Vic

Delegates at the  River reflections  annual water conference heard about the challenges we all face due to climate change and how we must work together to make the Murray–Darling Basin ready for a more variable, drier and hotter future. In his address,  The future of the Murray–Darling Basin,  Murray–Darling Basin Authority Chair Sir Angus Houston said we must adjust our approach based on what we have learnt and continue in partnership with experts, communities and First Nations People.

Kendall Jennings. District residents met on a chilly Wednesday evening at the Koroop Hall to raise concerns for the Gannawarra Shire Council Planning Application P21147 to use and develop land for a rotational outdoor pig farm. The farm, located at 127 and 191 Orrs Road and 1399 Cohuna-Koondrook Road, Gannawarra, will have up to 5,000 pigs.

Kendall Jennings. Unfortunately, my mind always takes a wander; I tend to overthink things and get stuck in my head. Hello, mental illness. One thing that has been on my mind recently is the decline in participation in community sport ... Over the past 12 months, I have realised that local football is not like it was 20 years ago.

The Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell says an elected Matthew Guy Coalition Government will immediately cease the shooting of brumbies in both the Barmah and Alpine national parks. Ms Lovell has been a strong advocate against the shooting of the brumbies, particularly in the Barmah Forest, on many occasions calling on the Andrews Labor Government to stop the culling and focus on trapping the horses for rehoming.

A great day was had by all at Swifts Creek, Tambo Valley, Victoria on Sunday 17 April to watch the running of a full card of races, including, for horses, the Tambo Valley Cup, won by 'Flying Basil' and, for humans of all ages, foot races.

Warwick O'Neill. Imagine you’re a young 20 year old bloke. You’ve just struggled across sixty miles of some of the toughest terrain on earth. You’ve had bugger all training, your weapons are obsolete because you’re “just Militia” and all the best stuff is being used by the Second AIF in North Africa. But here you are on the pointy end of the attempt to defend Australia from direct attack.

Josie Emery. ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a country town in possession of an event, must be in want of volunteers,’ so said Jane Austen ... in 1812 ... And 210 years later, Clif Edwards and Valentina Tansley are discovering the same universal truth as they work towards the unfolding of Maldon In Winter and Goldfields Gothic during June and July 2022.

Porcupine Village has received a $1.7 million investment through the Regional Tourism Investment Fund to assist with restoration works and new accommodation, creating more than 100 jobs and attracting more visitors to the region ... The restoration, which will include the school, blacksmith and lolly shop, will provide a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the village as it was generations ago and learn about how gold shaped Maldon and Victoria’s heritage.

Valentina Tansley. Things in Maldon are looking dark, with the town getting set to host Goldfields Gothic in just over a month’s time. The Goldfields Gothic Festival of Dark Ideas is a new event being staged for the first time this year in an attempt to reinvigorate Maldon after the devastating impact of COVID on the region ... With the festival exploring gruesome tales and mysterious stories, it made sense to use the term gothic in the title, but it seems this has people a little confused.

Joan de Bondt. Local resident, Wayne Clayton, and fellow Australian, Daniel Gladwell, have been selected to represent Australia in the World Ploughing Contest later this year... “The very best international ploughing competitors and their teams will be battling it out on Irish soil in September to become supreme World Champions,”: World Ploughing Organisation general secretary, Anna Marie McHugh.

Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) commissioners will start to flood Gunbower Forest with 74,000 megalitres after ecologists raised concerns of declining health of red gums after four years without a flood ... Audrey Dickins, local landholder, passionate environmental advocate and member of the Central Murray Floodplains Environment Group, believes the problems with the Gunbower Forest are more complex than the ‘just add water’ approach.

Delegates at the River reflections annual water conference today heard about the impacts of the massive sand slug in the Barmah-Millewa reach of the Murray River and the consequences to water users, the environment and local community if no action is taken to address it.

Rex has confirmed the withdrawal of services from five regional centres: Bathurst; Grafton; Lismore; Kangaroo Island, Ballina ... "Qantas’ well-publicised predatory actions on Rex’s regional routes have meant that Rex no longer has the ability to cross subsidise these marginal routes. It is unfortunate that these regional communities are the collateral damage of Qantas’ bullying and heartless behaviour. This behaviour is all the more unconscionable after receiving over $2 billion in Federal bailouts over the past 2 years” : Rex’s Deputy Chairman, the Hon John Sharp AM.

David Bruce, Natural Hazards Research Australia. Fire and Climate 2022 (Pullman Melbourne, Albert Park, Monday 6 to Friday 10 June 2022) is an International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) conference on Fuels and Fire Behaviour, Human Dimensions and Safety Summit, in the tradition of past IAWF conferences.

The Victorian Government has confirmed it intends to slaughter hundreds of wild brumbies in the Alpine National Park and Barmah Forest, and has issued a tender document specifying the carcases will be hacked up and left to rot ... “It’s brutal,” Beverly McArthur, Member for Western Victoria said. “It means 400 broken up carcasses in the Barmah, alone. Worse still, little real effort seems to have gone into the alternative – rehoming the animals – as promised by Parks Victoria."