State politics

Movement sensors used for human sleep assessments have been applied successfully to sheep to predict lambing dates and potentially enhance the precision of flock and farm management strategies. The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) tested the sensors on 416 Merino ewes and nine rams during mating at its Katanning Research Station, as part of a collaborative trial with Murdoch University and Australian Wool Innovation.

"The return of direct international passenger flights is a very exciting milestone for Tasmania in a much needed boost for our tourism operators recovering from the impacts of Covid 19": Michael Ferguson.

Hepburn Shire Council is working in partnership with the City of Ballarat on advocating for a mountain biking program to be included in the 2026 Commonwealth Games and for competition to be held at the Creswick Trails. With this week’s State Government announcement that the games will be held between the 17-29 March 2026 both Councils are calling for both Mountain Biking to be included in the Victoria 2026 program, the Commonwealth’s first Regional Games and for the Mountain Biking program to be conducted at the Creswick Trails.  

New data collected in the 2021 Census has revealed South Australia’s veteran population is more than double the figure previously on record ... This is the first time a comprehensive snapshot of the current and former serving population in South Australia has been developed, following the addition of a targeted question about military service history in the 2021 Census ... Approximately one-quarter of the former serving community is in regional South Australia, mainly in the South-East of the state encompassing the Limestone Coast, Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and the Murray and Mallee regions.

Pilot trials to enhance bushfire resilience in regional communities through bushfire prediction, bushfire detection, aerial operations and uncrewed firefighting solutions were launched on the Sunshine Coast. The technology innovation has been championed under a new bushfire resilience partnership between Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Noosa Shire Council and FireTech Connect.

The Threatened Flora Seed Production Garden will grow the Island’s at-risk species before collecting the seed for banking and biodiversity recovery projects ... The garden ... will enable landholders and community organisations to access rare and threatened plant species following fires, droughts and floods.

The South Australian apiary industry pollinates agricultural and horticultural crops valued at an estimated $1.7 billion and produces more than $11 million worth of honeybee products ... I can advise that PIRSA has set up an Incident Management Team to stop the spread of Varroa mite into South Australia ... There are nearly 3,000 beekeepers registered with Biosecurity SA and approximately 61,000 hives in South Australia.

The Tennant Turf Club will receive $1 million over the next 10 years as part of the NT Government’s new funding agreement with Thoroughbred Racing NT (TRNT) ... Tennant Turf Club President Mike Nash welcomed the announcement with open arms.

Shadow Transport Minister, Shane Love, has called on Australia’s major airline to apologise to their WA customers after flights were cancelled across the state ... "this airline, which is borne of regional communities and the tyranny of distance, has shown little concern for the impact its mismanagement had on the regional families and businesses who rely on air travel to function,” he said.

“I commend the new Water Minister for getting on with business, but the truth is, these projects were well on their way to being signed off before the change of Government ... What we really need now is a Basin Management Plan rather than a water recovery plan. There are plenty of ideas about ways to achieve good environmental outcomes without the need for further water recovery and they should all be on the table as a way to offset any further water recovery,” Senator Davey said.

The Australian Government has announced $37.9 million towards the Lower Murray Water Efficiency project to better equip the Sunraysia water delivery network to combat a changing climate. This project delivers 2.5 Gigalitres (GL) of water savings back to the environment, First Nations Peoples and securing urban water supply.

The Australian and South Australian governments have announced $2.7 million to improve water infrastructure in South Australia, while delivering 126 ML of water savings to the environment. The Marion Water Efficiency Project will enable the City of Marion to reduce water use from the main Adelaide water supplies, which are often pumped from the Murray–Darling Basin, and help future-proof iconic sites like the Coorong and Lower Lakes.

The Elliott basketball court was the setting for the Barkly Regional Deal Governance Table meeting recently. This was the first time a Governance Table meeting was held outside of Tennant Creek, following a commitment from the Governance Table to speak with people across the Barkly to hear their priorities for their community and region.

In November 2019 Worksafe conducted an audit of Carmans Tunnel which ultimately resulted in the closure of the mine that had been once been a tourist destination ... Recently a small group of Maldon residents, interested in rehabilitating the tunnel, met with DELWP Program Manager Land and Built Environment Gavin Parkes and Program Officer Damian Sharrock, who confirmed that DELWP had commissioned the independent report.

The best of regional Victoria has been recognised at this year’s Top Tourism Town Awards, celebrating some of the state's most attractive tourist destinations ... Accolades were handed to eight towns across the state with Bendigo, Port Fairy and Mount Macedon winning gold in their respective categories, while Echuca, Sorrento and Timboon won silver and Heathcote and Noojee were awarded bronze.

Last week’s council meeting was a big one. The last for the financial year so it included the budget. The State Government’s lack of action on flood recovery was a theme throughout the meeting. Here’s the summary of the Richmond Valley Council meeting on June 28.

Peak industry organisation CANEGROWERS is ready and willing to lead the way to a more profitable and diversified future for sugarcane outlined in a new roadmap. “This document has been two and a half years in the making. It is exciting as a cane grower to be at the starting point of a new chapter in our sugarcane industry’s story,” CANEGROWERS Chairman Owen Menkens said. “We are ready to lead the transition, working with existing and new investors.”

Organisations representing the Australian sugarcane industry will form a series of working groups to implement their first whole-of-industry vision and roadmap. The Sugar Plus vision released at the Developing Northern Australia Conference, positions the industry as Fuelling the Future of Food, Energy and Fabrication.

“The sugarcane industry has identified an exciting and transformational future of sustainably producing sugar and bioproducts at the heart of regional communities. The roadmap outlines opportunities for a substantially larger industry. A growing bioeconomy industry will enable Australia to become increasingly self-sufficient, improving economic resilience and national security”: Anne Stünzner, CRCNA CEO.

Rodney Stevens. A tiny insect never before seen in Australia has Clarence Valley apiary businesses and owners lives on hold after Varroa mites that could decimate the industry were first detected in beehives at the Port of Newcastle last week. A state wide emergency biosecurity order has been issued by the Department of Primary Industries DPI to control the movement of bees and stop the spread of Varroa mite.