Vly News - Professional news Platform

While on a journey across Australia, Oli Firth finds himself in a place he never thought he would end up: In prison. Mr Firth’s journey was cut short in the dusty NSW outback after he was caught on drugs and sent to the Broken Hill Correctional Centre. “It was the toughest time of my life,” he told ABC’s RN’s Life Matters. But while behind bars, Firth is involved in a program called Songbirds that teaches inmates songwriting. That changes it. “[Music] is a real beacon of light for me. It was the only thing that got me through it.” And Mr Firth is not alone in seeking entertainment through music in prison. Into the forest Murray Cook is a musician (as well as a marine biologist) who has played with Midnight Oil, Mental as Anything and Mixed Relations. But for more than 20 years, Mr Cook has also run music classes in various NSW prisons, including stints as a music teacher in the psychology ward at Sydney’s Long Bay Correctional Center. He is currently program director for Songbirds, a

Jenny Edwards doesn’t mince words on the topic of using gas in the home. “Let it go, that’s my view,” he told ABC RN’s Life Matters. For a decade Ms Edwards, director of sustainability and regulatory affairs at the Australian Property Council, has been helping Canberra households – most of which have gas heating, hot water and cooking – to do just that. “There really is a myth – we all sell the idea of ​​gas and so it takes up a lot of time in Canberra and Victoria in particular,” he said. But he argues that households can switch from gas to electricity “and be just as comfortable – even more comfortable – and have more money in your pocket”. Ms Edwards offers advice for homeowners and renters to reduce their gas use and, as energy prices soar across the country, save money as well. ‘Has plans to switch’ Getting off the gas means removing smoke and fire from your home, says Ms Edwards. And gas also “contributes to the moisture content in your home … and of course there are impacts of c