Federal politics

Michelle Daw. Yorke Peninsula pharmacists and the pharmacy industry peak group are concerned about the impact of 60-day dispensing on their future. This comes as medical leaders have thrown their support behind the initiative.

Australian owned company Martinus Rail, has been awarded a $403.5 million contract to design and deliver enhancement works on the 183 kilometres of track between Albury to Illabo and the 170 kilometres of track between Stockinbingal to Parkes.

New analysis released by ABARES examines Australian Agriculture’s extensive sustainability credentials—and the importance of demonstrating them to consumers and investors in the future ... “Compared to other significant agricultural producers, Australian farmers use less fertiliser, have better nutrient balances on their land and use more sustainable cropping practices”: ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville.

Patrick Goldsmith. There were cultural burns across Yorke Peninsula from Monday to Friday, June 19-23. In a bid to reinvigorate the Narungga land management practice, Narungga men and women took to four locations in Ardrossan, Point Pearce and Minlaton for just the second time in recent history to ignite shrubbery.

The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) and its member bodies have put forward a range of alternative projects to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) plan, with the potential to restore 1000GL or more without resorting to buybacks.

The Rural Doctors Association of Australia (RDAA) has backed the Federal Government’s 60 day dispensing measure for selected medications, saying it is good policy for rural patients. RDAA has added that it doesn’t believe the plan will impact the financial sustainability of rural and remote pharmacies, as increased supports are being put in place to assist them.

The National Australia Bank (NAB) has been pulling a swifty on customers that have lost branches since September last year, using incomplete visitation data to justify the decisions ... The deception was revealed when the use of the phrase “over the counter interactions” on NAB’s West Lakes “branch closure fact sheet” was questioned, with information sought on what activities were being counted as foot traffic.

The original ‘Australian Garden’ exhibit, created by Designer Phillip Johnson, Horticulturalist Wes Fleming and the Trailfinders Team, was the first Australian entry to win Gold and Best in Show at the London Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show in 2013.

Leader of the Nationals and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud has called on Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to overhaul the state government’s efforts to eradicate fire ants from the Sunshine State. Mr Littleproud’s call comes after the potentially devastating pest was recently discovered on the outskirts of Toowoomba, meaning the fire ant has made it across the Great Dividing Range for the first time.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has written to Commonwealth Water Minister Tanya Plibersek this week following a key document setting out the socio-economic criteria under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan being removed from the government’s website. VFF Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy said farmers should be concerned by the Commonwealth’s moves to walk back from the socio-economic test for recovery of the 450GL up-water target.

Deputy Secretary of Biosecurity and Compliance Dr Chris Locke said new fees and charges for importers would better reflect the true cost of delivering Australian biosecurity services. “While some importers will experience slightly larger increases in the prices, the average increase across all importers is around 28 per cent,” said Dr Locke.

One of a number of treasured works from National Gallery of Australia’s collection to visit. A $174 million masterpiece by French impressionist Claude Monet will be heading to the Tweed later this year, just one of many artworks shared with regional galleries under the Australian Government’s Sharing the National Collection initiative.

Representatives from the farming community and food manufacturers have united to express their concerns about Commonwealth water buybacks meeting with the Victorian Water Minister in Echuca on 28 June 2023. The meeting convened by the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) with Minister Harriet Shing included representatives from Northern Victoria’s major food processors...

While communities continue to recover from the 2022 flood event, residents are concerned that at least 30 levee breaches on the lower Loddon remain unrepaired. Emergency services have already been called to respond to a flood risk this month when a recent rise in the Murray River threatened to spill from a levee bank breach in the Benjeroop area.

Senator Lidia Thorpe and the Indigenous-Aboriginal Party of Australia (IAPA) have joined forces to call on the NSW State Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, David Harris MP, to listen to the voices of Traditional Custodians, the Guringai, regarding the devastatingly destructive development proposal, by the Local Aboriginal Land Council, for land on Woy Woy Rd Kariong NSW, in the area known as Kariong Sacred Lands ... "Do we want to listen to First Nation’s voices or not? Or is First Nations input only relevant if it comes from a state sanctioned Aboriginal corporation?”

Thousands of Northern Rivers residents have been waiting anxiously for 16 months to see whether or not they would receive assistance via home buy-backs, retrofitting or house raising. This week, hundreds are being told they will receive no help from Government ...Members of A Way Forward are calling on the NSW and Federal Governments to urgently provide additional funding to the NRRC to extend their Resilient Homes program.

New flood risk mapping released by the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Commission (NRRC) which has seen the number of homes eligible for buyback halved has been slammed by the Nationals as calls come for the second tranche of funding to be released. NRRC Chief Executive David Witherdin said the new mapping will inform the Commonwealth and State Government’s co-funded $700 million program and be used to prioritise home buybacks, raisings and retrofits.

The average price of broadacre farmland per hectare has almost doubled over the last three years, increasing by 93 per cent from 2020 to 2023 ... Median farmland prices have grown most in the high rainfall zone, increasing by 125 per cent over the last 3 years to almost $9,000 per hectare.