Nasik Swami, Naracoorte Community News

The district is in urgent need of a robust and reliable telecommunications infrastructure that can support economic growth, create an inclusive community, and help safely manage emergencies. For many years, many stakeholders in the region have called for an improved digital infrastructure that reduces blackspot areas, boosts internet access, and connects the public to essential services.

The debate on the upcoming vote for the Australian Indigenous Voice referendum has become “divisive” in the region, says Member of Barker Tony Pasin ... “Differences of opinion and robust debate in an MP’s office are to be expected and indeed encouraged, but the tirade of abuse directed at my staff (I was interstate) was totally unacceptable ... Ordinarily, a constitutional convention is held prior to a referendum to seek consensus."

If you’re experiencing difficulties paying your council rates, the Tatiara District Council says help is available for you. Council chief executive officer Anne Champness said financial hardships and unemployment have topped the council’s list of reasons for rate arrears and nonpayment of rates. “We are very aware of the extra burden council rates can mean for those residents or businesses that are struggling financially,”

Naracoorte-Lucindale mayor Patrick Ross is ready to engage with the Country Cabinet when it holds its seventh meeting in Naracoorte next month. And Mr Ross says at the top of his list of things to be discussed with the Premier and his ministers will be the “region’s desperate need for an extra 1,000 homes”.

The state government has provided a revised offer of more than $1.3billion to the South Australian Education Union to fix pay and working conditions for public educators. The union has confirmed it is considering the revised offer, putting on hold plans for additional teacher strike actions. This newspaper [Naracoorte Community News] has been informed that the revised offer includes workload reduction, country incentives, and mentoring time.

Member of Barker Tony Pasin has warned that the Labor government’s Aboriginal Heritage Reforms could undermine private property rights in the region. Mr Pasin claimed the reforms would force property owners to undergo expensive mandatory cultural surveys for basic activities such as mending fences or planting trees.

New reforms targeting the local government sector will be a shakeup for elected councillors and mayors in the region. The council reforms planned for South Australia aim to strengthen calls to transform the local government sector, with many new national polls revealing the public’s strong appetite to remove or shrink local councils, have larger regional authorities, or have the state government take over their duties.

The South Australian Education Union and the state government are still at loggerheads over better pay and conditions for public educators ... If the union members vote for a second strike action, many public schools, including those in Naracoorte and the Limestone Coast region, would close for another day ... Mr Gohl claimed that after nine months of negotiations, the Premier was still standing in the way of better educational outcomes for South Australian students.