Federal politics

Narrandera Shire Council is excited to announce that the community is one step closer to safer, more reliable water, with $908,000 in funding from the Albanese Government to develop a full business case for a new, state-of-the-art Narrandera Water Treatment Plant.

Chris Elliot. Wilcannia residents in the space of less than 300 years have moved from the traditional wooden message stick that, while designed to carry a lot of data, had low transfer speed, as it depended on how fast the carrier walked. In 1866 it took 70 days for a letter to come from London to Wilcannia. Now, at current average speed of 80Mbps you can send a 2-million-word document per second from Wilcannia to London.

Austinn Lane. A new missile manufacturing facility at Proof Range, south of Port Wakefield, is the only site outside the US authorised to produce the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System ... The facility marks a major step forward in Australia's missile capability, creating around 20 on-site manufacturing jobs and supporting hundreds more ...

“Water use has drastically declined since the Basin Plan,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien “with one in three litres of irrigation water, now out of production and new Sustainable Diversion Limits (SDLs) set by the Basin Plan in force” ... “More water is no substitute for these projects. It’s a lose-lose, the environment can’t get the important projects, and communities and industries will further suffer from less water, unless alternatives are considered,” said Ms Lowien.

“Net zero means we have to completely change everything we do in a single generation, from how we drive, to what we eat and make ... There needs to be new modelling done on what the exact cost of net zero is. In Senate estimates, the government was unable to outline the cost of Australia reaching net zero. That is unacceptable. Australians deserve to know how much this radical proposal will cost them”: Senator Matt Canavan.

The safety of workers and the integrity of renewable energy projects across the state has been called into question last week, after a nationwide audit was launched following the discovery of asbestos in wind turbine components. The finding points to a lapse in compliance with Australian import laws, and has raised concerns the future of planned energy project development in the Hay and Balranald region.

A new report by Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) reveals more than 1,500 people have come to the organisation since 2023 with complaints about social media and other digital platforms. The report, Digital platforms complaints insights, shows 71 per cent per cent of disputes are with the major tech companies Google, Microsoft, Apple, Hubbl, and Meta.

A major expansion of the Gippsland Water’s Regional Organics facility will increase capacity to turn food and garden organics into high-quality compost to boost the productivity of Victorian farms thanks to the Allan Labor and Albanese Labor Government. Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulus announced the completion of a $12.9 million upgrade to the Gippsland Regional Organics Facility...

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority’s 2025 assurance report on the Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) has found that significant work remains to deliver a number of outstanding SDLAM projects, and many projects will not be delivered in time or at all. The SDLAM has a strict deadline of 31 December 2026 under the Basin Plan, and for any projects to be counted they must be complete and operational.

Snowy Hydro continues to strengthen its critical role underpinning reliability while enabling Australia's renewable energy transition with the signing of major energy contracts with Aula Energy and TagEnergy, securing new capacity in wind generation and grid-scale battery storage. The long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Aula Energy will see Snowy Hydro procure 120MW of renewable energy from the Carmody's Hill Wind Farm in South Australia.

Major-brand supermarkets and fuel retailers in bankless towns could be eligible for exemptions from the Federal Government’s proposed cash mandate regulations under exceptional circumstances provisions, an official from Treasury confirmed today during Senate Estimates hearings. The information was obtained by WA Senator Tyron Whitten in a series of questions about regional banking services.

Caitlin Menadue. The long-awaited response to the Yorke Peninsula health services inquiry has landed, with SA Health tabling its position in state parliament on November 26. SA Health has accepted all 16 recommendations from the Economic and Finance Committee's Inquiry into the Delivery of Health Services on the Yorke Peninsula.

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said Labor’s rushed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBCA) Act reforms are a confusing mess, with the Department unable to guarantee farmers won’t experience a financial loss due to the new changes.

Organisations with emergency management responsibilities must be capable of preparing and managing severe to catastrophic disasters. Practice Note 3: Capability maturity: assessments and targets for severe to catastrophic disasters presents a capability assessment tool that organisations can use to assess their capability maturity to adequately prepare for and manage severe to catastrophic disasters.

Australia’s combined agriculture, fisheries and forestry production is on track to reach a record-breaking $106.4 billion in 2025–26, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) December quarter reports.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has secured a Federal Government commitment to extend Right to Repair reforms to agricultural machinery, hailing it a historic win for farmers and a direct result of years of advocacy from the farm sector.

Mine Free Glenaladale ... A spokesperson for Mine Free Glenaladale, Ms Robyn Grant, said she was surprised at Mr Harrington’s comments ... “He is simply parroting the same unscientific misinformation and spin that the community has been asked to swallow for the past 12 months, as the failed Kalbar project is rescoped."

Hamish McIntyre. Farmers have been left bitterly disappointed by the deal between the Government and the Greens on environmental reform ... the NFF has supported genuine reform, but not this deal. Our key concern is the announcement of ‘closer controls’ of ‘high risk land clearing’. The specifics of this remain unclear, and we are urgently calling for clarity.

Enough structural timber is expected to be available to build Australian homes until at least 2050, according to an ABARES Insights paper.

The Murray–Darling Basin is virtually certain to become hotter, rainfall likely to become more variable, and droughts very likely to become more frequent and severe, a new publication from the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) has found. The MDBA ... released the 2025 Murray–Darling Basin Outlook — a forward-looking assessment...