International

Many long-term Birchip residents would be familiar with renowned chef Stefano de Pieri. Recently, the first and second-year cookery students at Birchip P-12 School were incredibly fortunate to spend two days learning the foundations of traditional Italian cooking under his expert guidance.

NSW DPI. United Nations World Oceans Day is celebrated globally on 8 June each year to honour the ocean and how it supports us ... To celebrate, students from Lord Howe Island Central School (LHICS) took part in hands-on activities that encouraged them to get curious about the wonders of the LHIMP.

For the first time, the flagship event – CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific 2025 – is being held outside a capital city, highlighting Cairns’ growing importance as a hub for regional aviation and tourism. 

Dr Chris Parker. The recent decision by the Federal Government to accept that the United States has met our biosecurity standards has created immense anxiety within our beef industry, given our strong belief in rules-based trading and science-based protections.

The Sculpture by the Sea project, incorporating the Snowy Valleys Sculpture Trail, was the recent recipient of the prestigious Gratias Agit award in Prague. Founding CEO and artistic director, David Handley, travelled to Prague as a guest of the Czech government to receive the award on behalf of Sculpture by the Sea.

Dr Chris Parker. The threat of lumpy skin disease (LSD) to Australia’s beef cattle industry may have fallen off the front pages, but the current outbreak in Europe proves the risk of this horrid disease remains very real. It is my view that LSD is by far and away the most likely exotic disease of ruminants to enter Australia.

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said the Trump Administration’s comments, following Labor’s decision to allow US beef born and raised in Canada or Mexico to be imported into Australia, seem to have validated his concern that a deal was done before the biosecurity protocols were finalised.

Former Donald resident, Mary Raynes, was among speakers at the 2025 AEGIC Australian barley seminars in China, early this month. The daughter of Donald’s Peter and Colleen Raynes, Mary was the leader of the delegation representing the Australia barley supply chain delivering the two major seminars.

NSW Farmers have backed calls for an independent scientific panel to review federal authorities’ decision to lift biosecurity restrictions on US beef imports into Australia. NSW Farmers’ President Xavier Martin said there was no room for error when it came to biosecurity and said a review was vital to ensure confidence that US beef imports would comply with Australia’s biosecurity and food safety standards.

The Australian Lot Feeders’ Association (ALFA) acknowledges the Australian Government’s announcement to reinstate access of beef processed from the United States of America into Australia. This follows conclusion of a science-based risk assessment process undertaken by the Australian Government since 2019 to determine whether beef processed in the USA sourced from cattle from Canada or Mexico can meet Australia’s biosecurity and food safety requirements. 

Sebastian Calderon. A local country music artist will embark on a world-wide journey through the United States and Europe, after being nominated for more than 19 industry awards. Loxton's Christine Clifford has continued to showcase the Riverland's country music heritage, being named a finalist in numerous categories at three major international awards…

We're cousins Jonas and Olive, and together with Clint, our dad/uncle, we're travelling to Fiji in December with the Wanderers Australia Under 14's Hockey team. We'll be playing a series of test matches against the Fiji National Under 14 team on tour....a first for a team from Australia...

Frank Batini. In summer 2011, following a very dry winter there was limited but noticeable tree crown scorch and some deaths of jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) on sites with shallow soil. This event was repeated in summer 2024. On both of these occasions the forest growing on deeper soils was healthy. Academic and media comment immediately linked these deaths to human induced climate change ... ARR.News asked some further questions of Frank.

Apple growers from across Australia will now have access to the Chinese market after the finalisation of a new trade market access deal between the two countries. During his visit to the People’s Republic of China for the Annual Leaders’ Meeting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Li Qiang witnessed the ceremonial signing of the deal. 

Having only started competing in working equitation in 2023, Tamara Patch from East Greenmount has done remarkably well to qualify for next year's world championships in Spain. This will be the first time an Australian has competed in the sport's top competition.

The boy who left Hay all those years ago has travelled further than most people could imagine - not just geographically, but through depths of human experience that would break many people ... At 80 metres below the surface, hand-feeding apex predators with a failing heart, he's found something that eluded him for decades; peace.

Ian Wickham. An emerging mural on the side of the Hemp embassy alerted me that a new muralist has arrived in town, Marta Kimberley. I was working next door in the Embassy watching it go up – thinking this deserves a story. So I talked to her about the highs and lows of the task.

Forestry Corporation firefighters from Tumut and Deniliquin will deploy to Canada this week to reinforce local and international crews battling ongoing wildfires, where close to five million hectares have been burnt, approximately 150 wildfires remain active, and multiple communities have been evacuated.

Local stock agent Steve Gaff says the price at the Alice Springs Show cattle sale was much the same as last year or a little better. The Donald Trump tariffs "had no effect at all," probably because the Australian market is affected in a different way – 10 per cent tariffs – compared to other countries.

Lawson Grains, controlled by Canadian investment giant AIMCo and New Forests, has put up for grabs an expansive cropping aggregation in the Riverina that could fetch about $40m. The Buckingbong Aggregation takes in three separate parcels totalling 4245ha of cropping area, with more than 90 per cent of it arable.