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It's Up To Medical Board Says Qld Health Minister May 28, 2010 - Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for Health Paul Lucas has commented on last Friday's SBBiz story ("Red Tape Forces Kingaroy GP To Stop Seeing Patients") by emphasising the Medical Board of Queensland, not the State Government, will determine the case of Dr Kamal Banerjee. Mr Lucas, (pictured at right with Premier Anna Bligh), said there was a need to keep a balance between maintaining the highest professional standards and coping with the "extreme" doctor shortage in rural and regional Australia. "The specific decisions about (an) individual doctor's registration is for the independent Medical Board of Queensland," Mr Lucas said. "The shortage of GPs in rural and regional Australia is a major concern. "The Howard Government made the decision many years ago to freeze the number of university medical places. To meet this shortfall, the Queensland Government stepped in and committed funding for extra university medical places because we knew that we need to train more doctors if we are going to meet the health care needs of Australia's growing and ageing population. "The Rudd Government has recognised the importance of building up our medical workforce, and have committed to training more medical students which will ultimately mean more specialists and in particular GPs for our rural and regional areas. "The State Government has played an important role in increasing the number of doctors coming through the system. Doctors, when they graduate, proceed with an internship with Queensland Health. Since 2005 we have more than doubled intern positions from 250 interns in Queensland to 556 interns this year, increasing to 644 in 2011."

Learn How To Market Your Business Online In Kingaroy Next Week May 27, 2010: Want to learn more about social marketing and how to open up an online presence for your business? If so, then you may want to attend one of two introductory seminars for the Bush Business Online programme that will be held at Kingaroy RSL next Tuesday and Wednesday, June 1st and 2nd. The Bush Business Online programme is an Australian Government funded initiative under the Small Business Online program. It's aimed at helping small and home-based South Burnett businesses acquire the skills and knowledge they need to develop an easy and effective marketing strategy through a simple web presence using popular social media such as Facebook and Twitter. The complete $120 course consists of 12 individual 3 hour workshops delivered over 12 months. The workshops will also be available over the Internet and will be supported by online discussions, Q&A's and regular hints and tips from a panel of specialists in the field of social media. The free introductory sessions will be held at the Kingaroy RSL from 6:30pm to 8:30pm next Tuesday and Wednesday nights. You can obtain more details and/or register for the full course online at www.cre8you.com.au. There's no need to register for the information session, though. You can also download a 4-page PDF outline of the full course by clicking here (260K).

$100,000 Grants Program For Green Projects May 26, 2010 - South Burnett community groups have been invited to apply for funding from a $100,000 grants program from Ergon Energy. Ergon spokesman Paul Jordon said the Envirofund program could give a kickstart to innovative projects that benefit the environment. It is open to not-for-profit community groups and organisations to undertake environmental initiatives in their local communities. Grants from as little as $200 up to $10,000 are available. Last year, four Wide Bay-Burnett organisations were successful in obtaining grants and Mr Jordon is hopeful more local groups will be successful this year. Projects that could attract funding include those that reduce energy consumption, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, educate and encourage behavioural change around energy use, use or promote renewable energy alternatives (solar, wind, hydro and biomass), protect, maintain or re-establish natural environments in community spaces, or protect wildlife.

Winter Tourism Campaign Targets Brisbane Listeners May 25, 2010 - Brisbane Radio Station 4KQ's popular Breakfast Crew, (Laurel, Gary & Mark, right), will be doing an outside broadcast from somewhere in the South Burnett on June 8 as part of a bid to entice Brisbane residents to enjoy a "winter country break". The South Burnett will feature in Tourism Queensland's Winter Country Breaks advertising campaign which will run in Brisbane from June 6 to July 2. The campaign, which is being run in conjunction with Fraser Coast South Burnett Tourism, will focus on radio advertising and promotions and will also include Brisbane FM station 97.3. South Burnett tourism operators who would like to take part in the campaign should contact Adelaide Hadzic at Tourism Queensland on (07) 3535-5470. PS. A quick reminder to local tourism business ... nominations for the 2010 Fraser Coast South Burnett Tourism Awards close on June 11.

Have Your Say On Health Issues May 24, 2010 How sick is our hospital system? With newspaper reports that Nanango Hospital could close and a warning from a local GP, (below), that he may be forced to shut his surgery, it's no wonder that Opposition politicians are taking an interest in the South Burnett's health woes. Queensland Opposition spokesman on health Mark McArdle will be visiting Ringsfield House in Nanango next Saturday (May 29) to allow residents to voice their concerns to him about local health issues. Mr McArdle will be the guest speaker at an LNP breakfast from 6:30am. Cost is just $20 but bookings are essential. For more information, contact Margaret on (07) 4163-8623 or Jim on (07) 4163-8947 by Thursday. Photo: Opposition health spokesman Mark McArdle - photographed here with former Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg - will be visiting the South Burnett on Saturday.

Red Tape Forces Kingaroy GP To Stop Seeing Patients May 21, 2010 - The Eduardstrete Medical Centre in Kingaroy looks set to close because of red tape, leaving more than 3000 patients in the lurch. Fijian-born Dr Kamal Banerjee has been at the centre since 2001, most of the time practising as a solo GP. However in the wake of the Bundaberg Hospital fiasco, the State Government introduced new laws that meant that for him to continue working he must always have a FRACGP-registered doctor at the surgery. Dr Janet Ackinboye, from Cherbourg, filled this role for eight months but had to leave in January. "We got a phone call late one afternoon from the Medical Board of Queensland saying that he could no longer work. I was stunned," Dr Banerjee's secretary Barbara Wittmann told SBBiz today. Ironically, the ban made it difficult for Dr Banerjee to complete part of his critical FRACGP exam, which involved videos of him at work. "Dr Peter Wynn was absolutely wonderful and allowed him to work in his surgery," Barbara said. A locum doctor from New Zealand allowed Dr Banerjee to briefly re-open his practice this month however this doctor returned home last Friday. Dr Banerjee has completed his FRACGP exams but the results will not be available until October. In the meantime, unless another doctor becomes available his surgery must remain shut. Barbara has raised the problem with the Darling Downs West Moreton Health Service District, Queensland Health Minister Paul Lucas and South Burnett Regional Mayor David Carter. "If there is no solution, the centre will probably have to close," she said.

We Remember The Places The South Burnett Forgets May 21, 2010: Hello everyone! A little over a week ago we unveiled SouthBurnett.Biz version 4.0. And today we're very pleased to take the wraps off our first upgrade: SouthBurnett.Biz version 4.1. In this upgrade we've added 13 new localities to our database: Elgin Vale and Manumbar in the Gympie Regional Council's area; and Barambah, Chelmsford, Cushnie, Gilla, Glan Devon, Kinleymore, Marshlands, Moondooner, Runnymede, Taabinga Village and Wattlecamp in the South Burnett Regional Council's area. These localities are often overlooked in business directories because they're largely populated by farmers. But farms are businesses too. So we list them just the same as we list town businesses. We've also made some small refinements to our search engine which will improve searching when you look for towns or localities with two-word names (such as "Bunya Mountains" or "Lower Wonga"). Thank you to all the people who took time out to email us or phone us over the last week to share your thoughts about our new look. Your reaction has been almost universally positive. And we'll have more upgrades to come for you in the near future.

Unmanned Aircraft Trials A Great Success May 20, 2010 - Trials using a private airstrip near Burrandowan have proved so successful that researchers hope to demonstrate by the end of this year that up to 50 aircraft - both real and simulated - can safely, and automatically, share a confined airspace. The Smart Skies project - involving Boeing, the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA), CSIRO and the Queensland University of Technology - is developing an automated separation management system for aircraft. Tests conducted locally have included unmanned aircraft avoiding obstacles such as trees, buildings, powerlines and other aircraft. The $10 million project is due to be completed by March next year. Read the full story on Flight Global

Salvos Get Ready To Hit The Streets (and Park) May 19, 2010 - It's going to be a busy couple of weeks for the Salvation Army corps in Kingaroy - with a winter sleepout, a visiting band and the Red Shield Appeal all ready to go. This Saturday night, the Salvos will be hosting a Winter Sleepout for teenagers in Kingaroy's Memorial Park to help raise awareness of homelessness in the local region. There will be a Soup Kitchen (with soup prepared by local chef Jason Ford), games and guest speakers. Cardboard will be provided but participants should bring their own sleeping bags as it's guaranteed to be COLD! One of the largest Salvation Army bands in Queensland - the Carina Brass Band - will also be performing free concerts on Saturday at 4pm and 7pm and then will back up on Sunday at the Salvos' hall in Mary Street to conduct workshops with local town and school bands. Then on Thursday May 27, local businesspeople are invited to attend the Kingaroy RSL for the official launch of the 2010 Red Shield Appeal annual doorknock. Guest speaker will be Bill Hunter, chaplain to the Brisbane Broncos, and there will also be an auction on the night. For more information about any of the above events - and to RSVP for the Red Shield appeal launch - contact Lt Craig Harlum on 0408-623-701.

Second Underground Coal Gas Project For Kingaroy? May 18, 2010 - A possible second Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) project near Kingaroy has moved a step closer with the signing of a $2m agreement between Red River Resources and Black Gold Resources. The companies are investigating coal deposits south-west of Kingaroy, about 9km from the Cougar UCG project. Independent consultants have inferred coal resources of 82.1 million tonnes in the exploration permit area EPC 1181. Red River says these coal seams aren't suitable for coal seam gas exploitation or underground mining but are "entirely suitable" for underground coal gasification technology. The State Government has placed a moratorium on further UCG evaluation programs until 2011-12 when a report will be presented to Cabinet but Red River is confident the EPC 1181 coal seams are unlikely to be declared off-limits in this review. The Heads of Agreement between Red River and Black Gold is subject to approval by shareholders of both companies. Read the Red River Stock Exchange Announcement (538kb PDF) Listen to Red River Resources managing director John Karajas on Boardroom Radio

South Burnett Professionals Urged To Consider Surat Basin For Work May 17, 2010: South Burnett professionals looking for better money and/or a career change are being urged to consider relocating to the Surat Basin to help fill an anticipated labour shortage. The recent announcement of the BG Group coal seam gas project in the Basin (which is expected to produce enough gas to supply China for 20 years) will create up to 8500 jobs during the construction of the plant and pipeline and then require thousands of engineers, petroleum engineers, seismic exploration geologists, production engineers, piping engineers, and supervisors in all these categories for on-going management of the project. Sophie Macdonald, principal of Skye Recruitment which specialises in supplying staff to the Queensland oil and gas industry (pictured), says that Queensland doesn't have enough professionals right now to work on current projects, let alone future ones like the BG Group project. "We're starting to recruit from overseas in places like the UK, South Africa, Canada and the Middle East," she says. "The industry is offering very attractive salaries and packages to try to secure staff. So there are plenty of opportunities for South Burnett professionals too." Skye Recruitment publish a regular e-newsletter for clients and candidates in the oil and gas industry to keep them advised of current and up-coming employment opportunities. You can sign up for it by visiting their website.

Win One Of 10 Free Double Passes To The Big Screen Film Festival On Saturday 22nd May May 14, 2010: The Big Screen Film Festival is coming to Nanango and Blackbutt for the 4th year running on May 21st, 22nd and 23rd. And to celebrate the launch of our new look website we have 10 double passes to give away! The double passes are to Saturday night's Big Screen feature attractions in Nanango: Subdivision - a hilarious new Australian comedy filmed in Hervey Bay which explores what happens when two small-town carpenters have their world turned upside down after a big developer moves into the area; and Aunty Maggie And The Womba Wakgun, a rib-tickling short comedy film about Aunty Maggie, three hungry nephews and a nuisance rooster that features the South Burnett's very own Leah Purchell in the lead role (pictured above). Both films will screen at the Nanango State High School Hall in Elk Street, Nanango from 6:30pm on Saturday May 22nd. And to win a free double pass, all you need to do is be one of the first 10 people to email us with your name and phone number no later than 4:00pm on Monday 17th May.

Welcome To The New SouthBurnett.Biz Version 4.0! May 13, 2010: Hello everyone! If you're a regular visitor to our website you'll have noticed a big change from around 11:00am this morning. This is when we launched SouthBurnett.Biz Version 4.0. Our new look has been designed to upgrade our website from the 800x600 dial-up world that most of the South Burnett lived in a few years ago to the wide-screen, ADSL and wireless broadband world that roughly 97% of us live in today. While we were at it, we've also updated the towns in our coverage areas to relocate them into the new Shires that came into existence after the forced Council mergers in March 2008; and we've tried to make our search facility a little more obvious too. Right now - every single month - our visitors run more than 21,000 queries through our databases (that's slightly more than 250,000 a year). So over the next few months you can expect to see a number of other exciting and significant improvements to our website. And we'll let you know about each of them as they occur. In the meantime, though, we'd certainly like to hear your comments on our new look and you're most welcome to phone them through to us on (07) 4162-3899 or to simply email us your views.

Jade Wins Bronze Medal In National Competition May 12, 2010 - Congratulations to Jade Strack, from Nanango, who has won a Bronze medal in the Auto Electrical category at the WorldSkills Australia trade excellence competition held in Brisbane at the weekend. Jade, who is employed by Kingaroy Auto Electrics, underwent his training at the Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE. More than 500 competitors, all regional winners in their categories from across Australia, competed in 50 trade and skill categories in front of 250 judges. Competitors were judged against national and international benchmarks, training packages and employability competencies. Gold medallists will get the opportunity to compete at the 41st International WorldSkills Competition in London next year.

OriginOil Joins Algal Oil Project May 11, 2010 - OriginOil and MBD Energy Ltd have signed a Memorandum of Understanding which will further the development of a renewable oil project to be tested at Tarong Power Station. OriginOil will supply MBD Energy with its Quantum Fracturing™ and Single-Step Extraction™ systems which transform algae into a source of renewable oil. Tarong Energy has committed to building a test facility which will capture carbon dioxide emissions from the power station and use them to grow oil-rich algae in solar bioreactors (see SBBiz Nov 20, 2009). In the full production systems, OriginOil's technology will be integrated into the MBD system to enhance algae growth and then perform oil extraction. Two other Algal Synthesiser power station projects will also be developed: at Loy Yang A in Victoria and Eraring Energy, NSW. Read the Origin Oil press release UPDATE July 20, 2010: $5m grant from Federal Government

Workshop To Help Businesses Do It Better May 10, 2010 - The Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) will be holding a Managing For Profits workshop next month in Kingaroy. The workshop has been designed to give participants an awareness of the financial elements involved in running a successful business. Other topics to be covered include financial terminology, basic financial ratios and understanding financial statements. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, June 9 from 1:00pm-4:00pm at the Kingaroy RSL Club. Cost is $44 and registrations are essential. For more information and to book, phone DEEDI's Maryborough Business Assistance office on (07) 4121-1780.

Juli Targets Business Success May 7, 2010 - Former PCA Marketing Manager and Marketing Director at APN Australian Publishing (publishers of the South Burnett Times), Juli Robertson, (right), has launched her own business consultancy, JTB Consulting. The well-known former Kingaroy resident is offering "whole business" solutions on growth, advertising and marketing to a broad range of clients, including many in the South Burnett. Juli has also recently launched a new website, www.jtbconsulting.com.au and is an approved supplier of the Queensland Government's Jobs Assist program. Juli can be contacted on 0417-707-280 or by email

Singalong With Bronwyn Bishop May 6, 2010 - Federal MP Bronwyn Bishop will be joining the Blackbutt community at a seniors luncheon on May 19 to help raise runds for the Blackbutt-Benarkin Aged Care Centre project. As well as guest speaker Bronwyn - who is the Opposition spokesman for Seniors - there'll be entertainment from the Blackbutt Singers and a sing-along with Golden Oldies pianist Shirley Nelson. The fun starts at 11am and there will also be a lucky door prize and raffle. The charity fundraiser is being organised by the Yarraman branch of the Liberal National Party. For more information, contact Jim Bond on 0419-668-656.

Council Approves Multi-Million Dollar Murgon Development May 5, 2010 - In a split decision, the South Burnett Regional Council has granted preliminary approval to override the Planning Scheme and allow a multi-million dollar residential, industrial and motel project at Murgon. The application by the Murgon Property Group was first submitted to Murgon Council in 2007. After vigorous debate at the April 7, 2010 SBRC meeting, councillors voted to let the application lay on the table until the next meeting to allow time for council staff to draft conditions for approval. At the April 27 meeting, a motion that would have approved the motel component only was defeated 4-3; then a motion to defer a decision until the May meeting was also defeated 4-3. The final motion to approve the development, subject to conditions, was carried 4-3 with Crs David Carter, Kathy Duff, Barry Green and Damien Tessmann voting in favour. Approval for the residential component is now subject to the provision of information to council on the stability of the land, water and sewage requirements, footpaths and cycleways, drainage and an analysis of housing trends and demographic data for Murgon.

Learn More About Solar Energy May 4, 2010 - Air Solar Kingaroy is inviting South Burnett residents to find out more about solar power options in a free seminar to be held at the Kingaroy Town Hall next week. The seminar, which will include displays in the Town Hall forecourt, aims to explain how solar energy works, how "return-to-grid" systems operate and the benefits of heat pump technology. Up-to-date information on current government rebates will also be available. There will also be slide shows and a guest speaker, Paul Edwards, from the Green Energy Council. The seminar will run from 6-9pm on Wednesday, May 12.