Business

The 2026 Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour is back with one of its most exciting journeys yet, with 37 destinations across Australia and the world revealed today at an official launch event at Flemington Racecourse.

Danielle Nicolson, Amy Reed and Tim Burke. Despite some 'less than ideal' weather conditions, the 2026 Lord Howe Island Dark Sky Festival proved once again that a little cloud cover is no match for great company, fun events and a shared passion for the wonders of the night.

Michelle Wood. The Mining and Rehabilitation Demonstration Pit is designed to test GCM’s approach to mining and measure impacts across a number of key areas including how land can be rehabilitated. It enables evidence to be gathered in-situ and to gather data that informs better design for the broader project.

The world’s only listed purely almond company - Select Harvests has released Half Year results announcing close to a record almond crop and increased underlying NPAT of 32.9 per cent.

The test pit at the Fingerboards project site is now underway. Many in the community feel that it will not test very much at all.

One of the more interesting developments in modern journalism is that reporters increasingly seem to know the answer before they begin asking the questions ... The problem with Ros Thomas's recent Weekend Australian feature on paraquat and Parkinson's disease is that by the time you reach the end, you are left with the feeling that the destination was already known before the journey began.

Agri-fintech company DAS (Digital Agriculture Services) has developed a Rural Sales Dashboard, an interactive tool for interrogating the data behind rural property sales across Australia's mainland states and the NT. DAS has now released its first quarterly report using findings from the dashboard. "Australian farmland remains one of the country's most important asset classes, but we're seeing greater variation in performance between regions": Sarah Gormon, DAS cofounder.

Today, the Albanese Government announced it has secured the first vessel in its Maritime Strategic Fleet, the ANL Kokoda. The ANL Kokoda, a large cargo ship, will be the first to participate in the Strategic Fleet Pilot Program.

Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny has recently approved a further $2.4 billion in projects through the Development Facilitation Program (DFP).

Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster has taken Energy Minister Chris Bowen to task for his spin on Mallee battery rollout numbers, as the cost of the Government’s home battery scheme blows out. “I had to call out the Minister’s nonsense claiming Mallee has a home battery rollout ‘6 times Melbourne’ – which is very sneaky semantics...

The Minns Labor Government has delivered on its election commitment to employ an extra 1000 apprentices and trainees across the public sector, helping tackle skills shortages across essential services and create paid career pathways across NSW.

The Nationals will fight to stop the Victoria to NSW Interconnector West (VNI West) by scrapping Labor's net zero agenda, which has driven the reckless renewables rollout across regional Australia. Speaking after a Farmers' Forum in St Arnaud last week, Leader of The Nationals Matt Canavan said farmers and the local community had made clear the disastrous impact Labor's net zero agenda was having on regional Victoria.

Sean Cunningham. A push to breathe new life into the town's vacant main street shops was presented to Narrandera Shire Council, with a proposal to form a joint committee between the council and the Chamber of Commerce. Councillor Bob Manning submitted the Notice of Motion to last week's meeting...

Plus road train owner operator Zac Anthony gives a real on the road update on diesel prices, plus your weekly farming weather and all of your rural news with Fiona L Fox from Australian Rural and Regional News.

Hamish McIntyre. The National Farmers’ Federation is disappointed the Federal Government has introduced its tax reform legislation without explicitly committing to review the outdated small business Capital Gains Tax (CGT) concession thresholds. In introducing the legislation, the Government signalled that this is the first tranche of legislation, with more consultation to come on small business and further legislation required for implementation.

This June, beloved “edu-tainers” Pevan & Sarah will make their highly anticipated debut on ABC, taking their proven learning model from classrooms into loungerooms across the country. And in anticipation of the debut, they are taking to the stage around Australia on a national tour.

The Albanese Government has given environmental approval to another renewable energy project in Queensland, boosting the state’s energy security. Finalised in just 19 days, Blackbutt’s Tumuruu solar farm and battery energy storage system (BESS) has also been approved by the South Burnett Regional Council.

The Crisafulli Government is delivering $300,000 to support two local agronomy projects, helping shore up the future of agriculture in Far North Queensland after the local collapse of sugar cane when the Mossman Mill closed in 2024.   

The creativity of local and regional artists will once again be celebrated as the 2026 Cuttlefest Art Prize Exhibition opens at the Middleback Arts Centre on Tuesday, 2 June at 6pm, featuring the exhibition launch, awards presentation and panel session.

Christine Webster. The recommissioning of the PS Canally will be celebrated with the return of the Morgan Living River Festival, on Saturday and Sunday, at the town's riverfront reserve. A team of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers spent 16 years restoring the 119-year-old paddle steamer.

The Albanese Labor Government continues to secure essential fuel and fertiliser to keep Australian agriculture moving, with around 80,250 tonnes of additional urea now locked in through the Government’s $7.5 billion Fuel and Fertiliser Security Facility. Through Export Finance Australia, the Government has partnered with Incitec Pivot to support the purchase of two shipments of urea from Indonesia.