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ACCC Seeks Public Input On Fly Ash Decision March 30, 2011 - The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced that it will refuse to authorise a fly ash agreement between Pozzolanic Enterprises, Tarong Energy Corporation and Tarong North Pty Ltd. However the ACCC is now seeking submissions commenting on its proposed decision, prior to making a final decision in the coming months. Pozzolanic sought authorisation (ie protection for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under competition provisions of the Act) for an agreement that would provide it with first right of access to the majority of fly ash produced at the Tarong and Tarong North Power Stations. The ACCC can grant such an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment. However competitors to Pozzolanic disagreed. The Nucrush Group wrote to the ACCC expressing particular concerns about the Tarong North power station where it claims Pozzolanic has all the connection points to the baghouse filter hoppers. Another competitor, Sunstate Cement, also was concerned that the agreement as it relates to Tarong North could materially constrain its future access to the only economically viable source of fly ash which it can resell in competition with Pozzolanic. "The ACCC's draft view is that authorisation of the proposed agreement will not provide any significant benefit to the public," ACCC chairman Mr Graeme Samuel said. The ACCC's draft determination and submissions are available from the ACCC website Further information about making a submission can also be found on the ACCC's website. The ACCC is currently in litigation with Pozzolanic / Cement Australia relating to matters predating this assessment. This court action, launched in 2008 and relating to flyash from Milmerran power station and other matters, resumes on April 4 in the Federal Court in Brisbane. Waste ash from coal could save billions in repairing bridges and roads

New Committee To Take Over Peanut Festival March 30, 2011 - A motion to wind up Peanut Festival Inc - the organising body for the 2009 Kingaroy Peanut Festival - was defeated at a Special Meeting of Association members held in Kingaroy last night. Association member Rob Patch, owner of The Peanut Van, presented a proposal to allow the organisation to continue functioning which was accepted by a majority of the members present. Another Special Meeting of the Association will now be held on May 19 to elect a new Executive Committee. * * * Cougar Energy, still fighting to restart its Kingaroy UCG project, has signed a co-operation agreement with Inner Mongolia DeTailong Investment Energy Ltd for the commercialisation of a UCG project at the Wu Ni Te coal mine in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The project will operate under a 50/50 joint venture, sharing profits and expenses, and its commercialisation will be subject to receipt of all necessary project registrations and the standard procedures of evaluation and financing. Boardroom Radio interview with Dr Len Walker UPDATE March 31: Cougar Energy shares "snapped up"

Marketing Idea Hand-Made For The Country March 29, 2011 - Toowoomba and the Darling Downs' pilot "Hand Made In Country" marketing project is being extended to the South Burnett and Southern Downs. Tourism bodies Toowoomba Golden West, South Burnett Tourism and Southern Downs Tourism aim to position the expanded region - which includes the Granite Belt - as an area known for its high quality handmade goods and produce "offering visitors and residents alike a unique and real experience together with products that reflect our rich cultural heritage". The "Hand Made In Country" project aims to develop "an exciting network of artisans that produce high quality handmade products with the vision of developing better skills and visitor experiences". Artisans - including woodworkers, silversmiths, stonemasons and quilters - and crafting groups have been invited to register to find out more about the project. Forward your name, address, email/website and trade/art to Krista Hauritz by email or write to Hand Made In Country, c/- BMO Business Centre, PO Box 180, Dalby, 4405. Krista can also be contacted on 0421-148-098.

Ergon Energy Donations Pass $5m Milestone March 28, 2011 - Ergon Energy customers have now donated a massive $5 million to the Royal Flying Doctor Service via regular donations from their power bills. Through the scheme, customers can contribute via regular donations of $2 or $5 from their quarterly electricity bills, or make a larger one-off donation if they wish. Since the scheme kicked off in 2000, more than 94,000 Ergon customers have chosen to support the program. Ergon staff have also contributed to the fundraising via payroll deductions. RFDS Queensland CEO Nino Di Marco said donations raised through the Ergon Energy scheme were vital to keeping the Flying Doctor in the air. "For over 10 years, Ergon Energy and its customers have played an important part in helping the RFDS provide medical care services to the people of Queensland, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year," Mr Di Marco said.

High School Puts Lid On Bird Litter March 25, 2011 - Kingaroy State High School is determined to deter pesky birds who have been spreading rubbish all over the grounds. The school has bought 17 new "bird-proof" bins with a $1000 grant from Ergon Energy to make sure rubbish stays where it belongs. "We had a big problem with crows, currawongs and magpies getting into the bins then making a big mess with the scraps. It wasn't good for the school environment and our neighbours weren't too happy either," said Student Council Environment Committee Chairperson Tammy Woodbury. "The new bins have significantly reduced the amount of rubbish on schoolgrounds and we've had positive feedback from neighbours."

Crane Wines To Host Meet'n'Greet March 24, 2011 - The Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be holding its April Meet'n'Greet on Monday, April 4, from 5:30pm at Crane Wines, Haydens Road, Booie. Guest speakers will be Sally Potter from the recently formed South Burnett Young Leaders group and Bernie Cooper from Crane Wines. Cost is $10. For more information and to RSVP, contact Joanne Thorp at the KCCI on (07) 4162-8466.

More Opportunities To Learn About Social Media March 23, 2011 - The Bush Business Online team will be bring their popular social media workshops back to Blackbutt and Kingaroy soon. A "Learn Facebook in a Day" workshop will be held in Blackbutt on Saturday April 9 from 8:30am–5:00pm at the Memorial Hall. Learn how to talk to your customers online and get a Facebook business page for your small business. Two one-day workshops will be held in Kingaroy on May 10-11. The "Learn Facebook in a Day" session on the Tuesday will be followed by a "Social Media 4 your Biz" workshop on the Wednesday. This workshop will also cover LinkedIn and Wordpress. The "Bush Business Online" workshop series is supported by the Federal Government's Small Business Online Program and is being presented by Sunshine Coast-based business Cre8you. Each workshop costs $120. For more information or to book visit www.cre8you.com or phone 0406-460-351.

Cougar Energy Shareholders Warn Of Nuclear Future March 22, 2011 - A group of angry Cougar Energy shareholders is warning that Queensland could be moving towards a nuclear-powered future because the State Government has chosen to shut down a potentially much cleaner alternative. The Cougar Energy Action Group is stunned by the Queensland Government's decision in January to end an Underground Coal Gasification project near Kingaroy. Group spokesman Steven White said as Queensland's population grows, and energy demands increase, "Queenslanders could find themselves staring into the eyes of a nuclear future". He said UCG technology, which is not new to Australia, could help avoid this. Mr White said the Kingaroy project had been shut down in a "climate of scaremongering" following a laboratory reading which had later been shown to be false. He said Cougar Energy had been unfairly singled out by Premier Anna Bligh and made a scapegoat because of public fears over the unrelated coal seam gas (CSG) industry which had suffered similar teething problems but had been allowed to continue unhindered. Mr White also warned that the way Cougar Energy had been treated could create "serious jitters" amongst future investors in Queensland. Download the Cougar Energy Action group press release (52kb PDF) Goomeri grazier John Cotter tasked with easing tension between farmers and CSG companies * * * Kingaroy Cheese will be relocating to Dagun, south of Gympie, next month. Cheesemaker Erin Jones is setting up her own company, The Mary Valley Cheese Company, but will continue to produce Kingaroy Cheese-branded soft cheeses by arrangement from her new production facility.

It's Your Community - Have Your Say March 21, 2011 - The South Burnett Regional Council is seeking feedback from local residents on how you see the local community developing in future years. The survey is part of Council's development of a Community Plan. What are the challenges / issues facing your town in the South Burnett? What issues are most important to you? What do like most about the South Burnett? The survey form, which can be downloaded here as PDF (582kb), should be returned to Council by June 30, 2011. Post to: South Burnett Regional Council Community Plan Survey Response, Reply Paid 336, Kingaroy, 4610.

More Power To Wild Horse March 18, 2011 - Community radio station Wild Horse-FM at Yarraman will be able to broadcast further into the South Burnett following a decision by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) this month to allow it to increase its transmitter power. 4WHO (99.7FM) was established as a temporary broadcaster for the Yarraman community in 2002 and a permanent license was granted in 2004. ACMA has also cancelled a non-operational allocation of the 97.7MHz frequency spot at Murgon which had been set aside for the ABC. This position on the radio dial has now been made available for the ABC's new NewsRadio service from Wide Bay.

Learn How To Apply For Grants March 17, 2011 - The Kingaroy Senior Soccer Club is hosting an interactive grant-writing course which will be held over four nights for representatives of local sports clubs and community organisations. The course is free but participants must be committed to attending all four sessions which will be held on Wednesday evenings from 6:30pm-8:30pm at the Kingaroy Senior Soccer Club, Oliver Bond Street, starting next week (March 23). Attendees will work with an experienced grant writer, former South Burnett Sport & Recreation Officer Scott North, to develop a grant application for their own club's needs, ready (or close to) to be submitted to a funding organisation. Scott founded a private consultancy Finding Funding in 2009 to advise and support community groups needing to access essential funds for their projects. Places are limited so bookings are required. RSVP to Scott by tomorrow to 0429-699-500 or by email.

A Smarter Way To Market The Arts March 16, 2011 - Regional arts, cultural and events workers in the South Burnett will have an opportunity to spend two days in Kingaroy soon with some of Australia's most talented social marketing gurus. Creative Regions, in partnership with The Auspicious Arts Incubator, is hosting a two-part workshop to educate and share the secrets of "values-based marketing" and social media such as Facebook. Keynote speaker John Paul Fischbach said the workshops would provide smart, effective and timely marketing strategies. He will be joined by social media developer Craig Lambie. The Smarter Arts Marketing workshop will be run over two separate weekends in March and April. Registering for the second workshop requires attendance at the first, which will be held on Sunday, March 27, from 9:00am-4:00pm at the Kingaroy Town Hall. For more information, contact Jess Hall at Creative Regions by email

A Spirit That Could Conquer All March 15, 2011 - "Thank God for generosity ... for a few days after the floods, cyclones and fires we didn't mind being told that somewhere deep in Australians there is a spirit that could conquer all". These are the words of former Kingaroy Citizen of the Year Fr Kevin Ryan, (right), in one of his last columns for the Catholic Leader newspaper this month. Ironically, they are words that could sum up the life of Fr Kev, who died at his home in Gatton on Saturday, aged 76. The former Parish Priest at St Mary's Catholic Church in Kingaroy (from 1988-1999) had a special devotion to people down on their luck. Fr Ryan's practical care, including establishing a Centacare office in the South Burnett and organising a weekly Kingaroy "Bread Run" in conjunction with the local St Vincent de Paul Society branch, was often criticised by those whose eyes were closed to the real problems around them. At a time when local authorities refused to acknowledge there was homelessness in Kingaroy, it was not unusual to find people camped overnight in his presbytery. Fr Ryan celebrated his Golden Jubilee as a priest at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, Gladfield, near Warwick, in June last year. He was ordained a priest in Warwick on June 29, 1960, and the next day conducted his first service at the Gladfield church, just down the road from where he grew up. As well as his stint as parish priest in Kingaroy, he also served in Toowoomba and Oakey parishes and worked as a prison chaplain and a navy chaplain. His weekly "Real Life" column in the Catholic Leader newspaper was published for more than 15 years. A Requiem Mass will be held for Fr Ryan at St Mary's Catholic Church, Warwick, on Thursday, March 17, from 11:30am Obituary in the Catholic Leader

Lachlan Named Our Region's Top Junior Chef March 14, 2011 - Congratulations to Lachlan White, 12, of Kingaroy, (right), who took out first place at the PCA Junior Cook-Off at the weekend. Lachlan prepared "finger-lickin' chicken'n' bacon wraps served on super salad". His creation wowed the trio of judges - David Costello (from the Courier-Mail), Tim La Budde (Kingaroy Kitchen) and three-times South Burnett regional cook-off winner Steve Gudzinski. The PCA Junior Cook-Off, which was co-ordinated by Jason Ford from the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE, was one of the highlights of the 2011 South Burnett Wine and Food in the Park Festival in Kingaroy's Memorial Park on Saturday. Lachlan said he enjoys cooking because he "likes eating the things I cook" and cooks for himself and his family "almost every afternoon". His favourite celebrity chef is Hester Blumenthal, a popular choice amongst the six contestants. The Cook-Off was sponsored by PCA, SQIT, Tarong Energy, Big W, Harvey Norman, Flamingo Wish, Crane Wines and Ford on Food. More photos from PCA Junior Cook-Off

Wine & Food in the Park on Tomorrow! March 11, 2011 - The 13th annual South Burnett Wine & Food In The Park Festival will be held at Memorial Park in Kingaroy tomorrow. At this year's Wine & Food In The Park you can: Sample great wines from the South Burnett's leading multi-award winning wineries Watch Junior Chefs cook up a storm in the PCA Junior Cook-Off Be entertained by 10 non-stop hours of live music from some of Australia's top music acts. As well, there'll be street entertainers and a wide variety of foods available. And Master of Wine Peter Scudamore-Smith will be conducting two special wine-tasting classes - but seats are strictly limited. The festival gates open at 10:00am.

Tarong Energy Merger To Go Ahead In July March 10, 2011 - The State Government has confirmed today that its restructuring plan for the power industry, (see SBBiz, November 25, 2010), which will see Tarong Energy merged with other power companies, will go ahead as planned on July 1. Finance Minister Rachel Nolan said the mergers followed extensive consultation with the current companies, unions, competition regulators and employees. "The restructure will result in the current three generation companies - CS Energy, Stanwell Corporation and Tarong Energy Corporation - being merged to form two new companies from July 1," she said. "The restructure will be achieved by the reallocation of assets to the existing CS Energy and Stanwell corporate entities, using the provisions of Section 161 of the Government Owned Corporations Act. "After feedback from the consultation process, the Bligh Government has altered the draft generator allocations to place the small hydro power stations and Mackay Gas Turbine within the Stanwell-Tarong portfolio. "We have also decided to combine the ownership of the Glen Wilga coal resource in the Surat Basin, currently held by Tarong Energy, with the adjacent Kogan coal mine which supplies fuel to the Kogan Creek Power Station. "Otherwise, the reallocation of portfolio assets is unchanged from the preferred structure announced on November 25." Is algae the future of power generation? A pilot plant is being built at Tarong Energy. Read more about this fascinating project on Science Alert

Former Citizen of the Year Remembered March 10, 2011 - South Burnett CTC Patron and former Kingaroy Citizen of the Year John Quatermass, (right), died last night after a short illness. John was CTC Chairman from 1987 to 1992 and Deputy Chairman from 1992 until 2006. He also owned and operated a very successful electrical business in Kingaroy for more than 40 years and invested a lifetime of community service in the region. He served on the Lions Rodeo Committee, Kingaroy Hospital Board, the District Development Board, the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal organising committee and was a former chairman of the Bunya District Scouting Association. He joined Kingaroy Lions Club in 1967 and was a Jaycees Senator (the first awarded by Kingaroy Jaycees). Eulogy for John Quatermass

Learn How To Market Your Small Business Online March 9, 2011 - Lisa Wain and Jakki Goodall, from Cre8you, who ran a series of popular small business seminars around the South Burnett last year, are returning to Kingaroy this week to run a workshop on social media and online marketing. The workshop, which will be held at Kingaroy RSL Club on Friday (March 11) from 9:00am-5:00pm, will cover "Facebook for Business", "LinkedIn for Professional Networking" and "Wordpress for Blogging". Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptops and follow along as Jakki and Lisa demonstrate how to create an effective online marketing strategy. Cost is $120 and spaces are limited. Bookings can be made online, by phone to 0406-460-351 or email. If you miss the Kingaroy workshop a similar one will be held in Blackbutt on April 9. UPDATE: SBBiz was advised this morning that Friday's proposed Kingaroy seminar has been changed to a webinar. If you'd like to attend this, go to the website and register online. * * * Liberal National Party supports closure of Cougar Energy's Kingaroy project

AgForce Roadshow To Visit Cloyna March 8, 2011 - AgForce's On The Road To Rebuilding roadshow will be paying a whistlestop visit to the South Burnett next week. The roadshow, which is open to AgForce members and non-members, is a one-stop shop of information, advice and services to help rural producers rebuild after the January floods. There will be opportunities to speak one-on-one with insurance providers, financial advisers and property planning experts as well as find out more information about volunteer services available. The roadshow will be held at the Cloyna Community Hall from 8:30am to 11:30am on Wednesday, March 16. Participants will enjoy a barbecue breakfast. Entrance is free but please RSVP for catering to AgForce on (07) 3236-3100 or by email. SBBiz apologies for any confusion over the location of this workshop. The first information we received indicated it was to be held at Windera. * * * Congratulations to the Wondai Visitor Information Centre for being named Visitor Information Centre of the Year in their category at the recent Queensland Information Centres Association conference held in Ipswich. The Wondai VIC won the award for centres with one paid staff member - the third time it has been successful in this category. It beat similarly staffed VICs at Caboolture, Kuranda, Stanthorpe and Wynnum Manly.

Does Your Project Need $10,000? March 7, 2011 - Round 2 of the State Government's Building Rural Communities Fund is closing soon. Applications are for a one-off grant up to $10,000 (excluding GST) to implement projects that improve the economic, social, cultural and environmental capacity of rural and remote communities in Queensland. Eligible regions are Wide Bay Burnett, Darling Downs and South West, Central Queensland, Mackay Whitsunday, North Queensland and Far North Queensland. The Building Rural Communities Fund is providing a total of $2 million in funding over two years for rural community capacity building projects in Queensland's Blueprint for the Bush regions. Applications close on March 31, 2011. For more information, and to obtain an application form, visit the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation's website.