Tiny homes make big impact in Gympie: Scanlon
Tenants have moved in to eight new tiny homes in Gympie, delivered to help ease housing pressures in the region. The factory-built homes were installed at GRAP, which was a joint project between the Queensland Government and Gympie Regional Council after floods devastated the town.
Proposed changes to Grain Harvest Code will have huge ramifications for our grain industry: Pederick, Centofanti
Shadow Minister for Emergency Services and Member for Hammond, Adrian Pederick, together with Shadow Minister for Primary Industries, Nicola Centofanti, are standing with local farmers and Grain Producers SA in opposing the proposed changes to the Grain Harvesting Code of Practice. The changes put forward by the CFS seek to reduce the Grassland Fire Danger Index (GFDI) cease harvest number to 40 at 10 metres...
Maldon Art kangaroos on the move”¦.
Felicity Howard. The reach of the Kangaroo Art Auction which closed on Monday 31 July as part of the Maldon Inc Maldon In Winter Festival, was far and wide ... The lovely June Kiff of Reservoir Melbourne was the highest bidder of ‘Goldie’ created by the Mount Alexander Girl Guides.
Citizen scientists help to unveil the secret world of Murraylands and Riverland Fungi: Landscape SA
Citizen Scientists have helped to develop better understanding of regional biodiversity by taking part in an initiative to record local fungi and lichen species. FungiQuest is a national event that encourages citizen scientists to share their fungi sightings via a smartphone app.
Production questions bushfire outcomes
HotHouse Theatre in Wodonga has debuted their most exciting touring production to-date — a scorching new play called Unprecedented — serving as an urgent alarm for the bushfire season to come.
Vic stands strong, NSW crumples under Albo water grab
The Albanese Government has officially declared war on Basin communities and Australian families who are suffering with the cost-of-living crisis. On Tuesday, the Federal Water Minister declared that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan MKII would remove the legislated protections around taxpayer funded water buybacks and the new plan extended to 2027 ... The Murray-Darling Basin Plan clearly demonstrates legislation is only abided by when it’s convenient to the political outcomes sought, and changed when it’s problematic to those ends.
Introducing the River Country Biolink
As farming communities face growing pressure to meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) demands in supply chains, a new perspective emerges. Could all the natural and man-made advantages of our productive inland river delta attract not just income, but a large premium in the emerging environmental goods and services markets? This biodiverse hotspot, acting as a significant carbon sink through on-farm wetlands and an advanced gravity-fed irrigation system, might just be Australia’s prime site for carbon and biodiversity investment.
Listen to people who have ‘lived experience’ – SRI
“We know the devastation of flooding caused by holding too much water in dams. We know that due to constraints issues it is pointless recovering the massive water volumes that are being planned, because it is impossible to deliver them downstream ... governments must listen to people who are ‘on the ground’ and have a different understanding of Basin Plan implementation to those who live in cities and base their assessments on computer modelling”: Jan Beer.
Magpie swoops in to claw first place
The beloved magpie has ruffled the feathers of kookaburras by claiming top position as Australia’s favourite animal sound. The magpie’s warbling has won over the nation, taking out number one in ABC’s search for Australia’s favourite animal sound.
Dream come true: Murray rafters raise nearly $100,000 for prostate cancer awareness
A group of men who set off on a raft affectionately known as ‘Shed down the Murray’ to raise money for prostate cancer earlier this month have now successfully completed their journey. The group stopped in at various towns along the way, including Narrandera, to rest as well as raise awareness around prostate cancer.
Malinauskas Government welcomes agreement to deliver the Murray Darling Basin Plan in full: Close
The Malinauskas Government welcomes the new agreement to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full including the 450 gigalitres of environmental flows we have long campaigned for. With the exception of Victoria, all Basin jurisdictions and the Commonwealth have agreed to deliver the plan in full including legislating for voluntary buy backs...
Queensland Government sells out on Murray-Darling Basin plan: Littleproud
Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud says the Palaszczuk Government has sold out Queensland communities by signing up to Federal Labor’s latest Murray-Darling Basin plan. The Albanese Government has announced it would tear up Labor’s original policy on the additional 450 gigalitres of the Murray-Darling Basin plan and ignore the social and economic neutrality test, protecting communities from water buybacks.
Yarning Circle workshop showcases Indigenous-led practices at national event: Landcare
Yarning Circle on agriculture, water and economies brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous speakers on how together we can care for our land and water ... The workshop was facilitated by Oral McGuire, a Whadjuk/Ballardong Nyungar man from WA ... decades of experience in land management and the application of Cultural Fire burning.
Yanac CFA awards night
Last Friday night, at the Yanac Public Hall, about 50 past and present locals joined to celebrate the 80 years of community service of the Yanac CFA ... The brigade started as the Yanac Bush Fire Brigade, which was formed in 1942. The only equipment they had were fire beaters and knapsacks, until 1949 when they were able to borrow an engine-driven pump kept at the Yanac Railway Station.
Nymboida River revival
The revival of the Nymboida River, which was devastated by fires then floods over the past three years is well underway and the endangered Eastern Freshwater Cod are already benefitting from work by the Clarence chapter of Oz Fish … 5km of exotic weeds being removed from the riparian zone and 1000 local native plants established in their place. 
New tools in the fight to save the iconic koala: Plibersek
Chlamydia is a significant and widespread threat to the koala, impacting their reproductive health and causing infertility. This project will trial a new vaccine implant which would allow for koalas to receive their ‘booster’ dose of vaccine via the implant.
Historic deal struck to guarantee a future for the Murray-Darling Basin: Plibersek
The Albanese Labor Government has struck an historic agreement to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, including 450 gigalitres of water for the environment. The agreement, made between the Federal, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory governments...
Farmers rally against renewables in Brisbane: Littleproud
Farmers have rallied against reckless renewables outside Queensland Parliament House, urging Labor to rethink its plans to destroy prime agricultural land and pristine rainforest and animal habitat throughout Queensland ... Federal Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said Labor’s reckless race to achieve 82 per cent renewables by 2030 needed a Senate Inquiry.
GPSA hoses down CFS on harvest fire code
Michelle Daw. Farmers could be forced out of their paddocks for twice as many hours and harvest pushed into the hottest, driest months of the year under proposed changes to the Grain Harvesting Code of Practice, Grain Producers SA has warned.
Long beak, long name
From eBird.org, we learned that the long-billed visitor to Donald last week is identified as Threskiornis spinicollis – or more familiarly, “the straw-necked ibis”. A flock of forty of the feathered fliers alighted in the grassed area across Byrne Street from St. Mary’s School playing area.
Emergency drinking water requests from Australian farmers up 250 per cent: Rural Aid
Rural Aid has been delivering water tank refills to registered primary producing families for a number of years ... Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said dry times have hit early and hit hard. “Farmers around the country have been unsettled by how quickly the rain ‘tap’ has been turned off,” Mr Warlters said ... Victorian dairy farmer Mark Laity said the water tank he received from Rural Aid was a huge boost.
Hard yacca – grass skirts are a life saver for many animals, but fire and disease threaten their survival: UniSA
Australia’s iconic grass-trees – aka yaccas – are hardy, drought-tolerant, and strikingly beautiful. Now, new research has revealed another, far more important, feature: their ability to protect wildlife from deadly weather extremes.
