State politics

The State Government welcomes the passage through the Parliament’s Upper House of a bill to toughen the available penalties for people who intentionally obstruct public places. The Legislative Council passed the Summary Offences (Obstruction of Public Places) Bill. The bill increases the potential penalty for public obstruction from a $750 fine to a maximum of $50,000 or three months in prison.

“We don’t drive on the left side of the road, we drive on what’s left of them”. That is the strong message from the Nationals’ Member for Mildura, Jade Benham, after more roads funding cuts in a brutal State Budget. Road maintenance funding has been slashed by 25 per cent from 2022 to 2023. In total, it has been cut a whopping 45 per cent since 2020.

Gannawarra Shire Council has welcomed a proposed realignment of the VNI West route, which would involve constructing new high capacity electricity transmission lines that will pass through the Gannawarra ... “Council, along with the Murray River Group of Councils, has been advocating for VNI West to pass through the Gannawarra, and we have been promoting the benefits of these works to our residents for the past six years,” Mayor Charlie Gillingham said.

A final seal was laid on Lights Road last week signalling the end of the $700,000 road upgrade which is expected to be finished at the end of this month ... Local contractors and the Shire have faced weather delays, but the project is set to be delivered within budget and with minimal environmental impact on the community.

Telecommunications company Telstra is seeking ratepayer funding to help build towers in the Limestone Coast region as part of a "big project". In a proposal to the Naracoorte-Lucindale Council, a Telstra SA and Tasmania area general manager Michael Patterson outlined Telstra's proposal for the South-East, asking for a five percent funding investment by the council.

As government policies lead to soaring energy prices, the Victorian Government is changing the preferred route and accelerating works on the 500 kilovolt double-circuit overhead transmission line between Victoria and New South Wales ... According to the AEMO report, councils have indicated there is a broader social licence for VNI West crossing the Murray River north of Kerang (option 5a) instead of the Echuca route, and therefore more likelihood of timely implementation.  

A record 1.28 million Murray Cod have been produced and stocked in the Narrandera Fisheries Centre during the past year. Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty, said a record number of fingerlings had now been released at more than 50 sites across the State, including Blowering, Burrendong and Copeton dams, as part of the NSW Government’s Native Fish Stocking Program.

Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson is continuing his push for greater local control and decision making in TAFE campuses across the New England Northwest. Mr Anderson said the community and local teachers had raised concerns with the lack of local control and the local decision-making process in our region, with local businesses expressing frustration with the disconnect between class offerings and the needs of the business community.

On 14th of February 2023, 20 students aged 8 to 11 years old from Lord Howe Island became marine scientists for the day. In doing so, they joined UNESCO’s global environmental DNA research initiative that is being rolled out across 25 marine World Heritage sites to better understand ocean biodiversity and the impacts of climate change.

David Landini. The closure of the Victorian native timber harvesting industry has not occurred due to legal threats; it has occurred due to the Green orientation of the Victorian urban population and this population’s insurmountable political power ... There are more Green voters in Victoria, mostly in the urban areas, than the total number of voters in the 10 marked electorates.

A motion to address community and business concerns following the 2021 and 2022 floods that devastated the region has divided councillors at the May 23 Clarence Valley Council meeting. The motion was moved by Cr Novak and seconded by Cr Alison Whaites before Climate Change Committee CCC chair Cr Greg Clancy asked Cr Novak how many meetings of the committee she had attended.

In receiving the 2023 Dr Helen Proudfoot Women in Planning Award which recognises her outstanding contributions which have enhanced and improved agricultural planning policies ... DPI employee Tamara Prentice remains dedicated in her commitment to ensuring agricultural land maintains a pivotal role in the increasingly competitive rural landscape, and is motivated by her love of the natural environment.

Patrick Goldsmith. Rex Minerals and the state government will work to deliver a long-term plan assisting students from across Yorke Peninsula to enter the resource sector. The resources pathway program will be hosted by Ardrossan Area School from next year, with students invited to attend a career awareness day in June to learn more.

South Australia’s tourism industry is well positioned to target the nation’s $17.4 billion Agricultural Tourism market – leveraging its reputation for premium produce to attract more visitors ... The State Government through the South Australian Tourism Commission is launching the South Australian Agritourism Sector Plan 2025 ... A number of demand-driving agritourism experiences already exist in South Australia, including pick-your-own experiences at Beerenberg Farm...

The Opposition is calling on Peter Malinauskas to stick to his word - despite intense internal turmoil in his Labor Party - over new public obstruction laws when the legislation is debated in the Upper House on 30 May 2023. Peter Malinauskas is under fire from the Left of his party - and multiple unions who helped him win the election - for throwing his support behind new laws that will penalise people who cause community chaos and risk public safety with disruption.

Northern Grampians Shire Council is appalled that widespread community opposition has had no material impact on Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) final recommended alignment for the controversial VNI West power transmission project ... “Landowners need clear and concise answers to the questions they have asked and not simply to refer them to some other arrangement as a reference to how it might work here": Mayor, Cr Kevin Erwin.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has slammed the Andrews Government’s decision to steamroll ahead with transmission developments in Western Victoria following the announcement of a new corridor for the proposed VNI-West project. VFF President Emma Germano said Victoria’s Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio is using extreme powers to come over the top of farming communities and force transmission towers to be built on their land.

The DPIRD researchers are working with commercial rock lobster and crab fishers to deploy and retrieve high tech cameras that film the marine environment and fish on their way down to the seabed as well as record the water temperature on the ocean floor ... DPIRD said by the middle of this year, more than 30 of the so-called POTBots will be deployed off Western Australia...

From the historic streets of Bathurst to the outback city of Broken Hill, people across regional NSW will be empowered with knowledge about how to keep their identity secure as ID Support NSW visits eight regional communities from 30 May until 28 June. Following a successful roadshow along the Northern NSW coast last year which saw more than 400 people attend, ID Support NSW is engaging more communities to help improve their identity, privacy, and cyber security awareness.

Following Rex Airlines’ decision to exit its operations from Whyalla, Qantas has announced additional flights to help address the gap that will be created by Rex’s departure ... “There is still a lot of work to be done to fill the gaps in service, so we are working extensively with the broader airline industry to explore options to help minimise the impact of Rex’s decision”: Mayor Phill Stone.