Politics

As the Albanese Government is trying to rush through its water recovery strategy before Christmas, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s sand slug has been very active. Like a mythical creature that lurks in the watery depths, the sand slug was the MDBA’s answer to why the natural constraint of the Barmah Choke had reduced in water delivery capacity ... A recent photo from grass roots community members continues to highlight the rapid rate of erosion at Davies Beach, Cobram.

Today’s River Murray flow update shows the floodwater peak is still due in Renmark around the end of December and forecasts remain between 190 and 220 gigalitres a day, consistent with previous projections. While flow rates are useful for forecasting the scale of floods, water heights provide a better picture of conditions on the ground. Subsequently, as we are now closer to the expected peak, the Department for Environment and Water is now able to provide daily height forecasts for population centres.

A number of state forests across south east Queensland will be conserved earlier, the Palaszczuk Government has announced ... Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon said it’s part of the Palaszczuk Government’s election commitment to transfer 20,000 hectares of state forest to Queensland’s protected areas.

Allora local Mary Higgins, who is a student at Griffiths University, studying Psychological Science and Business, has been awarded a Scholarship under the New Colombo Plan ... “Growing up in Allora, a small town of just 1200 people, I’ve seen my community come together through droughts, floods and many other crises, which has inspired me to work further toward social justice on a grander scale,” Mary said.

David McPherson, NSW DPI. Dr Law is one of Australia’s leading forest ecologists, with the sustained excellence of his research and distinguished service to Australian zoology recognised with his appointment in 2021 as a Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society of NSW. In the history of the Society there have been fewer than 100 Fellows elected ... Criticisms of the scientific excellence or objectivity of the research undertaken by Dr Law are unfounded.

Aquaculture has continued its steady growth within the Australian seafood industry, according to the latest edition of ABARES Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture Statistics. ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville said the aquaculture sector has continued its recent growth, accounting for 56 per cent of the total gross value of fisheries production (GVP).

Janelle Saffin. Jamie Simmonds, the man who directed the relocation of the town of Grantham, shared his story with Lismore when Janelle Saffin MP hosted him during a visit ... Ms Saffin said it was a great opportunity for locals like South Lismore’s Harper Dalton, who established the Relocate Lismore Homes Facebook group, to link with a planning and development expert who nowadays advises disaster-affected communities globally on managed retreat.

The Northern Regional Planning Panel chair Penny Holloway heard 38 people speak for or against the development application for the Bentley Quarry expansion at an online meeting on Wednesday, December 7 ... Ms Holloway announced that the quarry expansion DA was considered to be in the public interest and the DA was approved.

The fur seal spent three months in rehabilitation at Sea World before being released outside the heads of Sydney Harbour last week. It was a great success, with tracking data showing Skip travelled 100 km south within the first 24 hours, and he’s currently swimming about 130 km south of the NSW-Victoria border, an impressive 550 km from where he was released.

Katter’s Australian Party is flagging a proposal incentivising Year 12 students to take up the forgotten “wet” trades of bricklaying, concreting and scaffolding in a transitional schedule strategically-timed with the winter weather. In response to predictions that North Queensland would face an alarming lack of willing workers in the “wet” trades of bricklaying, concreting and scaffolding in the next decade, the KAP proposed to incentivise and provide employment pathways for an annually-set number of Year 12 students.

Biosecurity and safeguarding were front of mind at the Indigenous Rangers Biosecurity roundtable in the Northern Territory ... Indigenous Ranger organisations contracted to undertake biosecurity surveillance are generally located along the northern Australian coastline, with a focus on high-risk pathways with a potential for pest and disease incursions.

If you understand the difference between 5G low and high band, fixed wireless, repeaters and extenders, then you don’t have to read this. While the tech savvy know their way around digital connectivity, the vast majority of us are staggering around in the dark when it comes to getting information on how to get a couple of extra signal bars on our mobile phones or stop the download lag on our broadband.

The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) is calling on Australian energy ministers to make sure the transition to renewable energy is overseen by a national code, so we don’t sacrifice food security for energy security ... NFF CEO Tony Mahar said energy, agriculture and food prices were inextricably linked and at a time when food security was high on the agenda, careful consideration had to be given to how the energy and farming industries could work together.

February is when our first turtle hatchling emerges from its nest beneath the sand. Before that happens, Sunshine Coast Council is calling on our community to come together to tidy up their local beach as part of the 9th annual Clean up for the Hatchlings event on Saturday, February 4, 2023 ... Volunteers can register now to pick up litter at various beach locations between Noosa and Caloundra from 6am to 7.30am.

With the cost of repairing Australia’s flood and rain damaged roads expected to top $3.8 billion, the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) has joined with the Australian Road Research Board (ARRB) to call for an urgent rethink of road construction, maintenance and funding. Speaking of behalf of Australia’s 537 councils, ALGA President Linda Scott said rebuilding these roads to current standards would only cost Australian communities more in the long term.

More than 1500 Sunshine Coast residents helped make part of local government history at the weekend as the first members of our community to set foot in the newly opened Sunshine Coast City Hall. Sunshine Coast City Hall is situated in the heart of the new Maroochydore City Centre and has been designed and built for our community.

Vic Jurskis responds to ARR.News questions including about the different methods for monitoring koalas, sustainable koala populations, koala habitat and the relationship with timber harvesting ... "Gathering numbers should not be an end. Deliberations of the TSSC assume that more is better. The koala’s ecological history of irruptions and crashes in numbers after European arrival clearly shows this not to be the case. Effective monitoring requires an understanding of the reasons for any real changes in numbers."

Chris Oldfield. The Liberal Shadow Cabinet will continue to support a moratorium on fracking in the SE which runs until 2028. It will also continue to work on land access through agricultural properties to mines because “both agriculture and mining are important to the economy”.

Santa Claus has been flat out this year preparing to fill the Christmas orders from all the well-behaved children around the globe, and urgently enlisted the help of the Mayor of the Barkly when trouble arose. Thousands of dollars of presents for this year’s 88th annual Tennant Creek Christmas Tree event were at risk of not arriving for the event due to freight issues.

Move over Boomers and Gen X - the Millenials have become a leading influence in the world of politics. Reflecting this generational change is the recent election of Mt Alexander Shire’s Mayor, Rosie Annear ... The greatest need in the Shire at present, according to Rosie, is for secure, safe housing.