Federal politics

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud says the Palaszczuk Government has sold out Queensland communities by signing up to Federal Labor’s latest Murray-Darling Basin plan. The Albanese Government has announced it would tear up Labor’s original policy on the additional 450 gigalitres of the Murray-Darling Basin plan and ignore the social and economic neutrality test, protecting communities from water buybacks.

A growing health crisis in the Clarence Valley which has locals waiting up to a month to see a doctor has seen the Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan call on the Albanese Government to “End the Rural Doctor Crisis now” … infrastructure and services in the Clarence Valley are insufficient to cope with the population growth, and the wait to get an appointment to see a doctor is increasing.

Chlamydia is a significant and widespread threat to the koala, impacting their reproductive health and causing infertility. This project will trial a new vaccine implant which would allow for koalas to receive their ‘booster’ dose of vaccine via the implant.

The Albanese Labor Government has struck an historic agreement to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, including 450 gigalitres of water for the environment. The agreement, made between the Federal, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory governments...

Senators Matthew Canavan and Slade Brockman, have expressed their disgust in the cowardly decision of the National Australia Bank to close its Waroona branch just one week after a Senate inquiry on regional banking was in the region. NAB has announced that they will be closing their Waroona branch on 17 November this year, leaving the town without a bank.

Farmers have rallied against reckless renewables outside Queensland Parliament House, urging Labor to rethink its plans to destroy prime agricultural land and pristine rainforest and animal habitat throughout Queensland ... Federal Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said Labor’s reckless race to achieve 82 per cent renewables by 2030 needed a Senate Inquiry.

Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) has refined the 5km to 50km VNI West area of interest into a draft corridor for the VNI West project ... Each landholder will be appointed a landholder liaison, who will be their key contact and able to help answer questions on important issues...

DAFF has opened consultation ... “The amount producers are being asked to contribute is equivalent to 6 per cent of Commonwealth biosecurity funding in 2024–25 ... By comparison, importers will contribute around 48 per cent and the taxpayer will contribute around 44 per cent ... From 1 July this year, the government increased cost recovery for delivering biosecurity activities for risk creators and importers, representing an average price increase of 28 per cent across biosecurity fees and charges" : Dr Chris Locke.

People are not taking time off work every Friday during footy season to drive hundreds of kilometres to the next closest bank to get money to pay the players and run the bar for the fun of it. Or drawing on their annual leave to get the cash float for the local show. You don’t clock up more than 500km in two days trying to find a bank that is open to make a security deposit to see the country and you don’t place advertisements in the local paper for coin to provide change at the post office to make new friends.

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.

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.

Farmers have rolled into Melbourne on tractors, prime movers and utes, urging Labor to rethink its plans to destroy prime agricultural land throughout Victoria ... our food and fibre production is at risk, with thousands of kilometres of prime land set to be ripped up and replaced for wind turbines, towers and transmission lines.

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.

Near-full water storages and the likely return of dry weather patterns are 2 factors influencing possible River Murray System management strategies for the year ahead. The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) released its 2023–24 Annual Operating Outlook on 15 August 2023. 

Powick’s Pantry’s potentially winning spicy tomato relish is languishing in a mail sorting facility in Sydney instead of being delivered to the Sydney Food Show for judging ... it has still not been delivered and is apparently sitting in the mail centre a week after it was posted.

According to the most recent national inventory conducted in 2021, Australia has 13,287 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste, which by volume is more than five standard Olympic swimming pools ... The site of Australia’s only nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights can safely store waste on site for some time, but we must ensure this waste has an appropriate disposal pathway. 

The largest and most ambitious trade initiative in Australian horticulture has been given the green light with a host of partners signing on to an historic $130 million program, the Fresh and Secure Trade Alliance (FASTA) ... As part of the program, FASTA will also boost biosecurity initiatives to solidify Australia’s strong reputation in pest-management and as a responsible trading partner for years to come.