NSW

Rodney Stevens. As the son of a professional fisherman growing up during the 1970s in Maclean, Peter Pryor never dreamed of seeing tropical species including Barramundi and Red Emperor caught in the Clarence River. The president of the Clarence River chapter of Oz Fish said until the early 2000s, local waters were never warm enough to accommodate  fish previously only caught in tropical Northern Australia.

Emma Pritchard. Communities from across the region, including more than 900 local school students, came together at the Maclean Showground on June 2 to attend the Clarence Valley Close the Gap Day 2022, and spread the message of the importance of embracing and achieving equality in the health, education, justice and employment aspects of First Nations people.

John O'Donnell. After a walk along the Wilson River and Leycester Creek near their junction at Lismore, I called into the Winsome Hotel, thinking there might be a drink on hand, as it was close to lunchtime and there was no signage on the hotel indicating any changes in management.   No luck with any drinks, but I met Mieke Bell and she generously donated her time showing my wife and I what was happening on the ground floor after the floods.

The need for a new model for emergency management was clear after the floods in late February-March. And Richmond Valley Council hasn’t pulled any punches in its 18-page submission to the NSW Flood Inquiry. Richmond Valley has endured eight natural disasters in three years including fire, flood and drought.

Emma Pritchard. Regional Express (REX) has announced the withdrawal of services from several regional centres, including Grafton, with flights to cease from June 30 ... Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan and Clarence Valley Council (CVC) Mayor Ian Tiley have called on the Labor Government to extend the RANS program which has enabled REX to continue operating within the local area.

The observatory at Mallanganee Lookout will be built out of metal and concrete and will be semi-enclosed, providing the perfect vantage to the views across the Richmond Ranges to the Border Ranges and Wollumbin during the day and the stars overhead at night ... will be positioned on the precise latitude where the centre of the Milky Way crosses directly overhead every day.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) has entered into a partnership with Telstra in what will be the first of many agreements between landholders, the private sector and philanthropists to conserve land ... The BCT offers conservation agreements to landholders, which permanently protect existing native landscapes on private land in NSW.

Forestry Corporation of NSW has delivered 25,000 koala food tree seedlings to the Friends of the Koala’s Lismore nursery to support north coast koala conservation groups’ efforts to establish habitat on private land. With wet weather rife across the region, all involved were relieved that the nursery site remained dry enough to receive the bulk seedling delivery in support of Friends of the Koala’s and Bangalow Koalas’ planting programs.

Evidence of an important koala population in Kosciuszko National Park has been revealed by new surveys ... conducted in November 2021 and February 2022 that recorded male koalas at 14 sites within the park’s Byadbo Wilderness Area. “This is good news because until these recent surveys, there had only been 16 recorded sightings of koalas in Kosciuszko in more than 80 years,” Mr Griffin said ... ARR.News asks some questions of the Minister.

The state’s peak farming body has asked the NSW Government to invest in small scale on farm renewables to ease cost pressures for food producers. The cost of electricity had nearly tripled in the past decade.

Murrami woman Dorothy Roddy is June’s Artist of the Month ... Documenting the history of the Riverina Welfare Farm for Boys and the POW Camp 15 eras between 1928 and 1947 at what is now Yanco Agricultural Institute, the exhibition features 12 oil paintings which should appeal to art lovers as well as history buffs.

Joan de Bondt. Local resident, Wayne Clayton, and fellow Australian, Daniel Gladwell, have been selected to represent Australia in the World Ploughing Contest later this year... “The very best international ploughing competitors and their teams will be battling it out on Irish soil in September to become supreme World Champions,”: World Ploughing Organisation general secretary, Anna Marie McHugh.

Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) commissioners will start to flood Gunbower Forest with 74,000 megalitres after ecologists raised concerns of declining health of red gums after four years without a flood ... Audrey Dickins, local landholder, passionate environmental advocate and member of the Central Murray Floodplains Environment Group, believes the problems with the Gunbower Forest are more complex than the ‘just add water’ approach.

What do you look for in a tourist attraction? An exciting new project is in the planning phase that will tell a story of a community, showcase our history and add the local region to the insanely popular silo art trail. Plans are afoot to turn the Barham water tower into a 20m high billboard that will attract tourists for an overnight stop to experience everything our towns have to offer.

NSW Independent MP for Murray Helen Dalton has introduced a bill into Parliament that will prevent Northern Basin floodplain harvesting licence holders from seeking financial compensation from taxpayers for their licences... “This unregulated practice known as floodplain harvesting devastates Lower Darling communities and reduces water allocations for Southern Basin irrigators : Helen Dalton

Delegates at the River reflections annual water conference today heard about the impacts of the massive sand slug in the Barmah-Millewa reach of the Murray River and the consequences to water users, the environment and local community if no action is taken to address it.