News Archives - November 2002

---

Tarong Coal Receives Top State Government Award

28th November 2002: Tarong Coal received another major award this week when it won the 2002 Queensland Government Corporate Award (Large Business) in recognition of the contribution its nationally acclaimed Tarong Coal Community Development Fund has made - and continues to make - to the development of the region. The award comes 14 months after the firm was recognised by Prime Minister John Howard in the 2001 Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships, where it was lauded as an "outstanding example" of enlightened corporate benevolence. In a presentation by Families Minister Judy Spence on Tuesday, the State Government praised the company for its support of community organisations and activities. Accepting the award, Tarong Coal General Manager Operations Darren Yeates thanked all the organisations which were partners in firm's Growing with the Community Program. "This recognition from the Queensland Government is not just for Tarong Coal, but also for the twenty nine partners who've worked with the Tarong Coal Community Development Fund to deliver benefits to the region," Mr Yeates said. "The Fund's key goals are reducing unemployment, expanding training and attracting new businesses. Over the past three years we've been very pleased to be in a position to assist in developing so many projects, and to see the very real benefits these projects are now bringing to the South Burnett."

Wondai Real Estate Booming

25th November 2002: Rapid population and business growth in Wondai township over the last two years has led to such a shortage of industrial and residential properties that new developments will be brought onstream in 2003 to help address the problem. Today Wondai Shire Council announced that it will begin taking tenders for the sale of land in Stages 2 and 3 of the town's Industrial Estate to help meet demand for high quality industrial property after completely filling Stage 1. Meanwhile, Wondai Real Estate director Geoff Hardcastle also unveiled plans this week to begin developing 39 new town blocks at the top end of Bailey Street in 2003 - a move likely to increase the town's population by close to 100 people once the subdivision is fully occupied. "Over the last 12 years we've seen Wondai township's population expand by almost 50% and annual property sales grow tenfold," Mr Hardcastle said. "But this year demand has grown to such an extent that we're literally running out of properties to list. This makes the need to create new housing critical."

South Burnett Wineries Wine 9 Medals At State Wine Show

22nd November 2002: South Burnett wines continued to secure their growing reputation at the 2002 Courier-Mail Sheraton Brisbane Queensland Wine Awards this week, winning 14.9% of the medals on offer from 14.7% of the total entries. Kingaroy-based Crane Wines took out silver for their Frontignac (which was also runner up in the Best Fortified Wine category) and Bronze for their 2001 Noble Chardonnay, while Moffatdale-based Clovely Estates took three bronzes (for their 2002 Semillon Chardonnay, 2001 Burnett Valley Shiraz and 2001 Shiraz Cabernet Merlot). Redgate's Barambah Ridge won two bronzes for their 2002 Semillon and 2002 Verdelho while Maclagan's Rimfire Winery took bronze for their 2001 Cabernet Franc Ruby Cabernet. Other regional wineries which were also graded highly in the competition included Stuart Range Estates, Moffatdale Ridge and Bridgeman Downs. Significantly, most South Burnett exhibits at the 2002 Show were white wines and the few 2001 reds that were entered all performed exceptionally well. The majority of the region's wineries expect to be unveiling their signature 2001 reds over the next few months.

CROW-FM 90.7 Expands Broadcasting Footprint

19th November 2002: Wondai-based community radio station CROW-FM completed the second phase of its ambitious expansion plan this week by installing transmission equipment upgrades which will help further extend its broadcasting footprint. The station now covers the area from Gayndah in the north to Nanango in the south, as far west as the Bunya Mountains and as far east as Cooloola Shire. CROW-FM's expansion plan began first began in October 2001 after Toowomba broadcaster 4GR acquired the region's two commercial radio stations and elected to syndicate content from the Darling Downs rather than broadcast locally, as had formerly been the case. The decision led to a formal protest from the SBLGA and a parallel decision by the broadcaster to step in and fill a perceived need for South Burnett content on the airwaves. The first transmitter upgrade occurred in March this year and according to station manager Shane Zammit, the latest upgrade has largely proceeded to plan as well.

Kingaroy Wins National Local Government Award

16th November 2002: Kingaroy Shire Council has won the 2002 National Rural Award for Innovation in Local Government for its South Burnett and Kingaroy Medical Workforce Strategy - a document which looked at ways to address shortages of GPs and specialists in the region, and which helped fuel the Council's decision to purchase the former St. Aubyn's Private Hospital and re-open it as the South Burnett Community Private Hospital in April 2002. The award was presented at the Australian Local Government Association's conference in Alice Springs on November 6th. It follows the Shire's two recent wins in the 2002 Queensland Arbor Day Awards where it won both the regional and local government categories for its Remnant Vegetation Management Strategy and the Shire's ongoing community revegetation efforts, both of which were supported by an environmental levy introduced in 2001. Mayor Roger Nunn - who accepted the latest award on behalf of the Shire - said that the strategy had been a community effort and that a major reason for its success was the high level of community involvement in the process.

Feijoa Enterprise Gets Marketing Study Grant

13th November 2002: The South Burnett's diversification into new agricultural industries seems likely to continue after Okara Pty Ltd, which operates the Feijoa Australia plantation at Lower Wonga in Kilkivan Shire, was officially awarded a $33,000 marketing study grant yesterday. The grant was awarded by Minister for Agriculture Warren Truss under the In-Market Experience programme and is one of only a handful awarded each year. It will allow Okara director Jacqueline Casey to improve her knowledge and skills in growing, managing and processing the exotic fruit in New Zealand and to strengthen business contacts in the US and Asian markets where demand for feijoa is rapidly growing. The Feijoa Australia plantation was established by Jacqueline's parents Phil and Kay Casey. It's ultimately expected to become the largest operation of its type in Australia as well as an important Kilkivan Shire tourist attraction in its own right. Photo above: Phil and Kay Casey photographed earlier this year at their Lower Wonga feijoa plantation extolling the virtues of Feijoa Wine (photo courtesy of Bob Neville)  

Tourism Association Takes Mudgee Study Trip

10th November 2002: 24 members of the South Burnett Tourism Association (including a large number of representatives from the region's wine and food industries and Kilkivan Shire CEO Ray Currie, representing the SBLGA) will undertake a 4-day study trip to Mudgee in NSW this week. Mudgee is considered the closest parallel to the South Burnett anywhere in Australia, but its wine and tourism industries are regarded as 10 to 20 years more developed. The Mudgee region was selected as a study area by the Fraser Coast South Burnett Regional Tourism Board, who've organised a detailed itinerary for the visit which will take in winery inspections, visits to tourist facilities and agricultural enterprises and meetings with the region's key industry bodies. The purpose of the study tour is to gather ideas which can help further accelerate the growth of the South Burnett's own wine and tourism industries. The tour has been subsidised by a grant from the Tarong Coal Community Development Fund, which has helped defray participants' costs by 50%

"Droughtbuster" Expo Planned For December

7th November 2002: SBLGA member councils, Tarong Energy and Kingaroy Shire Council's Economic Development Office will be staging an all-day "Droughtbuster Expo" at Kingaroy Town Hall on Saturday 14th December. The Expo - a first for the region - will provide local agricultural producers with expert knowledge about all the various forms of assistance that are currently available to help them weather the increasingly harsh Australia-wide drought. A wide range of government departments, agencies and public and private companies will be exhibiting at the free event, providing valuable first-hand knowledge about programs designed to assist the region's farmers and graziers. The Expo is the brainchild of Kingaroy Shire's Economic Development Manager Vaughn Prasser, Tarong Learning Program's Bernie Mendis and SBLGA Economic Development Manager Paul Marek. Confirmed attendees to date include the Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink, the DPI, FarmBis, AgForce, Department of State Development, Department of Innovation, Information and Economy and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Many other Federal and State Government agencies have also expressed keen interest in attending.

Aboriginal Art On Display At Kingaroy Gallery

4th November 2002: A major exhibition of South Burnett aboriginal art - the first seen in any mainstream gallery in the region this year - is already drawing substantial interest from buyers in Brisbane and Sydney according to the Kingaroy Shire Art Gallery. The new exhibition was unveiled at the Gallery's Glendon Street premises on Friday evening 1st November by Director of the Indigenous Studies Faculty at SQIT Eric Law in front of a crowd of approximately 80 invited guests. The exhibition features recent works from Barambah Art and the Nurunderi College of TAFE at Cherbourg including a variety of works on paper, textiles and board by established South Burnett indigenous artists Venus Rabbit, Steven Bond and Max Conlon. According to Gallery curator Paul van Vegchel, the quality of indigenous art being produced by Cherbourg artists is "extraordinarily high" and gaining a strong following in Australia's capital cities. The exhibition will remain on display at the Gallery throughout November. Examples can currently be seen on Kingaroy Shire Council's web site.

Rosalie, Kingaroy Reject GM-Modified Canola and Cotton

1st November 2002: Both Rosalie and Kingaroy Shires have rejected an application by US-based agribusiness titan Monsanto Australia to allow genetically-modified canola and cotton to be grown in the district. Councillors expressed concerns that Canadian experience with the products - particularly canola - appears to show that once it's released into the environment it quickly and irretrievably contaminates non-GM crops. In addition, Canadian canola growers appear to have lost significant export market share after consumers in Europe, Africa and a number of other nations rejected the GM products. A recent program aired on the SBS network in Australia (GM: The Killing Seeds - Tuesday 22nd October) also raised questions about Monsanto's motives in producing GM crops; about the tactics it adopted against Canadian opponents who tried to resist the spread of GM-canola or whose fields became polluted by it; and about the company's apparent unwillingness to assume any responsibility for the economic and environmental damage that GM canola appears to have caused some Canadian farmers. It was also noted that risk assessment and risk management plans for the products will not be available for Councils to comment on until at least mid-November.

Back to News Archives

   © South Burnett Local Government Association 2000-2003

Email us anytime!