Kate Washington MP and Jenny Aitchison, Minister for Regional Transport and Minister for Roads, with Maritime officers in Port Stephens. The three locations for the trial. Photo: NSW Gov. THE locations for a powered vessel exclusion zone trial in Port Stephens have been announced. The trial will run from 24 December 2025 to 26 January […]

LANDHOLDERS across NSW are being encouraged to take advantage of $850,000 worth of free grain and bait on offer as part of a statewide crackdown on feral pigs. The funding is part of the Government’s Feral Pig and Pest Program with funding from the State’s more than $1 billion biosecurity budget. It is the third […]

ENERGY retailers say they’ve been blindsided by reforms promising free electricity to hundreds of thousands of Australians during peak solar power hours. The Solar Sharer program, announced by the federal government last Tuesday, would give consumers free access to electricity for three hours each day as part of the default offer available. Households in NSW, […]

The organising committee at Murrook Culture Centre planning the event. Photo: supplied. THE inaugural Worimi and Birrpai Youth Gathering is being hosted by the Goori-Bugg family later this week at Saltwater, near Old Bar. Activities will include weaving, grass skirt making, emu egg carving, canoe and gunya building, and a Goori song and dance. The […]

The woodchop competition was a centrepiece of the event. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. RFS volunteers from Karuah and Medowie turned out to help attendees get ready for summer. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. Stallholders were busy as the crowds rolled in. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe. Tea Gardens Lions kept the people fed with their famous portable barbecue. Photo: Thomas […]

A NEW online tool is available to help NSW farmers better prepare for, respond to and recover from natural disasters including fire, flood, and drought. The platform, called myStockPlanner, enables farmers to provide details of their farm, risks and resources to access tailored response options to consider and implement with their feed and livestock. Federal […]

New Pindimar/Tea Gardens RFS recruit Jack using the drip torch to help build a fire break. Photo: Mark Pryor. The crew of Pindimar/Tea Gardens Cat 7 watch a waterbomber refill. Photo: Mark Pryor. Smoke rises as the fire encroaches on pastoral land west of Karuah. Photo: Mark Pryor. A BUSHFIRE started by lightning threatened farmland […]

RISING temperatures over Antarctica have been a major contributing factor to recent volatile weather along the East Coast, according to new information from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM). A “sudden stratospheric warming” (SSW) is to blame. This is a documented weather scenario in which air temperatures high above the South Pole rise by 30 degrees […]

A NEW citizen science project led by UNSW Sydney is inviting beachgoers, snorkelers and divers to spot and share photographs of seagrass flowers along Australia’s coasts. The endangered seagrass Posidonia australis forms rich underwater meadows that capture carbon, support fisheries, and help stabilise shorelines. It’s one of the most important habitats in coastal ecosystems but […]

A QUIET life in the countryside appeals to nearly half of Australia’s city residents, but concerns about access to health care, housing and jobs are stopping them making the move. Country Australia is on track to become home to 11 million people by 2032, or 40 percent of the population, while 40 percent of people […]