Qld

A fishing season for a high value sea cucumber in the Torres Strait has reopened for the first time in 20 years thanks to a concerted conservation and stock restoration effort ... Torres Strait Islanders will have exclusive access rights to black teatfish, which is estimated to be worth $380,000 to the local economy.

South Burnett Regional Council Mayor, Brett Otto has joined National Party Leader and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud in questioning the federal government recent budget announcement to impose a levy on farmers to fund biosecurity. Mayor Otto has called on the federal government to reverse the decision, saying it is another impost on struggling farmers.

We have a Blue Light Disco at the Town Hall Friday night for the children along with a Open Mic Night and BBQ and bar at the Show ground to kick start a great weekend. The show society subsides all rides to the cost of $5.00 per ride to make the show affordable for families.

Leases on two Great Barrier Reef islands have been purchased by the Palaszczuk Government with the move protecting key habitat for a range of species including koalas and flatback turtles. Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon announced that the government had purchased the lease for St Bees Island, 35km north-east of Mackay and the lease for the Long Island Broad Sound in the Southern Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

We are also hosting a wine and cheese night to welcome Miss Showgirl and the Rural Ambassadors on the 19th May (the day before the Show).

With the world-famous Tom Quilty Ride only weeks away, the Stirling Endurance Classic in Queensland attracted 178 riders across 10 sections. Stirling’s Crossing Equestrian Complex opened its gates in early 2016 as Australia’s only privately owned, purpose-built endurance facility.

This was a renovation rescue like no other – a new skyhome for a high-flying Sunshine Coast couple. Sunshine Coast Council has just completed a lofty project to ensure a better future for a beloved pair of ospreys – and their future offspring.

Researchers have made a scientific breakthrough which could significantly advance understanding herbicide resistance in Ryegrass, with the new information set to help combat the weed for Australian grain growers.

Many years of day in, day out toil by Evan and Gayle Jones and their team at Rudd’s Pub in Nobby was highlighted last Wednesday at an all-day event celebrating the opening of a new outdoor area and Steele Rudd Memorial.

Out now!

On Monday Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Taylor McKeown told her story to students at Allora P-10 State School. No holds barred Taylor relived the good and bad memories of her determined effort to swim at the Olympics.

Olympic and World Champions descended on Doha last Friday for the Opening of the 2023 Wanda Diamond League Season. This is the start of the international Athletics Season which brings together the world’s biggest names in track and field, including eight Australians led by a distance duo and a discus giant in the form of Allora’s Matthew Denny.

The complete decentralisation of State Government departments to cities like Townsville and Cairns, or a North Queensland Parliamentary Council that would allow NQ-based MPs only to vote on issues and projects in the region, have been floated as “self-governance” options by Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) MPs. The KAP MPs, in Cairns this week for the Queensland Parliament’s once-a-term regional sitting, said steps towards self-governance were reasonable as the region continues its quest towards statehood.

Out now!

From May 17th to the 21st, the world’s top riders will converge in Cairns, Australia, for five days of action-packed racing, fierce competition, and a whole lot of “shoeys” in the tropical rainforest. You can catch it all live on Red Bull TV.

JUTE Theatre Company’s award-winning First Nations residency program, Dare to Dream, hits the road this month, touring the Far North and Cape with, I Gut this Feeling, an engaging new theatre work aimed at empowering young people with knowledge for building safer communities ... I Gut this Feeling is clever, comical, and entertaining and has been created by Drandic to engage and educate audiences both young and old who rarely have opportunities to access or participate in theatrical arts expression of this kind.

Far North Queensland Regional Parliament will be held at the Cairns Convention Centre from Tuesday 9 May to Thursday 11 May ... “Regional sittings of Parliament are an important opportunity for locals – including our school students - to not only see democracy in action first hand, but to also hear all of the key issues for their area debated": Annastacia Palaszczuk, Premier of Queensland.

Senator Matthew Canavan and Member for Flynn Colin Boyce MP, have expressed their disappointment in NAB’s decisions to close the Biggenden branch ... "There are 47 community groups and 48 small businesses that are set to be directly impacted by the Biggenden branch closure. I urge NAB to support the community and keep this branch OPEN": Colin Boyce MP, Member for Flynn.

The Commonwealth Bank is closing a branch in an area it has itself labelled one of Australia’s most popular destinations for regional migration, breaking its pledge not to shut any regional branches while a senate inquiry into the impact of bank closures is in progress ... The Commonwealth Bank’s interpretation leaves Australia’s three biggest regional cities – Geelong, Wollongong and Newcastle – as well as the more densely populated regions along the east coast and places such as Bateau Bay, Gosford, Maitland, Murwillumbah, Raymond Terrace, Katoomba, Bacchus Marsh and Mandurah still vulnerable to the loss of their Commonwealth banks this year as they fall in the same category.

Robert Onfray. As we celebrate World Endangered Species Day on 19 May, I thought it timely this month to look closely at how species are faring in Australia, particularly in reserves authorities have established to protect them ... We don’t hear about this aspect of monitoring in our reserves because the government, bureaucrats and environmental activists don’t want the public to know just how poorly managed our reserves are.

After smashing records last year with attendance figures increasing an astonishing 28 per cent to 364,775 and generating $22.61 million in direct and incremental spending in Queensland, the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers will this year bloom across all of September, with Toowoomba Region Mayor Paul Antonio launching the 2023 program at long-time Exhibition Garden host, Val Peachey’s garden.