Member for Port Stephens and Families and Communities MP Kate Washington.
FOR the first time in more than two decades, foster and kinship carers across NSW have received a 20 percent increase to their care allowance. The increase aims to ease cost-of-living pressures and strengthen support for vulnerable children in out-of-home care. The tax-free increase took effect from 1 January 2026 and applies to authorised carers […]
The report identifies near-term priority emissions abatement measures for industry subsectors. Photo: Leanda Connor.
THE NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW DPIRD) has released a report to help farmers and primary industries reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while maintaining or enhancing productivity and sustainability. The NSW Land and Primary Industries Low Emissions Options Report identifies near-term priority emissions abatement measures for industry subsectors including livestock production, […]
Gurmesh Singh faces new challenges in his role as the NSW Nationals leader.
A THIRD-generation local, the Member for Coffs Harbour and recently elected leader of the NSW Nationals, Gurmesh Singh, grew up in a Woolgoolga farming family of Indian heritage. Life in the family and community revolved around agriculture – first bananas then macadamias, and later berries. During that time and through his teens, Mr Singh wasn’t […]
Some of the symbols and decorations associated with Christmas date to ancient times.
HAVE you ever wondered why we decorate cone-bearing trees, eat turkey and ham, light candles, pull bonbons, hang Christmas stockings, decorate homes, make wreaths and credit Santa with delivering presents via flying reindeer? Most of us know that many Christmas traditions from the Northern Hemisphere sailed south with immigrants. But many so-called Christmas traditions originated […]
The CSIRO’s patented neckbands use GPS and wireless sensors to control cattle movements. Photo: CSIRO.
CATTLE and dairy farmers have welcomed the government’s decision to legalise virtual stock fencing, which involves using GPS collars to control the animals through audio cues and electric shocks. The move is expected to reduce physical fencing costs, improve rotational grazing systems, and provide remote access to data on the welfare of herds. Minister for […]
MP Kellie Sloane (centre) is the new leader of the NSW Liberal Party. Photo: Kellie Sloane MP FB.
THE Liberal party’s latest leader has thrown down the gauntlet, vowing to fight with her ailing party as a crucial election looms. First-term MP Kellie Sloane completed her meteoric ascent to the top of the NSW Liberals on Friday after her predecessor Mark Speakman gave way to mounting pressure and resigned. With just 18 months […]
RV Investigator, the 94-metre ocean research vessel seen operating off the Nambucca Valley last week. Photo: supplied.
RV Investigator, the 94-metre ocean research vessel seen operating off the Nambucca Valley last week. Photo: supplied. The transit and research route used by the RV Investigator last week. Photo: supplied. RV Investigator was seen near the mouth of the Nambucca River last week. Photo: supplied. RESIDENTS of the Nambucca Valley were treated to an […]
The meeting attracted representatives from a range of organisations and industries.
The meeting attracted representatives from a range of organisations and industries. The meeting attracted representatives from a range of organisations and industries. LOCK the Nambucca Valley hosted a well-attended meeting at Valla Beach on Sunday, 9 November, bringing together a range of community-based environment groups to discuss issues affecting the health of local river systems. […]
Experts want a national seabird beach monitoring program to help explain why mass deaths happen. Photo: Silke Stuckenbrock/AAP.
BILL Fulton recalls counting 1162 dead birds during a four-and-a-half kilometre morning beach walk. That’s a rough average of one every four metres. But when he tells people about the work and its confronting reality, they’re curiously inclined to dismiss it as kind of normal. “We want people to know that this is different,” Mr […]
The loss of forest canopy has long been claimed to increase the risk of flooding – but actually proving the direct link has proven difficult since the impact of other factors such as changing climate are hard to exclude. Photo: NSW SES.
THE chance of large-scale flooding in a specific catchment area can increase by as much as 700 percent if widespread deforestation has occurred. That is the finding of a new paper by academics who analysed decades of flooding data from regions in Australia which frequently suffer forest fires. The loss of forest canopy has long […]
