Call goes out for responders
Ambulance Victoria (AV) is looking for more recruits to join the Ambulance Community Officer (ACO) team in Corryong. ACOs are First Responders, who are employed on a casual basis to work ‘on call’ in rural and remote communities where the ambulance caseload is low and the ambulance branch is not staffed by multiple paramedics on a full-time basis.
Immigration – Something is not right
Imagine building half of Perth in three years because that's what's needed to accommodate the nearly one million people that are expected to arrive between 2022 and 2025 ... No doubt, some will trek inland to the smaller country towns but don't expect them to stay long as the Federal government has recently moved to introduce new visa rights making it easier for migrants who have taken one of the regional work visas to bail from the bush and retreat to the big cities, leaving the businesses that sponsored them in the lurch.
Our Judy – Australia’s oldest checkout chick?
One of Australia’s oldest checkout chicks is our own sprightly 81 year old, Judy Biggins of Naracoorte. “I love my job!” says Judy, while packing and sorting groceries as they pass through her checkout, and her customers love her.
Local architect joins Greater Bendigo Heritage Advisory Committee
Maldon’s own Andrew Fedorowicz was last week formally appointed to the Greater Bendigo Heritage Advisory Committee. He will join one other architect, as well as the Greater Bendigo councillors, heritage advisors and town planners who make up the committee of around 10 members.
Rex to make more reductions to its regional network
Rex said the airline is forced to make further reductions to its regional network as the major carriers, particularly the Qantas Group, continued their relentless pillaging of Rex’s pilot group. The reductions, effective from 30 October, all involve the regional routes serviced by Rex’s fleet of Saab 340 turboprop aircraft.
New planning program to support regional housing: Champion
A new program designed to tackle regional skills shortages in the housing and planning sectors is being established through a State and Local government partnership ... the Grow Your Own program is a joint initiative between the Malinauskas Government and Local Government Association – focused on training local talent and providing pathways to grow regional councils’ planning workforce.
$1.3billion offer for teachers
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.
Will jobs be lost by logging halt?
The Clarence Valley timber industry is still uncertain how many jobs could be lost due to the suspension of logging in the proposed Great Koala National Park as the NSW Government assesses the impact on the endangered marsupials and timber industry jobs ... “They still haven’t actually said what the areas are that they are going to not harvest in and where the actual koala hubs are, so it’s really hard to work out what the ramifications are going to be”: Donna Layton, Marshall Notaras Hardwoods GM and VP of Timber NSW.
Offers of jobs, not jail for young joy riders
Young car joyriders likened the adrenalin rush from car theft to the effects of drug or alcohol use. Some noted, yet often disregarded, fears of death or injury as the result of a car accident. And the prospect of gaining, or losing, a job is a stronger motivator than incarceration for joyriders.
Negotiations on
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.
Schools close, teachers take industrial action
Will Hunter. Educators across Yorke Peninsula called for better pay and conditions as part of industrial action … The strike followed a breakdown in negotiations between the state government and the Australian Education Union ... Educators across the state assembled in key locations to voice their frustrations, with local teachers uniting in Victoria Square, Kadina, to broadcast the AEU’s live stream from Parliament House, Adelaide.
Guards clock on at Wallaroo Hospital
Michelle Daw. Security guards have begun work around the clock at Wallaroo Hospital in a six-month trial to combat violence and aggression against staff ... ANMF SA branch chief executive Professor Elizabeth Dabars said the trial of security guards was a great result.
Store opens at Wilcannia to offer affordable quality clothing locally
The Wilcannia fashion store Cooee Clothing had its first trading days earlier this month and attracted residents needing a wardrobe refresh ... The recycled clothing store complements another CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes Cooee social enterprise. Cooee Cuts is an affordable hair salon that operates one week every month ...
Labour crisis remains one year after jobs and skills summit: Littleproud
The skills shortage in regional Australia and agriculture 12 months on from the Jobs and Skills Summit remains in crisis, pushing cost-of-living pressures higher … workforce shortages in the agriculture sector continued to drive up food prices and regional Australia still had a skills crisis.
Solutions to country vet shortage: NSW Farmers
The state’s peak farm group has laid out a plan for government to resolve an acute shortage of large animal veterinarians in country NSW. NSW Farmers has given evidence to the Inquiry into the Veterinary Workforce Shortage … putting forward three solutions being used internationally.
Casual work set to be redefined
Will Hunter. Casual employees who work a regular pattern of hours may soon have the right to request a permanent position sooner in their employment, under proposed federal government reform. The definition of what it means to be a casual employee is set to be redefined to allow eligible workers a stronger pathway to secure permanent employment.
How Polish agriculture supports Ukrainian patriotism
For a month of seasonal agricultural work in Poland, Ukrainians can earn as much money as they receive in 10 months in Ukraine. This is so profitable that poor Ukrainians prefer to spend their holidays on the farmer's fields in Poland, and not in the resorts. Diligence enables Ukrainians to save their own country. ... Oksana Pitchenko told us what seasonal agricultural earnings are in reality.
Police are needed in country towns: McArthur
Victoria Police wants to take officers from one-person police stations in 98 small towns and roster them into regional centres and cities to fill police shortages. The rostering change is due to more than 800 police vacancies across the state ... Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, said the move is alarming.
Buloke Times editorial: Shearers 2
This is a follow-up to the previous piece about the shortage of shearers. The numbers of Australian-based shearers have diminished by 30 per cent in the last decade, partly due to the drought, the pull of the mining sector, and Covid 19 restricting arrivals. New Zealand shearers also had a pay rise in 2018. In May 2023, at the end of the earlier editorial, the hope was expressed that the shortage would be relieved by progress with the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme (PALM). Provision had been made for a pilot round of a small number to be trained as shearers in southern NSW. That plan will not now go ahead.
Labour hire team to the rescue for Ampilwatja essential services
A labour hire company has come to the rescue to help with essential services in the Ampilatwatja community. A struggle to hire locally has meant the Barkly Regional Council team has had to think outside the box by engaging the labour-hire company to fill the gaps to provide municipal services.
More support on the way for timber workers: Tierney
The Andrews Labor Government is scaling up support for timber workers, sawmill operators and their communities, as Victoria transitions away from native timber logging. Minister for Agriculture Gayle Tierney announced the expansion of the Victorian Forestry Worker Support Program...
Fallout from native forestry decision continues: VFPA
The native hardwood industry welcomed announcement by Minister Tierney to offer additional support for workers, contractors, communities and new regional businesses but was disappointed that the mill exit package doubly punished those businesses that had acted in good faith, said Deb Kerr, CEO of the Victorian Forest Products Association (VFPA).
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