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Trader Andrew Partridge joins us for Friday's Country Viewpoint program from 12 noon on FlowFM across regional NSW, Victoria and South Australia to update wool growers on how the wool market went this week and predicts some 'sideways' movement for the market in coming weeks, but perhaps some upside after that.

The Australian Banking Association's Anna Bligh recently highlighted the growing role Australia Post is playing in providing banking services via contracts with many banks in Australia Post outlets. We discuss with the general manager of retail services Josh Bannister what Bank@Post presently covers for regional Australians.

There's plenty more B-words in this chat with the Barker MP in south eastern Australia as we discuss some hot topics in the electorate from Mt Gambier and the Limestone Coast to the Riverland, Barossa and Mallee including regional bank branch closures and Kingston SE's BankSA temporary reprieve. We unpack the approach of the SA and federal Labor water ministers Close and Plibersek on the Murray Darling Basin Plan and buying water from irrigators contrasted with Victorian Labor minister Harriet Shing and NSW Labor shadow minister, possibly soon the minister, Rose Jackson. One thing Tony Pasin isn't buying is the communications minister Michelle Rowland's explanation to FlowFM listeners why a recent 'targeted' mobile black spot funding round overwhelming favoured Labor electorates. We also reflect on recent commentary from treasurer Jim Chalmers about superannuation and whether Labor was up front with the electorate before the May election, like Bill Shorten was in 2019, on its plans for retiree savings.

This week in South Australia the David Speirs led SA Liberal opposition declared it would oppose the Malinauskas Labor government's bill to legislate a voice to parliament for indigenous South Australians. We talk with the shadow attorney general Josh Teague about why that is the case, and how the state constitution will be changed if the bill passes with the support of the South Australian Greens in the Legislative Council.

The vice president of the New South Wales Farmers Association, Rebecca Reardon, joins us to talk about 'ground truthing' the locking up of farming land - some of which has been identified as state strategic agricultural land - for ecological preservation, mining & gas or renewable energy purposes - if or a combination of them all. The NSW Farmers want a fully independent Agriculture Commissioner to help farmers work through these land use conflicts.

The federal agriculture minister Murray Watt was in Adelaide this week for a major regional agricultural technology conference and talks about South Australian and nationally strong agricultural production returns despite challenges like the weather and the farm labour shortage. We discuss clearing the visa backlog to find more workers on farm, the cost of electronic traceability of sheep and how much the Commonwealth is contributing. We get the low-down on the chats with Europen Union representatives on what they had to say about Australian farmers' sustainability and right to use terms like prosecco, feta and parmesan as the fine print of a potential trade deal is hammered out.

A Bill to provide more time for mayors and councillors that failed to provide disclosure returns has passed the House of Assembly and is due for debate in the Legislative Council in late February 2023. The local government minister Geoff Brock is adamant the candidates received plenty of notice of their donation disclosure obligations but says the extension of time proposed by the Bill is not a precedent for other disclosure failures by elected representatives. Some 45 mayors or councillors presently are declared invalid winners from November's local government elections until - or if - the Bill passes, but will again be invalid if they fail the 13th hour bid to clear up what donations, if any, they received during the election campaign.

The researchers at Flinders University have done their own mythbusting about previously believed levels of nutrients in the Great Australian Bight and associate professor Jochen Kaempf explains the significance of their discovery of a vital marine food chain component, phytoplankton and why it has turned previous beliefs about the Bight's nutrient structure on its head.

We review with agricultural analyst Dennis Voznesenski Australia's huge grain and canola harvest, storages, pricing and potential destinations such as China - and how the market is factoring the Ukraine-Russia conflict as we pass 1 year in since the Russian invasion.

Clare Valley Wine & Grape Association's Belinda Heinrich appeared on the Country Viewpoint discussing all things Clare Valley Gourmet Week as the highly anticipated May event looms closer.

The region is widely considered one of the country’s most quintessentially Australian wine regions, with the event bringing to the fore the spectacular and award winning local wines and produce; celebrated chefs from across Australia and a diverse entertainment line-up not to be missed.