International

Trevor Shiell ... The community approached the [Fijian] government and got a negative response because the government had no money. Dreketi was a subsistence area of the country, so they decided to build a junior secondary school themselves ... Within a year they had a junior secondary school for 320 kids. No help from government, thank you, and they took pride and ownership of it.

The National Farmers’ Federation has congratulated Trade Minister Don Farrell for turning down an EU trade offer that would have disadvantaged Aussie farmers.  Speaking following the briefing of industry representatives in Osaka, NFF President David Jochinke said the Minister had made the right call for Australia.  

If you’re interested in Celtic music, here’s an event not to be missed: the Celtic Piping Club is hosting an event at the Ray Bradfield Room in Castlemaine on Saturday 4 November, starting at 8pm.   Internationally acclaimed duo Colm Broderick on uilleannn pipes and Francis Cunningham on concertina will be performing.  

The population of planet Earth is increasing. But the area of the planet is not growing. Sooner or later, this will make famine a mortal threat to the population of many countries. Scientific and technological progress will not save everyone. After all, increasing the efficiency of agricultural labour can solve the problem only when the area of agricultural land is sufficient for this. Therefore, food wars will become part of the future of humanity. The first such war is already underway. This is the war in Ukraine!

A rotten free trade deal with Europe would be a cheap photo opportunity that sells out farmers and rural communities, a peak body warns. Murray River farmer and NSW Farmers Board member Chris Stillard said there were grave concerns the Albanese Government would ignore the agriculture sector and sign up to a bad trade deal with Europe...

Publicly owned energy company Stanwell Corporation has signed a 15-year, 380-Megawatt Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with ACCIONA Energía to purchase 100 per cent of the output from its planned Aldoga Solar Farm, 20 km north-west of Gladstone ... Stanwell plans to supply output from the Aldoga Solar Farm PPA to the proposed Central Queensland Hydrogen (CQ-H2) Project ... ARR.News has asked some questions of the companies.

In the fifth year of the Waveski Australian Open being held at Yamba the standard of surfing reached new heights in 2023, with several divisions coming down to the last wave of the final before the champion could be crowned ... “Rees Duncan, multiple world champion was a standout in the Open division...": Organiser and competitor, Dave Andrews.

After extreme market volatility and record-high prices in recent years, global fertiliser prices are expected to settle in 2024, despite uncertainty posed by the Israel-Hamas conflict as it currently stands, Rabobank says in a new report. In its just-released Semi Annual Fertiliser Outlook, titled What is next?, the agribusiness banking specialist says while the Israel-Hamas conflict creates some uncertainty in the outlook for fertiliser markets, the current impact for the food and agri sectors is manageable.

The Australian Lot Feeders’ Association is urging the Australian Government to stay firm on securing a substantial increase in market access for beef via the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement (A-EU FTA) negotiations ... “We need the Australian Government to correct the imbalance of our meat trade with Europe and secure comparable FTA outcomes achieved by our competitors”: ALFA President, Barb Madden.

Blink and you’d miss it- the Varroa mite’s minute presence is all but invisible to the naked eye. Yet the tiny mite is the greatest known threat to Australia’s honey bee and pollination industry. For nearly a year and a half the industry has been battling the tiny parasite, cumulating in the largest biosecurity outbreak in the country’s history and initiating a Federal $132 million varroa response plan.

Farmers are urging the Australian Government not to sign an impending trade deal with the European Union unless major improvements are put on the table for Aussie farmers. Preliminary negotiations are underway in Brussels this week ahead of a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Trade Ministers’ meeting in Osaka next week. NFF President Fiona Simson said farmers were fearful of being sold out at the 11th hour.

Ahead of what may be a final push for the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement (A-EU FTA) negotiations, the Australian red meat industry is adamant that the Australian Government maintains its stated objective of securing significant increases in market access for red meat. Industry representatives will travel to Osaka next week to coincide with Trade Minister Farrell meeting with his EU counterpart, and encourage the Minister to continue the mission of ‘levelling the playing field’ for Australian beef and sheepmeat access to the EU.

It’s the Byron Bay Film Festival, so there's always going to be  surf  films ... Topping the bill is Emmy-winning filmmaker Paul Taublieb’s documentary Ground Swell: The Other Side of Fear, which poses the question: what prompts big wave surfers to travel the globe to find absurdly colossal waves to throw themselves into, tackling natural forces in a contest that any rational human would see as insane?

The Australian Hide Skin and Leather Exporters Association (AHSLEA) along with 27 other international leather industry organisations, is calling on the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) to recognise the positive impact of natural materials such as leather on people, lives, and livelihoods and as a means of directly mitigating climate impact ... AHSLEA Executive Officer Dennis King said over the last four decades Australian leather processors have implemented a range of exciting sustainable initiatives to reduce leather’s carbon footprint including adopting cleaner tanning technologies and practices.

Delegates from the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission have taken part in a field trip hosted by Forestry Corporation looking at sustainable, multi-use forest management in the Watagan Mountains of the Central Coast. The commission is represented by international delegates, who report to the United Nations on forestry matters in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mandurah, Western Australia’s largest regional city, has been named a finalist in the 9th annual international City Nation Place Awards alongside Fiji, Cape Town, Iceland, London, Switzerland, and others. The only Australian city named in the category for Best Communication Strategy – Tourism, Mandurah is one of eleven finalists in recognition for its outstanding 'BIG reasons to visit Mandurah this summer' campaign in 2022/23.

South Australia’s lucrative renewable hydrogen and defence industries will be championed across Europe, following the appointment of a new trade and investment manager in Germany ... Having a presence in Frankfurt – Germany’s financial hub – will help South Australia establish stronger ties across continental Europe and take advantage of changing trade and investment opportunities when the Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement is finalised.

From the origins of BeeHero to success stories and future innovations, in this interview with Scott Duxbury from YF.TV, BeeHero's COO and co-founder Itai Kanot will shed light on the transformative impact of their solutions. Don't miss out on this fascinating conversation that explores the intersection of technology and sustainable agriculture.

Cambooya teen Jordon Fenton-Anderson has had an amazing season in Futsal and Soccer as a goalkeeper. Jordon has just competed at the National Schools Futsal Championships, where she was honoured to Captain the South West 15s to runners-up for the second year in a row. Due to her standout performance at the championships she has just been named on the Australian 16s Futsal team.

With the global insect market expected to be worth more than US$6.8 billion by 2032, AgriFutures Australia has released a new five-year plan to accelerate the growth of the emerging Australian industry.

Yamba chef Marley Van Den Boom has brought invaluable food knowledge and skills back to his hometown after completing a three-month internship at the restaurant that has been named the world’s best multiple times, Japan’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Noma. The 22-year-old told the CV Independent he started working in a Yamba café aged 14 as a dish washer while in high school...