Media Release

New South Wales is leading the nation’s charge towards a low-emissions energy system after the NSW Government approved stage one of a $1.8 billion transmission  line that would link NSW and South Australia’s energy networks for the first time. Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said stage one planning approval had been granted for the NSW Western Section of Energy Connect, a 900-kilometre transmission line that would run from Wagga Wagga to Robertstown in SA, with a spur line to Victoria.

It took three fire trucks, two water trucks, and an excavator to put out a fire at the Lakes Creek Road Waste Management Facility ... “If you ever tossed an old mobile phone or even a battery in your general waste and thought ‘what could be the harm?’, well incidents like this are the answer,” Councillor Latcham said.

Townsville is a step closer to a huge industry and jobs boost from a proposed advanced manufacturing facility at the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct that would refine ore to produce critical materials for use in new-technology batteries. Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said the proposed Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) had been declared a prescribed project and would support North Queensland’s economic recovery.

NSW is set to attract more than $37 billion in investment while slashing  emissions by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, under updated projections and objectives released as part of the  Net Zero: Stage 1 Implementation Update.  Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state’s new objective of halving emissions by 2030 – up from 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 – shows that NSW is serious about setting itself up for the future while helping the world decarbonise.

QRAM would like to invite you to check out and use the eSafety resources we’ve developed with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and other community members from remote communities.

Register now for Nuffield Australia's free Virtual National Conference, allowing you access to excellent speakers and discussion from your home, office, or tractor cab!

The Australian and Tasmanian governments have agreed to support a framework to deliver offshore aquaculture in Commonwealth waters off the coast of Tasmania. Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries and Senator for Tasmania Jonathon Duniam and Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industries and Water Guy Barnett said the joint agreement between the Australian and Tasmanian governments will help examine the economic, environmental and operational feasibility of offshore aquaculture.

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, the Northern Territory Government, industry and engineering companies have joined forces to develop a path towards rapid emissions reduction across the energy sector in Northern Australia. CSIRO will lead the new consortium in the development of a business case to assess the viability of a large-scale low emissions Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Hub outside of Darwin.

Casey Dun. Australian insect farming startup, Solution Blue is seeking investors to scale its black soldier fly protein production system. Providing greater productivity at much lower cost than its competitors, Solution Blue’s world-first technology delivers high-quality, consistent insect protein that has so far eluded insect farmers across the world. And it’s got aquaculture and pet food manufacturers clamouring.

Once limited to science-fiction, drones and facial recognition technology have since become part of modern life and now the technology is being harnessed to help save Australia’s koalas. In new research being undertaken by Flinders University in partnership with conservation charity Koala Life and the SA Government, non-invasive koala monitoring techniques are being developed using drones and facial recognition technology to count, identify and re-identify koalas.

Thousands of jobs are up for grabs as the South Australian agricultural industry braces for a bumper harvest. The jobs, based in regional South Australia, are typically filled by interstate or overseas workers, but due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, companies, like bulk grain handler Viterra, are calling on locals to fill these roles.

J Grey. It was always going to be a tough challenge to take the title from the Gold Coast-Tweed District, after 2019’s winners mother-son pair of Jackie McWhinney and Dale McWhinney-Shillington replaced fellow district winners Dee Anne Robertson and Sean Ingham at the top of the leader board. Robertson and Ingham held the top spot for 2017 and 2018. Dee Anne Robertson was back this year, this time pairing with Chris Le Lievre. The question on everyone’s lips was, “would Gold Coast-Tweed take it for the fourth year running?”

NFF Chief Executive, Tony Mahar has welcomed remarks by Minister David Littleproud at the  United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in a session devoted to leader's statements.

Widespread global disruption to supply is set to see Australian farmers again move to lock in fertiliser and other inputs early for the season ahead, Rabobank says in a recently-released report. This is despite global fertiliser prices at near-decade highs and expected to remain elevated in the short to medium term.

The World Fisheries Congress might be over, but all of the presentations will be available online for another six months, so it’s not too late  to register. In the meantime, if you missed it, here are some spoilers for you.

Continuing COVID border restrictions are making life difficult for farmers and harvest workers at the start of a bumper season. For the second year in a row, farmers are scratching their heads on how to harvest fields full of crops with limited access to workers and COVID testing facilities that have limited hours of operation. NSW Farmers Grains Committee Chair Justin Everitt said there needed to be a coordinated effort from governments to make sure the season wasn’t wasted.  

The hitting wall at  Memorial Park Tennis Complex  in Bordertown is undergoing a makeover as part of a nationwide Hitting Wall Project. The Hitting Wall Project, launched in collaboration with Tennis Australia, will see hitting walls revamped across the country as part of an initiative designed to increase community participation in tennis off the back of soaring participation in 2020/21.

An international contingent from NASA have been released from quarantine at the Centre for National Resilience today, to prepare for an historic rocket launch from Arnhem Land. The 27 essential personnel will travel to Nhulunbuy to undertake 40 days of work with Equatorial Launch Australia (ELA) at the Arnhem Space Centre.

Community consultation has begun on the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2021 after Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson received the final draft from Independent Member for Sydney Alex Greenwich.

The NSW Government has announced the opening of nominations to identify and protect Areas of Outstanding Biodiversity Value (AOBVs) on both private and public lands across NSW.