Contributor, ARR.News

Lockyer Valley Regional Council says the integrity of the Insurance Council of Australia should be questioned, following months of unanswered correspondence from the region’s Mayor ... “Following the 2022 floods, the Insurance Council advised us they were willing to engage and could encourage insurers to undertake consistent and meaningful assessments for those impacted from flooding, but unfortunately it seems to have been empty promises": Mayor Milligan.

Blink and you’d miss it- the Varroa mite’s minute presence is all but invisible to the naked eye. Yet the tiny mite is the greatest known threat to Australia’s honey bee and pollination industry. For nearly a year and a half the industry has been battling the tiny parasite, cumulating in the largest biosecurity outbreak in the country’s history and initiating a Federal $132 million varroa response plan.

The annual assessment of Commonwealth fish stocks from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has found that the majority of stocks assessed were both not overfished and not subject to overfishing. The ABARES Fishery status reports 2023 provides an annual, independent assessment of the biological and economic status of Commonwealth managed fisheries.

Farmers are urging the Australian Government not to sign an impending trade deal with the European Union unless major improvements are put on the table for Aussie farmers. Preliminary negotiations are underway in Brussels this week ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Trade Ministers’ meeting in Osaka next week. NFF President Fiona Simson said farmers were fearful of being sold out at the 11th hour.

Ahead of what may be a final push for the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement (A-EU FTA) negotiations, the Australian red meat industry is adamant that the Australian Government maintains its stated objective of securing significant increases in market access for red meat. Industry representatives will travel to Osaka next week to coincide with Trade Minister Farrell meeting with his EU counterpart, and encourage the Minister to continue the mission of ‘levelling the playing field’ for Australian beef and sheepmeat access to the EU.

2022 saw the cancellation of the Numurkah Show, not to COVID, but to floods. Many of the roads leading to Numurkah were shut due to crossing flood waters or in a bad state as a result of same. Consequently 2023 sees the Numurkah Agriculture Society again presenting our 133rd Show. There is a very high degree of anticipation to have once again a Numurkah Show.

It’s Junee Show Time Again! Get Ready for the Spectacular 133rd Junee Show on October 28, 2023. The excitement is building as the Junee Show Society prepares to welcome visitors to the grand 133rd Junee Show, set to take place on Saturday, October 28, 2023.

It’s the Byron Bay Film Festival, so there's always going to be  surf  films ... Topping the bill is Emmy-winning filmmaker Paul Taublieb’s documentary Ground Swell: The Other Side of Fear, which poses the question: what prompts big wave surfers to travel the globe to find absurdly colossal waves to throw themselves into, tackling natural forces in a contest that any rational human would see as insane?

The crucial importance of delivering on biosecurity commitments must not be overlooked in the current debate over sustainable funding, industry body GrainGrowers has warned. In its submission to the public consultation process on the design and implementation of the Biosecurity Protection Levy, GrainGrowers recognised the concept of a shared responsibility for biosecurity, and highlighted that industry, government and community must work together to deliver biosecurity outcomes for Australia.

NSW Farmers is thanking the NSW Government for amendments to the Biosecurity Act that will save the agriculture sector an estimated $2 billion annually through better pest and weed management. On Thursday NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty introduced amendments to the Biosecurity Act 2015, which would establish the state’s first independent Biosecurity Commissioner, an important step towards improved land management.