Federal politics

National dairy productivity has continued to stall since 2010-11, achieving an average annual growth rate of -0.04 per cent from 2010-11 to 2022-23. Yet, under the surface of these national level aggregates, the story has some positive elements.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed today’s announcement that the Federal Government has committed to introducing a Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO). If enshrined by legislation, the world-first proposal means telecommunications companies will be legally bound to guarantee basic, outdoor voice and text mobile coverage across every corner of Australia.  

Kookaburra read with astonishment that the Treasurer, our own Sonny Jim, has headed off to the USA to ask for tariff concessions whilst spruiking the possibility of Australian super funds applying some of their $US2.8 trillion in holdings to investment in US infrastructure.

Agriculture, fisheries and forestry is well placed to take on future challenges and opportunities, according to the latest ABARES Snapshot of Australian agriculture. Sector value and production have continued to grow over the past 20 years with another strong performance expected in 2024-25.

Exorbitant prices for groceries in outback stores are often the subject of outrage but are rarely dealt with a great deal of logic ... Why should the public purse kick in $50m over four years from 2025-26 to provide remote stores with low-cost access to about 30 food products?

The phrase ‘learning curve’ suggests a gentle incline, but when Jan Elliott and Lee Mead talk about their journey to becoming Postmistresses, they describe a very steep slope indeed. They have recently been reflecting upon their six years running Maldon Post Office, between 2006 and 2012, in light of the repaint of the Main Street pillar box.

"I focus today on energy policy, because this is a government that 97 times promised before they were elected that they would reduce power bills permanently by $275 per annum. That promise was officially broken on January 1, this year. They hate us talking about it. It was a big promise, it was a bold promise, and it is broken": Member for Mallee, Dr Anne Webster.

Bureaucratic hurdles, red tape, market failures, declining investor confidence, and ineffective policies have all been cited as key factors behind the district’s ongoing housing crisis. In this edition of Hard Talk, The [Naracoorte] News explores the severe housing shortage affecting regional towns like Naracoorte, Penola, and Bordertown.

A $2 million program is supporting councils to expand collection points for problem batteries like those found in vapes and e-scooters. The new LNP Government has announced a three-point plan to tackle battery safety risks sparked by a spike in dangerous fires.

When South Australians were trying to turn their estuary into a freshwater dam in the 1940’s, the Mulloway natural migration was devastated. Now, Australia’s only freshwater estuary hangs like a noose around the neck of the Murray Darling Basin, consuming huge volumes of freshwater to raise an artificial lake height for yachting, and an attempt to dilute the Southern Ocean, under the fundamentally flawed Murray Darling Basin Plan.

Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said live sheep export farmers have been dealt another insulting blow by the Albanese Labor Government, amid revelations $2.3 million of the budget allocated to phase out live sheep exports has gone to a global media company for advertising.

Hugh Schuitemaker. Further support measures are needed to ensure further closures to Riverland bank branches are avoided, according to the region’s Federal MP. The Federal Government last week announced an agreement with banks to “ensure banking services remain available in the regions”.

Andrew George. Three years after the catastrophic 2022 floods and the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA) are finally getting into the swing of their Resilient Homes Program (RHP) … Pine Street in North Lismore has become a niche of human adaptation in our climate and bureaucracy deranged world. Seven of eight of the houses at the cul-de-sac end of Pine Street are buybacks.

Aidan Ricketts. There are things government can do well, there are things business can do, but for everything else there’s community ... The spiralling cost of homes to buy or rent in Australia is an intergenerational crime, and a ponzi scheme that benefits very few. Homeowners don’t really benefit from the high onpaper value of their home, as replacing it will cost just as much, and young people are squeezed out of purchase and rental markets; and the banks’ net share of national wealth escalates.

By now, most farmers will have heard that the State Labor Government is “flying the kite” on taking back ownership of WA’s rail network. For some, particularly the Tier 3 romantics, the idea of reviving a government-run rail system is a dream come true.

Legal action taken by MLDRIN, a Confederation of First Nations from the southern half of the Murray-Darling Basin, has led to the Federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek conceding she made a mistake in accrediting the NSW Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan.

Pearce MHR Tracey Roberts has released a statement about her health saying she was recently diagnosed with multiple systems atrophy ... Mrs Roberts, who was elected to the House of Representatives in 2022, said with medical advice and the support of family, friends and the community of Pearce she was committed to standing for re-election.