Business

The Allora Show Society is happy with the success of the 2024 Show, which produced strong numbers in many sections. President Shirley Cornhill said the show was well supported from far and wide.

Justin Wade, who commenced his career at the Allora Butchery, has been awarded the national title of Young Australian Butcher of the Year at the Australian Meat Industries National competition held in Brisbane on Saturday.

David & Zita. To Our Valued Customers, With a great deal of sadness after nearly 26 years of trading, we wish to advise that the Allora Newsagency will be closing. As at close of business Sunday 25th February we will cease the selling and delivery of newspapers. Allora Hardware will be selling papers in store from Monday 26th February.

Services are now being provided from Wilcannia’s Health and Wellbeing Centre in Bonney St, off Ross Street, following a move to the new facility over the past three days ... Services provided at the Wilcannia Health and Wellbeing Centre will be the same as those provided at the previous health service.

The grim reality of the shortage of available housing in Hay hit home to one young family recently. After a career change which saw Mick and Gabby Flattery and six-year-old Connor leave employer-supplied housing, they faced the disheartening search for a rental property in Hay ... “There isn’t even small one-bedroom unit to rent, let alone family houses."

When UAG Bio Nutrients needed specific plastic manufacturing expertise to produce its patented vermiculture modules, it turned to Select Plastics ... The process is the first in the world to efficiently and cleanly integrate anaerobic digestion and vermiculture at industrial scale to convert organic waste into bio-fertiliser and clean energy.

The peak representative bodies for Tasmanian and Victorian farmers have joined forces to call for fair land access rules in the face of rapid renewable energy developments taking over prime agricultural land. TasFarmers and the VFF released the Farm Access Code of Conduct which is aimed at promoting respectful and sensible infrastructure development on agricultural land.

Scientists are researching and developing new technology to build a prototype robot arm that will automate the repetitive and intensive parts of banana processing, resulting in significant efficiencies for the banana industry ... “If successful, this type of technology could also be applied to other crop-types to support Aussie fruit and vegetable supply": Hort Innovation chief executive officer Brett Fifield.

Patrick Goldsmith. Yorke Peninsula Council deputy mayor Richard Carruthers has joined the increasingly loud chorus calling for the state government to take greater action on much-needed regional jetty maintenance. Mr Carruthers, of Ardrossan, said he has been approached by roughly 50 locals concerned about the future of the jetty within the past few months.

Will Hunter. Ardrossan Area School has entered a new realm of educational possibilities after officially opening its virtual reality learning space ... The school has installed a Lumination Learning Lab, a smart classroom which utilises virtual and augmented reality technology to create immersive learning experiences for students.

Australia’s dairy import and export mix is "slowly trading places" – with export volumes falling sharply in recent years while imports have spiked, Rabobank says in a newly- released report.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is calling on the Federal Government to quarantine regional Australia’s fair share of the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF). We would like to see 40 per cent of the HAFF directed to regional Australia to support population growth, address the regional housing crisis, and unlock the economic potential of Australia’s regional communities.

South Australian artificial intelligence (AI) company AICRAFT and deep tech company GoMicro have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to utilise AICRAFT’s low-power, compact, high-performance edge computing systems for powering GoMicro’s AI assessment solutions for agriculture and other industrial in-machine applications.

The latest government alcohol control effort, now a year old, has resulted in a dramatic drop in bottle shop and online transactions, but how much we drink hasn’t gone down by a lot ... Bill Yan, Member for Namatjira and Shadow Minister for Health, says alcohol abuse measures should have received more funding: “We’ve yet to see much of the $250m promised [by the Prime Minister] last year."

After slashing NAB's regional branches by a third Ross McEwan is bailing before a senate inquiry into the closures reports. Miniscule savings at the cost of trashing the bank's reputation in a critical lending base. What will his legacy be?

During a visit to Sun City Yacht Club reporter Betheney A’vard talked to club members about their focus on introducing people to sailing but also found out about the Two Rocks community rallying together to seek heritage status for the area.

Regional-specific new build targets; bolstered and quarantined regional housing infrastructure funding; and better planning for growth are among the asks of government from the National Regional Housing Summit ... A Discussion Paper, presenting the latest regional housing stock data and featuring stories of communities who’ve successfully taken action to solve their housing issues, provided context to Summit.

Nadia Bish, of Wycheproof, is preparing to utilise her newly developed leadership skills to implement a natural tourism innovation project in 2024. The Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program (LMCLP), also often referred to as LEAD Loddon Murray, is well regarded across Australia, an initiative building the capacity of individuals to drive change and foster the growth of vibrant and sustainable rural/regional communities.

The Charlton Neighbourhood House was proud to represent all the community involved with the Nyernila Art Trail project at the recent Victorian Community History Awards held in Melbourne at the Arts Centre. Presented by Public Record Office Victoria in partnership with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria...

Gen Barlow. Newstead's major auspicing organisation, Newstead 2021 Inc, has contracted two community development workers for six months. Local residents Joni Fitzgerald and Gen Barlow will work with Newstead groups and people on projects and find and match would-be volunteers with projects and micro-tasks.

Maldon resident and Advanced Life Support paramedic Barry Curtain is one of five Ambulance Victoria workers who have been awarded Ambulance Service Medals, as part of the 2024 national honours list.  The Australian honours list acknowledges Australians for achievements, service and contribution to community above and beyond the call of duty.