Vol. No. Vol. 2818No. 3727
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Wednesday, January 13, 2026 2016 Wednesday, March 25,
CELEBRATIONS: Harmony Week continues to be celebrated across the region this week, with a free screening of the film Shared Table – Regional Heroes, featuring members of Nhill’s Karen community, to play at Federation University, Horsham, tomorrow, Thursday. Written and directed by award-winning author and disability advocate Nandita Chakraborty, Shared Table is a conversation of identity, migration, racism and belonging, often centred around food. It is being presented as part of Fortnight Fest, which celebrates Harmony and Cultural Diversity weeks. The screening, which starts from 5.30pm, will also include a talk from Ms Chakraborty and the chance to ask questions to a panel of cast members. The festival concludes on Saturday with a diversity event at Jaypex Park, Nhill, from 10am to 1pm, featuring performances, food and market stalls. Bookings for the film screening are essential and can be made through EventBrite at https://tinyurl.com/4zww9bx9. Pictured are Tha The Moo Wah, Pa Saw Htee, Paw Ku Shee and Gay L’Yar Shu, of Nhill, at Ararat Harmony Day celebrations. For more on Harmony Day events, see page 23. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Strategic approach H
BY LAUREN HENRY
orsham Rural City Council has unanimously endorsed an impact and readiness strategy, helping to prepare nine northwestern Victorian councils for $27.7-billion in transmission, renewable energy and mining projects planned for the region.
The Resource Ready Strategy identifies the potential scale of renewable energy infrastructure across the nine municipalities, the significant
workforce demands including 9000 construction jobs and 2300 ongoing operational roles, alongside critical challenges such as severe housing shortages, labour market constraints, infrastructure pressures, and potential impacts on the region’s agricultural sector. Horsham has joined with Buloke, Gannawarra, Hindmarsh, Loddon, Northern Grampians, Swan Hill, West Wimmera and Yarriambiack councils, who commissioned consultants Urban Enterprise to create the strategy.
Across the nine municipalities, there are the Victoria New South Wales Interconnector project and transmission upgrades; 33 renewable energy projects; and 22 mining proposals. But Mine Free Wimmera Farms, MFWM, had earlier lobbied council’s chief executive Gail Gatt and councillors ahead of Monday night’s council meeting, expressing ‘serious concerns’ about the strategy. A letter from MFWM read out during question time at the meeting requested the council to pause on its
support or advocacy of the strategy until meaningful community engagement had been undertaken and concerns of affected landowners were addressed. MFWF said more comprehensive consultation with rural ratepayers was needed, to discuss the impacts, particularly on agricultural land. Ms Gatt responded to MFWM’s question by saying the strategy did not constitute support or opposition to a particular project, but reflected council’s statutory obligations to plan
strategically for the community’s economic, social and environmental sustainability. She said the strategy sent a message to the government that a significant amount more planning needed to be done. “Councils are incurring significant costs in engaging in the planning and compliance processes associated with project proposals, which are significantly above business-as-usual operations,” she said. Continued page 3
IN THIS ISSUE • Fuel crisis fears escalate • Monthly AgLife • Excitement builds for Stawell Gift Phone: 03 5382 1351 Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au
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