Narrabri Shire Council is now part of the NSW government’s OneRoad system, driving information directly from councils through to Live Traffic NSW. The addition of Narrabri Shire came into effect on January 23.

Council will use the platform to publish real-time information about traffic conditions, incidents, roadworks, and hazards – making information readily available for residents and those visiting the shire.

Widespread NSW flooding has seen staff and students use innovative transport solutions to get to school. Linda Doherty and Kerrie O’Connor report.

When Kate Slack-Smith, relieving principal of remote Burren Junction Public School, got stranded by floodwaters, a local farmer and former student came to the rescue to fly her home in his six-seater aircraft.

Mrs Slack-Smith touched down on a farm airstrip to lead her school of 35 students, most of whom have kept attending - rain, hail or shine despite the tiny town, 50 kilometres west of Wee Waa, being surrounded by floods.

Teachers have been hitching a ride on the Wee Waa SES boat to cross the Namoi River and reach the school bus. For farm kids, gum boots have been at the ready to wade through paddocks or into town. Four-wheel-drive buggies are the only way for many farming families to get to school.

GINA Rinehart’s Hancock Agriculture has recently purchased three irrigated cropping properties in the Wee Waa region of New South Wales, in a transaction reportedly worth circa $150 million.
 

Industry sources have told Grain Central that Hancock Ag purchased the 6856-hectare aggregation from the Findley family, who have lived in the area for three generations.

The transaction features main property, Cudgewa, alongside Pian Plain and Pindara, which are run by father-and-son team Robin and Lucas Findley.

Sizable, reliable water entitlements is understood to be a key feature of the aggregation, with the properties coming with a combined allocation of 23,000 megalitres plus approximately 7000ML of groundwater.

Of the total land size, about 4300ha is developed to irrigation.

As we write from New South Wales’ Northern Rivers region, other parts of eastern Australia are facing conditions that recall uncomfortable memories from the 2017 floods and those in March this year. Many people are fatigued and still coming to terms with those devastating natural disasters.

We know from previous research people with pre-existing mental health conditions and poorer health are more likely to live in flood zones.

Milton Speer, University of Technology Sydney; Joshua Hartigan, University of Technology Sydney, and Lance M Leslie, University of Technology Sydney

The northern Murray-Darling Basin produces 93% of Australia’s cotton. Cotton is one of Australia’s biggest agricultural industries – worth about A$2 billion each year – and a steady supply of water is crucial for production.