State politics

The expansion of one of the Clarence Valley’s largest timber factories, Big River Group is a huge boost to the local economy and sets the bar high in supplying the sustainable manufacturing of high-quality specialist technical timber products across the State. The upgrade includes the installation of state-of-the-art machinery that will substantially increase Big River’s output enabling them to supply an unprecedented volume of timber products.

The Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) has welcomed the NSW Government’s announcement of a new Inquiry into Community Safety in Regional and Rural Communities, and urges community members to have their say. The CMA’s call for an inquiry came to address the dangerous increase in crime in regional and rural areas across the state.

About 150 people gathered at Nornalup on March 23 to protest about the State Government’s plan to burn 80ha of nearby mostly-unlogged tingle forest. Nornalup community members are angry about the planned burn which environmentalists say is counter-productive to fire mitigation and destructive to the environment.

First, there was a ban on climbing Ayers Rock, gasp - what did he call it… where are the name police when you need them, or the indoctrinated millennials, I am referring to the rock you know as Uluru, and believe it or not, once upon a time your parents were allowed to climb it. Now the hunt is on to ban the Kimberley's Horizontal Falls experience, no doubt accompanied by a name change to the Garaan-ngaddim Non-Experience ... Are we heading back to the dark ages in Europe when the local lord charged you to cross his land and only the wealthy could hunt and fish on it? You bet we are.

As part of the weir project Water Infrastructure contracted to an archaeological consulting firm to conduct excavations on a number of sites that may fall with the footprint of the weir and construction zones ... Wilcannia Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Barkindji Native Title Group were consulted and a number of members received training on how to sift the soil from the holes...

Clarence Valley Council will make a submission to a NSW Government inquiry looking to impose a levy on councils with dams calling for the idea to be scrapped, as it is another means of shifting costs onto councils ... Mayor Peter Johnstone said a previous attempt by the NSW Government to impose a levy on councils with dams failed.

Patrick Goldsmith. Six Yorke Peninsula jetties ear-marked for repairs have been allocated a combined $4.18 million — the most of any region in the state — from the South Australian Government’s Jetties Renewal Program ... Within YPC’s pool of jetties, 85 per cent of piles in the Edithburgh jetty and 62 per cent in Ardrossan jetty are rated as having less than 25 per cent life left, while the Port Vincent Fisherman’s jetty collapsed into the water last year. YPC mayor Darren Braund reiterated how important jetties are to the appeal of the region.

The plight of Yamba residents whose homes are shaking and cracking from excavators moving and trucks carrying fill into floodplain development sites will be broadcast to a national audience following a visit by A Current Affair last Wednesday … greeted the reporter and camera crew ... in Park Avenue, Yamba, displaying “Stop The Fill” signs, while chanting “Stop The Fill, Don’t Drown Our Town.”

Victorians have a landmark opportunity to help design the future of the state’s public land estate – which now includes more than 1.8 million hectares of forest previously used for timber harvesting. To inform the future use and management of Victoria’s forest estate the Allan Labor Government has established the Great Outdoors Taskforce…

Forestry Australia has welcomed the decision by the Federal Court to allow planned prescribed burns in the Strathbogie Forest ... Forestry Australia President Dr Michelle Freeman said prescribed  burning recognises Australia’s fire-dependent ecosystems, and fire-adapted flora and fauna that have evolved through the long tradition of indigenous caring for Country.

A new weather radar in Tennant Creek is a step closer to construction with the Bureau of Meterology lodging a development allocation to build it at the Bill Allen Lookout. Member for Barkly Steve Edgington took a trip out to the proposed site with long-time resident Mike Nash, who has been fighting since 2015 for its return after it was decommissioned by the Bureau.

Member for Condamine Pat Weir has used a speech in Parliament to call for more investment to improve sporting facilities in the Toowoomba Region ... "The Toowoomba region was hopeful of a significant economic opportunity for its growing community with the announcement of the Olympic Games, especially given its close proximity to Brisbane and ongoing advocacy for a passenger rail connection to the south-east corner," he told Parliament.

"The order was renewed last year for only 12 months, during which time farmers and other stakeholders were promised consultation and a count of the wild dog population across Victoria," said Libbe Paton, North East Wild Dog Action Group. "Neither of these promises have been upheld to date."

Earthmoving contractors who worked to protect Koondrook during the October 2022 floods have finally received payment from the state government after 17 months of waiting. Local contractor Danny Gleeson said that not being paid makes you question dropping everything to help.

Skyrocketing costs of living, housing, workforce shortages, and healthcare—these issues roll off the tongue of Opposition and Liberal Party leader David Speirs. And with the state election more than two years away, Mr Speirs wants MacKillop back in the fold, claiming local MP Nick McBride “seems to have become Labor’s voice in the South East instead of standing up for what’s best for the region”.

"The decision regarding the proposed Great Koala National Park does not belong to a single voice but should involve many voices, mostly from the Mid North Coast. The Labor Government is attempting to blindfold us. Rather than using its chance to engage in authentic discussion with the community, it chooses to undermine us by including carefully curated elitists pretending to be our community representatives": Michael Kemp MP ... A good point that needs to be spelt out in more detail.