Blake Lee. Justin McNamara never thought he'd own a pub. On Saturday, he and his husband Jayden will reopen the Watchem Hotel after a three-year closure ... the venue will launch as the first-ever permanent Driver Reviver site.

Patricia Gill. Denmark Arts' new general manager Annette Drenth has worked with the organisation for the past eight months in a ‘passion project' as a mentor ... "I have also engaged with Denmark Arts and its programs for more than two decades, as a visitor regularly holidaying in Denmark with my small family," Annette said.

Patricia Gill. Abbie Pedersen hands over the directorship of Denmark Arts to Annette Drenth confident in the future of the organisation.

Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) is warning against complacency on Australia's food security following the release of the ABARES June 2026 Agricultural Commodities Report, which shows export growth is increasingly obscuring challenges facing domestic fruit and vegetable production. 

Sebastian Calderon. Riverland families are set to farewell one of the region's longest-serving doctors, who is retiring after almost 38 years of caring and supporting local patients ... Dr Kevin Stanton said being a true country GP meant far more than clinic consultations, with doctors heavily involved in hospital care, emergency treatment and palliative support throughout the region.

Danielle Nicolson, Amy Reed and Tim Burke. Despite some 'less than ideal' weather conditions, the 2026 Lord Howe Island Dark Sky Festival proved once again that a little cloud cover is no match for great company, fun events and a shared passion for the wonders of the night.

Agri-fintech company DAS (Digital Agriculture Services) has developed a Rural Sales Dashboard, an interactive tool for interrogating the data behind rural property sales across Australia's mainland states and the NT. DAS has now released its first quarterly report using findings from the dashboard. "Australian farmland remains one of the country's most important asset classes, but we're seeing greater variation in performance between regions": Sarah Gormon, DAS cofounder.

Christine Webster. The recommissioning of the PS Canally will be celebrated with the return of the Morgan Living River Festival, on Saturday and Sunday, at the town's riverfront reserve. A team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers spent 16 years restoring the 119-year-old paddle steamer.

For Pit Stop Technologies founder Plato Lagoudakis, the win still feels a little surreal. "Starting a business in a country town comes with its share of pressures and doubts. Being recognised on a national stage tells us we got it right, by staying true to who we are and where we're from."

The month of May marks the approaching end of the fiscal year for many businesses and a rush to find receipts and finalise financials, but for one Tiwi Islands organisation, the focus is firmly on planting for the future. Tiwi Plantations Corporation - based 80 kilometres north of Darwin on the Tiwi Islands - has released the Tiwi Forestry Workforce Plan 2026–2030...

Queensland’s 2026 sugarcane crush will officially get underway this week, with harvesters rumbling into life across the state’s far north. Tableland crews will fire the starter gun on the 7 month harvest, with the first rakes of cane due to go through the rollers at MSF’s Arriga mill on 18 May. 

The Seedbed Conditioner creates the perfect seedbed and root zone for crops at a fraction of the current power (HP/KW) requirement and cost of seeding. Over 15 years of paddock-scale research this machine always produced large yield increase, which averaged 25 per cent with a range of 10–40 per cent.

More than 500,000 Australian children were placed into institutional or out-of-home care during the last century, with many experiencing neglect, abuse and a loss of identity that continues to shape their lives today. Often referred to as Forgotten Australians and Care Leavers, this cohort includes Stolen Generations, former child migrants, and former Wards of the State, including more than 400,000 non-Indigenous children.

Madison Eastmond. A Riverland out of school hours care (OSHC) program has recently celebrated one year of success. The Monash Primary and Preschool OSHC program has now been offering their service to the local community for over a year, with the initiative recording double the numbers of enrolments during the last school-holiday period since they opened their doors.

The Copper Coast was alight with art and creativity over the weekend, as locals and visitors flocked to FLAME Festival events at Wallaroo, Kadina and Moonta. A celebration of Food, Light, Art, Music and Entertainment, FLAME sparked into life on Friday, May 8...

As the country reaches a regional population milestone, Find a Mover’s decade of platform data shows what the diesel surge means for movers booking now — and what the structural floor reset means for the regional migration flow long-term ... For the regional Australians making the move right now, the window to do it at anything close to last year’s price is closing fast.

My son sent me a link to an unusual bookshop in Japan known as the most minimal bookstore in the world. It sparked an idea to take the bookshop’s one room-one book approach to set up a display of my own book in the window of an abandoned supermarket in Kyogle.

Cricket legend Nathan Lyon talks about the “Have You Got What It Takes Tour” ... "it’s a coordinated effort to influence leadership at every level of the community. By bringing together elite sport, leadership principles, and grassroots development, David and I want to support leaders across regional Australia to tackle their most important challenges. This isn’t just about building better athletes or better leaders, it’s about building stronger communities that can thrive."