SM146_Shift Miner Magazine

SHIFT MINERMonday 24th September 146th Edition 2012 The Queensland mining community’s best source of local news

M A G A Z I N E

The Partners:John Taylor - LL.B

Sharon Smith - BEc/LL.B HonsCraig Worsley - LL.B

Greg Carroll

PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS Mining Accidents Work Accidents Motor Vehicle Accidents Insurance/TPD Claims

CONVEYANCING ESTATE LAW COMMERCIAL LAW

Phone 4957 2944 Fax 4957 2016 www.taylors-solicitors.com.au

email: [email protected] 2/ 17 Brisbane Street Mackay

TAYLORS

SOLICITORS

NewsCaval Ridge going ahead » page 4

NewsAllowance laws changed » page 5

NewsJobs under pressure » page 6

NewsPark residence off to track » page 8

@HomeHold on to love » page 15

Money MattersFarm buy up over » page 25

Locally Owned and Operated - www.shiftminer.com

IF YOU managed to sell your Moranbah home to an investor six months ago you’d be laughing yourself to the bank.

But if you were the investor, you may be cry-ing in your flat beer (if you can still stomach it).

In just a few short months, the Moranbah real estate market has plunged from never-seen-before prices skyrocketing to $900,000 a home, to a situation where more than 260

houses are on the market and not budging. Where rentals were once fetching up to

$4000 a week and being snapped up almost before they were advertised, there are now over 200 rentals with most prices below $1500.

“The market has taken a complete back-flip from last year,” John Wood from Moran-bah Real Estate told Shift Miner.

“It has been really slow - to put it bluntly.”

Mr Wood said there was very little inter-est in rentals, thanks to the plunge in the coal market which has seen contractors leave the town.

And with no new contracts, supply was well and truly outstripping demand.

“We’re not panicking yet,” he said. “The heavy investors are feeling a bit of uncertainty.”

» continued page 10

Outback beauties descend on Black Nugget » More pictures page 16

WEST GETS WILDER

Moranbah bubble bursts House prices

nosedive

- Shift Miner Magazine, 24th September 2012

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Queensland mining community's best source of local news

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NEWS

4 QRC questions green maths

5 Bauxite on the block

6 Perfect storm costs jobs

10 New Hope surprises

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CONTENTS

Phone: (07) 4921 4333 Fax: (07) 4922 6908 [email protected]: Greg Sweetnam Advertising: Angus Peacocke 0428 154 653

Published fortnightly by Fitzroy Publishing Pty Ltd A.B.N 72122739879 PO Box 1440, Rockhampton Q 4700www.shiftminer.com

Regulars 18 Stuff to the Editor 19 Frank the Tank 20 Miner's Trader 22 Weather & Tides 25 Money Matters


146th EDITION. 2012

BMA’s Caval Ridge project is set to go ahead, despite rumours circulating in Moran-bah that the project is to be mothballed.

A BMA spokesperson has told Shift Min-er that it categorically rejected the rumour and that the project will still go ahead.

The spokesperson pointed out that BHP Billiton made special mention of the project in its annual results released on August 22.

“BMA is focused on bringing the busi-ness up to full production, reducing costs and executing projects currently under con-

struction,” the spokesperson said.“This includes projects such as Dau-

nia Mine, Caval Ridge Mine, the third expansion of the Hay Point Coal Terminal (HPX3) and the Broadmeadow Sustaining Operations project.”

A well-known Moranbah businessman that did not want to be named told Shift Miner of the rumour that had been circulat-ing in the township.

The mine has been highly controversial in the Moranbah community because it will become

the first Queensland coal mine to be run entirely with a fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workforce.

That means no new families will move to the town with the project, with the work-force to be houses in a giant mining camp

on the outskirts of town.The new mine will produce 5.5 million

tonnes of coal a year - and has a life expect-ancy of more than 60 years. The first coal is expected to be exported in three years time.

Caval Ridge going ahead: rumours rejected

News

QUEENSLAND’S peak minerals and energy industry body is questioning the lat-est release of information from Greenpeace on the growth prospects of the state’s coal industry.

The Queensland Resource Council (QRC) said Greenpeace has the Queens-land coal industry growing at more than six-fold - and it simply isn’t going to happen.

“Not satisfied with their February 2012 prediction that Queensland would be exporting 944 million tonnes of coal by 2020, Greenpeace’s scary monsters unit has lifted their fanciful prediction to 1056 mil-lion tonnes of coal exports from Queens-land ports,” said QRC chief executive Michael Roche.

Mr Roche said that coal exports from Queensland over the 13 years to 2011-12 grew by a compound average growth rate of 4.4 per cent, from 94 million tonnes to 165 million tonnes, and that in the past five

years, growth had been only 1.5 per cent per annum (from 153 million tonnes to 165 mil-lion tonnes).

“So after the Queensland coal indus-try has managed to grow exports by a grand total of 71 million tonnes in the past 13 years Greenpeace would have people believe that coal exports will grow by a fur-ther 891 million tonnes over the next dec-ade.”

Mr Roche said the most up-to-date cred-ible forecasts for Queensland coal exports come from the federal government’s Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics (BREE) in its July 2012 report Australian Bulk Commodity Exports and Infrastruc-ture – outlook to 2025.

“According to BREE the high-range outlook for coal exports for Queensland by 2020 is 327 million tonnes and a mid-range figure would be 301 million tonnes,” he said.

Mr Roche told Shift Miner that because

the Greenpeace coal export prediction had zero credibility, it followed that their ship-ping volume figures were similarly fanciful.

He said that an independent Great Bar-rier Reef shipping study to be published in the very near future would put a lie to the

Greenpeace predictions for shipping move-ments in the Great Barrier Reef area.

This study has been prepared as part of the comprehensive industry-led cumulative impact assessment study of proposed coal port development at Abbott Point.

Greenpeace maths still questionable: QRC

The QRC is questioning industry figures provided by Greenpeace that show high growth in the

coal industry. The peak industry body also took issue with recent shipping figures Greenpeace

released to media and the public.

“So after the Queensland coal industry has managed to grow exports by a grand total of 71 million tonnes in the past 13 years

Greenpeace would have people believe that coal exports will grow by a further 891 million tonnes over the next decade.”

“BMA is focused on bringing the business up to full production, reducing costs and executing

projects currently under construction.”


146th EDITION. 2012

Newlands EIS outPUBLIC submissions have opened on the EIS for the proposed expansion of Xstrata’s Newlands Coal Mine near Glenden. Xstrata plans to expand the open cut and underground mining activities to extend the life of the mine till 2042. If approved, the extension will allow the mine to continue to produce more than 10 million tonnes of coal and contribute up to $100 million to the Australian economy each year. Public comment closes on October 29 with details at www.ehp.qld.gov.au...............................................................................

New projects shelvedBHP Billiton has shelved multi-billion-dollar plans to build one of the nation’s biggest coal mines as it reviews its Queensland coking coal development plans amid sliding commodities prices and lower growth expectations in China. Media reports say the company is understood to have ceased studies on the Red Hill underground coking coal mine near Moranbah and the Saraji East underground mine near Dysart. Each mine was planned to produce up to 14 million tonnes of coal a year and, based on industry averages, cost more than $3 billion...............................................................................

Coast gets FIFO helpFORMER Tourism Fraser Coast marketing manager Danielle Andreuzzi is the new fly-in, fly-out coordinator for Wide Bay and Burnett. The position is funded by more than $400,000 announced by the Federal Government in July to assist the Gold Coast and Wide Bay attract more for FIFO business. The Gold Coast position has not been filled. ..............................................................................

Bauxite on the blockCOMPANIES wanting a slice of the Aurukun bauxite resource are being asked to express their interest with the Newman Government. The government has scrapped the management strategy installed by the previous administration. Over the coming months fresh expressions of interest will be sought from the market and a shortlist drawn up by April. Companies on the shortlist will then be invited to bid to use the resources. A decision is then expected by the end of 2013.

FAST NEWS

HUNDREDS of jobs are expected to be cre-ated by the end of 2013 in Caboolture with a major new supplier to the coal seam gas (CSG) industry deciding to base its operation there.

Sirius Well Manufacturing Services (SWMS) will assemble its high-tech CSG drilling rigs and related equipment for Arrow Energy in Corporate Park, which is located near the Caboolture airfield.

SWMS is a new joint venture between Arrow’s parent company Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC).

Ashley Rees, part of the Caboolture Commercial Real Estate team that negoti-ated the deal to base SWMS in Caboolture, has told media that up to 500 jobs would be created in the town.

Stage one, construction of the hardstand, is expected to be completed in November.

Stage two of the site will consist of half of the warehouse and manufacturing space, and stage three will see the completion of that component and construction of the office.

SWMS Australia general manager Steven Ford

said that while the vast majority of jobs would be operating the rigs in the field, the company would be looking to source employees locally.

Mr Ford has confirmed that between 20 and 40 people would be employed in administration in Caboolture plus about 12 people in the warehouse and workshop.

He said the components for the first two rigs would arrive in February followed by two more in March.

He expected the workforce to reach 400-500 between 2013 and mid-2014.

Caboolture lands new drilling rig base

CONSULTING firms providing services to mining and resource companies say they are to be the hardest hit by changes to the Living Away From Home Allowances that come into effect on October 1.

Known as LAFHA, the allowances are worth thousands a year to those who qual-ify and live the required distance from their normal place of residence. This includes most fly-in, fly-out workers.

The Federal laws have been changed to segment overseas workers from the scheme by 2014 as some industries, partic-ularly media and entertainment, have used the allowance to attract overseas staff with international experience.

But Megan Motto, Chief Executive Officer of the industry association for pro-fessional services firms in the built and nat-ural environment, Consult Australia, says the reforms will hit her members hard.

She said the new laws are likely to drive many of Australia’s highly-skilled profes-sionals, whose salaries have been supported by LAFHA, out of the country.

“Some of the consulting firms we repre-sent recruit approximately 15 per cent of their workforce from overseas due to the current skills shortage,” Ms Motto told Shift Miner.

“One of our members has over 4000 employees and reports that over eight per cent of its workforce is currently employed

under the visa subclass 457.“These reforms could equal a loss in sal-

ary of up to $12,000 for an engineer. “With no time to prepare for and budget

around these changes, it is simply not viable for many of the professionals who are suf-fering this kind of loss in income to remain in Australia with their families.

“The sheer impact of these reforms is enormous and the haste with which this decision has been made, clearly shows a lack of due recognition by government.”

It is not yet known what impact the chang-es will have on resource industry projects.

The law firm Minter Ellison said yester-day it expected regional projects would be “little affected” because most FIFO work-ers should retain their allowances.

“However, for many employers and employees, these LAFH reforms will have very adverse cost implications. In particu-lar, many foreign nationals on assignment in Australia will lose the benefit of these long established concessions, with signifi-cant cost implications for employers and employees alike,” the firm’s Michael Ward and Garry Beath said in a joint statement on the changes.

Ms Motto is in doubt there will be seri-ous fallout.

Consult Australia had argued for the reforms to be phased in over two years to allow

companies and individuals to form long-term plans to cope with these significant changes.

“The reforms will create vacancies that are hard to fill, thus harming companies’ abilities to deliver projects on time,” said Ms Motto.

“The cost to employers from ‘filling the income gap’ will drive up employment costs and widespread wage inflation will occur because the level of wages sufficient to attract skilled migrants will increase markedly.”

Workers are being encouraged to talk to payroll or their accountant to find out exact-ly how the changes affect them or head on-line where there are a number of free resources with information about LAHFA.




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News

Greenpeace maths still questionable: QRC Law change takes allowances from workers

The Federal Government has changed laws governing living away from home allowances and that means some workers will get less in their pay packet from October 1.


146th EDITION. 2012

IF YOU managed to sell your Moranbah home to an investor six months ago you’d be laughing yourself to the bank.

But if you were the investor, you may be crying in your flat beer (if you can still stomach it).

In just a few short months, the Moranbah real estate market has plunged from never-seen-before prices skyrocketing to $900,000 a home, to a situation where more than 260 houses are on the market and not budging.

Where rentals were once fetching up to $4000 a week and being snapped up almost

before they were advertised, there are now over 200 rentals with most prices below $1500.

“The market has taken a complete backflip from last year,” John Wood from Moranbah Real Estate told Shift Miner.

“It has been really slow - to put it bluntly.” Mr Wood said there was very little inter-

est in rentals, thanks to the plunge in the coal market which has seen contractors leave the town.

And with no new contracts, supply was well and truly outstripping demand.

“We’re not panicking yet,” he said.

“The heavy investors are feeling a bit of uncertainty.”

“We’ve had this before and the market has gone along and found its way out. We’ll find a way to pick up again.”

Mr Wood said a recent release of land has resulted in a lot of interest in the new style house and land packages and this could level out the market.

“We’ve had slow times before, but with new stock coming on and the size of the town increasing, we will move slowly. We just won’t see those highs again,” he said.

The decline in Moranbah’s real estate started two to three months ago and pric-es for both rentals and houses have more than halved.

“It does make it easier to bring people into town, but with the slowing of the coal industry, this does impact on businesses,” Mr Wood said.

President of the Moranbah Trader’s Association Peter Finlay is not at all sad to see the slump in real estate.

“The future is very good and I feel that with the rental prices coming down, it’s good for the community - but not so good for the investors.”

Mr Finlay said there were landlords who kept their houses rented at an affordable lev-el during the boom, while others were rent-ing out 30-year-old homes for $2000 a week.

“It was just not sustainable. We’ve lived in Moranbah for over 30 years and have seen booms and down time. But I must say

this was the biggest boom, and we now need to take a deep breath. It is part of the over-all cycle,” he said.

“As accommodation becomes more affordable, it is a help for the town. There are plenty of families who prefer to be together than apart.”

It was only in April when one real estate agent had a bulk auction of 10 houses in Moranbah and Dysart. The houses ranged in price from the mid $500,000s to the high $900,000s.

Most investors were from interstate and no mining companies were interested in buying up during the real estate boom.

Around the same time, Terry Ryder, journalist and real estate commentator from hotspotting.com warned that investing in mining towns like Moranbah would not be for those who liked a good night’s sleep.

“Mining towns have the highest rental returns and capital growth, but they also have the highest level of risk,” he told Shift Miner.

“You only have to look at BMA’s announcement that it is closing Norwich Park mine, and its stance about signing new leases at Moranbah because rents were too high.”

These events show just how precarious it can be if you invest in a town that relies on just one industry, such as Moranbah, Dysart and Blackwater.

If you want to benefit from the resources boom, then towns that service the resources industry, but are not solely reliant on it, are a better bet.

News

THE fabled connecting road between Col-linsville and Proserpine is no closer to real-ity, despite rumours that it may be back on the agenda.

The road - if built - would slash hours of travel time off between the northern Bowen Basin and the Mackay Whitsunday region.

A miner working at Collinsville could be at home in bed in about an hour if he lived in the Airlie Beach region.

According to councillor Jan Clifford at the Whitsunday Regional Council, the idea is a great one if it can get off the ground.

“We love the idea because of the con-nectivity it creates with mining,” she said.

“At the moment Airlie Beach and Can-nonvale are becoming dormitory sub-urbs for miners and the Collinsville bypass would slash travel time and make this an even better place to live.”

The issue was raised by the Mackay and Whitsunday Regional Economic Develop-ment Corporation (MWREDC) when it met with Campbell Newman on his recent visit to Mackay.

However MWREDC chief executive Narelle Pearse says the issue - as always - is funding.

“We like the idea and we pitched it to the Premier on his recent visit and he

seemed to think it made sense,” she said.“It’s not a huge section of road - between

60 and 100 kilometres I think.“The question he asked was wheth-

er it would need to go over the range but my understanding is that most of it is relatively flat.

“But the problem is funding, and the state and federal government don’t seem to have much of that at the moment.”

Cash a roadblock for Collinsville Bypass

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Perfect storm to force more job cuts


146th EDITION. 2012

THE 27 people evicted from Middlem-ount’s only caravan park have been given a temporary new home at the Middlemount Race Club.

The Mac Services Group, which received council approval to redevelop the site last year, served the permanent residents with a

six-month eviction notice in February.Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne

Baker said council would sign a new lease next week for the 15-site caravan park to be made available for the tenants affected.

Council is providing a new shower and toilet block, power and water at the site.

“Some of these tenants are long-term Middlemount residents who work for coun-cil, contractors or other businesses in the town and do not have other affordable accommodation options available,” Cr Bak-er told Shift Miner.

“It’s vital these tenants can remain in town during the expansion and still be part of the Middlemount community.”

Council approved the plans for The Mac Village redevelopment last year, which included provision for a tourist park with 27 powered caravan sites.

The Mac Services Group then decided not to have permanent residents.

There is very little private land available in Middlemount, with the majority owned

by mining companies and the rest is unallo-cated state land. Cheap accommodation is also almost non-existent.

Evicted residents had nowhere to go so the Mac Services Group gave a residents a one-month extension after talks with council.

Caravan parks across regional Queens-land, particularly in resource towns, have become much sought after as companies try to ease housing pressures on their own workers or companies seek to supply more housing to resource clients.

That has left many long-term residents at some parks on the outer as they don’t work in the resources sector and so have limited income to pay for alternate accom-modation.

News

Jets go further, faster for FIFO

Middlemount park residents relocated

“It’s vital these tenants can remain in town during the expansion and still be part of the Middlemount community.”

Residents are to be moved from the Middlemount Caravan Park

to the local race club.

ADAGOLD Aviation is hoping to grab a share of the fly-in, fly-out market by bring-ing two new model jets to Australia.

The company was spruiking the 37 and 45-seater Embraer jets at the recent Queensland Gas Conference and Exhibi-tion in Brisbane.

The aircraft are capable of cruising at more than 420 knots which will allow FIFO workers to fly direct from more major cen-tres into more regional areas.

To put the flights into perspective, the journey from Brisbane to Emerald would be about an hour.

Adagold Aviation General Manager Jeff Eager said the craft definitely provides an option for direct jet air services into remote airports in Queensland areas that are capa-

ble of taking such an aircraft.“What this means is that FIFO work-

ers will now have the option to transit direct from cities further afield such as Mel-bourne, Adelaide, Cairns or Sydney directly into regional areas,” Mr Eager said.

“It’s a new aircraft type that has not oper-ated FIFO anywhere else in this country.”

Mr Eager said that the aircraft will allow smaller numbers of workers to travel direct from major cities into regionally located projects much faster and more comfortably than ever before.

“The introduction of this aircraft will mean that workers will now be able to make direct flights such as flying direct from Mel-bourne’s Essendon Airport direct to Roma in around one hour and 45 minutes.”


146th EDITION. 2012News

QUEENSLAND thermal coal miner New Hope has increased full year profit just a week after ]coal miners complained about royalty hikes in the state budget.

However, the company says it has now been forced to review the pace it is devel-oping projects because of falling coal prices and the high Australian dollar.

New Hope posted an operating profit after tax of $171.1 million for the year to July 31, up 16.4 per cent on the previous 12 months.

New Hope managing director Rob Neale said that with a balance sheet of $1.5 billion in cash, the company was in a strong posi-tion to pursue acquisitions.

The company owns the controversial open cut mine at Acland on the Darling Downs and the Queensland Bulk Handling coal export terminal in Brisbane.

It plans to expand Acland mine and this has created nationwide attention in the media.

Mr Neale said the hike in Queensland

government royalties on top of the new mining and carbon taxes, along with exist-ing incomes tax and rail haulage, would lead to a slowdown in new projects.

New Hope’s coal production and sales in the year to July were both up 11 per cent on the previous year.

The company paid a full-franked final dividend of five cents per share and special dividend of 20 cents a share, fully franked, compared to 15 cents last year.

Mr Neale said he was still confident in Chi-nese demand, including the steel and concrete needed to support growth in that country’s cities.

JOINING Kestrel Mine has not only given an Indigenous Western Kangoulu man a new career in the mines, it has also given him the opportunity to link with his ancestors.

Malcolm Brown, along with his son Bro-dy Cochrane, are one of a number of Indig-enous families who have joined Kestrel Mine in the last two years as the operation works to increase its Indigenous workforce.

“Like my son, I had no mining experi-ence prior to securing my traineeship. It’s not only been a great career move but com-ing to Emerald has allowed me to reconnect with my cultural heritage,” Malcolm said.

“I was born in Cherbourg and grew up in Mundubbera so I never really asked my par-ents about our Western Kangoulu history.

“However, since moving to Emerald and working for the mine, I’ve really taken an interest in learning more about my ances-tors, which has been a great journey.”

Mr Brown has completed a warehouse traineeship and currently works at Kestrel Mine in supply and logistics, while Brody is not far behind after successfully applying and starting his surveyor traineeship earlier this year.

“It’s a good feeling to know that Dad is around to ask questions or get advice if I need to,” Brody said. “Prior to this, I was working at a hospital but I didn’t see it as

a long-term career. After talking to Dad, I decided to apply for this traineeship.

“Since securing the role, I haven’t looked back. I like working in a challeng-ing and diverse environment and I cur-rently get to work both underground and on the surface.

“My underground role involves me help-ing put the pins in the roof to direct the con-tinuous miner so it runs in a straight line, and on the surface, I help with digging per-mits and making sure that we avoid water pipes or other bits of infrastructure.”

Malcolm said he was very proud of Brody. Western Kangoulu spokesperson Patrick

Malone said he was pleased their agree-ment and relationship with Kestrel Mine was supporting an increase in Indigenous training and employment opportunities at the site.

“It’s great to see these career pathways offered to Indigenous people, particular-ly members of our own traditional owners group. Through our relationship, the site has also attracted a number of Indigenous fami-lies as workers, which is a positive outcome.

“This will assist these families in tak-ing up full advantage of economic and social opportunities in the region and help build the capacity of the local indigenous community.”

New Hope surprises with profit spike

Kestrel Mine links family to ancestors

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“It’s not only been a great career move, but coming to Emerald has allowed me to reconnect with my cultural heritage.”

Malcolm Brown and his son

Brody Cochrane

“New Hope posted an operating profit after tax of $171.1 million for the year to July 31, up 16.4 per cent on the previous 12 months.”



THE Minister for Environment and Herit-age Protection Andrew Powell believes the state has entered a new era of sustainabili-ty with the demands of industry and protec-tion of the environment in balance.

Speaking at a conference providing updates

on Bowen Basin major projects last week he said recent budget had set the foundations to rebuild the state’s economy, and said his depart-ment would work with the resources industry to encourage sustainable economic growth.

“The Newman Government knows that

when it comes to the economy, one of the best things we can do is get out of the way and give business the flexibility it needs to grow,” Mr Powell told delegates.

“We can be fiscally prudent, pro-busi-ness and pro-environment - these elements are not mutually exclusive.

“Unfortunately, our environmental laws and regulations have become increasingly complex over the past several decades.

“When words like tortuous, cumbersome and tangled web are used by business leaders to describe environmental approval processes, we know we need to do something about it.

“As a government we understand the need to cut red tape and regulation and ensure there is a change in our culture from one that promotes red tape to one that actively reduces it.

“If there is a cheaper, easier, faster, sim-pler way to deliver real environmental out-comes we want to know about it.”

Mr Powell said moves to reduce green tape would not lower environmental standards.

“Rather, it will boost transparency and accountability for environmental activi-

ties,” he said.“Cutting green tape makes the proc-

ess simpler for the companies which do the right thing and meet our high environmen-tal standards, it also makes it easier for us to identify those who are not.

“The streamlining of these cumber-some processes will also let my department free up resources which can be redirected to frontline compliance and enforcement activities to ensure the ongoing protection of Queensland’s environment.

“Achieving this balance means those who are doing the right thing won’t be bothered by onerous green tape and those who do not meet their environmental obli-gations will be dealt with swiftly by a strong environmental regulator.”

Large scale mining development, concerns over CSG’s impact on water and fish deaths in Gladstone Harbour have provided an envi-ronmental flashpoint over the past 18 months.

The government is now working to ease the tension in the industry by streamlining processes and introducing a Gasfields Com-mission.

Moranbah real estate does complete backflip

Balance struck with industry and environment

“We’ve had this before and the market has gone along and found its way out. We’ll find a way to pick up again.”

Mr Wood said a recent release of land has resulted in a lot of interest in the new style house and land packages and this could level out the market.

“We’ve had slow times before, but with new stock coming on and the size of the town increasing, we will move slowly. We just won’t see those highs again,” he said.

The decline in Moranbah’s real estate started two to three months ago and pric-es for both rentals and houses have more than halved.

“It does make it easier to bring people into town, but with the slowing of the coal

industry, this does impact on businesses,” Mr Wood said.

President of the Moranbah Trader’s Association Peter Finlay is not at all sad to see the slump in real estate.

“The future is very good and I feel that with the rental prices coming down, it’s good for the community - but not so good for the investors.”

Mr Finlay said there were landlords who kept their houses rented at an affordable lev-el during the boom, while others were renting out 30-year-old homes for $2000 a week.

“It was just not sustainable. We’ve lived in Moranbah for over 30 years and have seen booms and down time. But I must say this was the biggest boom, and we now need

to take a deep breath. It is part of the over-all cycle,” he said.

“As accommodation becomes more affordable, it is a help for the town. There are plenty of families who prefer to be together than apart.”

It was only in April when one real estate agent had a bulk auction of 10 houses in Moranbah and Dysart. The houses ranged in price from the mid $500,000s to the high $900,000s.

Most investors were from interstate and no mining companies were interested in buying up during the real estate boom.

Around the same time, Terry Ryder, journalist and real estate commentator from hotspotting.com warned that investing

in mining towns like Moranbah would not be for those who liked a good night’s sleep.

“Mining towns have the highest rental returns and capital growth, but they also have the highest level of risk,” he told Shift Miner.

“You only have to look at BMA’s announcement that it is closing Norwich Park mine, and its stance about signing new leases at Moranbah because rents were too high.”

These events show just how precarious it can be if you invest in a town that relies on just one industry, such as Moranbah, Dysart and Blackwater.

If you want to benefit from the resources boom, then towns that service the resources industry, but are not solely reliant on it, are a better bet.

FROM PAGE 1


146th EDITION. 2012

BI-MONTHLYNETWORKING EVENTS

NEXT LUNCHEON- Friday 27th July 2012South’s Leagues Club, 181 Milton Street, MackayFrom 12pm

GUEST SPEAKER- Mr Malcolm NortheyGroup Project Director - Alpha Coal ProjectGVK

COST- $95pp or $900 for table of 10Includes 2 course luncheon and beverages

TO REGISTER -Book online at www.bbminingclub.com

EVENT SPONSORED BY - The Built Environment Group

For more information please call 0412 998 501

News

THE Mackenzie River Fish Stocking Association (MRFSA) is hoping to break records both in and out of the water at their premier fishing event - the Saratoga Spec-tacular - next month.

It’s the second time the MRFSA has host-ed the event at Blackwater and after the suc-cess of 2011 President Steve Schuh says they will take the same approach this year.

“Most people we have spoken to have said they are coming back this year and probably bringing a few friends with them,” he said.

“So based on last year we are expect-ing more than 400 people and given it was such a success we are not really going to change anything.

“However this year we will be supply-

ing food and meals which saves people having to cart their own.”

Like last year there are more than $10,000 worth of prizes, including a tin-

ny and outboard donated by Cooee Bay Marine in Yeppoon.

In the headline Saratoga category there will be $500 in prize money while the best Yellowbelly, Black Bream and Barramundi category winners will each receive $250.

There is a $100 lucky draw for the catfish and red claw categories.

Of particular interest among local anglers recently has been the arrival of some large Murray Cod into the system.

Mr Schuh says the cod have made it down the river after being released into Fairbairn Dam.

“Murray Cod can grow to huge sizes over one and a half metres and an 80lb cod was recently caught near Blackwater,” he said.

“They also have been catching quite a few Yellowbelly and Saratoga, although I haven’t heard of any Barramundi yet, but I dare say they will start shortly with this warmer weather.”

Interested anglers can print their nomi-nations at www.spectacular.mrfsa.org.au or call Jason on 0417 719 881 for entry details. Free camping facilities are available.

Saratoga looking Spectacular

“Most people we have spoken to have said they are coming back this year, and probably bringing a few friends with them.”



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STARTING ONFRIDAY NIGHT

EBEN Le Roux is not the guy who’s lunch you want to nick from the meal room when you forget your own.

The Komatsu Australia employee is Australia’s only World’s Strongest Man contest entrant.

To give his workmates at Wacol, Brisbane,

a chance to see his strength and power (and provide a nice photo opportunity for Komat-su) he warmed up for the tilt at the title by dragging a Komatsu WA480 wheel loader six metres along the driveway recently.

His only help came from a rope tied to the wheel loader, a ladder attached to

the ground to aid with footing and the cheers from his colleagues.

The Komatsu WA480 wheel load-er weighs in at over 30 tonnes, a relatively easy assignment for Eben, considering that he has shifted an 80-tonne truck in the past. Still he said afterward it was a great warm up for the event.

Eben works as a fitter at the Wacol site. To keep in shape he uses a 90kg dumbbell set at home and is able to dead-lift up to 400kg on a barbell.

He has been lifting at a competitive level for around four years and now competes in tournaments on a yearly basis.

Komatsu Australia Regional General Manager for Queensland, Dean Gaedtke, said Komatsu was proud of the individ-ual achievements of Eben and is keen to offer support in the achievement of his personal goals.

“We’re glad that Eben can use machin-ery from his workplace to warm up for the World’s Strongest Man competition,” said Mr Gaedtke. “This event was a lot of fun, and everybody enjoyed seeing Eben in action.

The world titles for the competition are to be held in Los Angeles.

Don’t try this at home . . .

“ . . . he warmed up for the tilt at the title by dragging a Komatsu WA480 wheel loader six metres along the driveway recently.”


146th EDITION. 2012

CSIRO not happy over gas ad claimTHE CSIRO has rejected claims made by the coal seam gas industry in a television advertising campaign and is demanding the ads be pulled.

The commercial includes the statement: ‘’CSIRO [and government studies] have shown that groundwater is safe with coal seam gas.’’

However, the national science body says this claim is untrue.

‘’At no time has CSIRO made such a statement, and nor do the results of CSIRO research support such a statement,’’ the organisation said.

‘’CSIRO has stated on the public record that coal seam gas extraction is likely to pose a low risk to groundwater quality through contamination.’’

The commercials were produced and aired for the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association to offset criticism from opponents and correct “untruths”.

“There is a co-ordinated, well resourced

campaign under way by the Green move-ment and fringe activists to spread untruths and myths about natural CSG production throughout rural and regional communi-ties,” APPEA Chief Operating Officer East-ern Region, Rick Wilkinson said.

“The Greens and partner activists are driven by ideology that has scant regard for the future of natural gas supply to Austral-ian households, industry and overseas trad-ing partners.

“Our industry will continue to highlight the benefits gas companies are now bring-ing to the national economy through jobs, investment, community funding, technolog-ical research and innovation.

“We will also continue to highlight the industry’s immense technological capaci-ty and its commitment to cutting-edge envi-ronmental management.”

The ads cost a reported $2.5 million to put together.

News

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MORE than 50 Mackay Year 10 students received hands-on experience at an oper-ational site at Hail Creek Mine recently as part of Mackay Engineering College’s Try Trades programme.

The interactive programme provides stu-dents studying a trade certificate with first-hand experience and information about career opportunities.

Mackay Engineering College programme coordinator Bob Baker said the programme targets electrical, fabrication and mechanical trades and opens students’ eyes to the career opportunities available in the community.

“The Hail Creek Mine site visit as part of the programme gives students a solid understanding of how a mine really oper-ates and they were blown away by the sheer size of the machinery,” he said.

The programme runs over a number of weeks and is supported by a range of local trade businesses, including Hail Creek Mine, which has supported the program for four years through coordinating site visits.

“The programme forms an important

link in our community to ensure young people make informed choices about their future career options,” Mr Baker said.

Pioneer State High School Year 10 stu-dent Emily Brand said the Try Trades program made her more aware of the importance of safety in the workplace.

“I was very interested in how the mine site was actually created and surprised by the size of the vehicles. I hope to undertake an elec-trical apprenticeship one day and I found the site visit very informative in helping me understand the range of electrical trades avail-able in the mining industry,” she said.

Hail Creek Mine general manager oper-ations Rowan Munro said it was important for students to have access to opportunities such as this programme, to help them under-stand what is involved in a trade career and the types of education and training required to become a qualified tradesperson.

“This is part of our commitment to build-ing capacity within the communities where we operate to develop strong and sustaina-ble communities in the future,” he said.

School students keen to get hands dirty

Pioneer State High School student Emily Brand, Mackay North State High School student Nikita McCarthy, Mackay Engineering College business manager Sylvia Warren and Mackay North State High School Student Brandon Watts at Hail Creek Mine.

STRATEGIC land in resource centres is to be bought by the Newman Government.

More than $30 million is to be spent by the state on securing land and land corri-dors near Gladstone and Townsville.

About $19.5 million will be spent to secure land for the Callide to Gladstone LNG Corridor and the Stanwell to Glad-stone Infrastructure Corridor.

A further $4.5 million will be provided for these corridors over the forward esti-mates, the government says.

The land and easements will allow the gas transmission pipeline corridor for LNG from the Callide Range through the Glad-stone State Development Area (GSDA) to Curtis Island.

More than $10 million has been approved over the next three years to acquire land for future industry development in the GSDA (Targinie), and $7.3 million will be spent in the current financial year.

The government has allocated increased funding of $6 million in 2012-13 to finalise compensation payments for land acquisition in the Townsville State Development Area.

Meanwhile, an extra $2.8 million will be spent on coal seam gas regulation on top of the $5 million already allocated for 2012-13.

The government allocated $12 mil-lion over the next three years to fund projects run by grassroots community groups in Gladstone to support harbour rehabilitation.

Strategic land targeted(L-R) Hail Creek Mine business services advisor Marie Cameron and electrical apprentice Chloe-Jane Nobes, Mackay Engineering College programme coordinator Bob Baker,


GAS industry jobs have spiked in Queensland.Latest figures from Australian Petrole-

um & Production Exploration Association show there are now more than 18,500 peo-ple working in the state’s gas industry.

That’s a jump of 7000 in the last quar-ter. In comparison New South Wales had 39 extra jobs for a total of 332 positions for the same period.

APPEA chief executive David Byers said the Queensland industry was contin-uing to create jobs and “breath life” into rural and regional communities.

“CSG to LNG projects worth almost $50 billion are progressing in Queensland, cre-ating thousands of jobs and breathing new life into rural and regional communities,” he told Shift Miner.

“The Queensland industry signed 306 new landholder agreements in the second quarter of 2012 and 2898 such agreements are now in place in that state.

“There have been no formal disputes of access in either state; gas companies and landholders are working hard to ensure industry and farming can work side by side for mutual benefit.”

An example of the jobs being created in the industry was the awarding this week of a contract to construct a 4.3 kilometre tunnel under The Narrows to connect the Gladstone mainland to the Santos GLNG LNG Plant on Curtis Island.

The 3.4 metre internal diameter, seg-mentally lined tunnel will serve as the con-duit for the Santos GLNG gas transmission line and will be built by Thiess.

Thiess managing director Bruce Mun-ro described the $134million contract with Saipem as a strong endorsement of the company’s tunnelling expertise.

“Thiess’ versatile tunnelling capability

is already being deployed in the LNG sec-tor in Western Australia and we’re excit-ed to now bring our tunnelling expertise to Queensland’s LNG industry,” Mr Mun-ro said.

Thiess has already landed contracts in the LNG industry in both Queensland and Western Australia in worker accommoda-tion, site preparation, tank construction, gas processing facilities and tunnels.

Thiess will construct the tunnel using a tun-nel boring machine and the concrete segments used to line the tunnel will be cast on site.

Mobilisation is expected to commence on site this month preparing for tunnelling activities to commence later in the year.

APPEA figures show the Queensland industry contributed an additional $13.5 million to community projects in the last quarter and has now directly contributes $84 million to state’s regional Queensland.

This includes investment in rescue hel-icopters, hospitals, schools and sporting clubs.

SHIFTMINERladder

G E T W H E R E Y O U W A N T T O B E

“That’s a jump of 7000 in the last quarter. In comparison New South Wales had 39 extra jobs for a total of 332 positions for the same period.”

Gas jobs leap as projects surge


146th EDITION. 2012@home

YOUR partner has been away on shift for a week or two, leaving you home alone to manage the chil-dren. On his return, all he wants to

do is a zoom, zoom, zoom and a boom-boom.Fighting over sex is certainly not the

homecoming either of you wanted, and you may even be questioning that old adage “absence make the heart grow fonder”.

Before you start accusing each other and blaming a flagging libido, take five minutes to have a look at your relationship.

And don’t start grasping for the excuse “FIFO is ruining my love life”, because accord-ing to the resident psychologist for the website Mining Family Matters, that’s simply not true.

“Lots of long-term couples say it [FIFO]

actually helps keep the relationship alive. It keeps the excitement and you don’t get into the mundane,” says Angie Willcocks.

With the rise of FIFO and DIDO work-forces in Queensland, there has been a lot of media attention on the impact of absent rosters on home life.

But Ms Willcocks says FIFO couples face the same relationship problems as everyone else, it’s just the roster can exacerbate them.

“It [negative media] doesn’t help.... it is more useful to say people are going to do it [FIFO], so what can we do to make people resilient?”

So what can you do? First of all, says Ms Willcocks, regularly review your relationship and deal with the elements that aren’t working.

Each person needs to tend to the rela-

tionship and not become complacent.“I talk to my clients and liken a relation-

ship to a garden – you each need to do jobs to keep it beautiful and not all of it is exciting.”

Ms Willcocks recommends the book The Five Languages of Love, which talks about what it is that makes you partner feel loved and needed.

The author describes the five different languages: quality time, words of affirma-tion, gifts, acts of service and physical touch.

The trouble is not everyone “speaks” the same language and if you express loves towards others in a way they don’t under-stand, they may not realise you’ve expressed your love at all.

“In FIFO, if your partner is working away and you know his love language is words of affirmation, then you need to let him know that he is loved and appreciated.”

Another challenge for those working FIFO and DIDO is that it can take time for couples to reconnect emotionally.

“Some people don’t feel like having sex until they have connected and it can take a day or two,” Ms Willcocks says.

It is even more difficult when you have small children because you can fall into the trap of “I am more tired than you!”

It is vital for both partners to know what each other is experiencing and stay connected.

“You also need to re-visit why you are doing FIFO. Often both partners have made the decision to go into it, and often this can pull you both together,” says Ms Willcocks.

Top tips to relationship successPsychologist Angie Willcocks says to work as a team and realise we all have good days and bad days. Don’t get into the blame game.

Don’t underestimate the importance of sleep, as fatigue has a huge impact and can become a serious health issue or occupational hazard. Make sure your partner doing shift work gets enough sleep, is in good health and has medical checkups.

Shift Miner readers have their say on the best way to keep your FIFO relationship on track:

Rod: You really need to have a solid relationship with good communication and a lot of trust for it to work out.

Bec: Don’t fight over the phone when you’re apart as it turns a simple problem into a major disaster. It’s not worth the hurt.

You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling


146th EDITION. 2012

Holding a social event you want photographed? Call the Shift Miner office on 4921 4333 to let us know. You can also give our office a bell if you’d like a copy of any of the photos in this edition.

arouNd towN

ONCE UPON A TIME Story time at Moranbah Library

(L-R) Kyla Milburn, Summer Taylor

Bayliss Hall Zoe Milburn

Grace Kelleher Madison Kelleher

(L-R) Vicki Frisby, Courtney Enwey, Coral Maree (L-R) Brendon Cox, Dylan Smith

(L-R) Bianca O’Toole, Jess Azzoparoi, Lisa Smith (L-R) Bianca O’Toole, Tellie Cameron, Lisa Smith, Miss Amazing. (L-R) Tanya Mundey, Kara Poll, Peter O’Toole

Darren Davis

Maiya DownieKyla Milburn Hayden Blines William Blines

(L-R) Courtney Haack, Bonnie Maultby, Hayley King, Cassie Redden, Rebecca McGragh, Tahila Mills

HOWDY PARTNER! “Wild West” night at the Black Nugget Hotel


146th EDITION. 2012

www.shiftminer.comBUY THIS AND MANY OTHER IMAGES AT

Shift Miner magazine – bringing the mining community closer together

arouNd towN

PAPUA NEW BLACKWATER!

(L-R) Austin, Jenny, Rami, Annie Kipan

Teahnee MacKay and Shelby Broun (L-R) Shearna Smith, Junior Lai,Bobby Washington and Corey Huggins Shaylee Booker Tim Sheridan with Thomas Byrne

(L-R) Shirlian, Margaret and Shani Lova

(L-R) Kev Cracknell, Neil and Ann McLean

Christine and Perry Dedes and son

Lee-Anne and Ryan Cracknell

Nahum and Renee Hall

(L-R) Kay Jones, Peter and Theresa Foley and Brad Duke

(L-R) Ngahuia Barlien, Chelsey Lang and Polly Miller Jo and William McCabe

SEEN AT BLACKWATER DISABILITY ACTION WEEK

Singing, dancing and story telling at the Blackwater PNG multicultural night.


146th EDITION. 2012

Got somethinG to share? send us your text messages or phone photos to

0428 154 653 or email to [email protected]

Is the five finger discount OK? (5 finger discount - redundancy triggers theft, P1 SM145)

Everyone I know takes the odd little thing home to kit out the workshop. A pair of gloves or something like that. Most of it would only go to waste anyway, so I can’t see it is a big problem. Justin, Baralaba

Everyone is guilty, theft is theft, and people should pull their heads in. Craig, Mackay

I run a small contracting business, with about 20 blokes working for us, and we know this is a huge issue. But we need our people so we just have to cop it on the chin. But I do take it personally. Most of it I would happily give to our staff, but the fact that they just take it really pisses me off. Ray, Paget.

I am crying crocodile tears for the big miners who made billion dollar profits this year. The waste I see on site means I have no problems with taking something home. Mick, Moranbah.

The “Black Day” Phenomenon still a hot topic (Black day no joke for workers, P8, SM144) :

I have to say I am getting a little tired of this whinging. All I read is about how hard it is for miners to leave their families (the ‘black’ day), how hard it is for the families left behind to cope and how the big, bad mining companies are trying to change the rosters so it interferes with family time.

Well, welcome to the world of the white collar worker. We have had to put up with this for decades and we don’t complain.

Either you accept that with the big money comes sacrifices, or you change your job.

White collar workers don’t get paid overtime and, when on a salary equivalent to what a miner gets, you are expected to be on call 24/7. And if you don’t like the fact you don’t see your family or that you may be called into an urgent meeting during your son’s rugby game - that’s tough.

If you don’t like it, you have a choice.

Penelope, Gladstone

Bill from Blackwater - spot on mate.

I was a shearer for seven years, my father still is and has been for 36 years. My missus has never seen me so much since I started mining.

Home for six months of the year!!!

I love it. I’ve worked all types of rosters 4 - 1, 2-1, 1-1 and the other littler rosters. I love 1-1 you can plan your life around it knowing every second weekend you’ll be home.

Being away for 8-12 weeks sometimes shearing was painful, no mobile service, get rained in, quarters with no doors.

I love this mining life, and yes I have been doing this for awhile, 11 years and currently a senior supervisor. I did my hard yards.

Anonymous

Also you can now put in your two Bob’s worth on some of the letters to Frank by going to our facebook page (www.facebook.com/shiftminer) or SMS : 0428 154 653

Last week’s letter was:

Dear Frank, My wife and I recently had our first child and we couldn’t be happier.

The only problem is that my wife is insisting I give up my hobbies in order to stay home and help out around the house. I know I’ve got to be there sometimes, but at the same time I don’t really want to give up all my hobbies and interests. How can I make my wife see there needs to be a balance between helping out with the baby and getting out of the house for some ‘man time’?

John, Emerald,

More help for you John from our Facebook community:

Well think of it this way, will u feel the same when ur wife wants lady time????? but no u shouldn’t have to give up everything, has to be a happy medium, but u cant expect her to do it all by herself :) Cherylee Langtry

If everything gets taken away that makes u happy outside of family then family life will become an unhappy place to stay. Everyone needs to find a balance in life and if everyone comes together then everything u enjoy in moderation can b done. Work together to find a happy medium. U get to do some of the fun things u enjoy and ur wife gets to do some of her things 2. U both need to work together Catrina Tinka Gollan

SEEN SOMETHING WE HAVEN’T?Prizes for the best mining Photos.Take iT on your phone or camera and send iT in

Text to 0428 154 653 [email protected]

stuff to the editor

CR-apple (crappy apple) Redmond’s RantsI will rule this crappy planet one day and when I finally get to the top I intend to put a ban on that filthiest of all fruits. The apple. My overthrow of all things apple-related will free mankind from the scourge of the most biblical and boring fruit.

The original problem of death and disease can be traced back to Adam biting into the bland, under-flavoured fruit in the Garden of Eden, upon which he was ejected from the garden, taking with him any chance humans had of a living paradise. Damn apple.

The most underrated hero of folklore surely must be William Tell. William shot an apple that was placed on top of the head of his son - not for a dare - but, rather, because he took a bite and the blandness and boringness insulted his taste buds to revolt. He hit that apple right

through its flesh with his best iron tip arrow, sending its mutilated remains crashing to the hard, dry earth below.

Another major mis-fact is that Sleeping Beauty took a bite of a poisoned apple, causing her to sleep for 100 years. Incorrect people. The truth is Sleeping Beauty was on a little diet and had not had a deep fried Mars Bar or pork ribs for hours. Her stomach growling, Sleeping Beauty grabbed an apple hoping to suppress the earthquake-like hunger pangs. She bit down into the fruit hoping for a lavish, delicious kaleidoscope of flavour and texture to rock her tastebuds. Instead, the fruit, with its oxygen taste and watery texture drove her into abject boredom. She threw the apple over her shoulder, said “whatever” and decided to face a century of sleep hoping that upon her awakening she would discover mankind had created

a new kind of apple worth eating. Damn apple. What’s the story with apple juice? Why drink it? The

flavour? The look? Apple juice drinkers are urine freaks . . . bored, boring, stupid urine drinking freaks. Damn Apples.

PS: If you are the person responsible for making the “fruit salad” at my local supermarket I am going to bury your recipe in a bath of concrete and battery acid on a rainy, stormy night. You have incorrectly labelled your fruit salad. It should read “apple pie with no pastry”. When you are loading up your “fruit salad” with cheap, old apples remember that one day you will stand shame-faced in front of Saint Peter at the pearly gates. Try explaining to him your misuse (aka sin) of apples. If St Pete is a fair man you will perish upon his doorstep and the guardian dogs of Hell will feast upon your stinking,

rotten, bloated corpse. Now, repeat after me: passionfruit, mango, watermelon, rockmelon, pineapple, kiwi fruit, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, bananas. These thing will help you avoid having your eyes eaten by Lucifer’s evil, flame-throwing crows... STOP PUTTING APPLE IN MY FRUIT SALAD.

Who is Redmond?Redmond was born in a cross-fire hurricane and now resides in Queensland. Former Golden Glove champ turned champion shearer, his shearing career was cut short when he entered the adult film industry and made 3467 films in three months. He now enjoys semi-retirement and lives happily on his 100,000 acre property with his seven wives. He has received the annual Golden Pen award from the Writer’s Guild four years in a row in the Truth Telling category...

WHAT a bleak few weeks it has been in the resources sector.

House prices plummeting, theft from work sites on the increase and a savage budget that raises the costs of doing busi-ness in Queensland.

And of course then there are the job cuts. Readers will think there isn’t a lot positive in the industry at the moment. Of course there still is - there’s just more challenges before people than there were earlier this year.

Even with the job cuts and layoffs resources is better off than many oth-er industries as there is demand for skills and there are many projects that want workers.

Far better to be in resources than being a career bureaucrat in Brisbane at present as the government continues to sharpen the axe.

While the nation was transfixed with how hot the house prices were in Moran-

bah at the start of the year they will now be equally talking about the slide.

Some people will get hurt as shown by the figures in our front page story. Some people have made a motza and trotted off into the sunset (or perhaps the sunrise on the coast).

A drop in house prices doesn’t mean the end of the town though or the end of the world. Perhaps it’s more of a correc-tion. Time will tell.

It’s days like these that everyone has to take a deep breath and re-assess what their role is in the industry and highlight the good things that are happening. If you know of friends or workers that are con-cerned about the jobs or their investments now is the time to check they are OK.

If we all start talking down the indus-try there is only one way it will go.

FROM THE EDITOR

Greg SweetnamcommenT or

sms 0428 154 653

Stuff to the editor

Join the conversation at

www.facebook.com/shiftminer


146th EDITION. 2012

IN EUROPE - They said you’d never make it but you finally came through…goon bags, this one is made for you.

That Aussie innovation, the inspirational goon bag, has made it to the streets of Par-is and is at last getting the kind of couture recognition it has always been capable of.

According to news.com.au, Swed-ish winemaker Vernissage has released a designer “wine handbag”, which aims to make boxed wine classy - and fashionable.

The “bag-in-bag” vino comes complete with arm strap so you can tuck up to three litres of your favourite drop under your arm for easy carrying. Genius.

With a shimmering checkerboard design, an easy-pour tap on one end and a choice of three designer colours and varieties, you can coordinate your look when attending your next Goon and Coon knees up.

And for those who thought its versatility was limited to a pass-out pillow or a mere cog in the wheel of goon. Shame.

IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY – Territorians finding crocs lurking in the backyard pool…yawn so passé, but a buffa-lo is a little bit different.

A Humpty Doo couple was aghast to wake up to discover a water buffalo frol-icking (naked) in their home spa.

Real estate agent Christine Habel, 60, thought her husband was pulling her leg

when he reported the tale of the uninvited pool party guest.

“I was still half asleep - and there was a water buffalo grazing happily on the back lawn,” she told The NT News.

“This buffalo was standing in the family spa, playing with the chlorinator, headbut-ting it around,” she said. “He was just hav-ing a wow of a time.

Rather than calling the cops or trying to get the indecent beast to at least put some clothes on, the couple did the sensible thing and just moved the big fella on.

“We managed to herd him out and he went down the road and tried to get back into our place half an hour later. But we’d shut the gate by then.

IN THE NT AGAIN – Forget water buf-falos, they don’t death roll a man. What we want out of our territory news is crocs, big bone crunching crocs.

Well it isn’t a death roll but this 3.5m bruiser picked a fight with an outboard motor and didn’t come off too shabbily.

A fisherman has told how the sizeable salt-ie attacked their boat and took a big chunk out of the engine in a 90-minute assault while he and his brother and mate were sleeping on it.

Recreational fisherman Dean Bennett, 22, told The NT News: “It meant business.

Mr Bennett, his 12-year-old broth-er Matt Davies and friend Ian Boyle were anchored at the mouth of the South Alliga-tor River with another fishing boat when they heard a loud bang and splash.

“Someone else turned on a torch and there was the crocodile at the back of my boat,” he said.

“It had taken chunks out of the engine. It didn’t just have a little nibble - it took a big bite.

Crocodiles, which are very territorial, have been known to attack engines.

The crocodile finally disappeared after being smacked over the head with a metal pole.

Fair dinkum!

M: 0448 243 343 E: [email protected] dweDaryl Watson Engineering

www.dweonline.netSpecialising in the timely delivery of on-spec components for your business.

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This is a tricky situation, especially since it sounds like vegetarianism is something that’s really important to your girlfriend.

I would suggest talking with her and perhaps striking some sort of compromise.

Maybe you could agree to only eat meat or meat products from free range animals?

Or maybe you could agree to volun-teer or donate to an animal rights organi-sation as ‘penance’ for your meat eating.

Hopefully she’s as passionate about you as she is about vegetarianism, and she can see the merit in a compromise!susan

Sensible Susan

Frank the Tank’s “Streakin”

good love advice

Dear Frank,My girlfriend and I have been together for about two years and generally everything is great. There’s just one problem. She’s a vegetarian and a very ‘meat is murder’ type vegetarian at that, which strongly conflicts with my love of charred animal flesh.She keeps pressuring me to give up meat and become a vegetarian but I really don’t want to. What should I do?Ben, Clermont.

Before I get started, let me just say that vegetarians disturb me to my very core.

I believe it’s our evolutionary right as human beings to feast upon all members of the animal kingdom.

I also believe it’s our duty as human beings to attempt to genetically engineer new creatures, so that we may harvest their delicious meat.

In fact, I have been secretly inject-ing chicken semen into a local farmer’s cows to try and fast track this process. So far, however, my experiments have not proved fruitful.

Also, Ben, chicks don’t dig vegetarians. Sure, some women might claim they like sensitive guys who believe in “causes” and have “morals”, but nothing will prove your virility and drive a woman crazier than watching you eat some wild, exotic animal.

I once ate a four kilo omelette, com-prising mainly cobra meat, gorilla blood and tiger penises, and for about two months afterwards women were run-ning up to me in the streets and literally tearing their clothes off — do you think I would have elicited the same reaction if I’d eaten a four kilo hunk of tofu?

What I’m trying to tell you here, Ben, is that even if she doesn’t know it, your girlfriend will lose respect for you if you give up meat because you’ll be giving up part of your manhood.

What you need to do is stop thinking about whether you’re going to give up eat-ing meat and work out how you’re going to get your girlfriend to start eating it.

I strongly recommend using the old “double barrel” of lies and deceit to win her over.

Tell her that you’ve seen the light and that you’re ready to embrace vegetarian-ism in all its glory.

Offer to cook some vegetarian meals and secretly lace them with meat. Choose cuisine that doesn’t really look like any-thing (curries, soups etc) so it’ll be hard for your girlfriend to know what the actu-al ingredients are.

After a few weeks she’ll be so hope-lessly addicted to meat she won’t even be able to look at a vegetable without wrap-ping it in bacon, deep frying it and melt-ing cheese on it.

Having to answer an entire letter about food is making me hungry. I think I might head down to that oriental butcher shop and see if they still sell chimp meat.

FrankBen,

If you have a question for Frank and Susan Email Us at: [email protected]

fair diNKum

CR-apple (crappy apple)

File this under S for style! Picture: Vernissage Source: news.com.au


PLOUGH FOR SALE

Grizzly S24 plough very

good condition new

bearings discs about 1/2

worn located near rocky.

$17000 plus gst ono.

Phone 0429 948 198

CAR FOR SALE2006 DODGE RAM 3500

SLT Lonestar Edition Heavy Duty

5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel Allison auto trans. Wood grain

inserts 5th wheel hitch, tow bar 4 door dual cab

Dula Wheels104000klms

$79 000 onoPhone: 0432 429 264

UNIT FOR SALE100sqm renovated open plan unit with a HUGE

balcony overlooking the Sunshine Coast’s best point break!! Austar,

gym, 150m lagoon pool. Great investment BETTER

lifestyle! More info/pics avail. Be Quick!

Phone: 0424 108 784

HOUSE FOR SALEGRACEMERE, Immaculate 4BR home BIR. 18 solar panels. Fully insulated & A/C. Ceiling fans. 2 bathrooms. 2 Toilets.

Double lock-up garage. Stainless steel kitchen

appliances. Spacious open plan kitchen, dining &

lounge. Potential rental return above $22 000p/a.

$429,000Phone: 0418 796 074

HOUSE FOR SALECoolum Beach 2 bed, 2 bath aptmt for sale

with ocean views, fully furnished, air con, pool

and heated spa.Includes huge double

with surround sound plus satellite. Walking distance

to Coolum Beach$330.000 ono

Phone: 0411 567 244

LAND FOR SALE

BURNETT RIVER FRONTAGE

100acres, 600m of river frontage, 10meg water allocation, ex dairy farm, power at front of block, cleared, dam, cattle yards, 20mins to Gin Gin – 25 mins to Childers

$290K neg.

Phone: 0439 861 946

HOUSE FOR SALE

Gracemere acreage and

residence. Large well

appointed 5 bedroom

home on 10 acres.

Stables, yards, shed,

bore. 3 km from new

shopping centre.

$700,000

Phone: 07 4933 3106

CAR FOR SALE2008 H3 HUMMER Luxury

6.2lt V8 LS3. Auto transmission. Full leather,

BOSE sound, 22” American racing rims.Only known H3 V8 in Australia. Collector’s item. 27000kms. Excellent

condition. Very classy vehicle with performance to match.

$73,000 onoPhone: 0427 189 834

LAND FOR SALE

PROSERPINE

Rural land. 15 min cbd proserpine. 2x200 acre lots. good grazing land

and house sites will sell seperatly POA

$520,000 the pair Phone: 0447 031 588

BUSINESS FOR SALESACK THE BOSS AND

EARN REAL $Dry Ice blasting/cleaning

equipment including website. dry ice unit

only 60hrs! Kaeser air compressor only107hrs! Genuine reason for sale.

cost $96000. can be relocated anywhere!

$69000 onoPhone: 0410 091 105

HOUSE FOR SALE MACLEAY ISLAND

Your own private resortAbsolute waterfront homeRetire or use as a getaway

www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-eay+island-111073031

Phone: 1300 091 773

HOUSE/LAND FOR SALEMOUNT PERRY

” Main Top” Best most usable 40 acres in town.

great mountain veiws, hay shed, machinery shed, dam, House requires

work. Power to house.Plenty of feed, Potential to work 7 on 7 off roster at

mount Rawdon Gold mine. $235,000

Phone: 0488 079 675

BIKE FOR SALE

KAWASAKI VN 900 CUSTOM

2007 Model. After market

cobra pipes, only 6000km

as new bike, registered

$8,500

Phone : 0433 155 816

CAR FOR SALE2010 TOYOTA HILUX

Mine Spec, BMA Thiess Mac

Maxxis Iron Mud Tires, ADB Bull Bar, Lightforce Driving Light,Twin Battery, Snorkle, Iron-Man Lift Kit, Mine Radio

x 2, UHF, 135 Litre Fuel Tank, Oconners Tray,

Toolboxes, Fire Ext 1st Aid MSDS.

$ 46 500Phone: 0421 000 789

BUSINESS FOR SALE 2 X PRIME MOVERS

With large capacity cranes,4 Trailers, Bundy based,

Soild work contacts, Carrying house frames

and trussestoGladstone,Rocky,Mackayand Central

Highlands.established 1981 T\O approx $380,000

Call for more info and picsAsking $350,000 WIWO

Phone: 0408 988 866

CAR AND CARAVAN FOR SALE

F250 + SIERRA 5TH WHEELER

30ft, both 2006,both reg Oct 12, one bdrm unit on wheels,

rear kitchen,q/bed,2 TVs,solar,

gen 2.4kva,has much more $145,000 neg

Phone: 0413 317 292

BUSINESS FOR SALE

Looking for an investment that drives itself?

Open Taxi Licence for sale in Rockhampton

Currently leased @ $385 inc gst/week

Includes shares in Rockhampton Cab CompanyPerfect sideline income

$320,000 neg

Phone: 0407 373 664

LAND FOR SALE

YEPPOON

Acreage Living, City Conveniences!

4000 sqm North facing, corner premium block, 5 minutes from CBD, schools, transport.

Plenty of space for shed, pool, kids to play.

$300,000

Phone: 0409 391 254

HOUSE FOR SALEYEPPOON

New 4 bedroom 2 bathroom brick home.

Aircon in main bedroom & Media room. Fans

throughout.Double garage elec roller doors. Security screens.

$449,000

Phone: 0421 601 710

UNIT FOR SALE MACKAY

The solution to accommodation in Mackay. Stay a few

days, earn income while you’re away. 1 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom Beachfront Resort living, pool and

restaurant onsite.

For More Info Call:

Phone: 0428 227 623

CAMPER AND CAR FOR SALE

Compass slide-on camper on Ford F250 ute.Camper sleeps 2 plus makeup 3rd. Range of accessories incl.F250XL 2001, 4.2L diesel, 190,000km, strengthened springs, UHF, compressor.

Whole unit $50,000 ono. Camper only

$17,000 ono.

Phone: 0407 913 914

BOAT FOR SALE

SAILING CATAMARAN

12.6m Light Cruiser.

Sleeps 3.Auxiliary

motor,dinghy and outboard.

Located at Yeppoon.

Call for full inventory and

inspection.

$150,000

Phone: 0448 874 000

HOUSE/LAND FOR SALE NORTH OF YEPPOON 40ha.Open country,

House,Dam,Bore(1100gl/ph)Submersible pump,Yards &ramp Excellent

garden & views.50ks nth of Yeppoon Turnoff. 1.3ks off highway,bitumen road.

School buses from Highway

$595,000 ono

Phone: 07 4937 3564

CAR FOR SALE2008 TOYOTA

AVENSIS VERSO 68000 Ks, 4 doors 7 seats, 4 cyl. A1 condition. New

tyres. Complied 2009 Rear nudge-bar. Full logs. All Toyota serviced. Always kept undercover. With 7 seats there’s plenty of

space for the whole family.$21,900 NEG

Phone : 0413 913 042

LAMPS FOR SALEGENUINE PROTECTOR

ECCLES MINING LAMPS

Not Reproduction

Varying models and condition in full size working lamps.

Miniature ornamental lamps available.

Phone : 07 4933 6310

CAR FOR SALE

FORD MUSTANG

CONVERTABLE 67

302 V8 Auto. Left Hand

Drive, Disc Brakes.

Excellent Condition,

Fully Restored

$48,000

Phone: 07 4933 7305

BOAT FOR SALE2004 PowerCat 2600 Sports

Cabriolet. Twin 115hp Yamaha 4 stroke engines. Sleeps 4, Toilet, Shower. Road registered tandem

trailer. Always maintained and kept in a shed. All safety gear. Excellent

condition. Registered until September 2013.

Reduced to $108,000 Very Negotiable

Phone: 0409 630 311

BUSINESS FOR SALE

INVESTMENT FREEHOLD HOTEL MOTEL

One hour from Bundaberg 9 year lease with experienced tenant

returning $57,200 p.yr + annual CPI increases.

$540,000

Phone: 07 4151 4500


146th EDITION. 2012

Tune into the Michael J. Breakfast show from 7:35 am every Monday for 4RO's CQ Mining Update, with special guest Angus from Shift Miner.

Greg CaryMichael BaileyWeekdays 5am - 9am Weekdays 9am - 12pm

Weekdays 12pm - 1pmAlan Jones

Weekdays 1pm - 6pmLaurie Atlas

SALES ENQUIRIES: (07) 4920 2000PHONE: 1300 872 911WWW.4RO.COM.AU

NOW WITH MORE NEWS, MORE TALK AND THE MUSIC YOU LOVE

off shift

10 TO 1 ROCK

ALBUMSWiTH JaMES BaHNiSCH

Shift Miner Magazine

counts down the best

rock albums of all time

Neil Young’s Harvest rocks at 6 IN 1972 Canadian musician Neil Young unleashed his album Harvest and cemented his spot as one of the most influential singer-songwriters of the 20th century.

This album runs along a winning formula for any great rock album. It has dramatic climaxes, dreary lows and incredible lyricism. Brilliant rock albums like this is why we listen to music: to be subject to emotions, to captivate and entrance, to leave you speechless at the end and to think, “Wow, what a journey!”

Sadly, with the turn of the millenium the formula for true music has been lost and only a select minority of alternative artist still posses the ability to produce an actual ‘album’. For the love of music I have placed Harvest at number six.

Harvest featurs various artists throughout, such as Ben Keith helping on the steel pedal guitar, Kenny Buttrey on the drums and Tim Drummond plucking away on the bass. The album also features the famous James Taylor ,whom Young met while the two artist were performing on the Johnny Cash show in 1971. After meeting, Neil invited Taylor back to the studio and he featured on two tunes which later became two of the most successful off the album (“Heart of Gold” and “Old Man”).

The album is a fusion of blues, rock, country and skiffle, a unique blend that reached that masses to an extent that was previously unknown to Young. The timeless melodies off this EP are still played on radio stations today.

One of these is the heartwarming classic “Heart of Gold”. The track begins with the Young’s instantly recognisable guitar riff and then is accompanied by the soft vibrations of Neil’s famous weapon of choice, the harmonica. With lyrics such as; ‘I’ve been a miner for a heart of gold’, Neil Young’s persona quickly became that of a down-to-earth, talented man whose

music was seemingly unaffected by time.Another key song of the album is the song “The

Needle And The Damage Done”. The tune address drug addiction in the music industry, which at the time was an increasing occurrence. It was allegedly written about the tragic story of former bandmate Danny Whitten, who had a heroin addiction. He would get so high in studio sessions he could barely lift his guitar. In 1971, Young fired him, gave him $50 for rehab and a plane ticket to Los Angeles. On arrival in LA Whitten died of a lethal overdose of alcohol and valium. Before performing the track on the Johnny Cash Show, Young said: “Many great artists get affected by it, a lot of great art goes down the drain.”

Neil was often referred to as the ‘Godfather Of Grunge’ for his later work and its influence in the creation of grunge music in the late 80s and early 90s. Some distinguishable aspects of this album contain the essence of grunge, in particular the incredible guitar mastery on the tune “Words”.

The timelessness and innovation of this album will forever remain untouched. They really don’t make albums like Harvest anymore. This album comes in at number six of my top 10 albums of all time.

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DOWN 1. Good Friday period 2. Served (soup) 3. Cowardly person 4. Running off to marry 6. Career-driven (2-7) 7. Cartoon movie artist 8. Airmail correspondence11. Healing gel, aloe ...15. Working17. Edinburgh is there18. Outdoor grill20. Vanished beneath the waves21. Brief hitches22. Defuse23. Flexed (muscles)26. Astound

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146th EDITION. 2012

FISHING IN YEPPOON

BOB from Cap Coast Sport and Hobby Centre says the weather on the coast has been absolutely spanking.

And the good weather is not just for making pretty postcards; the calm condi-tions are bringing in the bait and on cue the mac are starting to move in.

Being pelagic fish, they are always on the move but Bob reckons giving Findlays, Coni-cal or Barren a burl should give you a good go.

Bob says there are some nice flathead up the creeks and they are coming in around the 400mm mark.

Barra are also starting to move and Coorooman, in particular, is fishing really well - as in 1m 47cm’s of really well.

There are a few crabs about and some small prawns up the creeks.

According to Bob, the Fitzroy has had some nice small prawns but unfortunate-ly the jellyfish also know how to sniff out a good thing and have been there in numbers.

FISHING IN GLADSTONE

CONDITIONS and fishing have both been pretty upbeat around Gladstone, according to Dylan at Pat’s Tackle World.

With plenty of barra, mangrove jacks plus grunter and bream about, why wouldn’t you be chipper?

When targeting mangrove jack, Dylan says “live mullet are quite effective or give

mad mullets or thready busters” a shot.The good weather has meant lots of fish-

ing folk getting a chance to get out wide and those that have had the opportunity have been bringing back reef fish like red emper-or, coral trout and red throats.

Dylan reckons around Masthead, Doug-las Shoals and North-West Island have been turning up the reds.

It also sounds like Awoonga Dam is join-ing in the feel-good vibe and throwing up barras in the vicinity of 500-600cm.

With reports of one lady hauling in eight bodies, Dylan recommends trying the upper reaches for “a good bit of fun”.

FISHING IN MACKAY

The conditions are looking so hot to trot off Mackay, Bruce from Nashy’s Compleat Angler reckons if you own a boat or gear and you are not getting amongst it then you are not really serious.

Both creeks and blue water should be fishing an absolute dream and Bruce reckons “the barra are coming on the chew like you wouldn’t believe”. And they are coming in numbers and in size

so make the most of this September/Octo-ber purple patch before the closure kicks in.

Bruce says there is no need to shelve your fantasies of landing metre-plus mon-sters as the barra are fishing really big in the dams.

Lures seem to have the most success in the fresh water while go for lures or live bait in the salty stuff.

“Flathead and grunter have been real-ly good over sandflats in the estuaries,” says Bruce.

Plus he reckons over the next couple of weeks, while the water remains flat, the mac should be well and truly on.

Bruce recommends getting stuck in with herring and pilchards or by spinning chrome based lures.

The good news just keeps coming with salmon still lurking about.

Focus around the front of creeks and look for dirty water.

And if you have the time for an over-nighter, there will be plenty of boats getting out and about and most likely filling their eskies with a range of high quality table fish.

BAIT SHOP BANTER

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TIDE TIMES Sep/OctMon 24 Tue 25 Wed 26 Thu 27 Fri 28 Sat 29 Sun 30

Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht

0417 2.97 0534 3.21 0028 0.74 0113 0.55 0153 0.45 0228 0.42 0300 0.43

1017 1.23 1136 1.04 0632 3.47 0718 3.67 0757 3.80 0832 3.88 0905 3.92

1700 3.71 1805 3.89 1236 0.84 1324 0.69 1404 0.62 1441 0.60 1514 0.64

2332 0.98 1856 4.02 1938 4.06 2015 4.03 2047 3.95 2119 3.83

0028 1.31 0135 0.90 0227 0.59 0309 0.43 0347 0.40 0420 0.44 0449 0.51

0626 4.12 0732 4.52 0823 4.86 0905 5.06 0942 5.17 1015 5.23 1047 5.25

1228 1.24 1337 0.92 1431 0.68 1516 0.58 1555 0.59 1630 0.67 1703 0.79

1854 5.17 1952 5.45 2039 5.58 2118 5.56 2153 5.45 2225 5.29 2256 5.08

Mon 1 Tue 2 Wed 3 Thu 4 Fri 5 Sat 6 Sun 7

Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht

0330 0.50 0356 0.61 0419 0.76 0439 0.94 0459 1.13 0526 1.35 0036 2.60

0938 3.92 1009 3.87 1039 3.76 1112 3.62 1148 3.45 1236 3.27 0612 1.58

1547 0.72 1617 0.85 1647 1.01 1717 1.20 1753 1.41 1841 1.60 1338 3.13

2150 3.67 2218 3.48 2245 3.26 2313 3.03 2345 2.81 1956 1.72

0516 0.61 0541 0.77 0605 0.99 0017 4.17 0045 3.83 0122 3.50 0232 3.22

1117 5.21 1148 5.09 1217 4.91 0628 1.26 0654 1.56 0730 1.89 0833 2.18

1734 0.95 1804 1.18 1833 1.44 1246 4.66 1323 4.38 1416 4.11 1543 3.98

2325 4.81 2352 4.50 1904 1.73 1945 2.02 2051 2.25 2247 2.24

If you have a good photo or fishing yarn

send it through to our resident bait chucker- [email protected]

early taSte of SummerWeek 1 - Very warm to hot conditions hit the Coalfields with maximums around the 35C. This means temperatures in the direct sun around midday to mid afternoon are around 50C. Outside workers should drink 6 litres a day and try and work in the shade during the middle of the day. Just after very isolated spring thundery shower brought only single figure falls of 4 mm to Rolleston, 1mm Braeside and 0.5mm West Wolfgang last Monday. Not very much relief for the dry pastures! The southern half of the Coalfields recorded their last frost last Saturday week. Now the sudden heat jump has caught some unaware. This will continue for the week with very isolated afternoon spring thundery showers of 5-12mm being a chance. Maximum temperatures will be 33-35C north of Dysart and 31-33C to the south with unsettled conditions. Then it becomes 35C plus on Fri.; with a late thundery shower. A drier southerly should make conditions slightly cooler Sat/Sun.Boaties! The old soak “Spring winds rather fickle with sneaky fresh NNE afternoon sea breezes.”!! Early fog could be an issue!!Mon: N/NNW 5-10 early avo NNE

15-20 sea breeze. Ch. Late thundery shower (LTS) along the coast in south of Yeppoon. Tue: NNW/NNE 5-10 a fresh sea breeze again if cloud clears and LTS risk south of Cape Manifold. A late SE’ly 13-18 south of Gladstone. Wed-Thr: SE/ ESE 18-13 with ch.squally shower. Fri: ESE/ENE 14-11 tending NE avo. Sat: NNE/NNW 8-11 becoming fresh NNE avo. LTS. Sun: Fickle winds may be light. A weak southerly in the south tries to reach the Capricorn coast.

Week 2 - The SOI has stayed around the +3 during the last week. This gives hope of a neutral summer. Just one step below the El Nino. A change early in the week should bring relief with cool nights and maximums in the high 20s. If a large high of 1030hpa in the south persists in the Tasman Sea; then maximum temperatures may reach the mid twenties mid to late week. Only if a moderate easterly breeze persists.

Marine Lovers! The spring will cause a couple of odd unpredictable wind situations. Mon: A light SE’ly may tend rapid NE avo then a late fresh SSE’ly. Tue-Fri: SE 15-20 G 28 with a squally showers easing trend during the weekend.

YOuR WEATHER FORECASTWith Mike Griffin

off shift

This appears to be a stuffed fish, but you never know your luck - you could pull up one of these beauties, backing board and all.


146th EDITION. 2012

DADS, can’t stomach another re-run of that Dora the Explorer DVD or over exposed to endless swing pushing in the park?

No need to tax your wallet with expen-sive outings to the movies or seek fleeting peace in a box of takeaway happiness when there are heaps of cheap and varied activ-ities you can get involved with along with your littlies on your shifts off.

Toddler-focussed activities encompassing sport, playgroups, kinder gyms, storybook ses-sions, music, movement and art are available in a variety of guises at a range of different locations.

You might not always get the opportu-nity to do the swimming lesson run or join in on a round of ‘if you’re happy and you know it’, but coordinated activities are a great way to spend time and keep abreast of your child’s development at a stage when they are growing up so quickly.

Sport for blokes is generally a no brain-er as dad and their kids can take an interest, have fun and get involved together.

Most sporting disciplines have their own junior activities or comps, but before you go getting your three-year-old fully kitted out in a truckload of pricey gear, perhaps in

the first instance a multi-sport introduction might be the way to go.

Kindysport is a program running in Rockhamp-ton, Gracemere and Yeppoon that is designed to give three- to six-year-old children an introduction to 12 different sports and expose kids to sport and exercise in a fun, safe and inclusive way.

After creating Kindysport in Perth, founder Wayne Hanrahan (a former mining engineer) moved back to his home town of Rocky in 2010 and started up a CQ branch of the business.

With a long history as a qualified tennis coach, Wayne was keen to take his love of teach-ing kids further and instil in them a positive atti-tude toward being active from an early age.

As well as discovering and developing sporting interests and skills and improv-ing gross motor skills and coordination, Wayne says understanding the importance of sportsmanship and teamwork and gain-ing confidence and self-esteem are goals Kindysport strives to impart.

Wayne says for toddlers, “socialisation for that age is particularly important as they learn how to follow instructions before getting to kindy”.

Kindysport is great way to offer kids a fun sport smorgasbord, but there are plen-

ty of other options when it comes to getting them healthy and active.

Your local PCYC is a brilliant resource and you will find there are various activities on offer throughout the CQ region.

Blackwater PCYC has a playgroup called Toddler Time for babies and toddlers up to five years of age every Thursday.

Kick off with a shared plate of BYO morning tea and then get stuck into a craft activity or have a go at the activity circuit.

Biloela runs Tumblebugs on Wednesdays where parents can get involved with their tin lids on an obstacle course and through music and movement.

Emerald’s hugely popular kinder gym pro-gram, Bendy Bananas, has just finished its final session for the year but coordinator Meagan Walker says a sign-on for 2013 will be held atthe end of January, so mark your calendars.

Your local library is also a fantastic desti-

nation when the family is stir crazy and funds are in short supply - they run toddler story-book sessions and other child-focused fare.

For instance, as well as their regular tri-weekly Kids Time sessions for under five year olds, Emerald library also has Daddy’s Time, a story and craft session held specifi-cally for dads and their kids.

For further cultural pursuits for children, your local art gallery increasingly offer child-specific programs and activities.

Mackay’s Artspace, through its BMA Kidspace initiative, is one such arts organ-isation that has embraced the trend. Its monthly drop-in program features art activ-ities and music especially designed for chil-dren under-five and their adults.

Community services and facilities port-folio councillor Karen May says Artspace artists have designed wonderful collabora-tive activities for the toddlers to work on with the help of their parent or carer.

“It’s long been recognised that an early start with all kinds of art builds confidence and encourages children to solve problems creatively,” Cr May says.

YOuR WEATHER FORECAST

off shift

Daddy day care to-do list

Kindysport Rockhampton Yeppoon Gracemere Term 4 commences Monday 8 October www.kindysport.com.au 4921 3752

Toddler Time Blackwater PCYC Thursdays, 10.15am www.pcyc.org.au 4982 5228

Tumblebugs Biloela PCYC Wednesdays, 9.30am www.pcyc.org.au 4992 3186

Bendy Bananas Emerald PCYC 2013 sign on Tuesday 29 January 2013 www.pcyc.org.au 0408 150 431

Daddy’s Time Emerald Library Second last Sat of each month, 9.30am-10.30am www.centralhighlands.qld.gov.au 4982 3311

BMA Kidspace Artspace Mackay October 9, November 6, December 4 www.artspacemackay.com.au 4961 9722

On your marks, get set, go! Kindysport

kids spring into action.


146th EDITION. 2012

Rio Tinto Coal Australia is proud to be a part of the Clermont, Emerald, Capella, Nebo, Sarina, Mirani and Mackay communities. We support a range of

local projects through the Hail Creek Mine Community

Development Fund.

To apply for funding for your local project or organisation

please contact Hail Creek Mine’s Marie Cameron on (07) 4951 6437 or marie. cameron@ riotinto. com or Kylie Devine on (07) 4951 6402 or

kylie. devine@ riotinto.com

Applications close 28 September 2012.

The Hail Creek Mine Community Development Fund is pleased to partner with Mackay Regional Council and Central Queensland Institute of TAFE to support the biodiesel project.

This initiative provides students with hands on experience in constructing a biodiesel plant as well as building skills and confidence for their future careers.

Once finished the biodiesel plant will treat and refine fat waste product from barbeques of public parks in Mackay to create fuel for a small number of council vehicles. www.riotintocoalaustralia.com.au

sPort

Xstrata’s Fiji connection proves the differenceFORMER Fiji international and Queens-land Reds halfback Jacob Rauluni has led Xstrata to a strong 36-point victory in their recent charity match against BMA in Blackwater.

BMA streaked away to a 14 point lead in the first 20 minutes on the back of some great footwork from some local Moranbah Miners league players.

However the injection of Rauluni after the first 20 minutes turned the game in Xstrata’s favour, as the highly experienced halfback organised his team from the back of the ruck.

Despite the game being played in the name of charity, there was no lack of inten-sity with numerous flare-ups between the two teams, reflecting how seriously the game is taken.

In the end Xstrata were too strong win-ning 60 points to 24 and putting an an end to BMA’s winning streak in the annual match.

But there were no losers on the day with BMA donating $5000 to Xstrata Coal’s chosen charity, RACQ CQ Rescue helicopter service.

All gate, BBQ and bar profits were also

donated to charity.Eight junior U13, U15 and U17 repre-

sentative teams from the Central High-lands, Mackay and Rockhampton also competed on the day.

Queensland Rugby Union CQ Region-al Development Manager Daniel Hoop-er said players, coaches, families and rugby enthusiasts enjoyed another great day of healthy competition.

“From a rugby perspective, the day was hugely successful this year and has proved to be a great launching pad for our upcom-ing junior rugby season in October,” he said.

“We had more teams this year than ever before at the charity day and through the continued support of Xstrata, rugby union continues to develop as a popular and inclusive game for children in the Central Highlands.”

Queensland Reds players Jono Lance and Dallan Murphy ran a junior clinic for more than 30 children.

The Annual Xstrata Coal Rugby Union Charity Day is part of Xstrata Coal’s Cor-porate Social Involvement Partnership with Queensland Rugby.

AFTER years of waiting the Moranbah Speedway club has secured funding for major track renovations.

At a recent meeting, the committee gave final approval to a range of track upgrades that will allow them to host bigger events, more often in a safe environment.

Chief among the renovations is the upgrade of lighting on the track, which has been approved and funded by Speedway Australia.

In particular the lights at turn three, which have been a problem for years, will be replaced.

The track will also be realigned and wid-ened to allow the club to fit four cars across the track during races.

Cindy Bowen, from the Moranbah Speedway Club, said the major develop-ments have been a long time coming.

“The re-alignment of the track has need-ed doing for a long time,” she said.

“The redevelopment will allow us to hold bigger events, and in March next year we are going to be holding the ASCF Junior sedan state titles.”

“We really want to clean up the pit and scrutineering areas.”

With the new facilities, the club is hoping it can attract more participants and is doing a membership drive at the Moranbah mar-kets each month.

The next club meet is on October 13 with the CQ junior super stockers.

Light shines on Moranbah Speedway

CommUnitY CALenDArsporT evenT daTe venue

Rugby UnionCity v Country Charity Rugby Match

6/10/12 Marlborough

Cricket CH competition start date 6/10/12 Central Highlands

Speedway Moranbah race meet 13/10/12 Moranbah

Rugby LeagueAndrew Curtis, Memorial Charity League Match

3/11/12 BlackwaterXstrata take home the silverware,

but charity the big winner.


146th EDITION. 2012

COAL miners have put the cheque book down for the time being, bringing to an end a heady period of rural acquisitions in Central Queensland.

The sale of the Kenny family’s 35,000 acre “Tralee” property at Middlemount to Anglo Coal for an undisclosed sum caps off three years of major buying activity by mining companies.

According to Herron Todd White val-uer and director Will McLay, activity has slowed in the last six months.

“Rio Tinto had a very extensive acqui-sition period when it bought land required for the development of it’s Valeria thermal coal project about six months ago,” he said.

“They purchased five or six larger prop-erties and four or five smaller rural resi-dential blocks.

“During that period two tiers were formed in the rural property market in Central Queensland, with miners paying a premium of between 15 and 35 per cent.”

The premium price paid by mining com-panies reflects the fact that there isn’t always a willing seller and always a willing buyer.

However, it also reflects the fact that by law, mining companies who acquire rural properties to expand need to pay a 10 per cent premium on market value.

And rather than go through exten-sive legal processes to compulsori-ly acquire land from an unwilling seller, they pay above this 10 per cent to get the deal finalised.

But while the big mining companies may have put the the cheque book aside for now, rural property specialist Howard Mills said those employed in mining were still active in the market.

“A lot of miners with a rural back-ground are still out buying properties although the number of smaller rural prop-erties selling has fallen,” Mr Mills said.

“However I think this is more to do with sellers being unwilling to meet the market.

“There are still plenty of keen buyers at the moment, but at the right price.”

“The key issue is that banks are not lending money on equity anymore, they need to see cash flow, so the numbers have to stack up.”

moNeY matters YEPPOON BEACH FRONT LAND SALE

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146th EDITION. 2012

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moNeY matters

AFTER hitting unsustainable levels five months ago rentals in the Central High-lands are finally coming back in price as supply reaches demand.

A month ago, 103 lots of land in Emer-ald were been snapped up and under con-tract just three days after expressions of interest were advertised in a local paper.

The Central Highlands Regional Coun-cil gave approval to Brisbane-based Eche-lon Property Management to develop the 144 hectare Highfields Estate on Pilot Farm Rd at Emerald.

“We advertised the land in Friday’s paper, and it was all under offer by Mon-day,” said Emerald Real Estate principal Jason Campbell, who had been appointed exclusive agent.

“Quite a few builders bought the lots to develop house and land packages and par-cels went to investors who will want to get a return,” he told Shift Miner. “Mainly lots were sold to private buyers.”

Mr Campbell said when the next lots become available depends on council.

Council has given preliminary approv-al for the entire 10-stage project, which will

have almost 1000 lots, and the release of the 103 was the first stage. These should be completed by mid-2013.

Apart from Highfields Estate, there is no other vacant land available in Emer-ald at the moment as much of it is produc-tive and is unlikely to be developed for residential use.

House and land packages in Emerald are currently priced at around $490,000 to $530,000, with rents in the $700 to $1000 per week range.

Mr Campbell said the new housing developments in Emerald and Blackwater had helped ease the demand.

“Emerald rental properties prices are probably back to a more sustainable level compared to four to five months ago when they were completely unsustainable and we had families leaving town.

“There is always a high demand for both towns, but now we can meet the demand.”

Central Highlands Regional Council Mayor Peter Maguire said the council is try-ing to do its bit.

Last year, 12 units were built with six of these gifted to the council and handed

over last week.The council has set up a company to

manage the units and will rent these out as a percentage of the tenant’s income.

“If you do market rent it would be about $1000 a week, which is ludicrous,” he told Shift Miner.

“This way we make it more affordable.”The council is looking at other projects

to deal with Blackwater’s housing shortage.“After Christmas we are hoping to dis-

pose 60-70 blocks of Council land by tender - within this financial year.”

Pressure has eased with State Govern-

ment releasing land with contracts awarded to Village on Blaine and Blue Ridge.

House and land packages have been released in stages one and two of Black-water’s new residential community, Blue Ridge.

The community, which is two minute’s from the town centre, has a variety of homes ranges from 320sqm to 700sqm.

Prices range from $199,000, to $338,892 for a two bedroom home on 350sqm to $466,072 for a four bedroom home.

Village on Blaine offers single person accommodation.

Central Highlands housing eases

One of the house and land packages available at Blue

Ridge Estate in Blackwater.

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*Available at participating Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle dealers to approved Business Applicants of Volkswagen Finance** for new and demonstrator MY12 Amarok stock vehicles (all of which are dual cab vehicles with manual transmission) on a Hire Purchase over 36 or 48 months. Vehicles must be purchased and delivered between 1st and 30th September 2012. Offer ends 30th September 2012. While stocks last. Balloon restrictions apply. Full conditions are available on application. Standard fees and charges apply. **Volkswagen Finance is a trading name of Volkswagen Financial Services Australia Pty Limited. Volkswagen Finance reserves the right to extend or change this offer. Not available in conjunction with the advertised $5000 factory bonus offer. 1 $5000 factory bonus offer is available at participating Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle dealers to qualifying ABN holders who trade in their current motor vehicle to purchase a new or demonstrator MY12 Amarok stock vehicle (being a dual cab vehicle with manual transmission). Vehicles must be purchased and delivered between 1st and 30th September 2012. While stocks last. Trade in vehicles must be registered and road worthy for use on public roads. A factory bonus of $5000 will be given to the customer against the purchase price of their new Amarok. The $5000 bonus cannot be exchanged for cash or any other product or service. The bonus is not transferrable to any other customer. Please ask your dealer for further terms and conditions and to check eligibility for this offer. Offer ends 30th September 2012. Not available in conjunction with the advertised 2.8% finance/free scheduled servicing offer. 2 FREE Scheduled Service Package is for 3 years or 45,000kms (whichever comes first) free scheduled servicing (as set out in the Service Schedule booklet). Available at participating Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle dealers. Servicing offer does not apply to wear and tear items any other additional work or components required. This offer is only available to approved Business Applicants of Volkswagen Finance** who take up the 2.8% finance offer as per the terms set out herein. Full conditions are available on application. Vehicles must be purchased and delivered between 1st and 30th September 2012. Offer ends 30th September 2012. Offer applies to stock vehicles. While stocks last. Not available in conjunction with the advertised $5000 factory bonus offer.

SM146_Shift Miner Magazine

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