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If it quacks like a duck…Climate 200
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?
Winds of change
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’.
Zounds Professor Zylstra: David Jefford Ward
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’.
Mackeral need protection from anglers, politicians
Dave Donald. While anti-fishing groups have long been opposed to recreational fishing, to claim they have colluded in a major way to “slash Spanish mackerel quotas” is a fabrication. Seeking to lay the blame for the depletion of Spanish mackerel stocks solely on Labor is another furphy as exceptionally poor fisheries management under BOTH major parties essentially created the current situation.
Deloitte Access Economics Business Outlook: Now for the tricky bit
"Australia sells energy and food to the world, so the tragedy in Ukraine means that our miners and farmers have seen the spoils of war."
Prospects for Australian wheat exports amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict
A Charles Sturt University agribusiness expert suggests Australia can anticipate an increase in wheat exports to countries affected by the Ukraine-Russia conflict and should target those importing nations’ requirements.
Mackeral stats are fishy: Katter
Katter's Australian Party Leader Robbie Katter has backed a Cairns game fishing leader’s condemnation of the state government for siding with anti-fishing groups to slash Spanish mackerel quotas ... Cairns Professional Game Fishing Association spokesman Dan McCarthy said the survey on the management measures for the east coast Spanish mackerel fishery released by DAF was skewed towards severe restrictions and used a very different stock assessment model and method to any ever used before.
Labor pains
Countless reports, ‘engagement’, reviews and the rapid erosion of the river have highlighted all these failings, yet a potential prime minister appears oblivious to the geographical diversity of issues, constraints and environments across the basin. With city centric politics appearing more interested in getting elected, what hope does the health of our basin have?
Build policy on solutions, not winning votes: Speak Up
The community-based Speak Up Campaign has joined the growing list of organisations expressing concern at last week’s Labor Party announcement around implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. In particular is the issue of water buybacks, which Labor’s Shadow Water Minister Terri Butler conceded, “If we have to” was “an option that will have to be pursued.”
Water fight risks real damage: NSW Farmers
"There are real opportunities to deliver environmental outcomes to the river system without reducing production. I would call on both sides to put aside the political point scoring around who's tougher on water, and instead build upon the opportunities in the basin plan that have been hard fought but are still yet incomplete": Richard Bootle, NSW Farmers Water Taskforce Chair.
Labor affirms its decision to remove another 450 gigalitres of water from irrigation use: The Riverina State
Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party have affirmed their decision to remove another 450 gigalitres of water, in addition to the 2750 gigalitres already removed via the Basin Plan, from productive use in NSW and Victoria. Most, if not all, of this water will be sourced from The Riverina and northern Victoria.
Jobs to go under Albanese’s water plan: VFF
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has warned that jobs across regional Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia will be lost if Anthony Albanese’s policy for water recovery is implemented under the Murray Darling Basin Plan. VFF President Emma Germano said Federal Labor’s five-point policy showed a total misunderstanding of the Basin Plan and a total disregard for jobs in regional communities.
Elections. One down and two to go this year
Mulga Bill. We call our system ‘representative government’ which obviously means we elect Members to go forth and promote the wishes of the electorate, in the Parliament. It is a fair call that an Independent MP will accurately represent his electorate but on many occasions this fine principle is subverted for the party politician. An elected MP from a party will need to firstly raise the concern of his electorate within the Party Room ... Do you question whether we have genuine representative government?
Public meetings called to address mining threat
Two public meetings will be held on April 12 and April 19 to discuss the implications of a mining exploration licence application ... Bart Lebbing said the Denmark shire relied on primary production, nature-based tourism, education, art and craft enterprises, viticulture and the service industry. “Mineral exploration and mining do not value-add to these sectors, but compromise their viability,” he said.
Has fire and flood risk and mitigation management gone astray in south eastern Australia? : John O’Donnell
Over the last few years, there have been a lot of natural disasters in south eastern Australia as all are aware. It is opportune to review risk and mitigation management in regards to natural disasters in south eastern Australia and this article assesses both fire and flood risk and mitigation management.
Skywalk plan ‘up in the air’
Narrandera Shire Council's plans to construct a skywalk at Lake Talbot may literally be ‘up in the air’ following Tuesday night’s public meeting at which some members of the community voiced their disapproval of the project ... “We’ll take what has happened at this meeting on board and it will give us something to think about": Mayor Kschenka.
Bendigo to Canberra and back by QANTAS – Mandarin Class – only $1808!
This item was mean to be Kookaburra's Post-Budget report, but given the costs and inconveniences of regional air travel in Australia, it is now a Pre-Budget complaint. Not being a government supported Mandarin - merely a lowly citizen - Kookaburra decided that no rational person could agree to pay the fares demanded by QANTAS to fly from Bendigo to Canberra.
New mining exploration licence
A number of local residents have expressed their concern regarding an application for a new mining exploration licence. One resident told the Times, “I am concerned about the size of the exploration licence that has been applied for, especially in relation to the historic and scientific significant mining landscape that may be damaged.
Can prescribed burning assist in the control of wildfire? Frank Batini
... these disastrous wildfires have also given land managers and fire services a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get on top of the bushfire situation. By the end of this year, the fuels in the NSW and Victorian 2019/2020 fire areas will be three years old. The next few years will be a wonderful opportunity to break up these large areas of contiguous fuel by widespread prescribed burning, safely, with minimal chance of escapes. It is a chance that must not be missed.
Kerry O’Brien and Cathy McGowan – the independent way
Geoff Helisma. As the federal election nears, former ABC journalist, presenter and interviewer, Kerry O’Brien, will join former member for Indi, Cathy McGowan, at the Grafton Services Club on Sunday April 3. The pair will speak about how independent candidates can help stop the “erosion of democracy” in Australia.
What the Minister and CEO FCNSW did not say!
On 15 March 2022, NSW Budget Estimates Portfolio Committee No 4 saw Justin Field MLC and David Shoebridge MLC once again argue the closure of selective harvesting of native forests in NSW.
Carbon credit profits as primary production income – Carbon Count CEO Phil Mulvey’s view
"The latest government announcement about primary producers being able to claim their carbon credit profits as part of their primary production income looks positive indeed. What is important to understand however is that this development, whilst positive, is only benefiting those primary producers that have already started a carbon farming project and are soon ready to sell. What this development doesn't doesn't do is incentivise farmers to take up a carbon project in the first place; the key issue we need to overcome to meet our netzero2050 targets. What we need most now are governmental incentives that mitigate the financial barriers of entry for farmers and enable them to get started fast": Phil Mulvey.
