FlowNews24

The Chief Executive Officer of the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy recites the mining minister's own words from 2019 back at him in response to his ministerial veto of a mine proposal in the Adelaide Hills due to amenity, groundwater and safety concerns.

The Australian wool market lifted again this week but next week's trade is looking a little rocky according to Michell Wool's trading manager Andrew Partridge as Chinese demand appears, for now, to have dried up.

The member for Mallee calls for a moratorium on the big four banks closing more branches as a new senate inquiry begins into the closure of regional bank branches. Anne Webster calls on the Australian Banking Association to speak up on implementing recommendations from the Coalition's Regional Banking Taskforce.

The South Australian mining minister Tom Koutsantonis outlines the amenity, groundwater and safety grounds for why he used his power as minister to block Terramin's gold mine proposal in the Adelaide Hills wine region close to three significant wineries Bird In Hand, Petaluma and Art Wine. We discuss the reactions by the local independent MPs Dan Cregan and federal MP Rebekah Sharkie and that of the Liberal opposition and SA Chamber of Mines and Energy to the decision. The minister rejects the possibility this decision sets a precedent for mining-farming conflicts elsewhere in the state, saying each decision is made on its merits.

Cattle prices have corrected to a more business-as-usual pre-pandemic level in 2023 but sheep prices remain resistant to increased supply in the market. Cattle export numbers are up as we discuss the latest with Meat and Livestock Australia's senior market information analyst Ripley Atkinson.

On FlowFM across regional South Australia, Victoria and southern New South Wales we speak with the ANZ's Michael Whitehead about the positives and challenges facing the cropping sector and the likely strong interest in farm real estate in 2023.

The Finance Sector Union say the Coalition's Regional Banking Taskforce was beholden to the banks and others with vested interests and didn't listen to their union. The South Australian state secretary says the Union hopes the new Senate Rural and Regional Affairs committee inquiry will listen to their views and that of bank workers in regional Australia.

The regional South Australian Liberal senator says rural, regional and remote Australians will feel let down by a government visa decision prioritising filling workforce gaps in metropolitan areas first. In Question Time earlier this week, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt representing Health Minister Mark Butler said the Albanese government had cut the national visa backlog from 1 million to 600,000 cases.

The independent MP for Stuart and minister in the Malinauskas Labor Government was the former local government minister prior to 2018 and retraces the history of Coober Pedy's administration challenges, questions the efforts of the SA Liberals in government and the Local Government Association's assistance to Coober Pedy and defends the government's efforts on the water supply challenges since it was elected in March 2022.

The man appointed by the then Marshall Liberal government to administer Coober Pedy during the suspension of the council's elected representatives has responded to criticisms of his now concluded tenure as administrator by the returned local government minister Geoff Brock (full statement from Minister Brock in this story here: https://www.flownews24.com.au/post/brock-attacks-jackson-s-coober-pedy-record), Mr Jackson has expanded his call made on Flow recently regarding the town's essential services, saying both power and water utilities should be taken over by the state utilities and Coober Pedy council rates increased to cover its costs. Mr Jackson assures listeners the amount they would save under SA Water's statewide pricing policy would offset the potential $1,000 increase per annum to their council rates. However Minister Brock told Flow in his statement the situation is not as simple as Mr Jackson has put forward.