SA

Gabrielle Duykers. After relentlessly advocating on behalf of cross-border residents for more than a year, Apsley farmer Paula Gust is still fighting for the health and social wellbeing of her community. Mrs Gust, who has a farm straddling the SA/VIC border, began the Cross Border Call Out (CBCO) page in August 2020 ... She said she spends between 20 and 30 hours per week advocating for the cross-border community, taking time away from her own business.

Neil J Eagle AO. We now see communities and irrigators questioning why, when dams on the Murrumbidgee and Murray are now pre-releasing or spilling, the allocations remain so low – 30% NSW Murray and 52% Murrumbidgee. The cause dates back to the early 1990s when the anti-irrigation element imbedded in our bureaucracy and, egged on by groups like the ‘Wentworth Group’, began proclaiming our rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin were over-allocated and in dire decline.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority met on 30 August 2021 by video teleconference. The meeting was chaired by Sir Angus Houston with all members present ... the Authority released the mid-year  report card on the Basin Plan. This is the sixth report card produced by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and responds to community feedback seeking short and succinct updates on water reform progress.

As National Cabinet prepares to meet, farmers have accused state premiers of ‘arrogance’ over border arrangements, saying they seem to have forgotten that growing food and fibre is essential to public health. The National Farmers’ Federation is calling on National Cabinet to recommit to the National Agriculture Workers Code and focus on quarantine solutions for ag workers as a bumper grain harvest looms.

Gabrielle Duykers. Local residents have planted more than 2000 native tree species across Avenue Range to help rejuvenate land affected by the Blackford fire. Titled ‘green is the new black’, the revitalisation project has been organised by the newly-formed Avenue Tree Group.

Gabrielle Duykers. A Naracoorte family has been reunited with a 70-year-old WWII medal, after months of effort from RSL volunteers ... After extensive research across VIC and SA war registers, he discovered the medal was in fact a Returned from Active Service badge, originally issued in WWI and again in WWII ... Bill Leitch said receiving the badge was like having another “piece to the puzzle” of his ancestry.

On 23 August 2021, the Ombudsman release a redacted report into his investigation of Council’s historic billing practices. The trigger for the investigation was a complaint in 2018 from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement on behalf of Aboriginal people into Council’s electricity and water billing practices ... Council acknowledges, and is sorry for, the harm and mistrust caused by its past billing practices, is committed to implementing all of the recommendations in the report, and welcomes all community input as to how we can move forward together.

National Indigenous Radio Service. A recent investigation by the South Australian Ombudsman has found the remote council of Coober Pedy in the state’s north, pressured Aboriginal residents into requesting money from Native Title funds to help pay off their overdue electricity and water bills.

The Morrison Government has given regulatory approval for a commercial rocket launch to take place later this year from a newly licensed launch facility in South Australia.

Local Whyalla resident and proud Barngarla woman Jody Croft was recently commissioned by Whyalla City Council to create four original artworks to fit the newly designed First Nation Trail from Douglas Point North to Fitzgerald Bay.

Sheryl Lowe. Former Wattle Range Councillor Rick Paltridge resigned on Tuesday 3rd August, effective immediately ... “Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a happy balance between the demands of a corporate entity such as Wattle Range Council with the needs and aspirations of my local communities, and my personal wellbeing and health. I thought I was up for it! I was prepared to learn, to adapt, and to communicate openly, respectfully and frankly, but in the end that just wasn’t enough”, said Mr Paltridge.

"Out of every adversity lays the seed of equal or greater opportunity" ... "if you've got a passion for farming, grazing, cropping or whatever it is, just keep looking through your genetics and the way that you manage your farms and your businesses and your environments" : Dave Reilly

National Recovery and Resilience Agency Recovery Support Officer in Far North South Australia, Matt Humphrey, was recently lucky enough to enjoy the great sportsmanship and good old outback hospitality at the 36th Oodnadatta Bronco Branding and Campdraft.

The community can discover mythical hidden creatures across local venues during the Barossa instalment of SALA (South Australian Living Artists Festival), a celebration of South Australian visual art. In partnership with Barossa Regional Gallery, Nuriootpa High School Visual Art students have spent months creating the sculptures for public display at participating businesses.