Do you have Hudson pear on your property or mining claim?

The new biocontrol mass-rearing facility at Lightning Ridge is stocked with the Hudson pear cochineal and they are ready to be released.

Contact Mat Savage on 0427 253 463 to collect your plastic tub (for collecting clean Hudson pear segments - no ants or soil). Swap your tub of clean segments for a tub of cochineal-infected ssegments. Mat will advise you on how to release the cochineal and record the release data.
North West Local Land Services Walgett Shire Council North West Plains Sustainability Group

Farmers in north-west New South Wales are furious at the defeat of a bill to temporarily put a stop to Coal Seam Gas activity in the state.

The Bill passed the NSW Upper House late on Wednesday night, and the Government unexpectedly brought it to a vote in the Legislative Assembly yesterday afternoon.

It was defeated 38 votes to 36.

The legislation had the support of Labor, the Greens, the Shooters Fishers and Farmers (SFF) and other independents.

The Deputy Premier John Barilaro has accused the SFF of having "sold out jobs in regional NSW to align themselves with the Greens, not because of outcomes, but because of politics".

Key points:

• The State Government defeated a bill that would have temporarily stopped all coal seam gas activity
• Farmers in the state's north-west are worried about the implications for the impending Narrabri Gas Project
• The government insists it has the community on its side

Coal seam gas (CSG) mining at just one Queensland site will produce three million tonnes of salt - enough to raise a pile 10 metres high and 11 kilometres long, senators have been told.

A parliamentary committee yesterday took evidence in Canberra looking at the impact of mining CSG on the Murray Darling Basin.

Liberal senator Bill Heffernan told the hearing of the salt produced by one approved Queensland project.

"Eleven-point-three kilometres by 30m wide by 10m high - that'll be the pile of salt that'll be produced from this one mining approval," Senator Heffernan told representatives of the NSW Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services (DTIRIS) attending the hearing.

"This is for you to think about because we don't want this to happen in NSW - that's approved under the onerous provisions of the Queensland DERM (Department of Environment and Resource Management).

"I wouldn't like that on my landscape."

Hi Folks, 

A belated Happy Easter! I hope you all got some time with family or friends, and spent time doing things that brings you happiness and contentment. 

The floods in Sydney, Moree and the Coast have been devastating. There is no getting away from the property damage and economic cost of this incident. The good news for us is that rainfall in our own catchment and flows out of Queensland should see some of the best river flows in years. Well over 500GL should hit Menindee, it’s my priority that water is retained in Menindee to protect the lower Darling for as long as possible. I have asked the Minister to review the 480GL/640GL rule that transfers control of Menindee Lakes to the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) when storage is over 640GL. These discussions are ongoing. 

Riverina-based farmer research group Riverine Plains has appointed well known agricultural leader Catherine Marriott as its first CEO.

Hi Folks, 

A belated Happy Easter! I hope you all got some time with family or friends, and spent time doing things that brings you happiness and contentment. 

The floods in Sydney, Moree and the Coast have been devastating. There is no getting away from the property damage and economic cost of this incident. The good news for us is that rainfall in our own catchment and flows out of Queensland should see some of the best river flows in years. Well over 500GL should hit Menindee, it’s my priority that water is retained in Menindee to protect the lower Darling for as long as possible. I have asked the Minister to review the 480GL/640GL rule that transfers control of Menindee Lakes to the Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) when storage is over 640GL. These discussions are ongoing. 

Member for Barwon Roy Butler has expressed his disappointment and concerns over Santos gaining conditional approval for its controversial Narrabri coal-seam gas project in NSW.

“I’d rather that the project was not approved,” said Mr. Butler.