Politics

Making more out of the recent wet conditions and strengthening the resilience of the Murray–Darling Basin's ecosystems is the focus of this year's Annual Basin Environmental Watering Priorities ... MDBA's General Manager of Applied Science, Dr Matt Coleman said with more water in rivers and storages now was the time to capitalise on the fantastic fish and bird breeding events that have occurred and set our plants and animals up for even greater success.

More than three years after it was first announced, the Archer River Roadhouse has a mobile phone tower. Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch made the announcement in early 2019 that Archer River was getting a phone tower under the federal government’s blackspot program.

"The return of direct international passenger flights is a very exciting milestone for Tasmania in a much needed boost for our tourism operators recovering from the impacts of Covid 19": Michael Ferguson.

Central Highlands Regional Council are continuing to zoom in on flood management in the Gemfields with the installation of a new flood and camera gauge – Graves Hill ALERT. Located upstream of Graves Hill, the new automated river gauge includes an infrared camera which enables visibility of flood waters day and night.  

Hepburn Shire Council is working in partnership with the City of Ballarat on advocating for a mountain biking program to be included in the 2026 Commonwealth Games and for competition to be held at the Creswick Trails. With this week’s State Government announcement that the games will be held between the 17-29 March 2026 both Councils are calling for both Mountain Biking to be included in the Victoria 2026 program, the Commonwealth’s first Regional Games and for the Mountain Biking program to be conducted at the Creswick Trails. 

I recently had the pleasure to attend the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) conference in Canberra.  It was a pleasure because it gave me perspective on how we are functioning in Katherine, compared to other councils across the whole of Australia.  There were also some key take away points for me, which are worth sharing ... One of the most alarming messages we heard was about the loss of trust and retreat of democracy across the world. 

New data collected in the 2021 Census has revealed South Australia’s veteran population is more than double the figure previously on record ... This is the first time a comprehensive snapshot of the current and former serving population in South Australia has been developed, following the addition of a targeted question about military service history in the 2021 Census ... Approximately one-quarter of the former serving community is in regional South Australia, mainly in the South-East of the state encompassing the Limestone Coast, Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the Murray and Mallee regions.

Pilot trials to enhance bushfire resilience in regional communities through bushfire prediction, bushfire detection, aerial operations and uncrewed firefighting solutions were launched on the Sunshine Coast. The technology innovation has been championed under a new bushfire resilience partnership between Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Noosa Shire Council and FireTech Connect.

The highest rainfall in a decade has turned the red earth of Central Australia into a spectacular carpet of green vegetation ... With recent drier and hotter than average autumn days, the grasses are haying off quickly, increasing the fire risk with heavy fuel loads across the landscape. Bushfires NT (BFNT) and Parks and Wildlife have been hard at work with NTFRS, DIPL, Alice Springs Town Council and other landholders jointly planning fire mitigation strategies both within Alice Springs municipality and across the region.

The Threatened Flora Seed Production Garden will grow the Island’s at-risk species before collecting the seed for banking and biodiversity recovery projects ... The garden ... will enable landholders and community organisations to access rare and threatened plant species following fires, droughts and floods.

The South Australian apiary industry pollinates agricultural and horticultural crops valued at an estimated $1.7 billion and produces more than $11 million worth of honeybee products ... I can advise that PIRSA has set up an Incident Management Team to stop the spread of Varroa mite into South Australia ... There are nearly 3,000 beekeepers registered with Biosecurity SA and approximately 61,000 hives in South Australia.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed the Federal Government’s new biosecurity measures announced following the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) to Australian tourist hotspot, Bali ... “We would also like to see an increase in frontline biosecurity officers at return airports and ongoing reviews into the appropriateness of additional intervention methods such as footbaths”: NFF President Fiona Simson.

The Tennant Turf Club will receive $1 million over the next 10 years as part of the NT Government’s new funding agreement with Thoroughbred Racing NT (TRNT) ... Tennant Turf Club President Mike Nash welcomed the announcement with open arms.

Biosecurity officers are boarding planes on arrival and playing a new biosecurity message on all inbound flights from Indonesia, reinforcing Australia’s strict biosecurity measures and providing FMD-specific advice to travellers. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said the Albanese Government is very serious about keeping this devastating disease out of Australia.

NSW Farmers President James Jackson has slammed government officials for being wishy-washy on biosecurity controls such as foot baths ... “The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry says they can’t have antiseptic foot baths at airports because a child might fall in them,” Mr Jackson said.

Shadow Transport Minister, Shane Love, has called on Australia’s major airline to apologise to their WA customers after flights were cancelled across the state ... "this airline, which is borne of regional communities and the tyranny of distance, has shown little concern for the impact its mismanagement had on the regional families and businesses who rely on air travel to function,” he said.

“I commend the new Water Minister for getting on with business, but the truth is, these projects were well on their way to being signed off before the change of Government ... What we really need now is a Basin Management Plan rather than a water recovery plan. There are plenty of ideas about ways to achieve good environmental outcomes without the need for further water recovery and they should all be on the table as a way to offset any further water recovery,” Senator Davey said.

The Australian Government has announced $37.9 million towards the Lower Murray Water Efficiency project to better equip the Sunraysia water delivery network to combat a changing climate. This project delivers 2.5 Gigalitres (GL) of water savings back to the environment, First Nations Peoples and securing urban water supply.

The Australian and South Australian governments have announced $2.7 million to improve water infrastructure in South Australia, while delivering 126 ML of water savings to the environment. The Marion Water Efficiency Project will enable the City of Marion to reduce water use from the main Adelaide water supplies, which are often pumped from the Murray–Darling Basin, and help future-proof iconic sites like the Coorong and Lower Lakes.

The Elliott basketball court was the setting for the Barkly Regional Deal Governance Table meeting recently. This was the first time a Governance Table meeting was held outside of Tennant Creek, following a commitment from the Governance Table to speak with people across the Barkly to hear their priorities for their community and region.

In November 2019 Worksafe conducted an audit of Carmans Tunnel which ultimately resulted in the closure of the mine that had been once been a tourist destination ... Recently a small group of Maldon residents, interested in rehabilitating the tunnel, met with DELWP Program Manager Land and Built Environment Gavin Parkes and Program Officer Damian Sharrock, who confirmed that DELWP had commissioned the independent report.