Emily Wind

The town, which had around 5000 residents at the last census, is known for its untouched bushlands, friendly community and large presence of Seventh Day Adventists (30.8%) and elderly residents (23.3% over 65). When the housing development ‘Watagan Park’ was launched in 2012 by Johnson Property Group (JPG), some residents grew concerned about what these developments would mean for the future of the small town and the community members within it. As part of the housing development, a waste water recycling plant was proposed to be built on 60 Avondale Road, and later moved to 617 Freemans Drive after petitions from community members and rejection from council. Big companies and small-town residents may not always see eye-to-eye, and as Cooranbong residents said, the power balance was often weighed in favour of the developer.

With six kids in the country and hardly any money, Ivy’s mother also clung to a dream – to send her children to Avondale College in Cooranbong. With a laugh, Ivy says “if you had told me that’s the man I was going to marry, I’d have said there’s no way I’m going to marry that man! I wonder what funny thing she’s going to say’ or ‘what colour shoes she’s wearing today’. As a female teacher from the 1940’s to the 1970’s, Ivy faced discrimination, earning just 70% of the men’s wages.

His fresh eye and lived experiences as a black man in the US has led to the creation of a film which celebrates the rich culture and lives of people who have too often been misrepresented and depicted negatively in the media. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) is the newly appointed king of “Wakanda,” a fictionalised African country whose hidden lands abound with the metal Vibranium and a heart-shaped herb responsible for his enhanced abilities. When the main villain Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) arrives, the music turns to modern day hip-hop and trap sounds culminated in the soundtrack by Kendrick Lamar. The news is increasingly being filled with gun violence and police brutality, Nazism, and white nationalism–especially in the U. S. where the film was created–and Black Panther conveys a message of peace and unity which is much needed.

As she stood, muscles aching from the rough sand, she shook her head and looked towards The Moon. The girl couldn’t even reach forward and close the eyes of the dead, for they were hanging from their skulls in a constant state of terror, flies covering them along with the four removed tongues on the sand. She looked to The Moon once more, remembering her escape and the vows that followed. It wasn’t until the girl’s tenth year that she first saw The Moon.