Wauchope and Port Macquarie, towns eleven miles apart, and the two main centres of the Hastings River Valley, have been put into different state electorates. Wauchope moves north to merge into Raleigh; Port Macquarie stays put in the Oxley electorate. The Electoral Boundaries Commission has made the change and the state members of Parliament have 14 days in which to lodge any protest.

Both Oxley and Raleigh are died-in-the-cows Country Party seats, and the change will in no way affect the prospects of the CP sitting members, Bruce Cowan and Jim Brown. The Member for Oxley, Mr Cowan, expressed concern yesterday at the changes. Mr Cowan said he had always worked for progress on a valley basis. He felt there was a community of interest between Wauchope and Port Macquarie and was sorry to learn of the Hastings Valley being divided.

Primary school presentation

The large attendance at the Anglican Hall for the Primary School presentation was thoroughly entertained by a series of disciplined performances from the pupils. Among the acts presented were two choirs, an orchestra, a physical display of gymnastics, two recorder groups, a verse speaking choir, a pageant and a variety of bird calls from the Gould league group. All the acts reflected the talent of the student performers and the enthusiasm of their teachers.

"No" by 642 votes

Dissenters from the proposal to allow hotel trading on Sundays made up a solid majority in the recent referendum, and Port Macquarie voters were close to the State average. There were 2409 voters in the Port Macquarie subdivision of Oxley electorate against the proposal; 1677 were for it. Only one subdivision in Oxley had a majority of "yes" voters. This was at Crescent Head where "yes" totalled 606 to "no" 572. In Wauchope, the margin was small between the supporters and the dissenter, with 1547 voting against the liquor reform while 1401 voted for it. Up to Tuesday last week, the total vote for Oxley Electorate was 8219 for "yes" and 11,572 for "no".

Local boy wins bike

An eleven-year-old Port Macquarie boy has won a Cyclops Majestic Bike in a "letter to Santa" competition promoted by the Sydney Sunday Telegraph. He is Robert Murphy, son of Mr and Mrs Les Murphy of Gore Street. The prize-winning letter read: Dear Santa, I am glad that you keep coming to our homes with presents. I am also very sorry for leaving the open fire going. If you'd like me to leave you some cake and plonk I will do so. Oh, yes, about that toy machine-gun you gave me last year. It still won't fire properly. So this year I would like a dragster with two wheels, a slot car set, and a train set. Now that's not much is it, Mr Claus? Merry Christmas, Santa.