OUTthere Skytrans November by Edge In-flight Magazines

Issue 125 • November 2014

+ insidemining

CUTTING EDGE ARTS

We uncover Toowoomba’s vibrant street-art scene

CHEAP FARE GUIDE

Skytrans’ tips on scoring savvy flight deals

Tropical Hit the roads and journey through Cairns’ stunning world heritage sites

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SISCO JERSEY

welcome

Hello and welcome to the October/November 2014 issue of OUTthere. Thank you for flying with Skytrans Airlines today. It is great to have you on board. All year long we tell you of our great in-cabin service but this time we really get to boast about it. We’re proud to announce that Skytrans was recently awarded the TNQ20 Service Excellence Award. A massive shoutout to our crew, who support the notion of service excellence without compromise every day, on every flight. This month, the warmth of the people of regional Australia, breathtaking remote landscapes, exciting outback events and the delivery of essential services remain some of the many reasons we get up every day. If regional Australia is home – or the backyard in which you work or deliver services – then getting there is made easier with our growing, integrated network of destinations and our exceptional service. Over the past 12 months, many of you would have heard about the financial pressure that all Australian airlines are experiencing, from our two majors down to our smaller regional and charter operators. In the current market, with the downturn in the resource sector, there is an oversupply of seats, with competition driving down prices while airlines struggle to bring down costs at the same speed. These market conditions have impacted Skytrans. We have been focusing on our costs to ensure we can maintain a sustainable air service to our remote communities. We want

to continue our services but, like everyone else, we’ve had to make changes. We will never compromise safety or our friendly service but to keep costs reasonable, we’ve had to make some adjustments to our catering. Following a review and consultation with some passengers, and in an endeavour to keep our fares as low as possible, we have elected to change our catering service. In the past we have always been proud of Skytrans’ quality catering; unfortunately, this has come at a significant cost and this cost impacts the sustainability of our airline. In the future, therefore, our catering will focus on value for money and on keeping things simple. Since our last issue, we have been proud to be a major sponsor of the Mount Isa Rodeo. It was great to see people travel to Mount

Isa from all over Australia to enjoy the event. The annual rodeo is definitely one of those ‘must-do’ things. Once again, Skytrans was also a sponsor of the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF). The Fair is quickly becoming a part of Australia’s cultural calendar and we are very proud to have been CIAF sponsors since its inception. And in September, we were delighted to support Toowoomba’s Carnival of Flowers, another spectacular event on Australia’s annual calendar. We all hope you enjoy your flight. Until next issue, stay safe and thanks again for flying with Skytrans.

Simon Wild Managing Director

SKYTRANS CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTRE: 1300 759 872 or SKYTRANS.COM.AU 1

safetyinfo

Where we fly

safetyinfo

Safety Info

skytrans.com.au

Below are some guidelines to ensure your flight with us is more enjoyable. SAFETY BRIEFING Please listen carefully to the Safety Briefing and take the time to read through the Safety on Board card prior to take-off. This will help you familiarise yourself with the emergency exits, brace position and the location of your life jacket.

AIRCRAFT GUIDE

DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS (DVT)

DEHAVILLAND DASH 8-300

It has been reported that some airline passengers have developed clots in deep blood vessels, often in the lower legs, as a result of sitting for extended periods without exercise or movement. This condition is known medically as deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. If blood-clot fragments break off and lodge in other areas of the body, such as the lungs, they may cause a possible fatal pulmonary thrombosis when the person starts walking after being immobile for a lengthy period of time. Risk factors for DVT include varicose veins, recent surgery or injury in the lower legs, malignant diseases, past history of DVT, obesity, pregnancy and recent childbirth. Anyone with any of these risk factors is advised to consult a medical practitioner prior to flying, to find out how to minimise the risk of DVT. During the flight, we recommend that you take the following precautions: â&#x20AC;˘D rink plenty of fluids, especially water, and minimise your intake of alcohol. â&#x20AC;˘ E xercise on board the aircraft by moving and stretching your toes, rotating your ankles, raising and lowering each leg and massaging your calves gently. In addition, we suggest that you avoid crossing your legs during the flight.

SEATBELTS Seatbelts must be fastened firmly for take-off, landing and while the seatbelt sign is illuminated. We recommend that your seatbelt be fastened at all times while you are seated in case of unexpected turbulence.

TRAY TABLES/SEAT BACKS Please ensure that your tray table and your seat back are in their upright positions for take-off and landing.

SMOKING Government regulations strictly prohibit smoking on all domestic flights. Special smoke detectors have been fitted to the toilets on board all of our aircraft. Smoking is also prohibited on the tarmac and throughout airport terminal buildings.

CARRY-ON LUGGAGE If you have carry-on luggage, please stow it in the overhead locker or under the seat in front of you. Hand luggage that is not correctly stowed may cause injury in the event of unexpected turbulence.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES Portable electronic devices can cause electromagnetic interference to the aircraft systems. The interference can cause aircraft systems to malfunction. To provide adequate protection for the aircraft please note that mobile phones must not be used at any time on board the aircraft. Other devices, such as MP3 players, iPods, CD players, portable palmtop and laptop computers, cassette players, personal electronic organisers, and personal DVD and video games, may be used during cruise only, NOT when the aircraft is taking off or landing.

Length: 25.68 metres Wingspan: 27.43 metres Height: 7.49 metres Cruise altitude: 7,620 metres Max cruise speed: 528 km/h Passenger seating: 50 leather seats, galley, toilet, pressurised, air-conditioned, in-flight entertainment, satellite tracking

DEHAVILLAND DASH 8-100 Length: 22.25 metres Wingspan: 25.89 metres Height: 7.49 metres Cruise altitude: 7,620 metres Max cruise speed: 440 km/h Passenger seating: 36 leather seats, galley, toilet, pressurised, air-conditioned, in-flight entertainment, satellite tracking One of the outstanding features of the Dash 8-100 aircraft is its capacity for being reconfigured to suit varying combinations of freight and passengers. All seating can be removed, providing a full freight capability; conversely, a 36-passenger configuration allows for more people and minimal freight. Two other configurations between these ensure optimal flexibility.

contents food&wine

08 skytranscommunity Aurukun kids are fascinated by photography; Cape York schoolchildren get tennis training from pros; teacher-mentor Leanne Bell shares her Deadly Story.

11 skytransnews Skytrans outlines its cheap fare guide and offers tips on booking cheaper flights.

13 don’tmiss Upcoming events worth checking out.

15 artspace Guy Wilkinson is both inspired and surprised by Toowoomba’s vibrant street-art scene.

20 drivetime Sue Wallace charts three very different daytrips from Cairns that feature glorious scenery, top swimming spots and a food trail.

destination

Issue 124 • October

Issue 125 • November

closeup

Four years on, Faye James catches up with previous Masterchef Australia winner Adam Liaw and chats about his two great loves: cooking and cooking.

After a lifetime of performing, country songbird Kasey Chambers still relishes the challenge of a new album.

alltorque

Ute Junker heads to Kangaroo Island and discovers exceptional produce and an abundance of wildlife.

Ben Smithurst falls for the new BMW.

outtahere Brian Johnston reveals the best spots around Australia to pitch a tent.

food&wine A short, sweet drive south from Perth takes you to Margaret River, home to some of Australia’s best vignerons and producers.

destination 15

Michelle Hespe eats and drinks her way through Victoria’s Yarra Valley, stopping for friendly chats along the way.

destination

food&wine Carla Grossetti heads to the pretty town of Orange to hunt down some of the top drops to appear at this year’s wine show.

outtahere Michelle Hespe visits Mount Baw Baw, Melbourne’s closest alpine resort, and discovers fun for families on any budget.

profile We meet OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn.

insidemining • news and views • resource sector issues • finance and technology • the state of mining 5

Residential Sales Team

Property Management Team

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Commercial/Industrial Team

Contact: Residential Sales Mel Goddard-See 0423 057 770 Sophie Keily 0408 380 091 Commercial/Industrial Nellie Smithurst 0413 121 241 Jason Keily 0438 775 290 77 Camooweal Street, Mount Isa sales@jaysre.com.au admin@jaysre.com.au Phone 07 4744 8000 PO Box 976 Mount Isa Qld 4825 www.jaysre.com.au

editor’sletter

GROUP EDITOR Faye James faye.james@edgecustom.com.au DEPUTY EDITOR Danielle Chenery ASSISTANT EDITORS Riley Palmer, Simone Henderson-Smart INTERN Toby Little SUB-EDITORS Liani Solari, Merran White PRINTER SOS Print & Media SENIOR DESIGNER Guy Pendlebury PRODUCTION MANAGER Brian Ventour CONTRIBUTORS Guy Wilkinson, Sue Wallace, Ben Smithurst, Brian Johnston, Jock Serong, Michelle Hespe, Baldeep S. Gill, Darrell Croker, Christine Retschlag, Kris Madden, Darren Baguley, Kevin Lee, Andrew Crossley, Josh Masters ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Jason Popkowski jason.popkowski@edgecustom.com.au NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Chris Wykes chris.wykes@edgecustom.com.au SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS Robert Desgouttes robert.desgouttes@edgecustom.com.au Peter Anderson peter.anderson@edgecustom.com.au WA, SA AND NT SALES REP Helen Glasson, Hogan Media Phone: 08 9381 3991 helen@hoganmedia.com.au PUBLISHING DIRECTOR Geoff Campbell MANAGING PARTNERS Fergus Stoddart, Richard Parker CEO Eddie Thomas

OUTthere is published by Edge 51 Whistler Street, Manly NSW 2095 Phone: 02 8962 2600, www.edgecustom.com.au OUTthere is published by Business Essentials (Australasia) Pty Limited (ABN 22 062 493 869), trading as Edge, under license to MGI Publishing Pty Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Opinions expressed are those of the individual contributors and not necessarily those of the Publisher. Information provided was believed to be correct at the time of publication. All reasonable efforts have been made to contact copyright holders. OUTthere cannot accept unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. If such items are sent to the magazine, they will not be returned. Some images used in OUTthere are from Thinkstock and Getty Images.

From the editor... One thing that struck a chord with me this month was culinary discovery. Whether it was chatting to super-chef and this month’s close up Adam Liaw or catching up with a couple of friends who happen to work in hospitality, they all seemed to have something in common: a genuine passion for Australian produce and the people behind it. “There is so much we have yet to discover,” enthused my friend, who’d been foraging around regional New South Wales in search of unique produce from which to concoct his latest menu. “Did you know some of the best calamari comes from the Hawkesbury region and some of our best pork belly from the Northern Rivers?” he said when I mentioned that I was planning a road trip to Yamba this Christmas. Nope, can’t say I did – but I sure am going to check out Hawkesbury calamari when I travel yonder, past Bulahdelah and onwards to Mooney Mooney. But that’s another yarn to be saved for the next long car journey. Back to produce. My friend’s passion for produce was echoed when I found myself chatting to the well-travelled Adam Liaw about his new SBS TV series Destination Flavour Down Under. During the series, Adam found himself journeying all over the nation, from the glorious Western Australian coastline to the baking heat of the Red Centre and the tree-changers’ paradise that is northern New South Wales. Along his merry travels, Adam met many zealous gatherers and growers who he describes as ‘real people with real stories’. “It’s their passion – innovative behaviour and dedication is what makes them heroes,” he told me. “When I mentioned I was doing a food show in Australia everyone thought it would be boring – but when the show went on air, my twitter was flooded with tweets saying how much they had no idea Australia was like that.” In fact, TV sojourns based on ‘culinary Australia’ seem to be unearthing a widespread trend. Last month, Matt Moran’s Paddock to Plate launched its

second season. This season sees Matt clock up more than 20,000 kilometres travelling through the awe-inspiring landscapes of South Australia and Western Australia, from the blustering coastline of the Eyre Peninsula to the red dirt and big skies of the Kimberley. “There are so many incredible farmers and growers out there – this beautiful country of ours is just bursting with amazing produce. The changing seasons and climates of the lesser-known regions of South and Western Australia offer up some really fantastic and unique produce,” Matt said. As a foodie and a lover of all things delicious, what excites me about taking on this newly appointed role – apart from the travel stories – is the culinary adventures that await, and the inspiring true stories from real people I’m yet to encounter. I’ll certainly relish taking you along with me on this journey – I hope you enjoy the ride.

Faye James and the OUTthere team

skytranscommunity

1 Camera 1000 Smiles inspires Aurukun again FOLLOWING the success of the inaugural 1 Camera 1000 Smiles program held in Aurukun last year, Ric Piscioneri returned to the community this June to build on the photography skills previously shared. This time he connected with the Alternative Secondary Pathways program as well as working with the young people who had engaged with the program last year. Students from the Alternative Secondary Pathways program participated in the comprehensive photography program, which comprised units on camera function and care, ethics and protocol, composition and perspective, and working with diverse subject matter (still life, studio, documentary and event photography). They then utilised these skills to photograph public events happening in their local community. This was one of the highlights of the program for student Zoey Koongottema, who loved documenting the primary school Athletics Carnival and Under 8s Day.

Graduates from the 2013 program came together for a number of field excursions that revised and built on the knowledge and skills they had learnt last year. The 2013 graduates focused on portrait photography at the airport, night photography at the beach and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fashion flashâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; photography at the wetlands. Community member Maree Kalkeeyorta, who assisted with the program, was fascinated by the magic of the flash photography and reflected on how much cameras have evolved since the days of her first Polaroid camera. Over the course of the two-week program more than 5000 photos were taken. Some of the most outstanding shots were showcased on posters presented to the students. Participants in the 1 Camera 1000 Smiles 2014 Aurukun program would like to say a massive thanks to Skytrans for making the program possible by providing subsidised flights for Ric.

skytranscommunity

Tennis clinics with Aurukun kids DURING this school term, the students at Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy, Aurukun Campus have been brushing up on their tennis skills as part of our Club program. On March 4 and 5, we were grateful to get flights sponsored through Skytrans that enabled us to fly up a Tennis Australia-accredited coach, Sam Bradshaw, to run clinics with the children. Each child at school was able to have multiple coaching sessions and our teachers also received on-the-job tennis training. The children loved having ‘Sam from tennis’ play tennis games, teach tennis skills and play with them at lunchtime. The visit was such a success that we had children wishing Sam could stay a few more days to play more tennis. It was great to see so many children farewelling him at

Aurukun Airport as he departed for Cairns. I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the CYAAA Aurukun Campus, to extend a heartfelt thank you to Skytrans for its commitment to making this visit possible. Due to your generous contribution of flights, we were able to further live out our vision of students orbiting between worlds and having the best of both. We certainly hope that with the valued and continuing support of Skytrans, there will be opportunities for sports coaches and other experts to be available to our children in the future! Nicole Peeler, Head of Club & Culture, CYAAA, Aurukun Campus

Deadly stories: Leanne Bell A TEACHER is more than a teacher; he or she may also be a mentor and a friend and, at times, might begin to feel like family. Leanne Bell, portfolio manager of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies at TAFE Queensland North knows exactly how this feels. Starting out as a high-school PE teacher, the Ganggalida (Burketown vicinity) and Birri Gubba (Cherbourg) woman taught for a number of years all around central Queensland before she secured a job with what was formerly Sport and Recreation Queensland in Brisbane, where she grew up. It was while working for Sport and Recreation Queensland that Bell was given the opportunity to be seconded to Cairns’ TAFE in a position funded by Sport and Recreation Queensland. Her love of teaching is apparent in the number of years she’s been with TAFE in Cairns – now amounting to more than 15 years. “Teaching at TAFE is a rewarding career,” Bell enthuses. “I love seeing students develop from shy and quiet when they first start at TAFE to become confident leaders and role models in their communities.” “The best part of my job is attending graduation ceremonies. There is no greater feeling than when a student tells you they got a job, or a better job, because of their TAFE studies.” Even though Bell loves what she is doing now, there was a time towards the end of her own school years that she did not know what she wanted.

“I ended up speaking with Eddie Watkin, who was working at Education Queensland, and he encouraged me to enrol at uni for the teaching diploma,” she recalls. “I’ve had a number of people around me, from good friends to relatives, who have encouraged me and influenced my life.” Bell has an ongoing interest in Australian politics and while she has no plans to become a politician, she keeps abreast of what’s happening on the political landscape with regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. “My plan for the future is to work with our community to develop training programs that link to jobs. Unemployment is a huge issue for our mob, and I truly believe that TAFE has an important role to play,” she says. At times, Bell has to pinch herself and is surprised she’s in the position she is in at this time in her career. “It’s important that you love the job you do and you believe in what you do,” she asserts. “If you want to get somewhere in life you have to make sacrifices, show up to work every day and work hard. There are no shortcuts.” The Deadly Stories campaign celebrates the many achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their communities. Read other stories or post your own at: deadlystories.qld.gov.au

Image: © Martin Eadie

skytranscommunity

Skytrans cheap fare guide SKYTRANS acknowledges that flying to remote and regional communities can be expensive. Unlike the larger airlines, we don’t have volume to offset our costs, but we do have a resolute commitment to offering a mix of fares that offer passengers flexible fare options. Our work in smaller markets means we sometimes have planes that are not full. This means we may have spare seats. The spare seats on non-peak flights can be a third of the price of our full economy fares. This is your guide on how to access them. 1. Book fares as far in advance as possible. Often, the further ahead you book, the cheaper the fares will be. 2. Travel midweek in our off-peak periods – avoid travelling out on a Monday and/or back on a Friday from major ports such as Cairns and Brisbane, as these are peak fare days. 3. Keep your travel dates flexible. For cheaper seats, search the Skytrans website over an extended period, not just for a set travel date. 4. Watch for exclusive specials and subscribe to the Skytrans eNewsletter to make sure you’re informed about great deals. 5. Jump onto the Skytrans website to check seat availability; it always has the

cheapest seats available. 6. If travelling with 10 or more people, request a ‘group quote’. 7. Use VISA or MasterCard; they have lower fees than AMEX or Diners. 8. Some higher-priced fares are better value, with more change options included in the price. If you think you need flexibility or will need to change your fare, buy one of our more flexible fares to avoid having to pay additional flight-change fees. 9. Keep the weight of your carry-on and checked baggage under the allowable limit: excess baggage fees can be high. 10. Some of our ports have scheduled daily return flights. This means you can fly in and out of that port on the same day. If you don’t need to stay in the port overnight and instead fly in and out on the same day, you’ll save on accommodation and car rental. 11. Try not to change your booking. Once you change it you will be required to pay additional fees. 12. Check prices on public holidays. There is usually less demand on these days. 13. Leave sufficient connection time between back-to-back flights in case of bad weather or other disruptions. Missing your connection is costly.

14. School holidays and Christmas-time can be high-demand periods. If you can, travel in ‘shoulder’ periods. 15. Book online to save on telephone booking fees. 16. If you are booking online, receive an ‘error’ message and are unsure if your booking has been processed, call our team or check incoming emails for a flight itinerary notification. Sometimes your booking has actually gone through. 17. When making online bookings for more than one person, make them separately to ensure the higher fare isn’t selected for both passengers. 18. If you are a local resident, and if location is applicable, ask if/when any local fares are available. 19. Consider taking out travel insurance in case the unexpected happens. Some credit cards offer free travel insurance as a drawcard. 20. Arrive at check-in early to ensure you don’t miss your flight. We recommend that you doublecheck your flight itinerary prior to leaving for the airport to ensure you check in on time at your departure point. For more information, call 1300 759 872 or email info@skytrans.com.au

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CAN140215 04/14

Grow through life.

don’tmiss

Compiled by Hannah Luxford

these events in October & November if you’re in the right place at the right time. OCTOBER 2–30

OCTOBER 18

OCTOBER 28 – NOVEMBER 30

Bondi World Expo, Sydney

Surfing The Coldstream Festival, Yamba

Totem, Cirque du Soleil, Sydney

Photographer Andre Braun’s exhibition captures a unique perspective on a location shared by residents from two different worlds: humans and seagulls. Showing at the Waverley Library Galleries, Bondi Junction. bondiworldexpo.com

Entertainer Mama Kin tops Surfing The Coldstream Festival’s music bill, along with gypsy-ska rockers Caravãna Sun and local acts The Whiskey Drop, Sandy Feat, Nick & Sam and freewheeling funk outfit The Ninth Chapter. Also gracing the festival is Grafton local Ben Jenkins, who brings his soulful vocals and guitar, fusing elements of folk, jazz and blues.

Cirque du Soleil is back in Australia performing Totem under the Big Top on The Showring at The Entertainment Quarter. Totem explores the evolution of humankind through a story told by a cast of 45 acrobats, actors, musicians and singers. Expect athleticism, comedy, heartfelt emotions and some surprising visual effects. cirquedusoleil.com

OCTOBER 18–26

Crocodile Trophy, Smithfield

Known as the most difficult and adventurous mountain-bike stage race in the world, the Crocodile Trophy begins with a circuit race at Smithfield, near Cairns, and continues for nine days. Participants ride for 900 kilometres, taking in river crossings, wide plains and iconic outback highways in Far North Queensland, and camping overnight near rivers and billabongs. crocodile-trophy.com

OCTOBER 11

Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes Day, Royal Randwick

The Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes Day is dubbed the ‘glamour’ day of the Sydney Spring Carnival. It offers a schedule full of fashion, fun and famous faces, and features the Group 1 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes. The day also includes the hotly contested New South Wales State Final for the Myer Fashions on the Field, with the winner receiving flights from Emirates and entrance to the National Final, held on Crown Oaks Day at Flemington.

NOVEMBER 2

Double Bay Street Festival, Sydney

Image: Callie Codd.

Image: Regina Stanger.

Stalls, rides, live performances, roving entertainers and chill-out zones attract more than 60,000 people to the Double Bay Street Festival each year. As the sponsors include Organic Food Markets, you’re sure to get your fix of fresh food and fine coffee. doublebaycc.com.au

OCTOBER 24–25

Lake Moondarra Fishing Classic, Mount Isa

OCTOBER 17–19

Fifteen kilometres north of Mount Isa, picturesque Lake Moondarra hosts this annual outback fishing classic that includes fireworks, beach volleyball, yabby races, live music, trade exhibitions, camping and a dragon-boat regatta. lakemoondarrafishingclassic.com.au

Channel Country Ladies’ Day, Betoota

A unique highlight on the outback calendar, this weekend event draws women together from remote Queensland, New South Wales and South Australian towns and pastoral stations. At this inspiring celebration of outback women there are creative workshops, presentations by other rural women and opportunities for networking. channelcountryladiesday.com.au

NOVEMBER 30

Carols by Candlelight, Mount Isa

Get an early start to the festive season with local performances of carols by candlelight beginning at 6pm, along with food, drinks and fireworks. Entry is via gold-coin donation. tnqcalendar.com.au

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Images in this story © Guy Wilkinson

artspace

A cutting-edge arts scene takes Guy Wilkinson by surprise in Toowoomba. THE FIRST ONE seems like an anomaly: something to prompt a double-take in an otherwise conservative landscape. The second is probably just a coincidence. But by the time I spot the third and fourth, it’s obvious strange things are afoot in Toowoomba. On the corner of Ruthven and Union Streets, a 10-metre-high navy-blue elephant is sprawled across the side of an otherwise unremarkable building. It’s faintly reminiscent of the work of late surrealist painter Salvador Dali, had the Spaniard been a spray-can-wielding renegade trading canvas for brick. The mural is the creation of Fintan Magee, a revered street artist whose projects can be seen on walls from Sydney to Los Angeles. He’s just one of 26 artists who, earlier this year, took part in Toowoomba’s inaugural First Coat Festival, a collaboration between the arts community, Toowoomba Regional Council and, ironically perhaps, GraffitiSTOP: a Queensland Government initiative set up to stamp out ‘tagging’ on public walls. It was a big deal. Over three days, the event saw international and homegrown artists transform 17 walls throughout the city beyond all recognition.

Grace Dewar was instrumental in its making. Fittingly, I meet the former fine arts student at Ground Up Espresso, Toowoomba’s only laneway coffee shop, sandwiched between two contrasting murals.

It’s faintly reminiscent of the work of late surrealist painter Salvador Dali, had the Spaniard been a spray-can-wielding renegade. Dressed in a denim jacket and skinny black jeans, she’s a likeable straight talker with an obvious passion for all things art related. As co-founder of Kontraband screen-printing studio and No Comply Gallery, she’s an influential figure, and her studio regularly hosts exhibitions and workshops. As well as working closely with Youth Services, she provides a legal studio space in which aspiring artists can hone their aerosol skills. 15

artspace

“First Coat has only been so successful due to the art scene that was already here and existing, but the support from the community definitely gave it life,” says Dewar. “There was a build-up of projects, which allowed us to test the waters while amplifying just how much Toowoomba has to offer. There’s always been that undertone of graffiti here and it’s usually been well received, even though we are an old-fashioned town.” Around the corner, we drop in to ‘theGRID: hybrid arts collective’. Established in May 2012, theGRID is the brainchild of visual artist Alison Mooney and movement artist Kirsty Lee, who had a vision to provide a professional platform for some of the region’s most creative people under the one roof.

Touring the spacious labyrinth of rooms, we witness circus performance classes and live band rehearsals in full swing. The set-up also hosts professional residencies, drama workshops, gigs, exhibitions, a social enterprise café and a record store catering to all things vinyl and auditory. This type of modern business model is a strange juxtaposition in a town famed for its heritage architecture. Stately weatherboard Queenslander houses line Godsall and Arthur streets. Vacy Hall, a heritage-listed lodging, is among the most historic guesthouses in Australia. And the Empire Theatre, an Art Deco gem first opened in 1911, still regularly stages plays and concerts. Not far from the Empire we drop in at Veraison, a restaurant demonstrating that the town’s creative buzz isn’t limited to art. Surrounded by a vast wall-to-wall wine rack in a chic, minimalist setting, I meet chef Alex Western and sommelier Andrew Smith. Since taking over the place in late 2007, they’ve forged a formidable partnership and, despite Western’s absence of formal culinary training, Veraison’s already been awarded a Chef’s Hat three years in a row. “We don’t like stuffiness; it excludes more than it includes,” says Smith. “We offer a higher standard, but we want to educate people in a non-patronising way so they can learn while enjoying the experience.” The degustation menu is a sublime showcasing of their talents. Dishes such as the earthy-flavoured Hervey Bay scallops, smoked potato cream, veal and wheat beer

Above left: Grace Dewar has been instrumental in aiding the local art boom. Below: Passionfruit & buttermilk pannacotta at Veraison.

Despite Western’s absence of formal culinary training, Veraison’s already been awarded a Chef’s Hat three years in a row.

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artspace

consommé, paired with a South Australian Pinot Gris, could go toe to toe with any dish served at a respected Sydney or Melbourne eatery. And that’s just it. Traditionally, Toowoomba is known more for its parks and gardens, annual flower carnival and government service sector than anything to do with art or innovation. Drive through on a wet, windy night and it will surely resemble any other provincial Australian city, with its usual assortment of fast-food joints, hunting shops and industrial estates. But whatever sheen it may lack on the surface is tempered by a degree of raw artistic freedom you’re unlikely to find in bigger cities. Thanks to a handful of open-minded council members working closely with local artists, the cultural landscape here is slowly being transformed. “It feels like the momentum is only just gathering to the point where the wider community can now start to embrace it,” says theGrid’s Mooney. “First Coat put the energy of the art scene in front of everyone’s faces to the point where you can’t help but sit up and take notice. The people now driving the projects are hungrier and younger. First Coat is the spillover of the past 10 years of exciting contemporary culture on ‘The Hill’ [the locals’ name for Toowoomba].” From what I’ve seen, Toowoomba is on the cusp of something great. Time will tell what direction the city takes from here, but the signs look promising.

Right: The standard of murals here is a far cry from graffiti and has improved the cultural landscape. Below: Kirsty Lee at the Bunker Records’ home in theGRID arts collective.

Round-up GET THERE

Skytrans flies to Toowoomba. 1300 759 872, skytrans.com.au

STAY

Vacy Hall 135 Russell Street, Toowoomba 07 4639 2055, vacyhall.com.au Applegum Inn 41 Margaret Street, Toowoomba 07 4632 2088, appleguminn.com.au

EXPLORE

theGRID:hybrid arts collective 488 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba 07 4564 9099 Cobb & Co Museum 27 Lindsay Street, Toowoomba 07 4659 4900, cobbandco.qm.qld.gov.au

EAT & DRINK

Veraison 205 Margaret Street, Toowoomba 07 4638 5909, veraison.com.au Artisan 41A Russell Street, Toowoomba 07 4638 0727

MORE INFO

First Coat Festival firstcoat.com.au southernqueenslandcountry.com.au

regionalstopover

HIGHWAYS TO HEAVEN Sue Wallace hits the road and discovers three very different experiences, all within easy reach of Cairns.

FOLLOW ANY LONG and winding road out of Cairns and chances are that you will end up near a spectacular white beach, on which you may well leave the day’s first footprints. Alternatively, you could find yourself up close and personal with a tumbling waterfall in a pristine rainforest. But if you don’t want to leave things to chance, there are three great drives – all within 90 minutes of Cairns – that showcase what makes this area such a drawcard for holiday-makers from all over the world. All these drives feature stunning scenery, great lookouts and places to take a dip as well as some of the terrific gourmet produce for which the region is known. Drive One: ‘The Great Barrier Reef Drive’ from Cairns to Cape Tribulation 140 kilometres

This stretch of road, it is claimed, is one of the most scenic drives in Australia: it follows the spectacular coastline that hugs two adjoining UNESCO World Heritage areas – the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics of Queensland rainforest. From Cairns, drive north across the Barron River towards Cairns’ northern beaches. If you’re looking for adventure, stop off at AJ Hackett Cairns, a franchise of the famed bungy outfit located in the Smithfield

rainforest about 25 minutes from Cairns’ centre before heading on to beautiful Palm Cove. This one-time fishing village, now known for its laid-back style, smart resorts and upmarket restaurants, was named after its beachside palm trees. Feast on the eclectic cuisine of the tropics at Lime & Pepper at Peppers Beach Club & Spa, where the food has been hailed as innovative, tasty and visually impressive. Further on, at Ellis Beach Bar & Grill, prepare for a feast of oysters with luscious toppings, priced at just $1 each on Sundays. The drive then winds along the edge of the Coral Sea and through pristine rainforest until you reach glamorous yet laid-back Port Douglas, known as ‘the gateway to the Daintree’, the world’s oldest tropical rainforest. Thala Beach Lodge, nestled on a private headland between Cairns and Port Douglas, offers excellent ecofriendly luxury accommodation. Wander down Port Douglas’ main street for boutique shopping with a tropical twist; stop off at Four Mile Beach; and visit Mossman Gorge, a spectacular freshwater swimming hole. Further on, after the village of Daintree, you must cross Daintree River on the vehicular ferry before heading north to Cape Tribulation, where the rainforest meets the reef. Along the way, try your hand at ‘jungle surfing’ on a zipline that skims the rainforest canopy.

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This stretch of road, it is claimed, is one of the most scenic drives in Australia.

This image: Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas. Below: The beautiful and varied scenery around Cape Tribulation.

regionalstopover

Drive Two: Cairns to Mission Beach 140 kilometres

This is another spectacular drive that takes you past quaint towns and villages, outstanding coastal scenery, tropical rainforest and white-sand beaches. Head south from Cairns towards Mission Beach, stopping in at Babinda Boulders for a dip at the popular swimming hole in the shadow of Mount Bartle Frere, Queensland’s tallest mountain. Babinda Creek is also a great place to kayak and the waters here teem with fish, the odd turtle and even the occasional platypus. Josephine Falls, a scenic waterfall fed by rainwater run-off from Mount Bartle Frere, also has some great swimming spots and walking tracks. Further on, at Mena Creek, Paronella Park, a heritage-listed attraction built by Spanish-born José Paronella in the 1930s, is another excellent tourist attraction, with beautiful gardens. There is plenty of action at Mission Beach, including skydiving, sea kayaking, jetskiing, snorkelling, fishing, hiking and croc spotting. The local markets are another great drawcard. And for action-packed adventure, go whitewater rafting on the mighty Tully River with Raging Thunder. From Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park, you might see manta rays swimming in the shallows and turtles coming in to nest. The small town is home to a winery, a beachfront pub, a café and an old-fashioned fish-andchip shop as well as a post office, a petrol station and a general store. One thing is for sure – no matter what road you take, or how long it takes you to get from A to B, there’s a host of great experiences waiting for you in Tropical North Queensland and a surprise around every corner.

This image: Mission Beach. Below from left: Millaa Falls; an Atherton Tablelands green tree frog.

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Drive Three: Atherton Tablelands Food Trail 90 kilometres

FAST FACT Tropical North Queensland is the only place on earth where two world heritage sites – the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest – sit side by side.

From Cairns, head inland to the Atherton Tablelands, following the Kennedy Highway to Kuranda, and visit the pretty rainforest village that’s home to a variety of restaurants and shops. It’s a nature-lover’s haven: here, you can see koalas, butterflies, native and exotic birds, kangaroos and reptiles – including some of the world’s most venomous snakes. Kids will be thrilled by the life-sized replica of an allosaurus dinosaur. If you have a sweet tooth, try the delectable Dutch licorice and rock candy at Kuranda Candy Kitchen or the handmade fudge at Kuranda Fudge Bar & Tea Room; coffee-lovers can stop in for an espresso and tour the Skybury coffee plantation just outside Mareeba. Or drop in to the Golden Drop Winery, where you can taste mango wine and port. En route, you can stock up on supplies at roadside stalls, at which local growers sell fresh produce. And if you’re a strawberry-lover, you’ll be in seventh heaven at Shaylee Strawberries, on the Gillies Highway between Atherton and the historic town of Yungaburra. Other stand-outs on the food and wine produce trail include the Nerada Tea Plantation near Malanda, where you can tour the factory and enjoy a refreshing cup of tea in the restaurant. You can sample smoked freshwater crayfish at the Smokehouse Café, part of Tarzali Lakes Aqua Centre, and taste local yoghurt and seasonal cheeses at Mungalli Creek Dairy in Millaa Millaa. Mt Quincan Crater Retreat offers luxurious accommodation in striking pole cabins, nestled among some of Tropical North Queensland’s most breathtaking scenery. For more information, visit: cairnsgreatbarrierreef.org.au drivenorthqueensland.com.au 23

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checkin

Five

minutes with …

Dewayne Everettsmith

Musician Dewayne Everettsmith builds on his personal experiences to create positivity through music. Cortney Roark chats with Dewayne about his unique style and inspiration.

Does your culture influence your music at all?

How did you first become interested in music? Music has always been a part of my family, going back generations. I was born with the bug and whenever there was the opportunity to sing, play the guitar and do my own private lounge-room concert for family, I grabbed it. I started learning guitar and singing in the school choir when I was 10 and I haven’t looked back.

What – or who – inspires you to write and perform music? Life ... life is great inspiration – from everyday experiences and observations. I appreciate the positive impact music can have on people and the change it can prompt. I hope to be the spark that turns into a fire for someone or something special.

How would you describe your musical style? I would say I fit a pop/soul vibe. I would also describe my music as honest, in the hope that people can relate to and interpret my songs as something that is personal and of meaning to them.

Yes, it does, but not in a political sense; more from a humanitarian point of view. I don’t like injustice at all, in regard to anybody ... and I think there is a lot of injustice. I think my culture allows me to experience sometimes what I wouldn’t want others to, and that comes through in my music.

‘It’s Like Love’ is a very powerful song. What’s the story behind it? ‘It’s Like Love’ stems from a project Tourism Australia ran, to partner an Australian singer-songwriter with a classical musician from somewhere in the world to write about how beautiful Australia is. From a singer-songwriter’s point of view, my aim was to write something people could interpret and relate to. I kept thinking of my grandparents and how their unconditional love has helped many, including myself, through some challenging times, and everybody relates to love. There is not enough unconditional love in the world and, hopefully, a song like ‘It’s Like Love’ can bring some of that back.

What inspired the song ‘Surrender’ (an emotive duet with Brisbane singer Thelma Plum)?

mental, emotional and physical. It’s about recognising abuse as it is – that abuse does not discriminate and, if we are to fix it, we need to break the silence and speak the truths of domestic abuse. We need to remove the shame, enforce responsibility and make it a community effort. Again, I hope ‘Surrender’ can create a spark.

How do you hope your audiences feel after your performances? I hope the audience will walk out being inspired, [with] a sense of empowerment – even, maybe, influenced [to change their] opinions in a positive way. I just hope they get something positive out of it – something is better than nothing.

“I appreciate the positive impact music can have on people and the change it can prompt. I hope to be the spark that turns into a fire for someone or something.”

‘Surrender’ is about domestic abuse and all forms of domestic abuse: financial, verbal, 1

citybites

citybites night

out

GRAIN BAR

Sydney

Nestled in between the heart of Circular Quay, this funky-chic bar offers a cool inner-city vibe, with great food and beverages to match. Check out the eye-catching central island bar, featuring giant curved slabs of sustainable Queensland Blackbutt timber, and the floating up-lit bottle wall. Better yet, snuggle up next to the large fireplace and soak in the views of the quay over a beautiful native garden. There’s an extensive range of cocktails and hand crafted local tap beers to accompany its freshly shucked oysters, salt and pepper calamari with Szechuan pepper, garlic and coriander, mouth-watering Wagyu beef burgers, vodka and lime-cured salmon, pizzetta with three cheeses – among an array of other delicious nibbles. grainbar.com.au

sleep

over

THE RUSSELL Sydney

If you’re looking to get away from the crowds, but still remain in the heart of the city, check out boutique hotel, The Russell. Featuring 29 rooms, it’s located in The Rocks, just moments away from Sydney’s greatest attractions. The idea behind the hotel was to create a home away from home feel, with its cosy standard, deluxe, superior and twin rooms. The hotel boasts a rich history with historical data dating back to 1790. Over time, the hotel area has been used as hospital, boarding house and shops. Stories of ghostly sightings are rife, including a sailor who reportedly haunts room eight! There are plenty of personal touches as well as historical memorabilia to keep guests feeling comfortable. The local pub, The Fortune of War sits just beneath, where the walls are peppered with old images, newspaper clippings and unique pieces of history. therussell.com.au 3

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AUSTRALIA • LONDON • MANCHESTER • EDINBURGH • POLAND • BRAZIL

entertainment

getsorted listen

read SOUTH OF DARKNESS

John Marsden Pan Macmillan Australia, $39.99 The revered John Marsden brings us the tale of Barnaby Fletch, a 13-year-old orphan living on the streets of London. Wistfully imagining a new life in Botany Bay, Fletch deliberately commits a crime that sees him transported there. What he encounters is far from the utopia he imagined. While many of Marsden’s 40-plus books are loved by young and old, South of Darkness is his first ‘adult’ novel.

JIMMY BARNES 30:30 TOUR Australian rock royalty Jimmy Barnes is celebrating 30 years since the release of his first solo album with a national tour. A jam-packed schedule will see Barnesy perform 30 shows around the nation between October and mid-December. In addition to performing at the annual A Day On The Green events, Jimmy Barnes will be travelling from Shoalhaven in New South Wales to Bunbury in Western Australia, to Warragul in Victoria, and just about everywhere in between.

While Barnesy is revered as a live performer, this tour coincides with the release of a special anniversary album, titled 30:30 Hindsight. If you can’t make it to one of his live performances, make sure you get your hands on his album, which revisits some of the rock star’s biggest hits and features collaborations with some of his favourite artists, including Keith Urban, Bernard Fanning and Tina Arena. 30:30 Hindsight is available on iTunes. For more information, visit jimmybarnes.com

watch staff pick

MY OLD LADY

In cinemas November 13 Adapted from Israel Horovitz’s play, My Old Lady tells the tale of Mathias Gold, a hard-on-his-luck New Yorker who moves to Paris to claim an apartment that he’s inherited from his estranged father. However, Mathias’ Parisian lifeline comes with an unexpected tenant. The film’s beautiful cinematography takes you through the Parisian locales with Woody Allen-esque reverence, while the engaging performances of Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline and Kristin Scott Thomas make you laugh and feel all warm and fuzzy.

download LIVE TRAFFIC NSW App Store Free Google Play Free

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Satisfy your nerdy curiosity about virtually anything you can think of. Domains covered range from nutritional information to the wondrous depths of the universe.

HYPERLAPSE App Store Free On-the-go, timelapse videos are no longer the exclusive domain of the professionals. Instagram’s newest app stabilises shaky footage automatically and gives you the power to ‘hyperlapse’ it by up to 12 times.

staff pick

YES PLEASE

Amy Poehler Pan Macmillan Australia, $32.99 In her first book, creator and star of comedy TV series Parks and Recreation, Amy Poehler gives us words to live, love and laugh by. Yes Please is a hilarious and wise melting pot of memoir, fictional anecdotes, ideas, mantras, haikus, and even sex-tips. A book on life written in the midst of her life, Poehler describes it as an attempt to convey what it is to be “young and old at the same time.”

MERCILESS GODS

Christos Tsiolkas Allen & Unwin, $32.99

From bestselling author of The Slap, comes a collection of short stories that, true to Tsiolkas’ style, delve into the gritty side of life. Driven by his hauntingly real characters, these stories navigate both the familiar and unknown. This book galvanises Tsiolkas’ status in modern literature and affirms his rare ability to affect his readers.

closeup

Bittersweet

blues

Kasey Chambers has been living and breathing music all her life. After a rocky four years, she’s releasing her seventh solo album, Bittersweet. Faye James speaks to the songstress about her ups and downs and everything in between.

asey has these piercing emerald eyes. The kind that burn right through your soul with a fierce intensity. Her voice is husky, thick with experience and her hands move quickly as she speaks. You can tell there’s a lot going on up there, both in mind and spirit. It’s of no surprise really. Kasey’s life has been a colourful tapestry of weird and wonderful. Brought up in South Australia’s Mount Gambier, she spent the first 10 years of her life hunting foxes, living in the back of a car while relentlessly travelling round

hasn’t looked back. After years of touring Australia’s deserted pubs and dust-cloaked festivals, Kasey has 29 music awards under her belt and is now releasing her seventh solo album, Bittersweet. As we sit chewing the fat, I get the feeling this is her rawest album yet. The one that brings her life to the fore – both the good and the bad. “A whole lot has happened in these four years,” Kasey admits. “I’ve been through lots of different things. A marriage break-up (with musician and songwriter Shane Nicholson), the birth of my third

“A whole lot has happened in these four years. I’ve been through lots of different things, including a break-up.” the whole of the blue-skyed plains of the Nullarbor. And at night, while the campfires would crackle in the distance, she sat beside her father playing her favourite tunes from Hank Williams, EmmyLou Harris and Johnny Cash, slowly but surely developing her burning passion for country music. Her father Bill, mother Di and brother Nash, all played a big part in her musical DNA, and since hitting the stage as a mere 10-year-old, she

child, Poet, and huge amounts of travelling – a lot of this is what has inspired the new album. Not that the album is full of divorce songs, no one wants to hear that,” Kasey quickly admits. “‘Bittersweet’, the title song, sounds like a break-up song but, really, it’s about emotions, good and bad, which have sparked my creativity throughout.” To give a little background, Shane played a huge part in Kasey’s musical career. They married in 2005, and

it was obvious they had a certain chemistry and empathy when it came to jamming. Their debut duo album, Rattlin’ Bones (2008), bagged a number one debut on the album charts and won best country music album at the ARIAs. In 2012, Kasey and Shane released their second album collaboration, Wreck & Ruin, which debuted at number six on the ARIA chart and won best duo at the annual Country Music Awards of Australia in Tamworth in 2013. It was just a few months after that Kasey and Shane announced their separation. Musically and personally, Bittersweet sees Kasey turning a page. It’s also Kasey’s first time producing an album without her brother Nash – her producer and manager – and Kasey admits it was quite a daunting process for her to fly solo without him. “It was Nash’s idea. Maybe he was getting sick of me!” Kasey laughs. “It was kinda scary to hand it over to someone else, but within the first hour, I knew I was in good hands.” The ‘good hands’ Kasey refers to belonged to Nick DiDia (Pearl Jam, Springsteen, Powderfinger) and Kasey and her team went on to record the album in just seven days, but for Kasey, this is pretty much the norm. “I always make albums

closeup

December

November

KASEY CHAMBERS’ BITTERSWEET TOUR DATES

very quickly. I love playing everything live and not labouring over things too much. It’s kinda like treating it like a gig and we just jammed a lot while we recorded,” Kasey shrugs. It’s like she stumbles into brilliance – like water off a duck’s back. Kasey’s success is really quite awe inspiring – she holds the record for the highest awarded solo APRA Songwriter in Australia across 10 studio albums, she has 10 ARIA Awards, 20 Golden Guitar Awards and nominations for two Americana Music Awards, but she remains nonchalant

about how it affects her music. “It doesn’t really make a difference to how I make music but it certainly helps get the music out to a wider audience. It is a nice nod from the industry too, to know you’re not banging your head against the wall. It’s nice to know people notice what you’re doing.” So what inspires Kasey’s brilliance? “General life inspires me...” Kasey pauses for a moment to drink some water. “Going through ups and downs like everyone I guess. I use song writing as my therapy a lot of the time.

Kasey’s top 5 travel must-haves 1 My portable DVD player is number one – maybe as a reaction to growing up without TV. I now have to have the TV on to sleep – I don’t like silence!

3 My guitar – even if I’m not playing on stage, just so I can grab it if a song comes on.

2 Crime shows, sitcoms, it’s just a little piece of home.

4 I’m a daggy traveller, so tracky dacks. 5 Running shoes.

Anita’s Theatre Thirroul, Wollongong

Wests Newcastle

Tivoli Theatre Brisbane

Enmore Theatre Sydney

Queenscliff Music Festival Victoria

Her Majesty’s Theatre Adelaide

Vikings Canberra

Montreal Community Theatre Tumut

Theatre Royal Castlemaine

Forum Theatre Melbourne

An outlet, I suppose. I don’t really think too much while I’m writing. I just let it come out the way it wants to. I do get very inspired by seeing other artists play. Paul Kelly is one of my biggest influences. One of the things I love is that he can write character songs. I draw on my own experiences, but sometimes I also like to do that [write character songs – about someone else]. Paul Kelly’s song – ‘Everything’s Turning to White’ is from the point of view of an old woman and it is just totally convincing.” Finally my time with the songstress is up. Kasey ends talking about the 2015 Tamworth Country Music Festival on January 25 next year and she’s pretty excited about it. “I love being there and doing gigs but I also love getting to spend time going to other people’s gigs too. Singing and jamming with mates. It’s always fun.” She smiles again and packs up her gear like a true nomad. I think of that song ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ by Terry Bush... “There’s a voice that keeps on calling me, down the road, that’s where I’ll always be...” And if Kasey had a theme song, that would be hers. 9

kitchenconfidential

CONFESSIONS OF A FOODIE Riley Palmer catches up with MasterChef Australia judge, foodie, restaurateur, chef and Citibank Dining Program ambassador, Gary Mehigan.

“It’s pretty spectacular, you just forget to look sometimes,” says a contemplative Gary Mehigan, staring at the at-once functional and iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge. We’re catching up at Aqua Dining, located at Milsons Point, and are both mesmerised by the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows, which showcase the picture-perfect backdrop. Combined, with the promise of the award-winning food to come, it’s hard not to feel content. Perhaps even more so for Gary who – having succeeded in fashioning a life that wholly revolves around what he loves: food – is uncertain whether he’s presently engaging in business or pleasure. “Many years ago, I went; ‘I love food, I’m obsessed by food, my whole life is driven by food’ so I very deliberately

stopped trying to draw a line in the sand between work and play,” he explains. Gary’s authentic love of everything food is palpable. From ecological sustainability, to culture and travel, to economics – after speaking with him, it’s not unfeasible to believe that the Earth, in fact, revolves around food. And, in recent years, Gary’s food fanaticism has become contagious: “Our interest in food has snowballed,” he says. “People are reading every little detail on the back of the label or they’re going to the farmers’ market to buy what’s in season and grown locally.” Aside from the obvious benefits this has for our local economy and the sustainability of our resources, Gary also believes this approach to consuming food sparks variety and creativity in cooking.

“I think you enjoy food a lot more if, rather than robotically filling your trolley with the same things you buy each week, you’re filling it in the wintry months with beans, kale and peas, and in summer with asparagus, summer fruits and vegetables.” Coinciding with the rise of the Aussie ‘foodie’ has been the rapid rise of food as the reason for celebration in and of itself.

“I love food, I’m obsessed by food, my whole life is driven by food.” Realising we don’t need the guise of a secondary event to come together and eat good food, laymen and food savants alike are enjoying the food festivities that are increasingly dominating the Australian events calendar. “People love a secret, they love a pop-up, they love a reason to get out and socialise, and food, historically, is about that,” says Gary. From the monthly farmers’ markets in Boyanup (an agricultural region 195 kilometres south of Perth) to the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, these events entice not only Aussie foodies, but also a growing number of food tourists. With the aid of some spruiking by our tourism industry, Australia is becoming renowned internationally as a major food destination. “We’re ranked very highly in the world,” explains Gary. “We’re up there with France, Italy and Spain as being a great food destination. It’s kind of unstoppable I think. It really celebrates our community, our culture.”

kitchenconfidential

PORK BELLY SLIDERS WITH GAMASHIO MAYO AND PICKLED DAIKON MAKES 12 PORK BELLY SLIDERS • 1 tbsp fennel seeds • 1 star anise • 1 tsp chili flakes • ½ tsp cumin seeds • Sea salt flakes • 1kg deboned belly pork, skin on, scored at 5mm intervals (ask your butcher to do this for you) • Boiling water, for blanching • Table salt • 2 tbsp olive oil • 12 brioche buns (8–9cm diameter) • 1 quantity Pickled Daikon • 1 large handful coriander leaves

GAMASHIO MAYONNAISE Gamashio is a Japanese condiment made from sesame seeds that has a distinctive umami flavour (which translates from Japanese to ‘pleasant savoury taste’). It’s a wonderful seasoning for salads, fish and dressings. I like to use unhulled sesame seeds, which are available from health food stores. • ½ cup (75g) natural unhulled sesame seeds • 2 tsp soft brown sugar • Sea salt flakes • 1½ cups (375ml) mayonnaise

It’s an exciting time for the Australian food scene. “It’s come of age,” says Gary. “20 years ago we couldn’t seem to find ourselves in the culinary world – were we fusion? Should we be Indigenous? I think we’re over trying to find excuses for what we are and what we do.” Cooking outside the confines of a label seems to have suited Australian chefs far better than any food identity could have.

Rare fare “There are some things I won’t touch,” says Gary. “Like I won’t try tarantulas,” which is an understandable aversion, unless you live in Cambodia and have grown up munching on the deep-fried critters. “And I’ve got this funny adversity to some textures,” he continues. “Like the Century egg, which is black and kind of gooey on the inside.” Again, the antipathy to a preserved egg that emits the aroma of ammonia and sulphur seems somewhat justified. Yet, Century eggs are a Chinese

delicacy. “It’s very interesting how we have perceptions of things we should and shouldn’t eat,” Gary muses.

Hot ‘n’ Spicy In what might appear to be a shrine to the chili god, the whole top shelf in Gary’s fridge is devoted to chili – Sambal Tumis, chili caramel, homemade hot sauce, pickled chilies, lime-chili, and – perhaps most revealing of his addiction – something in a little jar, the packaging of which looks like a stick of dynamite. “I love the pleasure and pain of chili,” he confesses. “It’s the ultimate condiment.”

Good Food Month If you missed out on Sydney’s celebration of all things food in October, fear not, because Good Food Month continues throughout November in Melbourne. Don’t miss the delights of Melbourne’s best restaurants, bars, pubs and artisan food businesses. goodfoodmonth.com

1. Use a mortar and pestle to pound the fennel seeds, star anise, chili flakes, cumin seeds and a good pinch of salt, to a coarse powder, then transfer to a large plate. 2. Place the pork, skin-side up, on a rack suspended over the sink and carefully pour over a kettle-full of boiling water. Pat dry with paper towel, then place the pork on the plate with the spices and rub in all over. Leave uncovered in the fridge for several hours (or overnight) to dry out. 3. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan-forced (220°C conventional). Place the pork, skin-side up, in a heavy-based roasting tin. Rub the skin with 2 teaspoons table salt and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 140°C fan-forced and roast, basting regularly, for a further 2 hours. (After this time, if the skin is not as crisp as you’d like it, place the pork under the hot oven grill for 5–10 minutes.) Leave the pork to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 2-centimetre thick slices and then halving lengthways to fit the brioche buns. 4. Meanwhile, for the gamashio mayonnaise, place the sesame seeds in a heavy-based frying pan over low heat and toast, stirring regularly, for about 15 minutes or until fragrant, then set aside to cool completely. Place the seeds, sugar and a pinch of salt in a blender or small food processor and blend for 30 seconds or until fine but not too floury – some texture to the gamashio is good. Remove and set aside. 5. Make the mayonnaise according to the instructions. Then, with the mayonnaise still in the food processor, add the gamashio. Process for 30 seconds until well combined. Add a teaspoon or so of warm water to make a slightly thinner consistency if you like. 6. Cut the brioche buns in half and toast the cut-sides under the hot oven grill until golden. Spread both cut-sides of each bun with gamashio mayonnaise. Divide the pickled daikon among the bases, add a piece of pork belly, then top with plenty of coriander and the bun lid.

destination

From organic produce and handmade wines to spectacular scenery and extraordinary wildlife, Kangaroo Island has it all, discovers Ute Junker.

THERE ARE KOALAS and sea lions, echidnas and kangaroos, but amid all of Kangaroo Island’s teeming wildlife, the most fascinating creature could just be the tiny Ligurian bee. Originally from northern Italy, the bee was introduced to Kangaroo Island in the 1880s, when this small land mass off the South Australian coast was declared a bee sanctuary. “It was the first legislation anywhere in the world to protect insects in the wild,” mentions Peter Davis, apiarist and owner of The Island Beehive. Today, the island has the purest strain of Ligurian bees in the world. “Ligurian bees are renowned for their productivity and their gentleness,” Davis says. “I get requests from beekeepers all over the world who want to buy my bees.” Davis doesn’t just sell bees, of course; he also sells honey. His hives, which look like weathered wooden boxes, are moved regularly around the island so the bees can gather pollen from different sources. Hives placed near sugar gums produce a light, sweet honey; honey made with the nectar of the mallee eucalyptus, by contrast, is darker and richer in flavour. Each of Davis’ 800 hives contains between 50,000 and 80,000 bees. How much honey they produce depends on the weather. “In a poor year, we get a total of around 70 tonnes of honey. In a good year, that goes up to 300 tonnes,” he says. Davis and his bees are part of the transformation of Kangaroo Island. The island has long been known as a natural paradise; now, islanders are taking advantage of their pristine surroundings to create organic locavore food and wine.

destination

Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge Reflections Restaurant

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destination

“This is a wonderful place to be a chef,” says Tim Bourke, executive chef at Southern Ocean Lodge, the island’s luxury lodge. “There are so many passionate producers creating fantastic products.” Bourke says he sources 90 per cent of the ingredients he uses to create his meals – dishes such as kingfish with pickled cucumber, yoghurt and herbs – from the island. The island’s foodie hub is Kingscote, the biggest town. Apart from Island Beehive, attractions include a eucalyptus distillery, a lavender farm that grows 12 different varieties, and Kangaroo Island Spirits, where distillers Jon and Sarah Lark produce a range of spirits including three different types of gin. Cheese fans will love the Island Pure Sheep Dairy, where visitors can watch sheep being milked and taste the range of delicious cheeses. The manchego and the haloumi are particularly recommended.

Kingscote is also a hub for the island’s artists. It’s estimated that 10 per cent of the island’s 4600 inhabitants are involved in some form of creative pursuit; many of them have their work on display at Fine Art Kangaroo Island. There are also several other galleries on the island, including the Some Bling New jewellery studio. Drive inland from Kingscote to Parndana, where families can visit the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park. Thanks to its slower rate of development and virtual absence of pests, Kangaroo Island has an abundance of wildlife. Few visitors go home without a bushland encounter of some kind; however, if you want to have an up-close experience, the Wildlife Park is the place to go. “A lot of our animals are local wildlife that needed rescuing, so they are very used to people,” says Dana Mitchell who, with her husband Sam, owns the park. “Visitors can actually feed kangaroos and emus, and we have three koala sessions a day, where you can hold the koalas.”

Above: Foodie hub Kingscote features a lavender farm with 12 varieties. Below left: Savour manchego cheese at Pure Sheep Dairy. Below: Cuddle the koalas at Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park.

destination

Those who prefer wine to wildlife will want to make an appointment to visit Islander Estate Vineyards, arguably the best winery on Kangaroo Island. Owner and winemaker Jacques Lurton is the scion of a famous Bordeaux wine family, who chose Kangaroo Island to set up his first winery. “We make our wines using traditional European methods, picking and pruning by hand and leaving the wine on the skins for a long time,” says general manager, Yale Norris. “The result is wines that are quite delicate and elegant.” With 10 hectares of vines, The Islander Estate produces between 5500 and 6000 cases a year. The winery’s flagship wine, a refined Cabernet Franc, is called The Investigator, aptly named after the ship on which Matthew Flinders charted the vast Kangaroo Island coastline.

From Parndana, keep heading west to explore the island’s untamed side. It’s a good idea to pack a picnic to enjoy along the way: the sheer size of Kangaroo Island takes most visitors by surprise. At 155 kilometres from east to west, it is Australia’s third-largest island. More than one-third of that area is pristine nature, with landscapes ranging from heath and mallee scrub to coastal cliffs, wetlands, estuaries and bush. The rugged beauty of the West End is a great place for wildlife spotting, so keep your eyes peeled for wallabies in the undergrowth or koalas in the tree tops. Stop in at the Flinders Chase Visitor Centre before heading to the Remarkable Rocks – where windswept sandstone forms set along the dramatic coastline – and the lighthouse at Cape du Couedic, which was built between 1906 and 1909.

destination

The rugged beauty of the West End is a great place for wildlife spotting, so keep your eyes peeled for wallabies in the undergrowth or koalas in the tree tops.

destination

For those feeling active, there are a number of hikes to choose from. The walk to Platypus Waterholes is a popular choice: one of the shortest walks, it’s also one of the island’s most rewarding. From the lighthouse, follow the boardwalk as it winds its way down the cliff. If it is a windy day – which it usually is – walk carefully: towering waves rolling in from the Southern Ocean drench the boardwalk frequently with spray. It’s worth the risk of getting wet to get close to the colony of around 7000 New Zealand fur seals that live at the base of the cliffs, lazing on the rocks or riding the waves in from a fishing expedition. Stunning scenery and wildlife, up close and personal – that’s the unforgettable Kangaroo Island experience people have come to expect.

Round-up GO

If you don’t fly to Kangaroo Island, you’ll be travelling there by ferry – either in your car or on a coach.

STAY

Lifetime Private Retreats offer four selfcontained luxury beachfront homes, with the option of gourmet catering by Hannaford & Sachs. For bookings call (08) 8559 2248, and for catering, call (08) 8559 2236. life-time.com.au, hannafordandsachs.com.au Southern Ocean Lodge is a spectacular setting for those looking to splash out. Its all-inclusive rates and luxurious rooms make it a holiday to remember. Hanson Bay Rd, Kingscote, (02) 9918 4355 southernoceanlodge.com.au Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge Scenic Drive, American River, (08) 8553 7053 or 1800 355 581 kilodge.com.au

EAT

Enjoy local specialties such as wallaby shank at Bella restaurant, on site at Kingscote’s Kangaroo Island Seaside Inn. 7 Cygnet Road, Kingscote, (08) 8553 2707 kiseasideinn.com.au Seafood and other local produce shines at Reflections Restaurant in the Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge. Scenic Drive, American River, (08) 8553 7053 kilodge.com.au

EXPLORE

Go wine-tasting: Islander Estate Vineyards iev.com.au (08) 8553 9008, is the best-known local winery, but there are other cellar doors worth visiting: if time permits, stop in at Bay of Shoals Wines and at Chapman River Wines Cellar Door, which has its own art studio.

MORE INFO

tourkangarooisland.com.au goodfoodkangarooisland.com.au 18

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food&wine

ORANGE

THE NEW SQUEEZE Orange boasts a vibrant food and wine scene, pretty pastoral landscapes and warm hospitality. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more inspired gourmet getaway, writes Carla Grossetti.

range doesn’t need to be told what it’s good at. While the pulse of the township has long relied on its proud agricultural traditions, a new slew of stylish hotels, rustic grocers, lively cafés, award-winning wineries and innovative bars and eateries has given the region more reasons than ever to be feeling rather pleased with itself. OJ, as the locals call it, has been revitalised in recent times thanks, in part, to an influx of committed tree-changers, young locals looking for alternatives to moving to the Big Smoke and creative types craving the space and freedom to cook up innovative ideas.

Grape expectations Although the fruit-growing region produces apples, cherries, stone fruit and grapes, it’s the cool-climate wines making their mark on the national and international wine stage that’s really put OJ and its surrounds on the map as a great place for a weekend escape. One of the best times to see examples of OJ’s civic pride is during the Orange Wine Festival. Orange Wine Festival chair Michelle Stivens says the annual event, which began nine years ago, has grown to such a size that it has to be held over a number of weekends. Stivens says this year’s festival has, “widened

its focus to celebrate the region’s food, produce, growers and chefs in order to reflect the town’s status as a destination for both wine and food.”

Seasons of change While the region’s modern wine industry was pioneered by a few foresighted individuals who planted vines in the early 1980s, many of the area’s original orchards, such as Borrodell Vineyard and Brangayne, diversified into grape growing in the ’90s. The Brangayne vineyard lies on the northeastern slopes of extinct volcano Mount Canobolas, one of the highest and coolest grape-growing districts in Australia. The Hoskins family had grown apples, pears, peaches and cherries on the property since the 1930s and only replaced the orchards with wine grapes in 1994. Today, Brangayne is managed by David Hoskins, who says “the wines produced from single vineyard grapes express the true terroir of the region.” “As the seasons change, wines that are produced traditionally are allowed to tell their individual story and reveal their true character,” says Hoskins, whose boutique vineyard creates award-winning Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Ferment. Wine culture you can taste. Ferment - The Orange Wine Centre showcase wines from the Central Ranges of NSW and beyond. Our state-of-the-art Enomatic wine dispensers let you taste and then purchase a wide range of wines, specially chosen by Peter Bourne. Ferment is Orange’s dedicated wine venue and also the cellar door and tasting room for Cooks Lot, Carillion, Montoro, Tamburlaine and Topers Wines. Located at 87 Hill Street, at the top end of town, Ferment is the hub of everything a visitor or savvy Orange local could want for wine.

www.orangewinecentre.com.au

we invite you to come, relax, unwind and indulge in the orange region

2015 Dates for your diary

Gnoo Blas Classic Car Show 7 – 8 Febraury Banjo Paterson Festival 12 – 17 February Orange F.O.O.D Week 10 – 19 April

to book your STAY simply go to www.visitorange.com.au Or stop in at the Orange Visitor Information centre OPEN 9am – 5pm | 7 Days FREE CALL 1800 069 466 151 Byng Street (Crnr of Byng & Peisley Sts), Orange /visitorange

/visit_orange

food&wine

Contemporary Italian and French influenced dish from Lolli Redini.

FAST FACT Orange was given its name by Major Thomas Mitchell in 1846, in honour of Prince William of Orange whom he met during the Napoleonic Wars (Prince William later became the King of Holland).

The property, Brangayne, was named by Hoskin’s grandmother, Winsome, after the handmaiden who attends to the tragic Isolde in Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde and prepares a love potion for her mistress. “That same dedication to Isolde is expressed at Brangayne each day by those who create the wine. Our wine label depicts wine as being the drink of love, which, as well as classical music, is one of my grand passions,” says Hoskins, at his rustic cellar door that is open daily, by appointment, to groups of 12 or more.

New ideas ferment As well as the old-school experience at boutique vineyards, the future has arrived at Ferment: The Orange Wine Centre and

Wine Store in Orange proper. Housed in a beautifully preserved heritage building, Ferment features a high-tech Enomatic wine system that allows visitors to sample 24 wines by the glass. As well as squirting temperaturecontrolled wine into your glass, owner Simon Forsyth is on hand to dispense information about the wines, which can be enjoyed along with tasty tasting plates. Another premium venue in the business of ‘relishing all things vinous’ is the Union Bank Wine Bar & Dining, which sells predominantly cool-climate wines. Across the courtyard from the bar you’ll find the Swinging Bridge, where the historic stables have been converted into a cosy cellar door. “The food and wine at Union Bank is an expression of my vineyard and of my palate, with a seasonal menu that showcases local produce,” says Tom Ward, who manages Swinging Bridge Wines.

The good life On the food front, it’s evident that this is a town seriously in love with the land. As well as the region’s hatted restaurants – Lolli Redini’s, Racine and Tonic – casual eateries such as The Grocer & Co Organics, providore A Slice of Orange, The Endsleigh café at Byng General Store, Emma’s Table and The Agrestic Grocer are all wonderful advertisements for rural life. The Agrestic Grocer is a sort of ecominded clubhouse that, as well as reflecting the personality of its owners – friends Beau and Katie Baddock and Danielle and Lucas Martin – hints at the prevailing ‘farm-to-fork’ mindset of the local community. Here, the

Above: View from the deck at De Salis in Nashdale, 15 minutes from the centre of Orange. 23

food&wine

Ferment, the Orange Wine Centre, housed in a carefully preserved heritage building.

local farms and purveyors supply everything from Carbeen Pastured Produce eggs to The Second Mouse Cheese, Sacred Mountain Cider, Abilene Grove olive oil, Orange Roasting Co coffee, Perthville sausages, hand-pumped Badlands Brewery ale and oats rolled by bicycle on site.

Keeping its cool Cool Room Restaurant, a repurposed space that was one of the oldest coolrooms in the area, now houses a rustic café, wine store and shop selling farm produce. Its owners, according to Beau, aim to articulate to customers exactly what is on the plate and where it hails from. The specials are written on brown paper each day and include options such as a ploughman’s lunch, likely to feature house-made pickles, relish or fruit from the grocer’s own 0.6-hectare (1.5-acre) farm. “Ninety per cent of what is on your plate is translatable to a farmer or grower or artisan in the area,” says Beau. Another café that’s become deeply rooted in the area’s soul is the very funky Factory Espresso; Bills Beans’ flagship café. You may have to compete with locals for a table, but it’s worth it for the exceptional coffee and sweet or savoury treats. It’s true that no visit to Orange is complete without immersion in its wine culture. But now the dots in the area have connected, sealing its fate as a formidable food capital too.

Round-up GET THERE

Orange is about 260 kilometres from Sydney. Several airlines fly there regularly. Rent a car from Avis: avis.com.au

STAY

Borrodell Vineyard 298 Lake Canobolas Rd, Orange 02 6365 3425, borrodell.com.au Duntryleague guesthouse Woodward St, Orange 02 6362 3466, duntryleague.com.au

EAT & DRINK

Union Bank Wine Bar & Dining 84 Byng St, Orange 02 6361 4441, unionbank.com.au The Agrestic Grocer 426 Molong Rd, Orange 02 6360 4604, facebook.com/ theagresticgrocer

EXPLORE

Give Wine Week a squeeze. Orange Wine Week is held each spring in celebration of the region’s food and wine; this year, it runs from October 17 to November 2. tasteorange.com.au Take the Orange Heritage Trail Follow the ‘heritage trail’ around Orange and enjoy its architecture: handsome Victorian, Gothic, neoclassical and stuccoed Italianate buildings still integral to everyday life. Amazing views at every turn in Orange country

MORE INFO

visitnsw.com.au tasteorange.com.au

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adventure

ADVENTURES ON THE Who said the Gold Coast was all about lazing on the beach? If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re after an adventure-packed trip, pack your bags, head to Surfers Paradise and get thrill seeking, writes Faye James.

adventure

Up in the air! Enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the Gold Coast’s hinterland all from the comfort of a hot air balloon. OK, so you may need to be up at the crack of dawn, but the effort is well worth it. Glorious views against a crimson sunset is one memory to add to the bucket list – throw in a champagne breakfast at O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards and wine tasting to boot and you’ve got a memory of a lifetime. hotair.com.au/goldcoast/balloon-rides

Jetboating Want to experience costal views while packing in some adventure? Book yourself on a jetboat and experience 360° spins and high speed drifting from Surfers Paradise over to Broadwater Beach. It’s a good way to tour the strip and get some waves in at the same time. Not for the easily seasick, you’ll be bashed about from corner to corner. paradisejetboating.com.au

Off-road adventures Head off-road into the Hinterland of Mount Tamborine. There are half-day tours available that will take you fourwheel driving alongside hillside tracks all the way up to Tamborine Mountain. On the way, stop for scones and tea at a traditional tea house, before taking a guided rainforest walk through Tamborine National Park. Witness sky-high trees, twisting majestically up to the sky, wild bush turkeys puffing up their necks, while listening to a cacophony of birdsong. The walk ends at Curtis Falls waterfall, which is a great spot to view at night as all the glow-worms come out in their glory, adding that extra magic to the walk. The tours also stop at Gallery Walk in the town, which features touristy-fare to take home to nanna. sc4wd.com.au 27

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adventure

Ride the waves Grab your board and mosey on down to the aptly named Surfers Paradise Beach, which offers gentle Pacific Ocean breaks and challenging banks for surfers of all levels. The three-kilometre stretch of golden sand offers plenty of space for you to chillax after catching some waves. New to surfing? Get some advice from the legendary Cheyne Horan Surf School, which offers lessons from a reasonable $49 per hour. cheynehoran.com.au

Birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye viewing Another way to view the city in style is a on a helicopter. Depart from Broadwater and soar the skies over Stradbroke Island, The Sovereign Islands, Sanctuary Cove and Coomera before heading back past all the theme parks and back to Surfers Paradise. The $595 package for two finishes with either breakfast or high tea at the six star Versace resort for extra glam. goldcoasthelitours.com.au 29

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adventure

Climb Sky Point Catch some serious vistas and experience Australia’s highest external building climb. You’ll need to put aside at least 90 minutes, as the climb will take you from level 77 all the way up another 30 metres or 298 stairs. Not for the faint-hearted! If you suffer from vertigo, take a rain check. If not, hike it up and experience amazing 360-degree views of the Gold Coast region. skypoint.com.au

Round-up GET THERE

Surfers Paradise is about 21 kilometres from Coolangatta airport, most airlines fly there.

STAY

Book yourself a luxe apartment with breathtaking views at Q1 Resort and Spa, 9 Hamilton Avenue, Surfer’s Paradise, QLD, Q1.com.au

EAT & DRINK

Bike it Why not finish your adventure-packed weekend on a Harley Davidson? You can go on a short tour for one hour or venture up into the Hinterland for a couple of hours. If you’re feeling like you really need to burn more rubber, hike it down to Byron Bay or Tweed Valley in four hours – or, if you fancy both, hoon it down in eight. Go on, live a little… wildfiretours.com

Sample fine dining at its best at Vie, Palazzo Versace, Seaworld Drive, Main Beach QLD, palazzoversace.com.au Tuck into the freshest fish on the coast with stunning beachside views to match at The Fish House, 50 Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads QLD, thefishhouse.com.au 31

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charity

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT From head chefs in hatted restaurants to recipients of charity services – one woman’s mission to educate and engage has transformed the nation’s attitude towards food, writes Riley Palmer. OZHARVEST IS celebrated throughout Australia as the simple solution to a complex problem: food wastage. Successfully delivering surplus food to people in need, this ‘food rescue’ organisation was little more than an idea – albeit a pervasive one – floating around in CEO Ronni Kahn’s head back in 2004. Now, 10 years on, OzHarvest has delivered around 28 million meals and rescued 9000-odd tonnes of good-quality food from landfill. In 2003, Ronni went on a trip to South Africa where she got in contact with an old friend. En route to an AIDS clinic she’d

set up in Soweto – the urban township of Johannesburg – this old friend explained nonchalantly that she was responsible for providing the entire community with electricity. Ronni was awe-struck: “I stopped and thought, ‘What can it feel like to know you’ve made an impact on that many people’s lives’? I just knew I couldn’t live my life the same way any more.” And, sure enough, Ronni’s life hasn’t been the same since. In the 20 years she spent as an event producer, Ronni recalls, “At all of my events there was abundant food; I was producing masses of waste!” So when she vowed to do

something more meaningful with her life, Ronni delved into an industry she knew intimately, adapted the entrepreneurial skills she’d honed and applied them to the food paradox that so baffled her: that, on the one hand, food waste costs Australians up to $10 billion each year and, on the other, two million Australians still rely on food relief. Her mission has always been twofold: the more obvious social one of providing material aid to those in need, and the environmental one of saving perfectly edible food from landfill. “For every kilo of food rescued, we save 143 litres of water and 33

charity

“Nourishment is reinventing the culture surrounding food in our society.” two kilos of methane gas from entering the atmosphere,” explains Ronni. It’s a staggering statistic, particularly in light of global efforts towards reducing emissions. OzHarvest began as a humble venture, “It was October 2004, when I drove a van to a homeless refuge and delivered beautiful, delicious surplus food from a catered event,” Ronnie recalls. Since then, she has been instrumental in amending civil liability laws across four states to allow good food to be given away without liability to the donors. “We have made it easy and safe to donate good quality food,” she says. Nowadays, OzHarvest rescues surplus food from restaurants, retailers, food outlets, hotels and corporate kitchens. “We collect from all types of food businesses, from cafés to high-end restaurants to TV show production sets like MasterChef [Australia] and My Kitchen Rules,” says Ronni. “And some of them include hatted restaurants: Peter Gilmore’s Quay has donated quails and Tetsuya’s [Restaurant] regularly donates beautiful food.” From one van 10 years ago, OzHarvest now has 23 vans operating in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Newcastle. “We will soon be expanding to the West Coast,” adds Ronni, “and perhaps you might even see us in New Zealand in the not-too-distant future”. Following on from the success of the food rescue component of the organisation, Ronni has expanded OzHarvest’s mission to encompass ‘Nourish Our Country’. “Nourishment is saving food from landfill and providing it to people in need,” she explains. “Nourishment is educating all sectors of our community to better utilise food, waste less, and promote healthy eating and nutrition. Nourishment is about nurturing community togetherness through food, providing pathways to employment and changing lives. Nourishment is reinventing the culture surrounding food in our society. That’s our vision for the future.” 34

With this vision in mind, OzHarvest has set up NEST (an acronym for Nutrition Education Sustenance Training), which has been successful in educating the consumers who access its services as well as the staff and volunteers within those organisations. NEST focuses on matters such as low-cost food purchasing and preparation; with the intention of empowering people to make better food choices and increasing their capacity for independence. Another OzHarvest initiative is REAP: a food-rescue resource for regional communities. Since REAP was established in 2011, more than 300 communities have registered, from Coolangatta to Ballarat.

Most recently, the company set up the Nourish Program, which aims to educate and train disadvantaged youth, and facilitate opportunities for them within the hospitality industry. “Goodman+, our founding partner, has this year donated a magnificent warehouse space in New South Wales, where we will be based.” Proving the extent of community support for OzHarvest, the organisation successfully ‘crowd-funded’ more than $80,000, enabling it to buy the kitchen equipment required to run the program. All the while, OzHarvest’s 600+ volunteers continue to collect excess produce and deliver it to upward of 550 charities.

On reflection, Ronni realises that the idea behind her food-delivery enterprise was seeded when she was a six-year-old girl growing up in apartheid South Africa. After her father had a near-fatal accident, Ronni’s resourceful mother made several shrewd decisions to make ends meet. One of many money-making ventures she undertook was baking 100 cakes in her non-commercial kitchen each day and delivering them – with Ronni’s compulsory assistance – to local clubs and cafés. “I was allowed to put the cherry on top,” she recollects fondly. Evidently, Ronni Kahn’s mother’s resourcefulness was genetic.

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agribusiness

HIDE AND SEEK The export of Australian hide and skin has boomed in recent years, but the current market decline has left many skin processors at a loss. Riley Palmer investigates.

IN THE WAKE of the global financial crisis, Australia’s economic resilience has been internationally lauded. While exports of mineral resources and mining commodities have been given the lion’s share of the credit for keeping Australia out of recession, many of our other exports have been overlooked. Often obscured from the public discussion, the value of Australia’s exports of hides and skins has increased rapidly in recent years; however, with what Knox International director Adrian Knox has labelled a “perfect storm” hitting the Australian sheepskin market, skin and hide processors are less certain about the near future. Between 2009 and 2013, the export of raw hides, skins and leather doubled, while those of fur skins and artificial fur increased by 177 per cent. The supply for these exports comes from sheep, cattle, goats, kangaroos, rabbits and deer – much or which is a by-product of the animals already culled in our abattoirs for meat. The market for Australia’s sheepskins is dominated by Russia and China. Historically, China has been a stable market due to constant demand for products such as Ugg Boots and car

seat covers. April 2014, however, was the deadline the Chinese government set for its new pollution regulations, which resulted in the forced closure of several Chinese tanneries. This has had an adverse effect on China’s demand for hides. Unfortunately for suppliers, Russia – which utilises its hides predominantly for clothing and shoes – has experienced a relatively mild winter, which has depressed the market for hides. “The market has been relatively flat since March,” says Australian Lamb Skin Processors marketing manager Darren Vinton. “The Russians buy all their skins in January and February, and start producing through the year for the next winter.” Skin and hide processors are keeping their fingers crossed that the already declining market doesn’t fall victim to the export sanctions Russia has enforced in response to criticism of its handling of July’s MH17 disaster. Hides and skins are not currently on Russia’s banned list, and processors are hoping it stays that way. “If a ban was put in place, it could have a major impact on our business,” says Vinton. “The end result, if there is a ban placed on Australian sheep skins, is that less will be paid to the producer.”

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agribusiness

Already, the value of sheepskin is down 50 per cent from where it was two years ago. And, according to Knox, it’s unlikely to improve overnight. “I don’t think prices will get much better until we see a complete (market) collapse – or it will be status quo rather than a gradual improvement,” he says. Knox believes that the sheepskin market needs to remain at current low levels to increase demand and inspire the usage of sheepskin in a greater range of products. Australia’s high environmental standards have resulted in many small manufacturers finding it too expensive to comply with water and chemical regulations. The decline in Australian manufacturers has meant that a lot of the sheepskin’s production value is now acquired offshore. Andy Luke of Brisbane-based Packer Leather says: “The tanning industry is an industry that moved offshore many, many years ago – essentially companies chasing low-cost locations, higher profits.” A beacon of hope, Packer Leather has reinvented itself time and time again to stay abreast

A lot of the sheepskin’s production value is now acquired offshore.

FAST FACT At three to four times the strength of cowhide, kangaroo hide is renowned as the strongest available. Australia harvests roughly three million kangaroo skins annually.

of the changing demands of the market. When most of Australia’s tanneries succumbed to cheap imports and closed up shop in the 1970s, Packer Leather moved into a niche market – kangaroo skins. Surviving through a Supreme Court case for site approval, the Whitlam Government’s ban on kangaroo exports and, most recently, the global financial crisis, Packer Leather is highly soughtafter on the world stage and supplies leather to a host of international sports and fashion brands: Kookaburra, RM Williams, Sherrin, Adidas and Nike, to name a few. There aren’t enough niche markets to make this degree of entrepreneurialism a possibility for all processors and manufacturers. That said, the outlook isn’t all doom and gloom. Many of the Chinese tanneries and leatherworks forced to close for environmental reasons are beginning to reopen, which, in conjunction with the upward trajectory of the Russian economy, indicates increasing demand.

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insidemining Issue 17 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; November 2014

CHIPPED

CHINA

Has Clive Palmer sullied our partnership?

MINING REVIEW New technologies are changing mapping and exploration

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Gladstone, Qld SANTOSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; two-train LNG processing facility on Curtis Island in Gladstone is the end of a 420-kilometre underground gas transmission pipeline that begins in gas fields in the Bowen and Surat Basins. The facility is part of Santosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; $18.5 billion GLNG project, which converts coal seam natural gas into liquefied natural gas for export.

news+views

news+views WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW Rio Tinto has announced that it is looking to secure a crucial advantage in the collection of mineral deposits with the introduction of a 3D technology known as RTVis. Designed to generate detailed 3D maps of a given area, the use of RTVis in the field improves the efficiency of mining production since it allows miners to focus on removing high value ore and

reduce waste and operational costs. RTVis has been introduced at Rio’s West Angelas iron ore mine in Western Australia, while trials have also begun in other Rio product groups including copper, energy and diamonds and minerals. This innovative technology grants Rio’s miners the ability to quickly and easily view, compare and evaluate data as it creates an image of what’s under their feet.

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“Armed with this detailed information, our operations to recover the ore bodies will be significantly more efficient and effective,” says John McGagh, Rio Tinto’s head of innovation. “It’s like an ultrasound image of the deposit delivered in realtime, something that we could never do before.” The other benefits associated with this technology are that it allows expedited feedback on the impact on equipment used in the mine. If the certainties in the ore deposits are picked up earlier in the process, this allows for even more efficient mine planning, which means safer mines and less impactful drilling.

ORICA THE ORACLE FOR CONFIDENCE Orica Limited, a provider of commercial blasting systems, tunneling support systems, and chemical products in the mining industry, has announced probable lucrative blasting deals to mining clients. Orica chief executive Ian Smith recently said the company is looking to offer mining clients blasting contracts with a twist: his firm assumes all of the risk and payment is only exchanged if the operation is successful. “We can say to people we are prepared to take risks,” Smith told The Australian Financial Review. “If it doesn’t work, don’t pay us for it – we’re that confident.” Cost cutting has had a ripple effect throughout the mining industry and many services have felt the brunt of it. With this in mind, Smith has reportedly said such a drastic move has become necessary to counteract repeated cost cutting measures from the mining sector. “We see it as a higher margin but it is only on the bass that their margin improves,” said Smith. “So it is not just charging for something but guaranteeing that their cost per tonne goes down, and we want to share in that.” According to Fairfax, seven per cent of Orica’s current contracts use Smith’s new risk-assuming model. 5

news+views

COASTAL REFORM During a Shipping Australia event in Sydney, the Australian Government announced its renewed focus on an increase in competitive and efficient coastal shipping, allowing more resource support employers to operate in the marketplace. AMMA (Australian Mines and Metals Association) chief executive Steve Knott says Australia’s ‘coastal highways’ should be a competitive advantage for the nation, not a major financial drain on local employers. “Protectionist policy approaches to globalised industries are always dangerous, and the flaws in the former government’s tiered licensing system are well-documented,” said Knott. “Such an approach does not create a more competitive and buoyant shipping sector and it does not assist Australian enterprises to better compete with the rest of the world.” With the retraction of the carbon and mining taxes and the cutting of red tape on project approvals and exploration, Knott said, “Coastal shipping reform is another piece to the puzzle in building a domestic policy framework that will see yet-to-be-determined resource projects approved and developed in Australia.” He believes coastal shipping is another important step in removing key impediments to doing business in this country and internationally.

OFFSHORE VISA CHALLENGES QUASHED

‘RESERVE OUR GAS’ CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED

A decision by the Federal Court has restored confidence in Australian and non-Australian nationals working in the offshore resource industry. The Federal Court has rejected challenges by the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) and the Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) regarding the offshore skilled migration visa arrangements. “The offshore resource sector uses a very small number of non-Australian specialists, but has created 70,000 jobs in Australia and injected $200 billion into our economy,” said CEO of AMMA Steve Knott.

The launch of a national campaign for more staunch control over Australia’s natural gas exports is underway. The ‘Reserve Our Gas’ campaign strongly encourages the Federal Government to authorise laws guaranteeing that a percentage of Australian-sourced gas remains in Australia rather than being exported. Australian Workers Union (AWU) national secretary Scott McDine has voiced his concern that Australia is out of step with other major nations like the United States, which retains a percentage of gas for its use. “Australians have a right to know their rapidly rising gas bills are actually completely preventable,” claimed McDine. “We just need to do what every other gas-exporting nation does and bring in laws to look after the local population.” A study by BIS Shrapnel, which was commissioned by the AWU, predicts the detrimental effects that continued rising gas prices would have on the economy. The study claims that one in five heavy manufacturers will shut down within five years and overall manufacturing production will decline by 15.4 per cent by 2023. If this were to happen, manufacturing shutdowns would occur, resulting in a devastating loss of 235,000 jobs nationwide.

“The offshore resource sector has created 70,000 jobs and injected $200 billion into our economy” “It is well beyond time that some sensibility is restored in this area and Australia’s oil and gas operators can get on with creating jobs and economic value for our country.” The unions’ campaign has jeopardised thousands of Australian jobs by threatening the very small number of nonAustralian skilled workers who provide important international technical expertise to local projects.

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forefront

WE EXAMINE WHAT PALMER’S RECENT COMMENTS IN RELATION TO CHINA MEANS FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN COAL.

WORDS: CHRISTINE RETSCHLAG

CHIPPED 8

forefront

D CHINA 9

Image by Kurt Parton at The Illustration Room

forefront

f a day is a long time in politics, what does a year look like for Queensland’s Clive Palmer, the first major resources player to ever enter the Australian Federal Parliament last November? Even Palmer himself would arguably be reluctant to call it anything but chaotic, colourful and controversial. Not surprisingly, the major miner was never going to do anything but support the repeal of the carbon tax, but it was his recent comments in relation to China that shocked many. For the record, Palmer’s August comments, in which he labelled the Chinese as “mongrels” who “shoot their own people” were made outside the House of Parliament on the ABC program Q&A. But was it all a storm in a teacup, or has he cracked the good China by criticising Australia’s major trading partner? Palmer is involved in a legal battle with Chinese state-owned company CITIC Pacific, which has accused his Mineralogy company of siphoning off $12 million in funds to fund the Palmer United Party’s (PUP’s) federal election campaign. During his appearance on Q&A, he said the “communist Chinese government” was trying to take over Australia’s ports and steal the nation’s natural resources. “I don’t mind standing up against the Chinese bastards and stopping them from doing it,” a defiant Palmer said at the time. The comments caused a major ripple around the nation – which last year traded almost $151 billion worth 10

of goods and services with China – with Prime Minister Tony Abbott describing Palmer’s comments as “over the top, shrill and wrong”, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten calling them “irresponsible”, Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett labelling Palmer’s outburst as “racist”, and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison dismissing the comments as “unhelpful” and “silly”. A day later, PUP Senator Jacqui Lambie added fuel to the fire when she warned that Australians were at risk of becoming “slaves to an aggressive, anti-democratic, totalitarian foreign power” amid warnings of the threat of a “Chinese communist invasion”. Curiously, Palmer met with his own PUP Senator Dio Wang, who is of Chinese heritage, but said the issue was not discussed; Dio later told Channel Nine Palmer’s comments neither concerned nor offended him. Inside Mining contacted Palmer’s press representative to seek clarification on his comments about the Chinese and what he’d achieved in his first year in Parliament. While nothing was forthcoming on Palmer’s parliamentary achievements, his office did release a statement in which the Member for Fairfax said his comments were not directed at the Chinese community or the Chinese government but at one Chinese state-owned company he claimed had failed to honour its agreements and announcements made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2006.

But was it all a storm in a teacup, or has he cracked the good China by criticising Australia’s major trading partner?

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forefront

“I have been a major supporter of the Chinese for a long time. What is unacceptable is a Chinese stateowned enterprise that abuses the legal system for commercial gain in a global strategic effort to control resources,” Palmer says in his statement. Around the same time, Chinese state-owned newspaper the Global Times called for sanctions to be imposed on Palmer’s businesses and other Australian companies in a move the MP labelled as an “extraordinary reaction” to his television comments in a statement also provided to Inside Mining. One week later, Palmer apologised publicly “to Chinese people everywhere” for his comments. But has the damage already been done? Michael Roche, chief executive of the Queensland Resources Council, refused to comment on Palmer specifically but told Inside Mining that Queensland’s resources sector has enjoyed a “long and productive relationship with Asia” that was expected to grow in line with the region’s economic development. “It is important for Australia to remain open to foreign investment. The progressive liberalisation of global investment regimes has been a major contributor to the expansion and consolidation of the global minerals industry and Queensland’s reputation as a willing, reliable supplier of quality resources,” Roche says. “However, this capital is increasingly mobile as

nations pursue mining investment more vigorously than ever. “There are real issues compromising the competitiveness and productivity of current operations and serving to constrain new investment in Queensland that we need to address.” Minerals Council of Australia director of industry policy Sid Marris has also declined to comment on “the politics and the rhetoric” but told Inside Mining that the trade and investment relationship between the Australian mining industry and China “remains strong” and will continue to grow. “Chinese investment has grown rapidly over the past eight years, with more direct investment in Australia than the United States. While growing rapidly, the total stock of Chinese investment is lower (at about 3 per cent) than the United States (24 per cent), UK (14 per cent) or Japan (10 per cent),” Marris says. “Australia is a well-established and reliable supplier of premium product. So whether it is our iron ore, our coal or other metals and minerals, demand for resources product will continue to fuel a dynamic two-way relationship.

“Australian industry, not just mining, has been built on foreign capital. We do not have the population and savings base to sustain the investment needed to seize the opportunities that ongoing industrialisation and urbanisation of the Asia region offers. “This is as true for India as it is for China, another Asian country that is working to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. Chinese and Indian capital is voting with its feet and we are confident that will continue. Australia needs it to continue.” Marris says cost competitiveness is “essential” to ensure Australia does not miss the opportunity of growth in Asia. “It means removing the bureaucratic waste generated by a duplicative approvals process that sees the average Australian project take 3.1 years to be approved, compared to 1.8 years elsewhere,” he explains. “It means having a workplace relations framework that allows firms to adapt to operational and market conditions and, therefore, deliver better returns and high wages through greater productivity.”

“Chinese and Indian capital is voting with its feet and we are confident that will continue.”

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industryfocus

INCREASINGLY STRICT STANDARDS FOR WORKING AT HEIGHT ARE PUTTING PRESSURE ON COMPANIES TO IMPLEMENT SAFER METHODS FOR THEIR WORKERS.

HEIGHTENED

CONCERN WORDS: MITCH BROOK

safety

industryfocus

Many areas of mine sites put workers at increased risk of accidents, and the machinery employed at these sites can present further problems, potentially compromising operators’ safety while on worksites. Anytime workers operate at height – as they do frequently in industries such as mining, construction, maintenance and the like – there are certain risks of which they must be aware and hazards for which they should prepare if they’re to maximise their workplace safety. To access areas higher than normal, it is becoming an industry standard to use elevating work platforms (EWPs) rather than scaffolding or ladders, as EWPs have better safety features – and safer practices to go with them. “The ladder is now pretty much extinct on work sites, and that’s because the most common workrelated injury in Australia was falling off them,” says Phil Rutter, owner-director of EWP training company Training for Higher. “Whereas before if you needed to get access to a two-storey building you’d just put a two-stage ladder up and climb up, that option’s no longer available for most sites – you have to use an EWP.” WorkSafe Victoria considers ladders to offer a ‘level 5’ level of protection – the lowest on their rating scale – meaning they’re to be considered a

Fatal falls According to Safe Work Australia*:

232 workers died from falling from a height in 2003-11

16% of these involved falls from a ladder

There was a 75% decrease in fallrelated fatalites in the mining industry: from 20 in 1989-92 to just 5 in 2008-11

50% of falls resulting in a fatality were from 3m or less

*published October 2013

last resort when safer methods of working at height are available, such as EWPs, industrial safety nets or harness and rope access systems. Among these, WorkSafe Victoria recommends working from the ground using extended tools (Level 1) or using ‘passive’ fall prevention devices, such as EWPs (Level 2), as the safest methods of working at height. Harnesses and regular worksite safety equipment are standard for EWP operators. Typically, EWPs come in two varieties: the scissor lift, which uses a concertina-style extension to raise a work platform; and the boom lift, which raises a platform on a swing arm, which can be telescopic or jointed. Each type of EWP has its own safety concerns and equipment, but training applies equally to both. To work above 11 metres, a worker must hold a valid National Licence to Perform High Risk Work class WP, issued by a work health and safety regulator such as WorkSafe Victoria. For EWPs under 11 metres, a ‘Yellow Card’ issued by the national EWP Association (EWPA) will suffice for work safety requirements. “Both of these courses have been overhauled in the last two years with a bigger emphasis on safety and sorting out sites and their hazards,” says Rutter. Updating course material is important as the prime safety concerns for EWPs can change over

industryfocus

Fast facts • In the three years 2009–11 there were 3830 serious claims due to a fall from a ladder. This is equivalent to three injuries each day requiring the worker to be away from work for one or more weeks. Of these claims, 145 were from the mining sector.

time depending on the sort of worksite accidents that are most prevalent. “It varies from time to time as to what the main issues are,” says Phil Newby, executive director of the national Elevating Work Platform Association of Australia (EWPA). “At the moment there are a few issues with the wearing of safety harnesses in boom lifts and what length lanyard you should have. Crushing has also become a big issue on certain mine and infrastructure sites in the last two or three years. There have been a couple of accidents, and one is one too many.” Newby and Rutter agree that, when it comes to increasing safety for workers at height, the prime consideration is educating workers, as a substantial proportion of the injuries that occur in EWPs result from operator error. “[You have to] try to keep workers aware of hazards around them and what they’re doing,” says Rutter. “The actual mechanics of operating the machine is not a part of the courses. The big part of the courses is assessing the sites and identifying hazards. “These [machines] don’t just snap in the middle of the air. They may deteriorate over a period of time, but you can see that and it should be picked up in the process of checking the machine before you get in it, which is now mandatory [on] worksites.” Every EWP in Australia must have a logbook

tracking the record of pre-operational safety checks done by operators. “It should be filled in every day to show that you’ve done the checks,” says Newby. “When there’s an incident on site, WorkCover always goes straight to the logbook to see if it’s been filled in correctly. It also serves the usual function for maintenance as well.”

“If there is a safer way of doing something then you’re obliged to have seriously considered it.” Newby says there has been an increase in the efforts of companies and worksites to improve safety for their workers, for reasons including occupational health and safety requirements, insurance requirements and company regulations. When it comes down to it, protecting workers when they’re operating at height is best for everyone involved. “I think people [are] just trying to work more safely,” says Newby. “You try and design the risk out, and if there is a safer way of doing something then you’re obliged to have seriously considered it.”

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miningreview

AND THE SURVEY SAYS… Technological advances have thoroughly changed the game of exploration, mapping and surveying. We take the measure of what this means for the mining industry. WORDS: CHRISTINE RETSCHLAG

HOLD ONTO YOUR hard hats! Just when you thought things couldn’t become more interesting in the Australian mining industry, they’re about to change. And rather than the talk being centered on party politics and the introduction and scrapping of controversial taxes, it’s about the technology. Mining is about to become a whole lot more exciting, thanks to advances in this field that are reshaping jobs such as surveying, mapping and exploration from manual and mundane into exciting and futuristic. Erik Birzulis, managing director of Landair Surveys, a land, engineering and aerial surveying company based in Victoria but operating nationwide, ranks “playing with new technology” as one of the benefits of working in the industry. It’s these “many different types of technology”, says Birzulus, that can provide surveying solutions for mining that meet the requirements currently causing ripples above and below ground. These include:

• aerial photography and photogrammetry; • aerial LiDAR (light detection and ranging); • land surveying using total stations and GPS; • land scanning – mobile and static; • unmanned aerial systems (drones); • echo sounders, and • smart-phone apps. “The industry has evolved from using large teams of surveyors taking measurements manually to smaller teams taking a lot of measurements with technology such as GPS, laser scanners and digital aerial photography,” Birzulis says. “Measuring has now become the easy part of surveying; what you do with the large amounts of data – ensuring data is fit for purpose, quality checking and extracting useful information from the data – is the skill surveyors use. “Next year, satellite imagery will be available commercially with a resolution of 25 centimetres and there is talk that in a few more years, 10-centimetre-resolution

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imagery will be available. We will also see digital aerial cameras becoming smaller and having higher resolutions. Ground-based photogrammetry (mapping from photographs) will also become more prevalent. “All the new technology will bring massive amounts of data. Using cloud computer systems, there will be new automatic feature extraction and mapping tools developed, allowing for even quicker turnaround times.” But with new technology comes new challenges. “Challenges include keeping up with technology and storing the massive amounts of data,” Birzulis says. “Other challenges are about ensuring our clients realise the value surveyors add to the data. There are now more people providing data, but it is important to have the qualitychecking procedures and understanding of measurement to ensure the data is fit for the purpose intended.” Over on the other side of the continent, Brad Jurovich, director of Jurovich Surveying in Western Australia, says the Roy Hill iron ore project in the Pilbara is one of the largest at the moment, outside of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Jurovich is based on site, surveying for construction work that will involve a workforce of around 1200 at its peak. The company is also working on the Rio Tinto Yandicoogina mine expansion project and has its sights set on a Fortescue Metals Group project due to start. Technologies currently employed by Jurovich include: • aerial photography for planning and traffic control purposes; • traditional methods such as total station work for high-accuracy construction work; • sub-millimetre digital levels; • GPS for locating and setting out underground services and cabling, and • multiple software packages including Liscad, Bricscad and ArcGIS. “Technology in surveying has been advancing at an exponential rate in recent years. Almost all equipment is now able to be used robotically, reducing the number of man hours required to complete a task,” Jurovich says.

“Advancements in unmanned aerial surveying have reduced the costs of imagery acquisition and, as such, we’re seeing that being used a lot in planning of projects; and [there’s been] an increase in geographic information systems (GIS) in major projects. “Laser scanning is another area the industry is rapidly moving towards and [it] can be useful in mining in terms of planning for expansions, by utilising this technology to create accurate 3-D models of existing structures,” notes Jurovich. “I can see aerial photography being used more in the future, along with further introduction of geographic information

“There are now more people providing data, but it is important to have the quality-checking procedures.”

Above: Preparing to launch an unmanned aerial vehicle.

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Remaining competitive in a market increasingly crowded with companies vying for a dwindling number of projects, will be one of the biggest challenges for the industry moving forward.

systems (GIS) on sites.” While laser scanning is becoming a more commonplace request from clients and building information modeling (BIM) is “somewhat of a catchphrase”, says Jurovich, Australians seem to be lagging behind other countries when it comes to embracing the concept. “This makes it hard for us to justify the additional costs to clients as opposed to [those of] traditional methods,” he says. Jurovich believes that remaining competitive in a market increasingly crowded with companies vying for a dwindling number of projects will be one of the biggest challenges for the industry moving forward. “Increased wages costs for local labour makes it hard for companies [that] aren’t currently employing 457 workers to stay competitive with those who are,” he says. “With the introduction of new technology such as laser scanning, it’s about trying to justify the additional costs involved. “And then there’s communication: with so many areas being so isolated and having so many people in one area, there are a lot of times where it can be very hard to get phone or

internet reception. That makes communication and transfer of data very hard.” A spokesperson for the Australia-wide Surveying & Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) says many mine surveyors are employed directly by some of the mining majors, such as BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group, Newcrest Mining and Rio Tinto. “Although the fundamentals of land surveying haven’t changed and the purpose is still the same, the techniques and methods have evolved drastically over the past century,” the spokesperson says. “While in the past – up until the early 1900s – most land surveyors had access to little more than a level, tape measure and a theodolite – modern land/mine surveyors have access to some of the most advanced tools in the world. “The industry may move into greater use of terrestrial laser scanners. In addition, mine surveying companies are now beginning to adapt to each new advance in imaging and analysis to provide solutions to the challenges faced throughout all stages of the extraction process, from exploration to rehabilitation.” 25

specialreport

LET THERE JUST AS HOUSEHOLDERS ARE BEING ENCOURAGED TO CHANGE THEIR INCANDESCENT GLOBES TO LONGER-LASTING, MORE EFFICIENT LEDS, THE MINING INDUSTRY IS ADOPTING THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY. WORDS: MANDY MCKEESICK

specialreport

t seems everyone is using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In our homes, LED ceiling globes illuminate LED-screen televisions and computer monitors. As we drive, we stop at LED traffic signals under LED street lights and, when the road turns rural, our LED headlights show the way. On planes and trains and boats and farm machinery, the LED light is the new technology. There is even futuristic talk of them being implanted under the skin and used as medical tattoos. This ‘new’ technology has been around for more than 50 years

but only in recent times, with the development of ‘white’ LED light, have we experienced exponential growth in the number of LED-driven applications available. An LED emits light at a specific wavelength, resulting in a specific colour. Red was the first colour developed, back in 1962, by American Nick Holonyak; in subsequent decades, green, orange, yellow and blue LEDs came onto the market. These early LEDs were first seen in electronic devices and were popularised in digital clocks. White light is not a specific colour but rather, a combination of

wavelengths. Not until the late 1990s were methods developed to enable the production of white LEDs, and from that time onwards, the lighting world as we know it changed forever. And the change didn’t take long to reach the mining sector. Julia Utan is segment leader for mining and export with Hella Mining, a company that recognised early the advantages LED lighting would have over conventional halogen-type and high-intensity xenon lights. “LEDs form the next generation of solid-state lighting being highly efficient, durable and having an extremely long life.

specialreport © Hella Mining

Above: AS 5000LED® work lights mounted on a vehicle.

Hella Mining LED lights, equipped with advanced optics, are designed to be reliable in harsh mining conditions,” Utan says. Previously specialists in automotive lighting, Hella Australia established Project Argon in the mining boom of 2002 to research and design LED products. “We were faced with a new challenge in a new environment and spent the first year of Project Argon gathering data from minesites around the world, in conditions ranging from -40o to 60oC. We placed sensors on mining machinery and measured a suite of variables including humidity, vibration, shock and temperature, and from these were able to develop products to meet the extreme demands of the mining industry,” Utan explains. The first of these products reached open-cut and underground mine sites in 2004 as HID (high intensity discharge) lights and, following customer input and feedback, LEDs were soon refined for general use. New-generation LED products born from Project Argon and 28

manufactured in Australia include the compact AS 5000LED® work light that can be mounted on machinery such as trucks and shovels, the DuraRAY3® warning beacon, with its good penetration of fog and dust, and the revolutionary HypaLUME®, a groundbreaking breed of floodlight. The heavy-duty HypaLUME® contains 56 high-powered Cree LEDs, which together produce more than 22,000 Lumens output at a colour close to daylight, suitable for DC and AC applications. The HypaLUME® was designed specifically for use in the rugged environmental conditions of worksites such as mines and, in 2013, Hella Mining joined forces with Australian-owned AllightSykes to deliver this product to industry.

AllightSykes has taken the HypaLUME® and incorporated it into specialised mining equipment, utilising eight of the lights on its MS-9 mobile towers. Each of the towers is fitted with a two-cylinder, 500cc, water-cooled engine and needs refuelling only once every three weeks, in comparison to similar, older-generation metal halide lights that needed to be refuelled weekly. The LED towers also come with a 500-hour service interval and deliver an 18-tonne annual reduction in the tower lighting’s carbon footprint. “The metal halide lights still have a place in the mining industry, particularly for intricate work, as they are brighter and are better able to provide intense focused light; however, the LEDs have the advantage of providing huge energy

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LED

specialreport

Fast fact • Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), allowing light panels to be made in flexible arrays, are the technology of the future. Imagine rolling up your television screen and taking it with you.

and efficiency gains through lower maintenance and fuelling costs,” Grant Mack, general manager of mobile lighting for AllightSykes, says. “The mining sector is not known for its sweeping adoption of new technology but LED is truly transformational.” This transformation has also meant that owners of metalhalide lighting towers are faced, potentially, with massive asset redundancy – but AllightSykes has

this covered, too. “We have been in this business for over 20 years,” Mack contends, “And recognise the needs of our customers, so we offer a ‘retrofit and upgrade’ option that allows the older towers to be converted to LED as time and money allows.” AllightSykes delivers new products and an upgrade service to minesites through rental companies and direct sales. “We are a sister business to Coates Hire, which gives us an insight into the rental space, but we’ve also worked hard to develop strategic relationships with the other major rental houses. Sales into rental fleets account for around 60 per cent of our revenue. We can also supply direct to mines that prefer balance-sheet transactions or have longer-term requirements, via our key account managers and field sales force,” Mack says. Lighting can be taken for granted when a LED is providing

near-daylight conditions, but it pays to remember that the open flames of candles and carbide lamps were the leading cause of mine explosions and fatalities in the industry’s early days. In the six years from 1907 to 1913, more than 800 people lost their lives in mine disasters in the United States alone, and it wasn’t until the adoption of the electric light that mine safety increased substantially. Olderstyle electric units had their own problems with glare, reflection and poor light output. So despite all its brightness, efficiency and fuel economy, perhaps the greatest advantage the LED brings to mining is the safety it brings mine operators. Whether they’re underground at the coalface or working in an open-cut at night, LED products – developed and proven in Australian conditions – are a revolutionising vision in the industry.

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COMING UP

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VENTILATION ON DEMAND (VOD) USES POWERFUL NEW TECHNOLOGY AND IN THE FACE OF STIFF NEW DIESEL-PARTICULATE EMISSION STANDARDS, IT’S SET TO REVOLUTIONISE THE MANAGEMENT OF VENTILATION AND DUST IN AUSTRALIAN MINES. WORDS: DARREN BAGULEY

safety

spotlight

GETTING AIR deep underground is mining’s oldest challenge, with the first written account of the various types of ventilation technology featuring in Georgius Agricola’s De Re Metallica (On the Nature of Metals), which was published in 1556. While the technology has changed a huge amount, the problem remains the same: how to keep air moving through mines so that stale air is replaced regularly with fresh air. With the advent of machinery underground, the problem has grown; nowadays, it includes the need to extract diesel and petrol fumes as well as particulate matter. With diesel particulate matter (DPM), the problem has become

more difficult in recent years because as diesel engines have become cleaner and more efficient, the particulate matter they emit has become finer and finer and removing it from the air is more problematic. According to ConsultMine CEO Allison Gollsby, around 50 per cent of the energy consumed by the mining process goes into ventilation (including heating air). To reduce energy consumption, mine operators are increasingly looking at automatic control solutions designed to minimise the amount of pumped air. The old solution – ‘just turn up the fans’ – is a far less viable option with increases in energy costs and the need to keep noise levels within environmental limits. As a result,

mine operators are getting smarter about how they ventilate. “There is a move worldwide to remote or telemetric monitoring of mine atmosphere conditions,” Gollsby says. “Robust, suitable and intrinsically safe instruments are available for measurement of gas concentrations, air velocity and air pressure. These are often tied to extensive mine monitoring and communication systems.” VoD takes this trend one step further, says ABB Australia Pty Limited’s industry group manager, mining, Michael Terry. “[Globally] there’s a huge trend towards VoD, especially when it comes to reductions in operating costs, safety and reduction in energy

spotlight

costs. If you’re just pumping air indiscriminately into a mine, you don’t know if it’s getting to where it is required and, before we were able to do VoD, a lot of systems would just pump air down into a mine whether people were there or not. The system wouldn’t have the intelligence to know where it was or wasn’t needed. “Now, with the combination of RFID (radio-frequency identification), automation, 3-D modelling and monitoring, we can see where work is being performed and if a person or machine enters an area, then the system will know and start ventilation, but it will only provide ventilation to that area. The 3-D modelling is used to track where each person and machine on the mine site is using RFID devices on personnel’s equipment, combined with a strong communications network that monitors where they are. The strength of the communications network is that 36

we’re able to monitor in real time.” While VoD has been around for a while, it didn’t come together as an integrated technology until relatively recently. “Much of this has been driven by the advent of wi-fi and ethernet underground, and the technology has advanced to the point where it is more reliable and has become that cost-effective that any device, any sensor you care to name, can be wi-fi-enabled,” says Terry. “This is due to companies adapting what was available commercially for industrial applications to the point where it is now proven, reliable technology.” Even though the technology is now reassuringly reliable (how often these days does a home wi-fi router stop working?), there’s a huge requirement for redundancy underground – so that if a communication link is broken in one place, there is another path it can use

to reach its intended destination. Because VoD is easier to install in a new mine than it is to retrofit to an existing site, and because most of Australia’s mines are long established, no system for encouraging VoD uptake in mines has yet been implemented in Australia. Nevertheless, both Gollsby and Terry say there are projects in the pipeline that are likely to become operational in the near future.

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“It’s something mines are considering at the moment,” says Terry. “While there are huge energy savings to be made, it’s not just those efficiencies but the safety aspect, which will drive uptake of VoD. The number-one priority on a mine site is safety but there are also productivity improvements inherent in VoD, because you’re able to better manage your workforce through the 3-D mine mapping and the monitoring of personnel, which gives you more visibility.” What is also likely to drive the uptake of VoD in Australia is the adoption of new standards for DPM by Western Australia and New South Wales, with a mandatory level

Fast fact • Ventilation is also required by those working in open-cut mines. As coal oxidises it can absorb oxygen and the de-oxygenated air can pool in the low points, as can other gases released by the mine as well as emissions given off by a blast.

of no more than 0.1mg per cubic metre. Diesel was classified as a Class 1A carcinogenic in 2012 and, as a report by Curtin University masters student Sara Fernandez, Diesel Particulates: Does diesel exhaust exposure affect underground miners’ health?, has shown, better monitoring will likely be the first

step towards meeting this standard. Gollsby notes that DPM sticks to walls and gets stirred up when vehicles pass. “This means that, as a rule of thumb, most mines are going to have to get another two to four times the amount of air over a machine to keep DPM levels within the maximum allowable.”

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mininginsider

Breaking the divide

WORDS: DARRELL CROKER

Good policy has positive results for all employees, regardless of their sex. KATIE-JEYN Romeyn, executive general manager, people and business services, at St Barbara Limited, made some telling points about gender when she accepted a Western Australia Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) 2014 Women in Resources Award, earlier this year. An Australian-based ASX-listed gold producer and explorer, St Barbara won the highly contested award in February. “This way of thinking and acting certainly underpins our success in reducing the pay equity gap, alongside three principles,” she said. “Every organisation needs leaders who believe in effective management practices and have the determination to change things for the better. Every organisation needs strong alliances within and outside, so the right mix of policies, programs and measures can be brought to bear. And every organisation

needs champions with the belief, skills and drive to advocate change.” Romeyn accepted the award “with the hope that, some day, awards and publicity for reducing the pay gap will be a thing of the past because gender equality should be a given, just like getting up each morning”. She acknowledged that CME’s various awards put women in mining at front and centre, but made the point that the accolades “advance the broader cause of effective and engaging workplaces”. St Barbara believes effective gender pay equity policies and programs make the workplace better for women and men. “In the end, our company believes that creating the right environment and the right platform for talent to succeed, irrespective of gender, is one of the keys to business success,” Romeyn said.

St Barbara’s Katie-Jeyn Romeyn

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Improved state of affairs Most states now have awards recognising the efforts of women in mining. Cate Sims, a specialist in Aboriginal relations with Rio Tinto, won the coveted 2014 NSW Mining Outstanding Woman of the Year award. The award acknowledged Sims’ efforts to break down employment barriers and promote diversity in the New South Wales mining industry. “She is the leading individual in Indigenous affairs and engagement for Rio Tinto and for our industry and a most deserving winner,” said NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee. Sims works in conjunction with the Aboriginal Community Development Fund and supports school programs in the Above: NSW Mining’s Outstanding Initiative award went to Thiess in recognition of its efforts to attract and retain women in the industry. Hunter Valley assisting young Aboriginal women to achieve professional career goals. because they recognise the significant NSW Mining’s Aspiring Star award went September 2, at the Brisbane Convention opportunities to increase business to Abbey Sheridan, a technical services and Exhibition Centre, during which St productivity. vacation student at Glencore Barbara was crowned winner. Coal Assets Australia. Peabody Energy Mining is often characterised by The lunch coincided with the annual mining engineer Alice Sila won the Rising its remote working environments, hard Queensland Inspire Convention run by Star award. The NSW Outstanding physical labour and long shifts. In the the Queensland Resources Council in Initiative award went to Thiess in recognition past, this has contributed to discouraging conjunction with Women in Mining and of its efforts to attract and retain women in women, especially those with children. Resources. The Inspire!Convention is a full-day professional development But new opportunities for women are the industry. Thiess has set a target beyond and networking event for women in being created. 20 per cent for female employment and the sector. Queensland’s female mine workers say participation in the industry by 2020. companies are already addressing the issue As a result of its success in Western Addressing the industry’s of gender pay gaps and inflexible hours, Australia, St Barbara was automatically skills shortage which turned women off mining in the nominated as a finalist in the inaugural In Australia, mining still has a skills past. They have instituted parent-friendly Women in Resources National Awards. shortage in some trades and professions. work rosters and already have better pay and These awards aim to further increase the This will be exacerbated when the conditions in place. profile of successful women, along with A survey completed by the Office for industry rebounds. At present, women are resources sector champions of diversity Women Queensland, the Australasian filling fewer than 20 per cent of jobs in programs, both female and male. It’s hoped Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the industry. Increasing the participation the awards will provide ambassadors and the Women in Mining Network said that of women in the sector is seen as key role models to attract and retain women in women are an untapped resource and to addressing this shortage. In addition, the industry. that they offer a solution to the growing many companies are looking to improve Judging took place earlier this year and skills shortage. their recruitment and retention of women the presentation ceremony was held on 43

mininginsider

Women with university science degrees are in high demand ... and women tradies have as many opportunities as men.

AMMA’s executive director – industry services, Tara Diamond.

No company would say the work is easy – that applies equally to men and women. Living away from home and loved ones can put pressure on relationships. But if the balance between the family and the mine is achieved, the wages and flexible work packages could mean a better overall lifestyle. And it’s worth remembering mining jobs are not all about hard hats and underground labour. Previous experience and qualifications can lead to women filling other skilled and unskilled jobs in the industry. Skilled mining jobs for women include scientific, business and information technology roles. Women with university science degrees are in high demand. Business roles are available to women with degrees in management, accounting, project 44

management, human resources and occupational health and safety. And as the mining industry evolves, so must its supporting information technology and software. Women tradies have as many opportunities as men, including electricians, boilermakers, carpenters and welders. It’s becoming more common to see women in hard-hat roles, especially as drivers and operators. There are just as many opportunities for unskilled women in ‘gender-neutral’ roles and the support network. In 2004, the Minerals Council of Australia established the Women and Mining Dialogue to “engage industry and external stakeholders on issues related to the effective participation of women in mining, and the extension of the socio-economic

benefits of mining operations to women in neighbouring communities”. Recently, the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) launched a campaign to help boost participation by women in mining to 25 per cent by 2020. AMMA director Tara Diamond said the number of women working in mining is about 15.5 per cent, which is just not good enough. AMMA is putting together a series of workshops, together with the Women In Resources Alliance, to assist employers to find and employ greater numbers of women in the mining industry. Additional research suggests having more women in leadership teams within the mining industry can lead to greater return in capital and improved economic growth of the company they work for. Just ask St Barbara.

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THE RIGHT LIGHT

AUSTRALIAN SAFETY STANDARDS ENSURE THAT ADEQUATE LIGHTING KEEPS WORKERS SAFE.

n the mining industry in particular, the right lighting is crucial. Not only for adequate visibility, but also because of the extreme, and often harsh, environments that the lights will need to withstand in this industry. Choose the wrong product, and you could be up for constant replacement or maintenance; both of which are costly. Increasingly, mining companies are looking to LED solutions for these exact reasons, although it pays to do your research. Even though LEDs are known to be quite resilient to vibration, many products simply are not built to withstand the continuous exposure. Metal body parts develop fatigue, stress cracks, corrosion and eventually fall apart. Also, any secondary bolt-on solutions to a standard lighting product will render the lighting inferior from the onset. Another potential issue is that contrary to popular belief, LEDs produce and are sensitive to heat. If not for heat management or efficient heat dissipation the product will cook itself in normal ambient conditions. This is further exacerbated by the extremes of mining environments and the ever-growing demand for more powerful LED products. All this information may be overwhelming, and it may be tempting to avoid the switch. However, the values of LEDs are real, they simply require careful consideration of product in order to deliver real benefits. Use these points as a guide to assist your decision- making: • Is the supplier a professional vendor of specialised lighting? • Does the vendor have a complete understanding of the application and

an appreciation of the environment and the challenges it presents, before recommendation of a product? • Is the recommended product fitfor- purpose, not simply adapted for the application? • Is there demonstrated performance in a similar environment/ application? • Are performance reports available from a NATA Certified photometric testing facility to verify the claimed output? • Does the vendor supply a comprehensive warranty and local support? When done right, LED lighting can really deliver a whole raft of advantages, including: • Long operating life, unmatched by other light sources • High endurance to continuous exposure to vibration

• Instant on/off switching, no warm-up/ restrike delays. • Flicker-free high quality and high colour-rendering white light • Low surface temperatures • Improved light levels and potential for energy savings • Little / no UV and infra-red radiation These are the issues that drive Coolon’s engineers in the design and development of its LED products. Coolon works closely with its customers to deliver the highest quality and reliable LED lighting solutions in a range of applications that meet the needs of mining and industrial environments. All Coolon LED products are proudly made in Australia and boast a solid three-year manufacturer’s warranty. For more information, visit its website: coolon.com.au

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THE FIFO PRICE IS RIGHT

YOUI CAR INSURANCE POLICIES RECOGNISE THAT FIFO WORKERS DRIVE LESS, SO SHOULD PAY LESS.

hose familiar with insurance company Youi will know that they don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Individual circumstances vary so much – particularly when it comes to car use – that it seems unfair to charge the same amount to everyone across the board. Fifo workers in particular can save enormous amounts on their premiums – getting up to a massive 29 per cent discount from Youi – because while they are out on the mine sites, their cars are just sitting in the garage collecting dust. Why should anyone pay for that? Youi prides itself on being a company that asks a few more questions. Rather than making assumptions about individual car use, it tailors insurance packages specific to your needs – often with enormous cash benefits. Youi is all about how you use your car. And leaving your car garaged while you are regularly away for weeks at a time is one of the factors they reward well. And with so much focus on saving money these days it would be crazy not to at least do a quote with them. Youi are pretty confident they’ll be able to beat your current car insurance

premium. You might have seen their latest TV ads saying that they’re the fastest growing car and home insurance company in Australia at the moment. You don’t do so well if your support services like claims and client care aren’t top notch. These guys have set new benchmarks in insurance and are always striving to better their service levels. As well as very competitive car insurance, they also offer motorcycle insurance, watercraft insurance,

caravan and trailer insurance and home and contents insurance, being able to look after almost all that you own. Plus if you have car insurance with them, you qualify for a 20 per cent discount off contents insurance with them. So why not give Youi a try today? Go to youi.com.au to start a quote or call them on 13youi, (that’s 13 96 84) and talk to one of their very professional call centre advisors.

CLIENT FEEDBACK FROM YOUI’S ONLINE WALL: FIFO mine worker: “I have saved a whopping 20 per cent with Youi over my previous car insurance. As a FIFO mine worker, I hardly use my car at home. Youi recognised this and dropped the cost of my monthly payments. Thanks Youi – I wish I came across sooner.” - Sam Car policy update: “Can’t speak more highly of Youi. I work away in the mines and my car is parked up most of the time. Youi is the only company that understands that and offers significant discounts because of it. Youi answers the phones extremely efficiently and the operators are always friendly and helpful. - Benjamin For more real feedback on Youi, check out the Youi Wall at youi.com.au/youiwall

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Name: Uranium Element category: Actinide Electron configuration: [Rn] 5f3 6d1 7s2 Atomic number; mass: 92; 238.02891 Melting point: 1,132 °C Boiling point: 4,131°C Discovered: 1789 by German chemist, Martin Heinrich Klaproth Etymology: Named in honor of Herschel’s recent discovery of the planet Uranus in 1781.

Uranium facts • Aside from being utilised in the nuclear power industry, uranium is used as a target for X-ray production, as ammunition for some types of military weaponry, as a shield against radiation, as a counterweight for aircraft control surfaces and in the gyroscopes of inertial guidance systems.

• Naturally occurring uranium consists of three isotopes: uranium-234, uranium-235 and uranium-238. All three isotopes are radioactive, however, only uranium-235 is a fissionable material that can be used for nuclear power.

• Uranium compounds have been used for centuries to colour glass as they produce orange, red and yellow hues.

• Uranium is sold only to signatories of the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty.

• Thirty-one countries use electricity generated from uranium in nuclear reactors, accounting for about 12 per cent of the world’s electricity.

• Australia’s known uranium resources are the vastest on the planet, accounting for about 31 per cent of the world’s total.

• There are three operating uranium mines in Australia: Ranger in Northern Territory, Olympic Dam in South Australia, and Beverley with Four Mile in South Australia.

• Australia’s uranium has been mined since 1954.

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HAVING ULTRA-HIGH-INTENSITY BLASTING COULD PROVE A RARE TRIUMPH FOR BOTH THE MINING SECTOR AND THE ENVIRONMENT. WORDS: RILEY PALMER

AUTHORED by Orica’s Dr Geoff Brent and his research team, UltraHigh-Intensity Blasting – A New Paradigm in Mining outlines a new method in open-pit mining that has since been heralded as a step-change in conventional blasting practices. Where previously, mine-to-mill studies have demonstrated the higher efficiency of mineral processing through increases in blast energy, these increases have, until now, been deemed unsafe due to the resulting flyrock, vibration levels, airblast and wall damage. The new technique, however, enables the safe utilisation of ultrahigh blast energies. Speaking on behalf of the research team, Dr Brent says: “The key to the breakthrough has been to use the rock itself to contain the explosive energy by the selective deployment of state-of-the-art digital electronic initiation systems in novel blast designs.” The process uses innovative electronic blasting systems to facilitate dual blast layers within a single blast event. This enables the energy in the lower layer to be increased significantly – to up to five times that of conventional energy – fragmenting the ore far more extensively than conventional blasting methods do. Orica managing director Ian Smith indicates the significance of this research in the context of global

environmental issues. He cites its importance in relation to energy consumption and carbon emissions in particular – two issues notorious to mining. “The use of electricity to mill ore is usually the largest consumer of energy on a mine site,” he says. This new blasting method has the potential to cut carbon dioxide emissions associated with grinding by up to 30 per cent. The economic implications of reducing emission penalties and energy costs are also considerable, as are the financial benefits of increased productivity. “Independent modeling has indicated that increasing the explosive energy by several-fold can lead to increases in mill circuit throughput of up to 40 per cent and saving tens of millions of dollars annually,” says Smith. Given the worldwide trend of decreasing gold grades, open-cut gold mining, in particular, would benefit from ultra-high-intensity blasting. “More ore needs to be ground

and processed in order to achieve production targets,” says Dr Brent, “and this method has the potential to generate a step-change in mine productivity, particularly in complex or lower grade ore bodies. It can render ore bodies that might ordinarily be uneconomic both affordable and practical to extract.” Furthermore, the study indicates the management of dilution of gold ore within a blast. Another benefit of this technology is that it can be operated in relatively close proximity to key mining infrastructure such as mine highwalls. This is due to lower levels of vibration resulting from ultra-highintensity blasting in comparison with conventional blasting methods. The significance of this research has been acknowledged by the industry: Dr Brent and his research team were awarded the 2014 Coalition for Eco-Efficient Comminution (CEEC) Medal at the International Mining and Resources Conference.

“The key to the breakthrough has been to use the rock itself to contain the explosive energy.”

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We bring you the latest in property and investment analysis, penned by the professionals

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PROPERTIES TO AVOID

The heads-up on which properties are not a good investment.

MICHAEL YARDNEY

From Metropole Property Strategists

Michael Yardney is a director of Metropole Property Strategists, which creates wealth for its clients through independent, unbiased property advice and advocacy metropole.com.au propertyupdate.com.au

AT ANY GIVEN time there could be more than 350,000 properties for sale in Australia but, to my mind, less than five per cent are what I’d call ‘investment grade’. Let’s look at what type of property an investor should not buy. Properties the banks don’t like There are certain properties that the banks don’t seem to like, and against which they will lend a lower loan-to-value ratio, meaning you’ll need to fork out a bigger deposit. Importantly, if the bank is wary of the property, rather than thinking you know better, take it as a warning sign and consider looking elsewhere. Generally, banks restrict lending to properties that appeal to a limited resale or tenant market, including: Serviced apartments. Buying these carries a lot more risk than buying an ordinary apartment

does, as you’re relying on the operator to get it right and on the tourism and business markets to remain strong to maintain occupancy. These properties have a limited resale market (because only investors buy them, you’re cutting out up to 70 per cent of potential purchasers), a limited letting market and, often, expensive ongoing management costs. Small units. Most banks prefer apartments to comprise at least 50 square metres of living space, not including balconies or car parking space. However, with our changing lifestyles, some will now lend on properties that measure 40 square metres. Studio apartments and student accommodation. These have restricted markets because of their size. Large off-the-plan developments. Banks are

concerned about concentration risk and therefore restrict how many apartments they will lend on in some large, new complexes. There are additional potential issues with off-the-plan properties that would make me wary of this type of investment.

Properties and problems to avoid Out of place. I would only buy a property that fits in with the overall character of the neighbourhood. While I personally love terrace houses, if it’s the only one in a street of bungalows, I’d look elsewhere and buy a property that’s consistent with the streetscape. Wrong location in the street. Even the best streets can have sections with an unattractive mix of properties, or properties that are too close to the shops or main road. Choose livable

Importantly, if the bank is wary of the property, rather than thinking you know better, take it as a warning sign and consider looking elsewhere. 57

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streets and make sure you buy the right property in the right section of the street. Wrong position in the block. Avoid apartments in sub-optimal positions in the block. You know what I mean: the ones overlooking the car park or situated near the waste bins. Encumbrances on title. Check the title carefully for easements, covenants or overlays that could restrict your capacity for future extensions or rebuilding. Other title troubles. Banks will restrict their lending for apartments on some older forms of title, such as company share or stratum titles. Body corporate problems. When buying an apartment, carefully peruse the minutes of the last few owners corporation meetings. Are there any issues with the building or excessive expenses planned? Has a sinking fund been set up to handle future repairs or refurbishment? 58

I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t buy yourself a weekend getaway property. What I’m saying is don’t pretend you’re buying it as an investment.

Avoid main roads and secondary locations. Sure, people live everywhere – but when the market slows, secondary properties are harder to sell, and they fall in value first. Holiday homes or apartments. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t buy yourself a weekend getaway property if you can afford it. What I’m saying is don’t pretend you’re buying it as an investment, because you’re likely to end up with an asset that isn’t meeting your lifestyle dreams and doesn’t deliver your financial objectives. No car parking. While an absence of parking may save you some money today, it will always limit an apartment’s

appeal to tenants, home owners and future investors. Rental guarantee apartments. Remember, the cost of the rental guarantee – which is usually inflated to make the return look better than it really is – is added to the purchase price and used by the developer to justify inflated prices. In other words, you’re paying the developer up-front to guarantee the rent for you. And it’s not uncommon for the rent to drop when the rental guarantee period expires, leaving you with a hole in your budget. National Rental Affordability Scheme. The NRAS is a federal government

initiative designed to tackle the issue of affordable housing whereby investors receive a tax incentive to provide housing at below-market rental rates. A very specialised type of property.

The take-home The overall lesson is this: If you want your property portfolio to outperform, you need to own the type of property that will appeal to a wide demographic of owner-occupiers who generally comprise the bulk of purchasers. They also tend to buy emotionally, pay higher prices and push up the price of properties similar to yours. And these are the types of properties the banks are willing to lend up to 80 to 95 per cent on. Now, that’s interesting, isn’t it?

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CREATING VALUE AT EVERY POINT OF TRANSFER

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The perils of buying sight unseen

BUYER BEWARE ZORAN SOLANO From Hot Property Specialists Buyers Agency

Recently I came across a blog that contained advice from two of Australia’s most predominate property pundits recommending that investors buy sight unseen. As a buyers’ agent, there have been many times I have witnessed first-hand, mistakes made by investors who decide to purchase sight unseen only to regret it later on. I do understand the argument for not letting your preconceived ideas affect the purchase of a good investment opportunity, but there are things that online real estate sites, statistics, reports, and selling agents’ photos don’t show you. Things such as aspect, the level of the backyard, the proximity to unsightly neighbours/ neighbourhood or a main road are unlikely to be visible from a photograph. It is often the ‘unseen’ factors that are the most likely to affect the re-sale value of your investment.

Case example Just recently we were searching for an investor looking for a premium investment property. We came across a beautiful house in the blue chip Brisbane suburb of Bulimba. On paper it ticked the boxes; large block, relatively new house, low maintenance, good depreciation, strong potential rental yield, flood free etc. From the photographs online and the information sourced from data reports, the property was looking great and the client was excited. I arranged a personal inspection because my local knowledge told me that there were high voltage power lines in that location, which were not visible in the photos. I realised that photoshop changes had been made to remove the power lines from the professional marketing photographs. When I forwarded my clients the report on the property they were surprised but happy to have dodged a bullet. As buyer’s agents, we realise

that many investors don’t have time or the knowledge to undertake the proper research needed when looking for properties interstate or overseas. Flying into a city to inspect properties of interest can be a waste of time and money and can create a high stress situation. But recommending that investors buy sight unseen is downright irresponsible. It makes sense to engage a buyers’ agent to do the legwork and undertake an independent inspection and review of any investment property as your personal advocate on the ground. It could save you thousands. Zoran Solano is the office manager and senior buyer’s agent at Hot Property Specialists Buyers Agency. He has been a buyer’s agent for more than five years now and is recognised as one of Brisbane’s leading agents in buyer representation. hotpropertyspecialists.com.au (07) 3170 3760.

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THE LAWN TAMER

Large property? Cut down on mowing time with a Ferris Zero-Turn mower. If you live on acreage and enjoy looking out on a sea of emerald green as far as the eye can see, you understand the importance of having the right equipment to cut and maintain the lawn. No-one with a large tract of land wants to spend their ‘spare’ time on endless hours of lawn maintenance with a small tractor style lawnmower, especially not when there’s a

Rob, and he knows machinery. If you’re accustomed to lawn maintenance being a chore, the Ferris Zero-Turn has decidedly taken the challenge to transform a labour of love into a pleasant at-home experience. If you have rough terrain, be prepared to be amazed as Ferris’ patented suspension allows for a smooth ride at the same rate of speed you would mow an even lawn, leaving a

Just in time for summer, Ferris is introducing three new models, the F125XT as well as the 52” IS 2100Z and the 61” 2100Z Zero-Turn ride-on mowers. Ideal for large plot owners, the F125XT can mow up to 4.3 acres per

hour while the 2100Z can reach a rate of 5.1 acres per hour so you can spend less time working and more time enjoying. Of course, safety always comes first with Ferris. Strict testing assures for a safe and comfortable ride, while a 2+2 year limited warranty will leave you worry free. Call 1800 356 632 to locate your closest dealer.

Ideal for large plot owners, the 2100Z Zero-Turn can mow up to 5.1 acres per hour. quick and viable method of cutting the grass. Don’t believe something like that exists? Take it from Rob Mellor, Briggs & Stratton Commercial Category Manager for Australia and New Zealand. “There’s something special about the smell of freshly cut grass, and with a Ferris ZeroTurn mower, you can enjoy the sweet aroma while you swiftly and efficiently get your lawn into shape – all without having to break out into a sweat,” says 62

freshly manicured green space in its wake. “Many operators don’t realise that they slow down over uneven terrain,” says Rob, “until they test drive a Ferris mower with suspension and notice the mower deck follows the movement of the wheels and the flow of the terrain, resulting in a beautiful, consistent cut.”

The Ferris IS 2100Z Zero-Turn ride-on mower is ideal for large plot owners.

*AITA Statistics Ytd December 2013. #Source: Logistik Magazine 2013. Pictures are for illustration purposes only. Actual colour of products may differ from picture displayed.

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ACROSS 1. Stretch (for) 4. More evil 7. Resupply with guns 8. Mumbai is there 9. Animal skin disease 12. Peruses 14. Brazilian dance 15. Synagogue scholar 16. Proper name 17. Reasoning

QUIZ SOLUTIONS: 1. Saturday 2. Hats 3. Mosaic 4. Rose 5. Stretching and yawning 6. Eye 7. Perth 8. Chrissie Hynde 9. Divergent 10. Drachma 11. Or near offer 12. Mike Baird 13. Hamilton Island 14. A diary 15. No Doubt 16. Glove 17. Malaria 18. Liverpool F.C. 19. Utah 20. Salyut 1

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FINDAWORD Solution: ART GALLERY

DOWN 1. Kingdom 2. Set-up 3. Haul strenuously 4. Spew forth 5. Shaping garden 6. The R of HRH 10. UK racecourse 11. Roomy 12. Resist authority 13. Fast jet effect, ... boom

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Which day of the week is named after the Roman god Saturn? What does a milliner make? What is the ancient art form that fastens pieces of tiles to create a picture? What is the national floral emblem of the United States? If someone is pandiculating, they are doing what? Astigmatism affects which part of the body? Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo hails from which Australian city? Who was leader of the late ’70s band The Pretenders? What is the name of the Veronica Roth novel that has spawned a 2014 film of the same name? 10. What was the currency of Greece prior to the Euro? 11. In classified ads, what does ONO stand for? 12. Who became the 44th Premier of NSW, following Barry O’Farrell’s resignation? 13. HTI is the airport code for which Australian destination? 14. What was Samuel Pepys famous for creating? 15. Which band did Gwen Stefani belong to before launching her solo career? 16. ‘Handschuh’ is a German word meaning what? 17. Which disease derives its name from the Italian for ‘bad air’? 18. You’ll Never Walk Alone is the anthem of which English Premier League football club? 19. In which US state was the first ever KFC restaurant? 20. Launched in 1971, what was the name of the first space station?

FINDAWORD - Colour Find all the words listed hidden in the grid of letters. They can be found in straight lines up, down, forwards, backwards or even diagonally. The leftover letters will reveal the mystery answer. AQUA AZURE BEIGE BLUE BROWN BUFF CYAN GREEN GREY LILAC LIME MAGENTA MAROON MAUVE NAVY OCHRE OLIVE ORANGE PRIMROSE PURPLE TANGERINE TERRACOTTA TURQUOISE WHITE YELLOW

L E V I L O Y F F U B

I I R W O L L E Y E Y

M B L U E G R N R T E

SOLUTION

E A R A Z H G I U G T

A T T O C A R R E T I

T B R O W N Q E E R H

N A Y C O U G G L E W

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