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After the rain
Tropical low: Rewards and risks
Mike Gillam. On March 3 the Bureau of Meteorology recorded an impressive monsoon trough containing four tropical lows each with the potential to develop into a cyclone, hugging the coast of northern Australia ... Moths and butterflies are everywhere and I don’t believe it’s an exaggeration to say that every genus of plants is supporting at least one distinctive species of caterpillar.
Coastal erosion - WA
Shane Love says there is no clear plan to beat Lancelin’s coastal erosion
Hayley Primmer & Seth Carter. Foreshore erosion in Lancelin is becoming an increasing concern for the Shire of Gingin, with the Opposition warning ongoing changes to the coastline threaten the future of several businesses in the town, as well as the long-term safety of some residents’ homes. Lancelin Sands Hotel owner Glen Trebilcock said he had lost 40m of land in 12 months due to Lancelin’s increasing coastal erosion.
Leadership
Despair is easy, hope requires effort
Despair is easy, but hope requires effort—real leadership means choosing action, connection, and progress, especially when times are toughest ... Leaders in regional areas don’t have the luxury of hiding behind corporate layers or distant decision-making structures.
Online dating
Finding love in the country
Anyone who’s ventured into the world of online dating is sure to have countless stories of mismatches, mishaps, misconceptions and misunderstandings ... Dawn LaPuma was just one of those ‘over 60s’ living beyond the city lights who dipped her toe in the waters of online dating and it didn't take long for her to start keeping a journal of the various characters she encountered...
Seedbed Conditioner
New machine improves soil fertility and increases crop yields
A new machine designed and exhaustively tested at a field-scale over 15 years and 32 sites in Western Australia, Queensland and Pakistan has been shown to increase crop yields by 25 per cent, on average (range 10 to 40 per cent).
Ag adaptation
New roadmap to help primary producers navigate energy transition: AgriFutures Australia
Australia’s primary producers have new guidance to navigate the shift in energy systems, with national research outlining both the challenges ahead and the practical pathways available. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Energy Transition Roadmap (2026–2036), released by AgriFutures Australia, provides a system-wide view of how agriculture, fisheries and forestry can adapt to changing energy markets and technologies while maintaining productivity.
Indigenous - SA
SA Liberals move to repeal Voice to Parliament: Hurn, Teague
The State Liberals will introduce legislation to repeal the First Nations Voice when Parliament resumes this week. The First Nations Voice Repeal Bill will make way for its replacement - practical, targeted support for Indigenous South Australians and a revived Aboriginal Lands Committee.
Meat exports
New market access to Indonesia for five export meat establishments: Collins
... the approval of five additional export beef establishments for exports to Indonesia, including one establishment also receiving approval for sheep and goat meat ... is a boost for Australia’s trade relationship with Indonesia where more high-quality Australian halal red meat will now be available.
On the road with Nathan Lyon
Have You Got What It Takes tour with Nathan Lyon, April-June 2026
Nathan Lyon is bringing his "Have You Got What It Takes" roadshow to regional Victoria and New South Wales — and it's not one to miss.
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Central Coast
Strong turnout for ANZAC Day
Thousands of residents and visitors flocked to dawn and morning services all over the region on Anzac Day, April 25 ... "Anzac Day reminds us that individuals sticking together, bound by mateship and a common cause, can move mountains."
Mount Wycheproof
Reflection and remembrance on the Mount
The lives of twenty-five World War I soldiers were honoured at Mount Wycheproof on ANZAC Day with the re-dedication of its "forgotten" Avenue of Honour. As a result, Wycheproof's Anzac Day services were very well attended, from the dawn service through to the special event on the side of the mount...
Corryong
Our fallen will never be forgotten
On a wet and cold day - 29th August 1918 - a large gathering of members of the community attended the official opening of the Corryong and District Avenue of Honour ... On Anzac Day 2026, community members again gathered at the Avenue of Honour to officially open a new memorial.
A selection only of the
ANZAC Day stories and photos from contributing publishers is presented here.
Be assured you will find much more when you explore each of the issues.
Moonta
Dawn of honour
Lest we forget. Uniting Church pastor Brenton Smith and RSL Moonta sub-branch president Don Skarstrom finalise the order of service as first light breaks on ANZAC Day, ahead of the Moonta dawn service.
Hay
ANZAC Day provides opportunity to pause for reflection
As dawn broke across Lachlan Street, the evocative notes of bagpipes rang out, marking the start of ANZAC Day commemorations in Hay ... "ANZAC Day is a day of commemoration and deep reflection, when the true human cost of preserving our freedoms and way of life are brought into sharp focus": Major Ben Jarratt.
Infrastructure - education
Students gain insight into engineering careers
Regional high school students have been given a hands-on look at the future of engineering, with a long-running Riverina program continuing to be a potential pathway to careers in the field ... Working in teams, they tackled problem-solving, applied engineering theory and gained first-hand insight into industry practices to construct a fully functional bridge...
Narungga MP
Narungga to benefit from ‘real power’
Michelle Daw. New Member for Narungga Chantelle Thomas says she will harness the "real power" of One Nation in state parliament to win a better deal for the electorate. Speaking in her electorate office in Kadina, Ms Thomas said she was busy interviewing staff and setting up ahead of being sworn in early in May.
Communications
Not a luxury: Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association challenges ‘universal’ mobile coverage at Senate inquiry: ICPA
“Mobile connectivity in the regions is not a luxury; it is a critical and essential service.” That was the tone set at the Senate inquiry into the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025 where the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) gave evidence on behalf of remote families.
Farming in a time of war
Epic Fury and Ukrainian farmers: Who will win?
Since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury in the Persian Gulf, the price of diesel fuel and gas for cars in Ukraine has increased by almost 30 per cent. The price of the cheapest gasoline has risen by almost 15 per cent ... What do farmers do? What is the Ukrainian government doing?
Opinion - fuel and fertiliser crisis
When ideology meets the fuel tank
In the 1930s, Winston Churchill warned that Europe was sleepwalking into danger. Across the chamber, Neville Chamberlain insisted all would be well. “Peace in our time,” he said—a comforting line, right up until Hitler crossed into Poland. We are seeing a modern version of that same delusion play out today.
Inflation
Rabobank commentary: food price inflation remains entrenched above three per cent
While headline annual inflation rose sharply in the March 2026 Consumer Price Index (CPI), the re-acceleration in inflation was not, at this point, food led, with food price inflation remaining similar to levels recorded since mid-2025.
Koala monitoring - Vic
Koala observations triple in just one year after tree planting: Koala Clancy Foundation
Koala monitoring on a tree planting site beside the Moorabool River, Victoria has shown an unexpected growth in koala observations in just one year. More than 11,300 koala trees and shrubs were planted on the site by Koala Clancy Foundation and the International Fund for Animal Welfare in the winter of 2023 and 2024 ... audio recorders were set up to monitor the koala population ... See the super video of the koalas nearby.
An icon of LHI’s birdlife gets a helping hand and is listed on CMS Appendix II
In early-April 2024, the Sable Shearwater (formerly known as the Flesh-footed Shearwater) was added to Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS; also known as the Bonn Convention).
Treaty - Vic
Bushfire response - SA
Banking - fossil fuels
Coming up
Upcoming webinar – What’s it take to develop offshore wind in Australia? Blue Economy CRC
This webinar will present the findings of the project ‘Pre-conditions for the Development of Offshore Wind Energy in Australia’ in three work packages, outlining what it takes to build an offshore wind industry in Australia ... Monday 4 May 2026, 3-4pm (AEST)
Regional development - WA
Talking rural and regional
ANZAC Special, plus we get the debrief on Buddy suiting up for Dowerin with Tracy Jones!
A great ANZAC show today! We caught up with Tracy Jones from the Dowerin Footy Club for a full debrief after Buddy Franklin pulled on the boots for the Tigers! Plus your rural news (fuel and fertiliser update) with Fiona L Fox from ARR.News...
Flora
Rare native lilies spotted flowering on stock reserve north of Deniliquin
A striking patch of native Garland lilies has been found flowering on a Travelling Stock Reserve north of Deniliquin, discovered by a NSW Government Murray LLS staff member during routine work in the area. The lilies, known scientifically as Calostemma purpureum and also referred to as Wilcannia lilies, are a native species...
Media
Editor is Lismore Local Woman of the Year
State MP Janelle Saffin visited Mallanganee on Friday, April 24 to present local writer and online editor of IndyNR.com Susanna Freymark with her Lismore Electorate Local Woman of the Year Award.
Gun buybacks
Gun buyback hits wall as majority of states refuse to sign up
A national gun buyback scheme introduced in the wake of a terrorist attack at Bondi Beach has stalled, with a majority of Australian states and territories declining to join the program by the March 2026 deadline set by the federal government. The buyback was announced by Prime Minister Albanese in December 2025, days after a shooting at a Hanukkah celebration...
Critical minerals - Vic
Work begins at Fingerboards demo pit following mobilisation by local contractors: Gippsland Critical Minerals
Work has begun at the Fingerboards Project Mining and Rehabilitation Demonstration Pit, following local contractors successfully completing site mobilisation and pre-start inspections. Six additional East Gippsland businesses have now been engaged to support activities at the MRDP, with more than 20 local contractors sharing in procurement contracts now valued at more than $1.4m.
Beach safety
SLSNSW distributes publicly accessible shark bite kits to all NSW surf clubs: SLSNSW
129 new publicly accessible Shark Bite Trauma Kits will be installed at each of the state’s surf clubs as part of Surf Life Saving NSW’s continued focus on increased community safety. The trauma kits will be affixed to the external wall of each NSW surf club where, in the event of a reported shark incident...
History & heritage - dinosaurs
Queensland Dinosaur Week 2026 roars into Hughenden and Flinders Shire
Queensland Dinosaur Week 2026 (4-10 May) will shine a spotlight on Hughenden and the Flinders Shire, celebrating the region’s extraordinary dinosaur heritage and its proud place in Australia’s palaeontological history. As the home of Queensland’s fossil emblem, the Muttaburrasaurus, Hughenden holds a special connection to one of Australia’s most iconic dinosaurs.
Cavies
Right royal award for a guinea pig lover
Bateau Bay's Michelle Parker was named the 2026 Champion of the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) at the recent Royal Easter Show in recognition of her decades of breeding, showing and judging guinea pigs.
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ANZAC commemoration
110 Years of ANZAC Hill
On 9 January 1916, the nine-month campaign known as the Gallipoli Campaign ended with the evacuation of the last ANZAC troops from Gallipoli. It was only four months later that the Maldon Progress Association met to ‘improve the surroundings of the town ... The first goal achieved was the renaming of Garfields Hill to ANZAC Hill. This became one of the first ANZAC memorials in Australia.
ANZAC Day preparations
Getting Ready for ANZAC Day 2026
Last weekend, members of the Nhill RSL Sub-Branch, Nhill Lions Club and the Lowan Lodge spent a busy afternoon erecting a great many of the Australian flags at the gravestones of military persons who had served in conflicts across the world. Mrs Jenny Blackwood is to be congratulated on her rigorous research as well as those who have made suitable the boring of holes for the Australian flags.
Leadership & You
Charity
Gina Rinehart commits $200 million to tackle veteran homelessness
Hancock Prospecting. In a move to recognise a national crisis and national disgrace, Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is contributing $200m to buy properties to help Australia’s homeless veterans and war heroes, the biggest ever private commitment for Australian veterans.
Marine wonder
Family to donate ‘treasure’ beach find to museum
Patricia Gill. Ryan Clarke made the find of a lifetime, a 328g lump of mostly black substance, ambergris, or ‘floating gold', last week on Ocean Beach. Ryan was walking his dogs on the beach and casting a lure to catch some salmon at low tide when he spotted the lump washed up in the shallows at the sand bar.
Arts administration
Meet Liane Wendt, the new Executive Director of the BAAKA Cultural & Arts Centre
The BAAKA Board is very pleased to announce the appointment of Liane Wendt as the new Executive Director of the BAAKA Cultural & Arts Centre. Liane comes to Wilcannia from Derby in WA, where she led the Mowanjum Arts and Cultural Centre.
Hospitality
Iconic Kincraig reopens
Naracoorte's iconic Kincraig Hotel has officially come back to life, reopening its doors on April 14 after 18 months of extensive restoration by new owners, the Dean Group. The multimillion-dollar, five-star redevelopment delivers a fresh, family-focused venue for the town, featuring 24 modern accommodation rooms, corporate meeting spaces, an open bar, and a dining area complete with a children's play space.
Food production
Kooka’s closer to completion
A highly anticipated project in Donald's industrial estate is nearing completion, with the new factory for Kooka's Country Cookies entering a transitional phase between the old location and the new. The impressive facility has been under construction since 2021, with international specialists engaged to install equipment along the production line.
Yield booster
Making every kilogram of fertiliser count: Australian silicon solution aids farmers amid urea shortage
Queensland company MaxSil is converting waste glass destined for landfill into ultrafine silica that improves plant uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium helping farmers do more with the fertiliser they have. ARR.News found out more from MaxSil founder David Archer and Oscar Ledlin, co-founder of parent company Sustainable Concrete Group.
Seedbed Conditioner
New machine improves soil fertility and increases crop yields
A new machine designed and exhaustively tested at a field-scale over 15 years and 32 sites in Western Australia, Queensland and Pakistan has been shown to increase crop yields by 25 per cent, on average (range 10 to 40 per cent).
Renewables infrastructure - Vic
Farmers brace for VicGrid visits
Patrick Tucker. Farmers across the region are preparing for a series of VicGrid visits to properties in the coming weeks, as part of ongoing efforts to conduct ecological studies linked to the proposed VNI West transmission project ... "This is the second attempt from VicGrid to get access to our properties to do the ecological study," he said.
Fuel crisis - NSW
“Price crunch” – societal implications of conflict
The economic impact of the conflict in the Middle East is and will continue to have wide ranging impacts on all facets of Australian society with costs increasing due to the nation’s reliance on trucks and diesel ... 71 years later, current owner Robert Blanchard said the industry is facing its toughest times in decades and his first diesel delivery since the Middle East crisis erupted was $68,000 more than in early March.
Fuel crisis response - tourism
Will the grey nomads come this winter? The fuel crisis puts outback tourism on the line
Winter is normally the season that outback NSW towns look forward to most. The tourists arrive, the caravan parks fill up ... This year, the question being asked by operators from Broken Hill to White Cliffs to Menindee is whether that migration is actually going to happen.
Tourism - Classic craft
Stansbury and Port Vincent turn it on for Saltwater Classic
Ned Thomas. The biennial Yorke Peninsula Saltwater Classic returned to Stansbury and Port Vincent across the weekend, April 17 to 19, delivering a high-energy celebration of boating in all its forms — sail, steam, electric and human-powered. Classic cars and coastal culture also helped lure the crowds who rolled in from across South Australia and interstate.
Koala research
Narrandera’s koalas strengthen landmark NSW research
Narrandera’s koala population is contributing to a major scientific study, with researchers from the Koala Sentinel Program back in the Riverina for its final round of fieldwork ... Researchers are investigating factors such as health, disease, genetics, nutrition, habitat, and ecology across six very different landscapes...
Input costs
Norco lifts farmgate milk price, warns more support needed for farmers
Norco, Australia’s oldest and last operating 100 per cent farmer-owned dairy co-operative, has announced a five cent per litre increase to its farmgate milk price from May 2026, while calling on the wider industry to step up and better support farmers as soaring input costs intensify pressure across the sector.
Tourism - birdwatching
Winter draws the twitchers – Bruny Island offers birdwatching and seasonal escapes: SeaLink
Bruny Island, off the coast of southern Tasmania, continues to attract birdwatchers from around the world. Its diverse habitats and rich birdlife offer unique year-round experiences, but winter reveals a quieter, more immersive side.
Major projects - Qld
Renewables - End of life
Renewables - End of life
Cash
Cash is coming back as revealed by RBA survey: National Seniors Australia
National Seniors Australia’s campaign to Keep Cash is working and cash is making a comeback as demonstrated by the RBA’s 2025 Consumer Payments Survey that shows cash usage is on the rise. The survey reveals cash usage has increased by number of transactions (15 per cent in 2025 compared to 13 per cent in 2022) and by the total value of transactions.
Regional theatre
Play offers rare glimpse into view from the edge
The latest in the list of varied and engaging productions by Castlemaine Theatre Company is about to hit the stage, offering a rare glimpse into a singular place and time. Set at the Howard Springs Quarantine Facility during the Covid-19 pandemic, Camp Darwin brings together a diverse group of Australian characters who are trying to return home.
The Man from Snowy River Festival
Gun makes it ten titles
The undoubted highlight of the Man From Snowy River Bush Festival was the performance of Emma Webb in the Ladies Challenge whose victory gave her a 10th title ... Despite the current fuel crisis, crowds were comparable to previous years and once again, camping on the Corryong golf course and nearby properties was booked out.
Soccer
Dunoon United Football Club women flying high
Simon Webster. Dunoon United has a women's Premier League team for the first time in the club's 32-year-history. The prems team took to the field at the end of March to kick off their historic season, and everyone is right behind them as they represent our community at the highest level in the local leagues.
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