Regional coverage
Save Wee Waa Hospital
NARRABRI Shire Council has welcomed the release of the Review of Wee Waa Health Service as an important step in the long campaign to restore healthcare services in the town – but says the recommendations fall short of what the Wee Waa community needs and expects. Narrabri Shire mayor Darrell Tiemens said Council had hoped [...]
Politics
FEDERAL Member for Parkes and Shadow Assistant Minister for Resources, Jamie Chaffey, and Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability, Andrew Willcox, have announced the Coalition will push for a Senate Inquiry into the future of Australia’s metals manufacturing industry. The Coalition says Australian smelters and refineries are at risk of collapsing, with an [...]
Census 2026
THE Australian Bureau of Statistics will conduct a large-scale Census Test in August as part of its preparation for the 2026 Census. Households in Coonamble and Gilgandra in central-western New South Wales have been selected to take part. About 60,000 households have been selected from towns and cities in several states, including Rockhampton, Gladstone and [...]
Border Racing
THE 12th Annual Carrington Cotton Boggabilla Cup meeting returns to Gunsynd Park on Saturday, but this year, it’s more than just a race – it’s a homecoming. The Goondiwindi Race Club is proud to host a full weekend reunion honouring two much-loved figures of Boggabilla’s past: Senior Sergeant Ian Campbell and his right-hand man, Grahame [...]
Border News
GOONDIWINDI Regional Council has completed a major apron and taxiway expansion at Goondiwindi Airport, delivering critical infrastructure to meet growing demand for private aviation facilities in the region. The $500,000 project is jointly funded by the Queensland Government’s Transport Infrastructure Development Scheme and Goondiwindi Regional Council. The works include a 2000 square-metre extension of the [...]
Local Government
LOCAL Government NSW last week released a new report on cost-shifting, with the Country Mayors Association of NSW saying impacts are more deeply felt in rural, regional and remote communities. Cost-shifting is the term given to offloading cost burdens by State and Federal Governments to already cash-starved Local Government. The report, Cost Shifting 2025: How [...]
Pally School
THERE are 13 families with 21 children – and between them, they’re on the hunt for $28,000. Staff, families, students and supporters of Pallamallawa Public School have been brainstorming ideas to raise enough capital to install new playground equipment at the school. It’s a fundraiser done the old-fashioned way, where everyone in the village chips [...]
Agriculture
NSW Farmers encourages young people to upskill in agriculture as the state government announces a new 5-million-dollar boost to the AgSkilled program. On Thursday, the State Government announced it will extend its AgSkilled initiative for a further twelve months, with the new program funding to allow hundreds of short courses in agricultural skills to continue. [...]
Picnic Racing
JOURNEYMAN jockey Paul Zerafa is on the road again, and heads to Wean picnic races today with five strong rides. The 1200km round-trip from his base at Kembla Grange to Wean racecourse, nestled on the Manilla Road about 30km east of Boggabri, is one of Zerafa’s shorter drives. In recent weeks, he’s travelled more than [...]
Rural Health
AN Independent Review into Wee Waa health services instigated by Member for Barwon, Roy Butler, has uncovered previous leadership and operational failings within Hunter New England Health, while also making recommendations to return the Health Service to 24-hour operations. On May 8, 2023, staff shortages led to Wee Waa Health Service’s emergency department operating hours [...]
