Politics

National Indigenous Radio Service. The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians says the federal government is ill-equipped to deal with the level of food insecurity in COVID hit First Nations communities.

A dedicated regional quarantine facility will be built at Wellcamp, Toowoomba under a joint agreement between the Palaszczuk Government and the landowner, Wagner Corporation.  

Progress continues to be made on Western Australia’s Centre for National Resilience, with global construction company Multiplex today selected to deliver the project. Following the finalisation of various independent feasibility studies and negotiations, the centre will be built at a site on Commonwealth-owned land within the Bullsbrook Training Area.

In southern Australia, whether native forests are subject to harvesting or left untouched, if appropriate landscape scale forest fuel management is not undertaken, high intensity bushfires at a mega scale can occur in any summer, particularly when there are two or more years of below average rainfall. Any climate change effects are a reason to do more mitigation by fuel reduction.

We have a fire problem in Australia that is not being addressed. And it has nothing to do with climate change. Nor is logging a major contributing factor since very small areas are available for harvesting each year. It is about the decisions in the 1990s across most states, but particularly in NSW and Victoria to lock up millions of hectares of forest into national parks and manage them by benign neglect and allow the fuel levels to build up.

“With the current limit for seasonal workers expected to be met by October – and a forecast shortage of up to 24,000 workers in the horticulture industry – Labor’s Agriculture Minister can’t afford to delay ... The time is now for the government to roll out rapid testing. It’s a way to keep Victorians safe. It’s a way to help reopen this state and keep us open, and that’s what Victorians need as much as anything else,” said Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Peter Walsh.

On 23 August 2021, the Ombudsman release a redacted report into his investigation of Council’s historic billing practices. The trigger for the investigation was a complaint in 2018 from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement on behalf of Aboriginal people into Council’s electricity and water billing practices ... Council acknowledges, and is sorry for, the harm and mistrust caused by its past billing practices, is committed to implementing all of the recommendations in the report, and welcomes all community input as to how we can move forward together.

National Indigenous Radio Service. A recent investigation by the South Australian Ombudsman has found the remote council of Coober Pedy in the state’s north, pressured Aboriginal residents into requesting money from Native Title funds to help pay off their overdue electricity and water bills.

After four months of delivery in the metropolitan area, the Heavy Vehicle Driving Operations Skill Set will now be delivered through South Regional TAFE to address the shortage of truck drivers in regional WA.

In a cultural first for Australia, a sapling from a sacred tree revered by the world’s Buddhist community has been imported from Sri Lanka in what can only be described as a great biosecurity success story.

Under the proposal, a portion of the site will be transferred to the Grafton Ngerrie LALC to support better outcomes for the Aboriginal community, and successfully resolve an Aboriginal land claim. Another parcel of land adjacent to Grafton Base Hospital will be transferred to NSW Health ... the SE portion, which comprises significant heritage items, will be set aside for future adaptive reuse with heritage protections in place ...

An in-depth review of Stephen A Chavura and Greg Melluish's investigation into the philosophical roots of Australia's longest-serving Prime Minister.

Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the Federal Court will recognise the Warrgamay People’s long-standing rights to more than 185,000 hectares of land and water at a virtual hearing ... the decision covers an area from Lucinda on the coast, up to and along the Seaview Range and into Girringun National Park.

Australia’s aquaculture sector continues on a trajectory of steady growth, but the entire industry has experienced disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the  latest edition of ABARES’s  Australian Fisheries and Aquaculture Statistics.

The Morrison Government has given regulatory approval for a commercial rocket launch to take place later this year from a newly licensed launch facility in South Australia.

Caloundra State High School students have created a wildflower world with a difference at the  Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden. The  free augmented reality experience  is on until 10 September and  offers visitors  the chance to immerse themselves in nature while learning about these beautiful flowers through the magic of technology.

The Territory Labor Government has released the first Closing the Gap NT Implementation Plan in partnership with Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT and Local Government Association NT.

Wildflowers have officially flourished throughout the region and Mullewa are throwing a festival in celebration of them this August.

In a major milestone for Torres Strait Islanders, Queensland has progressed legal recognition of Torres Strait Islander traditional child rearing practice with the opening of the Office of the Commissioner (Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa) in Cairns ... Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa Commissioner C’Zarke Maza said the office would support life-long aspirations among many Torres Strait Islanders by improving access to support, services and opportunities.