28/08/2008 | THE decision by the Australian Manufacturers Workers’ Union to put its hand up to join the fray to try and bring the State Government to account over the pending environmental disaster that is the Woodsreef asbestos mine should auger well for those backing the cause.
27/08/2008 | MEASURING the success of a local government or council could often be compared with the assessment of a good referee in an important rugby league game like the State of Origin.
26/08/2008 | THE dissension, backbiting and theatrics that has disrupted the smooth operation of the Armidale Dumaresq Council for the better part of the past four years has gone on long enough.
Last night’s tabling of an extensive code of conduct committee report on claims four councillors had misled the Crown Solicitor at the height of the Mosman’s Bay controversy should have been welcomed as an opportunity to draw a line under a particularly unhappy period.
25/08/2008 | COURAGE is an enigma. It is, on the one hand, almost the simplest to grasp of all the human virtues.
It remains, on the other, one of the hardest of those virtues to explain.
22/08/2008 | IT’S been a long time coming but there are signs Boral may finally be beginning to buckle in the face of public opposition to its decision to close Walcha’s timber mill.
21/08/2008 | THE BankWest Quality of Life index (see reports this edition) tells us nothing we didn’t already know.
Its principal message – and one that has been trumpeted from the rooftops by the Sydney media – is that city residents get a much better deal from their governments than we do.
20/08/2008 | WE take time out today to say thank you to three people who have done more than most people will ever know for their local communities over many years.
19/08/2008 | AGATHA Christie fans would know that when Poirot or Miss Marple begin to investigate a crime they start with the question of who stood to benefit the most?
18/08/2008 | WE make no apologies for today’s “It’s water, stupid” headline on our council candidates’ story.
15/08/2008 | THE residents of Barraba could be forgiven for thinking they are the lost tribe of the North West.
14/08/2008 | IT takes a lot to radicalise a conservative country town like Walcha but timber industry giant Boral has managed to pull it off.
13/08/2008 | WHILE there is no doubt that country people are hurting as a result of rising petrol prices, food bills and interest rates we are ahead of our city cousins in one very important respect.
12/08/2008 | WHAT is the Federal Government waiting for? That is the obvious question to ask in the wake of yesterday’s announcement it will be at least seven months before the Rudd administration even begins to think about taking action on the abysmal plight of people trying to eke out a meagre existence on the old age pension.
11/08/2008 | CHAFFEY Dam might be easing toward the 80 per cent full mark, but it is good to see the regional council is still working at maintaining water efficiency programs.
8/08/2008 | APPARENTLY the numbers 08-08-08 have some significance in the Chinese practice of feng shui – for the rest of the world it means the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games.
6/08/2008 | THE decision by BHP Billiton to narrow the focus of their exploration for coal on the Liverpool Plains might make some sleep easier at night, but it does not answer the burning question: will coal mining affect or even destroy the underground aquifer systems the area is renowned for?
5/08/2008 | A DECISION by early opening liquor outlets in and around Tamworth to withhold alcohol from sale until 9am each day is common sense in its simplest form.
1/08/2008 | BORAL Timbers is going to have to fish or cut bait. Its apparent plan to close down the Walcha mill it bought less than four years ago, while sitting on the timber licences so no one else can come in to generate new jobs in place of the old, is morally reprehensible.
30/07/2008 | FISCALSTAR, a self-appointed local government rating agency, has released its annual findings on “the good, the bad and the ugly” among NSW councils.
29/07/2008 | TAMWORTH wore its heart on its sleeve yesterday when 35 residents – many of them no spring chickens – braved a cold, wet and gusty day to lay happy wanderer Chris Spence to rest.