In what the government has described as a step forward for the region’s housing recovery, flood-affected homeowners will get the first opportunity to buy into Goonellabah’s Mount Pleasant estate.

With the Fair Work Commission’s decision to increase the national minimum wage by 4.75%, Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) is calling for further action to support people doing it tough, as well as the frontline community services helping them. “People are under severe pressure from interest rate rises, rent increases, higher fuel costs, and growing economic uncertainty due to the conflict in the Middle East,” said ACOSS Acting CEO Edwina MacDonald.

NSW Police say detectives have commenced an investigation after a man was seriously assaulted in the locally overnight.