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Silver Lining Bid To Use Ficks Crossing January 15, 2009 - The Silver Lining Foundation, operators of the Bahun Jal Mono project for indigenous youth and the Iron Bark Ridge Conference and Catering Centre near Wondai, has its eyes on the former Ficks Crossing Outdoor Recreation Centre. The centre was closed by the Department of Sport and Recreation in March last year and was later handed over to the South Burnett Regional Council which has been considering its future uses. The ABC has reported the Silver Lining Foundation hopes to receive the rights to set up an educational tourism business which could employ up to 20 people.

January 30 Deadline For Habitat Grants January 14, 2009 - South Burnett landowners who have a Nature Refuge or Land for Wildlife area on their property - or are think about registering for one - may be eligible for grants of up to $5000, but you'd better be quick! Round 1 applications for funding under the Healthy Habitats scheme close on January 30. Grants of up to $10,000 are also be available for projects involved with protecting semi-evergreen vine thicket or brigalow-belah ecosystems. For more information, visit the Better Burnett website or download the Expression of Interest Word document.

AGL Snaps Up String Of Renewable Energy Projects January 13, 2009 - AGL Energy Limited's acquisition in December of the proposed wind farm development project at Coopers Gap, near Kingaroy, is part of a larger strategy by the energy giant to develop a string of renewable energy projects to meet its obligations under the Federal Government's Renewable Energy Target (53kb PDF) (RET) Scheme. "This transaction is consistent with our strategy of acquiring a pipeline of projects that will be at the bottom end of the cost curve and benefit from future uplifts in pricing," AGL Managing Director Michael Fraser said. As well as the 300MW Coopers Gap project, AGL has purchased a 150MW windfarm project at Crows Nest, near Toowoomba, and seven other projects in NSW, Victoria and South Australia. At the same time it has sold its interest in the Hallett 2 wind farm in South Australia to an investment trust managed by ANZ Infrastructure Services but is keeping control of the project's Renewable Energy Certificates and electricity output.

Primo Bid Excludes Swickers January 12, 2009 - Two companies, George Weston Foods (which owns the Don, KR Castlemaine and Watsonia brands) and Primo Smallgoods, have sought approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to purchase Hans Smallgoods, owners of Swickers Kingaroy Bacon. However while the George Weston Foods bid is for all Hans' assets, the Primo bid specifically excludes Swickers and Hans' Blacktown facility. Ironically, Primo was recently lured to Queensland by the State Government (see story December 4, 2008). The ACCC is seeking comments from interested parties on the two proposals until January 23. For more information, visit the ACCC website: George Weston Foods Limited P & M Quality Smallgoods Pty Ltd (Primo) FOOTNOTE: Despite all the economic gloom being touted by "experts", SBBiz is looking forward to a bigger and brighter 2009! During 2008, SBBiz had a total of 100,096 unique visitors to the website ... and this EXCLUDES the database queries. We'd like to thank everyone who assisted us during the past 12 months with information about new listings and updates. We couldn't do it without the support of the South Burnett community and we look forward to working with you during 2009.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! December 12, 2008 - Southburnett.biz would like to wish all our readers a very happy and safe Christmas and a prosperous 2009! The website will be running as usual over the holiday break so please continue to send in any updates or changes to business listings, however our news briefs will be taking a short break until January 12. A huge thank you to everyone who has assisted us over the past 12 months! Jon Stevens, right, along with James Reyne rocked Kingaroy at last night's CROW-FM Kingaroy Christmas Carnival. Don't forget, the Murgon Christmas Fair is on tonight from 5pm in the main street!

Life-Saving Gift From Tarong Energy December 11, 2008 - A grant of $18,800 from Tarong Energy has enabled the Kingaroy Local Ambulance Committee to purchase a life-saving defibrillator for one of its first response ambulance vehicles LAC President John Box said the Lifepak 12 unit would be used in one of the four first response ambulance vehicles based in Kingaroy. He said the LAC was committed to providing front line paramedics with state-of-the-art pre-hospital care equipment. Earlier this year Tarong Energy provided funds for a Lifepak 12 for the Nanango Ambulance. Earlier this year the Kingaroy LAC received a grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund to supply another Lifepak 12. The Queensland Ambulance Service matched the efforts of the Kingaroy LAC so now there will be defibrillators in all four first response ambulances in Kingaroy.

WBBACC Chairman Resigns December 10, 2008 - Wide Bay Burnett Area Consultative Committee (WBBACC) Chairman Bill Trevor has announced he will step down from the voluntary role early in the New Year. The former Isis Shire Mayor announced his decision to resign at a General Meeting held in Nanango last weekend. He had been WBBACC chairman for 12 years. Executive Officer Cameron Bisley said the WBBACC was now awaiting the Federal Government's announcement of plans for the regional body's future and a possible transition to Regional Development Australia. Read more on the WBBACC website.

Jason Re-Elected SBWIA President December 9, 2008 - Jason Kinsella (Moffatdale Ridge) was re-elected president of the South Burnett Wine Industry Association at the group's Annual General Meeting held at Crane Wines in Booie last night. Also re-elected unopposed were Vice-President Kevin Temperton (Bellbird Vineyards) and Secretary / Treasurer Paula Greenwood. Delivering his president's report, Jason said he believed the outlook for the region's wine industry was "generally positive" after a tough few years during which local growers have had to deal with drought. The industry has also had to face up to the loss of several growers and wine industry operators due to the Kunioon mine project however he believed the worst was now over.

Transformer Explosion Caused Kingaroy Blackout December 8, 2008 - The blackout in Kingaroy which forced many businesses to close early on Friday afternoon was caused by a fire which damaged a transformer at the Kingaroy substation. An Ergon Energy spokesman said the power supply was cut to almost 3500 customers after an explosion about 4.10pm. The fire brigade assisted Ergon employees to gain access to the transformer to begin work to restore power to customers in Kingaroy, Kumbia, Ellesmere and Wooroolin. Supply was progressively switched to two other feeder lines from 6.45pm and power was restored to all customers before 9.30pm. The Ergon spokesman said specialist substation crews would now assess the best way to deal with the damaged transformer. Later on Friday night, about 370 customers in the Durong South and Gordonbrook areas also had their supply interrupted after a tree fell on high voltage lines during a storm. And yesterday afternoon, about 2000 customers in parts of Kingaroy, Nanango, Coolabunia and Wooroolin lost power due to another storm. About half of these customers had been switched to the affected line as a result of Friday's damage at the Kingaroy substation.

Truckies To Get New Rest Stop On Burnett Highway December 5, 2008 - A new heavy vehicle rest area will be constructed on the Burnett Highway between Goomeri and Ban Ban Springs. Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt said yesterday the rest area was part of the government's commitment to combat driver fatigue. He said managing heavy vehicle driver fatigue was one of Main Roads' key priorities and vital to reducing the State's road toll. The Burnett Highway rest area will be constructed during the 2009-10 financial year from funds collected from speeding camera and red light camera fines.

State Government Lures Primo To Queensland December 4, 2008 - Just days after Hans, owners of Swickers Kingaroy Bacon, announced it had entered voluntary administration, the State Government has welcomed rival smallgoods manufacturer Primo to Queensland, lured by the government's investment agency Invest Queensland. Industry Minister Desley Boyle said she welcomed news that Primo would establish a $70m plant at Wacol in Brisbane. The company plans to build an 18,000sq m complex to house its smallgoods manufacturing, warehousing and distribution facilities and create about 425 jobs. Ironically, Hans - which employs approximately 1400 people in total - also operates manufacturing sites at Colmslie and Wacol in Brisbane. Download State Government press release (11kb PDF)

A Blast From The Past! December 3, 2008 - Here's a little bit of South Burnett nostalgia discovered on the Internet. This Rio Tinto video posted on YouTube features a lot of familiar faces now either retired or departed from the region. And it also highlights the old Tarong Business Program which fostered Southburnett.biz ...

Nanango Takes A Punt On Kingaroy Racegoers December 2, 2008 - The Nanango Racing Club is making a deliberate pitch to attract younger people to its already popular Christmas Race meeting on December 13 by making it even easier to get to the Lee Park track. Spokeswomen Jenny Morgan said as usual a free courtesy bus would be leaving the Commercial Hotel in Drayton Street, Nanango, about 12:45pm. This will also pick up patrons at the Palace and Fitzroy Hotels and Nanango RSL. And for the first time, a separate courtesy bus will also be running from the Glendon Street Bus Depot at noon to take Kingaroy patrons to the track. It will be a five-event program, starting about 1:15pm. Santa Claus will be putting in an appearance and there will also be a craft market for last-minute gift shopping, a Fashions Of The Field competition and the official unveiling of Lee Park's new Champagne Bar.

Comfortable Cabins For Travellers or Workers December 1, 2008 - Matt and Amy Diesel have unveiled their new Kingaroy business, PepperTree Cabins Kingaroy which is located at the rear of the Kingaroy Tourist Park in Evelyn Street. The couple have erected 32 new self-contained, air-conditioned cabins suitable for longer-stay travellers, businesspeople or contract workers. The obvious market includes mine and power station workers. Each cabin has a large en suite, fully equipped kitchen, TV/DVD and a double bed. For more information, phone Matt or Amy on (07) 4162-8008 or contact them by email.

Swickers In Voluntary Administration November 28, 2008 - Hans, owners of Swickers Kingaroy Bacon and producers of Barkers Creek Pork, has gone into voluntary administration. Administrator Mark Mentha, from receivers KordaMentha, said today there was no immediate threat to the jobs of production workers and it would be "business as usual" while they tried to sell the company. Swickers is the second largest pork producer in Australia and employs about 400 people. Mr Mentha said Hans had been hurt by higher feed costs caused by the drought and increased competition from subsidised imports. He said whatever the outcome of the administration, the entitlements of employees were assured. Related Kingaroy company Sun Pork Foods has also gone into voluntary administration. Read more on News.com.au On October 1, Hans Continental Smallgoods announced in a media statement that its parent company, Japan Tobacco Inc, was not proceeding with the sale of Hans and Swickers Kingaroy Bacon to private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners (see story September 3, 2008). It claimed at the time the decision would not affect the on-going operations of either Hans or Swickers. State Government "To Stand By Workers". Download Media Release (11kb PDF)

Bush Band Unveils Website November 27, 2008 - Popular local musicians The Barker Creek Bush Band have unveiled their new website. The Nanango-based band plays Australian folk songs as well as Irish music, country rock, bluegrass and 1960s-70s rock'n'roll. Earlier this year the band produced its own CD "Australiana Favourites" which features 12 popular folk songs including "Bound for Botany Bay" and "Click Go The Shears". They are now working on Vol 2 which will be released next year.

Myrlene Offers Personal Service November 26, 2008 - Myrlene Roddick has opened Tag Art Branding Services at 180 Kingaroy Street, Kingaroy (the former Sasswear shop which became vacant earlier this year when Sasswear relocated to Shoppingworld). Myrlene offers a "personalising service" with customised embroidery and heat press printing. She also has business or craft stamps, a selection of craft and haberdashery supplies and does basic mending and key cutting. She can be contacted on (07) 4162-4830 or by email.

Pam Appointed To Top Health Job November 25, 2008 - Former nurse and mid-wife Pam Lane has started work as the new CEO for the recently merged Darling Downs West Moreton Health Service District, which covers all South Burnett hospitals. She was formerly district manager for the West Moreton South Burnett Health Service district. Ms Lane began work in her Toowoomba office this week and plans to visit all the regional services and facilities in her district as soon as possible.

LJ Hooker Opens In Kingaroy November 24, 2008 - Another real estate agency has opened in Kingaroy ... local businessman Clem Smith has added an LJ Hooker franchise to his businesses co-located at 196 Haly Street. Clem also operates Access Broker Services, which handles loans and mortgages, and SunServices Insurance and Financial Solutions which offers a full range of insurance products. A bit of history: Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker (1903-1976) opened his first real estate agency in Maroubra in Sydney in 1928. LJ Hooker now has strings of agencies overseas including New Zealand, Indonesia, China, the United Arab Emirates and India. We will never know what would have happened if Sir Leslie had not changed his name by deed poll in 1925. "Thank you Mr Tingyou" just doesn't have the same ring ...

Visitor Information Centre Has Christmas Wrapped Up November 21, 2008 - The Kingaroy Visitor Information Centre - part of the South Burnett Regional Council's Information, Art and Heritage Precinct - is gearing up for the Christmas rush from local residents looking for special gifts. The centre has a large range of local products on sale - everything from peanuts to fudge - and offers a gift wrapping service for just $2. They can also prepare elaborate gift hampers which can be wrapped for $5. There are also Lions Christmas Cakes available and a huge sale on the last remaining stock of the famous "Kingaroy Mud Shirts", (left). This is the only stock left of this iconic Kingaroy product as no more are being made. PS. The Centre also has copies of the latest South Burnett map, above, which has just been released in time for the Christmas holidays!