State politics

Kimberly Grabham. It has been announced Central Darling Shire will become a rural and remote council, made up of three locally elected councillors from the community, and three councillors appointed by the NSW government ... This new council model aims to provide Central Darling Shire with a more sustainable future. It also aims to return democracy to remote communities in far west NSW for the first time in over 10 years.

The Albanese Labor Government has advised the Northern Territory Government that the Jabiluka Mineral Lease should not be renewed, allowing the site to be added to Kakadu National Park. The Commonwealth advice has enabled the Northern Territory Government to decline to extend the lease of the Jabiluka uranium project.  

As Victoria’s road network continues to crumble, new data has revealed funding for road resurfacing work has dropped to a five-year low. Figures provided to State Parliament show that the money spent on resurfacing and resealing contracts in the 2023/24 financial year was just 18 per cent of the previous year, dropping a staggering $163.8 million across the state.

Narugga MP Fraser Ellis says he was prepared to accept his guilty verdicts, until the Director of Public Prosecutions launched an appeal against all charges he was acquitted of earlier this month. On July 1, Mr Ellis was found guilty on four charges of deception in regard to misusing the state Country Members Accommodation Allowance (CMAA), which he has now appealed after the DPP’s decision to appeal against another 19 charges he had been acquitted of ... "I feel as though I have been singled out of a group of Members of Parliament who made similar errors."

Member for Mallee, Dr. Anne Webster, has written to landholders whose farms, environment, amenity and safety on their land is threatened by the VNI-West transmission project and proposed wind turbine installations, encouraging them to make a submission to the State Government’s Developing the 2025 Victorian Transmission Plan. “I’ve just seen the map and despite earlier indications of six Victorian Renewable Energy Zones, clearly Mallee is the prime target in Labor’s sights,” Dr Webster said.

In March, 2024, Energy Resources Australia (ERA) applied for a 10 year lease renewal on the Jabiluka Uranium mine, which ERA has previously held for 42 years. Based on advice from the Federal Government, the Jabiluka Mineral Lease will not be renewed. As the Mineral Lease relates to a prescribed substance, uranium, there are strict regularity requirements in place ...

The milestone means an 816,000-hectare parcel of land about four times the size of the Australian Capital Territory will be added to the State's conservation estate in WA's north, with joint management to create new opportunities for Mount Augustus (Burringurrah) to support tourism experiences at Australia's largest rock. It also means 3.5 million hectares of the Plan for our Parks' target of five million hectares of new reserves has now been created in WA since 2019.

Two conflicting reports on land clearing during the last week are likely to leave Queensland residents confused over the issue and make it difficult to decide as to what is fact, bias or just propaganda. The Queensland Minister for Resources and Critical Minerals, Scott Stewart said the latest Statewide Landcover and Trees Study (SLATS) report and accompanying vegetation management analysis shows Queensland’s vegetation management laws continue to protect native ecosystems ... In the same week the Queensland Conservation Council used the same SLATS report but put forward its concerns over the report’s findings.

Extra funding will be allocated to help Riverland grape growers address the oversupply of red wine. The State Government last week announced an extra $260,000 for CCW Co-operative, aimed at supporting members to diversify into alternate crops and improve access to information for new revenue streams ... The support package will also see an implementation officer appointed by Riverland Wine to assist with rolling out the Riverland Wine Industry Blueprint.

Hugh Schuitmaker. The Riverland’s State MP is optimistic a merge of Accolade Wines with another large industry giant will provide positive opportunities for the region. Australian Wine Holdco Limited (AWL) last week announced Accolade Wines would be merged with Pernod Ricard’s Australian, New Zealand and Spanish wine businesses. Chaffey MP Tim Whetstone said the decision reflected pressure facing the commercial wine sector.