Stage filled with rhythm and rhyme
Georgina Swan. As stockwhips woke the echoes, they gathered at Banjo’s Block to celebrate the tradition that gave rise to the Man From Snowy River festival - bush poetry and music. For the audience, it was a chance to pay homage to Banjo Paterson’s iconic poem, to hear favourite classic verses and to discover new poets and works...
Mayor: new airline big boost to tourism
According to Toowoomba Region Mayor Paul Antonio, this week’s arrival of Bonza Airline’s inaugural Melbourne to Toowoomba flight is a massive boost for regional tourism and business operators, event organisers and travellers.
Mulesing merino lambs on downward trend
Kristin Murdock. The AWI Merino Husbandry Practices Survey contacted 1203 Merino producers from the MLA member database to ask about specific Merino management practices. Results recently released showed a downward trend in mulesing. Ewe lambs mulesed fell from 63 per cent in 2019 to 52 per cent in 2021. Mulesing in male lambs showed a similar decline from 54 per cent to 44 per cent.
Community rallies as ‘better bank’ cashes out
More than 250 people gathered like David taking on the might of Goliath ... Event organiser, Andrew Gibbs, gave a passionate speech to the crowd as he expressed the disgust and injustice of the decision by the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to close 16 agencies, including Pyramid Hill, Cohuna and Barham.
Australia’s largest wind farm is coming to Victoria: D’Ambrosio
Australia‘s largest wind farm will soon be under construction in the Golden Plains Shire just 60 kilometres north-west of Geelong ... Once complete the wind farm will generate 9 per cent of Victoria’s total electricity demand, enough clean energy to power more than 765,000 homes, equivalent to every home in regional Victoria.
First trainload of timber arrives to support snowy region mills: FCNSW
The rail transport initiative will see Forestry Corporation of NSW deliver around 270,000 tonnes of sawlog timber to Tumut and Tumbarumba processors over the next three years. This timber was initially set for export, however the impact of the Black Summer bushfires and local timber shortage have meant Australian timber mills have been given priority.
Early childcare workforce set to increase as enrolments rise: Boyer
The Malinauskas Labor Government’s return of early childhood courses to TAFE has seen an almost doubling of uptake in just 12 months ... Enrolments in Semester 1 for 2023 for both courses are currently at 456 – almost double the same time last year with 276 enrolments.
Community in full fling for 118th Maclean Highland Gathering
An estimated record number of spectators tartaned up and headed to the riverside community of Maclean on April 7 and 8 to experience a jubilant, colourful, and cultural celebration of all things Scottish during the 118th Maclean Highland Gathering. Amidst the dominant humming of bagpipes, Chief Peter Smith from the Lower Clarence Scottish Association declared the crowd was the largest he had seen in more than 20 years...
Nhill Silo Heritage Project reveals top maintenance priorities
Embracing a huge restoration project means there’s always something new to keep you out of trouble. In the case of Nhill Silo, large-scale maintenance works are now underway.
The Gather Round
Over the weekend Kaniva and Nhill saw an influx of traffic due to the AFL Gather Round which was held in Adelaide from Thursday to Sunday ... Kaniva’s Little Guys Pizza owner Nakita Jewell said, "We were really busy and had a few repeat customers on the way back, which is a good sign." Nhill’s Wimmera Bakery Manager Teresa Ross said, "Both last Friday and Monday have been so busy, which is awesome. We have sold out of everything on both days. It’s great for the little business that has struggled to stay open over covid."
Concerns for giants brings logging to a halt
For months protesters have been fighting for logging to be halted in Doubleduke State Forest in Bungawalbin. NSW Environmental Authority announced the decision to stop logging on April 16 ... “The inspection identified that Forestry Corporation of NSW had not mapped two giant trees in accordance with the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval and Protocols,” EPA regulatory operations director Steve Orr said.
Opening night success and winners honoured in first weekend of the 2023 Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition
The opening weekend of the Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition has been a resounding success with higher-than expected visitors, increased artist participation and healthy sales. Lori Smith winning the esteemed the Diana Keir Art Award with her oil portrait of a local Islander, called Staring at the Sun.
Small bar proposed for Yanchep shopping centre
There is an opportunity for residents and stakeholders to comment on a proposal for a small bar at the Yanchep Central Shopping Centre. But before the bar proposed for the site previously occupied by the Full Flava café can be approved the City of Wanneroo needs to approve the proposed change of use to unlisted use (small bar) at tenancies 23 and 24, 1 Peony Blvd.
Long distance relationships for Buloke’s police officers
Jesse Wray-McCann. When a 200-kilometre drive from one end of your policing patch to the other is the same distance as travelling a quarter of the way across Victoria, it pays to be close to your community and your colleagues. The 10 police officers across six stations – Donald, Charlton, Wycheproof, Culgoa, Sea Lake and Birchip – that make up the Buloke Shire cluster make it their mission to keep connected with everyone around them.
New WA facility to demonstrate turning waste into fuel: Bowen, Punch, Hanns
An innovative solution to waste management that will see household rubbish and biomass turned into useful products instead of ending up in landfill is set to be demonstrated in Western Australia ... The plant, which was built using a patented design and uses technology developed in WA by Renergi, is the first of its kind and positions Collie as a pioneer in the negative-emission bio-based circular economy.
Queensland’s new largest gold mine officially opens: Stewart
Works have finished and production has ramped up at Queensland’s new largest gold mine, creating nearly 400 good jobs and supporting 1000 contractors in the process. Resources Minister Scott Stewart congratulated Ravenswood Gold on the $350 million expansion of their mine about 130 km southwest of Townsville.
Ecological thinning – WA Government manages to wedge itself: Gavin Butcher
Gavin Butcher. When the WA Premier announced it was changing direction in the management of native forests to one guided by improving forest health and climate resilience he was on a potential winner ... Here was a unique opportunity to end the forest wars and set up a sustainable future for all. Alas the government has fluffed it.
Barmah Choke trade opportunity for new irrigation year: MDBA
The Barmah Choke water trade balance to start the 2023–24 water year will deliver a solid trade opportunity for irrigators. MDBA Executive Director of River Management Andrew Reynolds, said the water available to trade downstream of the Barmah Choke on 1 July 2023 would be about 60.6 gigalitres (GL).
Query on wheat prices
This newspaper [The Buloke Times], in the past, has queried the government’s decision to take away the single desk for export from the Australian Wheat Board, an organisation which evened out the returns to growers, and was generally respected by the industry. Now there are claims that the good seasonal conditions have not been reflected in the returns to growers in recent years, and some companies with a larger share of the export trade have acted in “monopolistic” ways.
Goodbye Stawell: Bendigo Bank agency closure marks the end for community banking
Residents of Stawell and surrounding towns have been deserted for the greener pastures of the digital realm, with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank suggesting that an investment shift toward phone and internet banking services is behind a decision to permanently close the Bendigo Bank Agency located at Fosters Mensland in Stawell ... With an aging demographic, many residents in Northern Grampians Shire rely on consistent face-to-face interaction and prefer to bank with representatives they know and trust.
A fair to remember
The Maldon Easter Fair has once again drawn thousands of visitors to the enchanting town, leaving everyone in awe of its remarkable community. The 146th event had it all; an ambitious celebration of the humble scone, a genuine back street billy cart race and a vividly picturesque street parade.
Solving air travel’s emissions dilemma: Canegrowers
CANEGROWERS has welcomed Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s recent public vote of confidence in the sugarcane industry’s ability to supply the feedstock for a biofuels revolution in Queensland ... “With more than 1500 domestic flights in Australia every day, the aviation industry burns through an awful lot of highly polluting jet fuel”: CANEGROWERS Chairman Owen Menkens.
