EYE-WATERING prices for blueberries are set to continue but shoppers will be mostly protected elsewhere from recent widespread farm flooding. Extensive rainfall and floods across northern NSW in May left thousands of farmers with crop and cattle losses. About one in four blueberries will not make the shelves this season due to the floods as […]

CHHS students Eva and Zahli with Flynn and Ayla from KPS enjoying the rock art activity. Photo: Kim Ambrose/SaltyFoxFotography. KPS school parliament prime ministers Braxton and Ava address the whole-school assembly. Photo: Kim Ambrose/SaltyFoxFotography. CHHS student Kitty Miller offers a cultural performance. Photo: Kim Ambrose/SaltyFoxFotography. Yindi White delivering an Acknowledgement of Country during the NAIDOC […]

THE 2025-2026 State Budget failed to deliver for the Oxley Highway in Port Macquarie, but MP Rob Dwyer has welcomed the funding of other local projects. “I was very pleased to see $5m in this year’s budget towards the commencement of the massive upgrade of Port Macquarie Base Hospital,” Mr Dwyer said. “[Additionally] residents in […]

THE Minns Government is extending free vehicle access to National Parks to all Commonwealth Veteran Card holders. Park entry fees for motor vehicles apply at 45 of NSW’s 895 national parks and reserves. A 2025-26 budget measure will enable veterans from around Australia to apply for a pass to enter for free. The pass is […]

Member for Oxley Michael Kemp has spoken to hundreds of local farmers since the floods. Photos: supplied. MICHAEL Kemp fears as many as 95 percent of flood affected farmers and businesses in the Oxley electorate will struggle to stay in operation if the state doesn’t request a Category D declaration from the Federal Government. The […]

CLUB North Haven has provided a significant financial boost to the music program at North Haven Public School. General Manager Tim Harris attended the school recently to present a cheque for $5000 on behalf of the club’s board of directors to students and band coordinator Mrs Skerritt. “It was great to see so many kids […]

A BACKPACKER hoping for a memorable working holiday on an Australian farm finds himself crammed into a house with 17 people, eating dry bread and deprived of sunshine and fresh air. After arriving on a visa from China, the young man had headed to a small town on the NSW coast in 2024 to pick […]

Some of the damage caused by May’s floods in Mid North Coast and Hunter State Forests. Photos: Forestry Corporation. THE region’s State Forests are progressively reopening following the floods and severe weather of May but the Forestry Corporation is urging users to check the status of trails and campgrounds in advance, and to exercise extreme […]

LIBERAL MLC Aileen MacDonald has called for the NSW Government to immediately reinstate three-month and six-month NSW TrainLink Discovery Passes, describing the removal as a “quiet cut” that disproportionately hurts regional communities. Speaking in the Legislative Council last week, Ms MacDonald moved a motion highlighting the significant impact of the removal of the passes on […]

Dr Maarten De Brauwer of SCU and Fisheries Technician Kait Harris conduct estuarine monitoring in Yamba. Dr Maarten De Brauwer and Kait Harris collect samples to send to Wilderlab for processing. Dr Maarten De Brauwer and Kait Harris collect samples to send to Wilderlab for processing. A MAJOR study of NSW estuaries using a novel […]