Mid North Coast local news briefing: Thursday, November 12, 2026

Detailed summary

Mid North Coast SES Deputy Zone Commander Tony Day said all but nine local jobs had been completed into the evening. He said crews from Newcastle would arrive today to help with…

Here's what's making news in the Coffs Coast and Mid North Coast regions today.

The Fair Work Ombudsman says investigations are continuing across the Coffs Coast after a labour hire company and its director were fined more than $75,000.

A judge found Four Seasons Workforce and director Pik Yok Chey failed to comply with two compliance notices to back-pay two foreign workers who picked blueberries near Coffs Harbour.

The ombudsman's media director, Matthew Raggatt, said employers had opportunities to comply.

"If you comply with the compliance notice, then the matter is finished, but unfortunately that did not happen in this case," he said.

Unions New South Wales secretary Thomas Costa said its Refugees and Migrant Workers Centre was recording increased exploitation reports in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility program, known as the PALM scheme.

A large hailstorm has triggered 72 SES call-outs in Wauchope and the surrounding area, mostly for damaged roofs and fallen trees.

The Bureau of Meteorology said an upper-atmosphere chill was behind the damaging storm yesterday afternoon, which swept from Gloucester through to Wauchope.

Mid North Coast SES Deputy Zone Commander Tony Day said all but nine local jobs had been completed into the evening.

Opening of the article, excerpted from ABC Environment. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.