State politics

The NRL National Hogs Tour stopped to visit Casino High School ... NRL player Brad Fittler (Sydney Roosters) and women’s rugby league stars Jaime Chapman (Titans) and Yasmin Clydsdale ( Knights) played and chatted with the students ... Brad said Casino was “really rich on NRL players.”

This month’s Kyogle Council meeting is likely to be a fiery one given the  agenda. After the sudden sacking of Graham Kennett as general manager in December, the agenda for this month’s council meeting ... is filled with questions and motions about the sacking of the GM and the appointment of a new one.

Janelle Saffin. The Northern Rivers will benefit from a major boost to its local medical workforce – with 28 medical graduate interns starting work in local public hospitals this month ... Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said the new doctors will be entering a training program with networked hospitals throughout the state, providing formal and on-the-job training.

The latest government alcohol control effort, now a year old, has resulted in a dramatic drop in bottle shop and online transactions, but how much we drink hasn’t gone down by a lot ... Bill Yan, Member for Namatjira and Shadow Minister for Health, says alcohol abuse measures should have received more funding: “We’ve yet to see much of the $250m promised [by the Prime Minister] last year."

The Liberal Party is on the move in Mackillop, and this time it’s a “listening tour” ... The listening tours are being held in Naracoorte, Penola, Meningie, Kingston, Robe, Millicent, and the Tatiara District.

NSW farmers and politicians have been lied to about the state of South Australia’s Lower Lakes, with Independent Member for Murray, Helen Dalton, calling on NSW Premier Chris Minns to visit the area immediately. "We have all been conned and it must stop," Ms Dalton said.

"The memories of the opposition appear to be shorter than the brief time they were in Government. The feral deer culling program was approved by then Environment Minister, David Speirs. If the South Australian Liberals have abandoned their support for a deer culling program, then they need to come clean with farmers as this is a significant policy shift": Susan Close.

The NSW Government has continued to take a hardline approach to the threat of imported red fire ants, as the Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty announced the successful results of Operation Victa over the past weekend … Operation Victa activated another wave of security checks on heavy vehicles at the border between NSW and Qld, turning back any non-compliant vehicles.

A visit to the beach is not something that happens everyday for many of the young people in West Wimmera. For most it is around a 2 hour drive to the nearest beach.

Yamba has earned the unenviable reputation as the state’s hotspot for sharks after the NSW Department of Primary Industries shark tagging program recorded 17,501 detections of Great White, Tiger, and Bull Sharks off local beaches last year.

The Grafton Ngerrie Local Aboriginal Land Council is set to take over about half of the historic Grafton Gaol site after a landmark agreement with the NSW Government ... “This site will be used to serve the wider community and provide much-needed job and training opportunities for local Aboriginal people and the broader Clarence Valley community”: Grafton Ngerrie LALC Chairperson Roslyn Kennedy.

Canegrowers and the Australian Cane Farmers Association are calling on the State Government to support Mossman’s recovery as the far north Queensland community continues to struggle in the aftermath of ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.

Supporters advocating for the protection of Lots 512 and 513, DP727686, identified as part of Kariong Sacred Lands along Woy Woy Road, express shock and dismay over the lack of transparency and fairness during the Community Consultation Phase for the contentious rezoning proposal ... "We estimate over 3,000 public submissions opposing this unpopular planning proposal. It is impossible to contact every person to resubmit their views": Lisa Bellamy.

Patrick Goldsmith. South Australians are emphatically urging the state government to take more responsibility for much-needed jetty maintenance, the Local Government Association’s recently released Value of Jetties report shows. An LGA survey of more than 2400 people found 80 per cent believe the government should take financial responsibility for jetty maintenance.

The government agency tasked with looking after the interests of the state’s primary production has undertaken no modelling to understand the possible impact mass water buybacks will have on the South Australian agricultural production, it can be revealed … Dr Nicola Centofanti, said she is appalled with the Malinauskas Labor Government’s “talk first, think later” approach towards the River Murray.

New research shows the South Australian economy could lose over $103 million every year if jetties along our coastlines ceased to exist, supporting calls for the State Government to increase funding for repairs and maintenance. Released by the Local Government Association, the Value of Jetties report for the first time places a dollar figure on just how much jetties are worth to SA communities and the economy.

The Northern Territory Government has opened consultation for the Draft Saltwater Crocodile Management Program 2024-2034, which will allow for the public to have input on how crocodiles are managed in the Territory. There are currently more than 100,000 crocodiles in the Territory.

What do the scientists say about the fire ants at Wardell? Will they spread? How worried should we be? Originally from South America, the fire ants are considered one of the world’s most invasive pests.

Proceedings in the Supreme Court about the controversial Singleton Station water allocation by the NT Government were all dismissed by Justice Barr on 31 January 2024. The unsuccessful plaintiffs were the Alice Springs based environmental organisation, Arid Land Environment Centre (ALEC), and the Mpwerempwer Aboriginal Corporation, representing Aboriginal people in the Singleton region 380 km north of Alice Springs.

As Australian politicians take aim at globally dictated emissions targets, are everyday Australians left to carry the burden of the ‘green dream’? ... There were an estimated 100 million individual solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in Australia at the end of 2022, and it is estimated 2 billion solar panels will be required if we are to meet the 2050 emissions targets.