WA

For the first time in thirteen months, the NAB Rural Commodities Index saw an increase in November, with cattle prices being the single greatest driver. NAB’s December Rural Commodities Wrap ... reports the Index increased 3.5 per cent month-on-month in November, retracing its October fall to be slightly above its September level.

A Charles Sturt University legal academic has successfully represented First Nations people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia before a United Nations tribunal ... “The decision concerns the Wunna Nyiyaparli people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, an area rich in minerals such as iron ore, and basically concerns a miscarriage of justice in the Federal Court in determining their native title rights": Dr Scott Calnan.

Jack Bradshaw. Australia, along with 16 other countries, has recently committed to the “Initiative for Greening Construction with Sustainable Wood” at COP28 in Dubai ... How will Australia support this initiative with insufficient forest resources to service even the present demand?

Anyone tracking the media will see the Albanese government is in trouble, from the failed referendum through to promises to reduce power bills by $275 by 2025, to get wages growing faster than inflation and not to raid peoples super, it has a growing list of failed and broken promises ... You can see why the hard heads in government are quietly looking for a way to kick the live sheep trade issue down the road just as they have done with the Murray Darling promise.

Two Rocks Primary School is one of five public schools named in the 2023 WA Education awards. This week Education Minister Tony Buti announced Two Rocks Primary School was the winner of the excellence in school leadership category.

Isi Campbell is doing what most teenagers only dream of… she’s travelling the world to go surfing ... Isi’s wins have been many including being named as last year’s WA Junior Surfer of the Year and collecting the 2022 Under-18 Girls State Championship Title. She has also achieved a silver medal as part of Team Australia at the International Surfing Association’s World Junior Surfing Championships in El Salvador.

Ian Osborne. As summer comes around again, our thoughts turn to the threat of bushfires. Every foreign navigator who sailed the coast of Australia, from William Dampier and Abel Tasman to Captain Cook, and later those carrying the immigrants who would settle the new south land had noted the prevalence of fire along the continent’s edge .. It was, Cook said, 'the Continent of Smoke'.

Alison Bennett Taylor. Denmark Surf Lifesaving Club came home champions from the Rainbow Coast Carnival at Bremer Bay after fielding its biggest team of competitors ever. Club president Sam Williams said it was the first time the club had won the friendly carnival between south coast clubs Albany, Esperance and Denmark in nearly 20 years.

Out now!

John Hassell. The ban on live sheep is inherently unfair and Australians can see it. Roger Cook can see it. Let’s hope for the Albanese Government’s sake they recognise it too before the next election. Underestimate Australia’s farmers at your peril.

The WA State government is due to introduce its new firearms laws next year with the explicit aim of driving down the number of recreational shooters (approximately 60,000) along with the number of licensed firearms (360,000) in the State ... While there is a correlation between the number of licensed gun owners in the community and firearms related deaths - think the United States (high) vs Japan (low) - no evidence has been provided that reducing and capping the number of guns held by each recreational shooter makes any difference at all.

Alison Bennett Taylor. Denmark businesses and residents have helped bolster the community’s bushfire preparedness, funding a new hydrant that will reduce response times for volunteer firefighting brigades ... Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson unveiled the Wentworth Road hydrant which allows fire trucks to fill up from the dam at Raintree Estate in less than a minute.

The Denmark Primary School’s science room has been renovated to become one of the best in WA. The State Government-funded upgrade reflects a commitment to enhancing science education in public schools in the previously big and well-equipped science room.

Fond memories were rekindled recently at a reunion of Denmark’s John Clark Memorial Band, which officially marked the band’s 60th anniversary ... WA’s longest running public school band has undergone a resurgence in recent years and now has 70 students from the Denmark Primary and Senior High Schools.

Out now!

Here we go again, yet another example of a live export case in the courts that has fallen over because the emotional rhetoric does not match up to the facts.This is what happens when animal activists and activist ministers come together and attempt to use the legal system to end a legitimate trade.

Occasionally I come across a speech in parliament by one of our elected representatives that needs to be shared loud and wide.   The following was made by Western Australian Liberal Senator Slade Brockman, President of the Senate, ex farmer, lawyer, PGA staffer and tireless defender of the people who make their income from primary industries. All those who oppose the live export trade should take the time to read what he has to say.

The 134th Bridgetown Show is on Saturday 25th November 2023. Tickets can be pre-purchased now or bought on the gate. The theme this year celebrates our Multicultural Community with activities and demonstrations from around the world.

The weekend of 4/5 November 2023 was eerily similar to my experiences as a 20 year old fire-fighter at the disastrous 1961 Dwellingup fire, which burnt 200000 hectares of forest and destroyed several towns ... Multiple lightning strikes, dry, heavy fuels and strong winds eventually overwhelmed all fire-fighting efforts.