SA

Council raises alarm, TagEnergy defends Naracoorte mega-battery proposal. A Portugal-based energy company’s plan to build a 600-megawatt-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) on 11 hectares of prime agricultural land west of Naracoorte has ignited fierce community debate, with questions mounting over land use, safety, transparency, and the long-term implications for the region.

“The mental health toll on farmers is becoming impossible to ignore our community is carrying the stress, uncertainty, and frustrations of a system that refuses to hear them.” Those are the words of Limestone Coast Sustainable Futures Association (LCSFA) chairman Todd Woodard, who has issued a blistering condemnation of the state government’s proposed Mining Act reforms — warning the legislation further eroded farmers’ rights and silenced regional voices already pushed to breaking point.

South Australia’s capacity to rapidly respond to emergency animal disease (EAD) outbreaks such as H5 avian influenza (bird flu) has been boosted with the launch of a new mobile biosecurity laboratory. The state-of-the-art mobile lab enables rapid processing and turnaround of samples - a critical factor during EAD outbreaks, where early diagnosis can significantly reduce economic and social impacts, as well as the risk of the disease spreading.