Robyn Thomas

Support Services Specialist ~ Service NSW

We had the privilege of having firsthand advice provided by Robyn about the availability of State Government rebates and services. Robyn is an experienced local Support Services Specialist with the Taree office of Service NSW. The service was developed in July 2012 and now offers a web site, around the clock telephone service and over 100 service centres across the state.

Robyn inform us of some of the 900 government transactions offered across the likes of Roads and Maritime, NSW Births, Deaths and Marriages, Fair Trading as well as the newest service called Cost of Living where a specialist can provide individual advice about specific rebates that may be available. They are thrilled with being able to offer over 70 rebates which have so far saved the local community $200,000. Robyn explained the three ways that the service can offer help: self-assessment via the internet, free appointment with a support service specialist, or telephone service. She also made mention of assistance provided by other departments such as the small business and quad bike rebates offered by SafeWork NSW.

We all learned about the benefits available for possible savings in our living expenses, this information that helps us be better financially informed and equipped in daily living skills was welcome advice to many of us.

Tim Faulkner

Australian Reptile Park and Devil Ark GM, TV personality and Australian Geographic conservationist of the Year 2015!

Tim’s credentials in the Australian zoo industry and conservation organisations are numerous, making him a leader in his field. His work is dedicated to hands-on wildlife education and conservation. He works with all manner of wildlife from Crocodiles to snakes and spiders - milking Funnel-web spiders!

His passion extends to many other species, he launched The Devil Ark breeding facility at Barrington Tops NSW as an endeavour to save the Tasmania Devil from extinction and holds the role of General Manager. He is also General Manager and Head of Conservation at the Australia Reptile Park in Somersby NSW - the Central Coast’s largest tourism attraction. He is an ambassador and activist for several animals - the Quokka, the Australian Dingo Coalition and of course, the Manning River Turtle.

We were very fortunate to be able to hear Tim’s enthusiastic and extremely informative delivery about his passion for all of the animal world and especially his drive to achieve the best results possible in the fight to save many of our very unique endangered species. His wealth of experience and methods that have been learned and developed over his extensive career gave us a great insight into the challenge facing those endeavouring to preserve much of Australia’s threatened wildlife. We were left with a vastly expanded appreciation of the factors impacting this huge undertaking and the ongoing requirements to give success the best possible chance.

Stephen Michael King

Internationally Acclaimed Author and Illustrator

Another very talented local resident, Stephen is a very popular, talented and award winning author and illustrator who has written more than 80 children’s picture books, and collaborated with many other well regarded Authors.

Due to a hearing loss as a child, Stephen became an observer of the world around him and grew up with a love of drawing, art and books. He has worked with Walt Disney, designed puppets for TV and toured with theatre companies performing shows based on his stories.

Stephen was asked, as part of a project of the Wingham Chamber of Commerce’s Place Making Committee, to paint some outdoor murals in Wingham. He completed the delightful murals in March - look for the wall along the alley beside the Wingham Newsagent. Extract shown below.

Surrounding himself with his greatest inspirations, his family, nature and a menagerie of animals, Stephen continues his career creating beautiful stories and charming illustrations and artwork that are full of happiness and life lessons.

Stephen shared his infectious optimism and graciously displayed his talent with a live drawing demonstration of ‘Three’, the three legged hero of his newest story - and how lucky are we? he donated the finished product to us!

We were also treated to a reading of ‘Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat’ ably assisted by Ruth W. Many were reminded of that childlike whimsy that is instilled by a well told tale - with words AND pictures!

Dr Richard O’Brien

Retired Irish Ambassador in Australia

Dr Richard O’Brien’s long career with the Irish government included his service as Irish Ambassador to Australia from 1995 to 2002. A variety of roles and postings took him to many locations around the world and has given him a wealth of experience across a variety of cultures. He also has a wealth of knowledge of Irish-Australian history. There has been so much involved in such a varied career that we were regaled with many interesting tales.

Richard spoke delightfully about his long career - from being tasked to establishing the first Irish embassy in Poland, to his posting to Australia. Many other postings around the world and so many interesting events, characters and dignitaries that have crossed his path along the way provide a wealth of experiences and topics which kept us very engaged.