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The WA Nationals need to muscle up, not give up
The recent talk in the media of the plan by the WA National Party to trade the leadership of the Opposition for a guaranteed third winnable seat in the upper house was a sign of a political party that was in deep trouble ... If the Nat’s want to survive, they need to take some big policy risks and be more than Robin Hood and Father Christmas wandering around with the Royalty for Regions chequebook that requires the Liberal Treasurer to cash them.
Forester Frank, science and French folly: David Jefford Ward
Although my qualifications lie in other fields, I know Frank Batini as a modest, well mannered, well qualified, and experienced forester. His recent article about his past work on water supply from Wungong Dam, near Perth, has raised concerns with me about the management of water supplies in Western Australia ... Instead of following scientific advice, they seem to have switched their beliefs to the thinking of other kinds of experts, without any qualifications in forestry, fire, or hydrology, but expertly politically aware and active.
Firewood panic – Jarvis’s order leads to double standards: Gavin Butcher
Gavin Butcher. The WA Government’s new forestry policy is unravelling. The responsible Minister, Jackie Jarvis, has started to panic, reportedly ordering 120,000 tonnes of firewood to be produced, and in the process is sacrificing supplies to sawmills. The result is that high quality sawlogs are being set aside for firewood instead of being manufactured for furniture and flooring.
Police are needed in country towns: McArthur
Victoria Police wants to take officers from one-person police stations in 98 small towns and roster them into regional centres and cities to fill police shortages. The rostering change is due to more than 800 police vacancies across the state ... Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur, said the move is alarming.
The Voice can be heard in the Communist Manifesto
It’s time for the progressive left and the Yes supporters to give up on the Marxist dream of collectivization and redistribution and instead encourage indigenous Australia to accept that the gap is based on a lack of the opportunities that come with private enterprise, individual enterprise, strong families and less government, not more.
Another incredible story about koalas
Vic Jurskis. Laura Chung from Sydney Morning Herald tells us “Members of one of the healthiest koala populations in Sydney are dying at an alarming rate, as chlamydia-infected koalas and housing development” get closer. Makes you wonder how many different koala ‘populations’ there are in our State Capital ... Premier Chris Minns has a terrible dilemma.
Drought of time to end the drought-funding drip
What would focus the minds of farmers to be more drought resilient is if the State and Federal governments come out together and simply say to all Australia's farmers that 'you are on your own, we are no longer handing out grants when the rains fail' ... If they are going to continue with the Drought Fund, then they should focus on funding some big game-changing projects, not the rats and mice ones that won’t move the dial.
Live sheep ban sets dangerous social licence precedent: GPA
Allan Marshall recently published an excellent article outlining the important role live sheep exports play in delivering multiple benefits, especially improved animal welfare and global food security ... So why does this closure of the live sheep trade concern Grain Producers Australia?
Farm leader calls out Euro ‘madness’: NSW Farmers
NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin says it’s time for Australia to stop bending to European demands that would cripple food and fibre production. The latest broadside on Australian agriculture came in the form of a motion to Labor’s federal conference – inspired by European laws – that would directly limit what farmers were able to do on their properties.
How to stifle active forest management – the Wungong catchment trial in Western Australia: Frank Batini
Frank Batini has set down the history of the Wungong catchment trial in order to provide a record that shows how difficult it is to implement any active forest management in the northern jarrah forest. This account may be of interest to forest managers in other parts of Australia.
Captain Cook fighting for political inheritance
Good captains can read not only the shifting winds of the seas and the state of the ship but also the mood of the crew and, when they hit land, have the people skills to mix it with the local population. It begs the question, are our Cook and Buti the modern-day equivalents of Captain Cook and Bligh?
Farmers urged to help stop Labor’s fresh food tax
Leader of the Nationals and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud is urging farmers and families in Maranoa to help stop Labor’s fresh food tax, by registering interest to have their say online. Consultation has now opened into Labor’s Sustainable Funding to Strengthen Biosecurity – Have Your Say - Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
LEAN agenda would drag Labor to the fringe – costing jobs and fuelling inflation: NFF
Australia’s peak farm body has called on delegates at the ALP National Conference this week to vote down a radical anti-farming motion backed by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN). Farmers say the “Climate, Clearing and Cows” motion, which calls for methane emissions to be halved in the next 6.5 years, is misinformed and in conflict with mainstream scientific opinion.
SFF calls out Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman on inaction over the Tarago Incinerator: Borsak
Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MLC Robert Borsak and SFF Goulburn Branch President Andy Wood have called out the hypocrisy of the Liberal member for Goulburn, Wendy Tuckerman, for her recent motion in the NSW Parliament about the proposed Tarago Incinerator. The proposed incinerator at Tarago will burn 380,000 tonnes of Sydney's waste each year, including plastics, municipal and industrial waste.
Cash is lifeblood
Kim Radok. When we talk about cash in business from the perspective of our introduction, essentially, we are talking about the funds in the business’s bank account(s) ... Irrespective of whether your business accepts or extends credit, the fact of business life is that now you are seeing how important it is to understand the role cash plays in the long-term survival of your business.
Indigenous leader calls for bureaucrat-free Cultural Heritage panel
David Prestipino, NIT. A prominent First Nations leader in the Kimberley has called for an independent panel chaired by an industry leader and Indigenous expert to re-draft WA's doomed Aboriginal Cultural Heritage legislation. Nyikina man and former Kimberley Land Council CEO Wayne Bergmann said a roundtable of industry, pastoralists, farmers, native title holders and land councils should be involved in drafting the new laws.
Pharmacy transition not all rosy
Pharmacies in regional, rural and remote Australia with average script volumes equalling dispensing income of under $1 million in the 12 months to April 1, 2023 will be eligible to receive a new Regional Pharmacy Transition Allowance (RPTA). However, Narrandera pharmacist Mel Close has warned that while that information made it look pretty rosy, the additional funding was based on the number of prescriptions dispensed per year and was not what it seems.
The cashless society – Part 1
Oscar Tamsen. Australians are losing more than $1 billion a year to debit and credit card scammers and electronic thieves, causing more and more Clarence Valley ratepayers and others to ask why the Federal Government is urging the country towards a cashless society. Research undertaken by the CV Independent has revealed that many Clarence Valley bank card holders cannot understand why this "convenient banking" is being favoured while it continues to be open slather to criminals’ intent on stealing their hard-earned monetary assets.
The 2019/ 20 bushfires – contributory factors: John O’Donnell
John O'Donnell identifies the multiple contributory factors that influenced fuels, forest fire resilience, bushfire attack, safety, impact, cost, bushfire extent and intensity of the 2019/ 2020 major bushfires across south eastern Australia ... Are we better prepared now?
The Great Koala National Park
Vic Jurskis. The facts haven’t deterred the ecowarriors of North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) from trying to hasten the demise of the sustainable, renewable, solar-powered native timber industry. They don’t care about habitat for people, other than themselves. They’ve launched an application for an injunction to ‘save’ the overcrowded koalas that are breeding more rapidly than ever on all the soft new growth resprouting after the Black Summer holocaust that they helped to create.
Government fiddles while buffel burns
Adrian Tomlinson. Fire is one of the terrible consequences of buffel, the invasive grass many call a weed, and which is declared as such in neighbouring South Australia ... Yet the NT Government seems to be responding to this emergency without great strategy, judging by answers given to Araluen’s independent MLA Robyn Lambley, who put questions in Parliament suggested by the Alice Springs News.
Buloke Times editorial: Prospects of an Australia-Europe FTA
A previous editorial concluded with a possible view from the European side of a trade agreement ("FTA" - free trade agreement) with Australia. This time, from the Australian side, we look at the principal agricultural products which our negotiators feel will give us some advantage in an agreement with the European Union (EU).

