You’ve studied well.

You know your stuff and you’re feeling confident heading into the exam.

Suddenly, your mind is racing and your heart beating out of your chest.

Sound familiar?

It's called 'Exam Anxiety' and here's how you overcome it in 10 simple steps.

Want to make sure you’re making the right choice when purchasing a new home? 

While a building inspection may seem like one of the more tedious tasks of buying a house, it can be a godsend.  

This inspection is the property version of a test drive. The inspector will tell you whether the property is worth the price or if you should be buying it at all. 

Here's why a pre-purchase building inspection is a must in 2020.

“There is no shortage of gas in Australia, there’s a shortage of common sense in Canberra when it comes to gas export policy and domestic gas reservation policy,” says Member for Barwon, Roy Butler. 

Mr Butler’s comments follow the new energy deal struck by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Namoi Flow Update

Significant rainfall has been recorded across the northern valleys over the past month, with falls in the order of 100 to 200mm being recorded across the upper catchments in the northern valleys.

We have all heard that one glass of wine from time to time isn’t bad for health, but how exactly does wine contribute to health? 

The answers appear to be almost endless as new studies continue to continually back up the health benefit claims of drinking wine moderately. 

From attacking cancer cells to a decreased mortality rate, a glass of wine a day has proven to be good for your body both now and in the long run. 

By sipping a glass of chilled white or red wine, here is how you will be helping your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.

Water is scarce! So here are some water-saving tips that you can do right now. 

While Australia is well and truly the lucky country it is also the driest continent on this planet outside Antarctica. It means that we are constantly at risk of drought and It is usually a case of how severe and how long rather than when. 

There is no denying that we have seen some of the harshest conditions in Australia over the last few years with warmer and drier weather. The data below is information from the Bureau of Meteorology and just shows how hot and dry it has been.

Water Royal Commission is the way forward

Leaving the Basin Plan will not solve the issues we have with the allocation and management of water in this State. It will not see any more water in our rivers, or return any water back to farmers.

The Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party have been calling for a Federal Royal Commission for over a year now, with the sole intent of untangling the mess water management is in.

The mismanagement of water is destroying our rivers, communities and industries. That’s why myself and Helen Dalton have been pushing hard on pausing the Basin Plan and conducting a Royal Commission.

Whether you travel frequently or rarely, travel insurance is one of your most valuable expense especially for the inexperienced.

Travel insurance can be beneficial for various reasons, especially if you're travelling to an unfamiliar destination. 

Without travel insurance, disruptions to your trip can end up costing you a fortune.

Insurance ensures that in any circumstance, you are covered and here's five things to help prove it to you.

Moving home can be quite a frustrating task, especially if you've accumulated a lot of items over-time.

When it comes to packing everything we own into boxes, it becomes more of a task we think is both time-consuming and a burden to our daily lives.

Sometimes we even wish we could pay someone to do all the hard work for us.  So, here are some hints you need if you're looking to make packing less of a task and more of an experience, especially if you're moving into your dream home. 

The Spring Newsletter is available online here 

Members of the Burren Junction School of Arts Hall Committee at the re-opening on the weekend. Pitcured is Philip Powell, Coral Marshall, Elizabeth Powell, Sandy Stump, Philip Marshall and Lucinda Stump with the Powell's grandchildren Harry, Rachel and Maggie Powell. Photo by Ali Smith, The Courier.

Burren Junction School of Arts Hall is the town's beating heart, a building that once symbolised hope and prosperity.

So when it was condemned in 2014 a group of the town's volunteers rallied to keep it's doors open.

"It's got heart and soul...it was the last significant building in Burren Junction and if it was torn down there wouldn't be much left," hall committee secretary Lucinda Stump said.

The hall was built in 1914 and over time it's walls have seen many dances and weddings, meetings, festivals, school events and charity functions. It even held school classes when Burren Junction Public School's numbers were high and they need more room.

It was the venue for the Victory Ball after the Second World War to welcome home the town's soldiers and it also marks the names of those who didn't come home, at the war memorial.

Monday this coming week our Principal Kate Schwager of KateS On Web and the instigator of the Namoi Group of Websites will be talking at the Australian Regional Development Conference at the Sunshine Coast, what an honour for her abstract to be chosen  

Her Abstract - Connecting the Regions – Through the Worlds Digital Platform, Under the Theme - Local Leadership; influence and information transfer.  

Kate will be doing a 20 minute presentation at the Australian Regional Development Conference at the Sunshine Coast on the 17th September. 

Ready for your first home?

You might be tossing up between building a new home or buying an existing one. 

Read this article to discover the pros and cons of each and find out which option is right for you.

Do you want to increase the value of your home?

There are plenty of small changes you can make to your house to give you the best chance of adding value on auction day.

Here are 5 proven ways to increase the value of your home before it comes time to sell.

Two Gold award winning students read their works at the ceremony, Erin Kruger from Masada College and Gabriel Siemer from Bourke Walgett School of Distance Education.

Six year old Gabriel has lived the devastating effects of the drought most of his young life on the family farm outside Walgett. They haven’t harvested a crop since 2016 and had to sell all their sheep and cattle due to the drought.

Young Gabriel and his older brother Rafael ‘attend’ the School of Distance Education by satellite link two or three times a week, leaving mum Casey to supervise their work and run the farm. Dad works as a movie and TV stuntman and due to the drought has been away from home much of the year.

The Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party put on the table in Parliament a drought package that would provide real support to farmers and farming communities, disappointingly the Government voted against supporting them.

The SFF drought package includes immediate cash grants, to allow creditors to be paid, cash rebates for local government rates, transitioning legacy loans to zero or low interest loans, the establishment of a re-sowing and re-stocking grant and providing financial support for employers to retain employees on farm and in local businesses.

Cessnock MP and shadow minister for water Clayton Barr was in Moree last week as part of a trip across the region to gain a better understanding of the water situation.

Starting at Dubbo, then moving on to Bourke, Brewarrina, Walgett, Moree on Friday and then Narrabri, Mr Barr wanted to get on the ground and talk to affected people and groups.

"I've only been the shadow minister for water for about six weeks now and I've been trying to read through a whole bunch of reports but for me, the best way to learn was to come and talk to people and see things and be shown how it's working and how it's failing and things like that," Mr Barr said.

He met with the Gwydir Valley Irrigators on Friday as well as local farmer and irrigator to hear their experiences with the low water.

"It's part drought, it's part water sharing, and it's a significant part around priorities of what's most important and what needs to come first, second and third and getting that balance right," he said.

Mr Barr said the reports he has read are mostly facts and figures but they don't detail the social impact on communities, with people being forced to leave town because of the lack of water and therefore lack of work.

"For example, at Walgett they were concerned about losing all of their tradesmen....because the rest of the community didn't have much work so there wasn't much money around," he said.

"So people weren't spending money or doing renovations or building new buildings and improvements, so the tradies didn't have any work but they needed to feed their families.

"They've had to move, and often it's younger families, which then drags kids out of schools so then your school numbers drop.

"That's something that hasn't been captured in any of the reports about water but it's a really important social consequence of the absence of water.

"Hearing stories like that has been fantastic in framing my understanding of how the absence of water has impacted the communities."

While Mr Barr has visited Moree and other towns across the region, it's his first visit in his new role as shadow minister for water, and he said it has been a fantastic experience.

He wants to make it clear that he nor anyone in parliament is anti-irrigation, but it's about coming up with a good strategy in regards to the distribution of water.

"While we can't do anything about rain falling out of the sky and drought conditions we can do something about the rules about what happens to the water once it lands," Mr Barr said.

"I think that's where the really important focus needs to be right now because we don't know when it's going to rain but when it does rain we have to make sure the water goes where it needs to go."

He said most of the reports he's read heavily criticise the government while also making recommendations from scientists, commissioners and experts in the area about what the government should do.

He is yet to see anything that proves those recommendations aren't the right way to go.

"They will cause a bit of pain and grief for some people in terms of their business model and farming models but the benefits to society, environments and in other ways will be significant," Mr Barr said.

"But I would hate to make judgmen

AWU national secretary Daniel Walton late last week rounded on the government for granting the status of "critical state significant infrastructure" to a proposed $589 million LNG import project in Newcastlewhich will now enjoy a streamlined approvals process.

The Berejiklian government has already given the green light for a separate, $250 million LNG import terminal at Port Kembla, backed by mining billionaire Andrew Forrest.

The plans for the two import terminals are racing ahead as Santos's $3 billion Narrabri coal seam gas project, which could supply up to half NSW's gas requirements, remains locked in the state government's approvals process.

But Mr Stokes said the Narrabri project has "big potential impacts" on the environment, and that in any case the state is "best served by a competitive market with multiple sources".

Spectacular gowns reflecting the landscape and other creative works make up an exhibition that shines a light on the talent of female artists in western NSW.

Women Out Front is a culmination of the work Signal Creative and Outback Arts have been doing with women in Warren and Walgett in the past two years. 

• READ ALSO: The philosophy behind a business duo's 20-year milestone

The exhibition features the 'Mother Nature Gown', the 'Yellow Belly Gown' and others, printed photos and textiles, as well as a large collaborative wall hanging.

• READ ALSO: Unconditional love: Walkom family prepare to farewell Nana Bet

It opened in Coonamble on Thursday, with a dance performance in the street.

"For many of the young artists, it's the first time their work has toured and been a part of a big collaborative exhibition and I'm proud to be a part of supporting these amazing young women," Signal Creative co-director Caroline Wallace said.

The Women Out Front program has already featured local performances from the young women at Warren Central School of the movement piece Drylands Wetlands, comprising sounds of the Tiger Bay Wetlands and original costume and set pieces made by the students inspired by the wetlands.

In Walgett, River Stories, created by the Sista Speak students, was exhibited in the Walgett Library as well as online.

Signal Creative co-director Emma Hoy said: "It's been an incredible two years working on Women Out Front with Outback Arts, we can't wait to see what these exciting new artists come up with next."

Walgett residents have a supermarket again after a temporary outlet opened its doors on Tuesday.

The town's permanent IGA was destroyed by fire in June, which left Walgett without a supermarket for the second time in six years.

Western NSW Minister Adam Marshall said the supermarket will resume its normal 8:30am-6pm trading hours after a successful trial run on the weekend.

Member for Barwon, Roy Butler is calling on the NSW Government to commit to an inquiry into aspects of New South Wales water management and their impacts on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Mr Butler’s call for an independent inquiry comes after consultation with communities, irrigators, graziers, towns, water researchers and ecologists, all of whom raised serious concerns about government decision making in relation to water management.

“I’m calling for an inquiry to restore public confidence, and identify how certain decisions contributed to the current conditions in western NSW,” said Mr Butler. 

“I have discussed the inquiry with Minister Pavey and provided her with the draft Terms of Reference. In our conversation, I emphasised that this inquiry is needed to restore the public’s confidence in the NSW water planning and management processes.

This drought is breaking records, pushing families and communities to the brink − and it’s getting worse.

Across NSW, it’s drier than many have seen in their lifetimes. Farms that have never in their hundred-plus year history destocked, have sold all their livestock.

Farmers that had enough hay in storage for years of drought have used their last bale.

Farmers that have never complained, have gotten on with the job, have put food on tables across the world − are asking for assistance.