Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton with Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society community representative Susan Wilson and president Pip Murray at The Mackellar Centre, where new signage will be installed thanks to an $8,800 Stronger Communities Programme grant.

Visitors and locals alike will no longer be able to miss the Dorothea Mackellar Centre in Gunnedah, with new signage to be installed on the building thanks to an $8,800 Federal Government grant.

Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton this week met with members of the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society to discuss their successful grant, provided under Round 6 of the Coalition Government’s Stronger Communities Programme (SCP).

“I am incredibly pleased to help such a wonderful community organisation like the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society, which is dedicated to promoting the literary work of iconic bush poet Dorothea Mackellar,” Mr Coulton said.

“This funding will be used to construct and install permanent signage at The Mackellar Centre, making it easier to locate and enabling more people to experience Dorothea Mackellar’s poetry and legacy.

“Volunteer organisations in the Parkes electorate are pivotal to our local communities, and this program certainly goes some way to supporting them and the terrific work they do.”

Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society President Pip Murray said The Mackellar Centre currently has no permanent signage, only a tie-up banner and sandwich board.

“The Centre houses a fine collection of paintings based on Dorothea Mackellar’s ‘My Country’ poem and memorabilia from the Mackellar family’s former property ‘Kurrumbede’. It’s also where the annual Poetry Awards are held,” Ms Murray said.

“However, the building is partially obscured by the Anzac Park gardens and difficult to find.

“The signage, to be installed at the front entrance on South Street and at the rear of the building which faces the Oxley Highway, will help direct both visitors and residents to the Centre, providing a further boost to tourism in Gunnedah and promotion of the Society and the work we do.”

The Stronger Communities Programme provides each electorate with $150,000 to fund small capital projects.

An additional $28.2 million was provided in the 2021-22 Budget to extend the Stronger Communities Programme to a seventh round.

More information about the SCP is available at www.business.gov.au/Grants-and-Programs/Stronger-Communities-Programme.