NSW

Planting has finished with round one of Maitland City Council’s Community Street Tree Planting Program seeing 136 trees installed during February. Expressions of interest were called from residents in September 2020, and the positive level of response received highlighted people’s interest in environmentally driven projects and green spaces in Maitland.

In yet another blow to the state’s intensifying harvest labour crisis, NSW has missed an opportunity to be part of a DFAT-run program that enables seasonal workers from Fiji and Vanuatu to work on local farms. National fruit and vegetable crop losses resulting from the workforce conundrum now exceed $50 million, and the outcomes of today’s National Cabinet meeting confirm NSW is lagging behind other states and territories in developing a short-term solution.

Adam Marshall, Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Western NSW, Media Release, 5 March 2021 The NSW Government will lift the ban on the use...

The second weekend of the State Championships will see the elite surf and beach athletes line up against both the unexpected heroes and future stars with over 1,100 athletes representing 78 clubs from all 10 branches.

Rod Fuller's full review of race day at Port Macquarie on Thursday 4 March 2021, including the winning treble for trainer Nathan Doyle.

Ali Bohn. Part of the appeal of raising kids in the country is the freedom and wide-open spaces they get to enjoy in what (we hope) is an adventurous but safe environment. For these Cohuna brothers, a regular weekend means heading out to the farm with their dad, Dave Toohey, to do cattle work. They have lived and breathed farming since before they could walk, so at 9 and 10 respectively, Charlie and Hunter are "pros" at farming.

Koondrook-Perricoota Forest is Australia's largest redgum forest spanning 33,759Ha. As you drive past the KP Forest on the Moulamein Road it is hard to ignore the colossal banks and outlets that lay dormant. The huge engineering exercise costing more than $100 million was the NSW State Government's approach to meeting Murray Darling Basin Plan objectives. Unable to use the engineering white elephant and KP Forest's health still dire, the community is leading the charge to find a workable, pragmatic solution that can be driven by people invested in the outcome.

The place where an Australian tennis legend was born, the Barellan Tennis Club courts, was renamed to honour the local Goolagong family in a moving ceremony on Saturday.

Nicholas Rapulo. The National Party’s efforts to suppress the release of a $500,000 feasibility study into the revival of the Narrandera to Tocumwal rail line has failed with the report set to see the light of day. A motion put forward by the Shooters, Fishers, Farmers Party in New South Wales parliament passed the upper house last month meaning the report, which has been hidden away, will be released to the public.

NSW Farmers supports a decision to lift the moratorium on Genetically Modified (GM) crops, provided farmers have a choice and that any genetically modified organism has been approved by an independent, science-based Australian regulator. The NSW Government will lift the ban on the use of GM crops by allowing an 18-year moratorium to lapse when the Gene Technology (GM Crop Moratorium) Act 2003 is due to expire on 1 July 2021.

Casino artist and children's author Gwendolyn Gray was mowing when she received a call from State MP Chris Gulaptis ... At the official announcement last Wednesday, Mr Gulaptis said Gwendolyn had also donated artwork for auction for fundraising events, including the local bushfire appeal, and donated her time to schools and the community with teaching and lecturing of art.

There are two ideas on how to use the rail corridor between Casino and Bentley. The newly formed Northern Rivers Rail Ltd wants to see trains on the track with a bike path alongside.

When Leeville farmers Greg and Sheila Galea lost their contract to grow meat chickens for Inghams Chickens, they decided to switch enterprises and diversify ... There are two ways for farmers to grow their business, says consultant Rose Wright. "Get big or create layers of value."

New South Wales Government Minister Kean, Minister for the Environment, constantly says he "follows the science". A noble ideal, but only if what he is sprouting is science.

The weather Gods dished up a downpour last Saturday, just as the inaugural ArtJam was due to kick off at the Grafton Bridge Precinct. Despite the deluge, which forced the cancellation of art workshops and sent the food vans home early, a significant body of new street art was added to this informal art gallery.