Kelpie sells for $29K in Lucindale
Gabrielle Duykers. A Victorian kelpie has snagged the highest bid at South Australia's first working dog auction, selling for $29,000. On September 26, the inaugural Lucindale Working Dog Auction was held in Yakka Park and saw more than 400 people in attendance. Of the 30 kelpies up for grabs, two-and-a-half-year-old Josie took home the top sale price.
Aboriginal flag fixed
Gabrielle Duykers. Tatiara District Council will permanently fly the Aboriginal flag, following a letter from a local woman condemning councillors over its absence. Council currently flies the Australian, South Australian and Tatiara flags at the Dukes Highway town entrances to Bordertown and its Bordertown Council office ... The City of Mount Gambier and Robe District Council are the only other Limestone Coast councils to permanently fly the Aboriginal flag outside their offices.
Naracoorte – a regional headquarters for rare earths
Chris Oldfield. Australian Rare Earths Limited (AREL) has established a regional headquarters in Naracoorte as part of its plan to develop a rare earths operation in the area ... The next phase of exploration at Koppamurra is set to commence in October and will consist of further exploration activities, “to expand upon the previous shallow drilling program and will progress to include various studies and technical work, to help determine a development concept”.
Doctor retires after half-century career
Gabrielle Duykers. Long-standing Naracoorte doctor Alison Gazard will be retiring this week, following a 52-year career in medicine ... It was when she started undertaking locum work in rural areas that she realised her love for country life. "I found it far more satisfying than general practice in the city where you tended to just operate around prescriptions and referral forms. In the country you had to actually do things ‒ put in drips, resuscitate people, and do sutures."
Koppamurra mining: Australian first for rare earths
Chris Oldfield. A $45 million mining company with a base in Naracoorte is about to start drilling for rare earths – essential to modern high-tech products – at a unique deposit in Koppamurra ... With a mining licence stretching from Keith to Comaum and from Apsley into western Victoria, Australian Rare Earths Limited (ASX: AREL) announced last week that planning and preparation had been completed for its drilling program to start in early October.
McBride to stay with Liberal Party
Sheryl Lowe. One week into a two-week time frame to decide his political future, Member for McKillop Nick McBride MP confirmed he had consulted with members of his electorate as he considered how “I can best serve my constituents and my electorate” ... Mr McBride told The News he is happy with the outcome. He has “greater lines of communication within the party” and the difficulties he experienced getting traction for important issues in the past have been removed, he said.
McBride straddles border issues and party
Sheryl Lowe. Border communities have been some of the hardest hit since the pandemic began in Australia early in 2020. Many are living and working in both states with life straddling the border on a daily basis. So perhaps it is no surprise they are now the lifeline for several thousand displaced South Australians unable to return home due to the current strict border controls between South Australia and Victoria. The office of Member for MacKillop Nick McBride MP is close to the South Australian/Victoria border and he and his staff know first-hand the struggles of the border communities.
