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.
Tyred Turkeys want to bring tourists on treadlies to town
The Tyred Turkeys are anything but tired. The group has 12 bike riders who ride regularly and have been mapping bike routes for 20 years. There are six founding members of the group who still ride together including Greg Daley, 68, and Damien Cox, 67.
Supercharging Barcaldine’s clean energy future: Miles
Work towards establishing a renewable energy industrial precinct in Barcaldine is powering ahead, with discussions under way with several interested companies ... Acting Premier Steven Miles met with leading economist, Professor Ross Garnaut to discuss the BREZ ahead of today’s Economic Thought Leadership Forum on decarbonising supply chains and growing new industries in Queensland.
Green transmission is “just a fairytale”
Once upon a time, not that long ago, in places not that far away, the Australian Energy Market Operator, AEMO, thought it could devise a “renewable” energy and transmission scheme to outsmart the locals ... Locals along the lines have fought against the plans ...
Trouble in paradise with goldminer and landholders in dispute
For more than 40 years they have run the Clarence River Wilderness Lodge where guests come to escape into the nature and unspoilt beauty of the Clarence Valley. The rocky dirt track off Paddys Flat Rd is a 20-minute steep drive to the lodge and camping grounds on the 460 hectare property.
Mahsa Anderson – Destination: Happiness
Spring is in the air and for many of us that’s a good enough reason to feel happy. But what really is Happiness and how do we get more of one of life’s most desirable emotions? Regional psychologist and Happiness Coach, Mahsa Anderson, gives us the lowdown on this uplifting feeling.
Firewood panic – Jarvis’s order leads to double standards: Gavin Butcher
Gavin Butcher. The WA Government’s new forestry policy is unravelling. The responsible Minister, Jackie Jarvis, has started to panic, reportedly ordering 120,000 tonnes of firewood to be produced, and in the process is sacrificing supplies to sawmills. The result is that high quality sawlogs are being set aside for firewood instead of being manufactured for furniture and flooring.
A growth mindset is a key leadership attribute
A quick lesson anyone learns when travelling regional and rural Australia is how quickly you must adapt to the unpredictable and ever-changing circumstances regional communities find themselves in. If you cannot adapt – you cannot survive! This requires a special mindset ... “The important thing is to never stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing”: Albert Einstein.
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.
Up, up and away – new Qantas flights
A new Qantas flight schedule and the addition of one extra return flight per week to the Bendigo to Sydney route starts from Monday October 30. Following feedback provided to the airline, the new schedule allows passengers to travel Bendigo to Sydney return in a day, Monday to Friday.
Tiny homes make big impact in Gympie: Scanlon
Tenants have moved in to eight new tiny homes in Gympie, delivered to help ease housing pressures in the region. The factory-built homes were installed at GRAP, which was a joint project between the Queensland Government and Gympie Regional Council after floods devastated the town.
Charleville hosting Darling Downs South West Queensland Regional Community Forum: Grace, Furner
Housing, health, education, training and employment pathways, infrastructure, economic diversification, and the Q2032 Procurement Strategy will be part of the conversation for the members of the Darling Downs South West Queensland Regional Community Forum who meet at Charleville ...
South-East Asian market “bright spot” for dairy exporters: Rabobank
South-East Asia presents a "bright spot" for Australian and New Zealand dairy exporters in an "increasingly lethargic global economy", Rabobank says in a recently-released sector report. The specialist agribusiness bank says "better times lie ahead" for the dairy markets of the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam...
Hope for the best, plan for the worst
Kristin Murdock. Farmers would have noted that grain markets have been pretty flat of late. According to analyst, Andrew Whitelaw of Ep 3, there have been plenty of news stories in the past two months that may have influence. A lot of it involves speculation - speculation that Russia wouldn’t extend the export program ex Ukraine and speculation of huge floods in China. Not to mention the actual bombing of a huge dam in Ukraine.
Innovative ‘staying at home’ program launched
Resthaven has launched a new government-funded program which aims to support older South Australians living with dementia to stay at home for as long as possible. The ‘Staying at Home in Regional South Australia’ ... aims to provide vital education and support to carers whilst their loved one is cared for in the same location by experienced staff.
$9.75m injection for Keith hospital
The Keith and District Hospital has officially joined SA Health with a $9.75 million boost from the SA State Government. After so many decades of uncertainty, it was a moment the Upper SE community had been waiting for. Sporting a new public healthcare model – the facility will be known as Keith and District Healthcare.
$4.3m on hold pending study
A regional health bureaucracy has been blocked from spending $4.3 million on hospital upgrades rather than radiation treatment services in the Limestone Coast. But only until a feasibility study for radiation therapy has been completed. Then SA Health Minister Chris Picton will make a decision.
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.
Maldon Art kangaroos on the move”¦.
Felicity Howard. The reach of the Kangaroo Art Auction which closed on Monday 31 July as part of the Maldon Inc Maldon In Winter Festival, was far and wide ... The lovely June Kiff of Reservoir Melbourne was the highest bidder of ‘Goldie’ created by the Mount Alexander Girl Guides.
VFF”ˆcondemns incursion on to farm properties
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is dismayed by the recent actions of transmission network operator AusNet Services after its workers entered farm properties along the Ballarat to Bendigo transmission line, without any prior contact or seeking permission from landowners.
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.
