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Julia Creek - 4823

How these brothers turned a modest family farm into an agricultural empire, changing the future for rural families

Mick and Ben Hewitt often do business in boardrooms, but it is clear the brothers are truly content in the dust and dirt.
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Two men wearing cowboy hats stand near horses at sunrise.

Outback Queensland cut off by intense floods from ex-cyclone with conditions to worsen

More rain has fallen in 24 hours than in a year at some locations as ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily hovers over Queensland's north-west.
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a little girl plays in a large puddle

Great-nephew of Australian poet Henry Lawson describes 'inspiration' behind his own 60-year artistic career

Artist Peter Lawson has travelled the world selling his paintings, and says it all began with a stroke of inspiration from his great-uncle and famous Australian poet Henry Lawson.
Man stands in front of canvas and paints.

Tips to keep cool as new year heatwave settles in and BOM issues severe storm warnings for Qld, NSW

Much of northern Australia is battling through a heatwave with conditions set to peak over the weekend and remain into the New Year. As scorching temperatures hit storm-ravaged communities, residents get creative to keep cool.
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people in pool

Outback Postie: Delivering much more than letters on outback mail run

Outback postie Bec Clighme delivers more than just letters and parcels, having introduced book club, morning teas and secret Santa to her mail run. She takes Landline along for ‘Show Day’.
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ABC News Current
Duration: 13 minutes 30 seconds

Outback postie delivers to 34 mail boxes across 600km but has found a way to create a tight-knit community

Bec Climie tries to make every mail run special. When she realised that Julia Creek didn't have a traditional agricultural show, she took it upon herself to create a "show day" for the people she delivered mail to.
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Women in colourful workshirt takes a photo of a young boy cracking a whip

'Alive with the bodies of rats': Rodents rule the land and sea as plague spreads

Videos show thousands of rats overtaking communities across outback Queensland as residents battle a plague of epic proportions. There are concerns the worst is yet to come.
the bodies of dead rats washed up on a foreshore

'Horrible' heatwave hits outback Queensland as residents swelter in 44-degree heat

Searing conditions will endure until the end of the week amid the longest stretch of hot November days since 2020. Residents are counting on widespread thunderstorms to bring relief over the weekend.
A silhouette of a woman watching a vast sunset in a remote town

Rats rampage across outback Queensland, chewing through crops, homes and machines

Residents in the state's north are at war with rodents invading properties, contaminating water and infesting vehicles, as cane farmers estimate they will lose more than 100,000 tonnes of crop to the pests this season.
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Rats inside a pallet

It may look like a scene from an old western movie, but this is modern cattle droving

They spend months away from their homes and families moving thousands of animals in the dust of "the long paddock", but these drovers say they're "married to the mob".
A young woman with a cowboy hat looks directly at the camera

Two dead, two in hospital after crash in outback Queensland

Two men are being treated for suspected spinal injuries after the incident between Julia Creek and Cloncurry.
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Road sign between Julia Creek and Cloncurry.

Bush residents ditching Telstra amid claims outback services are only 'getting worse'

When this outback business owner's telecommunications service cut out 10 times in a day, she says even Telstra staff suggested she switch to an alternative internet provider.
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Telstra payphones in Birdsville

How VR is giving babies in the outback a better shot at birth

It's hoped the arrival of virtual reality in vulnerable, remote communities will give mothers and babies a safer birthing experience while helping to ease the critical shortage of nurses and doctors in the outback.
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Indigenous kids playing in blue water on Mornington Island

'Only good for a duck': Unusual winter wet to make way for warmer weather in the north

Record-breaking winter rain is sweeping across Queensland, keeping temperatures low — but the far north will soon be in for a scorcher.
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A dad and two young children play on equipment in a waterpark.

How Lyn swapped overindulging in pinot for a paddle and set a kayaking record

Lyn Battle lives in one of the most remote places in Australia. Her quest to give up alcohol has led to her circumnavigating her island home in a kayak not once, but five times.  
A woman sits in a sea kayak in shallow water holding a paddle above her head with a smile

Demand for critical minerals is booming — but new mines in Australia are years away

Australia is on the cusp of another mining boom in critical metals to feed the world’s insatiable appetite for technology and renewable energy, with Queensland looking to position itself as a world leader in exports.
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Raw vanadium rock

Boarding school families 'ecstatic' after allowance boosted by $4,000

Boarding school can be the difference between families staying or leaving their rural communities – but the cost leaves many tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. That’s about to change due to a "game-changing" commitment.
Family of six stand smiling at camera wearing rural shirts and jeans

Outback Queenslanders on alert as rodent numbers rise and a dangerous fire season looms

First came the floods. Now rural residents across outback Queensland are battling rats and mice, with this year's big wet supercharging the growth of grasses and leading to bushfire concerns.
a large bushfire and a dead rat

'It's magical': This musical with 87 Australian children was rehearsed almost entirely online

It's a feat of persistence and imagination — 87 children come together to perform a most unlikely musical. Whether they're bull riders, dancers or lawn bowlers, they're all discovering themselves in isolation.
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A young girl with a hat holding a wool sweeper singing in a shearing shed near Longreach, November 2022.

Gulf residents 'broken, worn out' after devastating flooding as truckloads of donations arrive

Much-needed supplies have arrived in flood-hit towns thanks to the work of two men and a handful of businesses, who say the government and media must do more to help.
An aerial view of two large trucks on a road

Outback town becomes an island as rising river creates 'Bedourie Sea'

Bedourie's only bridge is a metre below the floodwater and the mayor says it will be weeks before supply trucks will be able to get into town.
Floodwaters surround a small town

GP from the city opens doors in remote community that went two years without a local doctor

After a recruitment campaign that made national headlines, the remote town of Julia Creek has finally welcomed a permanent doctor. 
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A man in green scrubs and glasses

500mm deluge triggers emergency evacuations, unprecedented floods in outback Qld

Emergency situations are unfolding as never-before-seen floods inundate north-west Queensland and rivers rise to record levels.
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ABC News Current

How building a school in the outback for fewer than 10 kids a year saved families $2 million

A lack of high schools across Queensland means families are leaving country towns, but this outback council found its own solution.
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A small building set in a school campus

Tourists unearth 100 million-year-old marine predator in western Queensland

Tourists discover one of the most complete fish fossils in Australia. Here's what was found in its belly.
a large fish fossil