NEWS
Sin BRIEF UNIMIN CHARGES Charges against sand miner UNIMIN of illegally removing sand from North Stradbroke Island have been adjourned until 14 June 2011.
MASONS KITCHEN CLOSED The Point Lookout Masonic Club committee is looking for new operators for its bar and restaurant. The Masonic Club hall is still available as a venue for hire, for meetings and cultural events. At the time of going to print plans for Easter opening times were not confirmed.
Volunteers to the rescue BY MARIA TAN olunteer Marine Rescue (VMR) is calling for more Straddie volunteers to join their Dunwich squadron. There are currently 18 active VMR members on the Island, responsible for search and rescue operations, medical evacuations and providing assistance to the Moreton Bay boating community. The VMR squadron works in conjunction with ambulance services and the water police to provide assistance in emergency situations. “We look after the Island community and the boating community in Moreton Bay,” VMR volunteer Doug Fraser told SIN. “We’re short of people especially over at Stradbroke because of the diminishing population and, like all voluntary organisations, we need a bit of funding,” Mr Fraser said. “We could do with more people who can help in any way possible. We’ve got two girls from Point Lookout who aren’t interested in having anything to do with the boats, but help with fundraising and that’s just fabulous,” Mr. Fraser said. “There are people like myself
V
and others who join because they want to attain their coxswains rating.” A coxswain is a person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. Full training and support is provided to all VMR volunteers in a number of areas including first aid, marine radio operation, local knowledge, shipboard safety, crew and coxswain, as well as training and assessment and workplace health and safety. Mr. Fraser said he was originally inspired to volunteer for VMR after reading an article in SIN three years ago, calling for volunteers. “When I moved over to the Island three years ago I was looking to do some kind of volunteer work, and when I saw that article in SIN I thought, ‘Well that covers all the bases. I can do my volunteer bit for the community and I can also get out on the water and learn something as well’ – and now I’ve got my Coxswains ticket,” Mr Fraser said. For more information about volunteering please visit www.vmraq.org.au or call 3409 9938.
RCC wants Toondah Harbour investment
R
edland City Council is calling on the state government to commit to future investment in Toondah Harbour, the embarkation point for water taxis and ferries from the mainland to Straddie. Speaking at a media conference in the ferry terminal Mayor Melva Hobson said that ensuring jobs and a vibrant future economy for North Stradbroke Island in a post-mining economy would require strong partnership and funding support for the infrastructure of Toondah Harbour. “Toondah Harbour is critical for future public access to the foreshore, Moreton Bay
AUTUMN 2011
and North Stradbroke Island,” she said. “Council itself has already made a substantial investment in the Toondah Harbour facility, following the purchase of 7,120 square metres of foreshore land from CSIRO late last year for $3.495m. “Now that Council is a stakeholder in the future of the Harbour we can help ensure it meets the needs of future users, but without the support of the state in particular, that will be much harder to achieve.” Divisional councillor for the area Craig Ogilvie said: “Inaction on Toondah Harbour is a luxury that we cannot afford.”
RCC’S WOMAN IN CHINA Redland City Council will extend the contract of its trade and investment officer in China for another two years. Julia Zhang provides free expert advice to Redland business people on business conditions and practices in China. She can help to source potential customers and provide written and oral translations. She recently helped one Redland business secure export deals worth around $4 million.
COUNCILLORS REJECT PAY RISE Redland City Councillors voted to reject a 2.5 per cent pay rise recommended by the Local Government Remuneration and Discipline Tribunal. Each year the tribunal determines maximum and minimum pay levels for councillors across Queensland, giving councils 90 days to vote on what to be paid, within that range. Mayor Melva Hobson said councillors did not feel it was appropriate to accept a rise. “We realise ratepayers don’t want to see their elected representatives accepting pay rises while others in the community are struggling.” Salaries for 2011: mayor $145,544, deputy mayor $98,080, councillor $88,590.
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE LINES in the SAND is an ephemeral art event first held at Point Lookout in 2009. Macleay Island residents Colin Offord and Yeh Yilan are 2011’s Artists in Residence and will perform Transience, an ongoing series of site specific, immersive performance events and workshops, scheduled for Saturday July 2. Offord and Yeh create music and video works to suit the scale, aesthetics and ambience of the chosen environment, in this case the Point Lookout headland. Colin Offord will also perform a new score he has composed for the 1927 Australian silent film masterpiece For the Term of his Natural Life, to accompany an outdoor screening of the film on the exterior of the Moreton Bay Research Station, corner of Petrie and Fraser Streets, Dunwich, on Friday, July 1. For more information visit www.linesinthesand.com.au
SHARKS AT AMITY An increase in bait fish and sharks around Amity Point has been reported by the Department of Environment and Resource Managed after summer’s wild weather. “The water is now much clearer and large numbers of bait fish and sharks have been gathering around Amity point,” DERM’s Director of Freshwater and Marine Sciences, Julia Playford told SIN. “This is possibly because of high nutrient levels from runoff.”
10 YEARS OF LIVING IN SIN — STRADDIE ISLAND NEWS 11