.
“This rapid expansion allowed patients to be cared for in their own homes without the inconvenience of travelling outside their home.
“Virtual health technology is proving to be a game-changer for both patients and clinicians – and that’s why the NSW Government will continue to invest in the technology which provides easy to access, hospital in the home style care.
“We are already nation leaders with our record health infrastructure program and now we want to lead the country in virtual health technology”.
A recent survey of patients treated by the new RPAvirtual model in Sydney Local Health District found:
- 89 per cent said the technologies used by RPAvirtual improved their access to care and treatment;
- 80 per cent felt confident at home knowing their symptoms were monitored daily; and
- 72 per cent said the wearable monitoring devices they were provided were easy to use.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said virtual health had proven to be particularly useful in rural, remote and regional areas of NSW, where residents have been able to access a wider range of services without travelling long distances.
“Patients have said while initial face to face contact with their treating clinician is important, follow up appointments by telehealth are well received,” Mr Hazzard said.
“It means patients in regional and rural areas don’t have the stress of travelling long distances to hospital and have better access to specialists.”
Hunter New England and Western NSW Local Health Districts have been early adopters of virtual healthcare, which has been further expanded over recent months.
It is a Premier’s Priority to reduce preventive visits to hospital by five per cent by 2023 and virtual health is an important element in achieving this goal.
The NSW Government has invested $75 million over two years to support virtual health services