State politics

Aurukun mayor Keri Tamwoy was a little emotional at the opening of the town’s new airport terminal last week, paying tribute to her late mother Alison Woolla, of whom the passenger lounge was named in her honour ... Local builder Cameron Herbert is thrilled with the final product ... Mr Herbert makes his own concrete, the only one to do so in Aurukun, and said he was thrilled he could use locals to help with construction.

Delivering on our commitment to crossbench Members of Parliament, a new pandemic-specific part of the  Public Health and Wellbeing Act  2008  will be legislated to embed lessons learnt managing COVID-19, incorporate best practice public health administration from other jurisdictions like New Zealand, and introduce greater transparency and accountability around decision-making.

Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Barnaby Joyce MP, and the Premier of Queensland and Minister for the Olympics, the Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk MP, have signed an Intergovernmental Agreement for the provision of state services to Norfolk Island, marking the beginning of an enduring partnership for the delivery of essential services to one of Australia’s most remote communities.  

The oldest lighthouse in South Australia is set to host the newest tourism destination on Kangaroo Island, with work commencing on the redesign and roll out of the Cape Willoughby visitor precinct.

New accommodation and improved equine facilities are key features of a $1.6 million investment in an agricultural training centre just east of Tennant. The Juno Centre offers residential and in-reach programs to students from across the Territory.

A drone has successfully established an ecological planned burn in the Grampians National Park, saving time and reducing the risk to firefighters, as part of a trial carried out by Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) crews in the Wimmera.

WA Forestry Minister Dave Kelly has introduced a Bill to amend the Forest Products Act 2000, which will allow the Forest Products Commission (FPC) to trade in carbon assets ... Carbon capture or sequestration in trees such as renewable pine plantations, is one of the most effective ways to remove carbon dioxide, one of the main greenhouse gases causing climate change, from the atmosphere.

A project is getting underway on Kangaroo Island to provide producers with the tools, skills, and management options to ensure ewe fertility and lamb survival is not compromised because of the bushfires impacting on pasture composition.

The Ballarat West Employment Zone (BWEZ) is going from strength-to-strength with five new tenants bringing more than 150 new jobs to the precinct – cementing BWEZ as an engine room for growth in regional Victoria. Minister for Regional Development Mary-Anne Thomas visited the BWEZ headquarters of Office Vision, which is expanding its operations to the manufacturing hub.

New research from the University of Wollongong, a partner at the NSW Bushfire Research Hub, has found climate change will expose larger areas of forest in coastal NSW to higher frequency and more intense fires, amplifying the changes to fire regimes brought about by the 2019/20 fires ... Amongst other findings: Previous timber harvesting did not increase the fire extent or severity of the 2019/20 fires. However, there is potential for cumulative impacts in harvested landscapes that are subject to fire, particularly in the next 5 to 10 years.

An open letter from Chris Hardman, Chief Fire Officer, Forest Fire Management Victoria. As the Chief Fire Officer for Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), my role is to keep the community and our environment safe from bushfire risk. More than ever, the impacts of climate change and its impact on the work we do is at the forefront of our thinking, planning and actions.

Called the Reef Credit Scheme, the market-based collaboration allows farmers and other property owners in reef catchments to undertake projects that improve water quality to generate a tradeable unit of pollutant reduction or Reef Credit, which is then sold onto businesses who want to protect the reef or meet their corporate responsibilities.

The Victorian Government has tabled the second phase report from the Inspector-General for Emergency Management’s (IGEM) independent inquiry into the 2019-20 Victorian fire season.

There was nothing new or unexpected about the recently announced NSW Natural Resources Commission research on timber harvesting and koalas ... There’s nothing in the NRC report that actually deserves a tick. It’s a well-established historical and scientific fact that koalas are an irruptive species which responds positively to soft new growth ... Declining trees continuously resprout soft young growth until they eventually run out of resources. Koalas breed up in declining forests.

The McGowan Government is enhancing WA's program of shark mitigation measures in the lead up to summer, with the Shark Warning System now automated to alert beachgoers to the presence of a tagged shark in the vicinity.

Timber Towns Victoria welcomes a motion calling on the Victorian Government to table all documents relating to the closure of the native timber industry ... “Full, open and transparent information is needed that provides assurances to communities, workers and all sectors of the industry that decisions have been made based on evidence, and in the best interest of all Victorians. This decision has far reaching consequences that need to be fully understood and debated:” TTV President and Glenelg Shire Deputy Mayor Cr Karen Stephens.

South Burnett Regional Council Mayor Brett Otto has hit the ground running on his visit to George Street in Brisbane to meet with Cabinet Ministers ... “Minister Enoch is fully aware of our housing situation here in the South Burnett, as a result of high property demand and a lack of available affordable housing,” Mayor Otto said.