Club Praised for Vital Role During Power Outages

Residents across Far West NSW experienced rolling blackouts last October after severe thunderstorms knocked down seven transmission towers, cutting power to the region.

At the Parliamentary Inquiry into Far West NSW Electrical Outages yesterday, Broken Hill Musicians Club and its General Manager Michael Boland received widespread praise for their swift actions.

“The amount of effort and energy and commitment that the Club showed towards the community in Broken Hill and the wider community is truly outstanding, I think that needs to be acknowledged,” Hornsby MP James Wallace told the Inquiry.

Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart said she was particularly impressed by the way in which the Club assisted those in the community who required life-saving medication.

“Michael, thank you so much for what you’ve done for the community, particularly in regards to storing medication… we’ve heard quite a lot of things like insulin, for example, that had to be thrown out and re-bought, so thank you for what you did, stepping up in such a big way,” she said.

ClubsNSW CEO Rebecca Riant said the club industry is always there in tough times to support their local communities.

“The Broken Hill Musicians Club is to be commended for the enormous role they played during last year’s power outages, which quite literally saved lives,” Ms Riant said.“We’re again seeing the important work of the state’s clubs as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approaches the Far North Coast, with Mullumbimby RSL, Evans Head RSL, Club Burringbar, Ocean Shores Country Club and Nambucca RSL all stepping up as evacuation centres.”

Michael Boland praised the work of his team at the Broken Hill Musicians Club, and the club industry more broadly, including the Mounties Group, who generously contributed towards the cost of the recovery efforts last year.

“The Club turned around and the staff pulled together, and we opened as a respite centre for the community very, very quickly,” he said. 

“The Club received a significant donation from the Mounties Group in Sydney of $100,000. We actually used that towards replacing low-income earners’ refrigeration… we partnered with St Vincent de Paul and they went out and shopped for white goods.

“There was a significant amount of white goods that were destroyed and particularly for low-income earners in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, you know they’re the last people who can afford to replace a fridge.”

Tomorrow, the Club will stage a special free event for the town, Beers for Broken Hill, courtesy of the Mounties Group, to say thank you to the community for staying strong during the power crisis.