Latest news with #WesternNSW
ABC News
7 days ago
- Automotive
- ABC News
Battery in bin causes 15 tonnes of rubbish to be dumped in Dubbo street
It took just eight seconds and one embedded battery for a routine garbage run to end with 15 tonnes of rubbish dumped on a suburban Western NSW street. Footage released by Dubbo Regional Council shows a garbage truck's load catching fire, moments after a household's red-lidded bin containing a battery-powered device was emptied and compacted. Council's resource recovery and efficiency manager, Jamie Lobb, said the compactor likely crushed the battery, sparking a fire that forced the driver to dump the entire load onto the street. "The garbage truck was quite full at the time, so the ignition occurred quite quickly," he said. "But it was a pretty quick response from the driver who had to decant that load on the road." The single-battery incident triggered an extensive, hours-long response. Two Fire and Rescue NSW trucks were called to extinguish the blaze, while two police cars managed traffic, and council crews used skip bins, a bobcat and street sweepers to clear the scene. Any appliance with a non-removable power cell, from smart watches and old iPods to vapes and e-scooters, contains an embedded battery. These, along with loose household batteries, are classified as hazardous waste and should never be placed in household bins. When crushed, lithium-ion and other batteries can spark or overheat. In a truck full of combustible rubbish, that can lead to fire within seconds. Mr Lobb said while truck hoppers are fitted with cameras, drivers can't spot everything before the compactor engages. "This battery must have unfortunately hit a sweet spot and ignited straight away," Mr Lobb said. "We're fortunate there hasn't been an extreme event where we have lost a vehicle, or there's been a save-driver incident, but now we have a good opportunity to promote correct disposal of batteries." According to an industry-wide survey conducted by the Australian Council of Recycling and the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association, more than 1,600 battery-related fire and heat events occurred in NSW waste and recycling facilities in 2024. Mr Lobb said that while this was Dubbo's first major truck fire in months, similar incidents were becoming increasingly common across Australia's waste sector. "We had a smaller one previously, but not to this extent," he said. "But we're starting to see fires through the kerbside bins definitely become more prevalent. We're also getting spot fires at landfill and spot fires at our resource transfers station where our yellow bin recyclable material goes. Batteries should always be taken to designated recycling points, which are offered by many councils and some retailers across Australia. In Dubbo, the council offers free recycling for household batteries and small embedded devices at drop-off points in the Dubbo and Wellington council administration buildings and libraries. Larger embedded batteries, from scooters and e-bikes, can be taken to the Whylandra Waste and Recycling Facility under a NSW EPA trial program. Some private businesses, including battery retail stores and Officeworks, also host recycling cabinets. Mr Lobb said the council planned to expand +drop-off points to make safe disposal easier. "It's something we're definitely looking at … to stop the temptation of putting the batteries in the bins," he said.
ABC News
11-08-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Palestinian supporters protest at gates of Pine Gap intelligence facility
On today's show: The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Australia will formally recognise a state of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly next month. The decision comes after an international outcry over the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Even in the outback town of Alice Springs/ Mparntwe there has been a growing voice of concern about the Israel/Gaza war. On Sunday about 100 locals protested at the joint US/Australian defence and intelligence facility, Pine Gap. With the permission of traditional owners, they are now protesting closer than ever before to the facility imposing front gates. Reporter: Alex Barwick (Alice Springs) The Western NSW Local Health District has responded to senior doctors' warnings about issues within Orange Hospital. The surgeons warned in May that cancer surgeries were being downgraded to avoid breaching waiting list targets. The Local Health District says it will reassess the viability of robotic-assisted surgical services and examine whether the hospital and its medical services will be Joanna Woodburn (Orange) Two NSW councils are calling for a halt on future renewable energy projects in their areas. The Upper Lachlan and Yass districts are home to 42 per cent of the state's wind turbines. A wool producer says the latest wind farm proposal would turn the region into an "industrial junkyard". Reporter: Hamish Cole (Orange)
ABC News
12-07-2025
- Science
- ABC News
Rare pookila mouse rediscovered in Western NSW as species fights for survival
For the first time in almost three decades, conservationists have rediscovered an elusive native rodent in Western New South Wales, more than 200 kilometres from its typical coastal habitat. The pookila, also known as the New Holland mouse, was live-trapped and released in Goobang National Park in April, 28 years after it was last recorded in the area. Its discovery has offered a glimmer of hope for the micro "ecosystem engineer" after it was listed in March as vulnerable in NSW, meaning it faces extinction in the medium term. Meanwhile, in Victoria and Tasmania, the pookila is considered endangered — at high risk of extinction in the near future. With 12 of Australia's native rodents extinct, there are urgent efforts to safeguard those that remain. "Our native rodents are really over-represented in our mammalian extinction record," said Zoos Victoria field officer Nadia Nieuwhof, who led the search effort for the pookila in the Goobang. "At the zoo, we're aware of that kind of extinction crisis and we're doing what we can to fight for [them]." Ms Nieuwhof's team deployed 282 motion-sensing cameras across eight parks and reserves in NSW and Tasmania, with 91 placed in Goobang National Park, where the pookila was last recorded in 1997. The cameras were baited with peanut butter and oats and left for up to four weeks at a time in an attempt to attract the cryptic mouse. "Goobang National Park is really significant in that it's the furthest inland extent of their range and it is some 200 kilometres further inland than any other record we have for the mice," Ms Nieuwhof said. "Given it's quite a special case, we decided to absolutely cover the entire park with cameras." It is also a notably "steeper and more rocky habitat" for the critter, which usually prefers sandier soil. The team also live-trapped the mice for genetic testing. "Once we analyse the genetics, it'll be interesting to see if these more inland populations differ from their coastal counterparts," Ms Nieuwhof said. The effort was part of a two-year project under the Australian government's Saving Native Species Program to reassess the pookila's status. Zoos Victoria led the project in collaboration with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and other agencies. While the team was excited to discover the mouse was still in Western NSW, the results suggested a shrinking population. Pookila were historically distributed throughout the 421-square-kilometre park, but were only detected on five of the 91 cameras in a southern corner. In Tasmania, none of the cameras on the main island detected any pookila, which have not been seen there since 2000, but mice were confirmed on Flinders Island. "These surveys are often limited by access, so it's very plausible that the mice are still hanging on in [mainland] Tasmania," Ms Nieuwhof said, adding that the next phase of the project would broaden the search. Dubbed a "dumpling on legs", the pookila plays an outsized role in soil health and biodiversity. While some burrowing natives use cavities made by other animals or build simple burrows, the mouse is known for extensive and complex underground burrow systems. "This results in a lot of soil turnover, which is really important because it promotes things like litter decomposition and nutrient cycling, and eventually new plant growth," Ms Nieuwhof said. "They're basically little ecosystem engineers." With habitat loss driving the pookila's increasing isolation, the next phase of the two-year program is to genetically examine live-trapped specimens to ensure inbreeding does not further weaken the species. "If we do identify some populations with low genetic diversity, then we'll make use of conservation breeding programmes," Ms Nieuwhof said. "For instance, we'd take mice both from Goobang and other nearby populations and kind of slowly reintroduce some new genes into the population." A similar program is underway in Victoria, where seven of 12 historically known local populations are already extinct. Efforts to combat other major threats like feral predators and bushfires are also being tackled under a new conservation framework being designed in NSW, including ways to improve management of native ground cover and alter fire regimes.
SBS Australia
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
Joel Bray connects dance, activism and Country in Monolith
NITV Radio has a conversation with Joel Bray dance about his work dance based storytelling, humour in Aboriginal spaces and the creative art making he produces. Joel is Wiradjuri man, from out west once studied under NAISDA who now choreographs his own dance productions with business Joel Bray Dance. Joel's most recent performance work, Monolith, is an exploration of movement, monuments and memory.
ABC News
10-05-2025
- ABC News
Grandmother charged with murder of her two grandsons
A grandmother has been charged with the murder of her two grandsons in Coonabarabran, western NSW. The brothers were aged six and seven.
