Business

A petition led by Naracoorte’s Lachlan Haynes calling for radiotherapy services in the South East is likely to trigger an SA Parliamentary review ... A single petition with over 10,000 signatures must be referred to the Legislative Review Committee for investigation.

Igniting Resilience, hosted by BCG at the Lower Mallee Inn at Swan Hill recently, lived up to its name.  Young farmers and agribusiness professionals heard from guest speakers The Unbreakable Farmer Warren Davies, farmers Simone Murdoch (Swan Hill), Jarrod Kemp (Nullawil) and Will Simpson (Berriwillock), who shared how they navigate the challenges of life and farming.  

Outback Arts, the Regional Arts Development Organisation for Far West NSW, has launched a brand new interactive website, Creative Country, to showcase and assist travellers and locals discover the art, culture and heritage the region has to offer ... “It’s truly remarkable what this wide, wild outback place has to offer, and Creative Country is the perfect tool to gather this information together": Jamie-Lea Trindall, Executive Director, Outback Arts.

Australia’s largest shared micromobility company Beam will commence shared e-scooter operations across the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, marking the city’s first shared e-scooter trial. 200 of Beam’s leading e-scooters will be introduced to the streets, available for use 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, improving transport options and connections for both leisure and commuting.

The unique story of Ned Kelly and his gang’s bushranging exploits in the south-western town of Jerilderie, New South Wales, can now be shared around the world with a series of new virtual tours of the town’s historic sites. The theme of the project is ‘Hero or Outlaw?", playing on the polarising effect of the gang and their iconic place in Australian history.

The Narrandera District Community Radio Spirit FM hosted a wonderful community celebration at the Narrandera Golf Club and Function Centre ... to celebrate its 18th year of broadcasting in 2023 ... Spokesperson for Spirit FM, Sue Ruffles commented that the organisation of the party provided an opportunity to delve into some history of the station which has not previously been captured.

Gavin Butcher. Analysis of publicly available data by respected scientist Dr Lachie McCaw has shown that claims by Premier McGowan and his coterie of Forestry Ministers, Jarvis and Kelly, to be without substance. The WA government had stated that one of the reasons the timber industry had been axed was because the trees are no longer growing. Dr McCaw has used published data on the long-term forest monitoring plots called ForestCheck to demonstrate that the harvested forest is growing and the uncut forest is in decline.

Wet weather may have forced a last-minute venue change, but it was raining talent at the Maclean Bowling Club on March 25 as singers and songwriters from across the region stepped onto the stage and let their vocals and instrumental skills shine during local music festival Clarence Tunes ... A star-studded line up including Isla and Bella, Waiting For Alex, Olivia Hinde, and Kirra Hallam, earned repeated rounds of applause from an appreciative audience, who described the performers as “outstanding”, “awesome”, and “amazing.”

At the Industry Breakfast held last week the Clifton State High School announced the nomination of Claire Keleher for a Queensland Traineeship Award for School Based Apprenticeships ... Year 12 student Claire spoke of how the butcher’s apprenticeship she has begun at the Allora Butchery has given her a new lease of life at school as she has regained her enthusiasm for school because of the program.

Luv-A-Duck was founded by the late Art Shoppee back in 1968, when he started out with just 20 ducklings. Today it grows and supplies 5 million ducks annually for food service and retail markets within Australia and overseas ... To support the growth plans, current Family Directors, Theresa Sfetkidis and Kim Shoppee-Lynch, are in the final phase of choosing a business partner, to take a major stake in the business.

Kaniva’s Doyle’s IGA supermarket was recently crowned community award of the year at the IGA retail Excellence Awards held at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Doyle’s IGA was nominated in three categories, small format Meat Department of the year, small format Grocery Department of the year and the Community Award.

Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) has confirmed an impeccable line up of 15 Indigenous fashion designers and wearable art makers from across Queensland whose collective response to the 2023 theme ‘Woven’ will tell a powerful story marking 10 years of fashion performances.

Growers and mouse bait retailers are being reminded about new reporting procedures that have been introduced and need to be followed, to enable access to double strength (ZP50) mouse bait products and support best practice application ... This permit allows continued access to the new ZP50 mouse bait products, supplied by the various manufacturers listed on the permit, enabling stronger control options to help safeguard crops.

The Shire of Gingin says councillors were made aware when the Gingin council dealt with the Guilderton caravan park tender process that chief executive officer Aaron Cook had prior dealings with Belgravia Leisure’s WA state manager when Mr Cook was the Narrogin CEO.

The annual Sustainable Seafood Awards held by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council in partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council were held ... at Melbourne Zoo, showcasing the Aussie heroes of responsible seafood farming and sustainable fishing practices in Australia ... The winners were a fantastic mix of organisations and individuals who have made significant contributions to responsible aquaculture, from retailers to producers and even an inspiring young person in the industry.

After steep falls in late 2022 and early 2023, many Australian agricultural commodity prices have stabilised, according to the NAB March Rural Commodities Wrap released on 27 March 2023. While the NAB Rural Commodities Index* was down 1.2% in February, almost all of the downside was driven by falling cattle prices as the industry faces parallel challenges of higher turnoff, processor constraints and tough global conditions.

The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) CEO Liz Ritchie will launch the national Regionalisation Roadshow in Stawell this week – helping local leaders of Northern Grampians tackle the issues holding their country towns back ... As a member of the RAI, the Northern Grampians offered to host and be the first location in regional Australia to ignite a place-based lens on the framework – focussing on areas including job vacancies, education, and housing.

Australia is negotiating amendments to the Australia-European Community Agreement on Trade in Wine (Wine Agreement). As part of the negotiation the Australian Government is running a public objections process on wine geographical indications (GIs) proposed by the EU.

The Federal Labor Government has been forced to admit it won’t reach its target of 24/7 Registered Nurses in all Aged Care homes, which is an acknowledgement for battling smaller regional aged care facilities. Earlier this week, Minister for Aged Care Anika Wells, revealed to media not every facility would be fully staffed by July 1, following months of pressure and advocacy from the Coalition on behalf of smaller aged care facilities.