Christ Church Cathedral service a chance to farewell the Queen

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The community across Newcastle and the Hunter is being invited to a memorial service for the late Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday evening.

The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle is running the service at 7:30pm.

Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen says there's been an outpouring of emotion since the Queen's passing.

"I suspect it will be busy," he said. "If it's anything to go by, we've had the memorial book since the end of last week, and that will remain open until the 23rd of September at our Digital Library."

"Hundreds of Novocastrians have taken the opportunity to come in, to sign the condolence book and leave their own personal message, and I'm sure that others will take advantage of the opportunity to come and reflect at Christ Church Cathedral this evening."

The service is expected to run for around an hour.

The Bishop of Newcastle Dr Peter Stuart will preach at the event, and there'll also be music with connections to the Royal Family, readings and psalms used in thanksgiving for the Queen's life, and an opportunity for members of the congregation to light candles.

The Dean of Newcastle, the Very Reverend Katherine Bowyer says it's an important moment for the community.

"We are expecting quite a large number to attend," she said. "We've been aware of many people coming to the Cathedral to sign the condolence book we have, to lay floral tributes."

"We've had lots of inquiries, and with a length of reign at 70 years, it's touched a lot of people's lives."

Deputy Lord Mayor Declan Clausen and the Dean of Newcastle Katherine Bowyer. 

Business calling for clarity around Queen's memorial holiday

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Hunter can expect a day off to mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II next Thursday, but businesses are bracing for a busy day.

Anthony Albanese's declared a public holiday for the National Day of Mourning on September 22, but the short notice has raised concern for hospitality and other local business.

Business Hunter CEO Bob Hawes says the sector's already facing staff shortages, and it could be hard for businesses to find spare hands.

"Many businesses would have already made arrangements for that week, and for that matter, members of the community and the public, their expectations are already set," he said.

"It will be a little bit disruptive, and I think the impacts across businesses will be somewhat uneven and some will be impacted more than others."

"But at the end of the day, there's nothing we can do about it. We just have to try and accommodate it and move on."

It's unclear if there will be special restrictions or limitations on opening hours on the public holiday, but the business community expects workers will be entitled to penalty rates.

Mr Hawes says it's thrown a spanner in the works for school formals and other events too.

"Now they might be faced with additional costs as a consequence of having to pay those penalty rates," he said. "There might be a bit of to and fro with people that have made those bookings and arrangements."

"Apart from the fact that some people, some staff might have other plans or are trying to put other plans in place to take the Friday off as well and make a long weekend out of it."

The Australian Medical Association has also raised concern about the one-off holiday, with worry it could have a major impact on appointments and elective surgeries.

Schools are also scrambling to make plans, with holidays set to begin the weekend after the sudden public holiday.

The Prime Minister says it's a once-in-a-lifetime event, however, and as much notice has been given as possible.

Here in the Hunter, we're being urged to be calm at the checkout.

"A plea to the community to be patient," Mr Hawes said. "Don't take it out on the business or the workers if your expectations aren't being realised on the day, if a business does choose to open."

"Even leading up to it, if you're trying to make arrangements and you're finding that they're falling foul because a public holiday has been declared, they've got to understand that it's not the business' fault."

"They didn't call for it, it's just the circumstances they're in."

Image credit: Anthony Albanese.

The Hunter remembers Queen Elizabeth II

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Hunter is remembering Queen Elizabeth II, who has passed away at the age of 96.

Buckingham Palace says Her Majesty died peacefully at Balmoral Castle.

Her son Charles - now King Charles III - and the Royal Family are mourning the passing of the sovereign and much-loved mother.

Her Majesty's death has sent ripples around the world, across the Commonwealth, and here in the Hunter Region.

The community's paying tribute, with thousands of messages pouring in across social media and from leaders and figures around the world.

The Bishop of Newcastle Dr Peter Stuart says the Hunter's Anglican community is remembering an important figure to the Church of England and its global communion.

"Anglicans in the Hunter Region have always been praying for the Queen, as part of our services of prayer and of gathering," he said. "We have a sense of affinity with Her Majesty and are deeply saddened by her passing."

"Our hearts and minds and affinities are shaped by our Anglican understanding, and so we pray for King Charles III and for what his reign will look like."

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The Queen made four official visits to the Hunter throughout her 70 year reign, first in 1954, on her Coronation Tour.

In 1970, Her Majesty visited Newcastle to open the International Sports Centre and christened a ship at Newcastle dockyards, the Darwin Trader.

"[The International Sports Centre] will make a valuable contribution to the health and happiness of the community," Her Majesty said. 

"In declaring it open, it is my sincere hope, that your aims will soon be realised by the completion of the whole project."

Seven years later, the Queen returned for the opening of the Newcastle Regional Art Gallery.

Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon was there.

"The Queen was no stranger to Newcastle and the Hunter Region," she said. "She visited us on at least four occasions."

"I remember being a young girl in Civic Park myself in 1977, when she visited to open the Newcastle Art Gallery. There was a crowd of adoring fans."

"It was very much a case of recognising the Queen as this timeless figure in our lives. Most of us in Australia know no other monarch, and she has had a very historic reign over such a long period of time."

In 1988, Her Majesty visited the city again to officially open Queens Wharf.

Former Lord Mayor John McNaughton welcomed the Queen, but years later admitted, there had been a little bit of anxiety around the visit.

"We didn't know what to expect," he said. "We didn't know whether she'd be standoffish or how it'd go."

Lady Mayoress Margaret McNaughton joined her husband in hosting the Queen, saying Her Majesty made them feel as though the city was the most important place in the world.

"I got the impression that we were the only people in the whole world that they'd come to see and to visit," she said. "And Newcastle was the only place on earth that they were destined to visit and it really mattered."

But the visit wasn't without its hiccups.

"I tore my trousers on the way out between the Customs House the car - on the emblem on the front of the Lord Mayoral car," Mr McNaughton said.

"That's why I had to leave my robe on during lunch, because my knee was hanging out of my trousers."

"Over lunch we told [the Royals]. The Duke thought it was a huge joke - he laughed and laughed."

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Today, the City of Newcastle and other Hunter councils are now flying their flags at half-mast.

They'll also establish condolence books, as the community continues to mourn the much-loved monarch.

"I think today is going to be marked with a lot of fond memories," Ms Claydon said. "It is really the close of a second Elizabethan age."

The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle will host a special memorial service at Christ Church Cathedral in the next ten days.

The Bishop of Newcastle says while it's a time of mourning, it's also a chance for the whole community to reflect.

"Whenever someone like the Queen dies, we have a sense of our mortality," Dr Stuart said. 

"I'm encouraging everyone to spend a moment to stop and to pray and to think, and just hold true to all that they believe in and to spend time with the people they love."

"We can be caught up in our sense of mourning and sadness, and it's a time to reach out and care for others."

The Queen and Prince Philip on their visit to Newcastle in February 1954.