Sunday, May 19, 2024

Lloyd Polkinghorne, The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper

574 POSTS

Cup success at a steamy Moulamein Race meet

It wasn’t just the fine fashions that had punters hot under the collar as over 1,300 racegoers braved the heat and humidity at the return of the Moulamein Races. "We were all pretty excited, because it’s been four years since we’ve had a race meeting," said Moulamein Racing Club president Nick McKindlay.

Mighty Murray

The Murray River holds a special place in many hearts and minds of locals. The river brings life to the landscape and the people who live and rely on her. After a trip down the Murray River from Barham to Wellington in South Australia and back, retired land surveyor David Laughlin was left with reflections of natural beauty, lessons from the past and current management by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

Water Bill opens old wounds

Communities who carried the burden of a Basin Plan corrupted by politics are once again looking down the barrel of mass buybacks. The impacts of water buybacks cannot be understated as communities were ripped apart, football clubs closed, huge areas of food production and habitat provision were dried out, industries retracted, driving increased costs and undermining sustainability, and the price of water was sent out of reach of many young farmers.

“The doctor won’t see you now…“

Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) is once again under the spotlight as the Barham Hospital had been left with no doctors after the contractual arrangement with Ochre Health ran out on November 30 ... Having the multimillion-dollar facility sitting idle due to a bureaucratic standoff has greatly frustrated local doctors and distressed patients seeking treatment.

Water wars: Labor and Greens unite to drain rural communities

The environmental, economic and social value of water to our floodplain communities is once again washed away under a tide of political games ... Once again, South Australia leads the Feds around by the nose while glossing over the impacts of the barrages, the south east drainage scheme, the topography and even the estuarine nature of the area. 

Toy run delights as much needed funds raised

83 bikes and 52 cars rumbled, rattled and rolled their way around the Gannawarra Shire and over the border into Barham ... “We were given a lovely lot of toys, which is very appreciated and will put a smile on many littlies’ faces Christmas morning": Event organiser, John Webb.