Opinion

... when it came to it, when the ALP was clearly still in a minority, yet desperately wished to form Government and appoint themselves as Ministers of the Crown (nice cars, overseas trips, bigger offices, extra staff, higher pay, etc) the independents rolled-over like pussy cats wanting their bellies patted. Or should we say, five independents, three of them from rural seats, those selected carefully by the ALP, rolled-over.

National Farmers’ Federation President Fiona Simson: "This election, the NFF was looking for ideas and funding commitments to propel the farm sector’s growth trajectory and to give the support regional Australia needs to reach its potential. Unfortunately, all parties have fallen short ... The NFF was shocked and frustrated, when at the eleventh hour this week Anthony Albanese put a red pen through the $500 million Regionalisation Fund. This announcement was not included in Labor’s official response to the NFF." The Coalition’s regionalisation plan also falls short of the $4.1 billion ask from the NFF.

To demonstrate the magnitude of ignorance, look no further than the coffers of Australia’s largest irrigator, the taxpayer funded Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder (CEWH). For the 2021-22 season, the CEWH has a total of 2,365,000 megalitres – 1,640,000 in new allocation and 725,000 in carryover from the year previous – 1,030,400 of that in the Murray system. As of March 31, 2022, the CEWH had used 492,200 megalitres in the Murray system for the 2021-22 season.

John O'Donnell discusses the significance of a graph showing areas burnt by bushfire and by prescribed burning across Australia since 1960.

A Charles Sturt University early childhood education expert asks where in the 2022 election campaign is the commitment to big investment and to big policy ideas that ensure free and accessible early childhood education for the long-term? Dr Leanne Gibbs tells ARR.News how the challenges in workforce supply and retention in the ECE sector are even greater in rural, regional and remote areas within Australia.

Geoff Helisma. Environmental watchdog, Valley Watch, first began predicting flooding of Yamba, as a result of developing West Yamba, in about 1995; on Sunday May 21, the group will present a more than 1,000-signature petition to the mayor, Ian Tiley (or his proxy), calling for a moratorium on further filling and development approvals on the Yamba floodplain. “Basically, the petition is demanding a well-designed master plan for West Yamba,” Valley Watch spokesperson Helen Tyas Tunggal said.

Kookaburra decided that it could be helpful for readers of Australian Rural & Regional News if we were to conduct a survey of independent candidates from across rural and regional Australia to find out which party group they would support in the event of a hung Parliament.

Vic Jurskis discusses data from historical reports and field surveys and concludes that koalas are in no danger of extinction. ARR.News asked some further questions of Vic.

The Australian Rural & Regional News webinar held on 21 April 2022 is now available for public viewing.

The outlook shows 2022/23 may be the first year since 2012/13 in which the world has to consume less grain than the previous year – due to high prices and low supply, says Rabobank senior commodities analyst Cheryl Kalisch Gordon.   “This is forecast to be a drop of only 0.1%, but that compares to average annual growth of 2.1% over the past decade,” she said.

In an election campaign of hits and misses for farmers and regional Australia, the National Farmers’ Federation has revealed how the major parties stack up against its election priorities, rating them in a Policy Voting Guide.

In order to assist readers of Australian Rural & Regional News to obtain some more policy detail from candidates running for rural and regional seats at the up and coming Federal election, Kookaburra has put together a list of questions on some critical issues which one might expect any candidate standing for Parliament to be able to answer ... 1. If you are an independent candidate, in the event of a hung Parliament, will you support the formation of a Coalition or an ALP minority government?

This timber reserve is located just west of the Boddington townsite , on the eastern fringe of the jarrah forest in Western Australia ... The infertile, lateritic soils that initially spared the MTR from clearing by farmers were its ultimate downfall ... An important question to ask is “How much bauxite mining is enough?”

“It is impossible for this to be achieved by 2024. So, what happens then? Will we have huge volumes of water sitting in dams supposedly for ‘environmental use’ that cannot be released because it won’t fit down the system, but not enough water allocated to growing the food and fibre our nation needs? Under this scenario, regional communities will continue to suffer, and every Australian will be hit by increased cost of living" : Speak Up Chair, Shelley Scoullar.

Geoff Helisma. Election campaigns cost money, lots of money. The major parties, which more often than not form governments in their own right, have a distinct advantage when it comes to funding multi-million-dollar campaigns. But, over recent weeks it’s the ‘teal’ independent candidates who have emerged as a threat to the current government’s re-election. The Independent spoke with teal independent, Hanabeth Luke, who is contesting the Page electorate.

Robert Onfray gives an in depth examination of bauxite mining in Western Australia, its impacts on the jarrah forests, ineffective anti- mining protests and questions the McGowan government's decision to end native forest logging but support bauxite mining.

If we wish to compare current observations with past performance, we need to establish a set of relevant data, or baseline ... Water Corporation’s advertisements claim that “Perth’s rainfall is declining due to Climate change” showing a graph of reduced stream-flows into the reservoirs as convincing proof that “Climate change is real”. Such claims deserve scrutiny.

A world where down is up and debt is just a state of mind.

As someone who has run as an independent candidate, Kookaburra can assure readers that the group of candidates standing for election under the banner of Climate 200 resemble true independent candidates as much as a dog resembles a cat. When I ran as an independent, there was no uncle Simon Holmes a Court freely handing out thousands, he now talks millions, for my campaign. Apparently, with no questions asked and no obligations felt. Seriously?

What a stuff up! The Solomon Islands entering a security agreement with the Chinese Government has all the ring of the fiasco of the signing of the Darwin Port agreement with a Chinese company with very close ties to the Chinese Government. The pattern for both agreements from an Australia point of view is remarkable similar, probably best called the ‘do nothing syndrome’.

One of Professor Zylstra’s core beliefs is that withholding fire from south-west Australian eucalypt forests for at least four decades will make those forests less flammable, even in a warming climate. This idea must bring joy to those who have long claimed that frequent, deliberate (prescribed) burning is ‘harmful to biodiversity’.