Contributor, ARR.News
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Rudderless PALM on the road to ruin: NFF
The NFF Horticulture Council has rung the alarm bells loud and clear that the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme is now heading toward calamity ... Horticulture Council spokesperson Rachel Chambers said it was increasingly clear relevant ministers aren’t working together to ensure the scheme meets the long-terms interests of the Pacific and Australian industries it’s meant to serve. 
Teebar Show, 17 June 2023
Date: Saturday 17 June. Where: Teebar Hall Road, Teebar - 45 mins west of Maryborough. Gates open: from 9am (until late) Tickets: on sale now through the show Website: www.teebar.com.au
150th Rockhampton Show, 14-16 June 2023
Rockhampton Agricultural Show Program set to WOW crowds with stellar family entertainment line-up. The Rockhampton Agricultural Show is bringing some big names to the program for their 150th Anniversary event on 14-16 June. Rockhampton Region Mayor Tony Williams said this is the biggest entertainment program the Show has delivered in recent years and rightly so for our 150th celebration.
Wycheproof Wetlands Precinct to boost nature based tourism: Dimopoulos
Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events Steve Dimopoulos announced construction will soon begin on the Wycheproof Wetlands Precinct – which is backed by the Labor Government. The project is helping to create a 70,000m2 wetland system, transforming the area into a world-class nature-based tourism experience while offering new recreation opportunities.
New Slade Point social housing complete: Scanlon
A local family in need of housing will soon move into a newly completed three-bedroom social home in Slade Point ... 98 new social homes will be underway in the Mackay-Whitsunday region by mid-2025 through a planned investment of $36 million.
Feds can’t rest on competition reform: NSW Farmers
Farmers are calling on the Federal Government to implement competition reforms that will tackle cost of living pressures. NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle said the ACCC had made a number of recommendations in its 2020 Perishable Agricultural Goods Inquiry that would bring food prices down for consumers, but so far they had been largely ignored.
Devil’s in the detail of new 10 per cent biosecurity tax: Barry Large, GPA
The devil’s in the detail of the federal budget’s announcement of a new 10 per cent Biosecurity Protection Levy ... Federal Agriculture Minister, Murray Watt, has proposed raising $47.5 million per year across all producers from the added 10 per cent levy, as part of a ‘sustainable’ funding model for biosecurity protections ... we don’t know what the value proposition is for grains and if it will actually deliver better protections.
Delay in timber contracts – $11 million to prop up Forestry Commission: SFI Roundtable
Questioning by the WA Opposition’s Mia Davies has revealed that the Forest Products Commission is not planning on issuing any timber contracts from 1 January 2024 until an indeterminant time in the future ... “It is a clear tactic to force businesses out of the sector”, said David Utting, convenor of the Sustainable Forest Industries Roundtable.
State of the Industry 2022: TRA
TRA has now published the State of the Industry 2022 report. This annual report presents a snapshot of Australia’s visitor economy in 2022.
Viva Energy to turn waste into fuels and recycled plastics at Geelong Refinery
Viva Energy announced plans to build infrastructure which will enable its refinery at Geelong to receive and process feedstocks such as used cooking oil, animal fats and synthetic crude made from waste plastics which would otherwise find their way into landfill. These feedstocks will be blended with crude oil to reduce the energy intensity of fuels that are produced at Geelong Refinery and recycle waste plastics through the polypropylene plant which was acquired by the company last year.
