2025 Hunter Volunteer of the Year David Dorhauer with Pat Conroy MP and Dungog councillor Liam Ley.
IT’S time for people across the Hunter to nominate family, friends or work mates for the 2026 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards, to help celebrate the enormous positive impact of volunteers across the state. The awards are in their 20th year and are run by The Centre for Volunteering to recognise the outstanding work […]
Local MPs celebrate the progress with the project team.
THE M1 Pacific Motorway extension to Raymond Terrace is now expected to open to traffic in late 2026, more than a year earlier than originally planned. The accelerated timeline comes as the project reaches a major milestone, with the northern section, the Heatherbrae Bypass, now complete. The M1 Pacific Motorway extension and Hexham Straight widening […]
LYNE MP Alison Penfold has launched “Lyne’s Biggest Survey”, an electorate-wide consultation over local priorities. The survey is being delivered to households across the Lyne electorate. “This survey is about giving a voice to the concerns of each and every Lyne resident, whether you live in the big centres of the electorate, the small towns, […]
THE Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy recently released its report about the causes and effects of climate change disinformation. The report was welcomed by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), which warns that lies are already harming communities. The ACF wants tougher action to stop falsehoods derailing climate progress. ACF […]
Working boats ‘Stella Maris’, ‘Ventura’ and ‘Ivy May’ played a major role in the growth and development of the oyster industry. Photo taken circa 1975.
THE Tomaree Museum Association (TMA) is asking members of the Port Stephens community to contribute their knowledge to establish a record of all working boats moored in the port. They are interested in the boats involved, throughout history, in the oyster industry, fish and prawn trawlers along with lobster boats, ferries and supply boats. Long […]
MORE than 60 Councils from across the state have issued a call for the NSW Government to guarantee fuel supplies for local government garbage and waste collections in the face of increasing shortages and costs. The meeting of councils convened by Local Government NSW (LGNSW) President Mayor Darcy Byrne also proposed that any fuel cost […]
THE NSW Government has inspected just under 1800 petrol stations for fuel price compliance, issuing 93 penalty infringement notices. Over the last fortnight, the government fast-tracked a statewide fuel price compliance blitz to “strengthen fuel price transparency and protect motorists from misleading pricing”. Around 75 percent of stations in NSW were inspected by the beginning […]
NSW PARENTS are embracing a new wave of contemporary baby names, with eight fresh entries joining the state’s Top 100 in 2025. Newly released data from the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages shows a growing preference for names that feel meaningful and distinctive. Boys’ names saw particularly strong movement, with Fletcher making the […]
IN March 2023, a Regional Development Australia Mid North Coast (RDAMNC) survey found that only 65 percent of childcare demand on the Mid North Coast was being met, a shortfall said to be costing local families an estimated $384 million in lost wages each year. The survey focused on the region covered by the MidCoast, […]
Less pain at the power point. Interest in electric cars is rising as petrol prices soar. Photo: Jono Searle/AAP
DEMAND for second-hand electric vehicles is rising with the price of petrol, attracting more than double the number of enquiries since the fuel crisis began. But automotive experts say the record interest also extends to new vehicles and could cause delays as motorists buy electric cars still en route to Australia. Pickles released details of […]
