Media Release

National Indigenous Radio Service. The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians says the federal government is ill-equipped to deal with the level of food insecurity in COVID hit First Nations communities.

Restrictions on beef exports out of Argentina – the world’s fifth largest exporter of beef – could have a significant impact on the global market, according to Rabobank’s latest global Beef Quarterly report.

A dedicated regional quarantine facility will be built at Wellcamp, Toowoomba under a joint agreement between the Palaszczuk Government and the landowner, Wagner Corporation.  

Progress continues to be made on Western Australia’s Centre for National Resilience, with global construction company Multiplex today selected to deliver the project. Following the finalisation of various independent feasibility studies and negotiations, the centre will be built at a site on Commonwealth-owned land within the Bullsbrook Training Area.

Another month of strengthening commodity prices has propelled the NAB Rural Commodities Index to its highest level in its 11-year history, to sit 12.6% above August 2020 levels.

Red meat producers are featuring in a series of new videos, sharing their stories to inform consumers on how red meat is produced in Australia.

On 23 August 2021, the Ombudsman release a redacted report into his investigation of Council’s historic billing practices. The trigger for the investigation was a complaint in 2018 from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement on behalf of Aboriginal people into Council’s electricity and water billing practices ... Council acknowledges, and is sorry for, the harm and mistrust caused by its past billing practices, is committed to implementing all of the recommendations in the report, and welcomes all community input as to how we can move forward together.

National Indigenous Radio Service. A recent investigation by the South Australian Ombudsman has found the remote council of Coober Pedy in the state’s north, pressured Aboriginal residents into requesting money from Native Title funds to help pay off their overdue electricity and water bills.

After four months of delivery in the metropolitan area, the Heavy Vehicle Driving Operations Skill Set will now be delivered through South Regional TAFE to address the shortage of truck drivers in regional WA.

In a cultural first for Australia, a sapling from a sacred tree revered by the world’s Buddhist community has been imported from Sri Lanka in what can only be described as a great biosecurity success story.

Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the Federal Court will recognise the Warrgamay People’s long-standing rights to more than 185,000 hectares of land and water at a virtual hearing ... the decision covers an area from Lucinda on the coast, up to and along the Seaview Range and into Girringun National Park.

The use of the feed additive Bovaer ® (3-NOP) was recently evaluated as part of an MLA-funded project on reducing enteric methane emissions in Australian feedlot operations, and was found to reduce methane production by up to 90%.    

Australia’s aquaculture sector continues on a trajectory of steady growth, but the entire industry has experienced disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the  latest edition of ABARES’s  Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture Statistics.

The Morrison Government has given regulatory approval for a commercial rocket launch to take place later this year from a newly licensed launch facility in South Australia.

Caloundra State High School students have created a wildflower world with a difference at the  Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden. The  free augmented reality experience  is on until 10 September and  offers visitors  the chance to immerse themselves in nature while learning about these beautiful flowers through the magic of technology.

The Territory Labor Government has released the first Closing the Gap NT Implementation Plan in partnership with Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT and Local Government Association NT.

Wildflowers have officially flourished throughout the region and Mullewa are throwing a festival in celebration of them this August.

Fee-free heavy vehicle truck driver training and licencing courses are now on offer to the grains, cotton, rice, viticulture and horticultural sectors across New South Wales as part of an industry-led workforce development strategy.

NSW Farmers has welcomed news that an Australian Agricultural Visa (Ag Visa) is set to finally become reality from 30 September 2021.   The new Ag Visa will widen the recruitment opportunities of low to skilled workers from participating countries, which the Association understands will initially be open to ASEAN countries.