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Bad News For Toowoomba Is Good News For Swickers November 6, 2009 - Swickers Kingaroy Bacon Factory will pick up extra work following the decision by George Weston Foods to close its Don KRC (Don Smallgoods / KR Castlemaine) plant in Toowoomba on November 27. A spokesman for Don KRC Fresh, Mr Todd Menegola told ABC Radio yesterday the move to shut the Toowoomba smallgoods processing facility was "purely a commercial decision". "Basically the site has lost $5 million already this year," he said. Mr Menegola said Swickers would now be used to kill and bone its pigs. George Weston Foods acquired KR Castlemaine Foods, including the Toowoomba abattoir, in April 2008. The closure will cost 190 jobs. Don KRC is currently spending more than $150 million expanding its smallgoods manufacturing plant at Castlemaine in Victoria.

Your Skills Can Be Formally Recognised November 5, 2009 - Skilling Solutions Queensland - in conjunction with the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE - is helping workers get their skills formally recognised. The free service is based on the concept of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). RPL is the process that is used to recognise skills and knowledge that have been acquired through life and work experience (paid or unpaid) and matches them to part of, or a complete, nationally recognised qualification. The Skilling Solutions service is suitable for employees who do not have a formal qualification, people who would like to gain a new qualification to start or change a career, are heading back to work after a break, or who have been retrenched or made redundant. For more information, contact Donna McMah on (07) 4131-5622 or by email

Farmers Criticise EPA Over UCG Project November 4, 2009 - Coolabunia residents have complained that the Environmental Protection Agency has approved Cougar Energy's underground coal gasification pilot project near Kingaroy "without visiting the site". Farmer Damien O'Sullivan told the Courier-Mail newspaper on Monday that local primary producers had not been consulted by the State Government and no Environmental Impact Study had been required. The residents, who have formed a protest group, fear the project will contaminate groundwater and could cause subsidence on prime farming land. They are also concerned how the underground coal fires will be extinguished and how poisonous fumes will be controlled. Mr O'Sullivan told the Courier-Mail his grazing and cropping property was just 300m from where it was proposed to burn 20,000 tonnes of coal. He said the first time EPA staff had visited the area was when he complained about a mess left after test drilling was conducted on his property. "They didn't even know about the springs down the road that are used as drinking water," he said.

BSA Urges Us To Build Smarter November 3, 2009 - If you're thinking of building or renovating, the Building Services Authority (the State Government body that regulates the building industry) is urging you to attend a free seminar that will be held in Kingaroy on Thursday November 12. The Smart Building and Renovating Presentation includes information on how to choose a contractor, contracts, and how to finance your project. Although the seminar is free, bookings are essential. For more information, contact the BSA on 1300-272-272 or by email. Bookings can also be made using the BSA's Fax Back Form. Just fill it out and fax to (07) 3225-2889. Footnote: BSA is also holding an Education Seminar in Kingaroy next Thursday for building contractors. The interactive education event will be held at Kingaroy RSL from 3:00pm-6:00pm. For more information, use the contact details above.

Have You Updated Your Details Recently? November 2, 2009 - If you've tried to update your details - or added a new listing - recently on www.southburnett.biz, you may have experienced some problems. Unfortunately, a server error has been blocking notifications of updates since mid-September and listings were not being passed along for final approval. The hosting company has assured SBBiz that they are working to solve the problem. However in the meantime, if you have submitted a listing that is not now live, please contact us on (07) 4163-6854.

Disappointing Results At Booubyjan October 30, 2009 - ActivEX Limited has reported disappointing results to the Australian Stock Exchange from its joint drilling project at Booubyjan. The drilling of five test holes - fewer than planned - began on May 20 and has now been completed. All holes found only weak or very weak copper mineralisation. Broad zones of magnetite were confirmed as the source of the anomalies which had originally sparked the company's interest. However the magnetite appears to be occurring without any associated copper or gold. Core sections have been cut and submitted for assay. The Booubyjan joint venture is owned 51 per cent by Minotaur and 49 per cent by ActivEX. The $650,000 drilling program was fully funded by Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation who had an option to earn 24 per cent in the project.

Kingaroy One Of "Australia's Best Property Bargains" October 29, 2009 - News Limited has identified Kingaroy as one of Australia's "hottest" places to buy property. This month's Australian Property Investor magazine asked property experts to list 100 locations across the nation poised for "strong capital growth" over the next 12 months. News Limited journalists then analysed this list and selected their "hottest" picks with the lowest average house prices. The Queensland selections were Kingaroy (with an average house price of $270,000), Gympie, Ipswich and Beaudesert. Read the full story on the Courier-Mail website

October Newsletter From BIEDO October 28, 2009 - The Burnett Inland Economic Development Organisation (BIEDO) has circulated the latest version of their regular electronic newsletter. The October 2009 edition contains details about a new jobs fund for the South Burnett and upcoming grants and events. If you'd like to join BIEDO's mailing list, contact Belinda on (07) 4169-7851 or via email. Download the October newsletter (856kb pdf)

Storms Bring Down Two Powerlines October 27, 2009 - The wild weather yesterday afternoon in the South Burnett brought down high-voltage powerlines in two locations, cutting power to about 1200 Ergon Energy customers. Powerlines came down in Trouts Road, Crawford, about 2:30pm, affecting homes and businesses in Kingaroy, Nanango, Wooroolin, Memerambi and Crawford. Ergon crews also responded quickly to a report of downed powerlines beside the Bunya Highway and were able to isolate this section of the line. All power was restored by 6:30pm.

South Burnett Scores More Tourism Awards October 26, 2009 - The South Burnett has again scooped the pool at the Fraser Coast South Burnett Regional Tourism Awards with six local tourism organisations be honoured in Maryborough on Saturday night. This year's South Burnett winners were: Wineries – Moffatdale Ridge (for the second consecutive year) Regional Attractions: South Burnett Region Timber Industry Museum complex (for the third consecutive year) Heritage and Cultural Tourism – Wondai Regional Art Gallery Unique Accommodation – Redrock on Booie Tourism Retailing – Endeavour Industries Kingaroy. As well, the Kingaroy Information, Art and Heritage Precinct was inducted into the Hall of Fame after winning the General Tourism Services category for the past three years. The South Burnett Region Timber Industry Museum now also qualifies for entry into Hall of Fame for an amazing second time. It was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005 after three wins in the Heritage and Cultural Tourism category.

3D Google Earth To Help Ergon Manage Network October 23, 2009 - Ergon Energy has turned to Google Earth to help it manage its massive regional Queensland electricity network. It has taken three years to map Ergon's 15,000km network of 70,000-plus substations and high voltage transformers onto the Google Earth Enterprise system. "This system – at the touch of a computer's mouse button – will allow our people to see an almost exact 3D representation of where powerlines run and what kind of terrain or areas of a town or city they run through," Ergon Energy Chief Executive Mr Ian McLeod said. "In the future we would hope to be able to use this system to show real-time network status, ie show sections of our network off due to storms or maintenance. It could eventually show the movement of storms and lightning across our network map as it happens so we can better inform the public of such impacts. "Ultimately, the uses of this system will probably only be limited to our imagination and innovation."

Office Award For Burnett Insurance October 22, 2009 - Gary Howes, from Burnett Insurance in Kingaroy, has been presented with an award for achieving the milestone of writing 10,000 applications in BrokerCENTRAL. Gary is obviously doing his part to help the environment ... BrokerCENTRAL is a software program which provides a virtual paperless office, assisting the flow of paperless communication between insurance brokers, clients and insurers. Andrew Bennett, from software distributor InsuranceCONNECT, presented the award to Gary and Fay Scherger, (above right), on the Sunshine Coast recently.

Local Wineries Pick Up 15 Medals October 21, 2009 - South Burnett wineries won 15 medals - the same tally as last year - at the prestigious 2009 Courier-Mail Mercure Brisbane Queensland Wine Awards. The awards were announced on October 10 at a gala dinner in Brisbane. Clovely Estate, from Moffatdale, was the most successful local winery, picking up 10 medals, including a gold for their 2007 Left Field Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre (GSM). Read more on South Burnett Wine

Go Green Opens Shopfront October 20, 2009 - Greg and Kelly Taffe's Go Green Generation (Solar South Burnett) have opened a shopfront at Shop 2, 32 King Street, Kingaroy (next door to AP Computers). The business covers solar electric system installations, energy-efficient home rewiring and home and business energy auditing. Greg and Kelly are Government-accredited through the Clean Energy Council and Association of Building Sustainability Assessors (ABSA) accredited for Renewable Energy Assessing (Green Loans). For more information, they can be contacted on (07) 4162-8336 or the shop is open from Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm and Saturdays 9:00am-1:00pm.

Barry Back In Charge October 19, 2009 - Former proprietors Barry and Bernadette Dixon are back in charge at K-FM Kingaroy (96.3FM) and Nanango (87.6FM). Michael and Mandy Monk took over the reins at the station last year and rebranded it as Our Country FM with a country music format. They relinquished the lease last Friday. The couple, who are expecting their first child, will continue the Our Country format at their stations in Wondai and Murgon and have plans to expand these businesses. Michael has also reignited his former career as DJDirex with a gig at the Hotel Cecil in Wondai on Friday night. Barry and Bernadette Dixon also own the Maranoa Town & Country Mail fortnightly newspaper and R-FM 88FM Roma.

Catholic Archbishop Visits Kingaroy October 16, 2009 - Catholic Archbishop John Bathesby, (pictured above with South Burnett Regional Council Deputy Mayor Keith Campbell and Member for Nanango Dorothy Pratt), has marked the centenary of St Mary's Catholic Church in Kingaroy and the 90th anniversary of the Our Lady of Peace Church in Kumbia by celebrating Mass in Kingaroy today. The Archbishop also visited the South Burnett Catholic College to take part in a re-naming ceremony. From today the school will be known as St Mary's Catholic College. He also blessed two historic commemorative plaques which have been relocated to the front of St Mary's Church. Last night, Archbishop Bathesby was the guest speaker at the Kingaroy State High School speech night.

New Restaurant Opens In Kingaroy October 15, 2009 - Kingaroy has a new restaurant following the recent opening of Millie's at Shop 2, 32 Alford Street (near Betta Electrical). It is open seven days from 9:00am to 3:00pm for breakfast and lunch and from 6:00-10:00pm Wednesdays-Fridays for dinner. Dinner reservations are essential. Owner Ian Thomas told SBBiz that the menu was Italian and modern Australian and takeaways were also available. Millies can be contacted on (07) 4162-7709.

$7150 Grant For Energy Centre October 14, 2009 - The South Burnett Energy Centre - which was ceremonially opened to the public during Funfest last Saturday - is among the first recipients of Ergon Energy's new Envirofund. The $100,000 initiative is aimed at helping regional Queensland communities work towards a more sustainable future. Ergon Acting Area Operations Manager Mr Tony Bygrave said $7150 had been awarded to the South Burnett Regional Council to purchase energy conservation tools and computers for the Nanango complex. Mr Bygrave said 129 applications seeking almost $2 million in funds were received for Envirofund grants, far exceeding Ergon Energy's expectations. "There was a lot of work sifting through the applications to short list and select worthy recipients, so we understand there will be some disappointed applicants," he said.

Confused By Daylight Saving? October 13, 2009 - Daylight saving came into force in southern States last week creating all the usual confusion with interstate business phone calls and subscription TV program guides. If you're as confused as we are, a handy calculator on the ABC Local Radio website could be worth bookmarking: Daylight Saving Calculator

Workshop Spotlights Business Systems October 12, 2009 - Today is the last chance to book for a Business Systems Workshop being held at the Kingaroy TAFE College on Thursday afternoon. Presenter Kim Schafer will be teaching participants how to understand the purpose and functions of business systems, the differences between processes and procedures, how to collect data and then write operational manuals that are crystal clear and easy to read. Cost is $55 per participant (with discounts available for three or more people on the one registration). For more information and to book, contact Kim on 0429-699-977.