Qld

Over 50 years ago, in 1972 Colin Ubergang acquired the Versatile Tractor Company distributorship in Australia ... To mark the 50 Year anniversary of the first Versatile Tractor in Australia a celebration will be held at next year’s Allora Heritage Weekend on 27 and 28 January.

Congratulations to The Allora Community Circle for organising a wonderful Bush Christmas again this year. With the support of local sponsors and business houses as well as the community involvement Allora turned on a memorable event including the official lighting of the Community Christmas Tree ... It was an amazing experience as the kids flocked to see and touch a real live reindeer.

Out now!

After years of neglect, the glory days of Babinda’s historic nursing quarters have been returned with a new lease of life, transforming the Art Deco beauty into a popular guesthouse in the heart of nature’s playground ... In carrying on her mother’s tradition of bringing old buildings back to life, Maggie Perpetua Nelson’s daughter, Kim Marsden, undertook the considered renovation of Babinda Quarters, reimagining it into a fresh iteration oozing creativity, character, and a good dose of quirk.

In this article Robert Onfray details the lack of environmental scrutiny of the wind factories and pumped hydro projects built or planned in Queensland as the state sanctions the wholesale clearing of remnant native forest on the coastal ranges straddling the Great Dividing Range ... 10,178 hectares of koala and 6,744 hectares of greater glider habitats are set to disappear if all the renewable proposals in Queensland are approved ... "blunt force trauma" is to be used to euthanise injured animals or those that cannot be relocated, particularly koalas.

The stunning landscapes and unique environments of Curtis Island will be further protected and celebrated under a new Queensland-first partnership. The Palaszczuk Government has purchased the island’s Spadely Station from  Bakara Investments Pty Ltd to add the land to Queensland’s protected areas estate, with the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to partner with the company to boost eco-tourism and visitor numbers on the island.

The weather may have been crappy but the people still flocked to Greenmount on Saturday for the inaugural Billy Cart Challenge, which attracted 65 entries. There were plenty of spills and thrills as drivers manoeuvred their way down Ramsay Street.

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It’s official - Muttaburrasauras langdoni is the State’s fossil emblem with the passing of the Emblems of Queensland and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 by the Queensland Parliament. The 100-million-year-old, plant eating ornithopod had a convincing win over 11 other fossil contenders in last year’s popular vote of Queenslanders to become the State’s first fossil emblem.

The Lighting the Way Ambassadors, selected for their genuine affinity with the Flying Doctor, work within their region to advocate for improved health and wellbeing outcomes for rural and remote Queenslanders ... Established in 1943, the Charleville Base services a waiting room of more than 622,000 square kilometres, connecting the residents of the South-West Queensland region to leading, and often lifesaving, health services.

Southern Downs Regional Council wants the views of the Allora community on a number of important matters including the Allora Senior Citizens Centre, Allora Library, Allora Sports Museum and Allora Community Hall.

Out now!

Following the eradication of the five red imported fire ants nests at South Murwillumbah on the weekend, the NSW Government has been further implementing its fire ant plan by focusing on tracing, surveillance and educating local businesses and the community. Detection dogs have been on location ... inspecting local high-risk premises...

Four students from Kyogle competed in a Lego comp in Gladstone, Queensland ... Kyogle High School students Xavier Mazouin, Michael Hawthorne, Lucas Marychurch and Ewan Wilkie came third out of 18 teams in the FIRST Lego Challenge...

NSW Farmers is aware that there has been a detection of Red Imported Fire Ants in South Murwillumbah. This incursion is a threat to agricultural production and to the landscape of NSW ... Authorities must act quickly to eradicate this population of Red Imported Fire Ants.

The Albanese Government and Australian Greens have agreed to strengthen the Restoring Our Rivers Bill ... “We’re talking about the largest inland river system in Australia, supporting threatened plants and animals and delivering drinking water for 3 million Australians. We have to get this right": Plibersek ... “As part of this agreement, the Greens have secured an independent audit of water in the basin to stop the rorts, inject integrity and restore trust after a decade of mismanagement from vested interests": Hanson-Young.

A proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) project that would see liquified carbon dioxide injected into a water producing aquifer (the Precipice Sandstone) within the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) has industry and community alarm bells ringing, not only in Queensland, but across the nation.