Wednesday, December 24, 2025

News

Christmas spirit

A plea for Christmas

Nasik Swami, Naracoorte Community News
Charity
This Christmas, Naracoorte father and leukemia survivor Remo Herron has one heartfelt wish: that people give a gift that truly matters — a gift that helps save lives and keeps families together when everything feels like it’s falling apart.

Christmas - Barmera

Christmas hits Barmera with a bang

Madison Eastmond. Crowds of Riverlanders lined the main street of Barmera for the annual Christmas pageant and firework display ... the community gathering providing another successful showing of local festive cheer and spirit despite the weekend heatwave.

Christmas - Birchip

Community together in song and fellowship – Birchip Ecumenical Christmas Service

The Buloke Times
Community
The Birchip community came together in a spirit of unity, reflection and celebration at the Ecumenical Christmas Carol Service held at the Birchip Public Hall ... Representatives and congregations from St Mary’s Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Uniting Church joined with community members of all ages ... In a powerful moment of solidarity, Robyn invited attendees to hold hands as a visible sign of unity and support for Jewish communities, both locally and around the world.

Wildlife hospital

A medicated spa day for one lucky echidna

Dunoon and District Gazette
News
NR Wildlife Hospital. Thankfully, not every patient journey begins in crisis. A crowd favourite on our socials this month, this little echidna came in bright eyed and alert, but a little too smelly for our liking!

Talking rural and regional

It’s cheaper to live in England now? Plus your Christmas weather

No Drama Farmer
Agriculture
In the Christmas instalment of No Drama Farmer, Fiona L Fox joins us to talk about koala numbers plus is England cheaper than Australia? (cost of living) it might be!

Tribute truck

Community unites to honour Lauren

Ted Rogers, On Our Selection News
Community
A powerful show of community resilience and strength unfolded at Nobby ... as family, friends and supporters gathered to honour the life and legacy of 21 y/o Lauren Smith, whose life was cut short by epilepsy ... the Smith family, alongside local haulage company OBrienco Transport, officially unveiled a specially branded B-Triple truck dedicated to Lauren’s memory...

Local history

Time capsule

Time capsule finds a new home

Krista Schade, The Riverine Grazier
Community
The town's time capsule was installed in its new home last week, lowered carefully from above onto the original stand. Once displayed in the grounds of the former St Paul's Church, in Moppett Street, the time capsule was donated to the town by David Kenton, when he purchased the land from the church several years ago.

Marine monitoring

Watching for marine recovery on SYP

Yorke Peninsula Country Times
Council
Michelle Daw. A team of citizen scientists is monitoring the impact of the harmful algal bloom on two southern Yorke Peninsula jetties that were home to a dazzling array of sea life. Certified volunteer divers involved in the Edithburgh and Wool Bay Jetties Marine Watch are conducting monthly photography, transects of the seafloor, and quadrat observations under and around both jetties.

Lifesavers

Rest stop heart attack turns into miraculous survival

As David Anderson travelled back home to Stanthorpe from a trip to Toowoomba, little did he know a rest stop at Allora would leave his life hanging in the balance. David had just exited the public restrooms when he suddenly collapsed to the ground, unresponsive. Confirming that David was in cardiac arrest, bystanders immediately began providing effective CPR, before paramedics arrived...

Storm

Fast and furious

Michelle Dorian, Tarrangower Times
Community
An intense and devastating storm hit Central Victoria on Saturday 13 December and cast a weird yellow light ... In Tarrengower, Anne-Maree McComb described the destruction: “It took out trees in a straight line over around 800 metres as well as the roof of our house, spreading debris over about 250 metres. We were watching two storm fronts colliding and a mini tornado circling in our back yard when our back verandah was ripped off, taking the whole roof of the house with it.”

Fire - Central Coast

Residents in shock after Koolewong fire claims 16 homes

Coast Community News
Community
The community is still reeling after a devastating bushfire destroyed 16 homes and damaged a further nine at Koolewong on Saturday, December 6 ... News of the fire first broke at around 1pm on Saturday at which time four homes had been lost, with reports of more homes destroyed surfacing during the afternoon and early evening...

Appeals launched to help victims

Family members and friends of some of the victims of the Koolewong fires have started gofundme appeals to help them get back on their feet ... Elyse, her boyfriend, her mother, her one-year-old son and their greyhound luckily escaped the flames but have lost their home and every belonging inside it.

Water - Denmark

Nutrients still a threat to ‘good’ inlet water quality

Denmark Bulletin
Community
Mat Dalby. A Department of Water and Environmental Regulation report, Wilson Inlet (Nullaki) – Condition of the Estuary 2025, was tabled at the Wilson Inlet Community Science Forum ... Department officials presented the report which assesses the main drivers of estuary health that includes rainfall, river flows, catchment condition, nutrient inputs and sandbar dynamics, as well as the estuary's water quality and seagrass pastures.

Communications

NBN fixed wireless is coming to Wilcannia – where speed is the new data

Chris Elliot. Wilcannia residents in the space of less than 300 years have moved from the traditional wooden message stick that, while designed to carry a lot of data, had low transfer speed, as it depended on how fast the carrier walked. In 1866 it took 70 days for a letter to come from London to Wilcannia. Now, at current average speed of 80Mbps you can send a 2-million-word document per second from Wilcannia to London.

Christmas - Riverland

Toy and Tucker’s 2025 record

Murray Pioneer
Charity
Madison Eastmond. A record total of donations has been counted from last weekend's Toy and Tucker Run, with the annual drive ensuring a brighter Christmas for Riverland families ... Using the annual December ride to collect toys, non-perishable foods, and cash donations for the Riverland Christmas Appeal, the Ulysses Club Mallee Branch's 23rd Riverland Toy and Tucker Run raised $7937 last Sunday for locals in-need.

Christmas - Charlton

“Spark” ignites Christmas vision

Contributor, The Buloke Times
Community
Jenny Pollard. A new vision for Charlton's Christmas decorations has been realised thanks to the innovation and inspiration of a small group named "Community Spark". The volunteer-led team, comprising many "newcomers" to town, has created the impetus for refreshing and renewing the main street décor, along with encouraging local involvement in boosting the festive signature of the township.

Christmas at the beach

Native flora

Beating buffel: From that to this

Contributor, Alice Springs News
Fire
Alex Nelson. When I moved to Pitchi Richi Sanctuary in October 2022, buffel grass smothered almost the entire site. Aside from a small area around the resident caretaker's cottage, I assessed that buffel grass comprised a minimum of 99.9 per cent of the groundcover across the entire property.

Christmas run

Sirens for Santa as emergency services crews map Christmas route

Contributor, indyNR.com
Community
The emergency services join forces at Christmas to bring Santa to Casino. The annual emergency services Santa run is on Sunday, December 14 and on Friday, December 19 ... On the first day of the Santa run the volunteers gave out more than 400 lollipops and candy canes.

Community project funding

FRRR awards vital funding for 78 locally-led initiatives across Australia

Contributor, ARR.News
Charity
Remote, rural and regional communities across Australia will share $981,100 in grants through FRRR’s Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) program, empowering them to create vibrant and sustainable places to live, work and thrive. This funding will support 78 locally-led projects that foster resilience, social connection and greater capacity in regional communities.

Naval visit

HMAS Canberra visit Lord Howe Island

Stephen Sia, The Lord Howe Island Signal
Community
HMAS Canberra visited Lord Howe Island on the 18th and 19th of November. The sailors came ashore in shifts to enjoy the Island, and our school children went aboard the ship to take a glimpse at shipboard life ... Throughout the two-day visit, Navy personnel spent time on the Island and were warmly received by the community.

River repair

Australia’s first River Repair Boat set to launch in Ballina: OzFish

OzFish, Australia’s only fish habitat restoration charity, is set to launch the nation’s first dedicated River Repair Boat at a special public event at Faulks Reserve Boat Ramp, Ballina, at 3 pm on Friday, 5 December 2025.

Disaster preparedness

New Practice Note – Capability maturity: assessments and targets for severe to catastrophic disasters

Organisations with emergency management responsibilities must be capable of preparing and managing severe to catastrophic disasters. Practice Note 3: Capability maturity: assessments and targets for severe to catastrophic disasters presents a capability assessment tool that organisations can use to assess their capability maturity to adequately prepare for and manage severe to catastrophic disasters.

Weather

Rain, hail and wind – Clifton copped it all!

Mim Rogers, Allora Advertiser
Land & environment
On Saturday the town and district looked like a disaster zone. After the first storm super cell went through, it doubled back striking again and again. Many windows and skylights smashed, solar panels were severely impacted...

Volunteer firefighters

Young people get behind ‘fire ready’ drive

Almost 500 Victorians have put their hands up to join CFA between 3 and 29 October on the back of the Get Fire Ready initiative. The figure represents an 11 per cent increase on new applicants during the same period last year. ... "To also see so many people wanting to take the next step and join their local brigade shows the strong sense of volunteerism that runs through this state": CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan.

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