NSW

On 14th of February 2023, 20 students aged 8 to 11 years old from Lord Howe Island became marine scientists for the day. In doing so, they joined UNESCO’s global environmental DNA research initiative that is being rolled out across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the impacts of climate change.

The earliest pictures of life on Lord Howe Island were recently uncovered and provide a fascinating glimpse of the early settlement. The pictures were found while searching for reports on the Island to the NSW Colonial administrators who were considering Lord Howe as a possible solution to its overcrowded penal settlements.

The nation is on track to plant an impressive 23.48 million hectare winter crop this year – up slightly on last year’s crop area – Rabobank says in its newly-released 2023/24 Australian Winter Crop Outlook ... overall harvest totals are forecast to be lower than last season, with expectations of drier growing conditions due to the likely transition to an El Nino climate cycle, the specialist agribusiness bank says.

Clarence Valley Council will put forward a motion at the annual Local Government NSW conference requesting that councillors shouldn’t have to vote annually to determine their own pay rises ... Cr Bill Day put forward a motion to the Local Government NSW conference in November 2023 requesting that councillors shouldn’t be determining their own remuneration, which doesn’t happen at other levels of government.

A motion to address community and business concerns following the 2021 and 2022 floods that devastated the region has divided councillors at the May 23 Clarence Valley Council meeting. The motion was moved by Cr Novak and seconded by Cr Alison Whaites before Climate Change Committee CCC chair Cr Greg Clancy asked Cr Novak how many meetings of the committee she had attended.

In receiving the 2023 Dr Helen Proudfoot Women in Planning Award which recognises her outstanding contributions which have enhanced and improved agricultural planning policies ... DPI employee Tamara Prentice remains dedicated in her commitment to ensuring agricultural land maintains a pivotal role in the increasingly competitive rural landscape, and is motivated by her love of the natural environment.

Out now!

Out now!

It was about speed and presentation (that’s where the parsley comes in) in the Great Boning Wars that took place on the back of a truck in the middle of roundabout turned cattle ring in Walker St, Casino. It was Beef Week Saturday, May 27, and the art of de-boning meat was a spectator sport.

Hoorah! Rappville has a community bus ... The 2019 bushfires destroyed 23 properties; the pub was saved from flames twice. Residents had to rebuild, recover and find ways to move forward after the disaster. Dave and the other members of the Rappville Social Club had to decide how best to use the donations coming in from “all over Australia”.

From the historic streets of Bathurst to the outback city of Broken Hill, people across regional NSW will be empowered with knowledge about how to keep their identity secure as ID Support NSW visits eight regional communities from 30 May until 28 June. Following a successful roadshow along the Northern NSW coast last year which saw more than 400 people attend, ID Support NSW is engaging more communities to help improve their identity, privacy, and cyber security awareness.

A Charles Sturt University researcher has developed a mobile phone app that provides information about NSW river levels in a 50-kilometre radius from the user. The ‘RiversNearMe’ app was developed by Dr Darren Yates, a postdoctoral research scientist in the Charles Sturt School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering and in the Charles Sturt Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment.

Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio confirmed that the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) can progress the critical VNI-West project, which will better connect the Victoria and NSW energy grids ... A Ministerial Order has been implemented to progress AEMO’s preferred option, which connects VNI West to the planned Western Renewables Link (WRL) at a terminal station at Bulgana in Victoria’s west, then linking to a terminal station near Kerang in north central Victoria, before crossing the Murray River north of Kerang.

‘Branching Out”, the latest report on the NSW native forestry by the Blueprint Institute, was released on 26 April and put into the media with the subeditorial line “Report outlines economic benefit of ending native forest logging’ ... The Report should be marked ‘draft’ given its deficiencies - and that is being generous.

Narrandera reinsman Blake Jones has been a dominant force in the Riverina for quite some time and in the final race at Wagga last week the talented horseman achieved a significant goal in his driving career. Jones brought up his 1000th winner aboard the Bernie Kelly-trained Waratah Lou.

"Saving Men’s lives" is the catchcry of the Rotary Men’s health education rule van. MHERV is an initiative of the Rotary Club of Warners Bay in collaboration with local Rotary clubs and other community groups in each area it visits. With the support of the Royal Freemasons Benevolent Institution (RFBI) a registered nurse undertakes free basic check-ups for ‘blokes’ to come in and have a free health check.

Out now!

It was another successful two days of the Border Flywheelers rally. The sprawling museum, steam powered marvels and shiny rides delighted attendees. Saturday saw a light shower of rain but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of visitors from as far away as Armidale NSW and even Perth WA.

The Andrews Government has announced the cessation of native forestry at the end of 2023, despite promises in 2019 to phase out native timber logging by 2030. The native timber industry represents a large segment of the state’s overall timber industry, creating 2,500 jobs and generating more than $770 million in revenue annually ... The Government will establish an advisory panel to consider and make recommendations on which forests to lock up as National Parks.

A South Australian bull created a bidding frenzy in the sale barn at the recent 58th Herefords Australia National Sale to sell for the top price of $75,000. Held at the Wodonga Exhibition Centre, the sale was southern Australia’s single biggest multi-vendor British bred offering with 53 vendors from NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.