AGRICULTURE FEEDS 60 MILLION PEOPLE ‘The Numbers’ this week looks at the value local workers bring into the Northern Rivers economy. Australian agriculture keeps about 60 million people fed THE Australian government’s recently released Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper is filled with compelling
NORTHERN RIVERS RICH IN NATURAL RESOURCES We’re not Asia’s food bowl, but we make a great gourmet deli IN 1844 the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Oliver Fry, visited Kyogle and made this declaration: “No country ever came from the hand of the creator
ENTREPRENEURS NEED TO EMPLOY STAFF Entrepreneurs need more incentives to employ staff LAST week, I was in Alice Springs for the Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia conference. This week-long conference covered the practical and strategic policy issues for regional Australia. One of
SCOPE TO BOOST VISITOR NUMBERS Plenty of scope to increase tourism on the Northern Rivers TOURISM is one a leading industry on Northern Rivers, bringing $1.5 billion to our economy and employing more than 7% of our workforce. But as the NSW Parliamentary
REGIONAL WORKERS ROI Workers return more dollars to our economy than NSW average IN earlier columns I’ve talked about the numbers that show high unemployment in our region, but a new series of research that Regional Development Australia is undertaking shows our region
Teen wins award with hard drive that doesn’t need a computer A SIMPLE idea for a portable hard drive to back up photos is proving a winner for teen inventor Jacob Clarke. The 17-year old student took out the innovation award at Ric Richardson’s
OUR BROADBAND DOES NOT DELIVER A look at the local barriers to business growth, like access to high speed broadband. Bad broadband getting in the way of regional business growth WHILE only 32% of Australians call regional Australia home; 67% of Australia’s
TOURISM PLAYS A BIG ROLE The Numbers: Tourism vital, but its contribution is falling THE North Coast Tourism Awards will be announced this weekend at the historic Trial Bay Gaol at South West Rocks and The Numbers have a lot to say about
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES BOOST Northern Rivers’ creative industries need a boost THE creative industries are an important part of the identity and culture of Northern Rivers, but we’re sliding behind State averages on key measures. We need to be proactive to retain our stronghold
HELP LOCAL BUSINESS GROW Priority needs to be change that will help local business grow IT’s no coincidence the Northern Rivers has both low population growth and high unemployment rates. Data from the 2011 Census shows the Northern Rivers has some of the
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