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OPINION >

Community at forefront of recovery following devastating floods

Cara Varian, CEO of NCOSS

NCOSS CEO Cara Varian says it is great to see a better response to Cyclone Alfred than we saw in the 2022 floods, but there are still structural flaws in the way we approach disasters that sidelines locals.


POLITICS >

The burden of being a non-key seat

RK Crosby, Publisher, New England Times

RK Crosby says our region gets ignored not because we’re a safe seat, but because we’re a non-key seat.

When Influencers Become Political Gatekeepers

Online influencers might not change the way you vote at the looming federal election but they’ll almost certainly shape how and why political events become ‘news’.

LOCAL >

LIVE BLOG >

Federal Budget Preview

This weekend as we prepare for the March 25 Budget, join us as we have a look through the stacks of pre-budget submissions to see what ideas and requests rural advocates have put forward to the Government.


ENGAGE POLL >

EDITORIAL >

Is New England ready to dump the Nationals?

New England is National Party heartland, but the results of the latest New England Times Engage Poll indicate this love affair may be at risk of ending.

Welcome to Engage

Welcome to our new comment and opinion hub, New England Times Engage.


SOCIAL ISSUES >

Impoverished on Jobseeker

Peter Whiteford, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

Despite recent increases, JobSeeker still leaves people below the poverty line. Here’s why that affects us all

ENVIRONMENT >

SOLUTIONS >

AI deepfakes threaten democracy and people’s identities

Wellett Potter, Lecturer in Law, University of New England

Current copyright laws in Australia are inadequate when it comes to protecting people if their image or voice is digitally cloned without their permission. Establishing “personality rights” could help.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT >

How digital giants let poll scrutiny fall

Professor Axel Bruns and Dr Samantha Vilkins

A seismic change in the social media landscape has huge ramifications heading towards the Australian federal election — for politicians as well as those who would monitor them.

Keep the cash. Fix the roads.

RK Crosby, Publisher, New England Times

With floods affecting most of the east coast, the temptation of governments is always to do a quick cash handout to give people relief. It is far more important to fix the roads.


LETTERS >

Can police stop threatening teenagers to make us feel better, please?

Sarah Jensen, Tamworth

I was horrified to read today’s story about the ‘new’ police response to youth crime “Going to lock you up’: cop warning for regional youth” New England Times 19/3/2025. It sounded like the cops were intending to just go lock kids up to make other people feel better. The Deputy Commissioner of Police should not be threatening children with the…

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Local media loss hurts

Sarah Jensen, Inverell

Just a quick note to say I am really appreciating the efforts New England Times is going to in order to ensure voters are properly informed this election. With the loss of our local paper, and the demise of our local radio stations to basically unlistenable, I often feel like we are abandoned as a community. It’s so important that…

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Tourist $$$$

Elaine Fairbairn, Armidale

I would like to thank you for today’s article about are tourist dollars necessary for a town. I was very interested to maybe realise why we have so few really interesting things here compared to the likes of Uralla especially & other smaller towns. So thank you very much Deni for your article thoroughly enjoyed it. 

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Nuclear would use too much water

Natalie Collard, Farmers for Climate Action

Some politicians propose replacing coal-fired power stations with nuclear reactors. Even pro-nuclear group Nuclear for Australia concedes nuclear reactors use at least 1.2 times more water than comparable coal fired power, and the proposed reactors are much larger than existing coal plants, meaning water use could more than double. Some suggest desalination plants to supply water for nuclear reactors, but this…

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LATEST COMMENTS >

QUICK WORD >

QW: Barnaby, where art thou?

James, Armidale

Is it just me, or is our perfervid local member always somewhere else? This close to an election one would expect him to show his face, or say something, or do something. It was good to see him getting to the new parts of the electorate, visiting Warialda and Gravesend… although whoever is doing his Facebook updates apparently doesn’t know that Gravesend is one word, not two. But today, he’s again not here, campaigning elsewhere on someone else’s issues. I’d just like him to care about us for a change.

QW: Footpaths not flyovers

Jacob, Armidale

Appreciated the comments about the pursuit of the tourist dollar over basic amenity in Armidale. I’d give anything for a footpath in my street, much prefer that than a flyover that lasts a few minutes.

QW: Alfred the Fizzer

Sam, Uralla

I know that all the warnings were necessary… but we would have really liked a good six inches of rain. So far just 10ml in the gage and it looks like Alfred’s going to miss us entirely.

QW: Gossip hurts us all

David, Armidale

Like others, I am concerned about the reports of crime – but more concerned about how much of it is not true, or is just gossip. Who gains from exaggerated and false claims of crime in our community?

QW: Armidale traffic congestion

Graham, Armidale

If Mayor Copeland was concerned about the number of trucks causing traffic problems around Armidale maybe he should be advocating for the return of trains to carry freight from the north to the south, instead of wanting to rip up the rails for a bike track.

QW: More support for Rail Trail

Mark Fletcher, Guyra

By all means yes to a decent bus service, but at both public meetings I attended at Guyra there was majority support for the rail trail. It will be a game changer for this area in terms of visitor numbers and economic activity. Plus, a great recreational resource for locals.