State politics

Gannawarra Shire Council has welcomed the tabling of the Victorian Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee’s Final Report for the Inquiry into the 2022 Flood Event in Victoria, and will advocate for various key recommendations to be actioned.

John Hassell. On 16 July members of the ‘Keep the Sheep’ group of industry peak bodies fighting to retain the live sheep trade signed off on a letter to the WA Minister for Agriculture, Jackie Jarvis, in response to the Albanese government's disgraceful vote to put live exports to the sword. Now I won’t print the whole letter, but it is worth knowing what WAFarmers, the Pastoralists and Graziers, WA Shearers, Livestock Transporters, Stud Marino Breeders and the Live Exporters Assn are asking in the letter, so I'll quote the key bits ...

Joanna Tucker. Kadina CFS volunteer Justin Baxter is flying to the US this week to help fight some of the 85 wildfires burning across the country, following an SOS call put out by officials. The Moonta Bay resident ... is scheduled to reach the state of Idaho ... to start his mission, along with eight more South Australians and a host of other Australian firefighters ... Mr Baxter said he had undergone an intensive training program to be ready for the 40-day deployment.

Five ... firefighters from Loddon Mallee departed on Friday for a month on the fireline in British Columbia ... “Our ... firefighters are well-prepared to face the challenging and remote terrain of Canada, bringing specialist skills in tree-felling and dry firefighting techniques."

Cars didn’t stop tooting as they drove slowly by the nurses, midwives and other hospital staff protesting outside Lismore Base Hospital ... The rally was to highlight the need for a 15 per cent pay increase nurses say they deserve and for better conditions.

Landslips, roads, bridges and a new clubhouse have had tenders announced by Richmond Valley Council so work can begin. Most of the projects are funded under Transport for NSW’s Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, except the Tatham bridges, which are being funded through the Australian Government’s Emergency Response Fund Northern Rivers Recovery and Resilience Program 2022-2023.

"It is disappointing the Commissioner did not communicate the content, and intent, directly with the membership well in advance of his speech": Acting NT Police Association President, Lisa Bayliss ... Independent Member for the Araluen electorate in Alice Springs, Robyn Lambley, described the apology on social media: "What a croc! Garma has become a ridiculous display of patronising political rhetoric and pantomime."

The Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Reference Committee ... called for a delay in the shutdown of Telstra and Optus’ 3G networks until more is done to work out how many devices could be impacted by the shutdown (including non-phone devices). The committee has heard from a variety of different stakeholders about the impact the shutdown will have on devices that hadn’t been considered when the decision was made, including medical devices, emergency phones in elevators, and even surveying equipment.

Forestry Corporation firefighters on the North Coast are preparing for the bushfire season refreshing skills and planning for the fire season they will face in spring and summer ... North Coast and Far North Coast firefighters have attended preseason fire days near Grafton for training refreshers on equipment, fireground procedure, command, control, communications and safety.

Suzie Christensen. In the lead up to National Science Week ... we celebrate those who contribute to the world of scientific knowledge. A globally significant partnership with research scientists at the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has seen LHIB work to protect and manage threats to the critically endangered Little Mountain Palm (Lepidorrhachis mooreana or LMP).

John O’Donnell identifies numerous instances of what he sees as poor and inadequate governance at local, state and federal level, many of them being cross sector issues, highlighting the importance of working more effectivly together to address them. John goes on to identify possible ways to influence better outcomes.  

Four new homes in Tennant Creek are ready for tenants, and a construction tender has been awarded for a further six. The one-bedroom units at 86 Peko Road will augment the public housing stock in Tennant Creek.

The people of Moulamein and district have embraced their Moulamein Heritage Village (MHV). Taking just over four years to complete, we reconstructed our first historic building, Jeraly wool shed, in 2020 … just completed the cultural infrastructure around the village … includes a large sealed car park with designated disabled car parking spaces and magnificent wide concrete pathways linking the car park to all the buildings on site.

Clarence Valley Council’s Draft Local Housing Strategy has been amended to limit the construction height of new dwellings in Yamba and Iluka after Council received 873 public submissions and a petition containing 1086 signatures against the previous draft. When Clarence Valley Council CVC placed its draft Local Housing Strategy (LHS), and draft Affordable Housing Policy (AHP) on public exhibition … they also received 7 NSW Government agency submissions, and one from a non-government organisation.