The Brisbane Lions are proud to launch their 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey, designed by premiership forward Callum Ah Chee’s family The story of the jumper represents not only Ah Chee’s journey to the Lions but his connection to his parents but he's gathered all of my thoughts as well as his my brothers and dad and put it onto the guernsey,” Ah Chee said “To have the opportunity for the family to design it is really special.”   Ah Chee said he was excited and honoured to be running out in a jumper with such close ties to his family “I think it's going to be a really special moment in my life being able to wear it and play in the Guernsey that's designed after such a special place,” he said “To be able to put that on the Guernsey and for everyone to see it during indigenous round is awesome so to be able to wear my people's design is a privilege.”  These rivers shown on the front of the guernsey are:   These four rivers represent the stories that have come together to meet at the place and time that Ah Chee and the team are at the present The design in the background of both the front and back of the jumper represents the people of the team and fans that support the team and are with them through all the ups and downs of AFL The design at the bottom sections on the front and back of the jumper represents the sunrise with the Boab tree being a call back to the Kimberley region The Boab tree is silhouetted by the rising sun the traditional names of the rivers are present on the back of the jumper Our home Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey will be worn for the clash against the Melbourne Demons at The Gabba on Sunday 18 May. Buy your tickets here. The away guernsey will be donned for the Round 11 match against Hawthorn on Saturday May 24 at the MCG The 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round Range is live here with limited stock available from the Lions Shop don’t miss out get yours in time for our game against the Demons The Brisbane Lions are proud to launch their 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey we're asking you to vote for the Brisbane Lions player that was the ultimate MVP The player who stood up and put forward a performance that separated them from the rest of the pack Brisbane is still king of the Queensland hill storming to the top of the competition table with a 17-point QClash victory over Gold Coast at a sold-out Gabba on Sunday night Watch Brisbane’s press conference after round eight’s match against Gold Coast Will Ashcroft delivers a standout performance and shares a special moment with his dad while accepting the Marcus Ashcroft Medal The Lions and Suns clash in round eight of the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Watch the Lions celebrate their round eight win The Brisbane Lions VFL side have defended home turf with a late Harry Arnold goal sinking the Gold Coast SUNS by two-points at Brighton Homes Arena We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land the Yuggera and Turrbal people and pay our respects to their Elders past and present We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples The Collingwood Football Club is pleased to unveil its 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round (SDNR) guernsey Designed by First Nations artist Lisa Thorpe a woman from multiple Clans and Nations across Victoria the Magpies’ SDNR guernsey is inspired by her art piece ‘Wooroongi Biik’ Collingwood’s SDNR guernsey symbolises the unity of the Boonwurrung Baluk (people) to Biik (Country) Thorpe’s design features a magpie’s view of ‘Y’alla-Birr-Ang’ (Collingwood) at pre-colonisation with the six Boonwurrung seasons depicted within its streets and laneways Magpie footprints are depicted within the central white stripe of the guernsey representing the harmonious connection of life to Biik (Country) Spear-shaped elements along the white stripes signify the name Y’alla-Birr-Ang which denotes the sharpened tip of a spear  ‘Y’alla-Birr-Ang’ was the place where the ancestors and tribal men would gather to sharpen their spears in preparation for hunting or battle ‘Y’alla-Birr-Ang’ evolved into a meeting place for community trading sharpened spears for sharpened minds in preparation for the fight against injustice Thorpe spoke with pride about the story behind Collingwood’s 2025 SDNR guernsey which will be worn throughout the Sir Doug Nicholls Rounds “My Boonwurrung people lived in harmony with the six seasons and their neighbouring clans with focus on caring for Country,” Thorpe explained “The artwork emphasises the significance of aligning with the seasons ensuring the survival of land “The narrative of sharpening spears for battle or hunting is also a crucial aspect of survival It instils responsibility and accountability within the clans and community while also honouring the traditional practices and lore.”  The artwork describes the importance of everyone knowing the history of this country and being able to share it with their children and future generations and an even bigger supporter of the Collingwood Football Club this opportunity was one I couldn’t pass up,” Thorpe said “To see my art and the story of my people and Country on the jumper of my team is an absolute honour It allows us to share the rich history of the world’s oldest living culture most don’t know “To see the players share my people’s history and wear the story with pride is not only the most important learning we can offer the wider community but a step toward a more harmonious future for us all.” Collingwood’s AFL team will wear the guernsey in the 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round matches: The Collingwood AFLW team will wear the guernsey during the 2025 NAB AFL Women’s Indigenous Rounds Collingwood’s 2025 SDNR guernsey is now available via shop.collingwoodfc.com.au or at the Official Collingwood Club Shop The Collingwood Football Club is deeply saddened to learn of the death of former player David Norman Record breaker Jack Crisp missed the chance to win the game after the siren for Collingwood as his side fell short by three points to Geelong in a thriller at the MCG VFLW captain Dom Carbone leads from the front in Collingwood's loss to the Western Bulldogs in Round 3 Defender Charlie Dean was a standout in the Pies' VFL defeat to the Dogs Inside the team meeting as Craig McRae addresses the team following Collingwood's Round 8 loss to Geelong Watch all the goals from Collingwood's Round 8 clash against Geelong The Pies suffer their second VFL loss of the season going down to the Bulldogs at Victoria Park The Collingwood Football Club respectfully acknowledges the traditional owners as the land on which the Collingwood Football Club works and plays The Club pays its respects to elders past and present as the knowledge-holders and custodians of this land The Nationals’ Sam Birrell has convincingly held the federal seat of Nicholls obtaining 47.99 per cent of the first preference count Mr Birell achieved 65.54 per cent of the vote the remaining 34.46 per cent allocated to Labor’s Kim Travers Voters turned out at polling places across the region he addressed his supporters at a celebratory event “Three years ago it was an election on a knife edge,” Mr Birrell said “Here we are in 2025 and we already know we have smashed it in Nicholls I got in this to do a job and represent people from my community.” Mr Birrell has represented Nicholls since the 2022 election First preference counts from all of 79 polling places had been returned and counted as of Monday afternoon the first preference count for each candidate is as follows: Pauline Hanson’s One Nation 11.20 per cent expectations were already growing that Labor would secure a second term in Parliament but because the LNP by almost all accounts And then there was the undeniable Trump factor in a carbon copy of the recent Canadian election have made their feelings clear on the issue of Trumpian politics electing a left wing government and showing their opposition leaders the door Australia-wide landslide to Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party unless of course you live in Nicholls where there was no Independent candidate and hell was going to freeze over before the seat went to Labor Incumbent Sam Birrell got over the line with 65.63 per cent of the primary vote and without a single pledge to the Yarrawonga area The junior partner in the Liberal National coalition the Nationals lost only one seat last night Nationals MP Andrew Gee ran as an Independent in the seat of Calare after quitting the party over its stance on the Voice to Parliament deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley was unlikely to lose the seat she’s held for 21 years But it was a bittersweet win for Ms Ley who in the face of a very good campaign by Independent Michelle Milthorpe is faced with a 9.10 per cent swing against her The swing also went against the ALP to the tune of 3.99 per cent as Mrs Milthorpe picked up 20 per cent of first preference votes and Independent Helen Haines has comfortably held onto her seat in Indi with a 2.46 per cent swing her way in the primary vote Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s victory speech was lauded by many as unifying and inspiring he still has a lot of work to do around here Read more in this week’s Yarrawonga Chronicle The federal electorate of Nicholls will again be represented by Sam Birrell after he retained the seat in what was a landslide win for The Nationals With 76 of 79 polling places returned as of 2pm Sunday Mr Birrell had received 44,889 votes — 48.04 per cent of the vote His closest competitor was Labor’s Kim Travers with 22,014 votes (23.56 per cent) Mr Birrell was pleased to return as member for Nicholls for a second term “It’s a great thing to serve a term and then be re-elected and put here again,” he said Speaking to The News before it was announced that Labor had won government federally Mr Birrell said if the Coalition was not in government he would not be able to guarantee delivery on all the election promises that were dependent on the Coalition being in power he said he would “make every effort” to get those things for the people of Nicholls Following Labor’s landslide federal victory Mr Birrell said being in opposition again is a position he’d rather not have “But it doesn’t limit your ability to be an effective representative in Canberra.” Mr Birrell said he would continue to advocate for regional areas “I got in this to do a job and to represent my community.” Mr Birrell spent his day on Saturday at polling booths in Shepparton I wanted to thank as many volunteers as I could,” he said “I’m incredibly grateful to the volunteers “Only people who have done it know what it feels like on your feet on election day Mr Birrell also praised the volunteers handing out how-to-vote cards for other candidates standing against him “I’m equally thankful to and admire them because they believe in something and are prepared to stand on their feet for it,” Mr Birrell said “The banter between different people (from different parties) handing out how-to vote cards was good.” “These people participated in a really respectful way “I don’t mind being disagreed with or people putting different points of view but do it respectively and constructively,” he said Federal Electorate District Council Nicholls branch president Lindsay Dann announced Mr Birrell’s win to National party faithful at a gathering in Shepparton on Saturday night of all those who helped in the campaign “Three years ago it was an election at knife edge at this point (in Nicholls) Here we are in 2025 and we already know we smashed it in Nicholls,” he said while announcing the win about 8.30pm The win for Mr Birrell was a bittersweet one with the Coalition not gaining enough seats for power “The win is tinged with sadness because we’re going to lose some colleagues,” he told his party faithful KEVIN Kropinyeri is a proud Ngarrindjeri artist comedian and sculptor who is the talent behind this year’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey the Kropinyeri name would be a familiar one and that’s because Kevin also happens to be the father of much-loved Demon Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett It’s a special relationship that has led to the creation of this year’s powerful design capturing Kevin and Kysaiah’s connection to their Ngarrindjeri culture while also showcasing their love of the Melbourne Football Club Check out our Indigenous guernsey to be worn through Sir Doug Nicholls Round in 2025 because Kozzy is so loved by his mob and Aboriginal people in general,” Kevin said and it warms my heart to see that love around him “I think everybody is going to be proud of it.”  This isn’t the first time Dees fans have been given a look into the history of Kysaiah’s Ngarrindjeri family having followed along two years ago when the club visited Kevin’s hometown of Raukkan When reflecting on the opportunity to share his family with the wider AFL world for a second time Kevin poignantly emphasised the importance of his culture “Culture is like a seed that we grab and when our children are born That's what blooms and makes us who we are today,” Kevin said Ngarrindjeri tradition is key to Kevin’s design with the centre of the artwork displaying a shield The shield represents warriors and symbolises divine protection “The shield is a symbolization of our traditional warriors and our football players are our modern-day warriors on the field,” Kevin said present and future players – the warriors of the Melbourne Football Club “I wanted to bring the fans of the Melbourne Football Club and Aboriginal culture together with the symbolization of this shield.”  Upon the chevron and the back of the jumper is an intricate weaving artwork which has been inspired by the important tradition of the Ngarrindjeri People The process of weaving is a way to share knowledge and bring people together and has been passed down from ancestors currently still continuing to connect people to this day “The element of the weaving design symbolises the love of the Melbourne Football Club,” Kevin said sponsor and fan are interconnected and intricately woven together through their love of the club “This is what has made this club strong for over 160 years That is what the weaving design represents.”  The final key component of the design is the addition of Ngarrindjeri words underneath the chevron “NAM Mi:WI WINNAMUN KATJIL PROLIN AMBI NGAMAR THAMELIN AMBI” meaning “ALL HEARTS BEAT TRUE FOR THE RED AND THE BLUE”  While the Ngarrindjeri People don't have a word for ‘every’ with Kevin capturing the core of the Melbourne Football Club while honouring his Peoples’ language The back of the guernsey features the names of all of the club’s Indigenous players acknowledging the important impact they’ve had on the club and its people The jumper will make its debut at the Gabba in the club’s first game of Sir Doug Nicholls Round when the Dees face the Lions on Sunday 18 May The players will wear the guernsey on two occasions throughout the round the second when they host Sydney at the MCG on Sunday 25 May For the duration of Sir Doug Nicholls Round Melbourne will rebrand to Narrm Football Club the fourth consecutive season the club has recognised the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung language This year’s Sir Doug Nicholls Round guernsey is now available on the Demon Shop thanks to the club’s official apparel partner Supporters will have the option of purchasing the jumper in both the home and away strip For more information on Kevin’s work, visit his Instagram and Facebook Max Gawn is sitting equal fourth in the race for the AFLCA Award Demons Pro Scout and AFLW List Manager Todd Patterson will join the Tasmania Football Club A Max Gawn masterclass has powered the Demons home in the West Simon Goodwin spoke to media ahead of Melbourne’s Round 8 clash and the challenges of travelling west to face the Eagles Max Gawn produces a colossal performance against the hapless Eagles to collect a career-best 35 disposals Ally Kirkwood spoke to Melbourne Media following Round 3 Check out All the Goals from our clash against the West Coast Eagles thanks to Haymes Paint Watch Melbourne’s press conference after round eight’s match against West Coast Jake Melksham and Daniel Turner will take on the Eagles The Melbourne Football Club acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners of the land in which we are privileged to play our great game of AFL on throughout Australia We recognise the continued connection our custodians have to the land and its waters present and emerging and their contribution to the broader community as we work towards an equitable and reconciled Australia As part of The News' 2025 Federal Election campaign this episode of Digging Deeper looks at who each of the candidates for the Nicholls electorate are in the upcoming election Each candidate had 90 seconds to answer the question: What are your main objectives if elected as the federal member for Nicholls check out the full profiles for each candidate below The Fremantle Football Club respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land waterways and skies on which we live and play our great game here in Perth the Whadjuk People of the Noongar Boodja and acknowledge their continuing connection to Country and culture senior knowledge holders and those following in their footsteps and extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples across Australia and receive alerts when they’re in the news Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London We are experts in medium and small-cap markets we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies commodities and broader investment stories This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation Elixir Energy Ltd has appointed Stuart Nicholls as managing director and CEO The leadership change comes as the company advances its transition from exploration to development at the Grandis gas project in Queensland’s Taroom Trough Read more: Elixir Energy expands in gas-rich Taroom Trough through Santos farm-ins Young departs after more than a decade with Elixir having overseen its early work in Mongolia and building a dominant position in one of Australia’s most prospective onshore gas regions He will remain with the company as an advisor for at least three months to support the transition Elixir chairman Richard Cottee praised Young’s contribution noting that “the significant asset base in Queensland that Neil has put together is now primed for the next stage of its growth.” He added “With Stuart Nicholls we believe we have secured an exceptional leader to take the Company forward through these next phases.” Nicholls is well regarded in Australia’s energy sector having transformed Strike Energy Ltd into an ASX200 company He also brings senior leadership experience from Shell and the Australian military “I intend to build value with urgency and prioritise the securing of long-term tenure of the company’s assets,” Nicholls said and progressing Elixir’s 100%-owned acreage towards maiden reserves With major gas discoveries already made at the Daydream-2 well Elixir is positioning itself to meet long-term domestic and export demand from its strategic location near the Gladstone LNG hub Elixir Energy expanded its position at the Grandis Project in the gas-rich Taroom Trough of Queensland by executing two farm-in agreements with a subsidiary of energy major Santos The farm-in with Santos secures Elixir a 50% Working Interest in two additional permits and adds a Contingent Resource (2C) of 1.1 trillion cubic feet equivalent (TCFE) of gas net to Elixir This has been certified by independent resource/reserve auditor ERCE Australia Pty Ltd and takes the company’s total 2C contingent resource in the Taroom Trough to 3.0 TCFE Supporting this farm-in and planned work is a capital raising of up to $9 million which makes the deal highly accretive on a contingent resource per share basis Sign up to receive alerts and news direct to your inbox Elixir Energy Ltd managing director Neil Young talked with Proactive about a newly signed farmout agreement with Xstate Resources Ltd covering the Diona sub-block of ATP 2077 in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.Under the agreement Xstate will earn a 51% stake in the Diona sub-block by fully funding the.. All Rights Reserved - Proactive Australia PTY LTD ACN:132787654 ABN:19132787654 Market Indices, Commodities and Regulatory News Headlines copyright © Morningstar. Data delayed 15 minutes unless otherwise indicated. Terms of use voters will be handed two pieces of paper that will help decide what two rooms of Canberra look like in the coming years will determine who will represent Farrer in the House of Representatives — the people’s house will decide Senate seats — crucial for reviewing legislation and representing state interests The House of Representatives slips will have the nine candidates for Farrer listed in the order in which they were randomly selected The Senate ballot features a number of parties and candidates Voters can choose how to cast their vote using either section The two ways to vote for the Senate are above the line voters order the parties they would like to see in the Senate seat Voters need to order at least six of the 18 parties in order of their preference These votes allow the parties to choose who they want to represent their parties in the Senate there is a way for the voter to specifically choose who they want in the seat Voting beneath the line includes numbering at least 12 of the individual candidates in ascending order Polling booths across Farrer will open at 8am on Saturday For more information on the candidates and what your preferences may be, visit abc.net.au/news/vote-compass or myplan.buildaballot.org.au David Nicholls is a critically acclaimed author and BAFTA-winning screenwriter - and he's set to make an appearance at this year's upcoming Auckland Writers Festival His bestselling book One Day sold millions of copies and went on to become a successful hit series on Netflix Nicholls plans to address Kiwi fans - and open up about the pressures of success \"I've written a lot of books set in the past and a lot of books with quite a large time scale - and this is like a little delicate chamber piece even though it takes place against all these mountains and lakes and rivers See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 1);}.css-4hf0t5:focus{outline:none;}.css-4hf0t5:hover{border-color:rgba(215 "I've written a lot of books set in the past and a lot of books with quite a large time scale - and this is like a little delicate chamber piece See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information If you've ever wanted to know about champagne powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com The winds of change did not blow across Nicholls and Farrer on election day with incumbent members Sam Birrell and Sussan Ley retaining their seats the ABC is projecting Labor to obtain 85 seats and Centre Alliance and Katter’s Australian Party one each particularly in metro Melbourne and Brisbane Bendigo is likely to be retained by incumbent Labor member Lisa Chesters but is still in doubt as of Sunday afternoon with challenger Andrew Lethlean of The Nationals receiving just three per cent less than Ms Chesters in the first preference count with the ABC chief election analyst Antony Green calling the election to fall in Labor’s favour early in the piece on Saturday night In what is being described as a landslide election for Labor the LNP has managed to secure terms locally once again The Nationals’ Sam Birrell has convincingly held on to his seat obtaining 48.02 per cent of the first preference count Mr Birell achieved 65.59 per cent of the vote the remaining 34.41 per cent allocated to Labor’s Kim Travers Voters turned out at polling places in Echuca “Three years ago it was an election on knife edge,” Mr Birrell said “Here we are in 2025 and we already know we have smashed it in Nicholls.” Mr Birrell has represented Nicholls since the 2022 federal election First preference counts from 78 of 79 polling places had been returned and counted as of Sunday afternoon the Liberal Party’s Sussan Ley has comfortably won back her seat Despite a swing against her of 8.70 per cent Ms Ley secured 43.60 per cent of the first preference count Independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe achieved 20.48 per cent of the first preference count while Labor’s Glen Hyde received 15.02 per cent Mathoura and Wakool polling places were open for voters Ms Ley has represented Farrer since the 2001 federal election the first preference counts from all of the 94 polling places had been returned and counted Voices for Nicholls has released a report in the lead-up to the federal election based on resident surveys across the electorate The Kitchen Table Conversation report is informed by discussions with more than 360 people focusing on election priorities and political representation Major themes raised by participants included healthcare “Accessibility of healthcare is the most pressing issue mentioned across the whole electorate,” the report said is the lack of GPs and the associated challenges placed on hospital emergency departments.” Members of the group’s executive team said this was a notable change over the past few years as there was little talk of inequity in a similar report in 2022 Challenges with inequity included the need for more family assistance with essentials Indigenous recognition and reduced community cohesion “Housing supply is the next most pressing challenge also raised across the whole of the electorate,” the report said An increase in affordable and social housing was called for along with crisis accommodation as a major priority although was identified as an electorate-wide problem Voices for Nicholls is a not-for-profit community group that aims to generate conversation around the electorate’s representation Its executive team is composed of residents with various professional backgrounds To read the full report, visit https://www.voicesfornicholls.com/news Walking into the polling booth on Saturday will determine who will represent Nicholls in the House of Representatives — the people’s house The Nicholls candidates for the House of Representatives are: Kim Travers — Labor Party Paul Edward Bachelor — Family First Aaron Tyrrell — One Nation Sam Birrell — National Party Jeff Davy — Australian Citizens Party Shelby Eade — Greens The House of Representatives slip will have the seven candidates for the seat of Nicholls listed in the order they were randomly decided on The Senate ballot features 18 parties and 65 candidates Voting beneath the line includes numbering at least 12 of the 65 individual candidates in ascending order Polling booths across Nicholls will open at 8am on Saturday Various accessibility services will be available at different locations including Virtual Auslan interpreters for hearing-impaired voters and assisted wheelchair access There were no surprises in the election results for our region except for the seat of Bendigo Counting was continuing as Country News went to print on Monday morning with about 80 per cent of votes counted across the nation Nicholls has been retained by The Nationals as Sam Birrell enters his second term in parliament He has so far polled 45,057 (48 per cent) of the votes — with a 23.7 per cent swing towards him — while his closest competitor was Labor’s Kim Travers on 22,014 votes (23.56 per cent) Mr Birrell thanked all those who voted for him Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley has retained the seat of Farrer in NSW Despite a swing against her of 8.7 per cent Ms Ley had secured 43.6 per cent of the first preference count by Monday morning In the wake of Liberal leader Peter Dutton losing his own seat on Saturday Ms Ley is now one of the frontrunners for the top job Other possible candidates are Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor and frontbenchers Dan Tehan and Andrew Hastie Ms Ley said several seats where preferential counting was continuing would have to be decided before a meeting to decide a new leader could take place She said her party was reflecting on the results with humility Independent candidate Helen Haines was re-elected for her third term for Indi Ms Haines was leading Liberal candidate James Trenery by more than 15,000 votes Indi has been a safe independent seat since 2013 Mallee has also been retained by The Nationals Labor had received 17,953 first preference votes coming in second behind Ms Webster on 48,167 (50.8 per cent) on Monday morning Mallee has been held by The Nationals since 1983 Labor’s Lisa Chesters was in the lead on 33,070 ahead of Nationals candidate Andrew Lethlean on 29,836 the ABC predicted Labor to win by less than 1000 votes With the federal election being held this Saturday the Riv has rounded up brief profiles of the Nicholls candidates in order of the ballot draw Click on the names below for an in-depth breakdown on candidate backgrounds Ms Travers has a background in retail banking inclusiveness and the power of collaboration Her policies include strengthening health care supporting education and delivering accessible and affordable child and aged care Mr Bachelor has a background in electrical engineering and has been involved in religious enterprises He believes in traditional Western family values His policies include a move away from exposing children to LGBTQ+ material pausing net-zero policies and pursuing nuclear energy Mr Floyd has a background in both the public and private sectors and founded a non-profit organisation to enhance industry self-regulation in online security.​ ending net-zero policies and promoting Australian values For more information, visit https://trumpetofpatriots.org/candidates/glenn-floyd/ Mr Tyrrell is a dairy farmer and husband to state Member for Northern Victoria Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell The One Nation Party believes in Australian values and is sceptical about man-made climate change Party policies include slashing government waste reducing the cost of building new housing and supporting nuclear energy in the medium term Mr Birrell is the incumbent member of the Nicholls electorate and has a background in agronomy He believes in supporting community members to attain education and employment multiculturalism and advocating for local agriculture His policies include decreasing energy prices cracking down on supermarket price gouging reducing red tape for regional housing and supporting regional healthcare has a background in dairy farming and has served as secretary for various local groups He believes in a complete reform of the banking and financial system restoring integrity to public governance and supporting local agriculture His policies include a return to government banking ensuring foreign policy decisions are free from overseas influence and abolishing negative gearing Ms Eade is currently working as a horticulturalist and was born in Echuca and raised in Rochester She believes in sustainable environmental practices advocating for the issues affecting the Nicholls community and greater access and availability of public services Her policies include increasing taxes on multinational corporations to fund health care and housing building publicly owned renewable energy and making groceries cheaper Current flood notices are in place for areas of the Central Coast, including Tuggerah Lake. Read more and follow our Facebook page  Performing Arts Centre of the Year in 2022 The visual arts culture of the Central Coast which has sold 5 million copies and was adapted into a Netflix series will be in conversation with Jennifer Byrne as part of the Sydney Writers' Festival mixes first encounters and second chances for its midlife protagonists Michael burrows into himself after his wife’s departure Both find romantic redemption in the English countryside amid pithy observations and pop culture references Let David help you find your way on the winding road through life’s most encompassing emotion – love This is a live stream event and will be available for viewing Umina Beach Library David Nicholls will not be in person at this event but streamed from the Writers' Festival in Sydney Bookings essential. Book online from this page In the lead-up to the federal election on May 3 McPherson Media Group is featuring profiles of some of the candidates running for the seat of Nicholls Candidates have been asked why they’re running what some of the issues faced by the electorate are Shelby Eade of the Melbourne suburb of Altona is the Greens Party candidate for the federal electorate of Nicholls Ms Eade was born in Echuca and raised in Rochester studied photography in Melbourne and currently works as a horticulturalist She is running for the electorate because she believes there are not enough young people fighting for their electorates “It’s been Nationals for as long as I can remember and there’s never any proper Greens representation in the country,” Ms Eade said Among her top concerns for Nicholls is seeing dental covered under Medicare which she said would lower the cost of treatment and help prevent other health issues Fully funding the NDIS to support vulnerable community members and implementing free childcare are other high priorities for Ms Eade “I’m at the age where I would probably start considering having a child but the price of everything is putting me off,” she said A key Greens policy is increasing taxes on large corporations and billionaires to generate more money for public services and reduce cost-of-living pressures “A nurse shouldn’t be paying more tax than a billionaire,” Ms Eade said Addressing the effects of climate change and disasters worsened by its effects locally Ms Eade said she would advocate for capping rent increases raising and enforcing minimum standards for renters and disincentives for landlords keeping vacant properties off the market She believes healthcare services in Nicholls need to be improved including ambulance wait times and the lack of medical student graduates working in regional areas “There needs to be more incentive to get people working in the country because people leave town to go to uni and not many people come back,” Ms Eade said Ms Eade said she would be an active member for Nicholls if elected She said she was willing to listen and learn and would connect with communities across the electorate to hear residents’ needs The federal election will take place on Saturday when Nicholls voters will have the opportunity to shape Australia’s future by casting their ballots Polling booths across Nicholls will be open from 8am to 6pm on the day For more information on polling locations and accessibility options, visit the official Australian Electoral Commission website at tinyurl.com/3pdsr65u Colbinabbin Primary School, 48 Mitchell St. Echuca East Primary School, 21-31 Eyre St. Echuca Recreation Centre, Tech School Dve. Lockington & District Community Centre, Barton St. Nanneella Estate Primary School, 159 Bennett Rd. Torrumbarry Public Hall, Murray Valley Hwy. Congupna Primary School, 3580 Katamatite-Shepparton Main Rd. Dhurringile Community Centre, 625 Langham Rd. Katandra West Primary School, 17-27 Bankin St. Kialla Central Primary School, 128 Central Kialla Rd. Kialla West Primary School, 7370 Goulburn Valley Hwy. G T Coulson Community Activity Centre, Echuca Rd. Mooroopna Primary School, 16-18 Obrien St. Bourchier St Primary School, 1-19 Bourchier St. Guthrie St Primary School, 33-69 Guthrie St. North Shepparton Community & Learning Centre Inc, 10-14 Parkside Dr. St George’s Rd Primary School, 120 St Georges Rd. St Brendan’s Primary School, 143-149 Knight St. Wilmot Rd Primary School, 84-90 Wilmot Rd. Shepparton East Primary School, 15 School Rd. Tallygaroopna Primary School, 24-34 Victoria St. Broadford Secondary College, Cnr Snodgrass St and White St. Kilmore Primary School, 35 Kilmore-Lancefield Rd. Seymour Anglican Parish Hall, 2 Anzac Ave. Invergordon Sports & Community Centre, Batey Dve. Katamatite Primary School, 4-6 Currajong Ave. Nathalia Sports & Community Centre, 32-42 Robertson St. Strathmerton Memorial Hall, 56-58 Main St. Yarroweyah Memorial Hall, 4426 Murray Valley Hwy. Yarrawonga College P-12, 2-22 Pinniger St. Nagambie Senior Citizens Centre, 358-360 High St. In the lead-up to the federal election on May 3, McPherson Media Group is featuring profiles of some of the candidates running for the seat of Nicholls. Candidates have been asked why they’re running, what some of the issues faced by the electorate are, and what they’ll advocate for if elected. Jeff Davy is standing for the Australian Citizens Party in the seat of Nicholls in the 2025 federal election. Mr Davy is a Numurkah resident who has served in various roles within the community, including as secretary of the Katunga Scouts and the Katunga Football Club. If elected, Mr Davy will fight to reform Australia’s banking system, which he has been studying for 35 years. Mr Davy proposed that implementing postal, infrastructure and development banks across the country would help Australians achieve “economic sovereignty”. “(We want) a post office bank, number one, to bring cash back to rural areas,” Mr Davy said. “An infrastructure bank, for the property infrastructure that we need to do, maintaining our roads, schools and hospitals. “And the development bank is there to develop new dams and electricity, with the growing population.” The privatisation of water is a point of concern for Mr Davy, who said it “is part of a system which is flawed”. “The government is buying up more water now ... it’s a flawed policy, and flawed thinking,” Mr Davy said. Mr Davy identifies other key issues faced by the Nicholls electorate as the state of the roads, the declining farming industry and the rising cost of living. Mr Davy said “health care would probably be the first” when asked what he would prioritise within Mitchell Shire. “Everything (healthcare services) gets amalgamated and what costs too much money gets shut down,” Mr Davy said. As a long-time Nicholls resident, Mr Davy said, if elected, he would ensure to advocate for the electorate on a national scale. “It would give me a great deal of satisfaction to be able to get up there and start to call out the people that haven’t done anything,” Mr Davy said. “There have been politicians there for 20 years. Look at the direction of the country. “They’re the ones who are responsible for the cost-of-living crisis.” To stay up to date on election day, check in on The News’ website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls, as well as live poll updates. In the lead-up to the federal election on May 3, McPherson Media Group is featuring profiles of some of the candidates running for the seat of Nicholls. Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell is seeking a second term in office. With a career across the agricultural sector, Mr Birrell is proud to call himself a Goulburn Valley local. He described himself as a lover of regional Australia, of living in the Goulburn Valley, and of music and sport. Mr Birrell said he had clear priorities if he was re-elected in May. “That is to focus on infrastructure spending in regional areas. I’ve made commitments to this region. The two most significant ones are $20 million for the Shepparton Sports Stadium and $6.3 million to Kirwans Bridge,” he said. “We’ll be simplifying industrial relations to make sure that small and medium enterprise businesses can be competitive. “We’ll have a more sensible approach to energy policy that will focus on reducing our emissions over time, but making sure that Australia has energy prices both for gas and electricity that keep us world competitive.” What food packing businesses were telling him, Mr Birrell said, was that farmers in the region needed reliable access to water to keep their supply up. “So we’ll be reversing some of the more damaging parts of the Restore our Rivers Bill, and making sure there’s no more open tender water buybacks,” he said. He will finance his vision for Nicholls with the Coalition’s proposed $20 billion Regional Future Fund. “The Nationals will use that ... and invest the dividends to make sure we’ve got a bucket of money that we can work with the community to work out what the major priorities are and use that funding for that,” he said. Mr Birrell said he was proud of his achievements in office, including in his community involvement and, even if it was ultimately unsuccessful, his opposition to the Restoring Our Rivers bill. “When it’s a Coalition government, with the Nationals pushing hard, the regions get more,” he said. “You do need someone pushing really hard for the interests of regional Australia. And that’s the Nationals.” To stay up to date on election day, check in on the Courier website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls as well as live poll updates. In the lead up to the federal election on May 3, McPherson Media Group is featuring profiles of some of the candidates running for the seat of Nicholls. Paul Bachelor of Echuca is the Family First Party candidate for the federal Nicholls electorate. He has lived locally for 45 years and has a background in electrical engineering, education, including at local high schools, and corporate training. Now retired, Mr Bachelor has six children and 12 grandchildren with his wife, Barbara, a celebrated nurse. Mr Bachelor said he was running for the Nicholls electorate partly because he was asked to, but also due to his strong alignment with the Family First Party’s values. “On many issues, such as abortion and gender ideology stuff, we’ve watched both of the major parties move in a direction which we find quite distasteful,” he said. “We think it’s horrendous, the implications for young children.” In Nicholls, Mr Bachelor sees crime as one of the largest issues facing the region, which he attributes to the closure of technical schools in Victoria. “We’ve got groups of young people that used to go through technical school, learn skills, learn a trade and get into meaningful employment. There’s a huge gap there now,” he said. Current water policy and the increase in renewable energy projects on productive land are also among Mr Bachelor’s concerns for the electorate. Of Campaspe Shire Council’s advocacy priorities, Mr Bachelor said he supported compensation for damage done by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. He also believes in pursuing nuclear energy, citing its safety in comparison to other forms of energy, and keeping families together in order to free up housing stock. “We need to really assess what we are putting money to,” Mr Bachelor said. “Health is one of those things that is growing and growing, because we don’t do what’s required to keep people healthy in the first place.” Ultimately, Mr Bachelor would like to see more funding put towards family structures and youth programs to support community autonomy, ideally leading to a reduction in government intervention. “If we’re going to have a strong country, we need to have strong communities. In order to have strong communities, you need strong families,” he said. Australian Labor Party member Kim Travers is running for the seat of Nicholls in the 2025 federal election. She lives 12.5km from the border of Nicholls and was asked to run by her party as she is experienced in public service and is, in her words, a “firm trade union woman”. “I believe in fairness and equity, and I’ve worked a lot with women over the last 20 years in policy committees within the ALP and also within the union on … working conditions that affect women and help their working lives,” she said. Mrs Travers identified cost of living as a primary concern for Nicholls residents. She asserted that Labor was implementing specific measures to address this, and wished to focus on improving the Goulburn Valley's bridge network and tackling the electorate’s housing challenges. Speaking about what her main objectives would be if she was elected, she said her job would be to negotiate with ministers on projects that had been in the works for a while. Mrs Travers said she aimed to leverage her “party of women” to launch initiatives addressing cost-of-living pressures, enhance aged care services and ensure TAFE colleges offered relevant courses such as allied health, directly benefiting working-age adults and their families. “(Labor) has delivered before here, but think how much more they can deliver if they’ve got team members here in Nicholls,” she said. “I think that would be a revolution here.” On how she would represent the electorate in Canberra, she said her voice and her negotiating skills would be key to pushing the Nicholls agenda forward. She said she would “tap into” the five councils in Nicholls and find where the gaps were in some of the region’s smallest towns. “I know it’s difficult to get stuff delivered (rurally) ... If people really want change, they’re going to have to start thinking about how you get that change, and maybe a woman like myself who is assertive in a rural seat is actually a good thing to do.” To stay up to date on election day, check in on The News website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls as well as live poll updates. David Nicholls is a critically acclaimed author and BAFTA-winning screenwriter - and he's set to make an appearance at this year's upcoming Auckland Writers Festival. His bestselling book One Day sold millions of copies and went on to become a successful hit series on Netflix. Off the back of his latest hit novel, You Are Here, Nicholls plans to address Kiwi fans - and open up about the pressures of success. "I've written a lot of books set in the past and a lot of books with quite a large time scale - and this is like a little delicate chamber piece, even though it takes place against all these mountains and lakes and rivers. It's a character study."  Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you Fremantle have selected Charlie Nicholls with pick 34 in the 2024 Telstra AFL National Draft DOB: 08/06/2006 Drafted From: Central Districts/South Australia Height: 197cm Position: Forward  Charlie stood out in the SANFL U18 Grand Final and finished runner-up in his club’s best and fairest. Known for his athleticism, he adapted to playing higher up the ground at the National Championships and gained experience in the SANFL Reserves. Fremantle co-vice-captain Caleb Serong has highlighted the inconsistency of the season as a pain point for both the playing and coaching group Fremantle Senior Coach Justin Longmuir says accountability key after Saints defeat A disappointing night for Fremantle saw the Club suffer a heavy loss, kicking just 33 points Fremantle forward Mikayla Morrison has called time on her AFLW career Thursday's Round 9 clash with Collingwood marks our annual Purple Hands Foundation game, where the Club and Purple Hands will be raising funds to make sure no young person is left behind. Vice Captain Caleb Serong speaks to the media ahead of our clash with Collingwood in the Purple Hands game this Thursday at Optus Hear from Senior Coach JL following our loss to St Kilda Swita spoke in the rooms post-game following the Round 8 clash against St Kilda Fremantle have confirmed their final team of 23 to take on St Kilda in Friday night’s Round 8 clash The Fremantle Football Club respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land, waterways and skies on which we live and play our great game here in Perth, the Whadjuk People of the Noongar Boodja and acknowledge their continuing connection to Country and culture. We pay respect to Elders past and present, senior knowledge holders and those following in their footsteps, and extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples across Australia. Fremantle draftee Charlie Nicholls is trading in his family’s wheat and sheep farm in his hometown of Tarlee, South Australia, for the purple of Fremantle. Nicholls is no stranger to covering kilometres for football, with the athletically versatile key forward travelling around an hour three times a week after school just to go to training. “I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet. It still feels pretty surreal, but I’m over the moon and couldn’t be happier,” Nicholls said. “I’ll head over tomorrow (to WA), and I just can’t wait to meet everyone, get to know the place and all the people. Hear from our newest Freo Docker, Charlie! Taken with pick 34 in the 2024 Telstra AFL National Draft “It seems like a really good place and such a great Club to move into, so I can’t wait to get over there.” The Central District recruit was a standout performer in the 2024 SANFL Under-18 Grand Final and led the side’s attack throughout the Under-18 competition, kicking 22 goals in 11 games while also assisting in the ruck. “It definitely got tough throughout the year with lots of travel, schoolwork building up, and things like that - so to have it pay off like this is so awesome and I’m so grateful,” Nicholls said. “I’d definitely say my strengths are my aerial ability, contested marking, and marking on the lead. I also think my speed over 20 metres as a forward is something I can bring to the team.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Fremantle Dockers (@freodockers) Talking about his first meeting with senior coach Justin Longmuir who flew to Tarlee early Friday morning to meet Fremantle’s pick 34 Nicholls said it was a moment he wouldn’t forget “He (Longmuir) said to enjoy the next couple of days and talked about how well the Club is going and how welcoming everyone is,” Nicholls said “It was so special to have such great support from mates and family Nicholls will join the Club’s other new draftees Jaren Carr and Aiden Riddle for their first official training session at Freo HQ on Monday See all the highlights from our 2024 AFL Draft pick A disappointing night for Fremantle saw the Club suffer a heavy loss Fremantle have selected Aiden Riddle with pick 7 in the Telstra AFL Rookie Draft Thursday's Round 9 clash with Collingwood marks our annual Purple Hands Foundation game where the Club and Purple Hands will be raising funds to make sure no young person is left behind The AFL is proud to announce West Australian great Australian Football Hall of Famer and Indigenous Team of the Century member Stephen Michael as the 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round Honouree Stephen Michael is widely regarded as the best player to have never played in the AFL/VFL choosing to play his career out in his home state of Western Australian despite many attempts to lure him east Michael had a decorated football career playing 243 matches for South Fremantle between 1975-1985 with the strong high-leaping ruckman kicking 231 goals in his time Michael won the Sandover Medal (WAFL best and fairest) in 1980 and 1981 was South Fremantle best and fairest five times (77 won the 1980 premiership for South Fremantle and captained the side in 1983 He represented Western Australia 17 times where he was captain three times Michael won the Simpson Medal for best player in the WA vs SA game and the Tassie Medal as the best player in Australia in State of Origin Football earning him the honour of captain of the 1983 All Australian team Michael is an inaugural member of the Fremantle Football Hall of Legends in 1999 he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame and in 2004 was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame Michael was named at Centre Half Forward in the Indigenous Team of the Century He is currently patron of the Stephen Michael Foundation a foundation which delivers a range of school and community-based programs to at-risk and disengaged youth people across Western Australia With a mission to support young people to reach their full potential the Foundation has engaged more than 10,000 children and teenagers since its inception in 2017 AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said Michael’s contribution to South Fremantle FC and West Australian football was one to be celebrated “Stephen was a remarkable player and person both on and off the field having a significant impact of football in Western Australia,” he said  “We are delighted to celebrate Stephen as the honouree for this year’s Sir Doug Nicholls Rounds joining an illustrious group of honourees including Glenn “Sir Doug Nicholls Round is always a highlight on the football calendar and brings the industry together to celebrate and recognise the continued impact that First Nations people have on the great game of football in Australia from community football right through to the elite game.” AFL Executive General Manager Social Inclusion and Policy Tanya Hosch was on hand to announce Stephen Michael as the 2025 Honouree ahead of the 2025 Toyota AFL Indigenous All Stars match in Perth on Saturday “Stephen is an incredible player and person and we a delighted to have him as the 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round honouree,” she said “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to make an enormous contribution to football and the AFL will once again recognise and celebrate this during Sir Doug Nicholls Round in May this year along with celebrating the contributions of Stephen Michael “It’s fantastic to be here in Western Australia at South Fremantle FC where Stephen played his illustrious career ahead of the Toyota AFL Indigenous All Stars match in Perth on Saturday It is a fitting celebration of football and Indigenous culture in Western Australia and around the country.” 2025 Sir Doug Nicholls Round Honouree Stephen Michael said he was chuffed to receive the recognition “I’m extremely proud to be named as honouree Sir Doug Nicholls was a pioneer for Indigenous football and to be recognised for the round named in his honour and alongside some of the previous honourees Each year the AFL highlights the excellence and the contribution of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to the game of Australian Rules Football anointing an honouree during the Sir Doug Nicholls Round Michael is the seventh person to be named the Sir Doug Nicholls Round honouree Michael Long (2019) and Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer (2018) The 2025 season marks the nineteenth year the AFL has held the dedicated round and is the tenth year it has been named in honour of Sir Doug Nicholls Born on Cummeragunja mission in New South Wales in 1906 Sir Doug Nicholls played football for Fitzroy before becoming a Pastor and pioneer for reconciliation in Australia He then went onto become the first Indigenous person to be Knighted and hold the position of Governor of South Australia Sir Doug Nicholls Round will launch in Darwin in Round 10 when the Gold Coast SUNS play Hawthorn on Thursday 15 May before heading to Sydney for the traditional Marngrook clash between the Sydney Swans and Carlton at the SCG on Friday night Dreamtime at the ‘G between Essendon and Richmond will take place on Friday 23 May at the MCG where honouree Stephen Michael will be celebrated before Marvel Stadium hosts two matches on Saturday between Carlton and GWS Giants then North Melbourne and Collingwood in the evening Gold Coast Academy’s Usher on her ACL injury rehab battles and best friend Havana Harris incredible misses and more in our look back on the April action of the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership season Three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse gives host Bharat Sundaresan the rundown on how Australian football began and how it became such a significant part of Australian culture With a challenging month of away clashes ahead Fremantle needs to find a way to win on the road if it's to seriously contend in 2025 One of footy's famous rivalries will kick off the AFLW season to mark the 10th season of the competition Check out all the action from the state leagues around the country Damian Barrett and Matthew Lloyd with the latest news and opinions from Round 8 Kai Lohmann signs a two-year contract extension with Brisbane tying him to the club until at least the end of 2027 Footy Feed: Sarah Olle and Riley Beveridge with the latest news Check out the Rising Star for AFL’s Round 8 Will a hard tag from Jack Viney be the reason Harley Reid leaves the Eagles Vote now on your favourite marks from Round 8 of the Toyota AFL Premiership Season The Match Review findings for Sunday's round eight games are in In the spirit of reconciliation the AFL acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today water and housing for young people — these were just a few of the topics posed to Nicholls candidates at the 2025 candidate forum in Shepparton last Monday Close to 120 people packed out the room at La Trobe University eager to ask questions and understand what each of the candidates stood for Paul Bachelor of Echuca (Family First Party) Jeff Davy of Numurkah (Australian Citizens Party) and encumbant Federal MP for Nicholls and Nationals candidate Sam Birrell of Shepparton Missing were Shelby Eade from Altona (The Greens) and Glen Francis of Maldon (Trumpet of Patriots) Mr Davy started by sharing his background with economics and community groups before stating his top objective for the region “The number one issue is to go back to a credit system that we had from 1912 to 1928,” Mr Davy said a post office bank and a development bank.” The ALP’s Kim Travers said that coming from a union background she had always been a big supporter of workers’ rights “There’s a connectivity between having education on all levels connecting into jobs and opportunities in the area to keep families here and there are proper opportunities for everybody no matter what your socioeconomic background is,” Ms Travers said Mr Birrell said he had put his hand up at the last election to continue on the work of the Nationals in the region “The reason I did that was because I’d seen what the Nationals in a Coalition government can do for this region and there are many examples of that,” Mr Birrell said who has a background in electrical design and power engineering said his goal was to uphold the values of Nicholls as established by pastor and to support businesses when disaster struck “I did a lot of soil testing for a while over in the Lockington to Echuca area and saw the devastation and the rapid diminishing of our dairy industry,” Mr Bachelor said “That’s what we’re about to find out and to sort out and to try and help recover the small-business growth in the country of Australia and especially in this area.” Mr Birrell was questioned about what his office had achieved in the past three years and in relation to his 2022 election promises He made it clear that it was harder to push legislation through when your party was not the one in power; but said there was progress with some of the projects including funding for the Seymour Community Wellbeing Hub and Echuca Victoria Park redevelopment When Mrs Travers was asked about what influence she would expect to have she said her time working with Labor since the 1980s had helped connect her with the right people if Sam has done all this great work with being able to negotiate with the opposition in power how much better would it be if you had a friendly as your MP here?” Mrs Travers said Mrs Travers said that Labor had put in funding for research and support towards the waterways “They’re (Federal Labor) increasing compliance by $35 million to make sure that the metering and the monitoring happens and they’re going to make sure that the modelling and data is publicly available “Future-proofing our water system is incredibly important but it is always a balance between agriculture Mr Birrell said the Goulburn Valley had suffered from a lot of water being taken from the river system and that the current plan that Labor had for water buybacks didn’t stand up to scrutiny it damages our sovereign ability to grow food,” he said Mr Birrell said it was about looking at what the best option was that could produce low-emissions energy “If we really do want a long-term solution that has low emissions and that stops our industries from moving offshore then we need reliable baseload power and the technology that can deliver that Mr Bachelor agreed with Mr Birrell and said that nuclear was the best way to go He instead attributed the rising cost of living to the price of oil and fuel Mrs Travers said that it was too late to build nuclear power plants especially if trying to keep on track with target emission reductions but Labor was working towards other solutions you make sure that farmers and landowners have projects that repair nature,” she said “And building generating capacity; we’ve got to nationally electrify the grid to electrify the nation and we have 400 community batteries already under way.” In relation to housing and particularly first home buyers Mr Birrell said the Nationals’ policy was to allocate $5 billion towards helping local governments increase the supply of land and get services to estates “Some tax arrangements have been made to offer a deduction for young people who are making their repayments to help them service the debt when they get their mortgage,” he said Mr Bachelor said throwing money at the problem was not always the answer; rather it came down to reducing the taxation rate Mr Davy brought the conversation back to money and said it came back to the credit system “That’s (the banks) the root of all our problems and where our problems lie because all money is created out of nothing by banks as debt,” he said Mrs Travers said the current government had and would continue to invest money into housing for not just homeowners but for renters “Labor’s investing $33 billion in housing,” she said Thanks for visiting The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here With the federal election just around the corner the candidates for Nicholls have been announced Divisional returning officer for Nicholls Mario Varricchio declared the seven federal election candidates for the electorate at St Augustine’s Hall Kim Travers and Paul Bachelor were in attendance with the help of service officer Carolyn Pearson and temporary officer Cath Walton then drew the order in which the candidates would appear on the ballot paper with Australian Labor Party candidate Kim Travers receiving the top spot The federal election will be held Saturday Shelby Eade from the Melbourne suburb of Altona Aaron Tyrell is the One Nation Party candidate for the federal Nicholls electorate Mr Tyrrell has worked as a dairy farmer since leaving high school in 2001 He is also a father of two school-aged children and the husband of state Member for Northern Victoria Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell “As a local to the area I understand the impacts bad governance plays on our community,” he said “I am running to give disillusioned voters a sensible alternative to the tired major parties.” water management and red tape were among the biggest concerns facing the Nicholls community On representing Nicholls at a national level “I would be on the crossbench if elected and that can be a very powerful position to be in for the Nicholls electorate.” When it comes to addressing regional access issues such as health care Mr Tyrrell said he would work directly with ministers responsible for these portfolios to ensure they understood local needs His proposed tax reforms include introducing a “Couple Splitting Tax” where any couple with at least one child would be taxed as a single entity rather than as two individuals This change would be expected to save couples on an average income up to $11,000 per year He is also proposing to reduce the fuel excise tax and remove the beer tax in licensed venues Mr Tyrrell said population growth needed to be addressed “The initial cause of this crisis (...) is our immigration policies.” Mr Tyrrell said he did not support the Department of Climate Change describing it as “simply another government department made up to squeeze even more money out of hard-working Australians for no results whatsoever” he called for water resources to be directed to agriculture first “Our local producers are the professionals they have generational knowledge that you cannot learn from a book,” he said “We want to see our children have the opportunity to continue on growing the produce we grow now but they won’t get that opportunity if there is no water to do so.” check in on The News’ website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls as well as live poll updates Australian Labor Party member Kim Travers is running for the seat of Nicholls in the 2025 federal election She lives 12.5km from the border of Nicholls and was asked to run by her party as she is experienced in public service and is and I’ve worked a lot with women over the last 20 years in policy committees within the ALP and also within the union on … working conditions that affect women and help their working lives,” she said Mrs Travers identified cost of living as a primary concern for Nicholls residents She asserted that Labor was implementing specific measures to address this and wished to focus on improving the Goulburn Valley's bridge network and tackling the electorate’s housing challenges Speaking about what her main objectives would be if she was elected she said her job would be to negotiate with ministers on projects that had been in the works for a while Mrs Travers said she aimed to leverage her “party of women” to launch initiatives addressing cost-of-living pressures and ensure TAFE colleges offered relevant courses such as allied health directly benefiting working-age adults and their families but think how much more they can deliver if they’ve got team members here in Nicholls,” she said Of Campaspe Shire Council’s advocacy priorities Mrs Travers said flood mitigation was a priority citing its effect on insurance costs in the region She believes Campaspe residents are interested in seeing greater transparency around the process of water buybacks and an increase in Medicare bulk billing practices Mrs Travers said her voice and negotiating skills would be key to pushing the Nicholls agenda forward “I know it’s difficult to get stuff delivered (rurally) .. they’re going to have to start thinking about how you get that change and maybe a woman like myself who is assertive in a rural seat is actually a good thing to do.” check in on the Riv website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls as well as live poll updates enhance aged care services and ensure TAFE colleges offered relevant courses such as allied health On how she would represent the electorate in Canberra she said her voice and her negotiating skills would be key to pushing the Nicholls agenda forward She said she would “tap into” the five councils in Nicholls and find where the gaps were in some of the region’s smallest towns check in on The News website as McPherson Media Group will be running a live blog on May 3 featuring content from polling booths across Nicholls as well as live poll updates Game Recap: Baseball | 5/4/2025 5:11:00 PM | Emmanuel Pepis Thanks for visiting In the lead up to the federal election on May 3 Paul Bachelor of Echuca is the Family First Party candidate for the federal Nicholls electorate He has lived locally for 45 years and has a background in electrical engineering Mr Bachelor has six children and 12 grandchildren with his wife Mr Bachelor said he was running for the Nicholls electorate partly because he was asked to but also due to his strong alignment with the Family First Party’s values such as abortion and gender ideology stuff we’ve watched both of the major parties move in a direction which we find quite distasteful,” he said Mr Bachelor sees crime as one of the largest issues facing the region which he attributes to the closure of technical schools in Victoria “We’ve got groups of young people that used to go through technical school learn a trade and get into meaningful employment Current water policy and the increase in renewable energy projects on productive land are also among Mr Bachelor’s concerns for the electorate Mr Bachelor said he supported compensation for damage done by the Murray-Darling Basin Plan He also believes in pursuing nuclear energy citing its safety in comparison to other forms of energy and keeping families together in order to free up housing stock “We need to really assess what we are putting money to,” Mr Bachelor said “Health is one of those things that is growing and growing because we don’t do what’s required to keep people healthy in the first place.” Mr Bachelor would like to see more funding put towards family structures and youth programs to support community autonomy ideally leading to a reduction in government intervention Game Recap: Softball | 5/3/2025 2:30:00 PM Thanks for visiting Thanks for visiting water and housing for young people — these were just a few of the topics posed to Nicholls candidates at the 2025 candidate forum close to 120 people packed out the room at Shepparton’s La Trobe University campus eager to ask questions and understand what each of the candidates were about which was hosted by Committee for Greater Shepparton chief executive Linda Nieuwenhuizen and McPherson Media Group assistant editor Geoff Adams was attended by four of the seven candidates This included Kim Travers of Flowerdale for the Australian Labor Party Paul Bachelor of Echuca for the Family First Party Jeff Davy of Numurkah for the Australian Citizens Party and current Federal Member for Nicholls and Nationals candidate Sam Birrell of Shepparton Missing were Shelby Eade from Altona for the Greens Aaron Tyrrell of Invergordon for One Nation and Glen Francis of Maldon for Trumpet of Patriots Few new developments were revealed but Mr Birrell did forecast an announcement later this week regarding the Shepparton Sports Stadium Mr Davy started off by sharing his background with economics and community groups before stating his top objective for the region Ms Travers stated that coming from a union background she had always been a big supporter of workers’ rights and her childhood of growing up in public housing had influenced her passion for education no matter what your socioeconomic background is.” “The reason I did that was because I’d seen what the Nationals in a Coalition government can do for this region and there are many examples of that,” Mr Birrell said said not only was his goal to uphold the values of Nicholls as established by Pastor Sir Douglas Nicholls but also supporting businesses when disaster struck questions were put to Mr Birrell regarding what his office had achieved in the past three years in relation to his 2022 election promises Mr Birrell made it clear that it was harder to push legislation through when your party was not the one in power; however there was progress with some of the projects While he said he continued to work with groups in advocating for projects such as the Shepparton Clinical Health School and Seymour RSL redevelopment no comment was made on the Shepparton bypass or Shepparton Sports Stadium Mrs Travers also said that Labor had put in funding for research and support towards the waterways “They’re (the Labor federal government) increasing compliance by $35 million to make sure that the metering and the monitoring happens Mr Birrell said the Goulburn Valley had suffered from a lot of water being taken from the river system and said the current plan that Labor had for water buybacks didn’t stand up to scrutiny it damages our sovereign ability to grow food,” Mr Birrell said We’ve got to nationally electrify the grid to electrify the nation candidates were asked what they would do to help young people find their first home Mr Birrell said the Nationals’ policy was to put $5 billion towards helping local governments to increase the supply of land and get services to estates “There are some tax arrangements that have been made to offer a tax deduction for young people who are making their repayments to help them service the debt that they will get when they get their mortgage,” he said To read what candidates had to say about water policy Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell is seeking a second term in office With a career across the agricultural sector Mr Birrell is proud to call himself a Goulburn Valley local He described himself as a lover of regional Australia Mr Birrell said he had clear priorities if he was re-elected in May “That is to focus on infrastructure spending in regional areas I’ve made commitments to this region,” he said Mr Birrell has pledged $350,000 for community housing in Lockington and $450,000 for accessibility at Port of Echuca “We’ll be simplifying industrial relations to make sure that small and medium enterprise businesses can be competitive,” Mr Birrel said “We’ll have a more sensible approach to energy policy that will focus on reducing our emissions over time but making sure that Australia has energy prices both for gas and electricity that keep us world competitive.” What food packing businesses were telling him was that farmers in the region needed reliable access to water to keep their supply up “So we’ll be reversing some of the more damaging parts of the Restore our Rivers Bill and making sure there’s no more open tender water buybacks,” he said He will finance his vision for Nicholls with the Coalition’s proposed $20 billion Regional Future Fund and invest the dividends to make sure we’ve got a bucket of money that we can work with the community to work out what the major priorities are and use that funding for that,” he said Mr Birrell said he was proud of his achievements in office including in his community involvement and his opposition to the Restoring Our Rivers bill “You do need someone pushing really hard for the interests of regional Australia The bestselling author on why he finds it easier to be funny on the page being inspired by Sue Townsend and Victoria Wood and his struggle with the ending of You Are Here This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Bostock leaves the field with a leg injury