December 31, 2025
Tiny forests breathe life and hope into urban Australia Groundswell Collective volunteers have planted 16 tiny forests in schools and parks across NSW.
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Tiny forests breathe life and hope into urban Australia

LIVING in one of Australia’s fastest growing regional areas, Anna Noon was watching in despair as nature made way for sprawling housing developments. “There was a lot of land clearing happening,” she says of her home at Lake Macquarie in the rapidly-expanding Hunter region. “I knew that was leading to habitat loss, species extinction and […]

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Fibre to the Premises becoming a reality on the Myall Coast A local is informed about the internet infrastructure changes already rolling out in Tea Gardens. Photo: Thomas O’Keefe.
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Fibre to the Premises becoming a reality on the Myall Coast

NATIONAL Broadband Network promises from over a decade ago are finally being realised on the Myall Coast. Representatives from NBN Co, a state-owned corporation that operates Australia’s NBN network as the nation’s wholesale broadband provider, visited areas of the Myall Coast last week to explain the connection options that are or soon will be becoming […]

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Growth can put spark into younger generations’ future Danielle Wood. Photo: AAP Image/Dean Lewins.
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Growth can put spark into younger generations’ future

AUSTRALIA is failing its younger generations and the chair of the Productivity Commission believes a policymaker “growth mindset” can help. Danielle Wood says the generational bargain is in peril. “Young people today believe they won’t live better lives than their parents did,” the head of the nation’s economic think tank will say at the National […]

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Reforms begin to close working-with-children loopholes Michelle Rowland: the vast majority of childcare workers are good people. Photo: Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS.
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Reforms begin to close working-with-children loopholes

PARENTS and advocates say reforms to improve working-with-children checks are a step in the right direction but they want more action to keep kids in childcare safe. Fast-tracked reforms unveiled on Friday will ensure that by the end of the year, anyone prevented from holding a working-with-children check in one state or territory will be […]

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Progress on Hexham Straight as three-lane traffic opens in each direction When complete, the Hexham Straight will comprise three lanes in each direction for its entire six-kilometre length, from the Newcastle Inner City Bypass to Hexham Bridge.
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Progress on Hexham Straight as three-lane traffic opens in each direction

THE first widened section on the Hexham Straight is now open to traffic with three lanes in each direction. Motorists turning left onto Maitland Road from the Newcastle Inner City Bypass are now benefiting from an additional lane for about 650 metres, including an extension to the turning lane from the bypass. There is also […]

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Police charge 865 people in statewide DFV crackdown Across the four days, 865 people were arrested and charged, with 269 arrest warrants executed.
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Police charge 865 people in statewide DFV crackdown

Across the four days, 865 people were arrested and charged, with 269 arrest warrants executed. Across the four days, 865 people were arrested and charged, with 269 arrest warrants executed. Across the four days, 865 people were arrested and charged, with 269 arrest warrants executed. POLICE have charged 865 people with 2,028 offences during a […]

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MPs call for new disaster declaration
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MPs call for new disaster declaration

THE Members for Lyne, Myall Lakes and Upper Hunter are calling on the state and federal governments to declare last weekend’s flooding across the region as an additional disaster event, enabling affected landholders and primary producers to access further support. With farms and paddocks across the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions once again inundated, […]

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Torrential rain returns for the start of August Snowfall blanketed the roads near Armidale. Photo: NSW SES.
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Torrential rain returns for the start of August

‘Lake Monterra’ in Hawks Nest, where floodwaters cannot drain away. Yaccaba Headland vanishes behind the southerly front, seen from the Winda Woppa Erosion Zone. Tree damage in North Arm Cove after a wild night of rain and winds on 3 August. Photo: Stroud SES. Bucketts Way road surface damage on 2 August. Photo: Stroud SES. […]

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New terminal opens at Newcastle Airport The terminal includes new swing-gate functionality, allowing for transition between domestic and international operations.
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New terminal opens at Newcastle Airport

The terminal includes new swing-gate functionality, allowing for transition between domestic and international operations. The terminal includes new swing-gate functionality, allowing for transition between domestic and international operations. NEWCASTLE Airport’s brand-new arrivals area is now open. Initially slated for an August launch, the international terminal opened early, following the work of over 2,000 individuals and […]

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Final weeks to nominate for Hunter Manufacturing Awards Allegro Energy was named Outstanding Start-Up in 2024 for its pioneering work in sustainable, water-based energy storage solutions.
Regional

Final weeks to nominate for Hunter Manufacturing Awards

TIME is running out for manufacturers across the Hunter, Central Coast and Mid North Coast to submit their nominations for the Hunter Manufacturing Awards 2025 (HMA 2025), with entries closing in just a few weeks. Now in its 21st year, the Hunter Manufacturing Awards shine a spotlight on the region’s manufacturing excellence, recognising businesses of […]

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