Qld

Leader of The Nationals and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud has welcomed the Federal Government’s backflip on ill-advised changes to the Pacific Australian Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme, after The Nationals strongly advocated against the now-defunct minimum hours of work requirement.

Everyone has seen wonderful sunsets on TV and social media so the benchmark for an outstanding photo has been set very high. Our judge was Graham Harris and he mentioned that sunrise and sunset photos can be difficult technically ... With "In the palm of my hand", Glenda created her own impact by shooting through a crystal ball ...

Sitting high above the town, Wyreema’s elevated reservoir will soon be removed from its perch as it is no longer needed. The Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) reservoir, located at the Council compound on Newman Road, will be demolished beginning in July.

The process of community consultation undertaken in a Tasmanian renewable energy zone has been praised for its commitment to listening to the community. The lack of community consultation was a big sticking point for residents of the East Greenmount/Ramsay area when they heard, through neighbours, that there were plans to construct a wind farm in their neighbourhood.

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Rain across four states has failed to dampen demand for fodder to feed drought affected livestock. Australia’s most trusted rural charity, Rural Aid, said the sigh of relief from farmers who received rain in the past week was almost audible such was the desperation of some; none more so than producers in south-western West Australia where the region had experienced its driest conditions on record.

A new era in Queensland’s disaster and emergency management begins today as some of the most significant changes to how the state responds to natural disasters and emergencies takes effect. The State Emergency Service (SES) is now formally established with its own legislation, the State Emergency Service Act 2024 ... And for the first time, Marine Rescue Queensland (MRQ) is established as the state’s first integrated marine rescue service ...

Chloe Stubbings. In green fields of manicured grass Rochelle Deenen’s Pygmy goats bleat through the fence ... “Our first buck that we named, I had to go with Ed Sheeran because he was a big red fella,” she said.  And so she has stuck with a musical theme, naming each new kid after a singer or song.

Australia’s farmers are expected to plant 23.55 million hectares to winter crops this year – up more than three per cent on 2023 – despite a mixed start to the season across the country, Rabobank says in its 2024/25 Australian Winter Crop Outlook ... This year’s winter crop planting – representing a 3.6 per cent increase on 2023/24 though down 1.8 per cent on the five-year average...

Moove over ChatGPT – we’ll soon be using artificial intelligence to monitor cattle. The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and  Goondiwindi-based company Infarm have collaborated to create a prototype automated camera system to detect cattle and monitor their condition using advances in machine vision and AI.

James Lister MP. Recent talk of more wind farm developments in our electorate of Southern Downs has stirred up all kinds of anger and ill feeling in the community. The fundamental problem is the exclusion of local input from state government level decisions over where wind and solar farms should be.

Allora Men’s Shed hosted a successful morning tea last Thursday to raise money for the Cancer Council Queensland. A huge crowd turned out to enjoy the social outing while helping a worthy cause.

Glynn Rees. Local league heroes the Stillwater Pastoral Company’s Wattles Warriors A Grade side eased to a 62 – 6 one sided victory over the Newtown Lions ... The vital win came on the back of another tradesman like performance by skipper Nick Van Der Poel against the injury racked Newtown Lions, Wattles running in eleven touchdowns ... Wattles’ brothers duo Jacob & Isaac Leach ran on against the Newtown Lions ...

Emerald Show Society Horse competitions Monday 3rd - Wednesday 5th Entertainment - Helly Hoops, La La Fairy, Melvilles Animal Farm, Crack up Sisters, Mask Face painting,...

Last week, Toowoomba Regional Council hosted a major joint Local Government and Police disaster management exercise testing the capability of various Local Disaster Management Groups (LDMGs) from across southern Queensland ... The exercise used a major flood event scenario to practice the various Local Disaster Management Group’s capabilities to respond to a request to provide evacuation centre support for a mass evacuation scenario.

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The district around Richmond has a strong history of racing dating back to the early settlers. This is an iconic North West Queensland event that continues to draw crowds and looks set to showcase yet another exciting line up in its 39th year.

The Muttaburra Stock Show is having their 62nd show June 1st! Showcasing the districts best sheep, cattle and wool fleeces. The show is renowned for getting the crowd, young and old, involved in their infamous Marsh Rural Dinosaur Dash, the Sproutag Sheep Races and the Ringrose Button Sheep Dog trials.

Kimberly Grabham. Dean Whitehead spoke at a recent meeting of Hay CWA in response to the threat of fire ants, and to explain the Fire Ant Eradication Program. Mr Whitehead said the objective in regards to fire ants is eradication, and a stringent process is followed to achieve this goal.