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Newcastle

Read more about the article Park to Beach: Anzac Day in Newcastle
Anzac Day march in Newcomen Street, Newcastle, 1959

Park to Beach: Anzac Day in Newcastle

From our book, The Hunter Region in The Great War Most of the work of the returned services association in its early years was focused on supporting its direct constituency. But another major role was remembering and honouring the sacrifices and achievements of those who had fought and who were still fighting in a war whose scale and nature was without precedent.From the moment that news arrived in Australia of the action at Gallipoli it was clear that this was an event with immense resonance. Australian families had sent thousands of their sons to fight battles…

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Read more about the article The water of remembrance
Jack Parsons in WW1 (left), WW2 (right) and the fountain in Gregson Park

The water of remembrance

In Gregson Park, Hamilton (Newcastle, NSW), a drinking water fountain stands near the large war memorial. On one side is a plaque that reads: Dedicated to the memory of John William Parsons who made the supreme sacrifice on the 12th July 1945 while prisoner of war in Ranau, Borneo. 2/3rd Motor Ambulance Corps 2nd AIF Also member 8th Field Co Engineers AIF 1914-1918. Age 49 years Erected by his wife and daughters.” In truth, the fountain memorialises Jack Parsons and his wife Doris, both profoundly affected by the world wars of the 20th Century. The story…

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Read more about the article Time to break free from the robber state

Time to break free from the robber state

Opinion by Greg Ray The biggest mistake Newcastle ever made was in 1967 when its voters helped kill the idea of Northern NSW seceding from the Sydney-dominated south. After decades of agitation and a huge push, the so-called “Northern Separation Movement” had managed to force a formal referendum on the issue. People in the north of the state had brought the issue up repeatedly from the time that Queensland split from NSW. Their complaint was and has always been the same: that the Sydney-based government extracts far more from regional areas than it puts back, that…

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