Opinion

Matt Canavan’s exposé at the recent Senate Estimates, which had the Department of Agriculture’s executives sweating in their seats, deserves wide circulation ... “There’s lots of talk about the need to increase reforestation—effectively, the conversion of agricultural land to forests ..." ... If Matt Canavan is the Senate’s zealot hunter, then Western Australia’s Senator Matthew O’Sullivan is its Maremma the Sheepdog that protects its flock ... In committee, O’Sullivan’s questioning tore open the government’s $139.8 million Sheep Industry Transition Assistance Package ...

The ink is barely dry on Canberra’s new 2035 carbon targets, and the climate catastrophists are already eyeing 2050, the holy grail when net zero will finally be achieved. Out in the Wheatbelt, most farmers shrug. Another distant date, another government promise, most have tuned out with the view that what I can’t see does not hurt me — a bit like the GRDC levy that nicks 1 per cent of farm-gate revenue. But let’s be clear ...

The Nationals’ Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, has slammed the Allan Labor Government for failing to address the worsening crime wave across regional Victoria ... Fresh figures ... reveal substantial increases in criminal incidents, offender rates, and family violence ...

I’ve never had much patience for farming fashions dressed up as science, and none has made more noise than “regenerative agriculture.” ... At last week's Regenerative Food Systems Conference ... I found myself alternating between rolling my eyes and listening intently. That, in a nutshell, is how most practical farmers view regen: some solid agronomy smothered in ideology.

Australia has not just a skills shortage but a worker shortage of any skill when it comes to finding people in the bush who actually want to work. Out there in the real world there is no longer a shortage of mechanics or tractor drivers — it’s the whole backbone of the trades. Builders, sparkies, plumbers: the people who keep farms, houses and small towns from grinding to a halt. 

A report released in partnership with Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, Commonwealth environmental water sustaining Murray–Darling Basin ecosystems: 10-year (2014–24) retrospective, outlines how a decade of monitoring, evaluation and reporting is optimising management of Commonwealth environmental water holdings – a public asset with a market value approaching $10 billion.

After more than a century of Federation and countless social experiments, you'd think Australia would have learned from the mother country how not to wreck an economy or an immigration system. Yet here we are in 2025, shackled to laws and institutions that guarantee only one thing: the slow, grinding slide down the global economic ladder.

Every time someone brings up the Southern Oscillation Index or the Indian Ocean Dipole, I nod along and drift off. But a recent conversation with an old boarding school mate gave me hope that maybe it’s not as complex as I originally thought and maybe some of the amateur Wheatbelt weather forecasters might have more than half a clue about what's going on out there.

The Fruity (and Nut) Farmer. Let me start by saying this: macadamia nuts are not just nuts. They are the Beyoncé of nuts. Beautiful, bouncy, nicely rounded, high-maintenance, and fully aware that they're better than you ... nothing has ever judged me harder than a macadamia tree.

More frustrations are expected for the region’s train users, with passengers on the Seymour and Shepparton train lines set to face almost two months of bus replacements as whole sections of the lines will close for a staggering 55 days between September and November.

While politicians and activists agonise over the merits of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, a far more insidious war rages on — not between nations, but between species. It’s the war we barely talk about, yet one we’re losing badly: the war against invasive pests. From farmland to forest, the frontlines are everywhere, and the casualties aren’t measured in headlines but in trees, crops, ecosystems — and billions of taxpayer dollars.

Long?suffering readers know I like to poke around in the world of agricultural science particularly anything to do with carbon farming and climate change, so — without drawing on the untapped wisdom of my son Thomas — I’m going to argue, once again, that soil carbon farming in the WA Wheatbelt belongs firmly in the fantasy section of the library, not the science shelves.

Dr Siri Gamage. It’s been over three decades since trains last ran north of Armidale toward the Queensland border. But the question is no longer why the Northern Railway Line should be reopened—it’s why not, and when ... Reactivating the disused railway line could deliver enormous benefits for both NSW and Queensland. The infrastructure may be old, but the opportunity is very current ... There are five compelling reasons to revive this corridor ...

The selfless nature of many veterinarians is contributing to the sector’s mental health crisis, a former Naracoorte vet has told an SA Parliament committee. Dr Adele Feakes says business sustainability and profit routinely take a back seat to a vet’s altruism, placing additional pressure on individuals to survive and thrive in the industry.

Land clearing was effectively banned back in 1983—but apparently no one told the Shire of Northam. Their newly released draft Tree Retention Policy (LPP27) reads as if state and federal restrictions don’t exist. It’s packed with all the right buzzwords—biodiversity, canopy cover, climate resilience—but beneath the green gloss is a bureaucratic trap.

It’s time to return to a model where prevention isn’t a seasonal checkbox or an afterthought, and land management isn’t a sideshow. Fires like Yankees Gap should be front-page scandals, not just for the damage they cause, but also for what they reveal about how badly we’ve lost our way.

Dr Chris Parker. The recent decision by the Federal Government to accept that the United States has met our biosecurity standards has created immense anxiety within our beef industry, given our strong belief in rules-based trading and science-based protections.

Dr Chris Parker. The threat of lumpy skin disease (LSD) to Australia’s beef cattle industry may have fallen off the front pages, but the current outbreak in Europe proves the risk of this horrid disease remains very real. It is my view that LSD is by far and away the most likely exotic disease of ruminants to enter Australia.

John O'Donnell continues his research into bushfire impacts and preparation ... We are not passive victims of climate. We are active contributors to disaster. And we can change it. It is time for governments at all levels to acknowledge this reality and commit to genuine, large-scale fire mitigation, in policy, in funding and on the ground.

Frank Batini. In summer 2011, following a very dry winter there was limited but noticeable tree crown scorch and some deaths of jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) on sites with shallow soil. This event was repeated in summer 2024. On both of these occasions the forest growing on deeper soils was healthy. Academic and media comment immediately linked these deaths to human induced climate change ... ARR.News asked some further questions of Frank.

Balranald Shire moving forward with key projects and community initiatives. Mayor Louie Zaffina has been keeping busy since taking office, with significant progress on several fronts across the Balranald Shire. From major infrastructure projects to community health initiatives, Council is delivering on multiple priorities while actively seeking solutions to regional challenges.