Law & order

Minister for Local Government Shelley Hancock said the Local Government Amendment Act 2021 implements the Government’s response to IPART’s review of the rating system and a range of other changes. “These sensible and well-reasoned reforms will ensure that NSW’s local government rating system continues to be fair and equitable, and responsive to changing community needs,” Mrs Hancock said. “The changes provide greater flexibility to make rates fairer in local communities, and help councils cater for population growth and infrastructure costs while protecting ratepayers from unfair rate rises."

Australia Post has confirmed its manager of the Tennant Creek Post Office has been suspended pending a police investigation.

Victoria’s forestry families received peace of mind yesterday when VicForests won an appeal to overturn the May 2020 Federal Court decision which affected 66 logging coupes in the Central Highlands. A bench of the Federal Court overturned last year’s decision which challenged the validity of the Regional Forest Agreements under which timber harvesting is conducted.

It was their day. There were tears, statements from the heart and jubilation at the Federal Court hearing that determined native title on 52 parcels of land in the Richmond Valley. His Honour Justice Steven Rares presided over a makeshift courtroom in a marquee on Stan Payne Oval at Evans Head on Friday.

The Jurnkurakurr Volunteers continue to turn up each night at BP in their efforts to curb some of the anti-social behavior around Tennant Creek. The word of what they are doing appears to be spreading far and wide, with several visitors coming along last week to see what is happening in our community.

The chair of Tennant Creek’s relief supermarket has thanked the hard work and dedication of the Jurnkkurakurr Volunteers action group for a dramatic decline in theft and vandalism at the store and the 24-hour BP service station ... Volunteers, including Traditional Owners and other community leaders, now sit outside the BP and supermarket every night, talking to youth wandering the streets and encouraging them to go home.

Catherine Grimley. It's been just over two months since the concerned citizens and elders started sitting up at BP of a night, giving up their time and sleep to try and make a difference in the anti social behavior currently afflicting our town. The group now has a name – Jurnkkurakurr Volunteers – but the biggest thing the group needs is more people who are prepared to give up some of their time to help bolster numbers and allow those who have been turning up night after night to make some difference in our damaged town.