FEDERAL MPs Pat Conaghan and Alison Penfold are renewing calls for a solution to the Oxley Highway’s congestion chaos to be “urgently scoped and funded”. “The Wrights Rd and Lake Rd roundabouts leading into Port Macquarie’s health and education precincts have long been flagged as the area’s worst and most dangerous bottleneck,” said Mr Conaghan. […]
NEW data released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) shows the state’s prison population reached 13,133 in December 2025, an increase of 8.5 percent (1,026 people) over the past two years. The growth has been driven by a sharp rise in the number of people held on remand. Between December 2023 […]
THE iKew Visitor Information Centre was a hive of activity over the summer holidays, due to the dedication of its volunteer team, who worked tirelessly to support travellers and visitors to the Mid North Coast. A major highlight of the season was the centre’s continued involvement in the Driver Reviver program. Throughout the summer holiday […]
MEMBER for Myall Lakes Tanya Thompson and Member for Oxley Michael Kemp are calling on the Minns Government to urgently double the Small Business Recovery Grant from $25,000 to $50,000. They say Labor has failed communities affected by the March 2025 floods, by allowing the deadline for recovery grants to pass without delivering the support […]
CODE-of-conduct complaints cost Port Macquarie-Hastings Council more than $47,000 over the past year, according to an annual report tabled at last week’s council meeting. The Code of Conduct Complaint Statistics report, covering the period from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025, details the number of complaints made against councillors and the general manager, how […]
THE State Government has launched a “landmark strategy” to respond to the perpetration of domestic and family violence (DFV) in New South Wales. “Building Better Responses: NSW Strategy to Respond to the Use of Domestic and Family Violence 2026–2030” is NSW’s first dedicated plan aimed at disrupting DFV and focusing on those who cause or […]
THE Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) will require newly connecting retail gas customers to pay the upfront cost of their connection, often more than $2000, moving away from the old system where these costs were often shared across all customers. The recent final determination responds to a rule change request from Energy Consumers Australia and […]
A $92 MILLION price tag to build a new wastewater treatment plant has driven Port Macquarie Hastings Council’s decision to instead upgrade the existing Wauchope facility, despite concerns about flooding at the site. Councillors last week endorsed proceeding with Stage 1 upgrades to the Wauchope Wastewater Treatment Plant – focused on inlet works – while […]
SOME elderly rural cancer patients live on farms with limited connectivity, hundreds of kilometres from the closest computer and even further from their doctor. These are the kinds of marginalised patients who will be helped by hard-fought new telehealth Medicare rebates, allowing for longer telephone consultations with specialists, medical oncologist Christopher Steer says. The new […]
LYNE MP Alison Penfold has announced her intention to provide a pre-Budget submission to the Federal Government’s Treasury Department to highlight community and infrastructure funding needs across the electorate. Ms Penfold said pre-Budget submissions offer an opportunity to highlight local priorities for consideration in the 2026-27 Federal Budget. “The Albanese Government needs to hear loud […]
