Politics

In a cruel blow to Australian farmers, the Federal Labor Government has confirmed it has axed the $54 million pilot Soil Monitoring Incentives Program (SMIP) because of flooding ... "Labor’s decision to end the SMIP is disgraceful and it reflects their contempt for our farmers and the $85 billion agriculture industry": Leader of The Nationals and Shadow Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud.

Chris Oldfield. In his capacity as a volunteer, Naracoorte’s Lachlan Haynes was recently elected as the Liberal Party of SA’s second vice-president. As part of that role, he hopes to help guide his political counterparts into Government at the next State election in 2026.

Chris Oldfield. SA taxpayers, not ratepayers, will fund a 30 per cent budget blow-out for a mural on the back of the new Naracoorte Public Library facing Ormerod St. Cr Peter Ireland said the mural looked “fantastic” but questioned “why” there was a budget blow-out?

The Kingston District Council has issued a warm welcome to flood impacted visitors and others looking for coastal accommodation during the upcoming school holidays through an extension of its low-cost RV Park. The Park, which will offer up to six (6) nights for just $60 until at least mid-February 2023, is set to use land adjacent the existing area and adjoining Maria Creek, to make way for anticipated visitors who may have otherwise holidayed along the flooding Murray River.

“There is not one bank still open in our local area. How much cash will the supermarket give me? So far I’ve only asked for $100 each fortnight because there are still transactions to be paid in cash. Now for Christmas and gift giving I need much more because after two operations this year I’m not very mobile so cash will be for gifts.” ... Lack of access to a bank or ATM adds a layer of complexity to this time of year that our politicians just don’t seem to be able to fathom.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is rolling out sophisticated new technology to detect and identify exotic plant viruses and viroids at its Post Entry Quarantine Facility (PEQ) at Mickleham, Victoria. Australia’s Chief Plant Protection Officer Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith said the department was using High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) to improve the efficiency of PEQ testing in imported plants.

Proposed changes to poker machine gambling in NSW has caused angst amongst ClubsNSW members. The reforms have the support of the NSW Liberal party, the Greens and also independent Member for Murray, Helen Dalton.

When Moulamein local, Shantal Sherman, was diagnosed with breast cancer in August of this year, it was the last thing she expected to hear ... What she didn’t expect to have to do was travel for basic follow up wound care, when her hometown is supposed to have an operational, functional and staffed community health service ... Shantal said she can’t believe the deterioration in rural health care and the lack of empathy and concern shown for patients.

Last Friday Member for Southern Downs James Lister MP and a group of concerned volunteers and media met at the Gladfield Driver Reviver site which was one of the sites due to be closed by the Department of Main Roads.

The Richmond Valley Council’s acknowledgement of the work done by BlazeAid volunteers in the past three years was more like a goodbye than a thank you at the council meeting on Tuesday, December 20. And BlazeAid isn’t thrilled about it.

Rockhampton residents have embraced the school holidays with families out and about enjoying events, activities, and facilities in the Rockhampton Region. School holidays are meant to be an exciting and wonderful time of the year, but unfortunately, a spike in vandalism and graffiti is putting a dampener on the festivities.

The Newell Highway has reopened between Forbes and West Wyalong after flood waters and extensive damage forced a 49-day closure. Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said it was a credit to the Transport for NSW crews who worked around the clock to have the highway open before Christmas for families looking forward to spending the festive season with loved ones.

The Shire of Ashburton is the first local government in Western Australia to join forces with Queensland based company QIT Plus to bring a collated Emergency Dashboard resource to the community ... Having resources such as road conditions, power outages, weather warnings, river heights, airport schedules, boating forecasts, quick links and more on one accessible platform will help to inform the community and highlight how to prepare for incidents and events that impact the area.

The National Farmers’ Federation’s (NFF) Horticulture Council is calling on the Federal Government to ensure its much-heralded solution to the growing workforce crisis works for the whole of the sector. Following Covid-19 disruptions, there was a swift shift towards a greater reliance on the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, but with that came headaches for smaller employers who previously relied mostly on backpackers.

The Federal Government’s Treasury Department now has in its possession pages of first-hand accounts from bank staff admitting that they have been working under orders to move customers away from face-to-face banking and on to digital channels ... It is the first time hard evidence has been available to prove these long-suspected practices exist, yet the information, provided to the Regional Banking Taskforce through the Financial Sector Union, was ignored by the Government in its final report.

Three elections in one year was draining, inspiring, and historic. For the elected officials that we have in 2023, I wanted to share a few hopes for your work in 2023. #1 Create a high performance culture. The saying that “culture eats strategy for breakfast” applies to families, community groups, businesses, elected officials, and public sector staff. The culture eats strategy rule of thumb has been a lesson throughout my career and it has the persistence and reliability, but not always the timeliness, of gravity.