News

Chris Oldfield. Lucindale CFS group officer Patrick Ross last week pointed to black markings on a map in the incident control room of the town’s fire-fighting base. He turned to visiting SA emergency services minister Vincent Tarzia and said: “This is where the fatality happened.”

Research using effective survey methods shows that koalas are generally increasing with expanding National Parks and Lock It Up and Let It Burn conservation polices. The valleys are occupied by towns, so the koalas are moving in. Disease, dog attacks and road trauma are symptoms of irruptions, not causes of decline.

Friends of the Koala  welcomes  the federal government’s decision to up list koalas in Queensland, New South Wales  and the Australian Capital Territory from ‘vulnerable’  to ‘endangered’.  

The Morrison Government is boosting the level of protection for Koalas under National Environmental law, and will this week seek agreement from Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory on the National Recovery plan ... “The impact of prolonged drought, followed by the black summer bushfires, and the cumulative impacts of disease, urbanisation and habitat loss over the past twenty years have led to the advice." : Minister Ley.

Under the framework, biodiversity, unlike traditional farm commodities which are delivered to a buyer, will need to be maintained and/or established within the farm boundaries, much like carbon sequestration in vegetation and soil. There will be an ongoing relationship between the supplier (farmer) and purchaser to manage and report the status.

A bill to create the legal framework for a national voluntary agriculture biodiversity stewardship market has been introduced in Parliament ... “The Bill will create a biodiversity certificate, which will be tradeable. This will mean biodiversity outcomes can be purchased, transferred, claimed, or used" : Minister Littleproud.

Barkly Regional Council is urging residents and ratepayers to have their say whether the Tennant Creek Local Authority (TCLA) should continue. A questionnaire on the Council’s website is asking for input to decide if the local Authority, funded to the tune of $100,000 a year, is viable.

The Barkly Sports Hub’s new action-packed program is off to a great start with participant numbers on the rise across multiple sports - touch football, soccer, yoga and tennis.

Simon Dow. Esteemed artist and Archibald winner in 2018, Yvette Coppersmith, judge of this year’s Maldon Portrait Prize titled I Be Human, addressed the finalists for the prize at the exhibition opening, at EDGE Galleries in Maldon. Yvette expressed her delight at the quality and diversity of the exhibiting portraits. This made her task of selecting the winner, Gabrielle Martin’s portrait ‘The Ecologist’ all the more challenging.

Make sure to visit the Newstead Arts Hub this February to see a collection of portraits taken by local Anglican Church Reverend Darcy Vaughan. The exhibition, open during the weekends, tackles issues of social isolation and how our communities function when faced with anxiety and uncertainty.

Nicole Funston. Maldon Pony Club kicked the new year off with a huge weekend of showjumping. On Saturday the club held a twilight freshman’s showjumping event.

East Gippsland in the far SE corner of Australia, has long been seen as the stronghold of many natural values including old growth and rainforests and remarkable wildlife species that evolved with and still depend on these healthy, intact habitats.

The adorable Greater Glider is in trouble. It is threatened by fire and logging and its population has crashed by over 80% this century ... VicForests – a logging company owned by the government – wants to clear much of what’s left of the Greater Glider’s habitat.

The most ferocious fires seen in WA, four of them ranked level four bushfires, wiped out 60,000ha across WA with Denmark recording the heaviest losses with four houses.

Patricia Gill. Osborne Road residents Denise and William Legge stayed put on Saturday believing their farm was ‘in a reasonably defensible position’. This did not stop the couple from experiencing fire raging on all sides of their property that day but with the help of five heavy-duty fire brigade appliances their home and sheds were saved.

Happy Valley Road resident Anala Linckens described returning to the home she shares with partner Artha Holmes on Saturday as like entering Mordor ... Denmark-born and raised Ian Osborne thought he was in trouble on Saturday afternoon when the fire loomed above his property on Osborne Road.

A female shearer is encouraging young people to consider taking up the profession as the country continues to face a shortage spurred on by the pandemic ... While Ms Doll had never expected to spend her working life in a shearing shed, the 29-year-old now couldn’t imagine her life being any different.