Gina Rinehart bashes renewable energy... while her mines run on it?

Across the country, things are happening at a local level that have an impact nationally. Here’s the stories you might not hear about in the traditional media.

Life on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales comes with frequent floods, fires, and droughts — and for farmers like David and Carolyn Duff, the financial and emotional costs are immense.

The Mid North Coaster’s Ellie Chamberlain speaks with local farmers and residents about living through floods and fires, and how communities are finding ways to cope — from rebuilding livelihoods to pushing for better support systems.

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Southwest Victoria’s farmers are feeling the pressure from hotter, drier conditions — but a new program from Warrnambool Coastcare Landcare Network is offering a helping hand.

As the West Vic Brolga’s Zara Cuthbertson reports, the program is backing farmers with grants, supplies and practical advice — from planting trees for shelter to sowing diverse pastures that will hold more moisture and stay greener for longer.

With previous dry spells still affecting farms, experts say diversifying pastures and planting sheltering vegetation can protect livestock, improve soil health, and reduce the risks of fire and feed shortages.

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A double header from the Mid North Coaster today as I had no idea this place even existed!

Kempsey’s council-run Slim Dusty Centre costs just under $300,000 a year to operate — but a new report says it’s money well spent.

As Ellie Chamberlain reports, the facility isn’t just a museum of the legendary Aussie singer; it also hosts art exhibitions, tours, community events, and even a café.

Compared with other regional venues, the council says the Centre delivers strong cultural and financial value, and it reduced its operating deficit by 34 per cent in the last year.

Read that story by clicking below 👇

A second Optus outage has led to more failed triple-zero calls, this time in New South Wales.

In an overnight statement, Optus said the issue involved a mobile phone tower in Dapto near Wollongong on the NSW South Coast between 3 am and 12.20pm Sunday.

So far, it’s understood that nine emergency calls were affected. One caller required an ambulance and used another phone to contact emergency services. Meanwhile, police have checked on the other callers and confirmed they are okay.

Optus hasn’t revealed what the issue with the tower was, but said it had been resolved.

This is the second time this month that Optus has found itself in hot water on triple-zero calls. The first time a technical failure led to hundreds of triple-zero calls being blocked in multiple states. Three people died after the “technical failure”.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher told the ABC: “I imagine for many Optus customers this is more disappointing news on the back of the major disruption that happened the week before.”

The Senior Minister said we need to be sure triple-zero calls are as strong and robust as possible. “It’s not satisfactory at all to have people unable to connect in their time of need.”

Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh, on behalf of the Coalition, called for an urgent, independent investigation into the triple zero system. Australians must have confidence they can call Triple Zero, our most essential telecommunications service, when they need it” she said.

Communications Minister Anika Wells was set to meet with Optus executives today to discuss the first outage. I’m sure that meeting was very chill