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Heritage NSW

Freedom Ride Blue Plaque proposed for Moree

THE call to place a Heritage NSW Blue Plaque in Moree to memorialise the 1965 Freedom Ride edged a step closer at a special meeting in Moree on Thursday. Communities across New South Wales were last year asked which towns and specific locations should be commemorated with a plaque to create a Freedom Ride Blue

Freedom Ride

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: 1965 Moree Bore Baths Freedom Ride protest

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: On February 13, 1965, a group of 29 students from the University of Sydney – Student Action for Aborigines – embarked on a 15-day bus journey across New South Wales and southern Queensland, with a purpose to expose the appalling living conditions of Aboriginal people and the systemic racism and discrimination they suffered.

The ‘55 Flood

Monty gets Queen's Bravery Commendation renewal 71 years after Moree flood rescue

JOHN and Geoff Matthews figured they could get across. The brothers, who lived on Dover Street in East Moree, cautiously eyed the swollen Mehi River as floodwaters rushed past. The river was rising rapidly. Moree’s main bridge, about 50 yards upstream from the current Dr Geoffrey Hunter Bridge, shuddered and swayed. It was late evening

Incredible Life

What 102-year-old super-ager Brian Barry teaches about living well is worth hearing

BRIAN Barry turned 102 on Friday, yet the former Sydney NRL referee doesn’t think himself as remarkable. He told interviewer, Heidi Douglass, he ‘just kept going’, his long life is luck, and that he talks a lot of rot. But sit with him for even a few minutes and a very different picture emerges: a

Our Community

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Moree Plains Museum cuts the cake on one year

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Moree and District Historical Society celebrated Moree Plains Museum’s first birthday on Easter Saturday last year, with locals and visitors spending a glorious autumn morning strolling through the historic facility’s fascinating exhibits and picturesque grounds. The historic Lands Office building on Frome Street was gifted to the society in 2019 when Moree Plains

February 6, 2026
Local History

Stories from the Plains No.5 available this week

THE latest edition of Moree local studies journal, Stories from the Plains, will be launched later today at Moree Community Library, with subscriber copies and hard copies available from tomorrow. The free, quarterly journal, compiled by editor Adam Mitchell, is enriched with local and regional history, with the first edition for 2026 featuring an interview

February 5, 2026
History

Storm season: Historic look at Moree’s severe weather events in the 1940s and 1950s

IN the late 1950s, Moree was hit by a horrendous hailstorm that all but flattened the town. In Moree and surrounding villages, hundreds of homes were damaged, many beyond repair and uninhabitable. The district’s wheat crops – midway through harvest – were decimated. Moree’s main shopping precinct was the worst hit. Hail-drifts measuring more than

January 3, 2026
Moree To Paris

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Gary Sutton still calls Moree home

WHEN people in Moree talk about the local velodrome, the conversation always turns to the Sutton brothers. Always. Gary and Shane Sutton cut their teeth at the Moree track, down the southern end of the perfectly-named Endeavour Lane. Cycling royalty returned home last week, when Gary Sutton rode into town for a few days to

December 5, 2025
Freedom Ride

Locals asked to short list Moree for 1965 Freedom Ride Blue Plaque Trail

COMMUNITIES across New South Wales are being asked which towns and specific locations should be commemorated with a blue plaque to create a Freedom Ride Blue Plaque Trail – and Moree residents are encouraged to nominate Moree Artesian Aquatic Centre. The 1965 Freedom Ride brought national attention to racial injustice and discrimination against Aboriginal and

November 12, 2025
Regional History

Region’s history finds new home on Peel Street

THOUSANDS of films, sound recordings and oral histories have found a permanent home at 218 Peel Street, with the official opening of the Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive. The Archive, operated by dedicated and passionate volunteers, celebrates the relocation to larger, purpose-suited premises that will not only allow more room for archival equipment but

October 22, 2025