Business

Any momentum Weipa had last year to normalise the community appears to have evaporated as new Rio Tinto GM Michelle Elvy dismissed the matter last week. Speaking at Rio Tinto Weipa’s first community forum of 2021, Ms Elvy deflected the only question regarding normalisation.

Our Awards system allows anyone to nominate a person for an Award. During the past couple of years, there will have been many people who are worthy of nomination. For example, health workers, firefighters, state emergency members, all of whom have been stretched to the limit ... I am worried about one feature of the Australian Awards system and it is that the higher Awards – AC, AO and AM - are sometimes given to senior business leaders for running companies for which they are well paid ...

For 150 years, European settlers have enjoyed the regenerative resource that is our redgum forests. Now, the industry faces closure at the hands of the Victorian Labor Government. The Andrew’s government plan was first mooted in 2019 and now, with COVID-19 easing, bureaucratic boots are on the ground to ensure Labor achieve their objective. If successful, all Victorian native forestry harvesting and logging will cease by 2030. Other key milestones include the end of current forest contracts in 2024, followed by a re-tendering process.

Regional housing markets, which increased in value more than capital cities during 2020, will have different recovery needs in the wake of the pandemic, according to research by AHURI (Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute). The report, Pathways to regional housing recovery from COVID-19, conducted by researchers from the University of Tasmania, examines the consequences of COVID-19 for households in regional Australia.

Narrandera may be a future home to a critically important research centre for one of the nation’s most iconic species, the koala. A notice of motion was submitted by deputy mayor David Fahey to Narrandera Shire Council to lobby Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke, Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley and the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service to establish a Koala Research Centre in Narrandera. Cr Fahey said the centre would research and protect the koala population in the Shire, create a tourism opportunity and employment for the town, and protect the disease-free status of the local koala population.

Sheep Producers Australia and WoolProducers Australia have today released the world first Australian Sheep Sustainability Framework (SSF). The SSF was initiated by Australia’s sheep industry leaders to demonstrate our sustainable practices, identify areas for improvement, and better communicate with customers and consumers. The framework lists 21 priorities across the four themes - Caring for our Sheep; Enhancing the Environment and Climate; Looking after our People, our Customers and the Community and Ensuring a Financially Resilient Industry.

Geoff Helisma. Clarence Valley Council [CVC] has restated its opposition to any diversion of the Clarence River or mining within its catchment. The council’s general manager, Ashley Lindsay, concludes in CVC’s submission to the draft North Coast Regional Water Strategy: “Council reiterates its position that any proposal to divert the Clarence cannot be justified from an economic, environmental or social perspective.”

Geoff Helisma. The latest data from Liquor & Gaming NSW has revealed that Clarence Valley local government area residents lost $20,727,573 to poker machines in the last six months of 2020 ... There were 691 poker machines distributed across the Clarence Valley Local Government Area (LGA); 214 of which were in 22 hotels and 477 of which were in 12 clubs. There has been a reduction in the number of machines since the Liquor & Gaming NSW started publishing the statistics from December 2016 ...

Despite the global economic shocks like those produced by the COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural sectors and economies overall are better off when exposed to international trade, the latest ABARES research paper shows. The research report, Understanding effects of supply disruptions on globally and locally focused economies, examines the effects of exposure to the global market on supply chains, and the risks and shocks of this exposure.

Innovative Australian food and agri startups have the opportunity to showcase their businesses on the world stage by applying for a spot on this year’s international FoodBytes! Pitch program. FoodBytes! is global agribusiness bank Rabobank’s food and agriculture innovation platform – designed to drive collaboration between startups, corporate leaders, investors and farmers as part of a major international program to help address food system challenges.

The digital potential of regional economies, communities and industry will be the key focus of a trailblazing festival being held in Greater Hamilton. Tickets are now on sale for next month’s Digital Innovation and Smart Agriculture (DISA) 2021 Festival, with participants encouraged to take advantage of the earlybird 10% discount which ends May 11.

The Shire of Toodyay is one of the two WA towns to have achieved ‘wildflower-friendly’ status as a result of the 2020-21 Wildflower Friendliness Award Scheme. The scheme encourages local governments to protect WA’s valuable wildflowers and native vegetation along roads and in nature reserves for visitors and locals to enjoy. WA has one of the largest display of wildflowers with more than 12,000 species – which is a unique selling point for the State.

Jai-Mec Rural Contracting has joined forces with Remondis to create new company Red Earth Industrial Services ... Sandra Kirk, who runs Jai-Mec with husband Jai Christie, said Indigenous employment was one of the priorities under the Red Earth Industrial Services structure. The longer-term goal is that Red Earth Industrial Services will flourish into a diversified industrial business, offering a variety of additional services which may include sand blasting, painting and electrical work.

Weipa Town Authority chairman Michael Rowland says officials must move quickly to bring the 20 men stranded on a cargo vessel to Weipa and take care of them here. Another crew member left the ship last week, taking the number to 20 on board, from 22 originally. Movers 3 has been anchored off the Port of Weipa for seven weeks and needs major repairs for it to be seaworthy. Mr Rowland said it was now a humanitarian issue and urged the relevant authorities to intervene.

Many wine enthusiasts have dreamed of producing their own wine. They dream of walking among the vines, of family weekends at the vineyard, of the pride of serving one’s own label wine to friends, of winning show medals and accolades from the press. Tell them they’re dreaming.

Bad decisions are made when people are in a panic and a lot of bad decisions have been made since the advent of Covid-19. Indeed, the responses to Covid-19 seem to have been driven by a desire to 'look tough and organised', as exemplified by the myriad of often 'extreme' lockdowns and the closure of our international borders. Generally unknown-about public health regulations lurking in obscure Acts of the Parliaments around Australia have armed politicians and health bureaucrats with previously unheard of amounts of power over our daily lives.

Rockhampton Airport has today welcomed one of Alliance Airlines new commercial aircraft with a special water cannon salute to mark its arrival. The Embraer E190 is one of 30 newly acquired aircraft Alliance is adding to its regional fleet with an exciting proposal on the cards to build a hangar and maintenance facility at Rockhampton Airport to help service the airlines entire fleet of over 70 aircraft.

Steve Dobbyns. The native forests of the north coast of NSW are not just the backdrop for an idyllic seaside lifestyle for its 1.7 million residents, they also sustain a hardwood timber industry that has been in existence for more than 150 years ... The 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires have emerged as a tipping point for the hardwood timber industry on the NSW north coast.

Can you quantify the impact music has had on your life? Don Hearn from Caldwell near Barham believes music is intrinsic to our DNA and is enjoyed in every culture, and in every country around the world and he is looking to share the unity that music brings to us all ... Noteworthy’s aim is to repurpose pre-loved guitars or the like and provide them to people around the globe.

Norco Primex director Bruce Wright is ready for the event to roll next month. With all necessary covid measures in place, he is confident this will be the best Primex yet ... Norco Primex calls itself “Australia’s sustainable farm and primary industries exhibition” and says it offers a complete paddock to plate experience where farmers & foodies meet.

Every Friday afternoon stalls selling honey, fruit, vegetables and cinnamon doughnuts are set up close to the beach in the surf club car park. This is Evans Head and the market here is like no other.