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Monday February 4, 2013 154th Edition
M A G A Z I N E
Too cool for school Is THE mining lifestyle keeping kids from class? Âť Â Â Page 4
Full flood update inside. Âť Â Â Page 5
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CONTENTS NEWS 5 Weather bomb strikes 6 Flood stalls Miles 12 Apprenticeships dip 13 Jobs market slows
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10 16 Stuff to the Editor
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7 Frank the Tank 1 18 Miner’s Trader 24 Weather & Tides 25 Money Matters
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Mining lifestyle keeping kids from school ATTENDANCE at many resource town schools is well below the state average and the mining lifestyle has been identified as the cause. Shift Miner has been told it is common practice for parents to take their children out for two days when one parent finishes their shift or going on cheap overseas holidays during term, and the statistics back this up (see box). One principal who declined to be named because of the sensitive issue, told Shift Miner she was battling to change the community’s culture that missing school was okay. “We are trying to do a lot of education around taking holidays during term, and parents taking their kids to Mackay for two days when they finish their shift,” she said. She said often when the child is pulled out for two days, it is after they have been away sick for several days so they end up missing up to a week at a time. The school, which has a roll of less than 400, has taken a hardline approach and no longer accepts these days off. The principal said teachers had been waiting for a full class before moving on to new activities, but now that has stopped and parents realise the school is not going to stop for their child. This has helped reduce the number of absent days students from mining families are having. “Our school had 25 families where the kids would have 10 or more days off a term and we have brought that down to five families.” The principal said it has been a matter of getting across to parents and the community the importance of school. “We have had a lot of people who just don’t see the value in education. They haven’t had an education, yet they are earning more than double of some teachers, so getting them to appreciate an education is hard.” Missing school also has other effects. “It affects the kids socially, especially the little ones. They might be playing trucks at school, and when they come back the kids have moved on to playing chasey and that kid is still playing trucks. They feel left out and then don’t want to go to
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The state average for class attendance is 92 per cent.
school,” she said. “When we look at the data, we can see there are a lot of schools in mining towns just like us.” Shift Miner looked at six primary schools in the Bowen Basin and all but one were below the state average. While Queensland principals were vocal about absenteeism last year and said parents’ attitudes were a big part of the problem, the Western Australian education department was far more explicit with its finger pointing. It blamed fly-in, fly-out parents and cheap trips to Bali. Alicia Ranford from Mining Family Matters told Shift Miner she was aware of families taking their children out of school, but there was a difference between pulling them out for a day here and there and those taking a longer holiday. “I have talked to groups of parents with young children and we stress the importance of routine for those in a FIFO relationship. Young children need routine and stability when one parent is away and school provides that,” she said. In terms of taking holidays during term, she is more encouraging. “One of the positive aspects of FIFO work is the R&R. You can take nine days off work, but actually have 19 days off and this is where a lot of FIFO families are using that time to take their kids for a holiday,” she said. “It would be then that I would encourage talking to the teacher and get worksheets . . . I have done that, but equally we have put systems in place and made a conscious effort to talk about different currency and different culture and made the holiday as educational as possible.” Acting chief executive of Queensland Council of Parents and Citizen Association Madonna Stewart told Shift Miner that in some communities absenteeism was higher than others. “We would suggest that concerned P and Cs consult with the principal and community. They can do things like put out a survey and get ideas on how to get that truancy rate down. It is all about communication,” she said.
Primary School Moura Dysart Blackwater Middlemount Collinsville Moranbah
Percentage Percentage of students attendance rate attending less than 85% 92 11 88 26 87 34 90 20 85 39 91 15
Compared with Rockhampton schools Frenchville 94 8 The Hall 92 16
And even being 10 minutes late to class every day has an impact . . . . He/she is only missing 10 minutes a day 20 minutes a day Half an hour a day 1 hour a day
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Shift miner.indd 1
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That equals 50 minutes per week 1 hour 40 minutes per week Half a day a week 1 day a week
Which is Nearly 1.5 weeks a year Over 2.5 weeks a year 4 weeks a year 8 weeks a year
And over 13 years of school that is Nearly ½ year Nearly 1 year Nearly 1 ½ years Nearly 2 ½ years
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Late onset blessing FAST for CQ coal mines NEWS
IT will be weeks before some Central Queensland coal mines are back to full production, but the late onset of the wet season has saved the industry a lot of pain. The worst hit mine from the wild Australia Day weekend weather appears to be Yancoal and Peabody’s jointly owned Middlemount operations, which received 420mm of rain.
Its workforce was forced to pump water out of its open cut pit, after the mine’s levee bank broke. Yancoal has advised it could be several days before it’s back to full production. Cockatoo Coal’s Baralaba mine, one of the worst casualties of the 2011 floods, has come out of the latest deluge relatively unscathed.
The town’s bridge is went under floodwaters, but the mine has not suffered any major problems and its stranded workforce got straight into helping the community with its clean-up until they could get back to work. Most Anglo American, BMA and Rio Tinto mines particularly in the northern Bowen Basin - received between 200mm to 250mm, but no major damage has been reported. All coal ports along the Central Queensland coast Abbot Point, Hay Point and Gladstone - are operating, although stockpiles at Gladstone have slumped under the weight of water after the region received 800mm of rain. Rail proved to be the major chink in the supply chain after the rains. In the northern Bowen Basin, the Goonyella and Newlands system are operating, but in the south, the Moura and Blackwater lines are not expected to move coal for days. It is causing angst for miners, with Xstrata, Wesfarmers, Rio Tinto and
Jellinbah all reported to have declared force majeure on contracts - not because of onsite production problems, but because of the rail system. However, the Queensland Resources Council chief executive Michael Roche says the overall picture is not too gloomy for recovery. “We’ve had a very good long lead in to this wet season and production levels were going very, very well in December,” he says. “I think the industry will take this disruption in its stride, the biggest vulnerability is the Blackwater and Moura system.” Mr Roche has dismissed the suggestion that mines were ill-prepared and should have better strategies after the 2011 experience. “Mines have taken in water simply because open cut mines don’t have umbrellas over the top of them. It’s not because they didn’t fix their infrastructure. Do you have a swimming pool? And did it fill up with rain? You can’t do anything about water that comes from the sky,” he says.
Mines discharge 0.34 per cent of Fitzroy flow NINE Bowen Basin coal mines were still pumping into the swollen Fitzroy catchment days after the Australia Day weekend rains - down from 15 at the height of the deluge. The Environment Department says it is investigating one uncontrolled release at Peabody’s Coppabella mine, where water was released into 30 Mile Creek. According to the Department, not one coal mine needed to use an emergency licence to release water from flooded sites, the only emergency release has been at Rio Tinto’s Yarwun refinery near Gladstone. By January 30 the total volume of water released from Central Queensland mines was 5710ML, and the total flow at the Gap was about 1,600,000ML and further upstream at Yatton it was 1,400,000ML. “To put these figures into perspective, mine water releases over the last few days equate to 0.36 per cent of the total flow at Rockhampton and 0.34 per cent at Yatton. It is quite literally a drop in the ocean,” says Environment Minister Andrew Powell.
Four BMA mines have also begun the first controlled release of stored water from the 2011 floods, while the rivers are running. It’s part of a pilot project launched by the State Government last year, after recommendations handed down by the Floods Commission of Inquiry. But the release of water from mines has once again been attacked by environmental groups, in particular Greens candidate Andrew Jeremijenko. “Not only will they contribute to flooding but it will affect water supply that may have already been compromised by the floods,” Dr Jeremijenko says. “The government is treating the creeks and rivers of Queensland as company drains.” But the Environment Minister Andrew Powell has angrily defended the actions of the region’s miners. “I’m appalled that these groups would resort to making baseless, hysterical claims under the guise of ‘reef protection’,” Mr Powell says. “Not only are these comments ill-informed and misleading, they come at a time when Queenslanders need genuine help.”
Mr Powell told Shift Miner the new licensing system appeared to be working. “We will need to do more concrete analysis, but yes I am happy to this point,” he says. “My whole focus is to ensure the health and wellbeing of the ecosystem and also to uphold our commitment that we would not lessen the water quality of the Fitzroy catchment.”
No corruption here
MINISTER for Natural Resources and Mines Andrew Cripps says claims from the Queensland Resources Council that a new competitive cash bidding system for coal and gas tenure in Queensland is open to corruption are ludicrous. Mr Cripps says the QRC is clearly unhappy that resource companies will have to pay to explore in Queensland’s most resource-rich areas, and is using alarmist tactics in an attempt to discredit the new system. The QRC had compared the new model to that used by New South Wales that is currently being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).
Bubbles no risk A QUEENSLAND Government report says that bubbles in the Condamine River pose no risk to the environment or to human and animal health. The just-released Condamine River Gas Seep Investigation Report shows four gas seeps and adjacent properties at key sites along 60kms of river were conducted. Analysis of the results found no evidence of gas safety or water quality risks to the community from the gas seeps or any evidence of environmental harm. The gas was predominantly composed of methane, consistent with gas originating from Surat Basin geological formations, the tests found. No cause has been given for how the gas came to be bubbling from the river.
Protesters oppose mine PLANS by OGL Resources to re-activate the Ebenezer mine south-east of Rosewood has attracted the ire of locals who are fighting the proposal. The mine has been in care and maintenance mode since operations ceased at the end of 2002. But OGL Resources announced last year it planned to start mining again after securing access to the Brisbane Port to ship coal. OGL says its has carried out a feasibility study to export 600,000 tonnes of coal per year from the site, which would eventually increase to to 1.5 million tonnes, and the figures stack up. Residents aren’t happy though and about 80 of them held the protest recently at the Rosewood Uniting Church. They claim the mine will negatively impact on the koala population and the health and lifestyle of people living in the area.
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Waterlogged Surat is country’s largest truck stop
Scenes like this at Foxleigh Mine show just how much water came down on Australia Day weekend. For moteliers in Miles that meant finding beds for stranded workers and travellers.
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February 4, 2013
MOTELIER Chris Erwin is used to juggling people and the beds they sleep in. As the motelier at the 27-bed Miles Outback Motel he’s normally kept busy by gas workers and contractors that need to stay while working on local projects. In the aftermath of the latest big wet it was stranded truckies and tourists, along with a few flood-bound gas workers, that were causing him angst as he worked out where they could sleep and pass the time waiting for floodwaters to recede. Miles is the last town for those heading east in the Surat Basin, with Charley’s Creek in Chinchilla closed to all traffic for almost a week after rain first started falling. Mr Erwin was taking the challenge in his stride though after first filling beds left vacant by gas workers that couldn’t get to town because of floods or who have been told to stay home by their employers as the gasfields remain waterlogged. “There’s trucks up and down the streets - they are parked everywhere,” he says. “We are just trying to do what we can as there’s nothing worse
than sitting around waiting. “We’re pretty hard up for accommodation as it is as there are normally a lot of gas workers around.” “Doing what they can” for local moteliers is trying to get the stranded a bed and room for the evening even if that means ringing gas company and contractor phone numbers to see who is still planning on being in town and who isn’t. Empty beds were going to truckies and travellers for as long as they were needed. That of course depended on the water. As Mr Erwin spoke on the phone two gas workers were passing the hours nearby by playing cards. Western Downs Regional Council Mayor Ray Brown Miles says there has also been a safe shelter set up in Miles for travellers. “It is not a full evacuation centre,” Cr Brown says. “But it is a place where people can rest while waiting.” The centre was at Miles’ Memorial Hall and it contains 41 beds and has facilities for tea, coffee and showers. There were an estimated 100 trucks and 60 cars stuck in town waiting to go east.
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Salt works submerged by king tide ROCKHAMPTON has run out of pool salt and it may be some time before stocks come in again - thanks to the local salt works going under water in the recent floods. Cheetham Salt, which lies 40km south of Rockhampton between Bajool and Port Alma, was completely submerged as ex-tropical cyclone Oswald dumped a year’s worth of rain in just three days. Although the salt works emerged relatively unscathed during the 2011 floods, this time there was a king tide. “Our office was under one foot of water - so we have no phones, no computers, no printers - nothing,” one of the employees told Shift Miner. “The shed we use for our refinery has gone and that’s the first time that’s happened. During the last flood, our refinery was still working.” Firefighters were needed to hose out mud and generators had been hired to pump out the water. The employee said they managed to get their first load of bulk salt off in the middle of last week for the meat works and Orica, and bagged salt for swimming pools was next. “Once all the water is gone, we’ll start making salt again. But when
Salt could be in short supply with Cheetham Salt flooded.
it happens will depend on when the roads are open for the trucks and whether it’s safe for our workers.” An electrician was also called in but the power couldn’t be restored until it was safe to do so, she said. The long-term outlook is uncertain, however. “The salt has been washed away - including the salt crystals they were drying out ready for harvest.” Cheetham Salt, owned by Ridley Corporation, was sold to Hong Kong-based CK Life Sciences in November for $150 million. This means CK Life Sciences now owns about 80 per cent of Australia’s salt. CK Life Sciences said it will now focus on agribusiness by producing nutrients, ingredients and feed for the livestock industry. Currently, Cheetham has a broad range of industries, including industrial, food, stockfeed, hide and pools. “I am not sure what is going to happen with our site now,” the employee said. “The office needs a complete refit. “Our jobs are up in the air - so whether they do the refit is another story.”
Coal prices on the up COAL prices should rise by 10 per cent across the board in 2013, according to a leading resources analyst. MineLife’s Gavin Wendt said thermal coal prices were currently hovering around $US90/tonne and coking coal between $US160-170/tonne, but he expected it would be upwards from here. “I would anticipate a 10 per cent rise, and not because of volatility in weather related events in Queensland, but because the demand out of China is growing,” he told Shift Miner. Mr Wendt said the current weather situation in Queensland wouldn’t have
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much bearing on coal prices when viewed as a one-off event. “That’s because the market has confidence the issue will be resolved and fairly quickly. However, it is the beginning of the cyclone season and you wouldn’t rule out further disruptions and that could change things.” Wesfarmers’ Curragh mine has just settled on its new coking coal prices for the January quarter - up two per cent on last quarter and sitting around the $160/tonne mark. Wesfarmers Resources Managing Director Stewart Butel said the outcome was in line with recent market price settlements. “In response to continuing low metallurgical coal prices and the high Australian dollar, Curragh’s immediate focus remains on cost reduction and control,” Mr Butel says. “Sales of metallurgical coal in the first half of the 2013 financial year were affected by a scheduled mine shutdown in December and lower short term demand from traditional North Asia customers. Recent high rainfall and localised flooding experienced in the aftermath of Cyclone Oswald has, in late January, affected mine site production and rail and port availability.” As a result, Curragh’s metallurgical coal sales volume is forecast to be in the range of 7.5 to 8.0 million tonnes for the 2013 financial year. It currently has the capacity to produce 8.5 million tonnes. February 4, 2013
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ALERT TO MEMBERS The safety of our members is now being further compromised by mining companies (in particular BHP) who are now involving their HR staff in investigations on safety related matters that they have no understanding nor have practical experience in. For decades, mining companies have accused the Union of running industrial arguments under the guise of safety and yet here we have a clear demonstration by these same mining companies that they think themselves above reproach and a case of “do as I say, not as I do” It is now imperative that all coal mine workers that are directly or indirectly involved in safety & health related incidents stand firm and resolute in the laws of natural justice when being placed under investigation. Each mine, by law has to have a safety and health management system to safety operate. The company is obligated to train each coal miner in this system. With that said – all Coal Mine Workers must strictly adhere to the mines Safety & Health Management System to ensure that these miscreant companies cannot try and shift blame onto the workers who create their wealth. A person is not the hazard – the workplace is the hazard.
Legal information for coal mine workers involved in mine site incidents It has become apparent that mining companies are using post incident statements, signed and written by coal mine workers to use against those same individuals to detract from the causes of the incident and blame the worker. There is no legal requirement for any coal mine worker to provide a written statement or sign the same at the request of any coal mine official. If requested to provide information to a coal mine official then by all means verbally state what you know with regards to the incident, to which the coal mine official can take notes from your knowledge of the event/incident.
At no time should you sign this or any other company document surrounding the incident being investigated To clarify; • Incident has occurred at the mine. • Company official requests statement from those involved. • State that you are willing to assist in the investigation, but you will not provide a written statement. • Always have a representative with you, or at least another coal mine worker you can trust. • If requested to sign what the company official has written from your verbal account – decline! • Request a copy of the notes recorded. • Keep a Diary for your own records and do not pass onto the company officials or their legal people. • If pressured to write or sign statement, immediately call your Industry Safety & Health Representative. Yours in Unity, Tim Whyte - District Secretary
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Snake sense a growing need
Snakes, like this Tiger, are an increasing hazard on worksites. Better keep that donga door closed.
WE seem hard wired not to like snakes. They have been the symbol of evil since, well, Adam and Eve, and many of them are deadly to boot. That’s enough for most of us to leave them alone. But because of the continued expansion of gas and mining into snake habitats, workers are increasingly coming
into contact with the reptiles. Now, a Gin Gin business is training workers in what to do when they encounter a snake - and it’s proving a worthwhile investment. Wendy Williams from Radical Reptiles says the number of snake encounters is not going to stop and people need to know what to do.
“Campsites and equipment sheds are the perfect place for rodents and that attracts snakes searching for food,” she says. Miners are also easy targets. “That’s why you have to keep your doors closed on your donga at all times - it keeps the snakes out.” The four hour course is done
on site and covers: identifying snakes and other reptiles, such as lizards; minimising the risk; and what people should do when they find a snake in the field or a building. Trainees also learn what first aid to perform in case of a bite. And while there are snakes and other reptiles on hand during
the course, no-one is asking you to be Steve Irwin. “There’s no snake handling involved,” Wendy assures. She says the response to the course has been very positive and has included some trainees with a lifelong fear of the reptiles who now felt better equipped to deal with them. And for any Human Resources staff, sitting in their cool air-conditioned office on the Brisbane River wondering whether this would be a useful course for employees, here’s a chilling statistic: Australia has more venomous snake species than any other country. “It’s illegal to kill native wildlife in Australia and that includes snakes,” Wendy says. “Most sites have environmental officers but they can’t be everywhere so what do you do while you wait for the snake catcher to show up if you find a snake? That’s what people learn in this course.” More details on the course are available from www.training.gov.au.
Explosives high and dry in Bajool
Water flows fast and high over Awoonga spillway. The rains and floods caused a range disaster, near misses and lucky escapes in Central Queensland.
THE big wet that triggered a devastating flood in the tiny township of Bajool, 40km south of Rockhampton, has spared an explosives reserve critical to Queensland mining operations. The Government Explosive
Reserve lies just two kilometres north of Bajool and managed to make it through the weather bomb relatively unscathed. Reserve Manager Peter Strydom told Shift Miner they measured record falls of 750mm.
“We got off reasonably well considering how much rain we had,” he says. The reserve is one of four large tracts of land in Queensland set aside by the state government for the safe storage, distribution and
disposal of explosives. “We did have a significant flow of water, but the explosives are stored above the water level. Any damage we had is erosion from the high water, and the damage is being repaired as we speak,” Mr Strydom says. “We lost a number of pumps, but those have been replaced. The most damage done locally was at the township of Bajool itself. Our reserve house here went under water, but that was it.” The reserve lies just north of a creek, which overflowed, and combined with both the torrential rain and a king tide, caused the flooding. The reserve is home to five companies, including Dyno Nobel, Downer EDI, Australian Mining Explosives and Orica. An office spokesperson at Dyno Nobel told Shift Miner that although there was a lot of water around, their plant remained unscathed. “It was good timing for us because all our sheds are empty at the moment,” she says.
Meanwhile, Central Queensland’s fuel supplies have been hindered by the rain event but are likely to be returning to normal this week, says one local supplier. Central State Fuels general manager David Thomas told Shift Miner a shipment of diesel arrived at Gladstone last week, so large industrial and mining users should be unaffected by the floods - assuming roads are not cut and supplies can get through. Central State Fuels is based in Gladstone, and has major depots in Rockhampton, Emerald and Longreach and wholesale and retail sites in Biloela, Moura, Yeppoon and Isisford. Mr Thomas says while there had been some delay to deliveries in past days because of roads closed by floodwaters, as they re-open supplies are able to be topped up. Logistics is often the most challenging part of a natural disaster and that means extra time spent sorting out how trucks get through floodwaters. February 4, 2013
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Pass the soap... SHOWERING with all your workmates in a room full of mirrors. It sounds like a nightmare you’d prefer to wake up from . . . but for underground miners at one Central Queensland mine it’s just part of the daily grind. In fact, you have to take a communal shower at the end of each shift, or you are not allowed on the bus home (they stop short of checking you have changed into clean undies). This revelation was a little too much for one underground miner who was new to the industry. Shift Miner understands on his first day of work the man just changed his clothes and tried to sneak on the bus - but he was caught in the act! “They marched him back to the bathroom and made him take a shower,” said a source close to the man (yes, possibly his wife). “He was mortified. He told me there was no where to look, and what makes it worse is the shower area is surrounded by mirrors!” The man now closes his eyes before each shower session with the belief that if he can’t see anyone, they can’t see them. “There have been a few jokes about him taking his soap on a rope, but he doesn’t laugh that hard,” the source revealed. “Because the other blokes know how bashful he is, they come up and slap him on the buttocks.”
Ports and rail raking it in
The QRC says port and rail companies along with the state government are doing better than miners at present.
PORT, rail companies and the state government are the only ones making money out of the coal industry at the moment, according to the Queensland Resources Council. QRC chief executive Michael Roche said mines are running a ruler over their operations and looking to reduce costs where they can. “If I were to say who is making money from the coal industry, it would be the state government because they get their royalties, rail companies and port companies. They are doing well out of coal - not the coal companies,” he told Shift Miner. Some mines are still operating on no margin because of these high fixed costs and are looking at their contractors and other suppliers as a means of cutting costs. “I think companies have done well at boosting production,” Mr Roche says. He said they have actually boosted production so much that in December the
tonnage of coal shipped out of Dalrymple Bay had almost pushed the port to capacity. “So companies are doing well to sell, but it’s a buyer’s market,” Mr Roche says. “One factor that has softened the impact on the coal sector is that because so many costs are fixed costs, shutting down an entire operation doesn’t present itself as an option.” An example of this was “take or pay” contracts mining companies are locked into with rail and shipping companies, often for between five and 10 years. This means that in leaner times, mining companies still have to meet their commitments or pay out the contracts. However, Mr Roche said he expected the outlook to be a lot brighter in the not too distant future. “I think we will see by the end of 2013 a much rosier picture than the start of the year,” he says.
Industry waits on bypass data
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LARGE scale industry, including mining and coal seam gas, needs a Toowoomba bypass but when that occurs is still unclear. The latest data on the potential benefits of a bypass to the region is soon to emerge through an independent economic assessment. That is expected to give some direction on a timeline for when the project could, or should be, carried out. Local company Lawrence Consulting has been working behind the scenes on behalf of Toowoomba & Surat Basin Enterprise and Toowoomba Regional Council in past months to collect data to support the business case for a bypass. Reuben Lawrence told Shift Miner this week that the study was looking at the projected economic impact analysis of a Toowoomba range bypass on the region. “Initial findings indicate that lack of adequate infrastructure in this regard is already hindering productivity within the region and there is an expectation amongst industry that this situation will only worsen as economic activity within the region continues to grow,” Mr Lawrence says. “The impact on the industry that we are looking at is not just about gas and mining but a lot of businesses within Toowoomba. There are a lot of other industries in Toowoomba, such as agriculture, that could benefit.” February 4, 2013
The bypass has been put forward by the state government as the number one project for the national Infrastructure Australia to support. The organisation advises the government of infrastructure priorities. Toowoomba & Surat Basin Enterprise chairman John Wagner describes the study as imperative to building the case for the bypass. “It is imperative that our regional data is sound so that we can speak with authority on the infrastructure needs of the region,” he says. “Economic analysis such as this will provide us with a solid platform to base our arguments for future planning and development and ensure we get it right.” Business leaders attended the Toowoomba Range By-Pass Forum Launch recently and will also be present at a Western Freight Corridor Forum on February 8 in the city that will discuss the bypass and get an insight to what the study has found. Mr Lawrence says the issue could be key to large scale projects west of Toowoomba, such as the Wandoan mine, as it could provide more timely transport of resources. For the bypass to occur there would need to be significant federal and state government funds committed. There has been no indication of when, or if, this will occur.
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Truckies get to stop, revive, survive
THE Mackay Road Accident Action Group (RAAG) is to hold a Truckie Reviver stop for drivers of big rigs that need a break.
Algal blooms and business booms AS Dysart residents struggle with murky waters thanks to high levels of algae, a Yeppoon-based water business is booming. Last year, the demand for bottled water doubled in Blackwater when the town encountered water quality issues. Now, Aussie Gold Spring Water director, Janette Heintze, says the
business is also supplying bottled water to Moranbah, Middlemount, Dysart and Tieri because of the deteriorating water conditions in these towns. “We are going from strength to strength since last year. We have bought another truck and we now employ 16 people two extra factory staff and an
IN what is believed to be a first in Queensland, and possibly Australia, the Mackay Road Accident Action Group (RAAG) is to hold a Truckie Reviver stop. The stop mirrors the popular Driver Reviver scheme where weary motorists can pull over to rest at temporary roadside drink stations staffed by volunteers. The Driver Reviver network operates at times of high traffic, such as on long weekends and the first and last weekend of school holidays. The stops are often at community parks on the edge of towns which makes it tough for truckies to use them. But now, truckies will have a stop of their own about halfway between Mackay and Rockhampton on the Bruce Highway - and there’ll be enough room for 14 B-Doubles. “To our knowledge this is certainly a first in Queensland,” says RAAG spokesman Graeme Ransley. Mr Ransley said the $5.5 million rest area has now been approved by the Department of Transport and Main Roads and will be running for the first time between March 17 to 20. RAAG campaigned for several years for the area to be installed to improve safety for big rig operators
extra driver,” she said. Meanwhile, the news is not so good for Dysart residents, who are playing a waiting game while the Isaac Regional Council works around the clock to ease the grimy water problem. The council met with residents recently to discuss the issue. Margaret McDowell from the Dysart Community Centre, who attended the meeting, told Shift Miner council was doing it all it could to fix the problem. “Until they find out exactly what the problem is, they don’t know what to do,” she says.
and other motorists who share the road with heavy loads. Truckies can pull over, inspect their rig and say g’day during the Truckie Reviver weekend while also enjoying a free sausage sandwich, fruit and drinks. They’ll also be able to tell their side of the story to RAAG members who are at the stop and any challenges they have in complying with heavy vehicle fatigue legislation. This includes insufficient safe places to rest on long hauls. RAAG is a group of individuals from state government, industry, community and local government who take a holistic approach across the community in dealing with causal factors relating to road incidents. The group hosted a road safety summit last year to address issues with the Peak Downs Highway. In the five years to the end of 2009, more than 240 people were seriously injured in road crashes on the highway between Clermont and Mackay. They also campaign strongly for better safety on the Bruce Highway. Fourteen of those injured on the Peak Downs died and another 71 were rushed to hospital.
“The water is really disgusting and some parts of town are worse than others. The council doesn’t know what is causing it, and they are honest about it.” Isaac Regional Council (IRC) Mayor Anne Baker says while an algal bloom was to blame they don’t know why it continues to happen despite a state-of-the-art algae control treatment upgrade
Comment or SMS 0409 471 014
put in place more than eight years ago. While the water is not a pleasant colour, smell or taste the Mayor has assured residents it is safe to use. “Plant testing indicates the supply meets current standards. The water is continuously disinfected to ensure any bacteria is removed,” Cr Baker says.
While the water is not a pleasant colour, smell or taste the Mayor has assured residents it is safe to use.
February 4, 2013
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Shift Miner Magazine
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Get where you want to be
Apprentice intake drops off THE number of apprentices being employed in mining and industry is well down on 12 months ago, according to one leading local training provider. GAGAL general manager Kerry Whitaker says while it’s hard to quantify, the trend is definitely downwards. “It is very, very quiet and I don’t just mean here in Central Queensland. I’ve been talking to my colleagues and it is quiet across the board,” she told Shift Miner. “Our numbers are definitely down from 12 months ago.” Ms Whitaker says as the coal industry has stalled, so too has demand for apprentices. “We are such a good barometer for what goes on. Every time there is a downturn or even a plateau then group training apprentices are the first thing companies get rid of. “We felt the effects of the GFC before we even knew it was the GFC. But to be honest,
Apprenticeships have slowed in the past year.
Geoscientists the canaries in the coalmine AS Dysart residents struggle with murky waters thanks to high levels of algae, a Yeppoon-based water business is booming. Last year, the demand for bottled water doubled in Blackwater when the town encountered water quality issues. Now, Aussie Gold Spring Water director, Janette Heintze, says the business is also supplying bottled water to Moranbah, Middlemount, Dysart and Tieri because of the
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February 4, 2013
deteriorating water conditions in these towns. “We are going from strength to strength since last year. We have bought another truck and we now employ 16 people two extra factory staff and an extra driver,” she said. Meanwhile, the news is not so good for Dysart residents, who are playing a waiting game while the Isaac Regional Council works around the clock to ease the grimy water problem.
The council met with residents recently to discuss the issue. Margaret McDowell from the Dysart Community Centre, who attended the meeting, told Shift Miner council was doing it all it could to fix the problem. “Until they find out exactly what the problem is, they don’t know what to do,” she says. “The water is really disgusting and some parts of town are worse than others. The council doesn’t know what is causing it, and they
are honest about it.” Isaac Regional Council (IRC) Mayor Anne Baker says while an algal bloom was to blame they don’t know why it continues to happen despite a state-of-the-art algae control treatment upgrade put in place
things have never really got back into full swing since then; it has been really intermittent.” Ms Whitaker said while it was extremely short sighted for companies to axe their apprentice intake during slower times, the current system was not good at responding to the changing demands of industry. “If we can’t provide industry with what they need in a flexible way, then we are always going to have these problems. “Maybe we should be looking at the current system which is struggling to meet industry needs and the cost of compliance that businesses have to shoulder.” On the bright side for businesses still putting on apprentices, the quality of candidates is up. “Demand is not so great, so we are able to be a lot more choosy about the quality of people we put on,” said Ms Whitaker.
more than eight years ago. While the water is not a pleasant colour, smell or taste the Mayor has assured residents it is safe to use. “Plant testing indicates the supply meets current standards. The water is continuously disinfected to ensure any bacteria is removed,” Cr Baker says.
“Almost 65 per cent of unemployed geoscientists lost their positions during the last quarter of 2012 – a direct reflection of the mining sector downturn.”
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Employment stalls for (almost) everyone
Domestic recruitment has been slow at the start of the year along with interest in overseas workers.
RECRUITER Peter Martin is a man who understands people and the powers of supply and demand. With a background in
agriculture and broad experience as a recruiter in the mining and construction industries, he has told Shift Miner it’s going to
be a tough start to the new year for those either searching for work, or wanting to enter the mining industry.
“It’s going to be pretty hard for some people to get a job if they don’t have one to go to (post Christmas),” he says. “There has been a bit of a pullback by the industry and that started a few months ago.” The Christmas-New Year break meant many projects slowed more than normal as large employers gave workers more time off, and some employees chose to stay away longer with friends and family to re-assess and rejuvenate before what might be a tough 2013. Recently the Queensland Resources Council said it expected another 1000 coal jobs to be shed in the regions this year. But there is some light on the edges of the doom and gloom. Mr Martin, of OBI Recruitment in Brisbane, says the upper end of the industry - such as engineers, project managers and other experienced managers - remain in short supply and that is shown by the number of roles on offer on popular job websites.
At the other end of the employment spectrum there wasn’t one job going for welders in Mt Isa before Christmas. Other trades have been hit hard too as companies choose to lay off contractors and not re-employ. The slowdown has also impacted on 457 Visas with less interest in bringing in overseas workers than at some stages last year. Mr Martin, a registered migration agent, says to bring in overseas workers they have to have a job to come to and that is more difficult under current conditions. Meanwhile, the CFMEU is calling for a ban on 457 visas as they say companies are exploiting the system by bringing in overseas workers that they pay at lower rates than Australians. Figures released by the government show most of the visas have been organised by trade businesses in major centres including a tiling company that has 50 Korean workers in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
generated at BeQRious.com
February 4, 2013
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Shift Miner Magazine
Around Town
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AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!
The Blackwater Civic Centre was the venue for the Blackwater Australia Day celebrations. Unfortunately, widespread flooding mean only two of the Australia Day Award recipients could attend. Those who could make it enjoyed a great breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs, and damper served up by the Blackwater Lions and Lioness Clubs, the Blackwater Rotary Club and the QCWA ladies.
Some of the hardworking volunteers
The 2013 Citizen of the Year Beth Baker cutting the cake
The Central Highlands Choir
(L-R) Dusty, Dale and Charlotte Pearse
(L-R) Mick, Chenda and Lincoln Carpenter
(L-R) Nini, Geoff and Nalini Eri
(L-R) Jessica and Brenton Crawford with twins Skylah and Savannah
(L-R) Lee-Anne, Bryce and Kev Cracknell
(L-R) John, Chloe and Jo Petty
MINERS’ WIVES GET TOGETHER AT NORTH ROCKY MACCAS
The Mining Women Support Group was set up to help women, who have moved town to follow their husband’s work in the resources industry, meet others. It meets each week in Rockhampton, Yeppoon and Gladstone. To find out when and where, call Victoria Murray on 0437270676 or visit facebook.com/MiningWomenSupportGroup
(L-R) Kate, Jessie, Abbie, Cian and Georgie Mottram
(L-R) Jessie Mottram and Tania Edelman (L-R) Victoria Murray Rebecca Smith
(L-R) Tennelle Jones and Kate Mottram
Buy this and many other images at
www.shiftminer.com Shift Miner magazine – bringing the mining community closer together Holding a social event you want photographed? Call the Shift Miner office on 4921 4333 to let us know. You can also give our office a bell if you’d like a copy of any of the photos in this edition.
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February 4, 2013
Shift Miner Magazine
Sport
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Heavy-footed teenagers ready to roll in CQ
The “Wingless Sprint” class will be in action this weekend at Moranbah Speedway
THE future of speedway in Central Queensland appears to be in good hands, with local clubs hosting both the state and national junior titles in the space of just two months. MACS Speedway Club in Mackay had around 70 cars over January 18-19 competing in the SSA Junior Sedan National Championship. Moranbah Speedway will host the junior state titles this weekend. Owner of the Mackay track Darren Hawkings said he was amazed at the effort parents went to. “We had 71 competitors
from all over Australia, so there were some spoilt little children who got their parents to haul their car across the country,” he said. “Unfortunately we only had a few from the coalfields, but we did get one from Moranbah and a few from Rockhampton and Gladstone.” The event was won by Brisbane tunior Jadyn Peacock, however Robert Hawkins from Mackay managed to finish in the top 20. Meanwhile, organisers of the Queensland Junior Sedan Titles in Moranbah this weekend are busy getting the track in tip top
condition in readiness for more than 30 cars. The fact that Moranbah has secured the competition is testament to the amount of work that has gone into the track over the last two or three years. Treasurer for the Moranbah Club Cindy Bowen said they have had to meet a lot of safety standards to be able to host the race. “Yes we had some of the big wigs in town having a look at the track, and they have given us the all-clear,” she said. “After all the improvements we have made, we now have
one of the best tracks in Queensland.” “It’s going to be really exciting to have 20 cars in the feature race, and we are expecting big things from local junior Brandon Atto.” In the seniors, local miners Nathan McFarlane, Liam Ratcliffe both performed well at the Mackay meeting a fortnight ago in the wingless sprints division. Nominations are being accepted for the senior wingless sprint, modified production and super stocker classes for this weekends event in Moranbah.
Apply now for five $4000 scholarships with CQUniversity and Hail Creek Mine and kick start your career
“I think Clermont will go through in the number one position and Brothers in number two, but Brothers have beaten Clermont.”
We support a range of local projects through our Clermont, Kestrel Mine and Hail Creek Mine Community Development Funds. For more information about funding for your local project or organisation please contact:
Since 2008, the partnership has been offering two-year scholarships to first-year nursing, health, business, science, IT and engineering students studying at CQUniversity Mackay.
Clermont Region – Travis Bates on 4988 3503 or travis.bates@riotinto.com
More than 30 local students have so far benefited from the programme.
Scholarship applications close 1 March 2013.
A slow start to the season for the Blackwater Cricket club has ruled them out of the finals play-offs in a fortnight’s time. The Blackwater team has endured a string of defeats after struggling to field a regular lineup of players, especially for some of the away games. As a result they do not have the necessary points to be able to make the finals series, even if they come home strongly. While the Blackwater team is confirmed out, both Clermont and the Emerald Brothers side are confirmed in. According to Central Highlands cricket correspondent Steve Smith, the Clermont side might just have the edge on the Emerald Brothers side. “I think Clermont will go through in the number one position and Brothers in number two, but Brothers have beaten Clermont,” he said. It gets a bit more interesting for three and four, with Rolleston, Springsure and Emerald Magpies all looking to make it.” “But like a lot of sports in the bush the finals can be a very different competition to the normal competition, and you will see teams go to full strength for the final series.” This weekend Emerald Magpies play Springsure in Emerald, Clermont play Rolleston at Clermont
Proud to be part of the central Queensland community and committed to the future.
Hail Creek Mine is continuing to partner with CQUniversity for a further three years to contribute to a vibrant and diverse workforce for central Queensland.
To apply for one of the 2013 scholarships, visit www.cqu.edu.au or contact Hail Creek Mine’s Marie Cameron on 4951 6437.
Blackwater looking unlikely for Highlands final
Pictured: Former scholarship recipient Stephen Brown now works as a mechanical engineering graduate at Hail Creek Mine.
Kestrel Mine – Samantha Faint on 0447 599 990 or samantha.faint@riotinto.com Hail Creek Mine – Fiona Kruger on 4840 4401 or fiona.kruger@riotinto.com
www.riotintocoalaustralia.com.au February 4, 2013
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Shift Miner Magazine
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CAR FOR SALE
BOAT FOR SALE
2008 TOYOTA AVENSIS VERSO
Offshore Marine Master 2012 Mac5 Cuddy.
68000 Ks, 4 doors 7 seats, 4 cyl. A1 condition. New tyres. Complied 2009 Rear nudge-bar. Full logs. All Toyota serviced. Always kept undercover. With 7 seats there’s plenty of space for the whole family. $21,900 NEG Phone: 0413 913 042
Brand new! 90HP Suzuki 4 stroke, Hydraulic steering, Live well, Bimini, Bait station, self draining fully welded floor, Kill tank. 4mm bottom, 3mm sides. Comes on Dunbier Glider trailer. Fishermans dream $39,950 Phone: 0404 891 776
CAR FOR SALE
CARAVAN AND CAR FOR SALE
2010 TOYOTA HILUX
8mtrs, vcomplete with all upgrades. Ford F250 V8 deisel w/ gas injection. tow vehicle. Full details on request. Will pass any inspection.
$40,000 Phone: 0421 000 789
Phone: 07 4162 5730
BOAT FOR SALE SAILING CATAMARAN 12.6m Light Cruiser. Sleeps 3. Auxiliary motor, dinghy and outboard. Located at Yeppoon. Call for full inventory and inspection $150,000 Phone: 0448 874 000 DINGHY FOR SALE
2012 Horizon 3.1M Aluminium Dinghy, 6HP Yamaha Motor and Redco trailer – All New, Registered 11/13 with safety gear.
$4,500
Phone: 0407 913 914 CAR FOR SALE 2006 DODGE RAM 3500 SLT Lonestar Edition Heavy Duty 5.9L Cummins Turbo Diesel Allison auto transmission Wood grain inserts 5th wheel hitch, tow bar 4 door dual cab Dual wheels, new tires and chrome Call for more detail..... Genuine sale!!!! 104000klms
Phone: 0419 788 599 HOUSE/LAND FOR SALE
LAND FOR SALE
NORTH OF YEPPOON
2.5 ACRES FARMLET
40ha. Open country, House, Dam, bore (1100gl/ ph) Submersible pump, Yards & ramp. Excellent garden & views. 50ks nth of Yeppoon Turnoff. 1.3ks off highway, bitumen road, School buses from Highway
Bitumen Road and Phone to front Gate. School, PO, Garage, Hospital, Hotel kindergarden and stores 15 min Drive. New gold mines in area.
$595,000 ono Phone: 07 4937 3564
$48,000 Phone: 0413 501 222
HOUSE FOR SALE
HOUSE FOR SALE
EMU PARK
Gracemere acreage and
brick at Emu Park. 3 beds, 2 bath big yard, fenced
residence. Large well appointed 5 bedroom home on 10 acres. Stables, yards, shed, bore. 3 km from new shopping centre.
Phone: 0409 630 311
Ph. 0419 672 181
$310,000
BUSINESS FOR SALE
1991 TOYOTA TROOPY
OPEN TAXI LICENCE FOR SALE IN ROCKHAMPTON
1hz motor, turbo diesel and gas which gives more power and econ. New suspension , injectors, timing belt, new paint ,windscreen, clutch, 12 months rego, 90% tyres.
$15,000 Phone: 0429 112 396 CAR PARTS FOR SALE
Front Bumper Land Cruiser 2012 $150 Standard Exhaust System 2.5 Inch $500 4x Standard GXL Rims $750 each Air Intake Snorkel (Top Only) $50 5 Dunlop Tyres 265/70R16 111RLT $250 Full Suspension Front Coil, Rear Leaf & Shockies $1000
Phone: 0429 831 021 BUSINESS FOR SALE
Currently leased @ $385 inc gst/week Includes shares in Rockhampton Cab Company Perfect sideline income
$320,000 neg
Phone: 0407 373 664 CAR FOR SALE 2008 H3 HUMMER Luxury 6.2lt V8 LS3. Auto transmission. Full leather, BOSE sound, 22” American racing rims.Only known H3 V8 in Australia. Collector’s item. 27000kms. Excellent condition. Very classy vehicle with performance to match. $73000 ono Emerald.Q. Phone: 0427 189 834 TRAILER FOR SALE
2 PRIME MOVERS With large capacity cranes, 4 Trailers Bundy based. Soild work contacts, carrying house frames and trusses to Gladstone, Rocky, Mackayand Central Highlands. Established 1981 T\O approx $380,000 Call for more info and pics Asking $350,000 WIWO Phone: 0408 988 866
LAND FOR SALE YEPPOON Acreage Living, City Conveniences! 4000 sqm North facing, corner premium block, 5 minutes from CBD, schools, transport. Plenty of space for shed, pool, kids to play. $300,000 Phone: 0409 391 254
Home built camping trailer, built to carry 3 full sizes bikes or a quad and bike, camp slides forwards or backwards to balance picture taken back for bikes to sit on 5 months rego. Tows very well $4,500 Phone: 0429 112 396 HOUSE/LAND FOR SALE MOUNT PERRY ”Main Top” Best most usable 40 acres in town. Good large level flats, great mountain veiws, hay shed, machinery shed, dam, House requires work. Power to house.Plenty of feed, Potential to work 7 on 7 off roster at mount Rawdon Gold mine, Bus travels daily to mine site. $235,000 Phone: 0488 079 675
HOUSE FOR SALE
LAND FOR SALE
MACLEAY ISLAND Your own private resort. Absolute waterfront home on Macleay Island Retire or use as a getaway www.realestate.com. au/property-house-qldmacleay+island-111073 031
$700,000 Phone: 0749 333 106
Phone: 1300 091 773
UNIT FOR SALE
HOUSE FOR SALE Immaculate 4BR home. BIR. 18 solar panels. Fully insulated & A/C. Ceiling fans. 2 bathrooms. 2 Toilets. Double lock-up garage. Stainless steel kitchen appliances. Spacious open plan kitchen, dining & lounge. Potential rental return above $22 000p/a. $429,000 Phone: 0418 796 074
HOUSE FOR SALE EMU PARK Beach front, Keppel Island views. Upstairs large main bedroom with large ensuite, 2nd bedroom, office, lounge, kitchenette and balcony. Downstairs 2 bedrooms lounge,kitchen, dining, formal dining, bathroom, laundry plus self contained granny flat $995,000 ono Phone: 0407 659 181
Phone: 0428 227 623
TAXI LICENCE IN BOOMING GLADSTONE
CAR FOR SALE
$350,000
The solution to accommodation in Mackay. Stay a few days, earn income while you’re away. 1 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom Beachfront Resort living, pool and restaurant on site.
BUSINESS FOR SALE
Sale price includes shares in “Gladstone Taxis”.
Phone: 0419 020 566
MACKAY
February 4, 2013
CAMPER AND CAR FOR SALE
Compass slide-on camper on Ford F250 ute.Camper sleeps 2 plus makeup 3rd. 3way Electrolux fridge, 2 burner stove, wired 12 & 240 volts, 100Lwater, PortaPotti, space for 2x4.5kg LPG and 2 batteries, steps and legs carried below floor. F250XL 2001, 4.2L diesel, 190,000km, strengthened springs, UHF, compressor. Whole unit $45,000 ono. Camper only $11,000 ono.
$79,000 ono Phone: 0432 429 264
Excellent low set 3YO
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2010 SOUTHERN CROSS 5th WHEELER
Mine Spec, BMA Thiess Mac Coal Certified, New 265 Maxxis Iron Mud Tires, ADB Bull Bar, Lightfrce Driving Light, Twin Battery, Snorkle, Iron-Man Lift Kit, Mine Radio x 2 UHF, 135 Litre Fuel Tank, Oconners Tray. Toolboxes, Fire Ext 1st Aid MSDS
BOAT FOR SALE 2004 PowerCat 2600 Sports Cabriolet. Twin 115hp Yamaha 4 stroke engines. Sleeps 4, Toilet, Shower. Road registered tandem trailer. Always maintained and kept in a shed. All safety gear. Excellent condition. Registered until September 2013. Reduced to $108,000.00 Must be sold. OFFERS, OFFERS, OFFERS Very Negotiable
PROSERPINE Rural land 15 min cbd proserpine 2x200 acre lots good grazing land and house sites will sell separately POA $ 520,000 the pair Phone: 0447 031 588 HOUSE TO SHARE YEPPOON Ocean views with one other person Enjoy your days off at the Beach Lockable car cover, heaps of lockable garage space and storage
$110/week Phone: 0429 451 196 after 5pm please
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MOVIE Review BY JUSTIN CARLOS
DJANGO Unchained is the latest offering from director extraordinaire Quentin Tarantino. The film is set in the United States, just before the civil war, and follows a German bounty hunter named Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) who frees a slave, Django, (Jamie Foxx) to help him collect the bounty on a group of slavers.
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(Leonardo Di Caprio). Django Unchained is essentially a spin on the Western genre; however, it may more aptly be described as a ‘Southern’ than a Western. There are plenty of gun fights and shootouts, and in traditional Tarantino fashion these scenes are done to excess, with blood flying by the bucketful.
Once the bounty is collected, Dr Schultz agrees to help Django t rack down and free his wife. Their investigations lead them to ‘Candyland’, one of the biggest cotton plantations in Mississippi, where they hatch an elaborate scheme to legally obtain Django’s wife’s freedom from cruel slave owner Calvin Candie
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Django Unchained lacks the scenes of protracted dialogue, which feature prominently in other Tarantino films (e.g. the basement scene in Inglorious Basterds), which comes as a refreshing change. It’s virtually impossible not to like Jamie Foxx as the freed slave, Django, rising up against his white oppressors, and Leonardo Di Caprio does a fine job as eccentric slave owner Calvin Candie. Although Christoph Waltz’s character is somewhat similar to the one he played in Inglorious Basterds, his charisma is impossible to resist, and his performance is probably the pick. Watch out for a cameo by Aussie actor John Jarrett, who features as a slaver in a scene with Tarantino himself. The film explores the racism inherent in the 19th century in unflinching fashion through the use of extreme language and violence - so a word of warning that this film may not be for everyone. Of interest is Samuel L Jackson’s character in the film; a sort of ‘Uncle Tom on crack’, a negro slave with the mentality and cruelty of a white slave owner. If you’re a fan of Tarantino then you don’t need me to tell you to see Django Unchained, but if you’re interested in westerns, or just a good old fashioned ‘revenge film’, then this one is definitely for you.
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LAST EDITION’S SOLUTIONS I MA G I N E C T N C I N C R E A S R M L C L OU I S I A E V E F UME A L C OR B I T E D N A I U V E NOM T D A Y I C L OU T S N U T S E S AME
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FROm THE EDITOR THE weather that has wreaked havoc in Queensland is to put some of the state’s mines out of commission for weeks due to damaged infrastructure, rail and roads. A phone around by the Shift Miner team has found several companies still measuring the impact on their workers and operations as well as large operations that have again been hit hard. A burst levee wall at the Middlemount open coal pit caused flooding that is expected to cause a three-week loss of production. Most Anglo American, BMA and Rio Tinto mines - particularly in the northern Bowen Basin received between 200mm to 250mm, but no major damage has been reported. By the time of going to press the damage bill for the storm has climbed to $116 million, though that is likely to continue to rise as businesses re-assess losses and Bundaberg mops up from flooding that has already occurred and other
centres, such as Rockhampton, deal with delayed flooding as water makes its way downstream. The Insurance Council of Australia has declared new catastrophe zones along the eastern seaboard, while reporting that claims from Queensland nearly doubled in 48 hours to 9800 last week. That figure will continue to rise and may even double. What is important in these tough times is how we react now. The state and federal governments are already talking about assistance packages and a taskforce to carry out the re-build. One question many will be asking is what could have been done to prevent the damage? There also has to be fresh ways found to avoid damage, loss of life and disruption to business as rebuilding and pumping out oceans of water for ever and a day after every flood event is not sustainable. Comment or SMS 0409 471 014
Stuff
Locally Owned
& Operate d
Who goes who stays? (Fair Work Australia says talk to resolve ugly dispute P4 SM153)
and gas com munity’s bes t source of local news
www.shift miner.co m
to the Editor
Monday Janua ry 21,
companies are just getting rid of the people they don’t like on mine sites and blaming the bad coal prices. I have been in the industry for more than a decade and I can tell you
M A G A Z I N E
Driver n o requiredt AutomAtio AheAd Leadinng industry recruiter say
PERSONA L INJ EXPERTS URY All accidents
and personal injury claims:
s -OTOR 6EHICLE ! s 0UBLIC ,IABILITY CCIDENTS s 7ORKERS )NJURY s 4OTAL AND 0ERM #LAIMS s -INING !CCIDEN #LAIMS s "OATING AND (OANENT $ISABILITY )NSURANCE T #LAIMS #LAIMS LIDAY !CCIDENT #LA $ARREN 3EKAC IS A IMS 7HITSUNDAY AND 0 VAILABLE FOR CONSULTATIONS A APPOINTMENT ONLY ROSERPINE OFlCES ON 4HUR T THE SDAY BY
s major com panies are moving qui ckly toward automatio n. What doe that mean s for the wo rker? Âť Â Â Find out pag e 9.
Darren Sekac *
*Personal Injuries Law Accredited Specialist
Call 4944
www.macamiet
MACK AY
(MACKAY)
2000
.com.au
Some readers fishy about facts (Report on the report gives all clear P11 SM153)
$170 a tonne isn’t a “bad price�.
There may have been 60 reports -
Travis, Mackay
but I bet they knew the outcome
I am pretty new to mining, but I can see already that all these “long
before they started. Anonymous, Curtis Island
timers� who are hanging round like
How can you say there is no link
bad smells need to get a dose of
between the dredging and fish
reality. There is no other industry
health? Fish healthy - dredging starts
in Australia where the workforce
- fish get sick. It seems pretty obvious
decides who stays and who goes in
to me. Wilson Gladstone
be made. Anonymous
Ed’s Note : I think its a bit more complicated than that. There were
For all you blokes who haven’t or
also major releases from Awonga
won’t join the union, now is the time
Dam at the time
when you see why it’s there. I don’t know what happened to loyalty in for your job. Bill, Collinsville
Frank the Tank (Dishes not done P17 SM153)
How is it that the Union and Theiss
Dear Frank. I think this story made a
can have a completely different
lot of sense to all us blokes on DIDO
view of how things have happened
rosters. I have taken your advice
at Collinsville? Someone is telling
and look forward to seeing a good
porkies. Anonymous
result soon. Des, Banana
the workplace, but you have to fight
This was sent in before the big wet. See lots more images on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/shiftminer
SEEN SOMETHING WE HAVEN’T? Prizes for the best mining photos. Take it on your phone or camera and send it in - Text to 0409 471 014 alex.graham@shiftminer.com
Got something to share? Send us your text messages or phone photos to 0409 471 014 Or email to alex.graham@shiftminer.com
Tune into the Michael J. Breakfast show from 7:35 am every Monday for 4RO's CQ Mining Update, with special guest Angus from Shift Miner.
Michael Bailey
Greg Cary
Alan Jones
Laurie Atlas
Weekdays 5am - 9am
NOW WITH MORE NEWS, MORE TALK AND THE MUSIC YOU LOVE WWW.4RO.COM.AU
18
February 4, 2013
2013 153rd Edition
Like they always have, mining
a downturn. Hard decisions have to
Photos to THE EDITOR
SHIFT MIN ER The Queens land mining
Weekdays 12pm - 1pm PHONE: 1300 872 911
Weekdays 9am - 12pm
Weekdays 1pm - 6pm
SALES ENQUIRIES: (07) 4920 2000
Shift Miner Magazine
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Frank the Tank’s Dear Frank,
I have a secret that has become a problem. Ever since I was a small boy, I have always loved to dress up in women’s clothes. The only problem is that I have always relied on sneaking into my wife’s wardrobe and wearing her dresses when she is out with the girls, but just recently she took the lot and donated them to St Vinnies. She’s really put on the beef and says the dresses were making her too uncomfortable. Now she is lounging around in a pair of tracky-daks and I have nothing to wear. Help! Donald, Chinchilla Well, Donald, normally when a bloke writes in for advice on chasing skirt they’re talking about something completely different.
I must say, too, that your request for help has conjured up some terrible memories of my last trip to Thailand. I was offered an all-expenses-paid trip to judge a beauty pageant, which I naturally accepted. The women in this competition were stunning, and of course, being the legendary lothario that I am, I managed to lure the winner back to my hotel room. After a few glasses of wine things were getting hot and heavy, but when I moved south of the border I got a very disturbing surprise. I can tell you with no doubt whatsoever that is the last time I will ever agree to judge the Miss LadyBoy Pageant. Before I focus on your desire to prance around as ‘Donald, Queen of Chinchilla’, I’d like to say that I’m mortified to hear that your wife has ‘put on the beef’. What kind of a household are you running? If your wife starts to gain weight, you
“Streakin” good love advice
purposely take an interest in agriculture, strap a plough to her back and send her out to toil in the ‘fields’. Had you done this right from the start, your wife would be slim as the day you married her, and you’d have more crops than you could poke a ball gown at. Now, onto the transvestism! If you don’t want to entertain the idea of giving up dressing like a woman, perhaps you’ll have to find other ways to get your fix. Head down to the local lingerie store and say you want to pick something out for your wife. Buy yourself an elaborate bra and panty combo that you can wear under your work clothes. What better thrill than walking around onsite with everyone unaware that you’re wearing a silk and lace ensemble under your work gear? Just try to be careful, you might have a lot of explaining to do if you bend
over at work and your mates see a black lace thong sticking out the top of your strides. Frank
SENSIBLE SUSAN
Donald, A lot of people have unusual tendencies and it’s really nothing to be embarrassed about, although I get the feeling from the tone of your letter that you’re not quite ready to reveal your frock fetish to your wife. Perhaps you could try shopping for some dresses online? That way you could shop anonymously, and if you arrange delivery for a time when you know your wife isn’t going to be home you can quickly stash your new wardrobe away in the back of the closet to be worn at your leisure.
Susan
If you have a question for Frank and Susan Email Us at: franksusan.shiftminer@gmail.com
Fair Dinkum! IN SPAIN - A chimp at the Seville
Zoo is suffering an unusual addiction. Gina the chimp is addicted to human porn. Zookeepers installed a television in Gina’s enclosure in an effort to liven up her nights. After checking to see if Gina had mastered the TV remote control, they discovered that not only was she proficient in changing channels, but she had already settled on the porn channel as her favourite.
IN THE USA
- A Baltimore man has received an official reprimand from his employer for farting at work. The reprimand detailed 60 specific times in which the man had passed gas, and stated that his “uncontrollable flatulence” had created an “intolerable” and “hostile” work
environment for co-workers. A photograph of the employee in question was published on American website The Smoking Gun. The choice snap features the man and his wife at an amusement park standing next to someone dressed up as Pepe Le Pew.
IN ENGLAND - Dogs out for a
walk got more than they bargained for when they inadvertently consumed cannabis. At least two dogs tucked into the mysterious package, which was left on a walking track in Manchester. After his dog collapsed upon arriving
home, owner Neil Rogers walked back to the track and recovered the package, which was later identified by police as cannabis. All the stoned dogs made a full recovery, however they displayed an increased proclivity for cheetos and Pink Floyd.
IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY - A lightning
strike has blown the breasts off an iconic Venus de Milo statue. Stonemason Tom Finlay carved the statue as a tribute to NT women, and was standing only 50 metres away when a lightning bolt blew it to pieces. Somehow the 30 kilogram set of breasts survived the 8 metre drop with only minor damage to one nipple. Mr Finlay stated he was considering having the breasts mounted on the wall in his office.
Farting is only funny if you are Pepe Le Pew. For a Baltimore man, flatulence led to a formal warning at work.
February 4, 2013
19
Shift Miner Magazine
www.shiftminer.com
Phone
home IT IS a truth universally acknowledged that all
relationships need time and attention in order
to flourish. So when one of you is away for up to three weeks at a time, working awkward shifts, it could be a
problem. Or not as
Shift Miner discovers. 20
February 4, 2013
IT’S the end of a 12-hour shift and as you enter your room at the local camp, you don’t notice the suspicious smell of stale urine nor what could be a grease mark from the previous bloke’s buttock on your supplied towel. What is upmost on your mind is whether it’s too late to call home. (This might not be the case, as those suspicious towel marks can be hard to ignore, but it is just a scenario we’re making up here.) In order to answer this question, Shift Miner braved Rockhampton’s wild weather and drove through torrential rain to the cosy confines of Maccas on Musgrave Street. There, a group calling themselves the Central Queensland Miners’ Wives Support Group, meet every Tuesday (and they have groups in Gladstone and Yeppoon, but that’s another story for another time). Carolyne Vilciauskas, mother to toddler Mia and baby Ruby, is originally from Sydney but moved to Rockhampton when her husband Ryan got a job out west. His schedule means he is home for two
weekends and away for two weekends. “Ryan speaks to the kids every night before they go to bed,” she says. “Mia goes to bed at eight purely for the purpose that he can talk to her at 7.15” “Because he doesn’t have internet, he video records messages and emails them to my phone, and then I play them to the Mia. When she really misses him, I can replay the recorded message.” Carolyne says when Ryan does come home, he will step in and take Mia to her swimming lessons and take her anywhere he goes. “When he does come home she goes nuts and won’t leave him alone!” For Victoria Murray, who set up the support group, keeping that communication going with her husband is vital - both for him and their four kids. “We speak morning and night and my younger kids Kik him - it’s texting for free and they do it from their iPods to his phone. “My [teenage] daughter got a mobile phone for Christmas and she speaks to Dad whenever she wants.”
Victoria says her husband never goes to work without her speaking to him, even if it means waking up at 4am. “He was working from 8.30 to 8.30 this week and we would stay up to speak to him at 10.30pm,” she says. “I never discuss anything controversial while he is away, because if anything happened to him I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.” Despite her husband working away for weeks at a time, Victoria says he spends better time with the kids then he did when he previously ran the family farm.
Strategies for children Most experts agree that having a partner doing fly-in, fly-out or drive-in, drive-out work is a challenge, there are steps you can take to make it work for your family. What is important to note is that it does have more of a negative impact on younger children than it does on teenagers. This is because young children need to develop a secure attachment to both parents, a sense of security and stability
@ home
Helping children to understand their situation, their experience of the situation and getting the support they need to cope will positively impact how they cope with challenges in the future. Here are some tips: • Have a routine in place for the children and ensure this remains stable during the absence and return of the FIFO parent, such as same bedtimes and mealtimes. • Agree on discipline strategies and stick to these during absence and presence. • Ensure the FIFO parent has regular contact with the children, and this needs to be daily for young children: phone calls, Skype, emails, Facebook and text messaging. You can read a bedtime story or help out with homework. Know what is going on and provide support. • For the partner at home, it is important to have access to extended family or a support network. This can be easier said than done, but there are online communities if you find it hard to get out. Otherwise, you can meet other parents through playgroups or schools. • The stay-at-home parent should remember that it the FIFO parent is also facing challenges: being away from family, working long hours often in isolation etcetera.
in the home environment. This becomes a blueprint for them in later life when it comes to forming successful relationships. Long periods of separation can have a negative impact on a young child forming an attachment with their parent. And the length of separation is relative to the
child’s age. For example, one week in a toddler’s life is a far more significant length of time than in a teenager’s life. But before you panic and decide to chuck in the job because you think you will scar your child for life, there are steps and strategies you can take to lessen the
impact of one partner being away. Remember, too, that having one parent absent is not just an issue for FIFO/DIDO. For many families outside the resources industry, a parent often leaves for work before the kids wake up and returns when they are asleep.
• Both partners need to have some space when the FIFO parent returns acknowledge there may be resentment on both sides, move on and then make sure sure you both enjoy your time together. • Spend quality time with the family. It may be as simple as a picnic, time at the park or a movie night in the lounge room. This gives everyone a uniting point that they can talk about when someone is away and helps maintain a good bond for everyone.
February 4, 2013
21
Shift Miner Magazine
@ home
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to the recipient. Or you can video call. It’s also a great way to send through photos and images, and you get to keep the conversation history. This is great for young kids who may miss a parent and just want to hear their voices over and over - and over!
Great tools
to stay in touch
Like Kik, you can do group messaging. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This App is optimised for iPhone 5. Android 2.1 and up. Tango: Shift Miner hasn’t road tested this product, but has it on good authority from mining families that this is also a great way for kids to keep in touch with their away parent. Again, it is free video and voice calling, and texting. Like WeChat, you can send audio or video messages, as well as sending through images and photos. Requirements: Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This App is optimised for iPhone 5. Android. 2.2 and up.
ONCE upon a time, about 10 years ago, the release of Skype was like a science fiction movie come true. Well, for any of us born before 1982 it was. Imagine making a phone call where you can actually see the person you’re talking to? It was beyond our wildest imaginings back in the day. But in 2013, “skyping” is a part of our vocabulary, just as is “facebooking”, and every day there is a new App available
for your smartphone to help you stay in communication with friends and family. Skype is used more and more for business and education as these new Apps for both iPhone and Android take over. A word of caution, though. Any Apps or programs that use video can chew quite viciously through your monthly data allowance, so check it out first. Otherwise you may be in a similar predicament as of our Shift
Miner folk: two minutes into the holidays and the monthly internet data has been gobbled up by the kids. And a hefty bill presented. So here are some Apps that you can use on both iPhone and Android. The great news for some of these is that if you have young kids, who don’t yet have a phone, they can stay in touch with you via iPad or ipod. Kik: Kik is a great way for young kids to stay in touch with a parent - and free. It’s fast, simple and personal - and even one of the Shift Miner team’s seven-year-old offspring is an expert. Said child’s 11-year-old sister uses Kik on her iPod to stay in touch with friends overseas and with her cousins. Messages are sent really quickly so conversations do come to life. None of this being five-minutes behind the conversation malarky you get on other systems. With Kik, you have a username rather than a phone number for your ID so you can keep your privacy. Like Facebook, you choose who you want to have in your communication circle. Requirements: It’s compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Requires iOS 4.3 or later. This App is optimised for iPhone 5. Android 2.2 and up. WeChat: This is quite similar to Kik, but the focus is more on recording voice or video messages and sending them through
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February 4, 2013
Oldies but goodies: You can’t ignore good old Viber - the free voice calling and texting service. Depending on what your mobile coverage is like, you can still have a pretty good conversation and it doesn’t chew nearly as much data as video calling. Shift Miner has used this to make overseas phone calls - and some to developing countries - and with only a faint echo, so it is a very handy App to have. Viber synchronises with your address book, so as soon as someone joins Viber you will be alerted. Facebook: Do we really need to explain this? If you aren’t on FB, get on there, make sure you set your privacy settings to the strictest, and still be aware that what you put up there could become public. But it is a great way to stay in touch. Whether your teenager wants you to be friend is another story.... And Skype. Now in its tenth year, Skype is still handy to have and is easy to use on an iPad. Shift Miner would say that if you are not concerned too much about data usage, Skype is still a really easy way to stay in touch and for most parts will give you good quality picture and sound. You can download the Skype App on your phone, too. Word of warning: you can become complacent. If you happen to be playing on your computer/phone/iPad and clad in either very little or some daggy pyjamas, DON’T answer that Skype call unless it is an immediate family member!
Shift Miner Magazine
Off Shift
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Redmond’s Rants
Caravan of love
I SEE a decent number of people travelling around in caravans and motorhomes. I think north Queensland’s weather and landscape are huge drawcards. “Grey Nomads” is their most common label, and I hear a lot of moaning from some road users about the pace and ability in driving that certain Grey Nomads display. So let’s explore that. A Grey Nomad is generally a retiree. So for more than four decades he has been getting up out of his bed before dawn to get his work done. Four decades of putting up with morons at work; four decades of sandwiches packed in Tupperware; four decades of overtime; countless mornings going out the door to work while his babies cough and suffer the weepy nose flu; hundreds of hours sitting behind his books, juggling money for food, rates, rego, power and the other million bills; nervous times sitting at the doctors being delivered good and bad news. For close enough to 50 years he has been on somebody else’s time.
I like to daydream of the time when I can wheel out onto the open road for a proper look around. As a retiree, I imagine I will drive down the cold Blue Mountains in New South Wales and remember my time there in my yougerdays. I want to indulge myself by driving slowly from Cronulla to Botany for a picnic in the bay and remember all the times I used to do that trip twice a day at breakneck speed - dodging red lights and being the fastest rat in that rat race. I guess our average Grey Nomad is driving around doing just that, living on his (rightly earned) time. I truly hope that when he’s driving along and the rest of the world is still insisting on racing, roaring and raging around him, he can smile and relax and say to himself: “Race on people, I’ve already beaten you!” NB: Retiree is a better term than Grey Nomad, and I’ve use “him” instead of the him/her in this article as, at the moment, most retirees are baby boomers and they know political correctness is just a wank!
Who is Redmond? Redmond was born in a cross-fire hurricane and now resides in Queensland. Former Golden Glove champ turned champion shearer, his shearing career was cut short when he entered the adult film industry and made 3467 films in three months. He now enjoys semi-retirement and lives happily on his 100,000 acre property with his seven wives. He has received the annual Golden Pen award from the Writer’s Guild four years in a row in the Truth Telling category...
Boredom relief So, you’re sitting in the airport, bored out of your brain, what do you do? APPly yourself of course! Awful puns aside, in this Jetson-esque age of ours, smart phone apps offer a fantastic relief from boredom in almost any situation. Without further ado, here are some weird and wonderful apps sure to keep you amused.
Most popular Words with Friends Many years ago people called this ‘Scrabble’, and that’s basically what this app is. Duke it out with friends or randoms to see who can make the best words and score the most points. Prepare yourself for immense frustration, however, when you’re stuck with four Qs and no U, and your opponent plays the word ‘Cyborgs’ for 138 points. Angry Birds Some evil pigs have stolen eggs from a group of birds, and the birds are angry... angry birds. It’s your job to defeat the pigs, which is done by launching birds at pigs and their makeshift hiding places in an effort to score points. This unusual concept has earned its
creators billions, largely due to the extreme addictiveness of the game. SongPop If you fancy yourself a music buff then this one is definitely for you. SongPop pits you against an opponent and plays you five songs from a popular genre of music (e.g. classic rock, love songs, 80s etc). It’s up to you to guess the song or the artist correctly as quick as you can. The quicker you guess, the more points you get. The downside to this one is it requires sound, so if you’re going to play in public be sure to bring your headphones.
Just plain weird iHobo Download this app and you’ll be charged with the care of a virtual homeless person for three days. Your only job is not to fail, as neglect spells death for your iHobo. Places I’ve Pooped Don’t you just hate not being able to recall all the places you’ve made number two? Don’t you wish someone would make an app that helped you keep track of this extremely important information? Somebody did.
iVoodoo What better way to smite your enemies than with voodoo, but the dolls, the needles, the chicken blood, it’s all too much...until now. You can assign up to five iVoodoo dolls at any time
and proceed to inflict an array of punishment upon your enemies. This app also caters for those without evil intentions, with pins available to effect positive reactions like love.
Prepare yourself for immense frustration, however, when you’re stuck with four Qs and no U, and your opponent plays the word ‘Cyborgs’ for 138 points. February 4, 2013
23
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er t n a B op h S Bait
“I will be out there having a good look around, but honestly I have no idea what this amount of rain will do. I reckon there’ll be fresh water all the way out to Masthead - and that is 30 nautical miles offshore.”
from the Rosslyn Bay Fishermen’s Co-op. “There are also a lot of big blue and king salmon around and boats heading out wide and coming back with red throat emperor and coral trout.” The river boys are now chasing the barra, with the season now officially open, and there are plenty of mud crabs in the Fitzroy. “You need to pick your window, but get out there in-between weather systems and you should have a good day of it,” says John.
MACKAY
Yum yum.
GLADSTONE
It’s not every day, every year - or even every decade - that you get to witness eight metres of water spilling over Awoonga Dam. But that’s exactly what has happened in Gladstone after extropical cyclone Oswald dropped a metre of rain on the region. So what does it mean for those who can’t wait to get out there and throw the line in? Well, nobody is really quite sure. “That’s a really tough question, and I am only guessing what might happen,” says Dylan from Pat’s Tackleworld in Gladstone. “All I know is that whenever
we see a fresh water influx it’s always good fishing.” In fact, after the 2011 floods, the barra fishing in the creeks around Gladstone was so good that people were travelling from northern New South Wales to pull in monster catches. But there are some differences to the last event: “Last time there were a whole lot more fish in the dam, and a whole lot less water going over. It’s my guess the barra won’t be as big this time either,” says Dylan. Barra season is now open (as of midday February 2) so the one thing you can be sure of is there will be lots of people out there keen to find out what’s lurking in the waters.
The rain has eased, and the fishing is good - really good. “We’ve had 12 inches of rain and big tides, but the water is starting to clean up and the fishing should be on the money from this weekend,” says Nashy from the Compleat Angler in Mackay. “As the water clears, the whiting and grunter will have a chew and so will the trevally and salmon. There will be fingermark in the deeper holes in the creeks and creek mouths and along the rocky headlands in spots like Cape Hillsborough.” The rain has also been stirring the crabs out, moving them out of their holes and onto the flats, chasing saltier water. “It’s beautiful weather for prawns - very very hot - and all the indicators say they should be coming on strong,” says Nashy.
If fishing is your thing, get out there on the Capricorn Coast because the reports are pouring in and they’re all positive. “There are big prawns swanning along the beaches and at Corio Bay,” says John
T
MACKAY Gladstone
MACKAY Gladstone
Mon 4
Week 1 - Ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald, or Ozzie, started in the Gulf and followed the Bruce Highway south dumping extreme rain and destructive tornado-like winds along the Queensland seaboard into New South Wales. The extreme rainfall rates caused flooding with the Upper Dee recording up to a metre of rain which caused flooding. This also caused 5 to 8 metre rapid river and creek rises on the Australia Day long weekend around the Dawson, Connors and Isaacs rivers. The water wiped out a bridge and a few properties around Stanwell. The waters converged into the Fitzroy
24
February 4, 2013
River and peaked as a major flood around 8.55 metres. Some 4 day record rainfall totals (mm) across the Coalfields were set – Upper Dee 1100, Besch’s Hill 920, Blackdown 394, Baralaba 384, Middlemount 342, Biloela 295, Moura 275, Westwood 252, Mt. Bridget 245, Collinsville 238, Braeside 195, Theodore 172, Capella 152, Moranbah 146, Rolleston 122, Springsure 107, Comet 103, Clermont 73, Emerald 59. Heat Wave conditions, including 40.3C at Moranbah, followed the wet with isolated afternoon and evening storm activity. A relieving south-easterly breeze should reach inland; making conditions rather more comfortable for most of this week. Boaties! After Ozzie wind gusts to 107kph at
angus.peacocke@shiftminer.com
YEPPOON
your weather forecast
“Ozzie” floods mines
If you have a good photo or fishing yarn send it through to our resident bait chucker-
i
d
With Mike Griffin
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0314 0946 1533 2148
3.49 1.64 3.20 1.32
0443 1114 1703 2308
3.66 1.45 3.24 1.20
0559 1226 1821
3.95 1.16 3.42
0024 0659 1324 1922
1.00 4.24 0.86 3.63
0125 0751 1413 2012
0.77 4.46 0.63 3.82
0216 0836 1458 2057
0.58 4.58 0.48 3.96
0301 0917 1538 2138
0.46 4.61 0.41 4.05
0515 1148 1741
4.68 1.98 4.23
0002 0638 1316 1903
1.39 5.05 1.63 4.41
0117 0747 1424 2010
1.11 5.50 1.21 4.69
0221 0843 1519 2106
0.80 5.89 0.86 4.94
0316 0930 1606 2152
0.55 6.16 0.62 5.14
0404 1013 1649 2235
0.38 6.29 0.49 5.28
0447 1054 1728 2316
0.32 6.30 0.45 5.36
Mon 11
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0343 0957 1617 2218
0.45 4.55 0.44 4.07
0421 1035 1654 2257
0.55 4.39 0.56 4.02
0458 1112 1728 2335
0.75 4.14 0.76 3.89
0532 1147 1759
1.03 3.84 1.00
0012 0605 1221 1828
3.72 1.33 3.51 1.25
0052 0644 1300 1903
3.53 1.63 3.20 1.50
0144 0744 1355 2003
3.34 1.88 2.93 1.70
0528 1132 1805 2355
0.38 6.17 0.51 5.34
0607 1209 1839
0.57 5.89 0.67
0034 0644 1245 1913
5.23 0.89 5.49 0.93
0113 0721 1321 1947
5.03 1.30 5.01 1.25
0154 0801 1358 2024
4.76 1.75 4.50 1.61
0242 0852 1448 2116
4.47 2.18 4.01 1.95
0352 1017 1613 2242
4.25 2.48 3.66 2.16
Yeppoon winds reverted to a normal pattern. Monday: south-easterlies of 15-20 around Heron reaching the Whitsundays later in the day. Tuesday to Wednesday: south-easterlies of 16-22 gusting 27 in a squally shower. Thursday: south-easterly and east-south-easterlies of 1813. Showers possible north of Shoalwater Bay. Friday: south-easterlies 12-8 tending east-northeasterly during the afternoon. Saturday: northeasterlies of 5-10 gusting to 18 knots inshore during the afternoon. Sunday: south-easterlies to east-south-easterly 15-10 knots. Week 2 - The Monsoon Trough (MT) in the north has gone quiet. The SOI, after rocketing from -8 to +4, has now fallen to +1. Next cyclone will be
named “Rusty”. A tired worn out name for the end of summer. The heat, likely to be 37 to 39C, returns early in the week and should continue. There is some slight relief with an easterly breeze around mid-week. A late afternoon thundery shower about the Central West will threaten the western Coalfields. Marine Lovers! Tough call! If a low develops in the northern Coral Sea winds could pick up late week. Otherwise light with afternoon sea breeze. Monday to Wednesday: east-southeasterlies of 10-15 knots tending east-north-east in the afternoon. Thursday to Friday: east-southeasterlies up to 12 to 17 knots and 15 to 20 knots throughout the weekend.
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Beef capital real estate remains bullish THE softening of the mining industry has been felt all the way to Brisbane, but real estate in the beef capital of Australia remains bullish. Rockhampton real estate agent Noel Livingstone told Shift Miner that going on last year, it is looking pretty good for 2013. “We finished last year very solidly sales-wise, but it’s a bit too early to make any calls,” he said. “But there are no factors to make me feel anything but optimistic.” The softening of the mining industry has had no impact on the market, Mr Livingstone said, but Rockhampton will still get more kick-backs when it picks up towards the end of the year. There is a very low vacancy rate with rentals, but this year will see more houses and units added to available stock. “There are new subdivisions happening on Norman Road and further developments at Parkhurst. Gracemere continues to develop,” Mr Livingstone said. “The surety in the rental market shows
we have a shortage in accommodation, so most of the new plans do go to investors because of this.” The bottom end of the market is the most popular, and anything up to the $400,000 to $450,000 mark is where the bulk of sales are happening. “It’s a fairly strong market from a sales point of view, but at the same time it’s not over-priced so there is no need to be wary from a buyer’s point of view,” Mr Livingstone said. “We’ve also been getting a spin-off from Gladstone.” With rents and house prices in the port city significantly higher than those in Rockhampton, there has been a trend to live in Rocky and commute. “A lot of people are living in Gracemere because it is perfectly placed - you can just jump on a bus for an hour and read the paper or sleep on the way to Gladstone.” “I have seen for a number of years that Rocky is seen as place where you can invest your money.”
“A lot of people are living in Gracemere because it is perfectly placed - you can just jump on a bus for an hour and read the paper or sleep on the way to Gladstone.”
February 4, 2013
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Look west for best returns PROFESSIONAL property market watcher Terry Ryder reckons Surat Basin towns have the potential for some double digit growth in value this year. That’s on top of a similar performance in 2012, making it attractive for investors. When he spoke to Shift Miner he highlighted that Roma (13 per cent), Miles (11 per cent) and Chinchilla (11 per cent) as three centres that had risen in average value over the past 12 months. “They have had good strong growth but it hasn’t been astronomical,” he says. “That’s because the resource projects around these towns have a big life cycle in them. He described Dalby as “a little behind” the other centres but expected it to catch up this year while the surprise packet for the astute investor is likely to be Toowoomba. That’s because growth in the wider region will have more of an impact on the town as existing businesses get more of the gas-related trade such as rail and pipelines. Mr Ryder, from the property
website www.hotspotting.com. au, says this is because the resource sector will continue to grow in the Surat and more jobs will be created and existing ones maintained. These towns also had the advantage of having a reason to exist beyond coal and gas and that made them a safer long-term investment location compared to places, such as Moranbah, that are totally reliant on mining. However, those who bought into Moranbah at the top of the market last year shouldn’t despair, according to Mr Ryder. He said if they can hold onto their purchases they should still make a profit despite a dramatic drop in prices. “During the GFC Moranbah crashed and then came back,” he says. “But when some of the projects there get cranked up again the prices will start to go up again.” Surat Basin Property Group chief executive Jason van Hooft believes meeting demand for new housing in the region will remain a challenge this year. “It is up to the private and public sectors to work on ways to
fast track development approvals and delivery of housing,” he says. “House prices in Chinchilla have increased by more than 370 per cent since 2003 and during the same period the value of homes in Miles has increased by more than 400 per cent. “Rents have also increased significantly and there is a real risk that residential property will become unaffordable for many members of the community unless the supply pipeline is not significantly increased.” Mr van Hooft says investment in the resource and mining, water and gas and transport and energy industries totals around $21.9 billion which translates to about 10,000 new direct jobs. He said the mining and resources industry will continue to be the biggest contributor to the region’s economy - tipping in $6.5 billion by 2031, with oil and gas expected to be the region’s fastest growing sector over the next 20 years, with an 11.5 per cent workforce increase. Surat Basin Property Group is one of the largest providers of residential housing in the region.
Gladstone market edges towards buyers
GLADSTONE’S real estate is still more costly that nearby Rockhampton, but there is some good news on the horizon for buyers and tenants. According to Gladstone real estate agent Mark Spearing, the market is evenly distributed between buyers and sellers, but it is edging toward the buyers now. “House sales values are still good. They are still ticking through and we are seeing a lull following Christmas, but that’s normal across Australia,” he told Shift Miner. “There is a good turnover of sales so looking at a busy first quarter.” “In terms of buyers, I am seeing
a slight change in trend from there being slightly more investors than families to there being slightly more families than investors.” Mr Spearing says Boulder Steele, which put out its environmental impact statement recently, could have a strong effect on the market if its steel works go ahead. The $4.4 billion project would seen another 2000 workers in Gladstone if it gets the green light. In terms of rentals, the market is still very strong and competitive. “There is more stock than there was in November, which is good for tenants, but it is turning over so you have to act quickly,” he says. The average price for threebedroom home is $450 to $500 a week, and between $600 to $650 a week for four bedrooms. Mr Spearing says the new accommodation on Curtis Island has not had a huge impact on the mainland market.“Most of those have been fly-in, fly-out, so they are not in the Gladstone market. They were never using this environment in the first place so there is no impact.”
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