State politics

Forest & Wood Communities Australia has called on the Australian Greens to support the proposed Senate disallowance of Labor’s Improved Native Forest Management carbon method ahead of the expected Senate vote on 18 August 2026, saying the vote will expose whether the party genuinely opposes carbon offsets or only opposes them when they deliver its preferred anti-forestry outcome.

The Crisafulli Government’s open for business approach and support for the resources industry is delivering for regional Queensland, with Argo’s acquisition of Bowen Coking Coal securing the long-term future of 250 workers at the Burton Coal Mine.  

Drayton will move from the Condamine electorate into the Toowoomba South electorate as a result of the Queensland Redistribution Commission's electoral redistribution, details of which were released on Monday. The move of Drayton into Toowoomba South was supported by the sitting Member for Condamine, Pat Weir.

Merilyn Vale. IPART has announced the maximum prices that Central Coast Council can charge for water and wastewater services from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027. A typical household's yearly bill for water and wastewater services will increase by 5.5 per cent.

Today’s opening water allocations reflect mixed conditions across NSW, with most licence holders having access to good volumes of water, though availability varies across some inland regions. Critically, all high priority uses, including town water, environmental and domestic and stock, have received full opening allocations, securing water where it is needed most. 

Farmers and landholders across regional NSW can now access free and independent dispute resolution through the Energy & Water Ombudsman NSW (EWON). From 1 July 2026, customers of NSW’s five statutory irrigation corporations including Coleambally Irrigation Co-operative, Jemalong Irrigation, Murray Irrigation, Murrumbidgee Irrigation, and Western Murray Irrigation, can lodge complaints with EWON for independent review at no cost.

Madison Eastmond. Two senior Riverland politicians say they will continue to support "meaningful reforms that secure the future of regional broadcasting" following an announcement that Channel 10 will remain on local screens only for the next three months.

The final report of the CSIRO team behind the Northern Rivers Resilience Initiative has been delivered, Scenario testing and recommendations for future flood mitigation activities in the Richmond River catchment in the Northern Rivers region, NSW, Australia. NSW Greens MP and spokesperson for the North Coast, Sue Higginson and Kevin Hogan, Federal Minister for Page, respond notably differently to the Report's findings and recommendations.

The Coalition will lodge a Notice of Motion in the Senate and House of Representatives to stop Labor’s new carbon credit approval, which will lock up land and destroy regional jobs. The Coalition has moved to disallow the Carbon Credits Methodology Determination 2026, to stop Labor from paying state governments to permanently cease commercial timber harvesting across entire Regional Forest Agreement areas, in exchange for ‘carbon credits’.

Minister Shing announced that desalinated water is now flowing into Cardinia Reservoir, as Melbourne’s storage falls below 64 per cent - the lowest metropolitan storage levels in more than six years ... Without a connection to Melbourne’s water supplies, which are bolstered by the Desalination Plant, Geelong water storages would be under 10 per cent full right now - with severe water restrictions.

The Nationals welcome today’s confirmation that regional courthouses closed under the Cook Labor Government’s watch will finally reopen in August. But this crisis should never have happened.

The Malinauskas Government stands ready to respond to any potential H5 bird flu outbreak, backed by an arsenal of specialised resources including a mobile diagnostic laboratory, rapid response units and decontamination facilities.

It’s no surprise that the LNP have done exactly as Labor did and are more concerned about winning government than with ensuring equitable representation around Queensland, Leader of the KAP and state Member for Traeger Robbie Katter has said, digesting the final report from the Queensland Redistribution Commission. 

“These processes are so private, so closed and so favouring the developers.” This frustrated comment came from Fiona Walsh, as she closed her address to the NT Development Consent Authority (DCA). It was considering the application for a permit by the US defence contractor Lockheed Martin, via its Australian branch, for a global navigation satellite station near the Ilparpa claypans.

Casino has a suspension bridge – and it’s a beauty. The 160 metre long bridge arcs over the Richmond River in a feat of engineering made possible by the Forge team.

The Australian Government's "Improved Forest Management in Multiple-use Public Native Forests method" incentivises state governments to cease certain native forest harvesting purportedly to reduce Australia's carbon emissions. The Department's announcement and the response from the industry body, Forest & Wood Communities Australia may be the start of much debate over a contentious scheme.

A spate of shark attacks around Australia in the first half of 2026, including four fatalities and a recent local incident has seen calls for protections on sharks to be lifted or a cull to occur. This year the attacks began on January 18, at Sydney Harbour’s Shark Beach at Vaucluse, when a 12-year-old boy was killed by a suspected Bull shark.

South Australia has recorded its first confirmed case of H5 bird flu in a vagrant migratory seabird found on a beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The confirmed case - a southern giant petrel - was found by a wildlife welfare organisation on 14 June at Knights Beach, Port Elliot.

...South Australia has recorded its first confirmed case of H5 bird flu in a vagrant migratory seabird found on a beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The confirmed case, a Southern Giant Petrel, was found by a wildlife welfare organisation on 14 June on Knights Beach at Port Elliot in a debilitated condition and taken into care.