ST GEORGE will be the first stop for the new Queensland Music Trails initiative, bringing a stellar lineup of performers to rural and regional audiences from April this year.
Queensland Music Festival (QMF) will deliver the new events in partnership with the state government as part of a $20 million plan announced last year to highlight a wide range of tourism destinations while boosting Queensland’s performing arts sector.
The first three trails will be in Outback Queensland, the Western Downs and the Scenic Rim, with lineups for the Reef, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, the Tropics and Gold Coast to be finalised later this year.
This year’s Outback Trail will start in St George. IMAGE: Katrina Lehmann
QMF described the trails as a “musical Route 66 of Queensland”, adding that the first-of-its-kind music tourism experience was designed to entice visitors to discover Queensland’s natural beauty through exciting events in unexpected locations.
“Queensland is a vast, spectacular and diverse place,” QMF CEO Joel Edmondson said.
“Queensland Music Trails events will create powerful engagement with the community, culture, heritage and natural appeal of our places, so that the world can experience the beautiful truth of what Queensland is, has been, and will become.”
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Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch said Queensland Music Trails would create employment opportunities for musicians and arts workers while engaging audiences and enhancing cultural vibrancy in communities.
“The Music Trails align with the priorities of Creative Together, our ten-year roadmap to transform the state through creativity, and to provide rich cultural experiences for audiences,” Enoch said.
Indi band Hussy Hicks and musicians Karl S Williams and Jem Cassar-Daley will launch the Outback Trail on April 13 with performances in St George, followed by the Outback River Lights Festival in Cunnamulla with Emma Donavan and the Putbacks and Alice Skye.
Then it’s on to Charleville, where C.W. Stoneking and His Primitive Horn Orchestra will raise the roof at The Big Base Party at the WWII Secret Base, ahead of The Sundowner with Harry James Angus and Barleyshakes Duo in Tambo.
Queensland Music Trails will return to country Queensland with new events this April. IMAGE: Katrina Lehmann
There’ll be gourmet picnics aplenty during the Scenic Rim Trail and its signature event, The Long Sunset, featuring Lime Cordiale, Sycco and Tia Gostelow.
The Western Downs hosts the Southern Trail from May 5-7, which will include the much-loved Opera at Jimbour, featuring Opera Queensland, Ensemble Q and the Griffith University Conservatorium of Music Orchestra.
“Music Trails are part of our Towards Tourism 2032 roadmap for building new experiences to help visitors discover more of regional Queensland,” Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said.
“A three-show Outback trial in 2021 supported 33 jobs and added $8.4 million to the visitor economy, so the potential to bring music to the ears of tourism operators is enormous.
“We know a strong pipeline of sporting and cultural events is absolutely important to maximise the opportunities on Queensland’s runway to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
THOSE bloody Kiwis with their superior footy team.
The All Blacks are leagues above the Wallabies, with more class than a first date pub counter meal and more depth than a Gold Coast gutter at low tide.
The Wallabies can surprise us with a Bledisloe match win on the odd occasion, however you can usually count on the All Blacks to teach us a lesson in rugby union whenever a Trans-Tasman test is played.
But rugby aside, I’m more envious of New Zealanders before the game even kicks off.
Their national anthem is brilliant, sung in two languages with such passion that it almost brings the house down, even when the match is played in an Australian stadium.
It’s the same when the French play.
Sitting in front of the television, I’m honestly more likely to start singing along with that rousing refrain “Aux armes citoyens, Formez vos bataillons” than I am with “In joyful strains then let us sing Advance Australia Fair“.
What do those lyrics even mean? The song is lame. In that pointless second verse it says “To make this Commonwealth of ours renowned of all the lands“. Clichéd and cringeworthy.
Aside from boring references to “golden soil” and our home being “girt by sea”, the song doesn’t invoke any imagery of Australia’s natural, cultural and historical beauty.
Advance Australia Fair is written in the obscure musical key of B-flat major and bugger all Aussies can sing it remotely in tune.
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After the crowd has waited through that droning instrumental intro, most people are too shy to put any heart into their vocal cords because what comes out might sound like fingernails scratching a chalkboard.
I’m like most people who, when the duty arises to sing Advance Australia Fair, merely mouth the words quietly for fear of being that lone, embarrassingly off-tune voice that can be heard above the rest by anyone nearby.
The Kiwis, the French and seemingly those of most other nationalities aren’t awkward about it.
They all love their anthem, and everyone sings with such gusto that the odd screeching cat amongst the crowd is drowned out by the stirring sound of cohesive patriotism.
There’s one rendition of Advance Australia Fair that, to me, is memorable. Tina Arena crushed it when she sung the song a cappella on the Champs-Élysées in 2011, when Cadel Evans won the Tour de France.
But Tina can’t be there every time and therefore I’ll always find our national song pretty uninspiring.
I believe I’m far from being the only one who doesn’t get around it.
But what song does justice to Australia’s natural, cultural and historical beauty, and is also a terrific tune of which even the most musically and vocally challenged can produce a fair rendition?
The answer is as obvious as my poor singing ability will be when I’m forced to sing Advance Australia Fair on Australia Day.
The Seekers – Athol Guy, Judith Durham, Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger. IMAGE: Supplied
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The song I Am Australian, of course, by The Seekers, in the simple musical key of C.
No offence to the Scottish composer Peter Dodds McCormick, who wrote our national anthem in 1878, but I think Bruce Woodley did a much better job when he penned these lyrics in 1987:
I came from the dream time
From the dusty red soil plains
I am the ancient heart
The keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shores
I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years I've been
The first Australian
I'm a teller of stories
I'm a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira
And I paint the ghostly gums
I'm Clancy on his horse
I'm Ned Kelly on the run
I'm the one who waltzed Matilda
I am Australian
These are just two verses of I Am Australian, but every verse in that song is as patriotic and poetic as the next.
It covers everything and everyone, without even using the word “girt”:
We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
I think if we had such a terrific song as our national anthem, Australians would be much closer to singing with one voice.
I don’t know what licensing, copyright or royalties arrangements need to be sorted out for this to happen, but someone needs to get it done ASAP.
To me that seems like a simpler first step towards Australian cultural unity than changing the date of Australia Day or voting on an Indigenous Voice.
THE second biennial Frank Fisher Cup between Central Queensland’s Indigenous all stars and the Queensland Police Service’s First XIII will be held in Chinchilla this year, in a move aimed to honour two of the region’s police officers killed in last month’s shooting at Wieambilla.
Named after Aboriginal rugby league great Frank Fischer, the Cup was first held at Murgon in 2021 as a reconciliation initiative and also to highlight the importance of domestic violence prevention.
This year the fixture moves to the Western Downs in a show of support for local police following the deaths of Tara Constables Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, whose murders at the hands of violent conspiracy theorists in December devastated the QPS community and sent shockwaves throughout the region.
The QPS rugby league team is selected each year from the force’s annual 47th Battalion carnival. IMAGE: Supplied
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Aboriginal rugby league great Frank Fisher, from Cherbourg, a member of Indigenous Team of the Century. IMAGE: Supplied
“It was fitting to have the games in Chinchilla because it’s in the middle of the region and there were police from all around the region and from the South Burnett involved in the tragedy,” said Danny McGuire, QRL board director and chairman of its Central Queensland division.
Detective Inspector Garry Watts, President of Queensland Police Rugby League Association, said: “Central rugby league put the proposal to us and we jumped at the opportunity. It’s one way that we can assist the community and police members to pay memorial to Matthew and Rachel.”
Queensland Rugby League’s south west and central bosses Peter Rafter and Danny McGuire with Chinchilla Bulldogs President Charlie Redgen. IMAGE: Country Caller
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Men’s and women’s games will be held at Bulldog Park on the afternoon of Saturday, May 27, and local senior teams will play a regular season home game in the evening.
Players from the QPS and Central Queensland will host games and coaching clinics at local schools on Friday, May 26, as well as with the region’s junior players at Bulldog Park on Saturday morning before taking the field.
Organisers from the Chinchilla Bulldogs and Queensland Rugby League are seeking sponsorship for the weekend’s events. Excess proceeds will be donated to foundations established to support the families of Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, as well as neighbour Alan Dare who was also killed at Wieambilla.
Bulldogs coaches’ hopes to foster winning mentality
Chinchilla Bulldogs 2023 senior coaches Bill Rackemann, Tim Pitt, Charlie Redgen and Nick Mutch. IMAGE: Country Caller
Chinchilla Bulldogs president Charlie Redgen believes the success of the club’s Annual General Meeting recently was indicated by the fact that the yearly gathering only lasted 25 minutes.
All positions were filled promptly, with many exisiting committee members enthusiastically putting their hands up again for the 2023 season.
Two contemporary greats of the club have also returned to the fold as senior team coaches.
Redgen will share A-grade coaching duties with Bill Rackemann, a Bulldogs premiership winning former coach and player who said he hoped to reintroduce some “old school” footy mentality into the new generation of players.
“I love the club but I’ve been away for a while, so I’m pretty keen to get involved again and to try and help get the club back into the winners circle,” Rackemann said.
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“I gave coaching away when the pandemic hit and I thought having a bit of time away and not having the commitment was good, I enjoyed it. It allowed me to do other stuff and I was flat out with work.
“But I thought it was time to jump back in and give them a hand and see what I can do to help our young fellas. The game’s changed a lot but I think there’s still some old school stuff that can be coached into these young fellas as well as the new stuff.
“It’s about discipline and mentality, and getting your head ready for a game of footy. I think these days a lot of them just turn up and think they can play a game of football. A lot more goes into it.”
Nick Mutch, a star playmaker for the Bulldogs, returns to the club this year as Reserve-grade coach and player. IMAGE: Linda Steinohrt
Nick Mutch, 31, began playing for the Bulldogs when he was 6-years-old and has been a star among his age group throughout his bush footy career.
He returns to the Bulldogs as a Reserve-grade coach and player, alongside Jacob Sommerfeld, following a five year spell due to an injury and family commitments.
“I haven’t been back to do any training or anything since 2018, so this is a fresh start and I thought it was time to come back and give it a fresh crack,” Mutch said.
“I wasn’t doing anything so when the boys asked me to come back I thought it would be good to come and give back to the club. Country footy has a real family vibe. Your team mates become family and all of your actual family comes out to watch you play. It’s a good community to be around.”
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Meanwhile Under-18s Bulldogs coach Tim Pitt returns to the helm having coached the age group since they were playing in the Under-16s competition.
He said he was confident a talented squad would assemble for the 2023 season, as several players from last year’s team are still eligible to play, and they’ll be joined by a solid cohort from the next generation entering the senior competition.
“Moving on from last year, we had a good go and got close but we were short a few, but this year we’re looking pretty good for numbers,” Pitt said.
“We’ve got a good lot of 16-year-old olds coming through and a few 17s who are still eligible. We’re pretty excited to get stuck back into training.”
Bulldogs pre-season training will commence on Tuesday, January 31.
WITH a classical timeless look, high quality design, fabric and make, and a practical and hardworking heritage going back over 100 years, Queensland manufactured oilskin coat and riding wear clothing company Claybourn was established in Brisbane in 1910 by pioneering clothing entrepreneur Manning John Claybourn for one very simple reason – to keep Aussies warm and dry.
Over the 113 years since, Claybourn with its distinctive horse and rider logo has become a well-known and beloved brand of choice both in Australia and abroad, for those who recognise a great quality garment made by using only the highest quality Australian or UK oilskin and dryskin fabrics when they see it.
This also includes one very high-profile member of the British royal family. A photo of the then young Prince Charles, and now the recently crowned King Charles III wearing a Claybourn oilskin coat was taken during his year spent studying at Geelong Grammar in Australia in 1966, and it’s very possible he is wearing it still on the occasional cold and wet English winters day.
A young Prince Charles, now King Charles III, wearing his Claybourn oilskin in 1966. IMAGE: Claybourn archives
In 1990, after enduring several years of constant wet weather 50-year-old local Brisbane fashion entrepreneur Tom Hanna and his wife Christine founded The Australian Coat Company.
He was working for another well-known Australian coat brand in Brisbane at the time, however the factory was sold to a British motorcycle company in 1989 – a similar fate to many of the other clothing brands in Australia around that time.
Saddened by the foreign ownership change, Tom was determined to start a new brand that produced 100% Australian owned and Australian-made garments, and so the Australian Coat Company was founded.
Making children’s raincoats and customised waterproof riding jackets for a niche tourist and equestrian market and manufacturing special garments for industrial, commercial and promotional uses soon underpinned the growth of a successful and growing business.
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The securing of a state wide department store supply contract, the development of a strong international export business and a constant focus on innovation and new product development also paid off, with the Australian Coat Company named the best Queensland small business with fewer than 10 employees at the 1996 Small Business Awards.
In 2004 Tom Hanna sold his Australian Coat Company to Gilbert and Beverley Trombetta.
A year later the new owners of the Australian Coat Company then also purchased the Claybourn clothing business after many generations of Claybourn family ownership, with the acquisition also including the Aussie Quality Canvas Goods Company that had been purchased by Claybourn in 2001 as part of an expansion strategy.
In 2021 Brisbane based entrepreneur, businessman, property developer and start up innovator and investor Peter Huang of JHC Holdings, a top 400 private company in Queensland with an asset portfolio that includes a resort, golf courses, property development projects and multiple other businesses, bought the combined Australian Coat Company and Claybourn Clothing Company.
Together with the Aussie Quality Canvas Goods Company and the Aussie Mills Embroidery business he purchased at the same time, Peter then merged all these related high-quality fashion and garment production businesses into one new united brand, Claybourn.
Within a few months of these acquisitions and business merger, Peter more than doubled the brand’s Australian production workforce and design teams, significantly expanded the factory and warehouse space and opened a new factory and premium warehouse outlet.
He also then opened two new retail shops in the Brisbane CBD Myers Centre and on Cavill Avenue on the Gold Coast and launched an international online e-commerce platform.
Speaking to Peter last week at the 2023 Magic Millions Polo and Showjumping event on the Gold Coast, he outlined his global vision to turn Claybourn into a truly international premium quality but accessible fashion and luxury apparel brand, with both a global online e-commerce presence and a network of flagship company-owned and franchised stores worldwide.
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He plans to achieve this by leveraging off his own and the company’s extensive international business connections and expert local manufacturing skills and knowledge, and building on the Claybourn brand’s strong pioneering and entrepreneurial heritage and history.
He also is committed to the use of only the highest quality Australian and UK oilskin fabrics and building on the historical reputation of the Claybourn brand as ethical, sustainable, proudly Australian made and based in Brisbane – now the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games host city.
“For the first time in its history, Claybourn manufacturing is now in the final stage of being certified by ECA-Ethical Clothing Australia,” Peter said.
“While our heritage product lines will continue to evolve and always be made in Australia, Claybourn’s large in-house designers and manufacturing team will also work closely with carefully selected manufacturing partners globally in the development of other products for modern retail, corporate and wholesale markets.
Claybourn factory in Underwood, Queensland. IMAGE: Supplied
All Claybourn oilskin and dry skin garments are made in Australia. IMAGE: Supplied
“As part of JHC Holdings, Claybourn’s mission is to be ‘the best of the best’ in terms of design, manufacturing and service for our domestic and worldwide clients as we strive to make luxury fashion and apparel accessible to a wider customer base.
“Each product is fully tested by our approved international testing company to meet GB18401 standards and every detail from buttons to zippers have been designed with the highest quality in mind, which differentiates our products from the mass-produced fast fashion products that contribute to landfills.
“Our goal is to establish ourselves as an ethical and sustainable brand with timeless styles that are made to last.
“We also plan to expand our current lines to deliver a full range of head to toe active, leisure and formal wear fashion and apparel, catering to women, men and children and even pet and other accessories for the retail market.
“We will however also continue to manufacture in Australia our traditional oilskin and dryskin coats, jackets and vests.
“In addition we also plan to strengthen our focus on and marketing to the active rural and country lifestyle customer and the recreational, show and stockhorse riding demographic that is at the heart of our heritage, including bringing back the production of the much loved traditional moleskin jeans in the near future.”
Manning John Claybourn, the Brisbane founder of Claybourn in 1910
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The history of the iconic horse and rider logo traces back to the founding of the original Claybourn company in 1910, when riding a horse both as a means of transportation and for work was a common part of daily life for Manning John Claybourn and many others living in turn of the century Queensland cities, country towns and on outback stations.
The various manufacturing and fashion businesses that have evolved over time to now form the new Claybourn Clothing Company have certainly withstood the test of time, including the social and economic impacts of World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, and more recently the Covid-19 outbreak of 2020.
Today the logo has become a very recognisable symbol of the rugged, adaptable, dependable, hardworking, independent and adventurous characteristics of the Claybourn garments as envisaged by its original founder, a trusted companion that you can wear with confidence as you go through life’s journey and experience its many adventures.
The opening in 2022 of Claybourn’s first store in the Brisbane Myer Centre. IMAGE: Supplied
And so, if owner Peter Huang gets his way the Claybourn brand, born in Brisbane over 100 years ago and worn proudly by many since will also become the brand of choice for many more generations to come.
It’s possible that when King Charles III comes back for a visit down under in a few years he might even bring his own trusty Claybourn oilskin back with him, still as good as ever.
It’s also possible that if Peter and his team can deliver on their global expansion plans over the next decade, when the world comes to Brisbane in 2032 for the Olympic and Paralympic Games they might just see thousands of games volunteers and staff proudly wearing an authentic Aussie outfit made by Claybourn, keeping them all warm and dry just as Manning John Claybourn would have wanted.
BARELY a month on from an horrific shooting which killed two police officers and a Good Samaritan neighbour at a property north of Tara, three local teenagers caused the lockdown of several neighbourhood blocks in the town when, for reasons still unknown, they allegedly began firing at parked cars with reckless abandon yesterday afternoon.
Two 16-year-old boys have been each been charged with four firearms offences and three counts of wilful damage over the frightening ordeal, which began about 3.30pm and ended with their arrest seven hours later.
A 14-year-old boy, one of the 16-year-olds’ brothers, was “cautioned” over the same offences while a 15-year-old boy was released without charge, Acting Inspector Ray Vine told a press conference outside Tara Police Station this morning.
Up to 30 police responded to the initial reports of shots being fired from a home on Day St.
An exclusion zone was cordoned off encompassing Surat Development Rd, Day St, Benn St, Fry Street and Milne St – a significant portion of the small town’s eastern side.
Act. Supt. Vine said by the time police arrived two parked cars had been fired upon, while a third was shot at as a member of the public parked at the edge of the exclusion zone and exited his vehicle.
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“There were several discharged (.22 calibre) cartridges at the crime scene and we’ve got at least four holes to vehicles through windscreens and there’s also some ricochet.. so we believe there was at least eight or nine shots,” he said.
“It’s really on the extreme level. We’ve had alleged discharge of firearms at a property in the vicinity of people. Police were clearly visible in doing their response to that and they continued to discharge rounds.
“It’s absolutely reckless, unacceptable and unforgivable behaviour that could have had catastrophic consequences.”
No one was injured during the ordeal, but alarmed residents in the area had to be evacuated as police went door to door clearing homes and working to establish who was behind the shooting.
The Caller heard police negotiating via megaphone with people inside a home on Day St as bystanders were called away from the scene with their hands in ther air or behind their heads.
“They (the alleged offenders) weren’t taken into custody at that address, they were taken into custody at a particular place outside the cordon.
“There’s no suggestion that they were actively targeting police.
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“They were located at a point outside of the cordon and they were taken into custody without incident.
“The fact that three vehicles have been struck might suggest that they were deliberately shooting at those vehicles.”
The two 16-year-old boys will face the Dalby Children’s Court while the 14-year-old is being “dealt with under the Youth Justice Act,” he said.
Tara constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow, who were shot dead in an ambush at Wieamabilla on December 12. IMAGES: Supplied
The shooting comes five weeks after the December 12 shooting north of town at an isolated property in Wieambilla, where two young police constables from Tara, Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, as well as neighbour Alan Dare, where executed by three radicalised conspiracy theorists in an ambush which sent shockwaves around Australia.
Act. Supt. Vine said some of the officers involved in the Wieambilla incident were among those who responded to yesterday’s incident.
“The conduct is extremely concerning and … we’ll be attempting to identify motive. Two of the alleged offenders have declined to be interviewed so in terms of the actual motivation at this stage it’s still unclear,” he said.
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“There certainly were some officers involved in the Wieambilla shooting that were involved in the response to this incident last night. We’re providing them with support and welfare and counselling if they need it.
“Their heroics and their resolve to protect the community and maintain community safety given the events of five and a half weeks ago is remarkable.”
Police responding to the shooting in Tara yesterday afternoon IMAGE: Country Caller
Police have revoked an emergency declaration made at Tara yesterday after taking four teenagers into custody overnight.
The local boys, aged 14, 15, 16 and 16, are currently assisting police with their investigations into reports of shots having been fired at Tara this afternoon.
The teens were located at a Tara address late last night and taken into custody without incident.
No one was injured.
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EARLIER:
POLICE are negotiating with a gunman and residents have been evacuated from homes after shots were fired in the town of Tara this afternoon.
Police responded to reports of gunfire on Smallcombe St about 3.30pm.
Bystanders have told the Caller at least six shots were fired, with stray bullets hitting infrastructure at a worksite where the local public pool is undergoing refurbishments.
“We heard this loud bang, looked around and it hit our fence where were were working,” a tradesman at the worksite told the Caller.
“Heaps of cop cars rocked up. They came from everywhere.”
Another witness said: “We heard the cracks and we thought it was someone cracking a whip or something like that. Then there was a bang when it actually hit one of our pool fences.”
Dozens of police have swarmed the area and there are reports officers themselves have come under fire.
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Several residential blocks have been cordoned off on the eastern side of town, encompassing Surat Development Road, Day Street, Benn Street, Fry Street and Milne Street.
No one has been physically injured, a police statement said.
Specialist Emergency Response Team officers have arrived at the scene, while police can be heard negotiating with the gunman over a megaphone at a home on Day St.
Heavily armed officers were seen clearing surrounding homes, with residents being told to walk to safety with their hands on the heads.
IT MAY surprise some to learn that Australia, a country that has long been regarded as the land of plenty, is in fact now regarded globally as a food insecure nation that has serious food nutrition, food supply and food cost issues.
It will probably not surprise anyone however to learn that these issues are starting to bite deep in many of our rural, remote and regional communities across the country.
A federal government inquiry into just how bad this issue has become is underway in Canberra and was the primary topic of discussion at a Women in Agriculture lunch hosted by Clayton Utz law firm in Brisbane late last year.
A high-profile panel of female food, agribusiness and agri-politics related experts and advocates articulated their views to a packed room of influential female (and some male) agriculture and agribusiness sector leaders.
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The sub-standard level of nutritional value in many of our processed foods, the rising cost of healthy food alternatives, the challenges of consistent fresh food supply and transportation access to many of our more regional and remote communities were all topics on the table.
Others included the declining investment by successive governments in our soil and water health and sustainable food production systems, the impacts on food quality, quantity and availability when natural disasters strike and our increasing reliance on fast and processed food.
Another key focus was the unsustainable level of food waste and the increasing demand for food to support the many charities that feed our increasing population of those experiencing regular food insecurity, a national crisis that is no longer hidden in the shadows.
Caitlin McConnel, Senior Associate (agribusiness and food industry) Clayton Utz, Queensland Senator and Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Susan McDonald and Fiona Maxwell, Executive Director FareShare Food Charity Queensland, along with event MC and Channel Nine Today Show Queensland reporter Andrea Crothers gave some disturbing insights into just how pervasive our food security failures have become in certain remote and rural parts of our state.
(L-R) Fiona Maxwell, Susan McDonald and Caitlin McConnel with MC and panel moderator Andrea Crothers. IMAGE: Supplied
This new federal government inquiry is attempting to address many of these issues as a matter of priority.
Our food insecurity issue is now spilling over into a health, economic, social, environmental and political crises that will take significant investment, policy innovation, political courage, education and change of attitude and habits to turn around.
A number of state and national inquiries into food, food systems and food security have been undertaken by various governments over the past decade.
Following a referral from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Murray Watt on 26 October 2022, the House Standing Committee on Agriculture has now commenced an inquiry into food security in Australia.
Terms of reference include our national production, consumption and export of food, access to key inputs such as fuel, fertiliser and labour and their impact on production costs, the impact of supply chain distribution on the cost and availability of food and the potential opportunities and threats of climate change on food production in Australia.
A number of suggested recommendations that have been canvassed and may be addressed via this inquiry centre around the development of a comprehensive food systems and food security plan with clear objectives and measurable targets, and which makes clear the responsibilities of the different levels of government.
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Others include the creation of an ongoing dedicated food fund to support activities across all levels of government, non-government organisations and society and a national survey to better understand the true prevalence and severity of food insecurity in Australia.
Caitlin McConnel, speaking at the lunch said that this is an issue that as leaders in agriculture and agribusiness, the Brisbane based Women in Agriculture network is willing to take up on behalf of the wider agriculture sector and community.
“The fight to bring about real change will only be won by strong and influential voices banding together and coming up with workable and sustainable solutions across all industry sectors, and by changing laws and legislation that are outdated and damaging to our national health and economic wellbeing,” McConnel said.
She has prepared a detailed submission to the inquiry and is advocating for an economy-wide food security strategy that would be embedded into all government policy that impacts on food retail, soil, land and water use, healthcare, competition and trade, indigenous affairs, energy and transport, education, climate and national security.
Fiona Maxwell’s key message to the audience was that we can all do our bit to reduce food waste.
“If food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, a sobering statistic that needs drastic action if we are serious about fighting food insecurity,” she said.
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Senator Susan McDonald, who is an advocate for food equity and food fairness, is of the view that the food sector has become highly politicised over the past 100 years, and that lobby groups and interest groups have gained undue influence over the development of food policy.
She is advocating a carrot rather than a stick approach to reform and addressing our food security issues, however has left the door open to supporting levers that will ensure that corporate food supply chains come forward and engage with the reform movement, as they need to be part of the solution going forward.
“I can point to a number of examples, including the recent truth in food labelling inquiry which I led, where new legislation was introduced to bring about needed change,” McDonald said.
“I see this issue as one that has many challenges ahead and which will require a genuine bi-partisan political approach if we are to deliver a more secure food future for all in our society.”
Australia is a signatory to the 1996 Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action which laid the foundations for the path to a common objective – food security at the individual, household, national, regional and global level.
It appears we may have some way to go before we can say we have achieved these lofty objectives.
However, we can begin to restore our reputation as the land of plenty if we take the lead from and support these Women in Agriculture who are fighting the good food fight.
It is up to all of us to start to demand that our elected policy and key decision makers take the politics out of food and come up with a new recipe to ensure that everyone gets their FareShare in future.
THOUSANDS of tonnes of succulent, scarlet fruit are coming off the vine ahead of next month’s Chinchilla Melon Festival, which returns from February 16-19 for the first time in four years.
The iconic biennial event, which celebrates Chinchilla’s famous fruity export, will draw thousands of visitors to the town for the first time since before the pandemic.
Pickers working on the rich melon country north of town have been sweltering through the summer in preparation for the festival and despite a slow start to the season, a solid year for Chinchilla watermelons is starting to come to fruition.
German national Susi Schaffner on the picking trailer with the boss, Aja O’Leary. IMAGE: Country Caller
Second generation melon grower Terry O’Leary said this year had a tougher start than most as cloud cover and cooler temperatures delayed the first pick until mid December – about two weeks later than usual.
“On the 1st of December it was 17 degrees and six days later it was 38 degrees. It’s pretty hard to grow a summer desert crop when you’ve got such big fluctuations,” O’Leary said.
“Melons like hot weather, they like dry weather generally but these sorts of peaks and troughs in the weather certainly has a lot of challenges.
“The less UV light you have hitting your leaves, the less photosynthesis you have, the less carbohydrates you have flowing through your plant into your fruit.”
But with the picking season running all the way through “until ANZAC Day”, O’Leary said there’d be plenty of fruit to go to market and plenty for the thousands of Melon Festival punters to smash, toss and devour next month.
Belgian national Joran Crabbe learning the fine Chinchilla art of identifying a ripe watermelon. IMAGE: Country Caller
He said growers were also heralding the return of overseas workers after international borders reopened.
“We’ve got backpackers coming back into the country for the first time in a few years, so these guys are really keen to get in and give it go,” he said.
“They’re pretty excited for the Melon Festival as well. It’s a good lure to get people to come and work in the paddock for us. And they’ve been enjoying the lifestyle around Chinchilla – going to the races and shooting clay pigeons in their spare time.
Belgian national Joran Crabbe is among the picking team on the O’Leary melon patch and said he was enjoying the novelty of working in Chinchilla during a Melon Festival year, while also learning a great deal about our local agriculture.
“It’s really lovely. I really enjoy it over here, learning lot of new stuff about how much is actually in involved in growing watermelons,” he said.
“For me, as an outsider, you kind of take for granted how much effort is put into it. They’re lovely people, we’re learning a lot and having a blast over here.”
The Brett family in the packing shed at their property “Bar-K”. IMAGE: Country Caller
Down the road, Tom and Emily Brett’s season had the same struggles early in the season but picking had reached full flight by the start of 2023.
Emily is the daughter of longstanding Chinchilla melon grower Ian Beard, while Tom is a former electrician whose career gradually transitioned into farming.
The couple said they were enjoying being among the next generation of local growers and carrying on the family tradition, while also supplying the fruit for which Chinchilla and it’s Melon Festival had become internationally renowned.
“Originally I was a sparkie and started in power generation, did a few other things and then ended up in the gas industry with QGC,” Brett said.
“I used that as a stepping stone to get into farming. We bought a smaller block closer in to town, threw a few melons in and had a bit of a play around. An opportunity came up to buy here (the melon property Bar-K) and we had a crack,” Tom Brett said.
“With the assistance of Emily’s dad, his knowledge and experience, we got into it. We’ve had some tough times – hail storms, flooding and all the usual, but it’s been great.”
Emily Brett added: “I think I’ve been involved with growing watermelons for 25 years or something, and it’s good because it’s an outside job, keeps me out of the office, I know the industry and I enjoy it.”
A WESTERN Downs tourism operator is going to extreme and creative lengths to find a contractor to build his microbrewery, offering “free beer for a year” to the tradie who is willing, able – and available – to complete the project.
Steve Keating is the Chinchilla-based proprietor of Charleys Creek Brewing Co, a microbrewery add-on to his Clover Hill Ranch tourist park which he hopes will offer a unique new tourism attraction to the region.
The shed panels have been delivered and a pad has been cleared – but the problem is, he can’t find a local contractor to put the thing together.
“We’ve been looking around locally for the last three or four months to engage a builder contractor to build the shed, but the industry is just flat out,” Keating said.
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“Everyone is booked out for six to 12 months. The market is tight and it’s hard to find anybody to build a specialist shed like this. We need someone with the right kit and the right knowledge to do it all properly.”
The brewery will comprise a 30x36m shed with a high pitched roof and feature a cold room, tap room, function centre and storage space. There’s also requirements for associated infrastructure such as car parking and road extensions.
“The shed structure is here in panels. It’s got a special architectural design with a high pitched roof and we’ve worked the building out to be carbon neutral,” Keating said.
“We’re looking for a reasonably sized shed building business to take it on, to build the shed and the associated infrastructure.”
An artist impression of the Charleys Creek Brewing Co microbrewery at Chinchilla
Having had no success finding a building contractor locally, Keating engaged the local chamber of commerce, Chinchilla Community, Commerce and Industry, and the idea came up to put the project to tender with the offer of free beer for a year to the successful applicant.
“Robyn Haig from the CCCI thought it would be a novel way to do it if we offered free beer for a year to entice a builder, and I thought it was a bloody good idea,” Keating said.
“We’ll obviously have the facilities here to keep them well hydrated for twelve months.”
Keating submitted a development application to the Western Downs Regional Council in mid 2021 and initially hoped to have the brewery up and running in time for next month’s biennial Chinchilla Melon Festival.
Because of delays, he’s instead spent this week at a brewery in Brisbane producing watermelon beer for the event. Kegs or slabs of cans will be available for purchase at Clover Hill Ranch, and the brew will also be on tap at the Chinchilla RSL in the coming weeks.
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The Charleys Creek Brewing Co brew kit is currently collecting dust in Steve Keating’s farm shed. IMAGE: Country Caller
“I did a bit of home kit brewing 25 years ago during my uni days”, Keating said.
“When my wife Ursula and I started supplying wagyu beef to the Terella Brewery on the Sunshine Coast we decided to have a go at brewing some ourselves.
“They’re fairly successful and we liked their model. They suggested to us that we consider building a microbrewery at Chinchilla.
“We thought about it for a while and we decided that the demographic in Chinchilla was right. There are plenty of people here working in the gas and the solar industries and we thought there was a good number of people to come in here and have a beer after work.
“We thought it all made sense and it was a good way to come full circle with our beef and with our tourism park.”
A TEAM comprising some of Australia’s finest showjumping horses and riders has converted $85,000 into $245,000 for Equine International Airfreight, which emerged the winning slot holder at the Magic Millions’ second annual showjumping event.
A staggering prize pool of $1.45m was accumulated for the colourful showjumping exhibition on the Gold Coast, attracting the sport’s crème de la crème and providing yet another equine spectacle as part of the Magic Millions festival of horse racing and yearling sales.
Magic Millions owner Katie Page told the Caller she and husband Gerry Harvey added show jumping to the Magic Millions schedule in part due to “pressure” from their daughter Georgia Harvey, an international show jumper.
Magic Millions owners Gerry Harvey and Katie Page at the show jumping and polo event. IMAGE: Luke Marsden
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“It was quite obvious that the racing people were also into polo, into show jumping and into eventing,” Page said.
“We started with polo in 2017 and as that started to really gain traction we said ‘why don’t we do the show jumping?’. You can see how important it is to these show jumpers to be putting events on like this.
“Throughout the year they’ve got lots of shows that they’re going to. They’re great shows but they’re small and they don’t get this sort of attention really. For those jumpers that are not used to being in an arena with 5,000 people, it’s preparing them for what they’re going to come up against overseas.
“We will keep going. Supporting these show jumpers is just a great privilege for Gerry and I.”
Isabelle Du Plessis and Onessa MVNZ, riding for Equine Airfreight International. IMAGE: Michelle Terlato Photography
In the senior competition, 12 companies associated with the racing industry purchased ‘slots’ for $85,000 and fielded teams of four to compete head-to-head.
Showjumping stars among the teams included Australian Olympians Vicki Roycroft, James Paterson-Robinson and Peter McMahon, as well as Korean national showjumper Andrew Chun Hee Jung.
It was Equine International Airfreight’s team of Ally Lamb, Robert Palm, Katrina Hope and Isabella Du Plessis who claimed victory as the only group to clear every jump, claiming the winning cheque of $245,000.
Winner of the junior individual competition was Elissa Stephens on her horse Vertigo.
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The Magic Millions show jumping and polo event was held at the spit on the Gold Coast. IMAGE: Magic Millions
The competition was livestreamed online to an international audience, which Page said created an important opportunity to showcase Australian show jumping around the world.
“If you’re watching overseas, it doesn’t look like an Australian paddock. We’ve got some aerial views going out and they’re looking at the surf on one side and the broad water on the other side. They’re really loving watching this.
“How good is this for Australia and for our show jumpers, showcasing to the rest of the world what they can do, when normally it’s the other way around?
“These jumps are 1.45m high, so that gives you an idea of how incredible it is to see a half tonne animal getting over a fence – and they do it so easily. It’s always amazing to see that they’re so talented, and they love doing it.
