Life

Ivanna Hearn had been working in England as a nurse when she decided to give it all away and return home to Australia. Bureaucracy and disillusionment with nursing had gotten the better of her and once back in Australia she saw an ad for an unusual job in a country newspaper that made her feel optimistic about what sort of work she could do.

Woomelang was a sight to behold last Thursday June 12, as vehicles, farm machinery, fire trucks and an extensive range of protest signs and banners lined the streets to mark Cubico Sustainable Investments’ first public visit to the district. The “No Go Cubico” rally, organised by dozens of unwilling neighbours to the proposed Curyo Wind Farm…

Ruth McRae OAM has been in local government long enough to know that some decisions weigh heavier than others. As Mayor of Murrumbidgee Council, she's had to make plenty of tough calls, but few sit as uncomfortably as the one announced this week.

Sarah Herrmann. if it goes on for another month, I don't know that we'll still be in business." That's the sentiment of Stansbury oyster farmer Steve Bowley. Mr Bowley's farm, Pacific Estate Oysters, is one of several in the area closed due to the level of brevetoxin present.

Yorke Peninsula dementia support program, Memory Lane Cafe, has been saved by several small community groups which have generously donated funding to keep not one, but two cafe programs running for another year ... the group has grown from just 10 people to about 60 regular attendees who visit the travelling cafe each month.

Austinn Lane. Former Yorke Peninsula resident Tara Rawson has made history, becoming the deepest Australian female freediver and setting two national records at the AIDA Asian Freediving Cup in the Philippines last week.

The Allan Labor Government has cut critical health support for rural children in Western Victoria, axing the award-winning By Five Early Years Initiative in the latest state budget. Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur MP, condemned the decision as a direct attack on families already battling limited access to paediatric care.

Lydia Kindred. Bringing low-emission, passenger train services back to the Northern Rivers railway line is the closest it will ever be, right now. The required reports have been lodged with UGL Regional Linx and Transport for NSW and we now must raise sufficient funds for a licence to be granted. Northern Rivers Rail Ltd, local community-based railway company ...

They did it. Organisers of the World’s Biggest Happy Dance were thrilled to see 468 people groovin’ to the song Dancing in the Street at Kyogle Showground yesterday, Saturday, June 14. The previous record for a happy dance in Singapore was 448.

A large number of people from Lajamanu and from Yuendumu, the home town of Kumanjayi White who died in custody on May 27, came to Alice Springs to attend a vigil, to march and mourn ... Coles staff welcomed into the store several small groups of men and women to aisle four – “chocolate, juice, lollies” – where the confrontation had taken place a short time before Kumanjayi’s death.

Richmond Landcare Inc. held a Science in the Pub event at The Channon Tavern on Thursday 27th March, with over one hundred people filling the venue, despite the dreary weather. This event was the first opportunity for the broader community to hear about Richmond Landcare's Nature Based Solutions Project: Building Flood Resilience in the Lismore Catchment.

Ross McDougall. Last year the Dorrobbee Grass Reserve Trust approached the Dunoon Men's Shed to assist them with making a sign to be placed on the roadside of Dunoon Road to highlight the location of the significant ecological grassland site. Long time resident John Pirlo generously donated a two metre long slab of red ash timber for the project.

The movement to protect our starry night skies – along with our landscape and character, environment and wellbeing – is taking the next step. Sunshine Coast Council is proposing to establish a Dark Sky Reserve in the hinterland, encompassing almost 900 square kilometres in the Mary River Catchment and adjoining national parks in our local government area.

With a renewed mandate in hand, the Albanese Government and its new Cabinet will have no barriers for further delay to implement the many health, disability and ageing sector reviews, reforms and recommendations it worked on with stakeholders in its first term of government ... The 7.3 million Australians living in rural and remote areas don’t need more consultations. They need a government that will implement the solutions that have already been developed, debated, and recommended.

Patricia Gill. Denmark artist Melissa Boughey's painting, State of Flux, Symbiosis, won the 2025 Omnia Art Prize announced in Toorak, Victoria recently. Melissa, who heard about the win while at home, said she had felt overwhelmed: "There were long distance tears over the phone. I'm touched and surprised."

Yorke Peninsula was left behind by the 2025-26 state budget, with no specific funding announcements for the region. The budget invested $1.9 billion in health, but none was specifically earmarked for Yorke Peninsula, despite the recent parliamentary inquiry into health services in the area.

Despite contacting the usual suspects who may have owned this panel van in the local area, no-one seems to know ... Back in 2002 this Morris Mini Panel Van was discovered by RACQ in Allora and was purchased from a private owner.

Madison Eastmon. A Riverland student has been awarded during this year's National Reconciliation Week for receiving one of the highest Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATAR) in the state. Scoring 86.75 — one of the highest ATARS received among South Australia's Aboriginal students — Berri Regional Secondary College alumni Nicholas Harris was awarded with a Chief Executive's Reconciliation Award last month.

Have you heard about Kaniva's newest wellness experience — a Japanese Head Spa? Chelsey Merrett has called Kaniva home for the past seven years. Two years ago, she launched Chelsey Merrett – Head Spa + Scalp Care...

The community of Birchip, an epicentre of three wind farm proposals and four significant mineral sands mining retention licences, played host to a community meeting addressing turbines, lines, mines and property rights ... Three key speakers addressed an audience exceeding three hundred people from across Western Victoria, who filled the Birchip Leisure Centre to capacity.