COMMUNITY NEWS
Drug paraphernalia located: A 39-year-old local woman was charged with fail to take reasonable care and precautions in respect of a syringe or needle on April 16. Around midnight on Tuesday morning police will allege they observed the woman place a number of hypodermic syringes and a kitchen knife under bushes on the Corso, East Innisfail. She was issued with a notice to appear at the Innisfail Magistrates Court on May 7. Traffic crash, Mundoo: Police are investigating a single vehicle traffic crash involving a prime mover on Monday. Initial investigations suggest around 12.30pm the truck was travelling along the Innisfail Japoon Road, Wangan when the 62-year-old driver has lost control of the trailer on the verge, the vehicle has over-corrected coming onto the wrong side of the road before hitting a power pole. The diver was uninjured in the collision. Speeding, Rungoo: A 28-year-old Kirwan man was issued with a $435 infringement notice on Sunday morning. He was intercepted around 10.30am on the Bruce Highway, Rungoo allegedly travelling at 105km/h in a 80km/h zone. Speeding,Vasa Views: Innisfail Road Policing Unit intercepted a 32-year-old Innisfail man around 3pm Saturday afternoon. It will be alleged he was travelling at 123km/h in a 100km/h zone he was issued with a $435 traffic infringement notice. Theft, Webb: Police are investigating the theft of diesel from a Coquette Point Road business on March
29. Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact police and quote reference number QP1900694763. Operation Elevate: On Friday, April 12 Innisfail Road Policing Unit conducted Operation Elevate between 2.30pm and 4pm. The operation saw officers placed in strategic positions within the Innisfail CBD, where they observed traffic from an elevated position focusing on offences, including the Fatal Five factors: speeding, drink or drug driving, seatbelts, fatigue and distractions. During the operation, 15 traffic infringement notices were issued including five mobile phone tickets issued with another detected. The driver involved in the detected offence was allegedly distracted texting on the phone whilst travelling through a roundabout and did not see the police officer directing her to pull over. As a result, the driver failed to stop and police are following up with the vehicle owner. Acting Sergeant Sue McBride, Office in Charge of the Innisfail Road Policing Unit said she was appalled with the number of offences committed in such a small time span. “It is astounding and disappointing to police that some drivers are still putting theirs, and other road users lives on the line, when using their mobile phone whilst driving,” Acting Sergeant McBride said. One seat belt related offence, three failing to indicate when exiting a roundabout, one positive drug driver, and six unsecured loads on vehicles were also detected. “Another law that has been around for over 20 years that we seem to be continually educating people on are the dangers of unrestrained
Easter Road Safety Road Stories “ride safely for me”
THE Queensland Police Service’s Easter road safety campaign began on April 5 and will run until April 26. Commissioner Stewart said that anyone travelling on the state’s highways can expect to encounter police. This campaign coincides with the Easter school holidays, a period in which there is a large increase of vehicles on the roads. Inspector Ian Park, now of
Brisbane Police Prosecutions Corps wrote a story about when his personal and professional life collided. “Personally, I don’t think we’ll have success on the roads until our road toll is zero. And that’s based on my own experience,” Inspector Park said. “I’ve seen people with iPads set up on their dashboard watching a movie while they’re driving. Especially if
they know they’re going to hit peak hour traffic or slow traffic. I mean, you can still kill someone regardless of the fact that your average speed might only be 10 to 20 kilometres an hour. It can still happen.” The Easter Road Safety campaign is targeting the Fatal Five – speeding, drink/ drug driving, fatigue, seat belt use and driver distraction/inattention.
Page 8 Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, April 18, 2019
loads, as we see people continue to commit the offence,” Acting Sergeant McBride said. With the Easter road safety campaign continuing, Acting Sergeant McBride wants to remind motorists that police are asking drivers to make the right choices so they are able to enjoy the Easter break with their families and friends. “We want you to get to your destination alive,” Acting Sergeant McBride. Driving charges, Goondi Bend: A 26-year-old Mount Sheridan man was intercepted on Palmerston Drive around 4pm, Thursday afternoon. It will be alleged he was driving in a dangerous manner around 3.20pm on the Bruce highway at Gordonvale. It will be further alleged he returned a roadside breath test reading of 0.122 per cent Blood Alcohol Content. As a result, he was transported to Innisfail Station where his licence was suspended and he was charged with one count each of drink driving and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. His is scheduled to appear at the Innisfail Magistrates Court on April 29. High-end speeding, Silkwood: Innisfail Road Policing Unit intercepted a 39-year-old international tourist on the Bruce Highway, Silkwood around 4.30pm on Thursday. It will be alleged he was travelling at 149km/h in a 100km/h zone. He was issued with a $1,218 infringement notice and advised of a license suspension. Speeding,Tully: A 29-year-old Mareeba man was allegedly intercepted travelling at 87km/hr in a 60km/hr zone along the Bruce Highway, Tully at around
9.30pm on Wednesday night. He was issued with a $435 infringement notice. A 26-year-old Bowen Hills woman was also intercepted on the Bruce Highway Tully around 9pm, where it will be alleged she was travelling at 80km/hr in a 60km/hr zone. She was issued with a $261 infringement notice. Speeding, Belvedere: Innisfail Road Policing Unit issued a $435 infringement notice to a 53-year-old Cloncurry man around 5.30pm Wednesday afternoon. It will be alleged he was intercepted on the Palmerston Highway travelling at 86km/hr in a 60km/hr zone. Vehicle damage, Innisfail: Police are investigating damage that was done to a vehicle that was parked at an Ernest Street address. At around 2am on Wednesday morning, several dents were made to the bonnet of a gold Mitsubishi Magna along with damage to the front and rear windscreen. Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact police and quote reference number QP1900706145. If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day. You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com. au 24hrs per day.
LEADING INDUSTRIES
An Invitation to Leading Industries CCIN is excited to see what is in store for the Cassowary Coast community as there are leading Industries that are engaged in important areas of the community. An example to community engagement is showcased by Tully’s Chamber of Commerce which does an enormous amount of work in the community. Tully should give many thanks to the representatives among their ranks who do the bulk of the work in the Chamber. For the prestigious World Rafting Championships alone, there will be an opening ceremony parade, a WRC19 shirt to be worn by ambassadors and business leaders, sample bags to be handed out, a welcome to Tully map, banners hung on the streets, a movie night, a meet & greet event with athletes and local residents, and an adopt-a-team initiative that will involve businesses and schools. They also organised the remarkable “read to me day” that will host 600-800 children from all around the region on June 18, 2019. It’s designed to help encourage children from birth to Grade three to find enjoyment in the reading of books. I could go on but do yourself a favour and scroll through their
Facebook page and prepare to be impressed at how much they organise for your community. However, after you are finished on Facebook, head over to Google and look up “chamber of commerce”. To save you some time, here’s what you’ll find: A chamber of commerce is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of those businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community. The point is, while it’s great that they do such amazing work for the community, it would be more in line with the basic function of a chamber of commerce – and of immense value in an area that used to be a bustling centre of business activity known as “the home of the barefoot millionaires” – if they could focus some of their impressive creative energy in the direction of commerce itself. Christine Boric the current president of Tully’s Chamber of Commerce agreed without hesitation. “The Chamber needs to have a more business-oriented approach, and we would have that if more
people turned up. There’s only a working group of about eight of us,” said Boric. She was quick to point out that more than four people turn up to meetings, but only eight of them are actively involved in their projects. The Chamber would like to continue to do activities that benefit most businesses in any small town, including the Tully region. That being said, businesses don’t appear to take advantage of the offerings made. The Chamber has a business directory on its website, for example, and a paltry seven different businesses have registered their names. The Chamber’s website says, “To be effective, the Chamber needs local business operators to become members and to participate in Chamber activities. When they do, the Chamber can provide a conduit to all levels of government, communicating local needs and concerns. It can be a voice for the business community with all levels of government.” As Boric pointed out, it’s not just the region’s industry leading businesses – the big businesses that employ the bulk of the local workers – who the Chamber wants involved.
They also want small businesses, even the farmers to get involved. “A farm is a business too, and counting them, there’s over a hundred businesses in the region.” That’s the kind of leverage that gets things done in a region like this but as Boric points out,
they need to get involved. Meetings are held monthly at the Hotel Tully. The next meeting will start at 5:30 PM on April 24th. As Boric says, “All are welcome.”
Northern Iron & Brass Foundry NORTHERN Iron & Brass Foundry is a North Queensland based company that has been established since 1934, currently employing 80 people. NIBF specialise in Flake Graphite Iron, Spheroidal Graphite Iron, Abrasion Resistant white irons, Corrosion resistant iron, and heat resistant irons, providing in house pattern making facilities, coreless induction furnaces, green and chemical sand moulding, complete machine shop and heat treatment oven for stress reliev-
ing, annealing or hardening. Each of these materials can be cast to specific customer requirements. One off items or high volume production runs (1000+). With up to five ton smelting capacity and manufacturing facilities including fully equipped pattern and machine shops, Northern Iron and Brass Foundry is in a position to offer you a top quality product at a very competitive price.
Kareeya Power KAREEYA Hydro has been providing clean electricity to Queenslanders since 1957. It has a capacity of 88 megawatts (MW) produced by four generators, which provide power to the National Electricity Market. Taking its name from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘big water’, the Kareeya Hydro project originally comprised construction of Koombooloomba Dam, Tully Falls Weir and Kareeya Hydro. Kareeya Hydro’s ability to quickly start extra generators is important in ensuring a secure, reliable power supply for distribution to consumers. A $30 million upgrade of the station between 2005 and 2008 extended the life of the power station by 25 years to 2050 and increased capacity, generation, efficiency and reliability. WATER SUPPLY The catchment area of the Tully River spans approximately 260 square kilometres across one of Australia’s wettest regions.
Some of this rainfall finds its way to Koombooloomba Dam, which has a capacity of 180,000 megalitres and can hold an extra 25,000 megalitres using a water-inflated rubberised tube. Water is released into the Tully River from the Koombooloomba Dam and flows 13 kilometres to the Tully Falls Weir, which is a regulating pond for Kareeya Hydro. ENVIRONMENT Hydro-electric power generation using the energy of moving water to drive generators is one of the cleanest and most efficient methods of producing electricity. Kareeya Hydro does not emit any greenhouse gases and is an accredited green generator, returning the water it uses for generation back to the Tully River in exactly the same pristine condition in which it entered the power station. The power station is in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and must meet strict environmental standards.
Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, April 18, 2019 Page 9
AROUND THE SCHOOLS
Silkwood State School end first term on a positive note MARIA GIRGENTI SILKWOOD State School started the first term of the year on a positive note with 62 students and six Preps who have settled in well to routines, are already focused on learning and displayed exemplary behaviour. The school community welcomed Acting Principal Sandra Clarris who is based at Tully State High School and currently works as the cluster Head of Special Education Services (HOSES) for the eight primary schools in Ulysses cluster (Tully). Ms Clarris has been involved in education for 26 years having previously worked as a Special Education Program (SEP) teacher, stage leader, curriculum coordinator and other acting Principal roles. She will be teaching Years 4/5/6 three days per week while at Silkwood. Naomi Smith who was previously from Sydney has been in the far north region for five years. Ms Smith works one day per week at Tully State High teaching Years 7/8/9/11 and will be teaching Years 4/5/6 two days per week at Silkwood. Rebecca Albert is the new guidance officer at the school who will
MARIA GIRGENTI
Teacher Lynette McLeish and teacher aide Alison Green with Silkwood State School Prep students. be available to support students, will be used to inform teaching and teachers, parents and carers every learning. Schools will then use this second Tuesday with counselling, data to form reading groups, design assessment and individual support in intervention and extension programs a range of ways in educational, beto support all students in becoming havioural, social/emotional, mental health and personal issues that may the best readers and writers. be affecting learning and well-being. Students have been involved in Students follow the school motto dance troupe on Fridays and recently Keep on Keeping On and the new participated in National Day of Acsystem of Silkwood Superstars tion Against Bullying as they joined where students who uphold the three with over 2.4 million students in pillars of Be Safe, Be Respectful and schools across Australia to take acBe A Learner are acknowledged. tion and empower young people to There will be a strong focus on readbe part of the solution when addressing, writing and literacy, as well as explicit teaching and consistent lan- ing bullying. The P & C Association recently guage around positive behaviour. In following the Australian Curricu- purchased a number of new library lum there will also be an emphasis books for students to enjoy and Year on teacher collaboration, as well as 4, 5 and 6 students took part in the the physical and emotional wellbe- Silkwood Mena Creek Sports Assoing of staff and students. ciation soccer/netball carnival held Silkwood State School Acting Princi- Pedagogy coach Rae Heywood who at Innisfail State College. pal, Sandra Clarris with Jessica (Ellison is at the school for a half day every For school enrolments and playhouse captain), Sophie (school cap- Thursday has been working with tain), Paige (school captain) and Griffin students to establish baseline data in group enquiries, please contact 4065 the four areas of literacy - speaking, 1333 or via email: principal@silk(Barnard house captain). listening, reading and writing which woodss.eq.edu.au
It is great to get back to this column after nearly four weeks away, time which included work trips to China and one to Brisbane. This week is a significant one for the Tully sugar industry as we have been running the annual grower breakfast meetings from April 16-18. Breakfast meetings have been a feature of the sugar industry for some time now and this year, like previous years, we have presented a range of topics relating to sustainable sugar cane production. One feature of these meetings the last few years is the launch of the “Tully New Variety Guide” which is a simple presentation of local trial data collected by the
Tully Variety Management group on the many new varieties now available to Tully growers. This work has been discussed before and is really a simple process of gathering data on how new varieties germinate, their CCS curve, trends over a set time span and how they grow in the field. Since 2012 there have been 16 new varieties released by SRA for the Wet Tropics region. This is basically double the number that was released a decade before and as advances are made in plant breeding, so too comes the challenge of obtaining lcoal knowledge quickly so that growers can make better decisions for planting.
South Johnstone State School support local Red Cross branch with Red and White Day
Other topics discussed at these breakfast meetings include TCSPL information on where the new clean seed plots are located in the district, and what specific varieties are available in these plots. These clean seed plots are vital to the industry as they are the access point to new varieties as well as the source of clean seed for older proven varieties. A great deal of communication and planning goes into their establishment throughout the district. TCPSL also present a range of information on herbicide use, the BMP accreditation process and also outline features of the recently released CAPA reports for Tully
RED and White Day was recently held at South Johnstone State School to celebrate the work of Red Cross and raise funds for their local branch. Students dressed in red and white for a gold coin donation and raised $90 for the Silkwood/Kurrimine Beach Red Cross branch which is a huge effort for the small community-focused school. Members of the branch came and judged best dressed and awarded trophies to the winners, key rings to runners up and Easter eggs to all who donated. The Silkwood/Kurrimine Beach Red Cross branch which celebrated its 30th
anniversary last year helped establish the South Johnstone State School Junior Red Cross. Junior Red Cross Leaders, Maryellen Butler and Dianne Dodson are active members of the Silkwood/Kurrimine Beach branch. The Junior Red Cross visit the aged care facilities in Innisfail for important events like Mother’s and Father’s Days, as well as Christmas. They are currently working on Mother’s Day gifts and were fortunate to have local Red Cross members Helen Walsh and Colleen Smith who stayed on Red and White Day to assist with the gift making.
Silkwood/Kurrimine Beach Red Cross members with students from South Johnstone State School who were judged the best dressed at their Red and White Day.
RURAL REPORT
growers. This year we have also had the two major projects based in Tully; the Wet Tropics Sugar industry partnership (WTSIP) and the Major Integrated Project (MIP) present updates on their work to the growers attending these meetings. In addition each year we invite one of the agri business companies to sponsor the event on a rotational basis. This year the sponsors are the fertilizer company Stoller. Many sugar cane districts run similar breakfast meetings around this time of year and would present similar information, and they are fairly popular as growers prepare for planting season.
Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, April 18, 2019 Page 15
RURAL REPORT
Tully Grower Study Tour to China - Experience Amazing WHEN the full blossom of spring was underway, a group of eleven Tully growers went to Beijing and Xi’an of China for a study tour. It is the first of such events since COFCO became the sole shareholder of Tully Sugar Limited in 2011. Staying for five days in Beijing, the Growers visited COFCO Head Office where they were warmly received by Mr. Xia Linghe, Chairman of COFCO Sugar (Hong Kong) Limited which is the parent company of Tully Sugar Limited, and Mr. Leo Yu, Chairman of Tully Sugar Limited.
Growers have conducted extensive exchanges with the teams from COFCO Sugar Market R&D and COFCO womai.com (a most popular online shopping platform for fresh foods and imported premium food products), visited COFCO Tangshan Sugar Refinery (a coastal refinery about 230 km from Beijing and within 500 meters of the terminal), COFCO Mengniu Dairy in Da’xing District of Beijing as well as historic places such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. The remaining two days were spent in the ancient and historic
Frank Vecchio: “A country unlike Australia and with rich history and cultures.” I am happy to have the opportunity to be invited to see other diverse industries of COFCO which support sugar. I’ve seen a country unlike Australia and with a rich ancient history and culture. I am also glad to have the opportunity to an understanding of COFCO’s way of doing businesses and how COFCO understands how we do business. I am glad to have had the opportunity to realize how COFCO becomes opportunistic, sees a business opportunity and makes it happen. I am also amazed to see Indian Buddhism and Islamic influences co-existing in a multi-cultural China. Angelo Crema: “A full and well-arranged itinerary.” I was impressed at the Terracotta Warriors and the development of the cities. It was a full and well-arranged itinerary. I enjoyed the historic side of the trip. I was also impressed at COFCO operations inside China. In a word, I enjoyed the whole trip very much. Brian Dore: “City booming with life. ” THE highlight of the trip is Xi’an, seeing the Terracotta Warriors and the city booming with life. I am also amazed at the infrastructure of the COFCO Headquarters and all the welcoming and helpful staff there. The organisation of the trip was perfect, I enjoyed it all. Daniel Pantovich: “A very rewarding experience and it is a trip of lifetime.” IT is my first time going to China and I am amazed at the sheer size of everything and the different cultures and foods. It has been an amazing experience. In Beijing, we have been to the COFCO Headquarters where sits 3000 people. That is the Tully population in one building! We’ve also visited Womai.com, Tangshan Sugar Refinery and Mengniu Dairy factory in Beijing. In all these different places, we have met friendly people and have been warmly welcomed. In Xi’an we have seen these tourist places: the Terracotta Warriors, the Xi’an Great Mosque and Xi’an ancient city wall. On the way we can see that Chinese people have got rich and move around to see these places. The whole tour is a very rewarding experience and it is a trip of lifetime. Rino and Lorraine Cargnello: “Amazed and overwhelmingly good.” I am amazed at the enormity of the parent company and have learned from the presentation that COFCO is trying to produce food for the world. There are about 3000 people in the headquarters building! In talks with the COFCO E-commerce womai.com, I am amazed how convenient and quick it is to buy online at home and the order is delivered to your door in China now. Speaking of the dairy business, it’s good to know that after the melamine scandal, how the whole industry has tightened regulations and has endeavored to make safe dairy products. As for the four-day sightseeing, it is great to see the Great Wall, Forbidden City and the Terracotta Warriors. Along the way, it is surprising to see how much development is happening in the city. The whole trip was overwhelmingly good.
Page 16 Cassowary Coast Independent News, Thursday, April 18, 2019
city of Xi’an which was established in the 11th Century BC. The group paid visits to the Terracotta Warriors, the Ancient City Wall, the Wild Goose Pagoda and the Great Mosque of Xi’an. Along the way, the group had fun and laughter, questions and answers, tiredness and excitement during the various sessions of the tour and a change between two big cities. Following are some testimonial words from the growers in the group (in given-name alphabetical order):
Leonard Collins: “Will definitely go back again to China.” IT is great for me to see how COFCO operates in different and diverse businesses such as Tangshan Sugar Refinery and COFCO Mengniu Dairy and see the countryside and historic places such as the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors. Xi’an is such a nice and clean city. I will definitely go back again to China! Peter and Janey Anderson: “The itinerary was excellent – a great mix of business and Chinese culture.” WE were particularly keen to accept Tully Sugars’ offer of a study tour to China as we had not previously had the opportunity to travel to China and were keen to learn more about COFCO’s broader activities. The itinerary was excellent – a great mix of business and Chinese culture. It was great to visit COFCO head office in Beijing, have presentations on the overall COFCO business, COFCO Sugar and the current sugar market, and meet senior executives of COFCO Sugar. It gave us a good understanding of the expanse of the organization and where Tully Sugar fits in. The visit to the Tangshan Sugar Refinery and port facilities enabled us to follow the journey of much of our sugar from Tully after it leaves the Mourilyan Sugar Terminal, right through to its end use in yoghurt, processed by COFCOs Mengniu Dairy (this company alone uses 200,000 tonnes of sugar per annum). The meeting with COFCO subsidiary Womai.com (online premium fresh produce business) showed us they were sourcing fresh produce from different parts of the world including Australia and raised the possibility of securing tropical fruits direct from FNQ via its existing presence into the future. What a thrill it was to visit cultural and historical places we had heard about all our life, including Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors. The history of the Dynasties right though to more recent times, along with the vast development that has occurred over the last decade or two, was truly amazing. What a fantastic time. We had a great group of growers, whose company we really enjoyed, and we were looked after so well by Darcy and the rest of the Beijing based crew from the Overseas Sugar Department of COFCO Sugar. Their knowledge, assistance and friendship made the trip an unforgettable Gloria and Bruno Pietrobon: “An eye-opener.” APART from the great treasures (the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Terracotta Warriors, etc.) of China, it’s amazing to see the workings of COFCO in its marketing and many other sidelines. The whole trip has been an eye-opener for us, seeing the refinery, its warehouses and the terminal which were constructed in such a short period of time. The COFCO Overseas Sugar Department in Beijing were extremely helpful and assisting us with all our questions on customs and culture. We much appreciated the whole tour and thanks to Tully Sugar for arranging such a full and varied itinerary.