SBTA Agrees To Joint Fraser Coast Membership 20-Jun-02: After several months of discussion on the subject, the South Burnett Tourism Association has agreed to enter into an unusual joint membership arrangement put forward by the Fraser Coast South Burnett Regional Tourism Board. Under the new arrangement, membership fees in the SBTA will rise substantially during 2002-2003. But the FCSBRTB have assured the organisation that membership numbers will likely rise in tandem, based on prior experience trialing the idea in Maryborough and Hervey Bay earlier this year. At the SBTA's monthly meeting in Kingaroy this evening, SBTA members voted by ballot to give the new idea a fair trial. At present - on a per capita basis - the South Burnett currently performs better for Tourism Association membership than the Fraser Coast region, even though the Fraser Coast is an established tourist destination while the South Burnett is an emerging one.

Kingaroy Goes Online To Find New Director of Health and Building 16-Jun-02: Kingaroy Shire Council has begun the process of seeking a new Director of Health and Building following the retirement of current incumbent Mr. Ron Roberts, who'll be vacating the post towards the end of the month. Following on from the successful online recruitment method used to employ the SBLGA's new Economic Development Officer Paul Marek earlier this year, the Council has taken a small advertisement in Brisbane's Courier-Mail to draw attention to the opportunity but has made the complete position description, selection criteria and general information about both the position and Kingaroy Shire available on its web site. A similar method used by the SBLGA to fill the Economic Development Officer's position in April this year resulted not only in a slew of quality candidates, but also a considerable saving in recruitment costs due to a greatly reduced need to mail out information to aspirants or answer extensive questions by phone.

SBLGA Supports Continuation Of Rabbit Ban 13-Jun-02: The South Burnett Local Government Association will support the continuation of existing State-wide bans on keeping rabbits as pets or for commercial uses. At its most recent meeting, the SBLGA was briefed by Rosalie Shire Mayor Cr Noel Strohfeld about new proposals to relax current rules under National Competition Policy. Mayor Strohfeld pointed out that rabbit infestations were already a major problem for most rural local government authorities in the State and said that anything which relaxed existing controls could only worsen the problem. SBLGA delegates voted unanimously to support the recommendation, and will make their position known to both the Local Government Association of Queensland and the Darling Downs Rabbit Board in the near future.

South Burnett IT&T Projects Overlooked By NTN 10-Jun-02: The South Burnett was largely overlooked in the latest - and final - round of grants issued by the Federal Department of Communications' Networking the Nation project. In announcing the 10th round of grants a few days ago, the Department chose to sidestep several innovative projects put forward by the region including pooled databases, pooled local government accounting systems and improved regional telecommunications infrastructure, instead electing to award the Barambah Aboriginal Community Care Agency a token $11,050 for a trial videoconferencing project. NTN had previously given several grants to the region for projects such as South Burnett Online, Burnett.Net.Au, Council Connect, an IT&T infrastructure audit and a regional IT&T training centre, nearly all of them augmented by locally-sourced funding.

SBLGA Renews Push For University Campus 07-Jun-02: The South Burnett Local Government Association will renew its push for the establishment of a university campus in the South Burnett following a meeting at Yarraman today. Delegates at the SBLGA's regular 6-weekly meeting unanimously supported the proposal which was put forward by SBLGA president Roger Nunn. Last year Kingaroy Shire had propositioned the State Government for a campus in Kingaroy to augment the region's existing TAFE college. Mayor Nunn told delegates that the proposal had been close to success but had been derailed by the State election, which saw several key officials who were in favour of the proposal replaced by others with little knowledge of the subject. "Regrettably this means we have to start all over again," Mayor Nunn told the SBLGA delegates. "Nonetheless, I believe it's vital that the SBLGA support the concept. It will allow our region to offer specialist courses, increase the number of qualified people we have and lift a heavy burden from local families who currently have to send their children a long distance away - at great cost - if their offspring wish to pursue a tertiary education."

Rural Big W Prototype Opens In Kingaroy Next Week 04-Jun-02: Retailing giant Coles-Myer will open a prototype "rural Big W" store at Kingaroy Shoppingworld next week to allow the company to test whether it needs to modify its successful urban retailing model for rural areas. The new store - foreshadowed on our site in early March this year - represents a $2 million investment by the firm, which has selected the South Burnett as an ideal testbed for the concept. The new store will employ up to 150 full-time and casual staff and will open on June 11th, slightly ahead of its initial schedule. Staff were recruited by local employment agency CTC Employment Services and given initial training at the South Burnett Enterprise Centre as well as in-store. The new Big W will occupy premises vacated by Franklins when the chain collapsed earlier this year.

Governor Impressed By South Burnett 01-Jun-02: Queensland Governor Major-General Peter Arnison - who visited Murgon and Wondai Shires last week as part of a tour through the region - said that he and his wife Barbara were "most impressed" with the South Burnett and the strong community focus evident in the region's local governments, businesses and volunteer organisations. The Governor, who visited Nanango and Kingaroy Shires last year, said that he was particularly delighted by Wondai Shire's Regional Art Gallery (which he described as one of the best he's seen in Queensland) and was moved by the warm welcome he received in Murgon from Mr. Joe Button Snr, an Elder of the Wakka Wakka people who performed a traditional welcoming ceremony.

UK Pork Industry Group To Visit Kingaroy 29-May-02: A delegation of 10 leading businessmen from the UK pork industry will be visiting Swickers Kingaroy Bacon Factory towards the end of this month as part of a familiarisation tour of the South Burnett's rapidly expanding pork industry. The visit - jointly organised by the Department of State Development's Food and Meat Taskforce and the SBLGA - will showcase Swickers' state-of-the-art processing facilities. The visit will also allow delegates to observe the capabilities of the industry at first hand. Over the last year more than $10 million in new investments have been poured into the region's pork industry. Several additional major projects are expected to come onstream during the remainder of the year.

Wine & Food Trail Map Goes Online 26-May-02: A downloadable online version of the region's Wine & Food Trail map will begin appearing on South Burnett web sites over the next few weeks to help capitalise on the success of the region's existing tourist map (see story 20th May). The Wine & Food Trail map - which debuted in the region's first colour tourist booklet last month (see story 26th April) - shows the location of all the South Burnett's wineries, cellar doors and principal restaurants between Blackbutt, the Bunya Mountains and Kilkivan. The 371K PDF version of the map was prepared by the South Burnett Tourism Association with valuable assistance from Darren Schmidt of Kingaroy DPI. It will be distributed by the SBLGA, through most member council web sites and regional portal South Burnett Online.

Wondai Sawmill Investment Creates New Jobs 23-May-02: A $1.5 million investment by the Wondai Sawmill into the establishment of a kiln drying operation is expected to expand existing export markets and create additional job opportunities at the plant. The sawmill - first established in 1906 as a hoop pine processor - has developed new export markets in the USA, Japan and China in recent years. The sawmill currently employs 40 full-time staff and 15 contractors. The next stage of the plant's expansion will involve the purchase and installation of a new $200,000 planing machine; a 50 cubic metre gas-fired kiln; specialised equipment for producing timber flooring and panelling; and general factory automation. Extensions to the sawmill were approved by Wondai Shire Council at its most recent meeting.