Media Release

The Albanese Government will direct the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate pricing and competition in the supermarket sector to ensure Australians are paying a fair price for their groceries. We understand that Australians are under the pump and the cost of groceries is among the biggest concern for many.

Australian Government farm business lender, RIC (Regional Investment Corporation) announced the variable interest rate on all concessional farm business loans including AgriStarter, Farm Investment, Drought, and AgBiz Drought, will increase by 47 basis points to 4.99 per cent effective from 1 February 2024. The Plantation Loan will increase to 4.54 per cent.

Bullock Island’s new café will add to the charm of the Gippsland Lakes and draw new visitors to the area ... Minister for Regional Development Gayle Tierney joined representatives from the  Lakes Entrance Fishermen Limited (LEFL) at the brand new café at Lakes Entrance, offering spectacular water views as diners enjoy their locally sourced meal.

The State Government has been put on notice over its special treatment towards a large multinational mining company accused of destroying North Queensland’s minerals industry by Katter’s Australian Party … Robbie Katter has called on the State government to abolish the Mount Isa Mining Act which gave Glencore favourable operating conditions...

Recent heavy rain has impacted the treatment of fire ants in and around Murwillumbah ... treatment program will resume in Murwillumbah when the ground dries out ... treatment can only be applied with the written consent of the property owner.

With uniform, stationary and back-to-school stocks replenished and hairdressers ready, Centacare FNQ’s School Savvy pop-up series has broken all previous year’s records with four days to go ... School Savvy helped secure a scholarship to Abbotsleigh College in Sydney for Rita Tyrrell.

Volunteer surf lifesavers have worked through one of the busiest days of the summer to date on NSW beaches, where the drowning of a swimmer at an unpatrolled location on Sunday morning, 21 January, brought the drowning toll since 1 December to 12.

Fire ants have been discovered in Wardell, south of Ballina, New South Wales, after Labor was too slow to act on its red imported fire ant response program. Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the latest infestation, 85 kilometres south of the Queensland  border, is another sign that Labor has lost control of eradicating the pest.

Farmers are calling for a major effort to stamp out fire ants in NSW after the insidious pests were discovered near Ballina. According to the NSW Government, the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) detected a Red Imported Fire Ant nest at Wardell, south of Ballina on Friday.

An agreement has been signed between the Department of Justice and Aboriginal-led service provider Kullarri Regional Communities Indigenous Corporation (KRCIC) to implement a $4 million pilot program providing a location out of harm's way for at-risk youth who are found in public areas at night.

Invasive species are being trapped and removed in record numbers across the Sunshine Coast, in a united effort between Sunshine Coast Council and the community to protect our region’s biodiversity. In 2023, Council’s team removed 335 feral deer from registered properties in the region, almost triple the previous record set in 2021.

The Federal Government has shot an arrow into the hopes of Australia’s cattle industry by rejecting a counter offer in the long-running class action over the unlawful closure of the live cattle export trade in 2011.  NFF Acting CEO, Charlie Thomas, said the Government had ignored an opportunity to address years of financial and emotional pain, and allow claimants to put the saga behind them once and for all.  

The increase in popularity of lithium-ion battery powered devices such as e-bikes and e-scooters and small home devices has some far reaching implications for managing fire risk in strata communities ... Owners Corporation Network is holding a webinar on 15 February ...

An exciting day in Cunnamulla ... for the Paroo Shire Council and community with the official opening of the Cunnamulla Hot Springs & River Walk Project ... It will become part of the Shire’s newly formed Hot Springs Trail.

Trade logistics are set to become increasingly challenging for Australia’s agricultural sector with the escalating tensions in the Red Sea disrupting global trade, according to agribusiness banking specialist Rabobank. However, there are also potential upsides for the nation’s wheat and barley exports, the bank said.

Farmers are backing calls for the Federal Government to review community engagement on renewable energy projects to ensure smarter, safer and more sustainable solutions to power the nation ... “To date, many farmers have had a very disappointing experience with the community consultation – or lack thereof – around the transmission lines set to run through their properties," Ms Bowman said.

50 Australian agricultural producer representative groups have unified to send a powerful, collective message to the Federal Government about their strong opposition to the proposed 10 per cent biosecurity tax. These groups represent the views of tens of thousands of Australian agricultural producers across the full spectrum of farm commodities including grains, livestock, horticulture, dairy, forestry, seafood, etc.

Katter’s Australian Party Leader and Member for Traeger, Robbie Katter, said he is heartened by calls for the dilution of private corporate control over the provision of essential “public” services but that action could have been taken years ago had regional Queenslanders been listened to ... a “fifth pillar” in the banking sector was needed to curtail the market power of the so-called Big Four ...

The VFF says farming communities are being prevented from participating in the process for assessing the environmental risk of mining and energy projects leading to bad outcomes for food production. VFF President Emma Germano said concerns raised by farmers impacted by the Goschen Mineral Sands and Rare Earths Project near Swan Hill about public exposure of its Environmental Effects Statement occurring during the summer harvest exposed flaws in the system.

Summer 2023/4 has proven to be volatile for Queensland growers ... Growcom, the project delivery arm of the Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG), in conjunction with the Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA), will host a webinar this coming Friday, 19 January to help primary producers recover from these events.

The 2023 Australian Beef Eating Quality Insights (ABEQI) report has shown that the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) program generated $463 million in farm gate returns for producers over the past two years. The ABEQI report was generated through the analysis of all MSA graded cattle in the 2021–22 and 2022–23 financial years using data collected by MSA-accredited graders...

It will see 125 additional paramedics arriving in regional, rural and remote communities by the middle of this year ... These new paramedics will join a cohort of more than 6,700 NSW Ambulance staff who share a commitment to excellence in serving their communities across NSW.