State politics

A new advisory committee has been established to support the reopening of boat-based recreational demersal fishing from Kalbarri to Augusta in Spring 2027. The West Coast Demersal Ministerial Advisory Committee will provide recommendations to the State Government on the future management of recreational fishing to balance a return to boat-based fishing with continued protection for fish stocks to support recovery.

Long-term planning to ensure a sustainable future for the West Coast Wilderness Railway has taken its next steps. The Tasmanian Government has convened a roundtable with key industry and business stakeholders to discuss next steps for the Railway.

Annabelle Cleeland has criticised the Allan Labor Government’s so-called “Big Switch”, saying it has failed to deliver for regional Victoria, with overcrowded, unreliable services on the Shepparton and Albury–Seymour lines while Melbourne continues to receive the lion’s share of upgrades.

Tasmania’s visitor economy has been given a significant boost, with a record number of travellers passing through Launceston Airport on a single day last month. The airport saw 6880 people passing through its gates on 23 January, the eve of the Foo Fighters concert in Launceston.

Some of Victoria’s top drops are headed to the world’s largest wine museum, further cementing our international reputation. Minister Pearson today revealed seven Victorian wineries will be featured at the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, which welcomes more than 400,000 wine lovers a year.

A sod turning ceremony held on Friday marked the beginning of the Bendigo Art Gallery redevelopment, which will be delivered by local company Fairbrother Construction. The project is expected to create an additional 260 jobs in the local construction sector and an additional 170 jobs in the local economy when the Gallery reopens in 2028.

The Opposition is calling for the Cook Government to release the results of the investigation in response to the wrong-way collision near the Mitchell Fwy and Romeo Rd off-ramp in October last year as well as any action taken. A second wrong-way collision on February 8, not far away from where the first head-on happened, resulted in the deaths of two people.

The Farrer by-election, triggered by the resignation of former Liberal leader Sussan Ley in February 2026, is shaping up to be a highly contested race. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has weighed in, commenting on what he described as the "chaos" within the Liberal Party... Speaking at the NSW Labor Country Conference in Orange on Saturday (February 14, 2026), the Prime Minister took a jab at the new Liberal leadership.

Raising the matter in Parliament, Mrs McArthur said the significant public artwork, commissioned by the State of Victoria in 1977, had been rendered inaccessible to the public without justification ... Harold Freedman’s Geelong Regional History mosaic mural “is a heritage-listed public artwork depicting the changing lifestyle of the region’s people and key moments in Victoria’s early history.”

The Cook Labor Government has dealt a major blow to regional Western Australia by excluding the Wheatbelt Secondary Freight Network (WSFN) from its State infrastructure investment shortlist; a decision that now threatens Federal funding and delays to critical regional road upgrades ... “This is one of the most effective and collaborative regional freight programs WA has ever seen and the Cook Government has chosen to walk away from it,” Mr Hunter said.

The Raine Island Recovery Project - completed in December 2025 - documented almost 20,000 turtles gathering in the ocean and almost 4,000 turtles coming onto the island at night to lay eggs. Raine Island is the world’s largest green turtle rookery and is the source of almost 90 per cent of the northern Great Barrier Reef green turtle population. 

Toowoomba Regional Council has acquired a property in Westbrook that will be the location of a future water treatment plant ... With the site being acquired for a water treatment plant, Deputy Mayor Rebecca Vonhoff said Council would require funding to progress the project in an accelerated timeframe.

Regional local government councils including Narrandera came together again for the eighth annual Cootamundra Mayoral Summit hosted by the Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke this week. Ms Cooke said it was clear that health, water security and safer roads remained top priorities right across the electorate

Ivona Rose. Interest in tiny homes is increasing on the Central Coast and across Australia, driven by soaring house prices, lack of housing availability, shifts toward sustainable living, downsizing, dwindling available land, and the growth of short-stay rentals like Airbnb ... Can tiny homes play a meaningful role in affordable housing, and where can people locate them?

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) and joint River Murray governments have initiated a detailed review of the Menindee Lakes System to address long running operational and water management challenges.

Big promises, no build as Naracoorte waits on old TAFE site project. A grand on-site announcement, artist impressions, and firm timelines promised a solution to Naracoorte’s long-running childcare shortage — but almost two years on, the proposed early learning and childcare centre at the former TAFE site has yet to take physical shape.

Madison Eastmond. A $15M funding boost to Berri Primary School was the highlight of a recent regional tour undertaken last week by Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Clare Scriven. Minister Scriven’s announcement of the State Government capital works investment program funding last Thursday has answered long-term advocacy calls for the major redevelopment of Berri Primary School...

This is yet another instalment in my running theme: the State rail debacle. A saga of privatisation, monopoly infrastructure, and governments that appear to have misplaced both the keys and the contract. Twenty-five years after Western Australia leased out its freight rail network, one basic question still has no straight answer: what does the Brookfield/Arc lease actually require?

NSW Farmers says a vote supporting a Royal Commission into water management is a positive step towards a stronger farming future ... “We’ve been sounding the alarm on water management for a number of years, it’s beyond time that farmers and communities were treated as equal partners with the environment,” Mr Bootle said.

Following severe storms in May 2025, the Kingston Jetty was severely damaged and then three weeks later in June, after more storm surge events and seven metres swells, the Jetty was destroyed. An engineering report estimated the extent of damage at $11.2 million and a claim was submitted to the State Government, which self-insures its assets.