MEMBERS and guests of the Hawks Nest & District Probus Club were treated to a rare peek behind the iron curtain, with a speech from local and member Colin Gratwick on Friday 7 August. Colin’s trip to Mongolia, back in 1991, was at a turbulent time in the region, sandwiched between the collapsing USSR and […]

REGIONAL Australians are being urged to have their connectivity concerns taken seriously, with calls for the Federal Government to act now on domestic mobile phone roaming. The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has welcomed an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) inquiry into domestic mobile roaming but says regional communities should not have to wait for […]

WITH the ban on under-16s using social media, the Government has recognised a need to fill the void and help youth connect in real life (IRL) and invested more than $2million in grassroots programs across NSW to help children and youth build healthy relationships offline. The Connect IRL program is the direct result of feedback […]

THE National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has urged farmers to urgently review their biosecurity plans, as the H5N1 strain of avian influenza spreads. Testing last week confirmed the influenza strain had spread between wild birds on Australian soil for the first time since the disease’s detection last month. NFF CEO Mike Guerin said the news is […]

FEDERAL Member for Lyne Alison Penfold MP is calling on local small business owners to “get it off their liver” by taking part in a new survey designed to put the real experiences of regional businesses back at the centre of policy making. She believes governments have become too comfortable telling businesses how they should […]

TEMPERATURE extremes at either end of the thermometer carry inherent risk for vulnerable people, such as the elderly or young children, yet more than one in four admit they’ve gone without in times of need due to the cost. A recent survey revealed that 27 per cent of Australians, which is 5.7 million people, fell […]