Media Release

Plans for a Regional University Centre in Port Lincoln are gaining momentum, with the City of Port Lincoln supporting a proposal for a local university hub. Offering a range of tertiary education options, a university hub would fill a gap in the local and regional education market, providing options for residents to study locally.

The April school holidays are almost here, and with it brings the return of the Critter Trail on Chapman: an interactive experience for young detectives. Coordinated by the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery (GRAG), the Critter Trail is a series of art pieces along the CBD portion of Chapman Road depicting critters that have ‘borrowed’ art from the City’s Collection.

Australia signs an historic trade agreement with India, the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, that will further strengthen our relationship while making Australian exports to India cheaper and creating huge new opportunities for workers and businesses.

The state’s farmers are disappointed the federal government has failed to crack down on unfair contract terms. A Bill aimed at delivering fairness for small business by making UCTs unlawful was introduced in early February – but has not been progressed by the federal government.

When it comes to the big-ticket items for Tasmania the federal budget doesn’t meet Tasmania’s needs for agriculture. The infrastructure spend on water and roads only provides small change for Tasmania. Water is 0.18% of national spending and roads are 0.55%.

The population projections for the 2022‑23 Budget include population growth and components at the national level out to 2032‑33 and 2025‑26 for states and territories.

Racegoers were treated to a wonderful day of perfect weather and family fun. We had Country Racing Icon, Col Hodges calling the race, our grounds were beautiful and green, the race track carefully maintained and our new under cover betting area further improved our annual Tulli Race Meet.

GrainCorp has partnered with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and leading plant-based food producer v2food on a $4.4million research project in the fast-growing plant-based protein market.

The Territory Labor Government will introduce legislation this week to facilitate the $30 billion Sun Cable Australia-Asia PowerLink project ... The Solar Project (Australia-Asia Power Link) (Special Provisions) Bill 2022 will provide certainty that key commitments in the Territory’s Project Development Agreement with Sun Cable will be met. The legislation will clarify and streamline existing processes, increase project certainty, and support Sun Cable to secure project financing.

The new $323.7 million Echuca-Moama Bridge project, the largest transport infrastructure project in northern Victoria and southern NSW, is set to open to traffic before the Easter holidays – months ahead of schedule.

There have been two more detections of Japanese encephalitis (JE) in South Australian commercial piggeries. This brings the total number of cases in South Australia to six. The latest detections are in the local government areas of Clare and Gilbert Valleys and Goyder. This is in addition to existing detections in the following local government areas: Loxton Waikerie, Murray Bridge and Coorong.

The Tambo Valley Picnic Races, held on the outskirts of Swifts Creek on the Great Alpine Road, have been entertaining crowds in the beautiful high country of Victoria's East Gippsland region for 123 years.

Detective Dave Burrows returns in another breathtaking tale of rural suspense. After the family's devastating tragedy, Detective Dave Burrows is crystal clear that his wife, Mel, is no longer interested in their marriage ... 'Fleur McDonald is a master of the rural suspense novel, her characters and storyline crackle with authenticity.' Family Circle

Elvis: Direct from Graceland opening weekend was a huge success ... Due to your support this was our most successful opening weekend of all time.

Scientists are working with a Victorian almond grower to trial an orchard redevelopment practice that is reducing the industry’s carbon footprint in the United States. ‘Whole Orchard Recycling’ involves chipping trees and incorporating them into the orchard soil prior to planting new trees. It replaces the traditional practice of burning the trees once they have been removed from the orchard.

Peak sugarcane organisation CANEGROWERS is seeking urgent discussions with local government amid an escalation of people using Queensland farms as dumping grounds ... ARR.News asked some further questions of CANEGROWERS on this costly problem.

Committee Chair, Dr Anne Webster MP said, ‘Regional newspapers in Australia represent a large and diverse industry, which has experienced significant challenges over the past decade. With the transition to digital news and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, assessing the health of our regional newspapers is more important than ever before.’

Two new marine parks have been established at Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean, home to life found nowhere else on earth. Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said the spectacular seascapes cover 744,000 square kilometres, an area greater in size than the Great Barrier Reef.

The National Farmers' Federation has praised Federal Government changes to see Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and biodiversity credits treated as farm income ... NFF Chief Executive Tony Mahar said the change was due recognition that income related to carbon and biodiversity were part of the farm business. It is also consistent with policy analysis the NFF has progressed under the Australian Agriculture Sustainability Framework (AASF) project.

Today across Australia, over 30 media outlets will stop publishing news for 24 hours in a collective freeze to fight for the future of Australian news media. The news freeze will let the world know that small and medium news publishers are #WaitingOnZuck to pay for journalism and content that appears on the Facebook platform.

The Morrison Government will apply concessional tax treatment to primary producers that generate revenue from the sale of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and biodiversity certificates. This will encourage carbon abatement activities and help Australia deliver on its net zero emissions target by 2050.

International Day of Forests 2022 – “Forests and sustainable production and consumption” ... “Forests are one of Australia’s greatest natural assets, and Australia has the first-class forest management skills, experience and people needed to manage our forests. However, as a nation, we must do more. We need to manage this precious resource actively and adaptively across all land tenures including National Parks, State forests and private land to achieve best outcomes now, and into the future" : Bob Gordon Forestry Australia President.