NSW

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”.

Rod Fuller. With four wins at the Port Macquarie circuit since November, Elusive Eagle maintained his outstanding strike rate to lead throughout for a comprehensive victory in the Mid North Coast Championship Preview on Sunday.

A $32 million hydro-powered battery project to be located near Albury will be Australia’s first, following approval by the NSW Government. Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said the hydro-powered battery will be charged by the nearby Hume Hydro Power Station that already provides power to 40,000 homes.

The scarcity of seasonal workers continues to impact growers as crop losses climb to over $45 million this week. The labour shortage is a result of Federal and state government decisions to restrict the movement of people through the Australian border in order to manage the human health impacts of COVID-19. Sixty-five separate crop losses from five states and territories have now reported on the National Crop Lost Crop Register.

A large, multi-agency search is continuing this morning for a 53-year-old spear fisherman who went missing at South West Rocks yesterday afternoon, 4 February. Surf Life Saving NSW assets, including four IRBs (rubber duckies), RWCs (jetskis), and UAVs (drones), are currently involved in the search for the missing man on the NSW Mid North Coast.

Rod Fuller. With an exemplary record of three wins from four previous outings under his belt, Elusive Eagle is poised to account for rivals in the Mid North Country Championship Preview at Port Macquarie on Sunday.

Explore close to home and be blown away. I am close to the sky. The breeze in the thick canopy that covers the hillsides makes the mountains look like they're moving. The landscape is more ocean than forest – even though I stand 110km from the sea. This is Pinnacle Lookout in the Border Ranges where the peak of Wollumbin-Mt Warning shouts its presence by protruding from the waves of green.

Kyogle's newest vet Simon Wake lives in an idyllic setting. He shares his 80ha property near the Border Ranges with his schoolteacher wife Sally, daughter Lucy, dogs Arthur and Millie, 10 chickens and 18 Speckled Park cattle. Sitting by a huge dam where koalas hide in the trees, Simon's Land Rover is parked under the gums nearby, ready for the next callout.

Geoff Helisma. For Derry Moroney, photography started as “just a little hobby”, but now that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and other media outlets from around the world have contacted him, that ‘little hobby’ is growing into something much more. “My partner got me a camera a few weeks after we came here three years ago,” says Derry, “… it went from there. “I started going out every day; I went to every sunrise and every sunset and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

The Australian Rugby community is today mourning the passing of 14 cap Wallaby breakaway, Norman 'Mac' Hughes, aged 88. A world-class loose forward who commanded automatic selection in the Wallaby back row, Hughes was and forever will be Wallaby 398.

Ernie Mayo's January golf update

... Minister Kean was incredibly excited by the community-led progression towards renewable energy, and our efforts to provide energy security and insulation from fuel price shocks ... There was much discussion regarding the opportunities and the appetite for the Island to explore a transition to 100% renewable energy ...

The C.B. Newling building at Armidale, known locally as the Old Armidale Teachers’ College, will become one of four new Department of Regional NSW hubs and will house up to 100 new jobs in the New England region. Deputy Premier John Barilaro visited Armidale today and announced $2 million for initial works to establish the State Heritage-listed building as one of DRNSW’s four regional locations ... The Armidale hub will become one of four new DRNSW offices, alongside Queanbeyan, Dubbo and Coffs Harbour.

Federal Member for Parkes and Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government Mark Coulton said the new truck wash was a great win for the local trucking and agricultural community. “This project is about supporting our stock carriers to improve their efficiency and truck cleanliness, which I know has been widely welcomed by the Warialda community,” Mr Coulton said ...