Politics

Last Saturday was a Territory-wide day of action in response to the NT Government’s recent decision to green-light fracking in the Beetaloo basin ... Community members were engaged and shared a common outrage at the Government’s recent decision. The event demonstrated that the community does not want fracking gas fields on Country.

The Barkly community was up in arms earlier this week when news hit the Tennant Creek Show was cancelled just 25 days ahead of its arrival into town. Due to failing infrastructure at the Showgrounds and a volunteer burnout, it was looking bleak for the one-day ahead to go about.

In a significant step up in regional One Health and disease prevention capabilities, Wildlife Health Australia has achieved official designation from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) as a Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Health Risk Management. This new international wildlife collaborating centre based in Australia will ensure wildlife health is integrated into One Health decision-making across the Indo-Pacific region to benefit public health, biosecurity, animal health, food security and biodiversity.

The 2023-24 Queensland State Budget, delivered last week, has been harshly condemned by Member for Condamine Pat Weir, who says the people of his electorate have again missed out on significant investment.

In response to a report in last week’s Corryong Courier about delays in rehabilitating the Bluff Falls tourism area, Parks Victoria has provided an update on works that have been undertaken or that are underway in the Burrowa-Pine Mountain National Park following the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

Community engagement is once again in the spotlight after the North Central CMA (NCCMA), the Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) pulled out of a meeting with the Central Murray Environmental Floodplain Group (CMEFG) held in Cohuna on Monday, June 19. The meeting was being held to discuss concerns with the current reporting, management and environmental watering events, such as delivery of environmental water that commenced on June 8 in the Gunbower Forest.

Premier Peter Malinauskas and his Cabinet Ministers will visit Kangaroo Island today [22 June 2023] and tomorrow as part of the State Government’s Country Cabinet. Demonstrating the Government’s commitment to regional South Australia, this is the fourth in a series of Country Cabinets – which has already taken the Premier and Ministers to Port Pirie & Port Augusta, Mount Gambier and Yorke Peninsula.

Ukraine could become the first country in the world where the evolution of agriculture will be replaced by devolution. The war makes farms and large agricultural holdings inefficient. These enterprises use large capital, hired labor, complex machinery, large plots of land and work for export. But war cannot destroy the private farms of the rural people.

A travel subsidy for patients who access essential health care away from their home communities will be increased to help vulnerable Queenslanders manage cost of living pressures. The Palaszczuk Government announced that the recent state budget would fund an increase in the Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme (PTSS).

Hundreds of mountain biking enthusiasts and their families gathered in Rockhampton for the recent Rocky Trail Academy Schools Competition and the Fox Superflow® Gravity Enduro race, two of the fastest growing mountain bike racing formats held in Rockhampton during winter ... “Mountain biking tourism is considered one of the fastest growing recreational activities globally, with AusCycle reporting a $136.9 million direct economic impact to Australia, per annum": Parks, Sport and Public Spaces Councillor Cherie Rutherford.

Goomburra is the first community across the Region to develop a Local Emergency Action Plan. Disaster preparedness is one of the Goomburra Town Hall (GTH) Committee’s aim for the Goomburra Valley and North Branch Road as there is only one road in and out.

A two-year control order preventing the harvesting of prawns from the Clarence River announced as part of a $21.4 million biosecurity response package to White Spot virus could be the death knell for an industry already on its knees, if not managed properly, says the Clarence River Fishermen’s Co-operative ... But Ms Adams said if the control order on the Clarence Estuary is not managed well, there won’t be a prawn industry on the Northern Rivers in two years’ time.

NSW Farmers has welcomed a Parliamentary Inquiry into undergrounding powerlines, calling it a win for common sense and community safety. Multiple renewable energy projects proposed or under construction in regional areas would require new power lines to connect them to the grid, Energy Transition Working Group chair Reg Kidd said, but too often landholders were being ignored by the big developers.

Ecology, community and renewable timber were on the agenda last week as the NSW Minister for Agriculture, The Hon. Tara Moriarty MLC spent time in Bagawa State Forest near Coffs Harbour. Minister Moriarty said the field visit provided a deeper understanding of how State forests are managed to balance multiple uses and objectives.