Interview

Optus has improved their coverage and increased network capacity in Brooms Head in Northern New South Wales, by switching on a new tower in the region to help residents, businesses, and tourists stay connected and give them a choice of network provider ... ARR.News asked a few further questions of Optus about the Brooms Head tower.

Australian Rural & Regional News finds out first hand from Sarah Watson what it was like to compete at international level in the triathlon championships in Hamburg and learns how she made it to this standard, and with a smile too.

Holly Throsby was a musician, singer, songwriter way before she was an author. She’d released five solo albums, toured extensively and been nominated for several ARIA awards before she shifted from writing song lyrics to writing story sentences ... Australian Rural and Regional News contributor, Serena Kirby spoke to Holly recently about her latest novel, Clarke, the writing process and asked about advice for would-be novelists.

“When our children come to us, and we’re available, we are there, and we’re listening, and it could just be just 30 seconds, it could be something very important they want to tell us, then stop and listen, send that message that we are available.” These thoughts come to a town that spends a great deal of time talking about a cohort of children, different ones from year to year but always around 50 to 120 of them, out in the streets at night, breaking into homes and businesses, trashing, stealing cars, torching some.

Barry Robinson. Maldon Inc members openly share their thoughts and experiences. #2 of a series: Barb and Graeme Ford, Maldon Newsagency ... they’ve seen lots of businesses come and go, and so we thought it would be good to hear any tips, traps, and tricks to running a successful business in Maldon.

Renee Pettitt-Schipp is the author of the award winning collection of poetry The Sky Runs Right Through Us and her latest offering, The Archipelago Of Us, is her first work of prose ... Renee recently chatted with Australian Rural and Regional News contributor Serena Kirby about her early interest in writing, her love of poetry and what she has in the pipeline as future works.

Ukraine could become the first country in the world where the evolution of agriculture will be replaced by devolution. The war makes farms and large agricultural holdings inefficient. These enterprises use large capital, hired labor, complex machinery, large plots of land and work for export. But war cannot destroy the private farms of the rural people.

Wiradjuri man Buddy Oldman is about to be immortalised in the history books. Under the guidance of the Guinness World Records, the World Champion Masters Boxer is proud to confirm that he will be punching a boxing bag for 72 hours to set a new world record to raise awareness for mental health ... Buddy answers a few questions from ARR.News.

The Voice will respect the tradition prohibiting people speaking for other people’s country, according to Thomas Mayo, one of the leading figures in the Yes campaign for the referendum this year. He and fellow campaigner Kerry O’Brien, a former prominent ABC journalist, appeared on the weekend in two well attended sessions at the NT Writers Festival in Alice Springs where they launched their Voice to Parliament Handbook ... Mr Mayo spoke with Alice Springs News editor, Erwin Chlanda.

Everybody loves a bit of romance and Australian author Karly Lane has made a living out of writing about it. With nearly 30 books to her name (and several more in the pipeline) Karly has become one of Australia’s best selling authors of rural and women’s fiction ... Serena Kirby recently caught up with Karly  to chat about her journey to becoming an author and why she chose romance as her genre of choice. 

The independent, global Gender Representation in the Meat Industry 2023 report draws on international data from more than 50 major meat organisations ... Australia's OBE Organic - whose MD Dalene Wray is herself a notable woman in the meat business - featured as a case study in the report ... ARR.News asked some questions about women in the meat business of Dalene and Laura Ryan, Founder and Global Chair of Meat Business Women.

Singapore-based Nutrition Technologies has launched their new bioactive organic fertiliser, Diptia™, specifically designed and formulated to combat fungal plant diseases, and protect soil from infection. Diptia™ is a patent pending Nutrition Technologies product derived from Black Soldier Fly frass ... ARR.News asked Rezuwan Zakaria, Nutrition Technologies R&D Manager, some further questions about the product, Diptia™ and the company itself.

Dr Shaun Kanowski has announced his intention to retire at the end of the School Term. We put some questions to him ... "Since arriving in Allora, I have noticed significant changes in the last 22 years ... Something that has never changed in my time at Allora, is the strong sense of community that is instantly apparent when you come to the best little town on the downs."

In Ukraine, participants in the flower business are three times heroes. In 2014, the war with Russia began. Then, in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic began. And in 2022, Russia invaded the territory of Ukraine. Over eight years, the business industry has experienced a catastrophic recession three times. Even so, the flower business continues to thrive. The love of Ukrainians for flowers is stronger than any problem.

The stronger our Maldon businesses - the stronger our Maldon community - the stronger our Maldon. “Warral Maldon is a fifth-generation honey business based in Maldon that produces and packs honey to a world-class standard. So, how’s business? 

"I remember getting my first teaching position in the outback and just wanting to connect and learn from others as much as I could about what I was heading into ... We want teacher success because teacher success equals student success": Hakea Hustler. ARR.News found out more from Hakea and fellow remote teachers Carl Merrison and Lynette Gordon.

Fleur McDonald is one of Australia's leading rural fiction writers and with 22 novels already to her name, and publishing two books a year, she’s certainly a highly prolific author ... Fleur recently took time out from her busy day to talk to Australian Rural and Regional News contributor, Serena Kirby, about what she writes, about plots and characters, and where she finds her inspiration.

In Ukraine, the largest horticultural centre has been destroyed ... In the vicinity of Bakhmut, a fifth of the specialised gardens for growing new trees and flowers in Ukraine was concentrated ... only one person, Danilenko Andrey Yuryevich, the owner of the "Artemsad" company, could find in himself the strength to answer questions about what happened.

National Rural Health Alliance Chief Executive Susi Tegen said mental health in women is 'an enormous issue in rural and remote Australia' and called for action to improve rural healthcare accessibility. Ms Tegan was a guest on the first episode of Brainstorm, the new mental health podcast hosted by Guy Rowlison and produced by Plus Communications.

The annual Sustainable Seafood Awards held by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council in partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council were held ... at Melbourne Zoo, showcasing the Aussie heroes of responsible seafood farming and sustainable fishing practices in Australia ... The winners were a fantastic mix of organisations and individuals who have made significant contributions to responsible aquaculture, from retailers to producers and even an inspiring young person in the industry.

Nicola Harvey is an experienced media executive, producer and writer working across digital, audio, print and live events. She’s also the author of 'Farm: the making of a climate activist' ... Speaking from her farm in New Zealand, Nicola talked to Australian Rural and Regional News contributor Serena Kirby about the writing process and the incredible amount of work that went into writing her book. She also offered some wise words to other first-time authors.

Australia Rural & Regional News asks some questions about AWC's koala conservation projects and koala monitoring, and land and fire management of Andrew Howe, Australian Wildlife Conservancy Senior Field Ecologist and Peter Stanton, Australian Wildlife Conservancy Senior Ecologist.