With the dust now settled on the Royal Adelaide Show for 2025, what stands out when taking a closer look at the winners is the amount of new talent that has progressed quickly to the top of the lineups.

Experienced event rider Delwyn Ogilvy and her current mount, Walter, are proving that in the sport of equestrian, age is just a number. Walter, a Thoroughbred who raced as Bonny Ezra, only came off-the- track about eight months ago after 56 starts and winning more than $500,000 in prize money.

Bendigo Bank torches regional development with selective blacklist based on mining. Just like the fictional Tasmanian town of Mystery Bay, a star in its own right in the hit ABC TV series Bay of Fires, Queenstown, where much of the show was filmed, is being held back by mysterious forces. Locals have suspected for some time that the town was a “no-go” area for home lending but like many other disadvantages they face due to remoteness, it was believed geography was the likely cause.

Bendigo Bank closed its last remaining banking service in an Aboriginal community 27 days before celebrating the launch of its Aboriginal Reconciliation Action Plan. The Aurukun agency in far north Queensland was one of 27 to be closed in 2022-2023 under the eye of the bank’s now chief executive Richard Fennell when he was in charge of the consumer banking division.

Bendigo Bank has pulled out of fundraising partnerships with community groups that have been drumming up business for corporate branches since 2004 ... The bank told community groups however, that it had reviewed this part of its business and determined the contributions were “not sustainable” ... Bendigo Bank has announced a $514.6 million profit.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank has continued its assault on its community bank network, forcing the closure of 28 agencies run by community franchises. All the agencies are in regional Australia and 17 of the affected towns will be left with no banking services after the closures. Bendigo Bank made no mention that the agencies were all operated by the owners of community banks when making the announcement last week that it was “retiring” its agency network.

Bendigo Bank has hit the headlines for closing 10 branches shortly followed by an announcement it was getting rid of all of its regional agencies but there are another 90-odd Bendigo-branded banks that have been shut over the past five years it has managed to keep quiet. Many of these were community franchises that have been disappearing in the dozens, with both regional and metropolitan areas impacted.

Winter is the time of year when many hug their fireplaces with a book and warm lap rug but it’s also when breeders of horses and ponies like to brave the cool breezes and join together at shows to compare their youngstock. There were all sizes, breeds and colours at the NSW All Breeds Foal, Youngstock, Winter Hack, Hunter and Newcomer Show at Hawkesbury, with Buckskins well to the fore in the Welsh rings.