An extra-terrestrial parcel of Australian Golden wattle seeds has returned safely to earth and is undergoing biosecurity screening following its journey into space.

The seeds travelled all the way to the International Space Station and back following a Memorandum of Understanding between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Australian Space Agency. The seeds were collected by CSIRO from a wild population in Victoria, and are held in the National Research Collections Australia at CSIRO as part of a unique resource alongside representative seeds of other Australian plant species.

“This is one small step for Golden wattle but one giant leap for biosecurity science and innovation,” said Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud.

“Biosecurity officers will now inspect the well-travelled Golden Wattle seeds to ensure that they meet biosecurity requirements and have not picked up any exotic pests and diseases on their journey.”

Once the seeds have received biosecurity clearance, they will be released to the One Giant Leap Australia Foundation to distribute to schools across Australia for the inaugural Australian ‘Seeds in Space’ educational program. The aim is to see what effects the space journey has had on their germination as a fun and exciting project to engage the next generation in STEM.

The Australian Ambassador to Japan, Jan Adams AO PSM, will be presented with some of the returned seeds from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in a ceremony at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. The space seeds will be planted in the embassy garden as a symbol of the growing relationship in this area.

The One Giant Leap Australia Foundation is supported by the Australian Space Agency on this project, in collaboration with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo Research Module on the International Space Station, which facilitates space-related educational projects.

For more details about One Giant Leap Australia Foundation visit https://onegiantleapaustralia.com/

The Central West Livestock Exchange (CWLE) in Forbes will be holding its monthly Store Cattle Sale today, 20th August amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in Central West NSW with strict safety rules in place.

“We have taken advice from the relevant authorities regarding the cattle sale and the staff are confident the sale can go ahead despite the current stay-at-home orders in place,” said Forbes Shire Council General Manager Steve Loane. “The utmost diligence has been taken to ensure buyers, freight operators and our staff can carry out their vital work for the commercial livestock industry.

Only essential workers are to attend the sale and this includes agents, registered buyers and council staff. Family mem-bers can watch the sale online through the StockLive online auction.

“All transportors must remain in their vehicles whilst the sale is being conducted, and vendors delivering stock should leave immediately after delivery of cattle,” said Steve.

CWLE Manager Cassi Walmsley said the sale was shaping up to be good one with 1,800 cattle. This week saw 27,000 sheep through the yards and 1,100 cattle. This is a vast improvement on previous months and the prices are high and the quality very good.

You might have noticed police patrols on the main roads into Parkes over the past week.

A total of 1,400 officers attached to Traffic and Highway Patrol Command have been on key arterial and back roads across regional NSW, checking vehicles travelling without a reasonable excuse.

Chief Inspector Scott Rayner of the Parkes Police said a lot more police officers would be seen in high visibility uniforms on patrol to ensure COVID compliance. “They will be very strongly enforcing the COVID rules,” he warned.

As many as 166 Police Information Notice (PINs) were handed out in a 24-hour period in regional NSW over the past week as part of Operation Stay-At-Home that started on Saturday at 5pm.

Australian Defence Force troops were also deployed to assist with compliance checks and patrols, while five teams were sent to the Central West on Wednesday to help with the vaccination drive in vulnerable communities.

In addition, penalties have significantly increased and the following fines are in place for Public Health Order breaches:

• $5,000 for breaching self-isolation rules.
• $5,000 for lying on a permit.
• $5,000 for lying to a contact tracer.
• $3,000 for breaching the two-person outdoor exercise/recreation rule.
• $3,000 for breaching rules around entry into regional NSW.

At the time of going to press it was not yet clear whether the lockdown might be extended past Sunday, but in the mean time it is vital to stay at home unless you need to leave for an essential reason. If you must leave home, stay within your local area. For more information, visit www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/rules

Silos around Australia are becoming canvases for regional creativity and expression and also act as a magnet for tourists with over 40 communities reaping its benefits so far.

There has been a push by several members in the Parkes community to get the grain silos in May Street painted. Local resident Csaba Belley is extremely passionate about this and has done a lot of research into the benefits this could hold for our town.

According to Csaba there were 44 painted silos in Australia in December last year with six more planned for 2021. The Silo Art Trail website has 65,000 members and an average of 622 comments per day.

“The Silo Art Trail has been mentioned in National Geographic, in Ripley’s Believe it or Not, on the Back Roads television program and has featured on a series of Australian stamps,” said Csaba.

He said Dr Amelia Green from Griffith University explored the capacity of the Silo Art Trail in empowering communities, activating places and supporting tourism. Her findings reinforce that the value of the trail is multi-faceted on a social, cultural and economic level.

“In two to three years the Parkes bypass is going to take a lot of potential visitors from our town,” said Csaba. “The silos in Parkes are in a perfect location with a long list of businesses within a 1km radius, including hotels, clubs, restaurants, shops, Cooke Park and the brand new Cooke Park Pavilion.”

Csaba had spoken to a representative of the Bland Shire Council about the effect of the magnificent murals on the silos at Weethalle. The silos have been featured on postage stamps and received over a million vires on Facebook. “What a great promotion for a township of a mere 300 people!”

Another example Csaba found was that since the water tower was painted at Gunne-dah more visitors have passed through the town’s museum doors in a month than in a whole year.

Csaba has been in contact with and has sent a proposal to Parkes Shire Council, but according to Council it could not be considered at the moment. The silos belong to Grain Corp, and the company is revamping its community program, which includes silo art. “Submissions for new silo art projects are currently closed, while we work through several projects in 2021 and 2022. We are working towards relaunching our program in late 2021,” according to Grain Corp’s website.

Csaba feels Parkes should be more proactive and start planning in order to be ready once the Grain Corp program is up and running again.

“I’d like nothing more than seeing this project happen.” He thanked all The Parkes Phoenix readers for taking an interest in the project following several letters from readers with suggestions over the past month.