Opinion

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen,” wrote George Orwell in the dystopian classic 1984. We, on the other hand, had a temperate day in November, and the masses appeared more worried about the outcome of the US election than an authoritarian coup by the Albanese Government ... Would you consider it wise to enshrine a profession famous for lying as the sole arbiter of truth?

Well, he’s back. This time, he’s not just set on “Making America Great Again,” but is doubling down with a pledge to “Make Our (American) Farmers Great Again.” But how, exactly, does he plan to pull this off? And should Aussie farmers brace for impact? A glance at Trump’s past as President, alongside his promises for the next four years, paints a picture that’s hard to ignore.

A single bus route in a small community might seem trivial to the Cook Labor government, but for the families who depend on it, it’s far more than just transport. It’s a lifeline that keeps communities viable, allowing families to live and work on the land while ensuring their kids can attend school without spending hours commuting each day ... This decision underscores the growing divide in our state ...

Honestly, I’m stumped, and I say this as someone who once worked for a Minister for Agriculture and “Food.” In all my years in government, I don’t recall anyone requesting a sit-down with the Minister for Food ... If a food giant like Kraft Heinz or Mars Wrigley came sniffing around WA, do you think they’d trawl through the yellow pages for the Minister for Food?

Every generation has its automotive obsession, and for farmers, it often revolves around a ute. Farmers can almost be defined by the aspirational utes they dreamed about owning in high school—often working long hours to pay for their first one, then adding custom touches to make it their pride and joy.

Labor have introduced a new Bill that gives the government and its bureaucrats extraordinary powers to regulate speech and decide what is classed as misinformation. Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan says he strongly opposes the legislation and has described it as an attack on free speech.

Rent land, don't buy it. Produce agricultural raw materials, don't process agricultural products. By following these rules of Ukrainian farmers, foreign investors might achieve great success in Ukrainian agriculture.

I’ve already outlined Canberra, our very own isolated political bubble in the bush, but make no mistake—there’s a whole global club of purpose-built capitals that decided to swap sense for seclusion. These cities, built from scratch, aimed to be the shining beacons of national pride, but somehow all have ended up as bubbles of bureaucrats, completely detached from the real world.

Canberra is a very strange place. The nation's purpose-built capital has been the subject of debate and controversy since its conception ... Where are the alternative voices? ... Politicians are only hearing one side, largely because no one’s challenging the narrative. Even our peak agricultural bodies have been sucked into the progressive undertow ...

Researching the Robodebt controversy couldn’t have been easy – journalist Rick Morton faced the challenge and wrote a book about it. Morton will discuss his new book  Mean Streak  in a special conversation with author Melissa Lucashenko in Kyogle...

Rainer Chlanda. Those who work in the social service sector in Alice Springs, as I do, know this fact intimately: there is an incredible amount of money funding our response to a community who have incredibly little. Our system watches as desperate people stumble and waits for them to fall before extending a paternalistic hand or one gripped around a gavel.

Riverland-based MLC, and opposition spokesperson for regional South Australia, Nicola Centofanti, has provided the following speech she gave in Parliament regarding concerns for the listing of the Lower Murray as a threatened ecological community as part of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999…

If the various State and Federal Ministers for Agriculture really want to make a statement that offers opportunities for Aboriginal people, then start with the existing 40 million hectares of the Indigenous-owned estate and unshackle them from the dead hand of government bureaucracy and red and green tape. But such a move would give the few Indigenous Australians who live on these properties real self-determination, the right to own their own land outright, access to capital and the right to get rich or go broke ...

As a person in his nineties and born in the past Holicene Age with the prospect of leaving it in the current Anthropocene Era, I have started wondering when the world is going to put humanity back into our sense of true original humanity. This question has been uppermost in my mind as I realise my life so far has also spanned two deadly world wars and 96 serious military actions between countries and states with a total estimated death toll of well over 120 million often innocent people.

The Victorian Farmers Federation is urging the Victorian Government to safeguard the state’s most strategically significant agricultural land from renewable energy development. VFF President Emma Germano said the transition to renewable energy can’t come at the cost of losing the state’s most valuable farmland.    

The independent advisory body with statutory authority to review Australia’s national water reform has published scathing feedback on the Federal Governments proposed National Water Agreement, calling the approach “detrimental to the conduct of water management in Australia”. The Productivity Commission … said “…the consequences of a shift in this direction should be considered deeply by all governments and their communities.

Long, long ago, in the early 1980s, a group of Western Australian farmers decided they had had enough of the growing spread in tractor prices between what was on offer at their local dealer and what American farmers were paying. So, they decided to bypass the local dealer network and order directly from the land of the free, thereby proving that middlemen exist only if you allow them.

David Hyett. Like many across Australia, small businesses in Nimbin face ongoing economic challenges as we enter the last quarter of 2024. However, Nimbin’s strength lies in its vibrant, alternative community, which reflects Aquarian values. We offer a unique experience.