Cash mandate exemption requests piling up at regulator
Supermarkets and fuel retailers are trying to get out of obligations to accept cash payments under new industry codes introduced by the Federal Government, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has confirmed. The commission (ACCC) says “multiple” applications for exceptional circumstances exemptions have been received from retailers in both regional and metropolitan areas, but none have yet been accepted or rejected.
Testing Australia’s national disaster response and resilience capabilities: McBain
Key government and private sector organisations have come together to test how they respond to crisis scenarios, such as natural disasters, health and biosecurity incidents, supply chain shortages and disruptions to critical infrastructure.
Labor must push back on Trump’s new tariffs: Canavan
Leader of The Nationals Matt Canavan said Labor must fight the Trump Administration’s proposed new 12.5 per cent tariffs. Senator Canavan said the Trump Administration’s proposed tariffs on Australian goods are unjustified and a clear breach of the Free Trade Agreement Australia has with the US.
Narrandera water: Pressure pays off with deed of release executed for critical design works
The Deed of Agreement concerning Narrandera's future water treatment plant has been executed following sustained pressure from the Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke. The deed was critical in enabling Narrandera Shire Council to progress detailed design and business case work for the project, which aims to deliver clean water to the town.
Wage decision hits hard: NSW Farmers
NSW Farmers says today's Fair Work Commission Annual Wage Review decision will place significant additional pressure on farm employers, with some horticulture operations facing the full 6 per cent increase to their wages bill.
How much water and power will AI data centres use in Australia? Ironically, we don’t have the data to know
Michael Vardon. Australia’s data centre rush now rivals the mining boom. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman last week said Australia could become a “data centre capital of the world”. This would come at an environmental cost ... Before committing fully, we need granular detail on how much water and energy these centres use.
New research finds sugar gliders, not forestry, are killing off swift parrots: Timber Towns Victoria
A peer-reviewed study concludes that predation by an introduced species is the primary driver of swift parrot decline, and that conservation strategy needs to catch up with that reality. TTV ... says a new peer-reviewed study vindicates what the forestry sector has long argued: that native forest harvesting is not the primary cause of swift parrot decline…
New scientific review confirms native forestry can deliver wood, biodiversity and environmental outcomes: FWCA
Forest and Wood Communities Australia has welcomed the publication of a major peer-reviewed scientific review that concludes Australia's native forests can be sustainably managed for timber production while protecting biodiversity, carbon values, water resources and other environmental outcomes.
Comrades, the roadmap is nearly complete
Nearly two years after the live export ban became law, farmers have been making decisions while the transition industry is still planning the transition. That simple fact tells you almost everything you need to know about the live sheep transition.
Export success hides domestic pain for growers – food security needs action: QFVG
Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG) is warning against complacency on Australia's food security following the release of the ABARES June 2026 Agricultural Commodities Report, which shows export growth is increasingly obscuring challenges facing domestic fruit and vegetable production.
Where to for regional migration? Peter van Vliet, Migration Institute of Australia
A week after the May Federal Budget, the Government published changes to the visa category allocations ... Most surprising in the subsequent announcement was the decision to more than halve a skilled migration program reserved exclusively for regional areas from 33,000 to 14,110.
Agriculture production set to ease amid drier outlook: ABARES
Following a record year in 2025-26, ABARES is forecasting the value of agricultural production to fall by 5 per cent to $98.3 billion in 2026-27, ($104.5 billion when fisheries and forestry are included). Agricultural export value is expected to fall, down $7 billion to $74.8 billion in 2026–?27 ($79.3 billion including fisheries and forestry exports).
ANL Kokoda to be first in Australia’s strategic fleet: King
Today, the Albanese Government announced it has secured the first vessel in its Maritime Strategic Fleet, the ANL Kokoda. The ANL Kokoda, a large cargo ship, will be the first to participate in the Strategic Fleet Pilot Program.
Bowen’s battery blather as Coalition reveals rollout cost blowout: Webster
Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster has taken Energy Minister Chris Bowen to task for his spin on Mallee battery rollout numbers, as the cost of the Government’s home battery scheme blows out. “I had to call out the Minister’s nonsense claiming Mallee has a home battery rollout ‘6 times Melbourne’ – which is very sneaky semantics...
Feral cats eradicated from Little Dog Island: Watt, Collins, Pearce, Teesdale
A remote island off the coast of Tasmania has been declared free of feral cats after two years with no sign of the invasive species. Little Dog Island, an 83-hectare outer island of the Furneaux Group in Bass Strait, has been secured as a safe haven for wildlife including the estimated 500,000 pairs of short-tailed shearwaters that nest on the island between September and April each year.
Native fish habitat trial goes swimmingly: Watt, Moriarty, Jackson
...the trial of the $26.2 m bubble plume project is already making a positive difference by creating warmer temperatures throughout the Severn River’s Pindari Dam storage ... “This project aims to re-establish more natural water temperatures below dams for native fish breeding and growth. The project also ensures that water temperatures from environmental flow releases enhance the health of the river downstream”: Tara Moriarty.
Peak volunteering organisation at risk
In the wake of National Volunteer Week, Volunteering Central Coast says proposed Commonwealth funding changes could dismantle the local volunteer support infrastructure that has enabled volunteering on the Central Coast for more than 40 years. Established in 1985, Volunteering Central Coast currently supports more than 60 local community organisations and promotes about 170 volunteer roles, many of which require multiple volunteers to meet community need.
Haines bill will strengthen disaster communications
Warning that repeated communications failures in regional areas are putting lives at risk, Member for Indi, Helen Haines, on Monday introduced legislation to improve the resilience of Australia's telecommunications networks during natural disasters. Dr Haines said North-East Victoria has endured successive catastrophic events in recent years including the Black Summer bushfires, major flooding in 2022 and 2023 and the January 2026 bushfires that devastated parts of Indi.
Caught out thanks to Caught in the Current
The launch of Caught in the Current, The Dire Consequences of Politics Driving the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in Barham, celebrated a long-awaited, community-driven historical and factual resource on Australian Water Policy ... The book is explicitly designed as a factual counter-narrative and practical tool for inquiries, libraries, and policy debate.
VFF warns government water buybacks are creating an unfair corporate water market
“It’s no longer a level playing field. Farmers trying to secure water to grow food and sustain communities are competing against taxpayer-funded buybacks and major investment entities with access to massive amounts of capital”: VFF Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy.
Farmers disappointed no commitment on tax thresholds: NFF
Hamish McIntyre. The National Farmers’ Federation is disappointed the Federal Government has introduced its tax reform legislation without explicitly committing to review the outdated small business Capital Gains Tax (CGT) concession thresholds. In introducing the legislation, the Government signalled that this is the first tranche of legislation, with more consultation to come on small business and further legislation required for implementation.
The few funding the fight
I’ve just returned from a two-day National Farmers’ Federation members meeting in Canberra and the mood is dark. It is increasingly clear this Government has little affection for the productive capitalist class and is hunting for revenue, regulation and control from wherever it can extract it.
