FlowNews24

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway speaks with southern NSW FlowFM listeners about a road repair fund with applications closing today, Friday 20 January 2023, as well as responding to shadow minister John Graham's comments regarding a potential state takeover or reclassification of council roads. We discuss betterment - 'building back better' - flood or disaster affected roads...

South Australian Riverland winegrape growers are battling very poor returns for their grapes amid a triple-whammy of challenges from China's trade restrictions to freight costs and, for a select number of growers, inundation from recent flooding. We speak with Riverland Wine executive officer Lyndall Rowe about the welcome injection of $100,000 from the South Australian government to help the indu...

The State Opposition has welcomed the easing of restrictions on recreational boating, fishing and the like on the River Murray but says it will pursue answers on how, when and why the government made the decisions to impose restrictions in the first place given their impact on local tourism and tourism operators.

After visiting South Australia's Riverland and mid-Murray on Thursday and en route to lower Murray communities on Friday, the federal leader of the Liberal Party and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaks with FlowFM listeners again about making good on his pledge to them to visit late in 2022. We discuss building back better roads, bridges and levee banks to mitigate future flooding, the Liberal P...

The NSW Irrigators Council's CEO talks about the recent survey in a stretch of the Darling River that failed to find a single Murray cod as an opportunity to rethink water recovery as the pre-eminent means of environmental restoration in the Murray-Darling Basin.

The shadow roads minister says the NSW government has poorly handled the policy of signage before encountering mobile speed cameras, contrasts the two policies announced by the Labor Opposition then Coalition Government this week to incentivise good driving behaviour - and calls for the release of a plan to take back some regional council roads into state ownership.

The ANZ's Head of Agribusiness Insights Michael Whitehead speaks with us about the beginning of 2023 and planting decisions for cropping farmers considering the market, climate and a range of other factors.

The South Australian Climate, Environment and Water Minister Dr Susan Close joins us on FlowFM to share the status environmentally of the River Murray flows out through the Murray Mouth, saying she has concerns about the impacts on the marine environment. The Deputy Premier says the state government is looking for federal funding support to build a desalination plant on the southern Eyre Peninsula...

The Wool Producers Australia chief executive officer Jo Hall responds to comments by shadow agriculture minister David Littleproud here on FlowFM earlier that morning regarding the European Union's view on the sustainability of wool, describing their stance as 'a joke' - and outlines the efforts the peak body is making not just to change the EU's stance, but to improve the shearer supply in Austra...

... and the shadow agriculture minister also shares just how far short the meat processing and other agriculture workforce supply is despite the efforts of the Albanese Labor government. The federal National Party leader discusses how the European Union's view that synthetic fibres are more sustainable than wool or cotton poses a risk for Australian fibre producers.

The Malinauskas government announced on Wednesday that former Liberal MP for Flinders Peter Treloar is the new presiding member of the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board. It's a return to what was called a Natural Resources Management Board when Mr Treloar was previously involved. We also speak with the EP farmer about the closing stages imminent of his role appointed by the former Liberal government...

A Coalition government pledge to expand the financial level of compensation available to emergency service volunteers if re-elected at the March 2023 state election has been welcomed by the president of the NSW Rural Fire Service Association representing volunteers, Scott Campbell.

Could the continuing farm and processing labour shortage cause problems at the farmgate for Australian cattle and sheep producers? We chat with Episode3.net analyst Matt Dalgleish on the activity in the cattle and sheep markets, a serious price correction but low supply in cattle in early January 2023 and where he sees the year going for our farmers' returns on their hard work.

Dairy Australia's Industry Insights and Analysis manager John Droppert joins us on FlowFM to share the broad outlook for Australia's dairy industry and discusses the past, present and future challenges and prospects in exports and imports including what Australian dairy farmers could anticipate out of potential UK, EU free trade deals

We discuss the challenge of flood recovery and road repair - and upgrade - in the Riverland and Mid-Murray down to Mannum in the electorate of Chaffey, as the Department of Infrastructure and Transport's director of road maintenance on Tuesday morning expressed support for making a business case for improving the flood resilience of the Bookpurnong Road between Loxton and Berri. The local state MP...

We speak with Dr Sarah Butcher about the latest approaches by social media platforms and policy makers to protect children and teens online from harmful content - and how parents and other adults concerned about youth online privacy, data security and safety can interact with what young people are doing online to mutually bolster their digital literacy and security.

We discuss the process for re-opening South Australian state roads now emerging from beneath receding floodwaters, caution and requests to motorists regarding how or when they travel on those roads and anticipated management of ferries and access roads.

The member for Lowan in Western Victoria says corellas are damaging local infrastructure and natural assets again this breeding season and called on the state government to release its corella management strategy.

The newly appointed shadow assistant minister for regional health, Dr Anne Webster, speaks about concerns in her north western Victorian electorate of Mallee about potential closures due to an inflexible approach to implementing aged care reforms, the shortage of regional doctors and nurses and an imminent summit she is organising to address regional health concerns.

We head off the beaten track with South Australian Liberal senator Alex Antic to see what's being hidden from public debate, including a possible digital identity being implemented in Australia, the reduction of public concern about government surveillance and erosions of privacy, and what concerns we might have about the World Health Organization seeking new powers in the name of public health in...

Tim Gurney, the manager of T-Ports, appeared on the Country Viewpoint and discussed the current harvesting period and how receivals are tracking for grain handlers. Gurney also elaborated on the importance of competition in the field and how grain handlers are the beneficiaries of export companies consistently forcing competitors to raise their levels.

Emily Riggs, creator of SA fashion label Iris and Wool, tells her triumphant and inspiring story after becoming the overall winner of the 2022 Shine Awards. Riggs, from the SA town of Burra, also discusses her professional background.

Police minister Paul Toole (pictured, right) promotes both joining the NSW Police Force and volunteering as farmers face a tough harvest after heavy rain and flooding, and the potential for grass fire risk including in the NSW Riverina. We discuss with the Deputy Premier and Nationals Leader the condition of roads and importance of locals and tourists alike driving safely around farm machinery and...

We've been chatting up the market on FlowFM with Andrew Partridge from Michell Direct Wool and it's worked a charm in the last dance for 2022 with big sales volumes and great prices for sellers. We cast our eye forward to the other side of the three-week break as shearers go hell for leather working through the backlog of fleece on the sheeps' backs.

Over 25,000 trucking positions are vacant requiring government intervention to fill the labour shortage in the nation's transport industry according to the National Road Transport Association's CEO Warren Clark, in a chat where we discover the legislative changes for trucking that NatRoad is pursuing in 2023 and the road and infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate more high performance v...