The Editor

In relation to the discontinuation of the case brought by the Nature Conservation Council (NCC) of New South Wales (NSW) against the NSW Water Minister and NSW Environment Minister in 2021 to challenge the validity of the Border Rivers Water Sharing Plan, media releases have been issued by the Ministers and the NCC.

A good dentist is a valuable asset, especially outside the big cities. It's encouraging to learn that there are bright young dentists in Australia that have discovered that a country practice can offer benefits, professional and personal, over work in the city. Australian Rural & Regional News asked Dr Parshad Sankey, now in Clare, and Dr Michael Dimitrov, in Gladstone, about their country experience.

For those of you who have never spent the day at a picnic races in country Australia, if you make your first foray the Bong Bong Picnic Races at Bowral in the NSW Southern Highlands, the odds are you'll be hooked. Simply everyone is happy to be there.

Is this really how harvested forests are left? Australian Rural & Regional News looks into recent statements that highlight continuing conflicting and confusing information in the public domain about connections between forestry operations and bushfires and whether prescribed burns reduce bushfire risk.

Michael Darby, Bush Poetry Champion of Australia (2023), recites the famous Australian Christmas poem, Tangmalangaloo, by John O'Brien (Msg Patrick Hartigan). Audio produced by audio engineer, Peter Kukura.

For Remembrance Day 2023, In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae, recited by Michael Darby.

Melina Morrison, BCCM CEO, responds to the Westfund Regional Health Gap Report and answers a few questions from Australian Rural & Regional News ... "The co-operative business model, with its emphasis on grass roots democratic management, and sustainability, is ideally suited to providing care services in small and under-supplied markets."

The ‘Westfund Regional Health Gap Report’ shows that access to healthcare remains an ongoing issue for Australians in regional areas, with half (49 per cent) of respondents considering the wait time to see their GP unreasonable, some having to wait up to six weeks to get an appointment, and many having to travel more than two hours for an in-person consultation with specialists ... Mark Genovese, Westfund CEO, answers some questions from ARR.News about general trends, specific initiatives for specific areas, digital health care and more.

Publicly owned energy company Stanwell Corporation has signed a 15-year, 380-Megawatt Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ACCIONA Energía to purchase 100 per cent of the output from its planned Aldoga Solar Farm, 20 km north-west of Gladstone ... Stanwell plans to supply output from the Aldoga Solar Farm PPA to the proposed Central Queensland Hydrogen (CQ-H2) Project ... ARR.News has asked some questions of the companies.

It's been a few seasons since Australian Rural & Regional News found out all about the innovative farm to plate online marketplace, Farmer to Fridge (formerly Half A Cow) from founder James Gilbert. Especially with prices the way they are, it's timely to find out how this young business is travelling, and what it has to offer meat producers and meat eaters too.