Casual work set to be redefined
Will Hunter. Casual employees who work a regular pattern of hours may soon have the right to request a permanent position sooner in their employment, under proposed federal government reform. The definition of what it means to be a casual employee is set to be redefined to allow eligible workers a stronger pathway to secure permanent employment.
Labor makes more cuts to the national soil strategy: Littleproud
The Federal Labor Government has scrapped the National Soils Advocate and cut funding to programs that previously had bipartisan support … “Labor also redirected $11.7 million from the National Soils Strategy to ‘other priorities’. They continue to make cuts instead of investing in this much-needed strategy”: David Littleproud.
$4.3m on hold pending study
A regional health bureaucracy has been blocked from spending $4.3 million on hospital upgrades rather than radiation treatment services in the Limestone Coast. But only until a feasibility study for radiation therapy has been completed. Then SA Health Minister Chris Picton will make a decision.
Buloke Times editorial: Shearers 2
This is a follow-up to the previous piece about the shortage of shearers. The numbers of Australian-based shearers have diminished by 30 per cent in the last decade, partly due to the drought, the pull of the mining sector, and Covid 19 restricting arrivals. New Zealand shearers also had a pay rise in 2018. In May 2023, at the end of the earlier editorial, the hope was expressed that the shortage would be relieved by progress with the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme (PALM). Provision had been made for a pilot round of a small number to be trained as shearers in southern NSW. That plan will not now go ahead.
Farmers push for urgent housing solutions: TFGA
The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) are pushing for urgent solutions to the Tasmanian regional housing crisis. The matter is of significant concern to the Tasmanian farming sector which has made a real contribution to the states economic growth and expansion.
Vic stands strong, NSW crumples under Albo water grab
The Albanese Government has officially declared war on Basin communities and Australian families who are suffering with the cost-of-living crisis. On Tuesday, the Federal Water Minister declared that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan MKII would remove the legislated protections around taxpayer funded water buybacks and the new plan extended to 2027 ... The Murray-Darling Basin Plan clearly demonstrates legislation is only abided by when it’s convenient to the political outcomes sought, and changed when it’s problematic to those ends.
Listen to people who have ‘lived experience’ – SRI
“We know the devastation of flooding caused by holding too much water in dams. We know that due to constraints issues it is pointless recovering the massive water volumes that are being planned, because it is impossible to deliver them downstream ... governments must listen to people who are ‘on the ground’ and have a different understanding of Basin Plan implementation to those who live in cities and base their assessments on computer modelling”: Jan Beer.
The Voice can be heard in the Communist Manifesto
It’s time for the progressive left and the Yes supporters to give up on the Marxist dream of collectivization and redistribution and instead encourage indigenous Australia to accept that the gap is based on a lack of the opportunities that come with private enterprise, individual enterprise, strong families and less government, not more.
Malinauskas Government welcomes agreement to deliver the Murray Darling Basin Plan in full: Close
The Malinauskas Government welcomes the new agreement to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full including the 450 gigalitres of environmental flows we have long campaigned for. With the exception of Victoria, all Basin jurisdictions and the Commonwealth have agreed to deliver the plan in full including legislating for voluntary buy backs...
Queensland Government sells out on Murray-Darling Basin plan: Littleproud
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.
Doctor crisis hitting valley
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.
New tools in the fight to save the iconic koala: Plibersek
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.
Historic deal struck to guarantee a future for the Murray-Darling Basin: Plibersek
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...
NAB lets down another regional community: Canavan, Brockman
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 rally against renewables in Brisbane: Littleproud
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.
Bleak outlook for pharmacies
A new report by the Commonwealth Bank and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) has revealed a bleak outlook from pharmacists because of the Federal Government’s introduction of 60-day dispensing. The "Commbank Pharmacy Insights Report 2023" shows an overwhelming number of pharmacists will be charging for what were previously free services, cutting staff, trading hours, and believe the value of their pharmacy will fall over the next three years.
Transition to net zero not one size fits all: Victoria University
New research from Victoria University’s Mitchell Institute has painted a clear picture of how Australia’s Net Zero by 2050 transition will impact regions and industries and recommended how to harness and mitigate the human cost ... In early May 2023, the Federal Government established a National Net Zero Authority to support Australia’s transition...
TCV reaching out to landholders: TCV
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...
Have your say about the biosecurity protection levy: DAFF
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.
The dirty business of bank closures laid bare in WA
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.
Drought of time to end the drought-funding drip
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.
100 pc mobile coverage in 2 years
Across the Limestone Coast and throughout Australia, Optus and SpaceX plan to provide 100 per cent mobile coverage by the end of 2025. The deal means an Optus customer should be able to connect to Starlink’s satellites to get mobile service if an Optus network is not available.
