Media Release

A report released by GRDC, Australian Grains Baseline and Mitigation Assessment, has found that the Australian grains industry exhibits low greenhouse gas emissions for each tonne of grain produced compared to other grain producing regions and countries, including the EU, USA, Canada, Russia and Ukraine.

“Sea spurge is now reappearing in NSW, this time in more regional and remote areas of NSW, and we suspect it’s spreading from Victorian and Tasmanian beaches .... A spraying program is underway, using a highly specific biocontrol agent of sea spurge, a fungus, which is native to France" : James Griffin, NSW Environment Minister.

Responding to the oil spill at the Port of Devonport has been a mammoth task, but years of planning and preparation meant multiple agencies were able to act quickly to contain the spill. The Environment Protection Authority, TasPorts, BridgePro, Tasmanian Divers Group, Marine and Safety Tasmania, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau have all have worked in unison since a commercial vessel collided with two tugboats on January 28, causing fuel and oil to spill into the Mersey River.

Regular passenger flights between Hobart and two Bass Strait Islands will be extended following the success of the Sharp Airline services that were introduced in September 2020 ... The services have been a roaring success, and have given more Tasmanians the ability to explore these unique parts of our special Island State.

After announcing the Mornington Peninsula Bowls Region (MPBR) as the new location for the 2022 Carnival late last year, it is with mixed emotions that we now advise that the Carnival will not be moving to the MPBR, and will instead be held in Echuca Moama, hosted by the Campaspe Playing area of the Bendigo Campaspe Goldfields Bowls Region (BCGBR).

“I believe this object is a very early version of a wooden bowl possibly used in ‘crown green bowls’. This bowl was passed on to me from my late English stepfather. It was dug up in Kent, Southern England about 50 years ago during renovations to an old horse stable. Where did it originate? Maybe Sir Francis Drake used this bowl while the Spanish Armada was sailing up the English Channel in 1588 or maybe it was used earlier than that date": Glenn Johnson, Elliot Heads Bowls Club.

Last month, the Queensland weather lashed across the State and flooded two of our clubs, Tansey Bowls Club and Maryborough Services Memorial Bowls Club. Tansey Bowls Club was hit the worst, with about a metre of water inside the clubhouse. Tansey’s President Rainer Marschall said they had to remove the wall linings so that the walls could dry out properly.

With a large percentage of Queensland experiencing summer rains and continuing La Niña conditions, Queensland sheep and wool producers are being urged to remain vigilant for conditions favouring flystrike.

Australia’s agricultural sector is set for another profitable year ahead, with the gross value of agricultural production on track for a fourth consecutive year of growth in 2021/22, Rabobank says in a newly-released industry report.

Ecological planned burning is a land management tool applied to promote positive benefits for a local environment. These benefits include stimulating dormant seed banks in the soil profile, reducing the vigour or eliminating weeds, nutrient cycling and the removal of biomass - all of which promote biodiversity and ecosystem health.

Rockhampton Regional Council is being inundated with reports of Prickly Acacia and Parthenium spreading in the region, and they are calling on the community to assist. Planning and Regulation Councillor Grant Mathers said officers have been working closely with landholders and community stakeholders to establish the extent of the areas of concern, and to treat areas on a priority basis.

A massive, stunningly beautiful former grazing property will soon belong to Queenslanders as the state’s newest national park. “The Lakes”, north of Hughenden, will increase Queensland’s protected area estate by 35,300 hectares, with the Palaszczuk Government now finalising the multi-million-dollar purchase.

Following on from the disappointment of cancelling last year’s show, Act-Belong-Commit Darkan Sheepfest is all set to navigate double vaccination entry requirements for events in regional Western Australia and is aiming for show success.

The NSW Government has partnered with Ironman Australia to bring the prestigious Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) World Series to Mt Kosciuszko in December this year.

Chinchilla will be home to the region’s first micro-brewery tourist experience following Western Downs Regional Council’s approval of an expansion of a popular tourist park in the area, Clover Hill Accommodation and Camping.

"During COVID, supply chains almost ground to a complete halt and exposed Australia’s reliance on the import of key inputs including urea. Many Australians would be shocked to learn the nation imports 90% of its urea, the most commonly used fertiliser in agriculture. Without urea, crop production would fall 30-40%" : National Farmers Federation Chief Executive, Tony Mahar.

The Australian Government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) has committed $255 million for critical infrastructure supporting the Perdaman Urea Project in Western Australia. The $4.3 billion project located 20 kilometres north-west of Karratha will convert Australian gas into approximately two million tonnes of urea per year.

Strike Energy Limited has been granted Major Project Status for Project Haber, its $3 billion urea manufacturing facility in the Narngulu Industrial Area, near Geraldton, Western Australia. The project will produce up to 1.4 million tonnes per annum of urea from clean hydrogen and natural gas.

The fresh produce sector and supply chain in Queensland has agreed on four key fields of strategic interest to pursue over the first two years of its new industry plan, Future Fields.

The popular Eat the Street Festival will return to Lismore’s CBD on Sunday, 29 May after it was cancelled last year due to COVID-19 ... Since its inception in 2016, Eat the Street has quickly become an iconic Northern Rivers festival, showcasing the regions’ finest food vendors and entertaining tens of thousands of people.

Fortescue Future Industries is acquiring an interest in Sparc Hydrogen Pty Ltd, a company which has an exclusive licence to develop and commercialise next-generation green hydrogen technology created by the University of Adelaide and Flinders University. Sparc Hydrogen is researching technology which would see green hydrogen produced by only sunlight and water (photocatalytic water splitting coupled with solar radiation), instead of renewable energy and electrolysis.