International

Regional Development Minister Don Punch has welcomed the first inbound Chinese wine trade mission to Western Australia since the lifting of wine tariffs earlier this year, with delegates set to tour the Great Southern and Margaret River wine regions this week ... WA will host 11 premium wine buyers from 10 Chinese companies from 29 September to 6 October 2024, with a focus on premium wines, and specific interest in wines of WA provenance.

Bernie McLoughlan, formerly of Wooroonook, has recently returned from representing Australia in the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. The brother of Wooroonook farmers Jeff and Leo McLoughlan, Bernie won a silver medal in the 6000m Cross Country team event with two other Australian runners in the M70-74 Age Group.

It’s an unusual story—one we hardly get to hear or read about in Naracoorte. It’s a story of our small community and our people coming together to help raise funds to alleviate the sufferings of women and children in a community and country not part of Australia—Mengaumenau, PNG. Imagine finding yourself in a place where there is no one at all to help you deliver your baby.

The second leg of my Nuffield Scholarship Global Focus Program took us to Ontario, Canada. The Greater Toronto Area, with a population of approximately 6.4 million, is experiencing rapid population and economic growth.

Singapore horticultural show garden, Gardens by the Bay’s first Australian-themed floral display Carnival of Flowers, inspired by Toowoomba’s ongoing event, opened this week with a mini “floral float” parade. The iconic Singapore attraction, which was recently named Number 8 in the world by Tripadvisor, showcases plants from all over the world in thematic floral displays.

A delegation of Australian agricultural representatives was in New Delhi last week fostering deeper ties with local food processors and promoting complementary links at a showcase of India’s food processing sector. World Food India (WFI) promotes India’s booming food processing and manufacturing industries, which Australia is well placed to support with the supply of high-quality inputs.

Urbanisation has a negative impact on the Ukrainian family and the renewal of the population of Ukraine. In the conditions of catastrophic population decline, Ukraine needs to renew the ancient family values ​​laid down by rural residents hundreds of years ago.

Only weeks after bringing home the bronze medal from the Paris Olympics Matthew Denny has excelled at the Diamond League held in Brussels at the weekend. With an opening round throw of 69.96m Matthew took out the discus final for the second straight year and broke the 40 year old meet record.

East Greenmount equestrian instructor Linda Shore, alongside her student Nicola Saunders from Toowoomba, have just returned from spending a week training and competing in Working Equitation in Canada at the 2024 Cross Nations Cup ... Working Equitation is currently one of the fastest growing new equestrian disciplines in Australia with one of the largest clubs in Queensland based in Toowoomba.

Today, we are pleased to announce negotiations on the Australia-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement have concluded. The UAE is an important partner, and Australia's largest trade and investment partner in the Middle East with two-way trade worth $9.9 billion in 2023.

Despite a good start, Australian table grape exports have declined for the 2024 season, off the back of lower demand from China, which has been consistently decreasing its imports, according to new industry research. In its just-released Table Grape Update 2024, agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank said Australian exports of table grapes were down 19 per cent for the 2024 season.

Joanna Tucker. "Our primary mission was to utilise our skills and existing expertise to provide assistance to US teams who have been battling these fire complexes since July. Our secondary mission was to provide learning opportunities, and to understand how (the US experience) may improve our existing capabilities and strategies when managing fires in SA": Kadina CFS volunteer Justin Baxter.

The live export of dairy heifers – particularly to China – has been a lucrative market for Australian dairy farmers in recent years, offering significant trade opportunities and attractive prices for dairy cattle. But with Chinese demand for dairy heifers waning … and trade risks around Australia’s live export policy, the future prospects for the sector are far less certain, according to a new industry report by Rabobank.

The aim of any rugby player is to be selected for the Wallabies and for 26 years old Hamish Stewart that dream became reality when he ran onto the field and lined up against the Pumas in Argentina on August 31st. Your first game representing your country is naturally a proud moment but made even more special for Hamish, as the Wallabies snatched a last minute win over the Pumas.

It’s not every day you see a giant ping pong bat travelling along Great River Road but that was what many motorists saw last weekend as it made its way to Corryong. Locals won’t miss the new sight when they go past the Corryong Baptist Church - the world’s largest ping pong bat in the front yard - signifying the venue for the upcoming Ping Pong-a-Thon.

When Alexa Leary, who grew up in Yamba, was fighting for life in intensive care after an extremely serious 2021 cycling crash that almost claimed her life, her parents engaged a fortune teller who predicted she would survive and compete at the Paralympics. But the fortune teller didn't predict Alexa would become the golden girl of the 2024 Paris Paralympics by breaking the world record and taking home two gold medals...

Rural Bank’s Australian Agricultural Exports Report 2023/24 has found that the value of Australian agricultural exports fell by -8.5 per cent to $72.4 billion or $6.7 billion lower than the record high achieved in 2022/23. States with large cropping industries saw the most significant declines, with Western Australia, New South Wales and South Australia most impacted by the dip in this sector.

Joanna Tucker. After years of hard work, the Moonta Mines Cornish mining sites have been added to Australia’s UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, along with mine sites at Burra. This listing was announced on September 6 and is a significant step towards achieving World Heritage protection for the two historic areas.

Michelle Daw. The Ardrossan community is taking health care into its own hands by helping secure more services after the local private hospital closed earlier this year. A new International Medical Graduate, Dr Sajini Abeysekera, has arrived from Sri Lanka with the support of the Ardrossan Community Op Shop and started taking patients at Medical HQ Ardrossan...

The “People’s Cup” arrived in Wycheproof on Friday morning in a High Rail V-Line vehicle on the infamous railway tracks that bisect the main street, and it spent the day touring around town with VRC officials and local racing legends. Wycheproof was the 25th stop, of the 39 destinations across six countries that have hosted the prestigious tour in 2024, showcasing the global appeal of the Lexus Melbourne Cup.

Joanna Tucker. Maitland 16-year-old equestrian Kate Mahar represented Australia on the world stage last month. She placed 12th from a field of 16 at the 2024 Youth World Reining Cup in Avare, Brazil ... Ms Mahar was Australia’s only representative, and said her favourite moments were making connections with other young riders in the competition lead-in.

Even the best in the business can have a slip of the tongue… proving legends aren’t immune to pronouncing a town’s tricky name. The locals were left amused, but not offended, when Gai Waterhouse presented a brief video to promote the next stop on the Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour.