News

Gabrielle Duykers. A local councillor has implored council to “interfere” and take immediate action to address the shortage of emergency doctors at Naracoorte Hospital. As previously reported in The News, Naracoorte Hospital has been without a duty doctor three to four days each month during 2021, as a result of expired contracts with rural doctors across the state, as well as locally.

Gabrielle Duykers. Tatiara District Council has been praised for its “proactive” efforts to mitigate the region’s housing crisis, which includes zero rental vacancies in Bordertown ... In a submission by the Local Government Association of South Australia to a federal inquiry into housing affordability,Tatiara council was used as a case study for how the worsening situation was impacting the local economy, but was hailed for the initiatives it had undertaken to address the issue.

Dr Pep Canadell. Our study doesn't discuss forest management. In our paper we show that the TREND in mean annual fire area is driven unequivocally by the TREND in mean annual FFDI (a weather index), ie by the changing climate. Forest management is important locally but varies substantially regionally and between states.  We expect it contributes, along with other factors, to the unexplained variance (20-25%) in the relationship between FFDI and fire area that occurs nationally.

Armidale's Railway Hotel has sold for around $8 million, becoming the latest venue in the New South Wales regional town to change hands amid a bubbling period for the sector.

An 800MW wind farm is headed to Victoria’s south-west, as WestWind Energy was given the green light to go ahead with the Golden Plains project that is set to become one of the country’s largest.

The Queensland government will transform a newly acquired 148-hectares on the southern Gold Coast into one of the nation’s most expansive eco-parklands. The Currumbin Eco-Parkland, will see local native flora and fauna protected from encroaching development, including the preservation of koala habitat at the site.

Chinese-owned investor Rifa Salutary has completed the two-year divestment program of its Australian grazing assets, offloading the large-scale cattle breeding property Cooplacurripa Station on the eastern fall of the Great Dividing Range for $35 million bare.

Nicholas Rupolo. Massive rainfall over the weekend has caused grain growers concern over missing out on historically high prices this year ... The wash has caused concern amongst grain growers as to the quality of their crop as they harvest for a bumper season ... Independent agronomist and cropping property owner Neil Durning says farmers will take a psychological hit as well as a financial hit from the heavy rain.

Val Hawker. The historic Barellan Methodist Church (now Uniting) will be closing soon and to the mark the occasion they will be holding a service of closure at 10am on Sunday December 19 at 10am. The land on which the church now stands was purchased by public auction in Narrandera in August 1909. The purchaser was Carl Reinhold Bauer a farmer of Barellan and the purchase price was eleven pounds ten shillings. Later the land was transferred to the trustees of the Methodist Church in October 1920.