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ightning Ridge is a small town
that sits in far North-West NSW,
between Burke and Goondiwindi.
Best known as the only place in the
world where black opals are mined, in
recent years the area has suffered the
ravages of an unrelenting drought.
After three years of very little
rainfall, the soil has turned to dust and
can no longer support crops. Due to
financial strain and the ever-increasing
hardship of working such arid land,
many farmers in the area are unable to
maintain the basic infrastructure and
equipment needed to continue their
day-to-day operations.
Enter Outback Links, which for
the past 10 years has been sending
volunteers to remote areas in need of
assistance.
Outback Links was founded by
Frontier Services: a charity organisation
that has been helping those in rural
communities for over 100 years. Frontier
Services was the brainchild of John
Flynn, who also founded the Royal Flying
Doctor Service and who showed an
endless commitment to helping those
living in outback Australia.
Originating in Charleville,
Queensland, the Outback Links
program built on informal networks of
volunteers that already existed in rural
Australia. In the past it has included a
wide spectrum of different volunteers
such as bush nurses and early
childhood educators who would conduct
kindergarten services out of the back
of Land Rovers.
Working in partnership with Buy-A-
Bale, a service that makes hay drops to
the area and has delivered thousands
of bales of hay to drought affected
areas all around Australia, the team
at Outback Links were able to identify
the geographical areas most in need of
assistance, and Lightning Ridge came in
high on the list.
Last November, the program put
together a ‘Tradie Trip’ in which 30
volunteer tradespeople including
electricians, mechanics, plumbers and
carpenters got on a bus and headed
out to Lightning Ridge to see how
they could help. The program was a
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE
In the middle of the Australian
outback, groups of dedicated
tradies are volunteering their
time and skills to deliver much
needed support to drought
stricken farming communities.
Jacob Harris
reports.
Left: NECA apprentices James Brown
and Aaron Abela (right) work together
at Lightning Ridge. Photo courtesy
of Outback Links youth amabassador
Samantha Pursehouse.