The Editor

Hepburn Shire Council is working in partnership with the City of Ballarat on advocating for a mountain biking program to be included in the 2026 Commonwealth Games and for competition to be held at the Creswick Trails. With this week’s State Government announcement that the games will be held between the 17-29 March 2026 both Councils are calling for both Mountain Biking to be included in the Victoria 2026 program, the Commonwealth’s first Regional Games and for the Mountain Biking program to be conducted at the Creswick Trails.  

I recently had the pleasure to attend the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) conference in Canberra.   It was a pleasure because it gave me perspective on how we are functioning in Katherine, compared to other councils across the whole of Australia.   There were also some key take away points for me, which are worth sharing ... One of the most alarming messages we heard was about the loss of trust and retreat of democracy across the world.  

New data collected in the 2021 Census has revealed South Australia’s veteran population is more than double the figure previously on record ... This is the first time a comprehensive snapshot of the current and former serving population in South Australia has been developed, following the addition of a targeted question about military service history in the 2021 Census ... Approximately one-quarter of the former serving community is in regional South Australia, mainly in the South-East of the state encompassing the Limestone Coast, Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the Murray and Mallee regions.

Pilot trials to enhance bushfire resilience in regional communities through bushfire prediction, bushfire detection, aerial operations and uncrewed firefighting solutions were launched on the Sunshine Coast. The technology innovation has been championed under a new bushfire resilience partnership between Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Noosa Shire Council and FireTech Connect.

The highest rainfall in a decade has turned the red earth of Central Australia into a spectacular carpet of green vegetation ... With recent drier and hotter than average autumn days, the grasses are haying off quickly, increasing the fire risk with heavy fuel loads across the landscape. Bushfires NT (BFNT) and Parks and Wildlife have been hard at work with NTFRS, DIPL, Alice Springs Town Council and other landholders jointly planning fire mitigation strategies both within Alice Springs municipality and across the region.

The Threatened Flora Seed Production Garden will grow the Island’s at-risk species before collecting the seed for banking and biodiversity recovery projects ... The garden ... will enable landholders and community organisations to access rare and threatened plant species following fires, droughts and floods.

The South Australian apiary industry pollinates agricultural and horticultural crops valued at an estimated $1.7 billion and produces more than $11 million worth of honeybee products ... I can advise that PIRSA has set up an Incident Management Team to stop the spread of Varroa mite into South Australia ... There are nearly 3,000 beekeepers registered with Biosecurity SA and approximately 61,000 hives in South Australia.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed the Federal Government’s new biosecurity measures announced following the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) to Australian tourist hotspot, Bali ... “We would also like to see an increase in frontline biosecurity officers at return airports and ongoing reviews into the appropriateness of additional intervention methods such as footbaths”: NFF President Fiona Simson.

Biosecurity officers are boarding planes on arrival and playing a new biosecurity message on all inbound flights from Indonesia, reinforcing Australia’s strict biosecurity measures and providing FMD-specific advice to travellers. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said the Albanese Government is very serious about keeping this devastating disease out of Australia.