State politics

Clarence Valley Council Mayor, Ray Smith is confident Council is acting in accordance with legislation concerning the impending eviction of 136 Holiday Caravan owners at four Council managed caravan parks. Letters were sent in early March to Holiday Caravan owners at Iluka Riverside Holiday Park, Brooms Head Holiday Park…

Despite the $263.8 million investment to redevelop Grafton Base Hospital, major trauma patients will still be triaged to Lismore or Tweed Heads for treatment. At a recent community meeting concerning the paramedic roster changes at Yamba Ambulance station and the impacts they could have, Australian Paramedics Association members revealed that the upgraded Grafton Base Hospital will not be classed as a major trauma hospital.

Lord Howe Island's native woodhen has made a remarkable recovery, with the latest survey revealing a population of at least 1,638 birds on the Island. This is a significant turnaround for the Lord Howe woodhen, which was reduced to just nine breeding pairs in the 1970s.

In October last year, Transport New South Wales announced that Skytrans had been awarded the RPT Air route from Sydney to Lord Howe Island as a replacement for the QantasLink service which had operated since June, 1991 ... Lord Howe Island Board invited members of the public to join a "virtual" QA session with Skytrans CEO, Alan Milne ...

According to Forestry Australia’s Dr Freeman, National Parks don’t guarantee biodiversity ... The Endangered listing of koalas north of the Victorian border and the idea of a Great Koala National Park are farcical. The koala is an irruptive species. High numbers indicate an irruption, not a stable population.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is calling on the Victorian Parliament to take immediate action and refer the deeply flawed Fire Services Levy Bill to a parliamentary inquiry, as it faces debate in the Upper House this week. VFF President Brett Hosking said the Bill must be referred to a parliamentary inquiry to ensure the community has a voice in the process.

Michelle Daw, Rachel Hagan. About 130 people attended the meeting held at Yorketown Town Hall ... and around 60 went to the Wallaroo Town Hall meeting ... with many individuals and representatives from organisations making passionate and sometimes heartbreaking presentations. 

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the Department of Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) are working with local councils to respond to the fish kills in Richmond and Clarence waterways after ex-cyclone Alfred.

Healthcare, infrastructure, the rising cost of living and government waste are among the key concerns impacting voters in regional towns like Naracoorte in the South East ... In this edition of Hard Talk, The [Naracoorte] News spoke with several political leaders to gain insight into the major election topics that could determine the outcome.

At a meeting held at All Saints Anglican Church Hall in Clifton last Wednesday, attendees from across the Darling Downs heard why biosecurity is so important. The Condamine Catchment Management Association (CCMA) held a general meeting, which included guest speaker Craig Hunter, a Senior Biosecurity Officer for Biosecurity Queensland.

Requests for a list of 25 Victorian waterways, including Cairn Curran Reservoir, to be named as exempt from duck hunting have gone unanswered by the State Government as hunters in camouflage gear appeared at the popular recreation site over the weekend.

At its Tuesday 18 March meeting, Mount Alexander Shire Council (MASC) passed a motion to write to the State Government with objections to the proposed introduction of the Emergency Services Volunteer Fund Levy (ESVFL) in its current form.

WA Firearms Act Reform 2024Firearms Act 2024 (WA)Firearms Regulations 2024 (WA) See also: Firearms Bill 2024

Who would have thought ping pong could get the Victorian Government into so much trouble. Amid developing controversy over plans to redevelop the Prince of Wales Showgrounds at Bendigo, damning testimony has come to light from a 2023 Federal Senate inquiry into the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games that was to be hosted by regional Victoria.

It was a highly anticipated occasion for the Clarence Valley community who have waited more than two years to access the $29.1 million state-of-the-art facility.

A 1000 megawatt nuclear power station using South Korean expertise could be built in the Latrobe Valley in seven years, with a fleet possibly in 11 years, at an estimated cost of $10 billion each, according to an Australian nuclear expert, Robert Parker.

Lakes Blue Energy is increasingly confident that within a few months, its 21-year struggle to get a new big onshore gas field in South Gippsland up and running, will come to fruition. The company, previously Lakes Oil, has submitted plans to the state government for the Wombat 5 gas well, located a few kilometres west of Seaspray.

Sarah Herrmann. A fight for justice has begun after revelations that neither ElectraNet nor SA Power Networks are required to compensate customers for the up to 20-hour power and telecommunications outages that hit Yorke Peninsula on Friday, March 14. Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis told the South Australian Parliament on Tuesday, March 18 there is no regulated compensation scheme for transmission network failures...

The NSW Government changes to the Shark Management Program include the removal of shark nets on beaches from 31 March 2025. The timing of the removal of nets to avoid the peak of turtle migration has been communicated to Surf Life Saving Clubs ... SLSNSW provides drone surveillance services at 50 sites across the NSW coastline during key times of the year.

More than 84,000 homes and businesses in the Northern Rivers experienced power outages during ex-cyclone Alfred. Some lost power multiple times. The State Government has written to energy companies asking them to defer electricity bills...