Business

Regional Express Airlines will prolong the suspension of some of its flights for another seven months, blaming sustained supply chain challenges. Rex cut flights on seven of its NSW routes in September including from Sydney to Albury, Coffs Harbour, Griffith, Narrandera, Orange, Parkes and Port Macquarie.

A recent tender by Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) for the provision of medical services at Barham Hospital has gone unawarded, with MLHD stating, “This tender process has now been completed and, as a result, it is not sustainable to continue the provision of medical services in their current format.”

After 100 years of growing Australian food and fibre, and enhancing their farm’s environmental assets, the Ettershanks now face their biggest challenge, power lines. Under the recent release of Transgrid’s proposed route for the VNI West Interconnector, Simon and Carly Ettershank’s 2,000-hectare property now has twenty 75-80-metre-tall towers across their home.  

Dr Clare Bottcher has departed the clinic where she has treated local patients for over 26 years. In an emotional farewell with clinic staff, Dr Bottcher recalled her time serving the locals of her own hometown, alongside “great mentors” and “wonderful custodians of this town”.

Do you know what it costs to fill up an EV with a fast charger -  $30, $40, $50? Do you even know what it costs to run your house each night? ... If EVs are the future then we need to be frank about their pros and cons.

Did anyone notice the announcement dropped just before Christmas of the new emissions rules that will impact sales of most of the popular utes SUVs and 4WDs farmers and tradies rely on? ... For those who know their cars, the days are numbered for the number series 75s, 80s, 300s, 150s,   300s, not to mention the Raptors, Rams or even the bog standard Hilux, Triton and Nivara.

New data shows mixed fortunes for an Australian horticulture sector facing numerous challenges; however, the long-term outlook remains strong with total production value increasing by 2.8 per cent to $16.3B. The latest edition of the Australian Horticulture Statistics Handbook ... includes information on 75 different horticulture categories across fruit, vegetables, nuts, and greenlife.

Supporters advocating for the protection of Lots 512 and 513, DP727686, identified as part of Kariong Sacred Lands along Woy Woy Road, express shock and dismay over the lack of transparency and fairness during the Community Consultation Phase for the contentious rezoning proposal ... "We estimate over 3,000 public submissions opposing this unpopular planning proposal. It is impossible to contact every person to resubmit their views": Lisa Bellamy.

The Reckless Renewables Rally brought to together 116 regional community groups with a message for Federal politicians to suspend their reckless rollout ... ‘People living in our cities are being deceived. Rural and regional communities are being socially fractured, divided up and hollowed out by our own government and their energy corporation’s working in unison with home grown renewables zealots and foreign renewable energy company carpetbaggers’: Chairman of PRA Jim Willmott.

Farmers and industry fear Labor’s imminent updates to the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme could result in workers from nine Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste permanently receiving better pay conditions in some circumstances than Australian farm workers, placing an undue burden on employers.  

Patrick Goldsmith. South Australians are emphatically urging the state government to take more responsibility for much-needed jetty maintenance, the Local Government Association’s recently released Value of Jetties report shows. An LGA survey of more than 2400 people found 80 per cent believe the government should take financial responsibility for jetty maintenance.

A good dentist is a valuable asset, especially outside the big cities. It's encouraging to learn that there are bright young dentists in Australia that have discovered that a country practice can offer benefits, professional and personal, over work in the city. Australian Rural & Regional News  asked Dr Parshad Sankey, now in Clare, and Dr Michael Dimitrov, in Gladstone, about their country experience.

Insufficient globalisation of the world economy is holding back the development of amateur gardening around the world. Ukraine is a clear example of this. Gardeners cannot purchase the plants they like or are forced to do so at inflated prices. But everything can change if globalisation wins.

New research shows the South Australian economy could lose over $103 million every year if jetties along our coastlines ceased to exist, supporting calls for the State Government to increase funding for repairs and maintenance. Released by the Local Government Association, the Value of Jetties report for the first time places a dollar figure on just how much jetties are worth to SA communities and the economy.

A new, free-to-attend trade exhibition and conference is set to showcase the future of the Australian agricultural industry, with FutureAg powered by AGRITECHNICA 2024 highlighting the latest in cutting edge technology to improve productivity and sustainability across one of the nation’s largest industries.

Barry Large. There's an awful lot of noise being made right now about the prices every day Australians are being charged at the checkout, whilst the big supermarkets rake-in record profits. Added to this political rhetoric driven by the cost-of-living crisis is an apparent concern about the need to ensure Australian farmers receive their fair share of the retail dollar.

The Northern Territory Government has opened consultation for the Draft Saltwater Crocodile Management Program 2024-2034, which will allow for the public to have input on how crocodiles are managed in the Territory. There are currently more than 100,000 crocodiles in the Territory.

Yet again another strike on the wharfs ends in a cave in by the stevedores. Last week DP World, which is owned by the Dubai Royal Family, agreed to increase wages by 25 per cent over the next four years to end a rolling series of stoppages that has gone on for months. That works out about double the predicted inflation rate with almost no productivity trade offs ... Welcome back to the thinking of the 1970s.

Australia’s agricultural sector is "moving confidently into 2024", with an overall positive outlook for the nation’s farmers and agribusiness industries in the year ahead, Rabobank says in its newly-released annual outlook ... while agri commodity prices are "well down on the highs seen over the previous two years", the bank’s price forecasts point to "continued positive farm margins in key agricultural sectors in 2024"