Queensland pumped hydro project delayed by years as cost blows out by $4.2b
The Borumba Pumped Hydro project will now cost $18.4 billion and won't be ready until 2033 at the earliest.
Photo shows A lake surrounded by hills.
Jennifer Nichols
Maroochydore, QLD
From the pioneering Nichols family who travelled up the Maroochy river to settle at Bli Bli in the late 1800's, Jennifer is a born and bred local who knows and loves her region like few others, and has spent decades exploring it at work and at play.
Her extensive career started in radio and progressed to television working for Channel 7 on the Sunshine Coast, in Perth and in Brisbane before the call of the coast drew her home. Jen loves introducing ABC audiences to the innovative folk working the land and sea to provide us with food. The rural gig is pretty much her dream job and provides plenty of opportunities for her to indulge in her love of photography. If you're a very early riser, you may run into her at a local dog beach with her husband and three rescue pooches on the weekend. She won't be wearing make-up and her hair won't be done.
Latest by Jennifer Nichols
Flower lovers answer farmers' call for help after more than 100 fresh bunches rejected by buyer
Lyn Bayfield's community came to the rescue when a wholesaler refused more than 100 fresh-cut bunches from her farm, a practice an industry body says is common in the "cutthroat" business.
Photo shows A man leans against boxes with roses growing in them as his daughter smiles at him.Teenage girl's family finally able to lay her to rest three years after she was swept away by floodwaters
The father of Victorian 14-year-old Krystal Cain says forensic testing has confirmed that human remains found six weeks ago near Booubyjan are his daughter's.
Photo shows A girl in a black shirt with a slight smileCritically endangered turtles and parrots 'at risk' if massive $14b pumped hydro with seven dams goes ahead
Potential "catastrophic" flooding and the destruction of critically endangered species habitat are driving calls for a new design for a controversial dam project.
Photo shows A drone photo showing the current dam wall and Yabba creek below it.Sunshine Coast brothers change careers to revive family farm
Riley and Lachlan Hughes bucked the trend when they left the treadmill of their careers to become full-time market gardeners.
Topic:Solutions
Photo shows Two men stand in a field with a broadfork between them.More storms forecast after Sunshine Coast lashed by heavy rain, golf-ball sized hail
South East Queensland braces for bad weather after parts of the Sunshine Coast are smashed with giant hail and homes are left without power.
Photo shows Two golf ball sized hail stones sit in a man's handMary River cod log trial an 'absolute dream come true' with endangered species already moving in
Using underwater endoscopes, researchers have already discreetly filmed the freshwater cod taking refuge in several of the new purpose-built habitats.
Photo shows A Mary River cod in the habitatFears backpackers will shun remote work if visa rules change
Italian backpacker Maria Francesca admits she wouldn't have considered farm work if she wasn't "forced to" by visa rules, and it's a sentiment that terrifies regional businesses.
Photo shows A man and a woman lean forward over freshly harvested ginger.Popular Glass House Mountains trail closed after authorities detect national biosecurity risk
Invasive species experts have labelled the water mould Phytophthora the worst plant disease in Australia and it has now forced the closure of a popular mountain trail in the south-east Queensland hinterland.
Photo shows Three woman climbing rocks with trees below.New giant Australian avocado variety a guacamole lover's dream
A plant bearing a supersized new avocado variety is tipped to be a sell-out, ahead of its first release to retail nurseries and home gardeners.
Photo shows A big and a small avocado sliced open next to each other.Arsonists torch and kill dozens of microbats in 'shocking' act of cruelty
Queensland rangers are investigating after 48 little bent-wing bats were found with "horrendous" injuries in a tunnel on a popular Sunshine Coast walking track.
Photo shows A microbat on a towelSelling and buying native stingless bee honey now legal in Australia
Indigenous Australians have prized native stingless bee honey for food and medicine for tens of thousands of years. Now, consumers can buy it legally at the steep price of $500/kg.
Photo shows A jar of honey held up in front of a native beehive.Millions of dollars worth of strawberries dumped after days of rain
Skip bins full of strawberries have been dumped or fed to cattle after four days of heavy downpours in south-east Queensland.
Photo shows A black and white photo of two workers dumping out strawberries.The funny reason why goats wee on their beards and conduct great escapes
From a smelly serial escapee to a mob on the run, goats with attitude are living up to their reputation as Houdini on Australian farms.
Photo shows A male goat with a yellow beard surrounded by prickles.A hatchling runs from its nest to the sea.
A hatchling running from its nest to the sea.
Has Video Duration: 23 seconds.Family of Maroochydore's last farmer puts prime land up for sale after decades of hold-outs
The heartbroken family of Maroochydore's last farmer has put all of a prime parcel of farmland up for sale as they navigate life after Peter Wise's death.
Photo shows An aerial view showing farmland and all of the development around it with the ocean in the background.End of an era as LifeFlight comes under state government's wing
The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland has been LifeFlight's key sponsor for 30 years — that is about to change as an organisation that provides vital services broadens its span.
Photo shows A composite picture with a farmer on cruches on the left and a helicopter and ambulance on the rightSharks caught on camera taking fishers' catch raises concern about increased interaction
A professional fisherman says he is "racing" sharks almost every time he brings in his catch, and that shark numbers are making it almost impossible to fish in certain areas.
Photo shows A shark comes within metres of a small fishing boat off the coast south of Perth.With no more middlemen, these family farms have saved themselves with agritourism
Facing closure, Kay Tommerup saved her family's dairy farm by cutting ties with processors and embracing agritourism. Now she wants to change the future for other small farmers.
Photo shows A family posed with a dog on the bonnet of an old rusty truck.Blueberry prices surge, but would you spend $20 on a punnet?
The price of blueberries has soared around the nation, and strawberry prices look set to follow.
Photo shows Punnets of blueberries for saleAbseiling couple takes romance to the next level with 'perfect' mountain wedding
Jade King's story is proof that you can find a romantic match anywhere — even in a car park after abseiling down a mountain.
Photo shows A woman in a wedding dress and a man in a tuxedo hanging from a rock above bushland.Seagrass wipe-out in world-recognised marine habitat prompts testing for herbicide impact
Researchers investigate concerns of fishermen and residents that herbicide run-off may be killing marine life in Queensland's Great Sandy Strait.
Photo shows A big dirty stretch of water.Spider venom to be tested in the fight against plague locusts
A University of the Sunshine Coast researcher working with the world's "largest arachnid venom collection" is aiming to invent a honey-bee-friendly bio-insecticide for farmers battling swarms of hungry locusts.
Photo shows Coremiocnemis tropix in the laboratory'Fish don't lie': Scientists warn red spot disease ulcers are a symptom of sick waterways
Recreational fishers are alarmed about reeling in fish with red raw ulcers on their sides in the Noosa and Maroochy rivers.
Photo shows A composite image of a man in a long-sleeved light blue shirt and a fish with a large red wound on its side.The tiny, blind, predatory mite engaged in a microscopic battle for one of Australia's favourite fruits
James Hill is breeding billions of tiny blind predatory mites that are packed on ice and posted to strawberry farms in the battle against destructive sap-sucking insects.
Photo shows A composite image with a red bug on the left and a man in a greenhouse on the right.