RU OK?
Coming up, on the 12th of September, is the official “R U OK?” Day. I do hope that you will all reach out to at least one person and ask if they are travelling OK on that day.
But in reality, every day of the year needs to be an “R U OK?” Day in our lives. There are so many people out there who are quietly and silently struggling. Simply waking up, getting dressed and putting on a smile, to keep others happy, is a chore.
The black dog of depression is incredibly clever at catching people when their guard is down. And that black dog almost never barks loudly enough so that friends and family can tell that it is there, inside of one of our loved ones.
On this R U OK Day, please take extra care in listening carefully to the answer that you get and perhaps asking a couple of follow up questions to scratch a little more deeply. It might be that your conversation, your listening and your care is the key insight that sees the black dog for what it is.
The Black Dog Institute offers some fantastic resources on their website www.blackdoginstitute.org.au. If people need to speak to someone they can call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Beyond Blue can be called on 1300 224 636. Kids Helpline 24hr/7days a week on 1800 551 800. And Head to Health can connect people to local mental health services on 1800 595 212.
HUNTER VALLEY TRANSMISSION PROJECT
Progressing rapidly is the plan to install a new 500kV electricity transmission line through the Hunter. It will connect from near Bayswater Power Station up toward the Hunters north-west, down to an area close to Eraring Power Station in our Hunters south-east.
The purpose of this new transmission line is to bring the new electricity that will be produced out in the western parts of NSW, down to the biggest users of electricity – the people and businesses of the Hunter, the Central Coast and Sydney.
If we don’t build the new 500kV line, then we can expect the lights to go out once our power stations cease to operate in the coming 2-10 years.
Unfortunately, yet again, some people in the Hunter will bear the biggest brunt of the impacts of electricity infrastructure, so that it is possible for the millions of others in the state to switch on the lights. Locally, we have farmers, conservationists, intergenerational property owners, and eco-tourism businesses that will lose their slice of paradise for the cause.
It is important that the NSW Government, and the government entity known as EnergyCo, deals with each of these affected people and affected families in a fair and reasonable way. There is no Plan B to this electricity lifeline project. There is only Plan A. And work that should have started 10 years ago, is only now getting moving.
Things are going to happen quickly when it comes to the Hunter Valley Transmission Project – also known as the HVT. The ambitious timeline expects to switch the project on by 2028. That will be quite a challenge.