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In its first meeting for 2021, Ballina Shire Council has voted to support further investigation into the Dunoon Dam in an effort to revive the proposal and secure the region’s future water supply.

WATER Northern Rivers Alliance calls on Rous County Council and state water planners to respect the wishes of Widjabul Wia-bal people who have voiced their opposition to the proposed Dunoon Dam. The dam would obliterate important cultural heritage ancient burial sites. Yesterday John Roberts, a senior Elder of the Widjabul Wia-bal stated that when he and other traditional custodians were consulted about the dam in 2011 they made it clear that no level of disturbance was acceptable.

Australia’s wheat crop is estimated to have surged by 119.8% to a record 33.34 million tonnes in 2020/21, according to ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences). ABARES has raised its estimate of national production of winter crops by 7.4% to 55.2 million tonnes in 2020/21.

There will be no risk to public health as a result of water from a lagoon adjacent to a sewerage plant being pumped into Weipa’s Mission River, Rio Tinto says. Last week, the mining company notified local residents that it would be releasing water from the lagoon next to the Awonga Point Sewerage Treatment Plant into the Mission River following heavy rainfall.

Telecommunications are back online in Lockhart River after the Cape York community suffered a 10-day outage to kick off February ... Mayor Wayne Butcher said the community had a long history of communication issues, mostly in the wet season, when they needed these services the most ...

Early in the new year, Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT announced its intention to close Harden's St Lawrence Residential Aged Care Facility. Following the expression of strong concerns and disappointment by the aged care residents, their families and the local Harden community, as well as extensive media coverage, a meeting was convened in Harden on Friday 5 February which included the Hon Michael McCormack MP, ...

On 8th February 2021 the Aged Care Workforce Industry Council launched the Voluntary Industry Code of Practice. The Code is based on seven guiding principles for quality care and is intended to be a transformative tool for Australia’s aged care sector.

All eyes are on Casino as the next region to become a job precinct. Called the Casino Industries Activation project, the aim is to establish a strong case for businesses to locate to the Richmond Valley and includes cutting red tape to lure manufacturing businesses to the area. Last Wednesday in Townsend near Maclean, Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow, council's general manager Vaughan Macdonald, Casino Food Co-op's Simon Stahl and State MP Chris Gulaptis were at an event where Deputy Premier John Barilaro announced Casino as the location for the next Regional Job Precinct.

A proposal to build a large battery to store excess energy from the grid prompted 80 residents to attend an information session at McKees Hill Hall on Wednesday evening. The mood in the hall was tense as Maoneng’s director for Australia Allison Hawke faced a torrent of questions from residents who said they had been kept in the dark about the proposal.

Geoff Helisma. New South Wales Deputy Premier John Barilaro has relaunched the government’s 20-Year Economic Vision for Regional NSW at Sanctus Brewing Company, Townsend ... The updated vision, the government says, “identifies emerging sectors and future industries for government investment, includes 50 new priorities to drive long-term stimulus impact, underpins investment in the regions from now until 2038, sets out a plan for jobs and population growth in regional NSW and leverages remote and altered working patterns that have emerged as a result of COVID-19”.

Roper Gulf Regional Council would like to congratulate the Ngukurr community, for winning the 2020 Tidy Towns Sustainable Community Award for Water Conservation. The town’s water conservation success has been a result of Power and Water Corporation’s Ngukurr Leak Reduction Project, a joint project with the Department of Local Government, Housing and Community Development (DLGHCD) that located and repaired water leaks in Ngukurr. Through its not-for-profit subsidiary Indigenous Essential Services, this project enabled Power and Water to provide sustainable water supply to the Ngukurr community and support continual community growth.

Analysts say the latest cattle industry projections suggest record cattle prices could last through the rest of calendar 2021. Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) 2021 Cattle Industry Projections forecasts cattle slaughter to fall to its lowest level in 25 years as producers retain stock. The rebuild comes after cattle numbers fell to 24.6 million head in 2020 – their lowest level since the early 1990s – as a result of prolonged and severe drought.

... Mr Adidi said he was thankful that his partner Shawntaye Manantan and cousin were with him when the attack happened. “We literally couldn’t do anything but watch what was happening and it happened so fast,” Ms Manantan said. “We ran and dragged him up (the bank) and the croc was coming with its mouth open.” ...

There was no such thing as COVID-19 the last time our so-called Member for Cook Cynthia Lui visited Weipa. It’s been some 530 days since the MP last flew out of Weipa Airport after a whirlwind trip to Weipa and Napranum. That was on August 28, 2019.