Opinion

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.

Frank Baarda. Living in Yuendumu and having followed the Death in Custody saga, I was looking forward to the Coroner's report. I was not disappointed. A friend forwarded me the pdf, all 683 pages of it … In case you missed it, here are photos of the edged weapon and the stab-wound.

Estimates is meant to be the opposition’s one decent swing at the government’s budget—the rare chance to force ministers to justify the billions in taxpayer cash they merrily shovel around like chook feed. Instead, it’s turned into the legislative equivalent of asking a sulky teenager to explain where last week’s allowance went ... when ministers start throwing up emotional smokescreens instead of facts, it’s usually a sign they’ve got something to hide.

Come 2025, after a couple of wars, a new US president, a cost of living crisis, power blackouts and the hard economics finally catching up to lofty promises, the world seems to have quietly lost interest in the net zero game ... Just this week, the Red Meat Advisory Council formally dumped its 2030 carbon neutral target, swiftly followed by Meat & Livestock Australia.

Carla Wilshire. I visited Lord Howe Island as a child. I remember the quiet strength of it, the gentle precision of life shaped by tides and cargo, and the sense that everything here moved to its own rhythm ... In the years since, I have come to see Lord Howe not only as a national treasure, but as a case study in resilience under constraint.

Australia runs a reasonably large migration program by international standards but getting migrants out of the big cities ­­­- particularly Melbourne and Sydney - and into the regions has always been a challenge ... Australia’s regions need strengthened incentives and concessions to encourage migrants to settle in regional areas, fill regional labour shortages, and in turn strengthen our regions and ease population pressures on our big cities. It’s time for action.

The brutal truth? We’ve hit the wall on new mobile towers in the bush ... If the government wants to be taken seriously on regional development—and on spreading the half-million migrants arriving each year beyond our major cities—then it must stop treating mobile connectivity as a private-sector problem. It’s time to treat it like the essential service it is.

Climate change has such a large negative impact on Ukrainian agriculture that it affects the country's macroeconomic indicators ... Farmers from all regions of Ukraine have sown 5.5 million hectares of spring grain and leguminous crops ... However, this spring cannot be called ordinary.

Peter Hibberd. This is my opinion only – some very big changes are needed in harness racing. Over recent months, with the decrease in prizemoney back to $4,000 per race, one particular club did not get enough nominations to have its meeting, which was surprising as it is one of the biggest harness areas in Victoria. Another case was Charlton last Monday with only enough horses running for six races.

Shadow Minister for Local Government, Kirrilee Warr MLA, has labelled the implementation of the Cook Labor Government’s Stop Puppy Farming laws a "dog’s breakfast" after the Government abandoned a $9.8 million contract just days after the new laws had taken effect.

House prices are decreasing and employment opportunities are increasing – there has never been a better time to live and study in regional areas. More young people in the city in recent years have given up on their dreams of owning a home – but are they looking in the wrong market?

In a year when the eastern states have either been drowning under floods or gasping through drought, and here in the west half the state has been left staring at a dry horizon, it seemed timely to stop watching the skies and start digging into the past ... What I aim to do is cut through the rising noise between the climate catastrophists shouting Armageddon and the hardened sceptics waving it all away, versus the climate fatalists like me—convinced that, whatever humans do, nature already has the final say—and put some facts on the table.

Member for Mallee, Dr. Anne Webster, says the Victorian Labor government has sharpened its sights on Marnoo, Navarre, Beulah, Warracknabeal, Normanville and Quambatook to bear the brunt of the VNI West transmission line, wind turbine and solar panel burden of their energy targets.

Something’s shifted. You can feel it in the air — and no, I’m not talking about carbon dioxide, the superfood of plants. I’m talking about the political climate, the social mood, the economic headwinds, and, most importantly, the dawning realisation across much of the Western world that Net Zero isn’t the pathway to the promised land — it’s a mirage.

Reading the near hysterical outbursts of faux upset and horror on the part of members of the mainstream media and some current and former Liberal Party MPs at the decision by the National Party not to re-enter a Coalition with the Liberal Party whilst in Opposition reminded Kooka that Coalition, whilst offering benefits to the National Party, has also come at a cost. Nothing comes free.

Jeni Kendell. Each May, the Nimbin Aquarius Foundation is planning to put on an event to celebrate the original Aquarius Festival in 1973 which helped reawaken and renew our wonderful town of Nimbin and ripple out in so many ways to far corners of this country. This annual event will resemble the ‘Festival of Dangerous Ideas’ that has become a landmark for people thinking outside the square.

Jay Stephens. This is the first in a series of articles musing on the impact of Generative AI ... The two most urgent critiques of gen-AI are unrelated to what they do and how they do it (intrinsic properties). They are ...

The Albanese government, fresh from electoral victory and emboldened by a tighter alliance with the Greens, has wasted no time signalling its intentions: the nation’s nest eggs are in its sights with their plans to tax unrealised gains on super accounts over $3m ... It’s a dangerous shift in the philosophy of taxation, and one that poses deep constitutional and legal questions.

"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?" That famous line, attributed to John Maynard Keynes, ought to be stitched into the lapels of every politician wandering through Parliament House with a talking point in one hand and a Twitter poll in the other. For out here in the Wheatbelt, we know better than most that stubbornness is a vice when the wind shifts and the sheep are heading for the neighbour's crop.