News

Townsville is a step closer to a huge industry and jobs boost from a proposed advanced manufacturing facility at the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct that would refine ore to produce critical materials for use in new-technology batteries. Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said the proposed Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) had been declared a prescribed project and would support North Queensland’s economic recovery.

Geoff Helisma. A group of Southgate residents is opposing a proposal to develop a solar plant in an area they say is “visible to residents all around”. Tasmanian-based company, Infinergy Pacific, wrote to residents who live near the proposal on August 5, advising that it is “currently investigating the feasibility of developing a solar farm on neighbouring land at 58 Boorman’s Lane, Lower Southgate” ... Spokesperson for the residents, Steve Grimes, said, “We’re not anti-solar, we’re against the location they are currently proposing.”

There is blooming good news for the Clarence Valley. Following its unfortunate cancellation last year, the 2021 Grafton Jacaranda Festival will go ahead as a Covid-19 safe event and continue its 87-year tradition, while recognising some events are not possible due to the ongoing pandemic ... The Grafton Jacaranda Festival is the oldest floral festival in Australia and its broad appeal has cemented it as a must-do calendar event.

NSW is set to attract more than $37 billion in investment while slashing  emissions by 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, under updated projections and objectives released as part of the  Net Zero: Stage 1 Implementation Update.  Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state’s new objective of halving emissions by 2030 – up from 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 – shows that NSW is serious about setting itself up for the future while helping the world decarbonise.

A gutsy victory by Fantastic Baby in the Stowe Australia Port Macquarie Cup Prelude on Sunday has propelled the Adam Duggan trained gelding into serious calculations for the club’s feature race in early October.

Register now for Nuffield Australia's free Virtual National Conference, allowing you access to excellent speakers and discussion from your home, office, or tractor cab!

Parents forced to leave town or quit their jobs. Frustrated parents in Weipa are hoping that a survey could lead to a solution for the town’s growing child care issues ... Rio Tinto has lost some of its own employers as a result of the child care shortage and the mining company’s recent call to employ more local women was met with the complaint about the lack of options for care.

Mark Knowles. A new scientific project, dubbed SpaceCows, aims to help Indigenous rangers track and manage feral herds on their land in Cape York and northern Australia. The joint project, a partnership between Aboriginal land management groups, universities, CSIRO, a satellite company and Microsoft, uses artificial intelligence and data from satellite tracking to predict herd movements.

Mark Knowles. The life and legacy of a Far North adventurer who, together with Traditional Owners, fought for the protection of the ancient Quinkan rock art near Laura, is being showcased in an exhibition at Cairns Museum ... “Percy Trezise was a force and an amazingly talented man who raised awareness on the national stage and beyond of Queensland’s significant indigenous cultural heritage in the rock art of Cape York” : Fleur Anderson, Cairns Historical Society.

The Australian and Tasmanian governments have agreed to support a framework to deliver offshore aquaculture in Commonwealth waters off the coast of Tasmania. Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries and Senator for Tasmania Jonathon Duniam and Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industries and Water Guy Barnett said the joint agreement between the Australian and Tasmanian governments will help examine the economic, environmental and operational feasibility of offshore aquaculture.

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, the Northern Territory Government, industry and engineering companies have joined forces to develop a path towards rapid emissions reduction across the energy sector in Northern Australia. CSIRO will lead the new consortium in the development of a business case to assess the viability of a large-scale low emissions Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Hub outside of Darwin.

Casey Dun. Australian insect farming startup, Solution Blue is seeking investors to scale its black soldier fly protein production system. Providing greater productivity at much lower cost than its competitors, Solution Blue’s world-first technology delivers high-quality, consistent insect protein that has so far eluded insect farmers across the world. And it’s got aquaculture and pet food manufacturers clamouring.

Once limited to science-fiction, drones and facial recognition technology have since become part of modern life and now the technology is being harnessed to help save Australia’s koalas. In new research being undertaken by Flinders University in partnership with conservation charity Koala Life and the SA Government, non-invasive koala monitoring techniques are being developed using drones and facial recognition technology to count, identify and re-identify koalas.

NFF Chief Executive, Tony Mahar has welcomed remarks by Minister David Littleproud at the  United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in a session devoted to leader's statements.

Widespread global disruption to supply is set to see Australian farmers again move to lock in fertiliser and other inputs early for the season ahead, Rabobank says in a recently-released report. This is despite global fertiliser prices at near-decade highs and expected to remain elevated in the short to medium term.

The World Fisheries Congress might be over, but all of the presentations will be available online for another six months, so it’s not too late  to register. In the meantime, if you missed it, here are some spoilers for you.

Continuing COVID border restrictions are making life difficult for farmers and harvest workers at the start of a bumper season. For the second year in a row, farmers are scratching their heads on how to harvest fields full of crops with limited access to workers and COVID testing facilities that have limited hours of operation. NSW Farmers Grains Committee Chair Justin Everitt said there needed to be a coordinated effort from governments to make sure the season wasn’t wasted.