Media Release

The Victorian Minister for Planning, the Hon. Sonya Kilkenny MP, has decided that an environmental effect statement is required for the Fingerboards Critical Minerals Project and given reasons for her decision. Gippsland Critical Minerals Pty Ltd, the proponent of the Fingerboards Project, has responded to the decision. The community action group, Mine Free Glenaladale, has responded to the decision and GCM's statement.

Camel milk is emerging as a nutrient-rich alternative dairy product in Australia, attracting growing interest from nutrition researchers and consumers seeking options for digestive sensitivities ... “Many of our customers turn to camel milk because they struggle with food allergies or intolerances. Gut and digestive issues are increasingly common, and camel milk’s natural composition means it is often reported to be gentler and easier to tolerate than traditional dairy.”

The Finocchiaro CLP Government is further boosting economic growth in the Territory through a new acreage release for onshore petroleum exploration. The acreage is approximately 4,000 sqkm, more than five times the size of Singapore, and is strategically located near the Amadeus Gas Pipeline and the Stuart Highway within the highly prospective Beetaloo Sub-basin, one of Australia’s most significant onshore shale gas plays.

Bundaberg Regional Council and Bundaberg Tourism are advocating for fairer regional airfares, with the community invited to add their input to the joint submission.

Everyday Australians face another hit to their power bills after Transgrid applied to pass on to consumers the $1.1 billion of their cost over-runs in the 900-kilometre EnergyConnect project between NSW and South Australia. Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster MP said the latest revelation yet again exposes the fallacy that ‘renewable’ energy is not the ‘cheapest form of electricity’.

A new advisory committee has been established to support the reopening of boat-based recreational demersal fishing from Kalbarri to Augusta in Spring 2027. The West Coast Demersal Ministerial Advisory Committee will provide recommendations to the State Government on the future management of recreational fishing to balance a return to boat-based fishing with continued protection for fish stocks to support recovery.

Long-term planning to ensure a sustainable future for the West Coast Wilderness Railway has taken its next steps. The Tasmanian Government has convened a roundtable with key industry and business stakeholders to discuss next steps for the Railway.

If you’re in Bass Coast for the Labour Day long weekend — or lucky enough to call it home — there’s one place to be: the 2026 Bass Coast Sustainability Festival, a free, family-friendly celebration of community, creativity and caring for our environment ... At its heart, the Sustainability Festival is about making big ideas feel simple, practical and fun.

Annabelle Cleeland has criticised the Allan Labor Government’s so-called “Big Switch”, saying it has failed to deliver for regional Victoria, with overcrowded, unreliable services on the Shepparton and Albury–Seymour lines while Melbourne continues to receive the lion’s share of upgrades.

Tasmania’s visitor economy has been given a significant boost, with a record number of travellers passing through Launceston Airport on a single day last month. The airport saw 6880 people passing through its gates on 23 January, the eve of the Foo Fighters concert in Launceston.

Preliminary test results have confirmed H5 avian influenza (H5 bird flu) in additional wildlife species on Australia’s sub-Antarctic external territory of Heard Island following confirmation in southern elephant seals in November 2025.

Generation Z may be on the march to the regions – now the most likely cohort considering a move out of metro areas, according to new survey results released today by the Regional Australia Institute (the RAI). Generation Z (18 to 29 years) has overtaken its older counterpart, Millennials (30 to 45 years), in having the greatest desire to leave the city behind, with almost half (49 per cent) contemplating relocating. 

Some of Victoria’s top drops are headed to the world’s largest wine museum, further cementing our international reputation. Minister Pearson today revealed seven Victorian wineries will be featured at the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, which welcomes more than 400,000 wine lovers a year.

A sod turning ceremony held on Friday marked the beginning of the Bendigo Art Gallery redevelopment, which will be delivered by local company Fairbrother Construction. The project is expected to create an additional 260 jobs in the local construction sector and an additional 170 jobs in the local economy when the Gallery reopens in 2028.

Greater Shepparton City Council is proud to announce the successful delivery of the 2026 Country Week tennis tournament, which saw an estimated $4 million boost to the region’s visitor economy. Council partnered with Tennis Victoria, Shepparton Lawn Tennis Club and Mooroopna Lawn Tennis Club to host the event, which is the largest lawn tennis competition in the world.

The Ocean Film Festival World Tour presents an extraordinary collection of short films that capture the raw beauty, untamed power, and majesty of our oceans. These carefully curated films showcase stunning cinematography from surface to depths, transporting audiences into underwater realms and atop towering waves.

Magnetite Mines Limited (ASX:MGT) is pleased to advise that all necessary permitting, approvals and heritage clearances have been secured for an initial drilling campaign at the Ironback Hill Rare Earth Element (REE) Project, located near the Razorback Iron Ore Project, in South Australia. 

A tiny, threatened marsupial not known to have inhabited South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula may exist as a relict population and still be clinging to survival, according to new research that has re-examined historical field data from one of the region’s most important conservation areas. In a study published in Australian Zoologist, researchers report compelling evidence that the Little Pygmy-Possum (Cercartetus lepidus) may exist in Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park...

VFF Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy said the lack of acknowledgment demonstrates a clear failure to strike an appropriate balance ... VFF analysis found ... an enormous imbalance in the individual mentions of the below terms: Environment: 434 mentions; First Nations: 152 mentions; Community: 34 mentions; Agriculture: 11 mentions; Food: 7 mentions; Landholder: 5 mentions; Farmer: 3 mentions; Employment: 1 mention; Food security: 0 mentions; Manufacturing: 0 mentions

Raising the matter in Parliament, Mrs McArthur said the significant public artwork, commissioned by the State of Victoria in 1977, had been rendered inaccessible to the public without justification ... Harold Freedman’s Geelong Regional History mosaic mural “is a heritage-listed public artwork depicting the changing lifestyle of the region’s people and key moments in Victoria’s early history.”

Tweed Shire Council will soon open applications for the next round of its Profitable Regenerative Farming Mentoring Program, with local farmers invited to learn more at an information session on 26 February. The peer-to-peer program pairs experienced regenerative farmers with emerging landholders to strengthen farm profitability while improving soil health, waterways  and biodiversity.