State politics

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.  

Patrick Goldsmith. The state government’s announcement of a $20 million funding allocation across four years for deteriorating jetties has been labelled as inadequate by Yorke Peninsula stakeholders. Almost 40 jetties across the state, owned by the government but leased to councils on 50-year terms, must vie for the new funding announced in the state budget ...

Patrick Goldsmith. Just four months after focusing its efforts entirely on Yorke Peninsula for Country Cabinet, the state government has left the region without much to celebrate ... "It makes for two budgets in a row where we’ve seen little investment in our area. In the glossy budget overview there was precious little for a number of regions and we suffered the absolute embarrassment of not even being listed": Member for Narungga Fraser Ellis.

Four MPs and seven mayors have sent a letter to the Premier Chris Minns. They are asking the State Government not to forget the Northern Rivers and to deliver the next part of the flood recovery funding for the Resilient Homes program.

Federal MP Kevin Hogan isn’t holding back in his criticism of the State Government halving the number of buybacks of Northern Rivers flooded homes. The decision to drastically cut the Northern Rivers homes buybacks was made even worse by an announcement that the Federal Government would be boosting buybacks in Queensland by an additional 300 homes, Mr Hogan said.

Opposition Leader Shane Love has called on the Premier to remove Minister Tony Buti from the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio and to install a new Minister who is up to the task of implementing the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage (ACH) Act. Mr Love said community unease was at a high, and the Government was only ‘adding fuel to the fire’ by failing to provide adequate support to the community and brushing off concerns.

A new app is allowing members of the public to act as citizen scientists by reporting koala sightings and providing accurate location and population data ... The Minister also announced $520,000 in grants for six projects that support long-term koala conservation in South East Queensland.

The Local Government Association of South Australia has acknowledged State Budget which aims to deliver cost of living relief and address the state's housing and health crisis but has warned the government has missed an opportunity to engage closely with councils on meaningful funding to support local communities. LGA President Dean Johnson said while the State Government’s spending on measures to address housing affordability and availability were a step in the right direction, greater investments were needed to improve long-term liveability, regional health and local economic growth.

For the third consecutive year, South Australian River Murray irrigators will start the 2023-24 financial year with 100 per cent of their water allocation. The floods have contributed to high River Murray system storages, with the major dams at 90  per cent capacity - 26  per cent above the long-term average for the end of June.

It’s not only the timber industry that’s in decline, the government’s forestry agency, the Forest Products Commission (FPC) is also sinking fast. The WA 2023-24 Budget Papers indicate that this commercial business is failing under the Labor Government. It is predicted to continue to make losses in coming years.

A diligent Minister who had applied himself to the detail would have recognised the risks of running with a system that was overly complex and open to abuse. A competent Minister would have delayed the start date when they recognised that neither his department, the IT system, the LACHS or the industry was ready. But Buti did neither.

Victoria’s roads will continue to worsen after the State Government confirmed this week there is no additional funding for repairs after floods last year. Roads Minister Melissa Horne was lost for answers on Wednesday as a Public Accounts and Estimates hearing heard that the Government’s road asset management budget has been cut 25 per cent in this year’s budget.

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal has approved special rate variations of up to 64.3 per cent for country councils in a move farmers say will smash local communities ... “Every time you turn around someone’s putting their hand in the farmer’s pocket, and these rate rises will just further squeeze businesses and households in these areas": NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin.

This year, the State Government - as part of its Kangaroo Harvesting Program (KHP) - has set the quota for commercial shooting of kangaroos in the central region of Victoria at 65,100 grey kangaroos. The total 2023 KHP quota for the entire state is 166,750. This means that a significant percentage (around 40 per cent) of kangaroos culled in Victoria will be coming from the central region.

The first ever whole-of-government strategic plan for water across the Northern Territory has been released by the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water Security, Lauren Moss. The Territory Water Plan is a package of actions that will set the foundation for delivering water security for all Territorians – now and into the future.

A number of Cudgewa North residents, concerned about the delays in rehabilitating the Bluff Falls tourism area following the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, claim that Parks Victoria is not doing enough to get the recovery project underway. They say that there has been a lack of communication about the works.

Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Transport Shane Love MLA has strongly condemned the State Labor Government for its continued unlawful use of traffic monitoring devices throughout WA. An Auditor General Report has exposed Main Roads WA for utilising 180 vehicle monitoring devices on local roads, despite being fully aware since 2016 that such usage is strictly limited to highways and main roads under the Surveillance Devices Regulations 1999.

Leader of the NSW Nationals Dugald Saunders and the Member for Clarence Richie Williamson have called on the NSW Government to be more transparent about the support being provided to the Northern Rivers prawn industry. Shadow Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders said a last-minute ban has been dropped on the industry without any certainty about the future.