State politics

Take out the hype and Beetaloo gas is a pretty thin project. The sub-basin, 900 km north of Alice Springs, is “estimated” to contain 500 trillion cubic feet of gas. The NT Government refers to this estimate as being “by industry”.

Conservation group Denmark Nannas for Native Forests found a bleak aftermath of a 1123ha prescribed burn in November of Sheepwash North in Mt Lindesay National Park. They were shocked to see big areas of tree canopy defoliated and most of the remaining canopy scorched.

In this timely piece, John O'Donnell reviews the state of bushfire preparedness in New South Wales in light of the NSW Rural Fire Service 2023/2024 Annual Report.

Hugh Schuitemaker. Senior Riverland politicians have questioned the potential benefits of a multi-million dollar environmental plan to use treated wastewater – rather than Murray River water – to water public areas and “to supply some industries”. The Federal and State Governments last month announced $20.9m in funding to build infrastructure allowing local governments to substitute Murray River water with storm water, treated wastewater or other alterna-tive water sources.

My journalistic work in the Territory began early on Christmas Day 1974, looking down from the aircraft of Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns onto the Northern Territory capital that had been all but annihilated by Cyclone Tracy.

Joanna Tucker. The first cohort of interns for the new Rural Doctor Program has been welcomed to the Yorke and Northern Local Health Network at Wallaroo Hospital. The RDP is designed to support and encourage junior doctors to pursue generalist training pathways and medical careers within Yorke Peninsula.

This piece emerged from an extended dialogue with the WA Minister for Police regarding the new firearms regulations released just before Christmas. I revised my original opinion article to incorporate the Minister’s direct responses, as they address many of the key concerns raised during the reform process.

Sea urchins play an important ecological role on reefs in the Lord Howe Island Marine Park (LHIMP). They graze on seaweed, and sometimes completely clear it, creating unique habitats known as ‘barrens’ which are instead covered in encrusting algae and coral.

The transcript of proceedings of the Independent Forestry Panel in teleconference with the Independent Koala Expert Panel on 1 November 2024 was released on Friday 20 December, at the end of the last working week before Christmas. The Forestry Panel will oversee the destruction of sustainable forestry in NSW to ‘save’ koalas.

Many essential service providers, including the government, are “abandoning” rural towns like Naracoorte in South Australia … We asked Naracoorte Lucindale Council mayor Patrick Ross, Minister for Regional Development Clare Scriven, Shadow Minister for Regional South Australia Nicola Centofanti, and Federal Member for Barker Tony Pasin why our towns are losing essential service providers and what needs to be done to help our frustrated communities.

Berridge Park will get a $5 million upgrade following a Lottery West grant of $2,857,500 announced last Friday at the Christmas Festival ... The concept plan features improvements to public and youth recreational infrastructure while retaining existing mature trees and quiet spaces to retain and enhance the park’s place in the landscape.

Healthcare workers in the Murrumbidgee region are set to benefit from key worker accommodation, with new units at two hospital sites now complete. The modern accommodation units in Narrandera (pictured) and Finley have been installed on-site, with final touches being made to ensure the units are ready for the first residents to move in early next year.

Growing feral deer populations across NSW have prompted Local Land Services (LLS) to highlight the safety and environmental risks to the community. Five introduced species of feral deer have established populations throughout the state including in urban areas where they can be harder to control and have even greater human health and social impacts.

A new grant is set to enable a Riverland tourism business showcase the region’s environmental sites to increased numbers of visitors ... Canoe the Riverland operator Brenton Carle said the grant would enable the purchase of a 12-seater pontoon boat to conduct tours with larger groups.

Introducing rules surrounding earlier indicative pricing and accepted tonnages would benefit Riverland wine grape growers, according to senior local politicians in attendance at a recent industry inquiry ... Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone said suggested changes surrounding a mandatory code – including the earlier release of indicative prices – would provide growers with more business certainty before annual vintages.

Have a heart and be a volunteer. "A community without volunteers, is a community without a heart." Those were the words of NSW Governor, The Honourable Margaret Beazley when she visited Yamba earlier this year. Ms Beazley expressed her serious concern about the decline in volunteers in communities across NSW and organisations across the Clarence Valley are feeling the pressure from the lack of people stepping up to help their communities.

We all know that water is the most essential commodity for human life to exist on the planet, and how much we enjoy a glass of clean, cold water on a hot day – but we could soon be drinking recycled water under the NSW Government’s Recycled Water Roadmap – and you have until January 10 to have your say.

Peter Rutherford. On the 24 November 1939, the Coffs Harbour Advocate reported, among other things, that “now there are only 200 known koalas in the whole of New South Wales, including those in captivity.” NSW Environment Minister Sharpe’s media release of 3 December 2024 stated, “that our grandchildren will never get the chance to see koalas in the wild”. I thought she may have been a little behind in reading her ministerial briefings. But then the penny dropped!