Business

Watch the latest series of videos developed by NT Farmers Association to secure a domestic harvest workforce.

The international coalition of farm organisations, Cairns Group Farm Leaders, has highlighted the need for urgent agricultural trade reform to meet global challenges of food security, climate change and hunger ahead of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference and a Cairns Group WTO meeting.

On the night of Thursday June 2, Quilpie Shire lit the way for Outback Queensland by staging special Platinum Jubilee celebrations for HRH Queen Elizabeth II at the spectacular Baldy Top lookout. The red earth of the renowned tourist destination turned purple as special purple coloured lights and fireworks were lit, along with several huge bonfires.   More than 250 locals and tourists alike gathered to pay respect to the Queen for her Jubilee.

Porcupine Village has received a $1.7 million investment through the Regional Tourism Investment Fund to assist with restoration works and new accommodation, creating more than 100 jobs and attracting more visitors to the region ... The restoration, which will include the school, blacksmith and lolly shop, will provide a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the village as it was generations ago and learn about how gold shaped Maldon and Victoria’s heritage.

Valentina Tansley. Things in Maldon are looking dark, with the town getting set to host Goldfields Gothic in just over a month’s time. The Goldfields Gothic Festival of Dark Ideas is a new event being staged for the first time this year in an attempt to reinvigorate Maldon after the devastating impact of COVID on the region ... With the festival exploring gruesome tales and mysterious stories, it made sense to use the term gothic in the title, but it seems this has people a little confused.

Indonesia has 280 million people of which 38 million are farmers. Between them have 16 million cattle and 9 million pigs spread across 6000 inhabited islands, extending 5,500km East to West and 1,800km North to South. As the borders open and the world starts travelling again, we can look forward to the return of the 50 flights a week between Bali and Perth.   Each of these flights will carry the risk of the transmission of Lumpy Skin and Foot and Mouth Disease into Australia.

Serena Kirby. Fitness and wellbeing coach, Louise O’Neill, has been named as the WA winner of the 2022 AgriFutures rural women’s award ... Her new business model involves one-on-one coaching and live online group fitness workouts conducted with clients via zoom and telephone.

Reclaim the Void: weaving country whole is a collaboration between Vivienne Robertson and the Leonora-based Ngalia Heritage Research Council (Aboriginal Corporation) ... Vivienne ... asked: "What is your deepest pain?" One of the Aunties replied: ”Those gaping mining holes left all over our country”.

What do you look for in a tourist attraction? An exciting new project is in the planning phase that will tell a story of a community, showcase our history and add the local region to the insanely popular silo art trail. Plans are afoot to turn the Barham water tower into a 20m high billboard that will attract tourists for an overnight stop to experience everything our towns have to offer.

Rex has confirmed the withdrawal of services from five regional centres: Bathurst; Grafton; Lismore; Kangaroo Island, Ballina ... "Qantas’ well-publicised predatory actions on Rex’s regional routes have meant that Rex no longer has the ability to cross subsidise these marginal routes. It is unfortunate that these regional communities are the collateral damage of Qantas’ bullying and heartless behaviour. This behaviour is all the more unconscionable after receiving over $2 billion in Federal bailouts over the past 2 years” : Rex’s Deputy Chairman, the Hon John Sharp AM.

There is good news for lovers of Mexican food. Taco Love Bros restaurant has moved from Lismore to Casino. Chef Dylan Morris and partner Sappho Rose had already planned the move well before the floods hit in late February ... Six new shops have come to Casino including Lismore Watchmakers ...

Emma Pritchard. Timber producers throughout Northern NSW have been given a massive boost after the State Government announced a $10 million subsidy to assist local mills impacted by recent bushfires, destructive floods and relentless rain to source supplies from outside the region ... With J Notaras and Sons Sawmill presently operating at 60-70 percent below normal production, Ms Layton said the announcement will enable the local business to source timber supplies from further afield, and most importantly, allow the sawmill to remain operational.

Australia is laying the groundwork for a third consecutive bumper harvest, with this year’s total planted crop area forecast to reach a record 23.83 million hectares, Rabobank says in its just-released 2022/23 Winter Crop Outlook ... Locally, the bank says, “hopes are on” another large winter crop to allow Australian farmers to secure good margins in the face of high costs for inputs including fertiliser, fuel, freight and agrochemicals.

Cook Shire Council has refused to be intimidated by lawyers for the Irwin family and Australia Zoo, voting unanimously to keep the track known as Bertiehaugh Road open. The track, accessed via Stones Crossing, north of Weipa, has been a hot issue in the Cape for more than a decade.

A slow tourist season should spring to life in the coming weeks as travellers embark on their trip of a lifetime to Cape York... “The tourist park is running as per usual and we’ve got live entertainment every night” : Ken Godfrey, Bramwell Station ... Cape York Mountain Bike Adventures has become popular ... ride all the way to the Tip via the Old Telegraph Track.

The property known as Kurrumbede  was originally part of the Burburgate run, a vast pastoral holding in the 1800s. In 1905, this estate was subdivided into 58 blocks and sold at auction. Two of these blocks were purchased by prominent doctor and politician, Sir Charles Mackellar, Dorothea’s father, who completed building the homestead on the eastern side of the Namoi River in 1908.

Australia’s iconic Greater Bilby is bouncing and digging around Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary near Alice Springs thanks to a national collaboration with Taronga Conservation Society Australia which has seen an important reintroduction of the species to a 9,450-hectare feral predator free area at the sanctuary. Thirty-two founders (18 males and 14 females) were specially selected from Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

Australians have changed the Government. Anthony Albanese is our 31st Prime Minister. The policy mandate is clear. More will be done on climate, anti corruption and cost of living. So, what does that mean for rural transport?

Ongoing inflationary pressures, a weaker global economic outlook and the prospect of a wet winter across many production regions of Australia is causing volatility for the agriculture sector... NAB Senior Agribusiness Economist, Phin Ziebell, said Australian agriculture was facing a number of opportunities and risks as a result of current global conditions.

There was a treat for food lovers last Friday night with Nyinkka Nyunyu holding a Dinner Under the Stars for around 40 people ... so much interest that a second sitting on Saturday night was added ... Diners on both nights were also able to participate in an Aboriginal art auction and a short film.