State politics

Lismore City Council has delivered a $7 million wastewater project, unlocking development opportunity for up to 600 new housing lots in Goonellabah. Completed in partnership with BASEC Engineering, DGP Water and Ledonne Constructions, the Pineapple Road Sewerage Scheme involved the installation of a new pump station and over four kilometres of pipeline, creating 30 local jobs.

The Australian and Queensland governments will be progressing further planning work to protect the future rail corridor between Salisbury and Beaudesert. The Salisbury to Beaudesert Passenger Rail study explored the long-term passenger and freight needs in the corridor and has recommended heavy rail as the best way to address forecast passenger demand.

Minister for Regional Health Ryan Park says progress is being made to improve healthcare in the bush. The NSW Government says it is demonstrating its commitment to improving healthcare in rural and regional communities by recruiting and retaining more health workers, offering greater financial assistance for patients, and providing support to sustain the primary care sector.

During floods and fires not being able to communicate is scary and dangerous ... A new fleet of technology from the State Government will help communities be more prepared for disasters and better able to respond to bushfires, floods and other severe weather events.

From 23 September the community in Byron Shire is the first in NSW to have a legally enforceable means to regulate holiday letting beyond the State caps. After a decade of campaigning Short Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) in Byron Shire is capped at 60 days for un-hosted holiday lets in most of the Shire.

Serrated trailing edges have broken off wind turbines endangering CFA volunteers, farmers and livestock in the vicinity of the infrastructure. Member for Western Victoria, Bev McArthur raised this issue in the Parliament citing it as dangerous and reckless. “My question for the Minister for Agriculture concerns news that turbines at the brand new Golden Plains wind farm are falling to pieces."

The art gallery should be “South of the Gap” was the main message of protesters at the foot of Anzac Hill … but a spokesman for Chief Minister Lea Finocchiaro confirmed … this is not what they are going to get. One speaker at the protest said: “We won’t budge”. The crowd of 60, young and old, had entered this major women’s sacred site through a pre-existing hole in the fence.

Cattle Australia (CA) has launched its Land Management Commitment (LMC) strategic policy, which emphasises the primacy of agricultural land and includes definitions of deforestation and forest in the Australian context, along with four recommendations for implementation.

Maldon Museum and Historic Archives is hosting a Victorian Goldfields World Heritage bid (VGWHB) information display as part of the World Heritage Bid Roadshow ... You may be aware of the bid for the Victorian Goldfields to become World Heritage listed.

Gavin Butcher. Forest sustainability has taken on different meanings in Western Australia – changing depending on the audience. In one corner the Minister for Forestry, Jackie Jarvis, has repeatedly claimed the closure of the native forest industry was necessary because it was unsustainable. In the other corner is Stuart West, the General Manager of the Minister’s agency, the Forest Products Commission, overseeing harvesting operations in the jarrah and karri forests which have been independently certified as being sustainable.

Banks should ensure rural South Australians – like those living in the South East – have access to cash, a state MP says. One Nation’s Sarah Game introduced a bill to SA Parliament last week to protect the right of South Australians to pay cash for all government services, including council fees and charges.

The Miles Government is investing $8.7 million to restore crucial habitat and address a key disease threat to the iconic koala. Two organisations - Queensland Trust for Nature and Healthy Land & Water - will share in $8.5 million for habitat restoration while Queensland University of Technology and the University of the Sunshine Coast will share in $200,000 for research into koala chlamydia.

The Miles Labor Government is backing Central Queensland’s sustainable future by investing in a new gas-to-electricity power project that will reduce mining emissions by more than one million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The project will expand the underground mine’s drainage system to capture more fugitive gas, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere.

A decision by the Victorian government to cease the funding allocation for the regional delivery of chilled products at the end of June 2024 has left some regional FoodShare organisations including Corryong, high and dry without chilled food products … Wendy Lovell, has asked the Minister for Carers and Volunteers … to provide additional funding directly to rural and regional Foodshares to enable them to continue sourcing chilled products.

Logging has been stopped by the NSW Forestry Corporation in a Clarence Valley state forest after eggs found in an endangered Coastal Emu nest hatched last week, prompting calls for a wider exclusion zone to protect the species ... The FCNSW spokesperson said SoS program team members have seen the male emu and the chicks in the state forest.

We are a collective of CFA Brigades in Districts 16 and 18 who have taken a position where our Brigade will not commit to operating on or around electricity generation and transmission infrastructure by taking a perimeter only defence position except for where lives or safety of public is threatened. Specifically, this is Renewable Energy Infrastructure (REI) being wind turbines, large-scale solar and battery installations, high voltage (220 kva plus) transmission lines and connection hubs.

Antoinette O’Brien. On Wednesday 21st August the community in North Lismore and beyond was hit with another wave of destruction and devastation as the house at 13 Wotherspoon Street was demolished without notification ... Luke had been given 12 months to organise the relocation of his beloved home and was looking at land in Tenterfield.

The State Government will invest $250,000, in partnership with the South Australian Forest Products Association (SAFPA) to launch a new forest and timber industries career campaign, titled ‘This Is Wood Work’. Wood Work is a powerful tool promoting the broad diversity of career pathways and job options within the forest and timber industries...