ANOTHER 12 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus [covid-19] at the weekend in the Hunter New England Health district, bringing the total to 30.

The news comes as Premier Glady Berejiklian announced today that NSW would go into "comprehensive shutdown" of non-essential services.

"Tonight I will be informing the National Cabinet that NSW will proceed to a more comprehensive shutdown of non-essential services," she said.

Supermarkets, petrol stations, pharmacies and convenience stores, freight and logistics and home delivery will remain open.
The shutdown will take place over the next 48 hours.

Schools will be open on Monday but Ms Berejiklian is expected to make more comment on that in the morning.

The National Farmers Federation has welcomed the release of the Murray Darling Basin Social and Economic Assessment Panel Draft Report.

Led by an independent panel comprised of Basin industry leaders, the report highlights the experiences of communities and how they have been affected by the myriad of reforms to water management in the Basin.

“The report’s findings are similar to the messages the NFF heard on our tour across the Basin last month: there is a need to bring communities back to the heart of the conversations and actions that ultimately impact their futures.”

A Wee Waa man's dream of owning his own home has now become a reality after winning close to $150,000 on Keno over the weekend.

The player held a Keno 9 Spot winning entry on Saturday and took home $147,817.40.

THE NSW government is nearly ready to pass over its assessment of the controversial Narrabri Gas Project to the independent body that will have the final say on the development.

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes formally requested to the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) to hold a public meeting in Narrabri, in anticipation of his department wrapping up its assessment.

The next generation of leaders within Australia’s cotton industry is encouraged to apply for a premier leadership program.

Applications for the 2020 Australian Future Cotton Leaders Program (AFCLP) opened today, with 15 spaces available.

AFCLP is funded by Cotton Australia and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC). It is for emerging leaders and is delivered every two years. The 2020 edition will be the seventh time the program has been run.

Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said the AFCLP supports individuals to realise their commitment to creating and leading change in the cotton industry.

“The key goal of the AFCLP is to support those emerging leaders in developing their leadership knowledge, skills and experience,” Mr Kay said.

“Australian agriculture, including our industry, is experiencing a significant amount of change at the moment, and this program is a proactive way to support growers in developing into leaders, advocates and influencers of positive change within Australian cotton.”

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.

FEARS have been raised the independent approval process of the controversial Narrabri Gas Project has been destroyed by a $3 billion deal, which some have labelled a "bribe".

The state government has committed to injecting an additional 70 petajoules (PJ) of gas per annum into the east coast market in return for $3 billion from the Commonwealth government.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian flagged two possibilities to supply the gas; import it or source it from the yet-to-be-approved Santos Narrabri Gas Project, which will create 70 PJ a year.

Farmers near the proposed Narrabri gas development in northern New South Wales fear they will be “sold out” by a federal-state energy deal that promises to dramatically increase supplies of the fossil fuel in the state.

Announcing the $2bn deal alongside the prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Friday, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, nominated Santos’s long-promised Narrabri coal-seam gas project as a way to deliver 70 petajoules of new gas a year as promised under the agreement.

With a few stories doing the rounds, I just wanted to clear up a few points. 
• We have permission from the Yarrie Lake Trust to drill a test bore.
• A grant is available to more than cover the cost.
• Drilling to a max depth of 400m to hopefully tap into the warm bore water of the Great Artesian Basin.
•DPI do not see the lake as a fish habitat and have no issue with the project.

Are you happy in your marriage?

Certain habits will either make or break your relationship. 

Many people, however, only learn how to co-exist with their spouses after they get into a marriage. Making an effort to establish healthy boundaries and habits before getting into a relationship can be the difference between a sad and happy marriage.  

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.

Dylan Smith U17 National Cricket Championships🏏

⭐️Raffle Winners Announcement⭐️

Kindly drawn by Roxanne Bushby Whitton😊

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.

A Wee Waa local will soon get a glimpse of the big city lights of Melbourne for an international modelling contest. 

Toby Knight, 22, will be up against six other representatives from NSW in the national final event for Top Model Worldwide in February 2020. The winner of this heat will travel to London for the international competition.

Toby was first scouted via his Instagram page by a representative from Cosmopolitan magazine, who offered him the chance to compete in Top Model Australia.

"I was like, 'No worries, I'll give it a red hot crack'. I went to the [state] competition and had a bit of training ... and luckily enough I was picked up pretty quickly," Toby said.

It wasn't an easy ride to the top, though. After competing in the NSW finals and making the top 10, Toby wasn't chosen for the top four to travel to Melbourne. But, a stroke of luck meant he was offered a wildcard entry and the top four became a top six, with Toby included.

"It was a proper golden buzzer moment for me to make top 10. I didn't expect that ... at all," he said.

"This is something I would really like to do full time, but I never thought I would be capable of doing it. This opportunity has shown me I can probably bloody do this."

At the national final in February, Toby will complete another runway presentation to show his confidence and ability to pull off different looks. He will also have an interview with the judges.

From here, Toby said if he was to win it would be "unbelievable", and that Miranda Kerr should look out for "the next big thing" coming from a regional town.

He said it is designed to "press pause" on Santos' long delayed Narrabri CSG project.

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 state's mining watchdog has suspended the exploration licence of Narrabri Coal, for building unauthorised tracks in the Pilliga Forest.

The long-wall mine, which forms part of Whitehaven Coal's operations, was found to be in breach of its licence following a state-wide compliance blitz in June.

More than a dozen hollow trees, which provide important habitat to native animals, were knocked down. The unauthorised paths also failed to divert around environmentally sensitive areas.

Resources Regulator head honcho Anthony Keon said the mine's actions showed a "comprehensive failure" to follow "fundamental regulatory obligations".

"The construction of the unauthorised tracks resulted in significant environmental harm," Mr Keon said.

"Exploration activities are subject to strict conditions in order to ensure appropriate environmental protections.

Citizen science group, the Leard Forest Node, has been monitoring the mine's "progressive incursion" in to the Pilliga forest for a couple of years, spokeswoman Anna Christie said.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg, the Narrabri Coal mine has been flying under the radar for several years," Ms Christie said.

She was glad to see meaningful action taken against the mine, rather than just "a fine and a tap of the wrist".

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The suspension will remain in place until the mine conducts a full review of its compliance systems and can satisfy the watchdog that appropriate controls have been put in place.

Five other joint-venture partners also had their exploration licence suspended. The licence holders acknowledged the offending behaviour and offered to suspend all drilling and clearing activities.

The mine will be able to continue operating, however the suspension stops it from expanding or investigating new sites.

Whitehaven CEO Paul Flynn accepted that on this occasion the company failed to properly obverse its exploration obligations

"Based on our inquiries to date, the circumstances and communication failures that led to this outcome are unacceptable," Mr Flynn said.

"Whitehaven took immediate corrective action following the Regulator's site inspection, suspending all exploration activity and commissioning an independent audit and investigation to determine necessary corrective actions.

"The company is committed to ensuring all relevant issues are identified and addressed before exploration activities at Narrabri can resume and will continue to cooperate fully with the NSW Resources Regulator to achieve this outcome."

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