Politics

Michelle Daw. A scheme to attract young people to Barunga West Council has begun, with the first applicants accepted for rate rebates on their first home. The scheme offers first homebuyers a flat rebate on council rates of $500 a year for two years and was launched in June.

Michelle Daw. Farmers could be forced out of their paddocks for twice as many hours and harvest pushed into the hottest, driest months of the year under proposed changes to the Grain Harvesting Code of Practice, Grain Producers SA has warned.

Michelle Daw. Community members are being urged to volunteer for five vacant roles on the Yorke Peninsula Health Advisory Council. Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis, who is the local MP representative on YPHAC, and retiring YPHAC member Rod Thomas have both encouraged local people to consider joining the group.

Members of the Charlton RSL Sub-Branch marked Vietnam Veterans’ Day last Friday – August 18 – with a dinner and commemoration service to honour and recognize the contribution of those who served and fell in Australia’s longest military engagement (1962-1972/3) of the 20th Century.

Here is a summary of the Kyogle Council meeting on Monday, August 14. Councillor Danielle Mulholland brought up the issues around the Bonalbo Multi Purpose Service … The monthly financial report elicited a discussion about how and where council invests its money.

The stuff-up about the number of homes that would be getting a buyback, house raise or retrofit deserves an apology, Simon Draper said. IndyNR.com interviewed NSW Reconstruction Authority chief executive Simon Draper and he said the information given was incorrect and it had a negative impact on the community.

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...

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 abolition of the popular $250 travel card for seniors living in regional areas at the same time as the Labor Government is lavishing Gold Opal Cards on Sydney seniors is unforgiveable ... Richie Williamson says ... analysis showed just how much worse off senior motorists in regional NSW have become under Labor.

Vic Jurskis. Laura Chung from Sydney Morning Herald tells us “Members of one of the healthiest koala populations in Sydney are dying at an alarming rate, as chlamydia-infected koalas and housing development” get closer. Makes you wonder how many different koala ‘populations’ there are in our State Capital ... Premier Chris Minns has a terrible dilemma.

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.

Their actions have saved countless native wildlife and where they go, the cameras follow. Conservation dogs are back on the Sunshine Coast, with up-and-coming canine Cooper taking the lead and his protégé Hakka in tow.

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.

The sparse and lonely outback may be the only beacon of hope left for Queensland communities and residents besieged by youth crime, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) MPs have said. The North Queensland-based party has released a 16-page document stating their case for change...

Allan Marshall recently published an excellent article outlining the important role live sheep exports play in delivering multiple benefits, especially improved animal welfare and global food security ... So why does this closure of the live sheep trade concern Grain Producers Australia?

NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin says it’s time for Australia to stop bending to European demands that would cripple food and fibre production. The latest broadside on Australian agriculture came in the form of a motion to Labor’s federal conference – inspired by European laws – that would directly limit what farmers were able to do on their properties.

Blake Lee. Businesses of every size, in every industry, in every corner of the country, are experiencing the worst skill and labour shortages in decades – a challenge that is worsening by the day, particularly in rural communities. Skilled migration is one of the policy levers available to governments to address workforce shortages in the economy.

Last Home Partners: housing for single pensioners. There are many people concerned about our housing crisis, many talking about what needs to be done, some who have formed or joined committees–but who is actually doing something about it?

Farmers rolled into Melbourne on Tuesday on tractors, prime movers and utes, urging Labor to rethink its plans to destroy prime agricultural land throughout Victoria. The farmers, from all different parts of the state, are warning that our food and fibre production is at risk, with thousands of kilometres of prime land set to be ripped up and replaced for wind turbines, towers and transmission lines.

The delay in youth centres in the Barkly region has been a major talking point in the region of late ... The project was in dire straits, with a funding extension granted until 31 December due to planning issues with the sacred tree in its original plans ... The Youth Centre is going grey whilst the crickets are chirping, awaiting occupancy certification from the same department.