Upper Murrumbidgee: Oral History of Gay and Dick Lawler

An interview in five parts with Gay and Dick Lawler.

Gay and Dick talk about the arrival of Carp and St John's Wort following a big flood in 1991. They stopped fishing soon afterward. They discuss their efforts to reintroduce native plants, and their involvement in replanting schemes organised by the Murrumbidgee Demonstration Reach and LandCare. They also talk about fish populations, local wildlife, water turbidity, and man made changes to water flows and the River's character. They briefly discuss fishing canoeing, camping and their experience with theft.

Mention of Black Snakes, Brown Snakes, Platypus, Water Dragons, Turtles, White Sea Eagle, Cormorants, Wombats, Echidna, Rosenberg's Monitor/Goanna (Varanus rosenbergi), Eastern Water Dragons

Also mentions St John's Wort, Vipers bugloss ("Salvation Jane") , Hoarhound, Hemlock, African Love Grass, Eucalyptus, Manna Gums,

Mention of Upper Murrumbidgee Demonstration Reach, LandCare, Snowy Mountain Scheme

Younger son of one of the early Europeans in the area. Negotiated 100 acres on the river from the family and restored a stone shepherds outbuilding in the 1980s which he uses regularly with his wife Gay.

Heather Goodall

Jodi Frawley

University of Technology, Sydney

Murray-Darling Basin Authority

NSW Department of Primary Industries - NSW Fisheries

Copyright University of Technology, Sydney

2010-10-07

Open access

Jodi Frawley

Dick Lawler

Gay Lawler

Part 1 00:00:27

Part 2 00:09:49

Part 3 00:06:01

Part 4 00:12:49

Part 5 00:07:19