Latest news with #SouthernTablelands
ABC News
10-07-2025
- ABC News
NSW Police investigate alleged assault on paramedic outside ambulance station
New South Wales Police are investigating an alleged assault on a paramedic outside an ambulance station on the state's Southern Tablelands. Officers were told the male paramedic saw an unknown man allegedly attempting to break into his personal vehicle in the early hours of Thursday morning. The paramedic approached the man outside the Crookwell Ambulance Station, when he was assaulted about 2:20am. The alleged attacker left the scene before officers arrived. "Police were unable to locate the man after conducting extensive patrols of the area," a NSW Police spokesperson said. The paramedic received minor injuries and was taken to Goulburn Hospital for observation. Police have launched an investigation and have released a description of a man they believe can assist with their inquiries. The person is described as being aged in his 30s, of solid build, about 180 centimetres tall, and wearing a dark jacket with a hoodie underneath. NSW Ambulance has been contacted for comment.
ABC News
04-07-2025
- ABC News
Would you shoot a wombat? In Taralga, the answer isn't as simple as you'd think
Dianna and Warwick Bisset's property is set up to care for wombats. There's a special pen where rescued common — or bare-nosed — wombats nibble on high-carb dinners. The fences have wombat doors built into them and artificial wombat burrows — tin shelters — pepper the rolling green hills. "I think they're beautiful animals … and we're so lucky to have them," 67-year-old wildlife carer Dianna says. WARNING: This story contains graphic details which may be disturbing for some readers. But here in the Southern Tablelands, south west of Sydney, not everyone agrees. In these parts it's not unheard of for wombats to turn up with bullet holes in their heads. It is an offence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 to harm native animals without a licence. People found guilty of this crime face prison time and significant fines. But these killings are rarely condemned. In fact, for sticking up for the wombats, Dianna's become a target of ridicule and threats. "I've had a screwdriver through the side of my tyres," she says. It was a battle she didn't expect to be having when she and her husband retired just outside the sleepy town of Taralga, 13 years ago. A wombat, found by Dianna Bisset, was shot behind the ear. ( Supplied: Rocklily Wombats ) Only in rare cases can NSW landowners obtain a licence to harm a wombat. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) In her fight to save the wombats, Dianna didn't realise others in the region had been battling for years on the opposite side. "We didn't expect the reactions we've got," Dianna says. "We know they bulldoze them, we know they blow them up. "It's very sad, I sometimes wish I'd been in a town that wasn't so back in the 50's." 'Wombat cuddlers' v 'wombat shooters' The sign that welcomes drivers to Taralga proudly reads 'circa 1820'. Local farmer Stirling Dixon, who's mates with Dianna, says the sign is the key to understanding the conflict she has found herself in. "When [settlers] arrived here, if we didn't bring it, if it didn't make you money, it was considered no good," the 78-year-old says. "That colonial mentality still prevails." Stirling Dixon is friends with people on both sides of the wombat debate. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Stirling's been farming since he was a boy. He has a quick smile and an infectious laugh. But his face becomes serious when he talks about how wombats have divided this community. He describes the conflict as being between "wombat cuddlers", people like Dianna who are new to the area and have progressive views, and "wombat shooters", farmers who see wombats as a destructive pest. "You try and find neutral ground but underneath, we both know one's a bloody wombat cuddler and the other one's a wombat shooter." Stirling doesn't kill wombats, but they do cause damage on his property. As his kelpie, Bloss, climbs out of a wombat burrow next to his outhouse, he explains why they can be a problem. "They don't seem to be rare and they seem to love to dig under things that you care about, like your loading ramp, your gates, your house." "They can be annoying … just to fix this would cost me a fair bit of time and money." From his perspective, both sides of this beef have valid points, and he says neither side is likely to back down. For the farmers, it's financial. "It's their sacred entitlement to make a living, regardless of the consequences." For Dianna, it's moral. The wombats are living creatures. Stirling Dixon says his community is divided over the best way to live alongside wombats. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) "Dianna doesn't take a step back. She's full of courage and that gets her in trouble," he says. "[She] is a person who's completely imbued with kindness towards animals. "She just can't fathom that people behave the way towards animals." 'Just so different from the city' When Dianna and her husband Warwick first moved to the Southern Tablelands in 2012, they were met with open arms. Dianna joined an art group, a book club and had friends across the region. Dianna and Warwick Bisset at their property just outside Taralga. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) She was particularly struck by how harmonious the place was, when she handed out how-to-vote cards for the Greens one election day. "If you wanted to go to the loo you could leave the cards and [other parties' volunteers] said 'oh no, we'll give them out'. "It was just so different from the city." So Dianna and Warwick sunk their roots in and built a beautiful house deep in the bush. They were happy. "We call ourselves gently lost. Especially when we get a full mist here and we just go, 'aah, we're gently lost'." But once they started caring for wombats, things changed. It was just little things at first. They were made fun of on social media. "We've been called hippies, super greens … 'the wombat lady'." A wombat peeks through a crack in a doorway. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Two bare-nosed wombats, Keith and Patty Cake, in a pen on Dianna and Warwick's property. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) A wombat near Wombeyan Caves in the New South Wales' Central Tablelands. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) But the name-calling took a turn for the worse, when they challenged a proposal to upgrade Wombeyan Caves Road. These caves are the biggest tourist draw in the region. Tens of thousands of people visit them every year. But the road down to them, which threads through beautiful bushland near Dianna's house, is dangerous and of poor quality. In 2021, the Upper Lachlan Shire Council got funding to do a big upgrade. But, according to Dianna, the proposal was never put to public consultation. One day, as she drove into town, she was met with a scene of destruction. "This 20-tonne machine is just picking up big bits of tree, putting it in a pile, and just closing the claws. And just smashing it up," she said. "Just smashing it, smashing it, smashing it." As a wildlife carer, she knew what lived in that bushland: wombats, as well as endangered species of goannas, microbats and gliders. In her eyes, their habitat was being flattened. So, she called the council and got hold of the environmental report, and began to complain. After significant to-and-froing, and the accidental destruction of a marked wombat burrow, the council paused the project while they worked through various issues. Taralga is home to just over 400 people, according to the 2021 Census. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Wombeyan Caves is one of the area's most popular tourism destinations. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) The council committed to upgrade the road to Wombeyan Caves. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Work slowly resumed, and the upgraded road now stretches to six kilometres. In a statement, Upper Lachlan Shire said it complied with all relevant environmental legislation and processes, and that the major works have been completed. It said a qualified ecologist approved all clearing to minimise impact on fauna and flora and any wombat burrows identified were inactive. But many locals believe the new road falls short of what was originally promised. In town, Dianna and Warwick were blamed for slowing down the roadworks. The 'wombat lady' is costing the region jobs and tourism dollars, all for the sake of a few animals, was a refrain she heard. "I had some lovely people post on the local community Facebook to not serve me in town, and it was pretty disgusting," she said. She began to feel like a leper. "I was doing some face painting because someone couldn't do it at a Christmas event, and I had kids being dragged off my queue and put on the other queue because I was doing it." Around town, friendliness was replaced by obscure climate-change jokes at her expense. As for the farmers, it only made them dislike her more. Damage worth 'quarter of a million bucks' Chris Croker's family has been farming in the Southern Tablelands for close to 200 years. "When my father grew up here there were never any wombats. I remember seeing a wombat hole as a kid, which was over 50 years ago, and it was a novelty," he says. Chris has never given Dianna any grief and he says he doesn't shoot wombats. But he thinks farmers should be able to. He currently has several running amok on his property. One of them has dug a large burrow in the centre of his paddock. Farmer Chris Croker says he has several wombats running wild on his Southern Tablelands property. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Wombats push their way through fences, damaging the bottom of them. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Chris Croker's sheep farm. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Chris says it's a serious safety issue for cars and quad bikes. "If you come down there on a bike then bang," he says. "If you're coming out here at night, you might have a cow that's in trouble, and you're riding across there and if you were to hit it with any sort of pace you could roll it on top of yourself." Further down his property is another issue. "That was started by a wombat," Chris says pointing at a mesh fence. Chris, who's trying to keep his stock in and feral pests out, says the holes pose huge problems. Chris Croker stands above a creek bed on his property. He's concerned erosion caused by wombats will turn it into a gully. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) "The next thing that comes through there will be pigs or kangaroos … and your fence gets worse and worse." Down at the bottom of his property, near Blade of Grass Creek, dozens of wombat burrows dot the creek's bank. "What happens is the wombats dig a hole and then water gets in so they dig another hole," he explains. "When you get a flood, water goes in there and they come out [and dig more holes]. "If I came and did that with a tractor, I'd have the EPA after me [asking] 'what are you doing digging in a waterway?'" Chris believes without serious intervention this whole area will eventually become a gully. That means he'll have less usable farmland. "I've tried to find funding to help repair this, and there's been none available," he said. "I had one quote on it, which was about a quarter of a million bucks." That's money he doesn't have. Chris Croker is a farmer from New South Wales Southern Tablelands. He says he doesn't kill wombats, but thinks it is necessary in some cases. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) In rare cases in NSW, landowners can obtain a licence to harm a wombat, if they can show evidence that they are a threat to public safety, are damaging property or causing economic hardship. The applicant must also be able to demonstrate they've exhausted all other non-lethal options. Chris thinks it should be up to the farmer, not bureaucrats at government agencies. "They really need to allow the farmers to do what they have to do," he says. "I can already hear the greenies going 'oh, what do you mean, they belong there'. "They're a native animal, yeah …[but] keeping the population under control is something that needs doing. "To think that they're just a cute, cuddly animal is a fantasy." What to do with problematic wombats? Dianna believes there are more humane solutions to the wombat problem that don't involve rifles. "So this is a simple gate that's been made out of found materials on any farm," she said. Dianna Bisset constructed a wombat gate in the fence to allow their passage through without causing destruction. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Warwick and Dianna Bisset designed this mange treatment contraption. It tips Bravecto on their back when they enter the burrow. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Warwick Bisset opens the wooden gate on a wombat enclosure. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) She says the wooden flap is just heavy enough to deter the animals farmers don't want on their land. "Foxes don't go through them, dogs don't go through them, pigs don't go through them," she said. "For the farmer, baby lambs will not go through them, so it's gonna keep their lambs safe." Chris Croker was less enthusiastic. "Have you ever tried to talk to a wombat and say, 'Can you go through that door, please'?" "I'm not saying all ideas are stupid, but … the practicality of it … just doesn't work for a business that we are trying to run here." In a few months, Dianna will release wombats Keith and Patty Cake, who were found on the road beside their squashed mothers. Keith had no fur and weighed just 500 grams. Patty Cake was found trying to get in its mother's decomposing pouch. Keith weighed just 500 grams when he was found. In spring, he will slowly be released into the wild. ( Supplied: Rocklily Wombats ) Rules prevent wombats being released into national parks, but Diana says she tries to free the animals as far from farms as possible. For many, releasing these wombats might sound like a success story. But Chris says there should be more regulation on where they end up. "There's no rules on where they let them go," he says. "They should be put back in areas they come from, not in some other foreign area and just spreading the problem for everyone else." 'We're here to stay' Dianna and Warwick like to spend the last part of their days watching the sun go down from their balcony. "The last light on the hill here is just amazing," she says. "It's just got a lovely orangey golden glow." Dianna Bisset is happy overlooking her beloved hilly landscape. ( ABC News: Jack Fisher ) Despite the tranquil scene, she's troubled. "We're running out of steam, so everyone can be happy about that," she says. But she's still got a bit of fight left. If she doesn't stick up for wombats, who will? "We're doing our thing out here and if the town is rejecting us to a degree, well, we'll just keep doing what we're doing here. "We're here to stay."
ABC News
27-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
'Outsider' farmer find success raising free-range ducks for top restaurants
In a picturesque valley on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, maremma guardian dogs keep watch as thousands of white ducks waddle over grass and splash around in dams. Destined for the food service industry, including some of the country's finest restaurants, these free-range ducks have helped Luke Winder earn a reputation as a serious farmer. The former electrician from Sydney's south started thinking about farming while caring for his terminally ill father more than a decade ago. "He asked me some questions on his way out that made me really think about what I was deeply passionate about," Mr Winder said. With no family connections in farming, he turned to an unlikely source of inspiration. Mr Winder's regenerative farming idols include Americans Will Harris and Joel Salatin. "I think they're forging the path for future generations of farmers and how we really should be treating animals and the way we should be growing food," he said. Mr Winder and his wife Pia bought the 48-hectare farm they now call Tathra Place 10 years ago. The couple bought goats to clear the weeds, but when that failed, they turned to pigs, who happily ate the plants, roots and all. "We went from about 65 acres of blackberry, believe it or not, and we let the pigs do what they do naturally and without any chemical or mechanical means we were able to eradicate [it] all." Mr Winder is upfront about the circumstances that led to a change in career and lifestyle. He bought and sold a Sydney property and bought the farm with the profits. He also didn't pay himself a wage for nearly five years. "And that's only because I've got an incredible wife that just had a wonderful career and could support that financially and emotionally." Mr Winder now leases nearby land as well, but this small-scale operation produces between 7.5 to 9 tonnes of protein each week. As well as pork and duck, it includes beef, lamb and chicken. Mr Winder said they must hit these figures to make his model work, not an easy task for a "chemical-free, pharmaceutical-free" regenerative operation. The business is also a vertically integrated model, where they control nearly every stage of production, which Mr Winder says is also necessary to be profitable. "We have our own butcher shops, we're doing our own wholesale production. We're breaking down birds and doing all the packaging." Mr Winder and his staff also handle all live animal transport and cold-chain logistics after processing, including deliveries to Sydney and Canberra restaurants. Direct sales to the food service industry are integral to the business model, especially for duck, an often difficult sell to home cooks. Tathra Place is now one of the biggest free-range duck producers in the country and markets the fine dining birds as Maremma Duck, a nod to the 23 dogs who protect them day and night. Mr Winder enjoys the support of well-known chefs who are enthusiastic about his ducks and his free-range farming methods. Bennelong at the Sydney Opera House has served his ducks for almost as long as he has produced them. "The flavour profile immediately jumped out and surpassed any other duck that we tried," head chef Rob Cockerill said. Mr Cockerill believes their free-range environment enhances the flavours and said diners were interested in the back story of menu items like duck. While Mr Winder would like to steadily expand the operation, the increasing price of agricultural land is a major hurdle that he and other young farmers face. "Unfortunately where I am here, it's being essentially captured by hobby farmers and people that want their 100 acres or 200-acre blocks where it's only two hours from their house in Sydney," Mr Winder said. He believes changes should be made to ensure land zoned by governments for primary production is used for that purpose. Mr Winder is optimistic about the future of agriculture and plans to put together a training model of his practices for others to follow. He said there was a simple goal. "To be ecologically responsible, but still be able to earn a white-collar salary. "We're never going to attract young people into agriculture if there's not a fair living to be had." Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm AEST on Sunday or stream anytime on ABC iview.
ABC News
22-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Kerrie Carroll died by suicide in 2023. Her partner is pointing the finger at NSW Health
Kerrie Carroll devoted her life to caring for a menagerie of injured, neglected and abandoned animals. Warning: This story contains discussion of suicide. At the Lucky Stars Animal Sanctuary, which she founded in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands, Ms Carroll nursed everything from alpacas to wombats and even a bearded dragon back to health. But when the former nurse needed care from the NSW health system, it failed her. On October 19, 2023, Ms Carroll was rushed to Queanbeyan Hospital by paramedics after attempting suicide — her second attempt at taking her own life within weeks. What happened next was a litany of failures in her care, which are outlined in an internal review into her treatment by NSW Health. Within hours of Kerrie Carroll's suicide attempt, she was discharged from the emergency department, still clutching a bag containing some of the medication she had tried to overdose on. Just over 36 hours later, she would die by suicide. Ms Carroll's partner, Clint Seares, said he had concerns about her care in the overstretched emergency department at Queanbeyan Hospital from the start. "The process felt rushed," he said. "Kerrie was heavily sedated because of the medication she'd taken. They provided her with a psychological interview, which I didn't really feel was appropriate at the time, as I didn't really feel she was conscious enough to make informed choices." In the wake of her death, a Serious Adverse Event Review (SAER) by NSW Health found that Ms Carroll was "not fit for interview" when she received a mental health assessment in the emergency department. The SAER report found "the consumer remained sedated during the mental health assessment". "The mental health assessment undertaken … was sub-optimal and was not comprehensive, which may have led to her premature discharge." Despite Ms Carroll's suicide attempts, the assessment "did not include a detailed suicide risk assessment, psychosocial assessment, or management plan". Mr Seares said he felt the nurse who conducted the interview asked leading questions. "I was very disappointed and a little bit shocked," he said. "It was almost like admission to a mental health ward was used as a punishment or a threat, rather than an opportunity for care. It was phrased in terms of 'you don't want to go to this place, do you Kerrie?'" he said. The review also found that Ms Carroll was discharged without consulting a psychiatrist or senior mental health clinician, despite that issue being raised in a review into another Serious Adverse Event less than two years earlier. "The team found [Kerrie Carroll] did present with significant safety concerns, which necessitated consultation with a psychiatry medical officer, which did not happen," it said. Staff at Queanbeyan Hospital also failed to inform Mr Seares when his partner was being discharged. Instead, he found her on a bench outside the hospital with leftover medication she had overdosed on that had been brought in by the paramedics who had rushed her to hospital. "I couldn't understand how someone who had tried to commit suicide a few hours earlier was then basically put out onto the bench with the same medication, with a glass of water even." The SAER found there had been only "minimal staffing" in the emergency department that afternoon because a number of staff had called in sick and Ms Carroll had been released without a proper discharge summary. The day after her release, the community mental health team assigned to follow up with Ms Carroll made a number of unsuccessful attempts to try to contact her by telephone. The SAER found that "critically low" staffing levels in the local community mental health team meant a neighbouring regional team had been asked to follow her case up virtually. By the time that team called an ambulance to conduct a welfare check, it was too late — Ms Carroll had made another attempt at suicide at her home. This time it proved fatal. Mr Seares is now taking legal action against NSW Health over Ms Carroll's death, speaking out on the state's troubled mental health system. Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson said lessons would be learned from Ms Carroll's death. "Of course my heart absolutely breaks for Kerrie's family; it's a deep tragedy, and obviously we send our sincere condolences, but more than that, a commitment to reflect on the circumstances that led to her death and try to make sure that it never happens again," she said. Ms Jackson said the Southern NSW Local Health District had implemented the SAER's report's recommendations into Ms Carroll's death, including clarifying the need for a senior mental health clinician to be consulted before patients at serious risk of harm were discharged from the emergency department. The minister acknowledged many of the issues highlighted in the case were also raised in a recent Four Corners program, where former public psychiatrists described the pressure to discharge mental health patients without proper treatment. "I could not be clearer in my expectation that everyone receives the highest quality care," she said. Ms Jackson said NSW, which spends the least per capita in Australia on mental health, was playing catch-up after a decade of underfunding. "I see it as an urgent priority," she said, hinting to mental health investment in the upcoming 2025-26 NSW budget. But Mr Seares remains unconvinced, saying many of the cases highlighted by Four Corners bore remarkable similarities to his partner's experience. "A culture that has an inability to learn is a really scary place to be," he said. "NSW Health keeps on making the same errors and disastrous results because it's failing to learn. How many more people have to die like Kerrie before they're prepared to do something about it?"
ABC News
10-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
'Astounding' land sales at Queanebeyan Palerang Council auction to recoup unpaid rates
A forest farmer in rural New South Wales has paid $19,000 at auction to buy a tiny slice of his driveway that he always thought he owned, but actually belonged to a man who died 65 years ago. A legal bungle meant the driveway, which measures roughly four-metres wide by a couple of hundred metres long, was not technically part of the farm Peter Marshall bought in the 1990s. He has spent years transforming the property in the state's Southern Tablelands into an award-winning truffle and forest farm, with no idea that the rates on that tiny slice of land had gone unpaid for decades, racking up a debt of tens of thousands of dollars. "I wasn't informed by [the] council." Peter's slice of land was one of 24 properties auctioned off by the Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) in May as part of a crackdown on unpaid rates. Most were obscure rural lots, like Peter's, that had fallen through the cracks over generations, with no building entitlement, water, electricity connection, or proper access. For that reason, the auction was treated as a casual affair by the affected landholders, like Peter, who presumed they would be the only parties interested in bidding. Even the council — who is required by law to sell the properties via public auction before it can sell them privately — wasn't expecting much interest. "Normally the neighbour can come along … and there's no other interest, so that's generally how it has worked in the past," QPRC general manager Rebecca Ryan said. "But this was certainly a different experience," she said. On auction day, 87 bidders registered across all the properties. Peter Marshall was nervous — it was important he bought the driveway up for sale to ensure he'd maintain access to his property. "I couldn't have the conflict of having somebody I don't know owning a tiny fragment in the middle of my place," Mr Marshall said. "They'd have to trespass on me to get access to it, and then I'd have to trespass on them to get access to my tractor shed. But there was frenzied bidding. "It was quite terrifying," Ms Ryan said. "The bids were coming from everywhere and every direction and very fast. "There was a property in Mongarlowe, 400 square metres, we thought it might go for $1,000 or about $500. It went for $18,100." One group of bidders drew particular attention. "There was a group of people there who were bidding on almost everything, including landlocked pieces of land like this one which they could never have access to," Mr Marshall said. "They bid it up on $1,000 increments, and I had to bid back … and it ended up at $19,000." Some of his neighbours paid twice as much as that for similar parcels, while others couldn't afford to bid high enough to secure the blocks at all. "They're creating two really unhappy ratepayers — the people who bought it can't use it for anything, and the people who surround it now can't use their own land." Ms Ryan said similar auctions in other local governments in rural NSW also recorded a surge in interest. But the interest also sparked fears that nefarious actors were moving into the region. "We knew of two people who have been attending a lot of these auctions throughout NSW, particularly rural NSW," Ms Ryan said. "They go to the auctions, they'll purchase lots, and then use that purchase to then either try and sell it at a higher price or the deposit they pay falls through. Ms Ryan said she did not think those two people attended the auction, but she was not aware of whether their associates were there. The ABC has seen reports lodged by residents to NSW Police, who said they were aware of the Queanbeyan-Palerang auction, but were not investigating and would not comment further. Seven buyers who signed contracts for the lots at the auction have since reneged on their offers, forfeiting the deposits. In those cases, the council has negotiated with the adjoining landholder to buy the property through a private sale. But the bungled auction process has raised eyebrows among key stakeholders, including QPRC councillor Mareeta Grundy. "At the auction, the frenzied bidding that went on was so astounding to me that I did write to the general manager expressing my concerns about the auction and the bidding wars that went on," Ms Grundy said. "I've asked for an investigation and a review of proceedings on that day." She said the council needed to establish the identities and motivations of those bidding. "What transpires from here, it must pass the test of accountability and transparency," Ms Grundy said. Peter Marshall backed her calls for an investigation, particularly into the group of people who bid on most of the properties. "I'd really like for [the] council — who know these people because they've just sold property to them — to make enquiries about their intentions. "I can't know if there was criminal activity, but there was destructive and pointless activity … I would really like to see some investigation, possibly anti-corruption." The council said it would review the auction process. "The only way that these properties can be transferred is via public auction," Ms Ryan said. "It would be good to have a clause in there that says that if that little lot is part of a general farming area … we could go through the process of a private treaty." Ms Ryan said the council was considering putting forward a motion at a New South Wales conference of councils later in 2025 proposing the state government review the legislation.
