The NSW Government has spent $2,356,044 on hotel and motel accommodation for homeless people in Wagga Wagga since January 2025, according to figures obtained by Greens MP Amanda Cohn. Homes NSW paid an average of $161 a night, with the highest rate reaching $290. Housing Minister Rose Jackson told a parliamentary hearing there was nowhere else in Wagga for people to stay. Local advocates say a serviced temporary camp at Wiradjuri Reserve was proposed, but neither the state government nor Wagga City Council has adopted it.
Tradies who built four public housing units at 16 Spring Street in Wagga will never be paid for their work. The liquidator has confirmed there is no money left to repay unsecured creditors, including the subcontractors. Subcontractor Amy Burns of Oasis Scaffolding and Bricklaying says her business is owed $90,000 and calls the situation slave labour. Homes NSW says it had no contract with the subcontractors and has no legal authority to pay them. Wagga MP Joe McGirr has called on the government to act as guarantor for the affected businesses.
In October 1928, a Wagga Wagga constable arrested visiting Baptist revivalist Thomas William Brogan at a busy intersection, triggering a national scandal. Witnesses said the constable pushed Brogan to the ground and dragged him to the lockup as a crowd booed. Brogan was charged with offensive behaviour. The police magistrate dismissed the charge, saying the preacher had shown extraordinarily bad judgment in preaching at a busy intersection. Local sympathisers later raised money for Brogan.
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A Wagga Wagga prostate cancer awareness event was held at Bunnings amid concern that a federal funding change could reduce specialist nursing support. Local specialist nurse Anne-Maree Bramich is among 131 prostate cancer nurses nationally facing uncertainty as funding moves to an all-cancer nursing model from July 2027. The Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia argues specialist knowledge and long-standing patient relationships could be lost. Support group members urged men to discuss testing with their doctors without waiting for symptoms.
The NSW Government has agreed to a feasibility study into duplicating Gobba Bridge in Wagga Wagga. Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison confirmed the study in parliament, and Transport for NSW will examine the option alongside other Murrumbidgee River crossings. Independent MP Joe McGirr, who has campaigned for duplication, welcomed the decision. The study must examine engineering, environmental, traffic and cost questions before a preferred option is chosen. No construction funding or timetable has been announced.
West Pennant Hills Bowls Club held semi-finals in which Michael Williams beat his son Lachlan 125 to 112, and Kevin Tuckerman reached the final after winning an extra end against Geoff McIntosh. In the final, Tuckerman pulled ahead late to defeat Williams 125 to 114. The club is also preparing its yearly bus trip for 33 bowlers, partners and friends, travelling to Wagga Wagga in October. They will stay for ten days, play against three local clubs, and visit attractions such as the RAAF museum and a liquorice and chocolate factory in Junee.
Spring festivals, town shows, markets and food and wine events fill the Riverina this week. The Victorian State Ballet performs its retelling of Aladdin in Albury on 23 and 24 October. Griffith Spring Fest runs from 23 to 25 October and includes a citrus sculpture garden, while the Junee Show marks 125 years on 24 October. Womn-Kind holds a day of conversation for young women in Wagga Wagga, and the North East Food and Wine Festival runs in Wodonga from 23 to 25 October.
All 12 factory-built social homes promised for Wagga's homeless population are now complete and tenanted, months after the NSW Government's original June deadline. Homes NSW blamed wet weather for the delay. Wilks Park is now largely clear of visible campers after council fines and move-on orders, but some rough sleepers have moved into nearby bushland. Councillor Richard Foley has criticised Homes NSW for refusing to release figures on people housed and the cost of hotel accommodation, and he backs a transitional village at Wiradjuri Reserve.
Junee's inaugural Canola Gateway Festival attracted 1,487 attendances over two days in August, according to a post-event report presented to Junee Shire Council. The festival's net cost to Council was approximately $4,389, after a $20,000 Destination NSW grant was counted. Sunday's Harvest Day markets at Memorial Park drew the largest crowd, with 1,261 attendances. The Golden Gateway Concert sold 152 tickets, below the audiences of more than 370 at previous Athenium Theatre concerts.
A major housing development south of Wagga has cleared its rezoning hurdle after more than four years. DevCore Property Group plans about 2200 homes across a 225-hectare site, which it estimates is worth $2.5 billion. The rezoning was finalised in September, allowing the project to move towards development applications. DevCore plans to lodge an initial application covering about 220 lots, with construction expected to begin in mid-2027. The NSW Government has committed about $70.8 million to Wagga Council for growth-related works, including road and sewer upgrades.
Independent MP Joe McGirr has surveyed 697 people who want more frequent and reliable train services to Wagga at times that suit regional travellers. Many respondents said late-night and early-morning arrivals made getting home difficult, and that morning departures between 6 am and noon were the most popular. McGirr told the NSW Legislative Assembly that the state government should use the arrival of new trains to review timetables. The NSW Government is replacing its ageing trains with 29 new ones, but no date has been set for them to run through Wagga.
Murray MP Helen Dalton says her bill to split the Murrumbidgee Local Health District would separate management and budgets but keep clinical links between hospitals and specialists. She said decisions across the region are currently made from Wagga Wagga and that services at the new Griffith hospital are not yet operating as promised. The proposed Western Riverina district would run from Leeton to Balranald. The Murrumbidgee district opposes the bill, as does the AMA (NSW). Health Minister Ryan Park said he is not convinced a split is the best way forward. The bill awaits a Legislative Assembly vote.
Beef producers across the Riverina will have the chance to meet leading industry experts at Cattle Connect, a two-day national cattle event in Wagga. Hosted by Cattle Australia with Charles Sturt University, it runs on Thursday, October 22 and Friday, October 23. The program includes field demonstrations, farm tours, expert talks and discussions on the future of cattle production. Harden producer and Cattle Australia director Elke Cleverdon encouraged local families to attend, saying it saves them long trips to national events. Registrations are open.
A 24-year-old Leeton man has been charged over alleged domestic violence assaults on a 22-year-old woman, who suffered serious head and facial injuries. Police also allege he was involved in a series of break-ins at a Fivebourgh Road property between 5 and 15 October, where copper, power tools and electronic devices worth about $400,000 were allegedly stolen. Police arrested him at a Calrose Street property on Thursday, 15 October, and allegedly found items believed to be stolen, as well as methylamphetamine and ammunition. He faces multiple charges and was refused bail, appearing in court on Friday, 16 October.
A 38-year-old man has been charged with eight offences after a 42-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed multiple times in the head and torso at a Leeton home. Police were called to Wandoo Street on Thursday, 15 October, and were told the woman had been stabbed several times with a kitchen knife by a man known to her. She was taken to hospital and airlifted to another hospital in a serious condition. Police arrested the man at a property in Ashmont on Saturday, 17 October, and he was refused bail.
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A 38-year-old man has been charged after allegedly stabbing a 42-year-old woman several times at a home in Leeton, in New South Wales' Riverina region. Police were called on Thursday evening and say the woman was airlifted to Canberra hospital in a serious condition. Police allege the man then drove through a front gate and rammed another vehicle at Yanco, leaving the scene. Rodney James Charles Tatt was arrested at a property in Wagga Wagga on Saturday. He is due to appear in Griffith Local Court on December 9.
The NSW Nationals will run candidates against independents Joe McGirr in Wagga and Helen Dalton in Murray at the 2027 state election. Wagga businessman Richard Moffatt has withdrawn from seeking preselection in Wagga, saying now is not the right time for him. He said his ambitions remain and he may consider running in another cycle. NSW Nationals state director Tory Mencshelyi said candidates are expected by December and that the party cannot take any seat for granted.
A hand-drawn map of Wagga Wagga, produced by local draftsman VG Lynch in 1922, marked the numbering of the town's buildings and the switching on of its first electric light. The map was produced as a souvenir for the official opening of the electric light system. Wagga Municipal Council had long sought house numbering, and Lynch was paid £25 to supply and install number plates. The electric lights were switched on on 6 May 1922 at a gala celebration, replacing gas lighting. The switch brought criticism, complaints and a major blackout in August 1922.
Griffith City has won the Pascoe Cup, its first first-grade title, after signing 17 players from the former Yoogali Soccer Club senior side. The Yoogali players, along with former coach Luke Santolin, joined the club when their senior team was left without a competition following its removal from Capital Football's National Premier League. Griffith City also won the preseason tournament and the minor premiership. Santolin said the season showed that a difficult period could turn into a positive one.
