Business

Opportunities for young people in rural communities to gain training and practical skills to make them more employable have been increased as a result of the Queensland Government’s Western Queensland Regional Community Forum, which meets for the last time for 2023 at Longreach.

Melina Morrison, BCCM CEO, responds to the Westfund Regional Health Gap Report and answers a few questions from Australian Rural & Regional News ... "The co-operative business model, with its emphasis on grass roots democratic management, and sustainability, is ideally suited to providing care services in small and under-supplied markets."

The third $10,000 red-tagged barra of Million Dollar Fish Season 9 has been caught just five weeks into the season. The season runs from 1 October 2023 until 31 March 2024 ... This season someone is guaranteed to win a million dollars.  

Several local businesses supported the initiative to display a pristine flag ahead of Derby Day in the Country and increase the Spring Racing Carnival atmosphere across Wycheproof ahead of a community event not held with crowds for three years.

#7 of a series: Peter Christen, owner of Maldon’s Panacea Estate winery and cellar door ... "Maybe in 20 years the kids will thank me?”  So, how’s business?

The lack of a TAFE, children with special needs, the health bureaucracy, E-tag regulations, arts, rare earth mining, radiation therapy and plastics were among 16 questions asked at last week’s Country Cabinet forum in Naracoorte. During a two-day whirlwind visit SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, his ministers and all department chiefs collectively met with hundreds of people as they travelled to various special spots within our region.

Will the new home plan announced by the state government solve the South East’s dire housing crisis? As part of the Country Cabinet’s recent visit to the South East, the state government announced a new 60-home plan for the Tatiara District, with the hope of attracting workers to regional towns ... the project will cost the state government $2.7million.

The landmark federal-state CarbonNet project, which aims to take carbon dioxide emissions from the Latrobe Valley and sequester them under Bass Strait, has got the go ahead for a vital part of the project – the plan to build a pipeline that will carry liquefied CO2 to the coast. The 100 kilometre-pipeline – 80km buried onshore and a further 20km offshore – will take liquefied CO2 to a carbon capture and storage hub at Golden Beach, creating a connection for multiple carbon capture projects.

The Maldon Folk Festival returns this weekend, with a sensational program that features performers from across Australia, the US and England ... Where to start?!  Let’s begin with Gina Jefferey, who must surely be one of the queens of country music.

AEGIC’s oat noodles and oat ‘rice’ are destined for supermarket shelves, with a Western Australian based company set to begin producing the innovative foods. AEGIC’s oat scientists developed manufacturing processes for 100% whole grain noodles and a ‘rice’ product that can be eaten like regular rice.

Proposed increases of up to 52.52 per cent in east coast container port access charges by DP World Australia (DPWA) are excessive and highlight the need for urgent government action, GrainGrowers said. Under the Notice of Intention issued by DPWA, landside fees at each of its terminals will increase significantly from 1 January 2024…

How much does it cost to build a three-bedroom home ... That makes it $214,500 per house, around $1500 a square meter. So, when the NT Government forks out $30m of taxpayer’s money, awarding a three year period contract to a local company (Pedersen NT, in this case) then we can expect to get 139 homes, with a bit left over, right? Wrong.

A teacher who started at Corryong College in 2022 has made an immediate impact in the education sector by winning the Victorian Outstanding Early Career Primary Teacher award ... Since starting as a graduate teacher last year, Kendall Heycox has demonstrated her capacity for leadership and aptitude as an educator ...

The 100-year celebrations for the PS Alexander Arbuthnot (AA) delighted the masses on Friday night … PS Alexander Arbuthnot was named after the former owner of the Arbuthnot Sawmills at Koondrook – Alexander ‘Squire’ James Cooke Arbuthnot. His father, Alexander ‘Sandy’ Arbuthnot was the founder of the sawmill.

The Ferrero Group is selling its $70 million hazelnut development near Narrandera amid claims that the region’s climate played a key factor in its decision. The move to not proceed with its NSW project is considered a major blow to the establishment of a commercial-scale hazelnut growing industry in Australia.

Wiradjuri woman, artist and creator of Marara Designs Shelby-Rae Kschenka of Narrandera has entered a brand collaboration with the iconic Australian clothing company Sportsgirl. Shelby-Rae will work with the company to create a ‘meaningful, intentional and sustainable’ Acknowledgement of Country that will be present in all 130-plus Sportsgirl stores via physical in-store plaques and online.

Two black-and-white ruffed lemurs have been paired together at the Altina Wildlife Park near Darlington Point. The species is critically endangered due to poaching and deforestation and one is from England and will provide genetic diversity to the Australian lemur population.

Member for Groom Garth Hamilton is inviting local businesses to feature their products at Parliament House. The Parliament House Gift Shop has recently introduced the ‘National Showcase’ initiative.

Yagi & Co., Ltd. announces that we have made and started operating a proprietary system for consistent traceability management, from field to yarn, via a proprietary management system that links the international certifications for the organic cotton produced in India that we handle ... This system enables consistent traceability management from the cotton field to thread.

The Festival of Small Halls stopped in at Pilton Soldiers Memorial Hall, performing in front of a big crowd. Lee ann Weekes from down the road at West Haldon opened the show. She was followed by Brisbane-based cellist Monique Clare and Canadian musician Shane Pendergast.