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Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist and local hero Matthew Denny never forgets his home town of Allora. During an interview on Channel 7 Matthew said “Hello to everyone back in Allora. Thank you Allora for supporting me” and to John - “Dad we got it done, Mate!” During one interview he made reference to the Welcome Home Parade after Tokyo when he came 4th so maybe this time Allora will be given a public holiday?

On the 16th of August local, state and international heritage experts will come together at the Burra Town Hall to involve the community in a conversation about Burra's World Heritage bid. The panel will include renowned UK world heritage consultant Mr Barry Gamble who will be working with the Regional Council of Goyder, Copper Coast Council and National Trust on a joint World Heritage bid of the Cornish Mining sites in Burra and Moonta.

"Local response plans cannot be effectively formulated bureaucratically and remotely from the disaster epicentres. For this reason, the BCCM has strongly advocated the establishment of a National Co-operative Disaster Recovery Centre of Excellence, with Lismore the stand-out candidate for its location" : Melina Morrison, CEO, BCCM.

So what has this to do with Allora? The answer - El Caballo is the name of a brand new shop opened by Karren and Jeff Hoare in Herbert Street. Karren comes from a Rodeo family and always wanted to have her own Western Clothing store.

The report on the floods is in and it is a riveting and sobering read. With 21 findings and 37 recommendations, the NSW Legislative Council Select Committee has tackled the government’s response to the floods, the operations of the SES and the difficulties of getting grants from Resilience NSW.

Bernice Shepherd. Community gardens and city farms have been around for a long time, but they are enjoying a resurgence in popularity in Australia ... We are lucky to have several gardens in our area and I visited three of them; one well established, one partway there, and another in the beginning phases.

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Have you ever reached for a bright yellow bunch of bananas over bruised ones? Or perhaps you’ve tossed a half-full packet of spinach into the trash to free up fridge space. Chances are at some point in your life, you’ve contributed to the global food wastage problem. And you’re not alone ... In his final year studying a Bachelor of Property at Bond University, Mr Creese launched Dehydrated Co, a business which transforms fruit bound for the bin into a dried garnish with a long shelf life.

Rodney Stevens. The sporting talent of Yamba was on show on the international stage over the weekend with former Buccaneer’s junior Jed Holloway earning his first Wallabies cap, plus Cameron Pilley and cousin Donna Lobban playing for bronze in the mixed doubles squash.

Minister Watt said the National Biosecurity Strategy would provide clear direction to ensure our system remains fit to meet the challenges of the next decade and beyond ... “This strategy has been under development for more than a year and I’m really pleased that a new spirit of cooperation between Federal, State and Territory Agriculture Ministers has seen the strategy finalised and released so soon after the change of government, " Minister Watt said.

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The Federal Government has relented under fierce criticism and agreed to back a motion moved by Senator Susan McDonald to reinstate a parliamentary body to oversee issues and development in Northern Australia.

Asparagopsis is a native Australian seaweed rich in bromoform. It’s the bromoform compound within the seaweed feed supplement that reduces livestock methane emissions by up to 98 per cent. So why isn’t Asparagopsis a commodity of large scale? One of the key issues is its availability; but one scientist is on the brink of a discovery which could drive a surge in demand for this seaweed biomass.

Samuel Davis. A desperate 67-hour search to find an elderly Aurukun man has ended with a family member discovering him “stuck in the mud” in a nearby swamp ... Burt Wikmunea's disappearance prompted around 40 volunteers and SES members to assist police in finding Mr Wikmunea across four days.

Vanilla is an emerging rural industry in Australia with huge potential. There is one major roadblock which is preventing the spice from really taking off. The orchid relies on hand-pollination and it’s labour intensive. Julie Sosso has a plan to change this.

Australia's beef and sheepmeat sectors can expect continuing demand from China despite its slowing economy and continued lockdowns impacting how the country consumes animal proteins. Speaking on a newly-released podcast, Is the Chinese meat market still firing?, Rabobank's Hong Kong-based senior animal protein analyst Chenjun Pan said China's lockdown policies have affected the population's protein consumption habits, with the major short-term change being where people are consuming food.

A woman who helped save the life of her friend on a remote Cape York cattle station has been crowned the 2022 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for the Cairns region ... With Coen more than an hour’s drive away, and the nearest hospital at Weipa unable to be accessed due to flooding, Emma used the defibrillator machine on the property and performed CPR for an hour to help Peter bring his wife back to life.

Mapoon will this month get its long-awaited primary health care centre, designed in consultation with the community and operated by Apunipima Cape York Health Council ... Mapoon resident and primary health care centre manager Debra Jia said she was excited about the opening and having the modern and spacious new facility to service the needs of her community.

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The annual show is an important part of the cultural life in the small village of Woodstock and surrounds, and has been for decades now. The show provides the community with the opportunity to reflect on its values and aspirations; celebrate achievements ranging from excellence in prime lamb breeding to the beauty of a delicate piece of embroidery; and enjoy a break from the routine of everyday life.

Full water storages coupled with a 50% chance of another La Niña  in 2022–23 are driving management strategies in the River Murray System for the year ahead, according to the MDBA's 2022–23 Annual Operating Outlook ... Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) Executive Director of River Management, Andrew Reynolds, said the Annual Operating Outlook explains how the river would be run based on a range of potential climatic and rainfall scenarios.