State politics

The NSW Government is making a major investment to better prepare communities and respond to bush fires, by committing $315.2 million over the next four years to complete the recommendations of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry in the 2022-23 NSW Budget. Premier Dominic Perrottet said $191 million has been allocated to the Rural Fire Service (RFS) to help keep NSW communities safe through vital hazard reduction works, maintenance of strategic fire trails and the procurement of new fleet ... ARR.News asked the Ministers a few questions and received a response from a NSW RFS spokesperson.

Three state of the art High Clearance Vehicles are now in permanent operation for the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), expanding flood rescue capability by helping volunteers get to hard to reach places. The vehicles, known as Unimogs, have been handed over to the SES by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) after being used on deployment in military operations.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said Bush Heritage Australia and South Endeavour Trust have signed permanent conservation agreements for Naree Station and Yantabulla Station ... “The wetlands form part of the Paroo River catchment, which is the last free-flowing river of the Murray Darling Basin. It’s considered among the top 20 sites for waterbirds in Australia." ARR.News has some questions for the Minister.

On the evening of 8 June 2022, the Great Koala Protected Area Bill 2021 was debated in the New South Wales Upper House. The debate demonstrates the complexities and many of the fundamental points of disagreement relating to the protection of koalas in New South Wales.

The Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell says an elected Matthew Guy Coalition Government will immediately cease the shooting of brumbies in both the Barmah and Alpine national parks. Ms Lovell has been a strong advocate against the shooting of the brumbies, particularly in the Barmah Forest, on many occasions calling on the Andrews Labor Government to stop the culling and focus on trapping the horses for rehoming.

A series of NASA rockets will be launched into space from the Northern Territory later this month, with the Australian Government signing off on a history making moment for the local space sector. Three scientific suborbital sounding rockets will be launched between 26 June and 12 July 2022 from the Arnhem Space Centre, which is owned and run by Equatorial Launch Australia.

Today, on World Oceans Day, the Minister for Fisheries joined representatives from the Western Australia Fishing Industries Council and the Marine Stewardship Council to award Rare Foods Australia (RFA) internationally recognised status as a Wild Sustainable Fishery. This achievement by RFA, which operates the world's first abalone ranch near Augusta, becomes another of WA's sustainable fisheries success stories.

The need for a new model for emergency management was clear after the floods in late February-March. And Richmond Valley Council hasn’t pulled any punches in its 18-page submission to the NSW Flood Inquiry. Richmond Valley has endured eight natural disasters in three years including fire, flood and drought.

Minister for Environment James Griffin said the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) has entered into a partnership with Telstra in what will be the first of many agreements between landholders, the private sector and philanthropists to conserve land ... The BCT offers conservation agreements to landholders, which permanently protect existing native landscapes on private land in NSW.

“Protecting and restoring habitat is crucial in order for Queensland’s native species to thrive – it’s why we’re investing $1.4 billion in the environment to expand and maintain our protected areas, for wildlife care and ongoing research,” Minister Scanlon said. “This is the most ambitious koala project this region has ever seen. And it adds to a swathe of initiatives aimed at protecting species like koalas, including the addition of more than 1.2 million hectares in Queensland to our protected area estate since 2015." ... ARR.News asked some questions of the Minister and was given a considered response by a departmental spokesperson.

Evidence of an important koala population in Kosciuszko National Park has been revealed by new surveys ... conducted in November 2021 and February 2022 that recorded male koalas at 14 sites within the park’s Byadbo Wilderness Area. “This is good news because until these recent surveys, there had only been 16 recorded sightings of koalas in Kosciuszko in more than 80 years,” Mr Griffin said ... ARR.News asks some questions of the Minister.

Indonesia has 280 million people of which 38 million are farmers. Between them have 16 million cattle and 9 million pigs spread across 6000 inhabited islands, extending 5,500km East to West and 1,800km North to South. As the borders open and the world starts travelling again, we can look forward to the return of the 50 flights a week between Bali and Perth.   Each of these flights will carry the risk of the transmission of Lumpy Skin and Foot and Mouth Disease into Australia.

The region’s landscape board is hoping to minimise the feral deer population with the help of a cash injection from the Federal Government. The Limestone Coast Landscape Board (LCLB) has received $344,000 to build on its existing deer control initiatives through the Supporting Communities Manage Pests and Weeds program.

NSW Independent MP for Murray Helen Dalton has introduced a bill into Parliament that will prevent Northern Basin floodplain harvesting licence holders from seeking financial compensation from taxpayers for their licences... “This unregulated practice known as floodplain harvesting devastates Lower Darling communities and reduces water allocations for Southern Basin irrigators : Helen Dalton

Emma Pritchard. Timber producers throughout Northern NSW have been given a massive boost after the State Government announced a $10 million subsidy to assist local mills impacted by recent bushfires, destructive floods and relentless rain to source supplies from outside the region ... With J Notaras and Sons Sawmill presently operating at 60-70 percent below normal production, Ms Layton said the announcement will enable the local business to source timber supplies from further afield, and most importantly, allow the sawmill to remain operational.

The Victorian Government has confirmed it intends to slaughter hundreds of wild brumbies in the Alpine National Park and Barmah Forest, and has issued a tender document specifying the carcases will be hacked up and left to rot ... “It’s brutal,” Beverly McArthur, Member for Western Victoria said. “It means 400 broken up carcasses in the Barmah, alone. Worse still, little real effort seems to have gone into the alternative – rehoming the animals – as promised by Parks Victoria."

Loved for both their great taste and awesome sport fishing, the yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) is one of Australia’s most economically important fish species. Despite their importance, little is known about the species’ large-scale movements, fine-scale population structure or behaviours ... Project Kingfish aims to deploy satellite transmitters on mature-sized kingfish across the NSW east coast and key offshore habitats such as the Lord Howe Island Marine Park to gain further insights ...