Property

Victoria’s peak farming body has released a sweeping 20-point plan that demands all major parties commit to the strongest farmland protections in Australia ahead of the Victorian state election in November. The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF)’s Victorian Farmland Protection Plan calls for a fundamental reset in the way Victoria safeguards its agricultural land.

Carey Brennan. More than 100 farmers attended the recent VFF community meeting held by the St Arnaud branch on Thursday, April 9, to listen to legal experts speak about the effects of the new Victorian Treaty Act and the land acquisition procedures for transmission lines, all of which will adversely affect farmland in this district.

Miriam Torzillo. Just when we thought the Reconstruction Authority (RA) had got the message that the Big Scrub homes should be deconstructed, salvaged or relocated, reports are coming in from residents about the ramping up of demolition in Lismore. Locals have been recording the destruction and sharing it on social media. The community is not happy.

Residents across Yorke Peninsula are being encouraged to support a petition calling for stamp duty to be waived on existing homes for first homebuyers in regional South Australia. The initiative, led by the City of Victor Harbor and supported by Barunga West Council and other regional councils, aims to reduce upfront costs for buyers and improve housing access in country areas.

Oliver Jacques. A 77-year-old farmer has lost his last-ditch legal fight to win back two family farms worth around $4.8 million near Narrandera from his own son, ending a seven-year courtroom battle that he said has left him fearing homelessness. Colin Protheroe launched legal action against his son Brian, seeking to overturn a 2023 judgment which found that Brian was entitled to the farms under a court-imposed arrangement.

The first major project unveiled by the Australasian Space Innovation Institute, the National Digital Twin for Australian Agriculture holds immense potential for the agricultural industry to harness existing national datasets and observation systems to model scenarios, test options and inform discussions and decisions, including at scale. Australian Rural & Regional News found out a good deal through an in depth interview with Andrew Beveridge, Director of the National Digital Twin for Australian Agriculture.

Minister for the Central Coast, Member for Wyong David Harris has hit back at suggestions made by the State Liberal Party's Shadow Minister Jacqui Munro that there is something sinister about plans to allow some campgrounds in national parks to be set aside for private operators to manage.

Myles Beaufort. A public town hall meeting held at Nimbin Town Hall on Sunday 23rd February drew strong community support for the relaunch of the Pan Community Council (PanCom), a regional network connecting intentional and land-sharing communities across the Northern Rivers.

Land has been secured on which to build two modular homes as part of a partnership project to provide affordable housing in Maldon. Members of Mount Alexander Shire Council (MASC) and the Community Bank Maldon & District (CBMD) met on the newly purchased High Street block of land on Tuesday 10 March to announce the latest step of the bank’s Big Project.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has lodged a major submission calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the National Construction Code (NCC), warning that excessive regulation and complexity is slowing the delivery of new homes across Australia.

There is something quite extraordinary happening at Hay War Memorial High School. In the school grounds, a tiny home is taking shape. It is being built not by tradies, not by developers, but by local kids with tools in their hands, pride in their work, and a future full of possibility.

The Nationals are today taking another major step toward preserving Australia’s food security with the tabling of proposed laws to ban federal funding of projects that diminish prime agricultural land, or place it under foreign ownership.

Gannawarra Shire Council has held discussions with the Victorian Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Resources, Lily D’Ambrosio MP and VicGrid representatives about its concerns regarding the construction of VNI West ... the project involves the construction of a 500-kilovolt double circuit transmission line that will connect the Victorian and New South Wales electricity networks.

A controversial proposal from an anti-farming environmental group risks handing control of private land to government under the guise of conservation. NSW Farmers’ Conservation and Resource Management Committee Chair Bronwyn Petrie said the Wentworth Group of Scientists’ “Blueprint for a Healthy Country and Thriving Regions” to farmers was deeply disingenuous.

"The Victorian Farmers Federation is gutted that Parliament has backed laws allowing farmers’ land to be taken for transmission lines before the environmental assessment is even finished": Brett Hosking, VFF President.

Bundaberg burnout driver Scott Abdy was just three years old when doctors told his parents he would never ride a bike, and yet, here he is decades later, gearing up to return to the Rare Spares and Repco Rockynats 06 burnout pad with precision, power, and an unmistakable passion for skids. 

Property Rights Australia says the Federal government’s major overhaul of environmental law duplicating the traditional State role was always going to be a problem for an under resourced Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water DCCEEW. Compounding the problem is a surge in complaints regarding alleged “illegal tree clearing”, placing increasing pressure on both regulators and rural landowners.

The former ANZ Bank building in Walker Street, Casino looks like it will be back in action after sitting empty for many years ... Jade Finance Australia has offices in every major city in Australia and is expanding its Casino Barker Street office and moving to the historical Walker Street building.

John Williams. Nhill’s Royal Hotel once claimed to have lost a talking black cockatoo a bird that supposedly said far more than “pretty cocky.” According to the tale, it could recite: “Jack Kierse’s drinks are the coolest and best at the Hotel Royal Nhill” ... What can be explained is why the Hotel Royal was also known as the Royal Hotel.

...Leader of The Nationals David Littleproud said the agricultural land required by … DAFF own calculations doesn’t factor in land that has already been sequestered. It comes after Senate Estimates heard the ABARES Insights Sequestration on agricultural land: impacts and policy trade-offs report shows under the 119 million tonnes of land-based sequestration needed to achieve net zero, about 18 million hectares of sequestration projects would need to be established by 2050.

Having taken the matter to the Victorian Parliament, Member for Western Victoria Region, Bev McArthur, is demanding answers over the federal government's plan to permanently close 68 defence locations across the nation - including the historic Fort Queenscliff … Mrs McArthur joined around 200 residents at a community rally organised by Senator Sarah Henderson, opposing the federal government’s plan to sell this nationally significant heritage site.