State politics

The community of Lord Howe Island is now better prepared for emergencies and natural disasters following the installation of backup NBN Sky Muster satellite services at the Lord Howe Island State Emergency Service unit ... The satellite will mean that services are more resilient during natural disasters.

The Victorian Labor Government’s promise of jobs with a transition from native forests to plantation forests, announced last week, does not add up, said Forest & Wood Communities Australia (FWCA). As it takes at least 15 years for trees to grow to the minimum harvest age, and the government plans to end native forestry in eight years, timber towns face ruin, with Orbost set to lose 37% of its full-time jobs.

Tweed Shire Council is urging Tweed River floodplain landowners to seek Council assistance in projects that can improve water quality, after recent testing detected acid-affected water in the river and red spot disease in local fish ... Recent testing has indicated acid sulfate soil (ASS)-related runoff from floodplain drains is affecting water quality in the Tweed River, with indications this is severely impacting fish health.

Minister for Agriculture Gayle Tierney has announced the Labor Government is investing $120 million – the single largest investment in plantation establishment in the state’s history – in an agreement with Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP), planting an extra 16 million trees in a new estate.

Nillumbik Friends of the Great Forest have followed with interest the developments in the native forest logging industry, in particular the decision by the Andrews government in 2019 to halt native forest logging in 2030. Victoria is well placed to transition to a 100 % plantation industry as we already have considerable areas of plantation ... The industry has every right to be upset with the government for withholding the funding for a fair and just transition ... ARR.News asks NFGF a few questions.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry into the granting of a contract to resurface two arenas at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre has found the tender process managed by the Office of Sport was flawed and that “robust probity standards” were not applied.

Sustainable land management in Western Australia has been boosted by a ground-breaking initiative that has more accurately calculated the extent of salinity in the agricultural region to support new approaches to conserving natural assets and agricultural productivity. The 'Mapping salt-affected land in the South-West of Western Australia using satellite remote sensing' report by the national science agency, CSIRO, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) was released at a forum in Perth.

South Australian pastoralists inside the Dog Fence will continue to benefit from the services of wild dog trappers, with funding for the trapper program guaranteed for the next four years ... The wild dog trapping program is open to landowners or managers inside the Dog Fence who have baited and still experience impacts from wild dog attacks.

The report highlights the complexities of water management and notes that each Basin government holds information about rules, entitlements, allocations, and environmental water - there is no single source of information. This is something the Inspector-General has noticed as part of a trend, with states operating under their individual jurisdictional powers.

NSW Minister for Environment James Griffin said the landmark program is restoring koala habitat on private land, increasing biodiversity and providing an additional revenue stream for landholders through carbon farming ... ARR.News has asked a question of the Minister.

Member for Barkly Steve Edgington has lashed out at the NT Labor Government after another bout of vandalism in Tennant Creek. This time the people of Tennant Creek’s local post office boxes have been smashed and broken into. Mr Edgington questioned the expenditure of CCTV cameras in the town, when there seems to be no use for them.

Pam Dillon. Water Safety week at the Tennant Creek pool recently had a real family feel to it. Lots of families came down to the pool to celebrate and learn more about how to be safe in and around water.

The NSW Government has launched two new groundbreaking projects to encourage landholders and farmers to invest in sustainable timber production as part of their land management practices. The Forest Stewardship Program and Farm Forestry Certification Pilot are the first of their kind in Australia and mark a new era in sustainably managed forestry on private land in NSW.

Cries of “make sure our TAFE is here to stay,” rose high in the air as staff and members of the NSW Teachers Federation from Grafton TAFE joined hundreds of their colleagues across the state on September 21, holding a stop work meeting to voice their concerns regarding uncompetitive salaries, exploitation of casual employees, and untenable workloads.

A small South East Queensland council holds grave concerns over the future of their community as Inland Rail proceeds full steam ahead with plans to rip through the heart of their towns ... “We have been raising our concerns since this project was first announced and continue to advocate for our community in our ongoing objection to the unreasonable impacts of Inland Rail": Lockyer Valley Regional Council Mayor, Cr Tanya Milligan.

Back in May, NSW’s Natural Resources Commission and Department of Primary Industries, as well as three universities, quietly published a report about forest monitoring. It states that north coast koala populations have been stable for the last five years, despite 30 per cent of koala habitat being burnt by the disastrous Black Summer megafires ... NSW bureaucrats obviously know that the koala population wasn’t adversely affected by Black Summer. So, one wonders why they’re not shouting the good news from the rooftops.

Log cabins and synthetic trees are part of a successful trial of fish-attracting structures in Queensland which could be just the boon freshwater fishers have been angling for ... the dam stretches over 500 hectares and the hunting ground was too spread out, the fish too hard to find.

The Victorian Government has been accused of “side-stepping the consultation process” over proposed changes to animals welfare laws that could see licences brought in for horse events and any commercial horse activity. Animal Care Australia (ACA) horses and livestock representative Karri Nadazdy said as a major stakeholder, ACA responded to the Animal Welfare Act Reform Directions Paper in December 2020 and said no warning was given that licensing was under consideration.