Infrastructure

SunCable has achieved another major regulatory milestone, receiving approval from the Commonwealth Government for the Australian component of its flagship project, Australia-Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) ... "SunCable will now focus its efforts on the next stage of planning to advance the project towards a Final Investment Decision targeted by 2027" ... SunCable will be investing further in communities in the Northern Territory, Singapore and Indonesia to progress the next phase.

As the industrial sprawl of green energy marches across the government-identified Renewable Energy Zones (REZ), Gannawarra Shire Councillor Garner Smith has renewed his call for negotiating lasting benefits from the VNI West project and renewable developments for Gannawarra residents. “Personally, I do not see an overall long-term benefit for communities like Gannawarra, out of either the VNI West power line or the renewable projects. Little to no long-term employment, unattractive infrastructure on a scale that the community does not comprehend and a benefits package that lacks detail and sounds more like welfare than an opportunity.

Data collated by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) has found that Australians living outside of metropolitan hubs are experiencing significant issues with their telcos. Between 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2024, the TIO received 51,854 phone and internet complaints from consumers living in regional, rural and remote Australia about faults, poor service quality, poor mobile service coverage, outages and accessibility barriers.

The Albanese Government acknowledges the decision of Telstra and Optus to delay their 3G switchover from late August to 28 October to give Australian customers and businesses more time to prepare ... The public media campaign is expected to reach more than 90 per cent of Australians and emphasise the impact on both traditional handsets and other devices that rely on the 3G network…

The emergency department at Naracoorte Hospital is being fixed to make it “fit for purpose”. Health Minister Chris Picton says the community deserves to have a hospital they are proud of and can provide a high quality of care. Mr Picton was part of a delegation from the Health Ministry that visited the hospital on August 7 to see the progress of $8million upgrade work supported by the government.

Allora organisations are happy to have the Community Hall operational again so regular events can return to normal. Mayor Melissa Hamilton, Deputy Mayor Sheryl Windle Councillor Sarah Deane and Councillor Carla Pidgeon were in Allora on Friday for the official re-opening of the Community Hall.

The Maldon Heavy Traffic Petition commenced a new leg of its journey to Parliament last week, when members of the Maldon Traffic Group (MTG) presented the document to the Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards. The petition, which requests a comprehensive State Government review into the nature and level of heavy vehicle traffic through Maldon, was prompted by concerns for pedestrian and driver safety ...

Critically ill patients are being denied a hospital bed and waiting lists for public surgery continue to rise as the Victorian government sits on its hands, according to the Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley. On Tuesday afternoon, Mr Tilley called on the Minister for Health to explain the backflip on plans to use 20 beds at Mercy Health as a safety valve to the critical shortage.

Serious concerns about the provision of health care services to meet the needs of rural and regional communities across North East Victoria have been aired at a special meeting of Indigo, Alpine and Towong Shire Councils. Mayors and councillors from the three municipalities held an historic joint meeting ... where they voted unanimously to take a united stance to advocate for better health services for the region including a single site hospital built on a greenfield site.

The Woodburn Bowling Club could be turned into a medical centre if the development application currently on public exhibition is approved ... The project has letters of support from Federal MP Kevin Hogan, State MP Richie Williamson, the Woodburn Pharmacy, Healthy North Coast and an anonymous letter in favour of Woodburn getting doctors again.

AgForce has said it is increasingly concerned that delays to urgently needed reforms to the Wind Farm Code could put agricultural landholders at potentially crippling financial risk. Queensland’s peak representative body for farmers is disappointed that despite a review of the Wind Farm Code last year, the Queensland Government has not released any reforms to the Code since.

An influx of Government and Government Agency staff visited Wilcannia on Monday 29th July to look at the old weir, proposed site for the new weir and meet with local organisations and the Shire. Included in the group was former Western Lands Commissioner and passionate Wilcannia and Darling River advocate Geoff Wise.

At a Community Meeting in Carisbrook ... the findings and recommendations of the Carisbrook Levee Independent Review were shared with residents ... The report has found that overall, there is confidence in the catchment modelling to which the Levee has been built.

It has been a very productive few months at Nhill Lutheran School. Excitingly, we have moved into our new school building and the students love their new classrooms ... The school is looking ahead to becoming part of Wimmera Lutheran College in 2025, a partnership with St Peters at Dimboola and Holy Trinity in Horsham. This partnership will strengthen the educational delivery provided to our students ...

"Today I read a report that struggling Victorian families are forking out an estimated $200 million per annum to foreign wind-turbine operators, largely collected through charges on household bills. That $200 million price tag will be even higher if Victorian and Federal Labor succeed in their scheme to turn Mallee into a spider’s web of transmission lines, wind turbines and blanket solar panels": Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster.

The Albanese Government will strengthen competitive settings through an open approach to market for the Sydney Airport Slot Manager, as part of overarching reforms to the slot system at Sydney Airport. The competitive tender to be released today (Monday 5 August) will require prospective slot managers to demonstrate how they will deliver on the Government reforms announced earlier this year, following recommendations from the Harris Review and the ACCC.

Landslips, roads, bridges and a new clubhouse have had tenders announced by Richmond Valley Council so work can begin. Most of the projects are funded under Transport for NSW’s Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, except the Tatham bridges, which are being funded through the Australian Government’s Emergency Response Fund Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program 2022-2023.

The Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Reference Committee ... called for a delay in the shutdown of Telstra and Optus’ 3G networks until more is done to work out how many devices could be impacted by the shutdown (including non-phone devices). The committee has heard from a variety of different stakeholders about the impact the shutdown will have on devices that hadn’t been considered when the decision was made, including medical devices, emergency phones in elevators, and even surveying equipment.

Lee Mead. As you probably already know, Maldon township was discovered by heritage architects during the 1960s and recognised as having a significant number of original, unique, intact gold-mining era buildings and streetscapes. And as a consequence, was declared Victoria’s First Notable Town by the National Trust.

Many residents on the south side of Maldon came home to find that their taps were not issuing water last Friday afternoon ... Troy Waterhouse, aptly named, exceptionally good-natured and covered in mud, spent at least an hour in the sludgy pit by the side of the road, scooping out water and fixing the main so that water delivery was restored to residents in reasonable time.