WA

Western Australians can now have their say on the draft Forest Management Plan 2024-2033, which delivers on the McGowan Government's historic decision to end native logging in our South-West. The move will preserve at least 400,000 hectares - an area 1,000 times the size of Kings Park - of karri, jarrah, and wandoo forests.

Located in WA’s deep south with a population of around 6,000, Denmark has always been known as a creative kind of town. Now home to one of Australia's newest community radio stations -  Denmark FM - station manager, Matt Sivyer, said he first started looking into the idea of putting local voices and local content on the airwaves more than a decade ago ... But Matt had no experience in radio so he knew he’d need help. As luck would have it one of Australia's most experienced radio directors was living in Denmark. Sue Howard, ex National Director of Radio with the ABC, had been with the ABC for nearly 30 years and to say she knew a bit about radio is an understatement.

The President Mrs Jill Kowald and committee welcome visitors to our Show, and will be offering “FREE GATE ENTRY FOR ALL” with thanks to WAMMCO International’s sponsorship.

The 2023 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon Masters World Championships will be coming to Western Australia next year as part of the popular Dwellingup 100 event. This will be the first time the world championship event has been held outside Italy.

Documents released under a Freedom of Information request have exposed a lack of evidence-based decision making by the Western Australian Government in relation to management of native forests, according to the organisation that represents professional forest scientists and managers. Chair of the WA Branch of Forestry Australia, Brad Barr, said revelations that the decision to end native forest timber harvesting was not backed up by scientific evidence gave reason to question the Government’s motives.

Earlier this year a paper was published in an international journal that argued that if left long enough the southern forest of Western Australia was ‘unlikely to burn’. Furthermore that ‘the predicted likelihood of fire in undisturbed forest was 1 in 208 to 1 in 1149 years.’ In my opinion, the methodology used to obtain the results was so badly flawed as to make the conclusions meaningless.

Patricia Gill. Dr Pratha Prathalingam shrugs off working until 82 as ‘easy’ because he has loved his job. “It’s never been a burden to me,” says the Sri Lankan born ‘Pratha’ who was recruited from eSwatini (Zwaziland) to come to Australia via the forerunner organisation to the State Government’s Rural Health West.

Kylie Cook. Natural Intelligence Farming improves pasture diversity and productivity, rebuilds soils, repairs landscapes and benefits human and livestock health. The manager of Prospect Pastoral Co, a Wheatbelt mixed cropping and livestock operation of more than 60,000ha, Di Haggerty, spoke to the Wilson Inlet Growers Group in July ... She said Wheatbelt farmers faced many challenges, a drying climate, ‘gutless’ sandy soils, salinity and erosion of bare ground between cropping seasons.

Serena Kirby. Denmark FM has been named as a finalist in four national community radio awards. The annual Community Broadcasting Association of Australia awards are designed to recognise innovation, programs and initiatives that contribute to the industry and the local community.

Out now!

Robert Onfray. Many negatives are written about the clearing associated with developing Western Australia’s Wheatbelt into a farming paradise ... The Wheatbelt has played a pivotal role in a trend that has seen world poverty and starvation decrease despite a 50 per cent increase in the world's population since 1990 to over 7.8 billion people.

After 14 work related deaths in the WA agricultural industry over last 18 months, far more than any other state, serious questions need to be asked about why our Ministers have put all their faith in the impact of draconian new industrial manslaughter laws when it's clearly not working.

The WA Government has determined not to proceed with the Southern Forests Irrigation Scheme in its current form, as the climate modelling indicates the dam on Record Brook is not viable. Reports by CSIRO found climate change and lowering of the water table has significantly altered the supply of available water from the Donnelly River.

Stow Gardens on the Geraldton Foreshore will mark the final stop on adventurer and philanthropist John Elliot’s odyssey across the heart of Australia to raise awareness about skin cancer. Before Mr Elliot’s departure in 2019, he undertook a routine skin check that revealed a melanoma on his back, which had it gone undetected may have proven fatal.

Regional Western Australian based salon, Cinco Hair Boutique, is a national finalist for Salon of the Year at the prestigious Australian Hair Fashion Awards ... Cinco, established in 2018 by Busselton local Kendall Drake, is listed amongst some heavy hitters in the hairdressing world. Drake, 30, says she is very proud to be named a finalist for the most prestigious of all awards, Salon of the Year.

Narrogin Agricultural Society, Inc.

Managing wild dogs is not easy work with community engagement simply not about the deployment of tools into the landscape by the people whose assets are threatened by incursions. According to Western Australian landholder Debbie Dowden, it requires human action, which means working within the complex dynamics of human nature.

Western Australia's resources sector continues to drive the State and national economies, with record sales of $231 billion and the highest-ever employment figures in 2021-22. This is the fourth financial year in a row the sector has delivered record sales, following $151 billion in 2018-19, $172 billion in 2019-20 and $211 billion in 2020-21.

Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan has officially opened an expansive cell fence project in the Murchison, which is protecting 53 pastoral properties in the region from wild dogs ... The cell builds off the State Barrier Fence to encompass more than 6.5 million hectares of pastoral land, extending through the Yalgoo, Mount Magnet, Sandstone, Cue and Meekatharra areas.

After several years testing equipment for companies in a range of industries, from fabrication and chemical plants to aviation, Dirk De Beer used his redundancy payment to settle in Kalgoorlie and realise his dream of owning his own business. A 28 year-old single man, Mr De Beer set up a desk in his home garage and invested in tools and a converted telecoms service ute.