Qld

Logan City Council has opened an innovative new facility that turns human waste into energy and fertiliser ... The facility, which is the first of its kind in Australia, blasts sewage with extremely high heat to turn it into a product called biochar. Biochar can be used for a variety of purposes including as a fertiliser for the agricultural industry. It also has potential applications in the building industry.

Norco dairy farmers are to receive an immediate price increase of five cents a litre to support them in farm production after the floods. Norco Co-operative’s 281 members will receive the extra five cents a litre paid as a co-operative premium above the normal milk prices, taking the average price to 84c a litre.

We could all learn a thing or two from humble war hero Les Cook. The top-shelf gardener, proud dad and gym regular is still living his best life in a quiet suburb near the Canberra Hospital. Earlier this year I found myself in the nation’s capital at the historic Australian War Memorial and had a lightbulb moment – for Anzac Day this year I should write a piece on a World War II veteran.

“National parks should not be purchased unless there are funds to fully fence and maintain the park. They are the worst neighbours one could wish for with little to no weed control, no fences, nobody living on the property, little fire-fighting capability, and a propensity to shoot cattle" : Sally Witherspoon, Cape York cattle farmer.

Dave Donald. While anti-fishing groups have long been opposed to recreational fishing, to claim they have colluded in a major way to “slash Spanish mackerel quotas” is a fabrication. Seeking to lay the blame for the depletion of Spanish mackerel stocks solely on Labor is another furphy as exceptionally poor fisheries management under BOTH major parties essentially created the current situation.

Lockhart River mayor Wayne Butcher is hoping a close federal election race in Leichhardt will be the catalyst for a major upgrade to the town’s disgraceful telecommunications network ... “We are not asking for 5G like the cities, we are simply asking for a reliable 4G service ... There is a lack of understanding in the capital cities about how bad we have it here.”

Katter's Australian Party Leader Robbie Katter has backed a Cairns game fishing leader’s condemnation of the state government for siding with anti-fishing groups to slash Spanish mackerel quotas ... Cairns Professional Game Fishing Association spokesman Dan McCarthy said the survey on the management measures for the east coast Spanish mackerel fishery released by DAF was skewed towards severe restrictions and used a very different stock assessment model and method to any ever used before.

“It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the Wakka Wakka People as the traditional, and now, legally recognised native titleholders of approximately 9,393 square kilometres of land covered by this determination”: South Burnett Regional Council Mayor Brett Otto.

"There are real opportunities to deliver environmental outcomes to the river system without reducing production. I would call on both sides to put aside the political point scoring around who's tougher on water, and instead build upon the opportunities in the basin plan that have been hard fought but are still yet incomplete": Richard Bootle, NSW Farmers Water Taskforce Chair.

Fast becoming a Cape York icon, Lakeland’s Gateway to the Cape was officially opened on Friday ... Now complete, it boasts comprehensive visitor information, as well as a sculpture park that showcases each community in the region.

Cape York residents can breathe a sigh of relief after the cheap flights scheme was sewn up, with some positive changes ... One-way fares will be allowed, while the eligibility criteria has been changed for all communities – except Weipa.

The fight to win the vote of Far North Queensland residents has begun, with candidates in Leichhardt preparing for a six-week battle ... There are nine confirmed contenders, although that number could rise ... Katter’s Australian Party candidate Rod Jensen is third in the line of betting at $21

Exports of Queensland-bred Calypso ® mangoes to China have increased this season despite the many recent challenges faced by growers, including unpredictable weather events and freight disruptions.

An Albanese Labor Government will protect Australia’s precious water resources with a five-point plan for the Murray Darling Basin that strikes the right balance between the needs of local communities, farmers and the environment ... Labor will deliver on the final 450 gigalitres (GL) of water for the environment that Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce have failed to deliver.

Water allocation prices in the southern Murray–Darling Basin are likely to remain low for a third consecutive year, according to the latest ABARES Water Market Outlook.

“After the first flood in late February there was no oxygen in the river between Ballina and Coraki. That’s around 60 kilometres of river and estuary with no oxygen and therefore no fish. A lot of the dead fish were washed out to sea during this event due to the magnitude and duration of the flood”: Professor Damien Maher, Southern Cross University.

For the past three days, a high-tech team from Sunshine Coast Council, University of the Sunshine Coast and the Friends of Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Gardens have worked together to uncover how many koalas live in the reserve and how healthy they are.

Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch said while there were not a huge amount of “big ticket items” for the Cape in the budget, there was enough to ensure residents would be better off ... Labor's candidate for Leichhardt, Elida Faith, was not impressed with the budget ... Katter’s Australian Party candidate Rod Jensen said the Far North’s needs had been ignored in favour of short-term “sugar hits”.