SCATHING criticism of coal royalty hikes and serious doubts about the Queensland Government’s $62 billion dollar energy plan arose at a major resource industry conference that was snubbed by the Premier and all of her ministers.
An 800-strong crowd at the Queensland Resources Council’s (QRC) annual conference also heard one expert’s prediction that renewable hydrogen wouldn’t become a commercially viable commodity in the foreseeable future, while Japan’s Ambassador to Australia also warned his country’s investment in the technology would be at risk if distrust in the State Government began to emerge.
Interest in the event at Brisbane’s Convention & Exhibition Centre elevated when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk sensationally declared she and government ministers wouldn’t be attending because she was “extremely disappointed in (QRC chief executive) Ian Macfarlane and his attacks on the government”.
Palaszczuk was referring to the QRC’s launch of an advertising campaign, reportedly costing the organisation $40 million, urging the government to reconsider coal royalty increases announced in this year’s state budget.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk speaking to media yesterday. IMAGE: Supplied
“I was invited to today’s lunch. I have made it very clear that my ministers will not be attending this lunch because of the campaign – the $40m campaign,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“I am angry about this. I could put money into housing with $40 million. I can put $40 million to very, very good use – towards another satellite hospital.
“If companies are making $40 million to go into a campaign, that money can be very well spent in the lead up to Christmas helping Queenslanders.”
Macfarlance said the QRC had “the right to stand up and tell the facts about the resources sector” as the lobby group’s annual economic update claimed the industry contributed $94.6 billion to the state’s economy, employed 450,807 people and supported 14,303 businesses.
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“This is what’s at stake when poor policies or increased taxes threaten our sector,” Macfarlane said.
“You would think these figures alone would get us a meeting with Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick to talk about his plan being devised behind closed doors to hit up our industry with an astronomical increase in coal royalty taxes.
“But no. Instead, there was no consultation, no negotiation, and no opportunity to provide feedback on how such an enormous increase in royalty taxes would impact our industry’s future.”
“They’ve not only pulled the plug on the lunch, but earlier this year they pulled the rug out from under the resources sector by introducing the world’s highest royalty tax, by a long way.”
Queensland Resources Council’s chief executive Ian Macfarlane speaking at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. IMAGE: Supplied
The keynote speech at the QRC’s conference was delivered by Ambassador of Japan to Australia, His Excellency Yamagami Shingo, who said Japan’s future investment in Queensland’s emerging renewable hydrogen industry depended on trust that the state would be a reliable place to do business.
He said trade relationships between the two countries was worth $90 billion, of which $20.7 billion related coal and 11.3 billion to iron ore.
“Nowhere are Japan and Australia investment ties more apparent than right here in Australia’s Sunshine State,” Yamagami Shingo said.
“Japanese companies’ eagerness to collaborate with their Australian counterparts in resources is underpinned by trust in Australia as a safe and reliable place to invest.”
Ambassador of Japan to Australia, His Excellency Yamagami Shingo, speaking at the QRC event. IMAGE: Supplied
“This is why … the Queensland Government coal royalty hikes carry so much potential risk,” he said.
“It could have implications beyond Queensland or the coal industry, affecting Japanese investment in joint ventures such as hydrogen.
“Japanese investment and trade in Australian gas is a cornerstone of our partnership based on trust. That is why we are following with great interest the discussion within Australia regarding energy, including gas and coal.
“Japan has been reassured repeatedly by the Australian Government that Australia will remain a trusted and reliable supplier of resources and a safe place to invest.
“I strongly believe if we work together, and play our cards right, the Land of the Rising Sun and Australia’s Sunshine State can share a bright future together.”
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Skepticism about energy plan and hydrogen
Speaking during a panel discussion at the QRC event, where the topic was “Future Investment in Queensland”, Bowen Coking Coal executive chairman Nick Jorss said he was a “bullish” on the future of Queensland’s coal industry.
Jorss, who is also a substantial shareholder of Stanmore Coal, said he believed emerging technologies, particularly hydrogen, wouldn’t become a dominant source of energy, globally, in the foreseeable future.
“It’s not going to happen in my lifetime in a cost competitive way,” he said.
“Hydrogen is the opposite to cheap gas – it’s extremely expensive gas and it’s difficult. People talk about the price of green hydrogen as 5 to 8 dollars US. It’s got to be down below 2 and that doesn’t include transport.
Bowen Coking Coal executive chairman Nick Jorss. IMAGE: Supplied
“They’re talking about a theoretical price if you take free renewables, you have your electrolysers running 24-7, you get them cheaply out of China. That’s the best case scenario.
“People say it will (become viable) track down but I’m not convinced on that.
“When you look at what’s actually happening in Europe – places like Hamburg, whey they do produce minuscule amounts of this stuff and trade it on the market – it’s 14 euros a kilogram.”
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He said aspirations by the sector to eventually produce 20 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year were unrealistic, given that 400 gigawatts of additional solar and wind electricity, and nine litres of water, would be required for every kilogram of hydrogen produced.
“These things are just not going to happen. The physics aren’t going to cut it and at some point people will realise it,” Jorss said.
“I’d actually call it somewhat utopian,” Gresswell said.
“Most people here would have heard of the energy triangle – cheap energy, reliable energy, low carbon emission energy. It’s accepted knowledge that you can have a system with two of the three, but not all of the three.
“But, miraculously, this plan is going to do all three. I tried to find a business case for it – I couldn’t.
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“There are some items in there that are quite problematic. The government’s going to spent $62 billion of your money. Thats an average cost per household of $28,000, and at the same time they’re going to reduce our energy bills. It doesn’t quite add up.
“We’ve talked about high energy costs, we’re seeing high inflation come through the system. In my view that’s not going away until we solve the energy inflation problem.
“High energy costs feed into the costs of solar panels and the cost of wind turbines, so you can bet that that $62 billion dollars that the government quoted is going to be closer to 70, 80, probably 100 by the time they actually implement it.
“I’m a realist and I just think there’s problems with the cost of these things and who’s going to paying for it in a high inflation, high inflation environment.”
A FORMER resource industry worker and National Native Title Tribunal trainee as been appointed to the newly created role of Indigenous Business Connector for Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE).
Ashley Williams, originally from Brisbane, has extensive experience in making and managing connections within the resources, infrastructure, and government sectors
As Indigenous Business Connector, Williams’ role will be to assist the growth of First Nations businesses across the region. He will be work from Toowoomba and Chinchilla as part of TSBE’s new initiative.
“Initially I will be mapping Indigenous businesses in the region and collaborating with them to see what the gaps might be in their business models, such as their website, or marketing for instance,” Williams said.
“Then my goal will be to connect these businesses to agencies that can provide free services to assist businesses with networking and sourcing opportunities.”
After growing up in Brisbane, Williams (pictured) completed a traineeship with the National Native Title Tribunal before securing a job with Arrow Energy.
Williams’ role at Arrow involved working with Indigenous groups. His interest in that field developed further when he worked at the Australian Rail Track Corporation as an Indigenous Participation Advisor.
“I loved the work I was doing with Inland Rail and when the job at TSBE came up it gave me a greater opportunity to pursue that work across a bigger region,” he said.
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“I just love seeing how I can help Indigenous businesses, advocate for them, and look for networking opportunities.
“As the Indigenous Business Connector I can talk to the business owners one-on-one and create relationships where they feel comfortable with someone they trust and can understand their specific requirements.”
One business Williams is currently working with is Magnitude Pipelines and Construction, established 12 months ago by Keegan Brooke as an emerging Indigenous contractor from the Yuwaalaraay Nation.
The company provides project management, fabrication and installation in the mining and construction sectors and develops training and development pathways for young Indigenous workers.
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With an ultimate goal of building a fully indigenous team, Brooke (pictured) said he believed there were tremendous business benefits to be gained from working with Williams and TSBE.
“One of the things I’ve learned throughout my years in business is that it’s not always about what you know, but who you know,” Brooke said.
“Accessing the necessary contacts and information is so important when you are trying to get established, tender for jobs, training staff – getting those things right allows you to create a business model that can work moving forward.
“Ash – and all of the TSBE team – will be able to help us with that.
“I get great personal satisfaction from seeing businesses like this succeed – it really puts a smile on my face.
“It can be a jungle out there in the business world, and I understand the hurdles and can help to create a sense of safety, confidence, and self-belief.
“And I have seen first-hand what can be achieved when you give people opportunities, and work with them to build strong relationships.
“I really hope to see a lot of businesses like Magnitude do well and I’m not the only one who is excited about what it could ultimately mean.
“The companies I liaise with, as well as councils and other levels of government, are so excited to see the growth of businesses which may help to meet the significant employment needs in this region.”
SHIPPING containers filled with ballast will be used to prevent rock from falling during repair works on the Toowoomba Bypass, which has been closed to eastbound travellers since the end of October.
A statement from the Department of Transport and Main Roads confirmed both eastbound lanes of the bypass will remain closed until the end of November, at the earliest, due to a large crack in the retainment “shotcrete” above the highway caused by wet weather.
“Both eastbound lanes were closed in late October for the safety of motorists, after heavy rainfall caused significant movement in a cutting on the northern side of the road, the statement said.
“One lane will be open to traffic later this month (November), weather and conditions permitting.
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“TMR’s contractor Nexus is working as quickly as possible to reopen this important connection while prioritising the safety of the work crews and the community.
“Nexus’s geotechnical experts have been working to understand this very complex situation. Investigations have shown two significant failure planes in the bottom of the cutting with the material above them continuing to move.
“Temporary works are underway to allow the inner eastbound lane to be reopened. The temporary solution will provide a safe way to contain the cutting material while a permanent solution is devised by geotechnical experts.
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TMR regional director Bill Lansbury said the safety of motorists was his priority.
“The contractor Nexus is working as quickly as possible to reopen this important connection, but we’ll continue to prioritise the safety of the work crews and our community,” Mr Lansbury said.
“Extreme wet weather over 2022 has caused moisture to find its way into the cutting above the eastbound lane, causing movement to large wedges of material, and cracks in the concrete.
“A short-term solution has been planned which will allow one eastbound lane to reopen.”
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“The temporary works involve the installation of shipping containers filled with ballast, which will act as a protective barrier to prevent any rock fall impacting the traffic lanes,” Lansbury said.
“In the critical section, the 20-foot shipping containers are being secured by restraint wires connected to 72 anchor bars which are drilled and grouted into the sandstone under the road.”
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The installation of the double-stacked shipping containers will require the use of a crane parked on the bypass westbound lanes. As such, westbound lanes will also be closed on Friday November 25 to facilitate the work.
The extensive work required to permanently repair the cutting is scheduled to start in 2023.
For more information about the project contact Transport and Main Roads on (07) 4639 0777 or DownsSWR.Office@tmr.qld.gov.au.
NICK THE SKIP beat BURDON to win the 2022 Royal On Ninety-Nine Roma Cup. IMAGE: Country Caller
By HARRY CLARKE
A LOCAL jockey’s first ever ride on Roma Cup day couldn’t have gone better as Sophie Wilcock steered NICK THE SKIP from the second widest barrier to a one length victory in the main race, delivering a dream day at the track for the horse’s Quilpie-based owners.
Wilcock, who only recently returned to the saddle following an extended break, said the huge crowd of roughly 4,000 enthusiastic racegoers willed her and “Nick” home in the Royal On Ninety-Nine Roma Cup Open Handicap.
“It feels very good – so good,” an ecstatic Wilcock said after the race.
“This is the biggest day I’ve ever raced at and the crowd was just screaming. It gives you more incentive to try harder.
“We were never going to lead this race from the barrier that we got, so we opted to try and get a midfield position with cover and save him up as best we could, knowing that he hasn’t run this distance before.
“I got a good spot and come the 700m mark I just had to get going. He had a lot in him and he just didn’t stop.”
Roma jockey Sophie Wilcock celebrates victory on NICK THE SKIP. IMAGE: Country CallerNICK THE SKIP owners and connections (L-R) Pat Coleman, Ben Toner, Dawn Ferguson, William Toner, and Alex Toner celebrate victory with jockey Sophie Wilcock, trainer Shane Iverson (right) and strapper Riley Thurston. IMAGE: Country Caller
NICK THE SKIP was purchased as a tried horse 18 months ago by former bush jockey William Toner, who gave the gelding to his Charleville mate Shane Iverson to train.
From 24 starts under Iverson, the 7-year-old has won ten races and recorded four second places, including five wins from seven starts at Bassett Park. His total prize money from 49 starts is now just shy of $180,000.
The Roma Cup was also a qualifier for the Country Cups Challenge, meaning NICK THE SKIP will now run for a share of $200,000 at Doomben in a fortnight’s time.
“It feels absolutely tremendous, especially winning with my mate Willy Toner,” Iverson told the Caller.
Brooke Schubert from Brisbane performs that Australian national anthem before the 2022 Royal On Ninety-Nine Roma Cup. IMAGE: Country Caller
“He’s battling illness and to win this race for him is something special. This horse has just brought him so much pleasure. It’s just amazing.
“We won a race here last Easter – just a benchmark race – and that was incredible, but in 18 months time to win a Roma Cup with the same horse is amazing.
“Deep down I was very confident but I don’t say too much to too many people because race horses can make terrible liars of you.”
It’s understood more than 3,500 punters pre-purchased tickets for Roma Cup day while an estimated 500 more paid at the gates of Bassett Park.
Roma Turf Club co-president Peter Flynn, who has an unrivalled vantage point from the race caller’s box, said the committee was thrilled that the crowd was roughly twice that of last year’s pandemic-impacted meeting.
Race caller and Roma Turf Club co-president Peter Flynn and (below) thousands gather to watch Fashions On The Field. IMAGES. Country Caller
The ever popular Fashions on the Field had some $7,000 worth of prizes up for grabs.
The Keatings Funerals Contemporary Lady division was won by Kate Kirk from Moura in a stunning orange dress, while the Harcourts Best Dressed Male was won by local lad Rob Freeman whose outfit featured a tie emblazoned with Aboriginal art.
“I found the dress first,” Kirk said. “I just love orange and blue, so this was a match made in heaven”.
Contemporary Lady winner Kate Kirk with sponsor Maria Keating, and Best Dressed Male winner Rob Freeman from Roma. IMAGES: Country Caller
Another track highlight was the victory by local trainer Pat Webster’s COAT OF ARMS in the Explorers Inn Andrew Arthur Memorial Country Stampede Qualifier.
Webster will now run the horse in the Country Stampede Final at Doomben on the same day as the Country Cups Challenge.
Fellow local trainers Wayne Baker and Craig Smith had wins in the first and last races respectively, with STAYS ON TOUR and COUNTRY BOYZ.
SLIDESHOW:
The Roma Cup race meeting was this year attended by Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner Shane Gillard, who was enjoying his 14th regional rural race meeting since assuming the role earlier this year.
Gillard, whose office oversees the administration of racing stewards, vets and starters and animal welfare, said it was a pleasure to visit Roma for what he described as the pinnacle of country racing in Queensland.
“It’s great to get out into the regions and especially for a big day like the Roma Cup,” Gillard said.
“It doesn’t get any bigger. It’s huge for the township, it’s huge for the local area and for us it’s important to support what goes on in regional Queensland.”
Queensland Racing Integrity Commissioner Shane Gillard. IMAGE: Country Caller
A THIRD generation cattle grazier living next door to Linc Energy’s former underground coal gasification (UCG) plant near Chinchilla is adamant the company’s experimental mining activities, which date back to the year 2000, are having no impact on his farming operations, nor his health.
Toby Trebilco, whose family has owned thousands of acres of prime agricultural land in the immediate vicinity of Linc’s UCG site since allotments in the district were first balloted in the early 1900s, is one of few beef producers in the otherwise intensive cropping area around Hopeland.
Unlike crop farmers who irrigate their paddocks with water accumulated via overland flow, Trebilco’s cattle drink from either underground bores or from a waterway fed by runoff from the former UCG property.
Trebilco said he was the only landowner who received water via overland flow from the Linc site before it continued running west into the Condamine River system – all other landholders in the area receive overland flow from separate catchments.
He also said that he had no concern whatsoever about revelations last week that low levels of cyanide and benzene had been detected in groundwater adjacent to both his property and the former Linc property.
A dam on the Trebilco family’s property which is fed directly by overland from the former Linc Energy UCG site. IMAGE: Country Caller
“That gully that comes out of Linc – that’s what I use for watering my lawn and my garden, and sometimes my cattle,” Trebilco said.
“I had people here on the weekend who couldn’t get over the beautiful lawn and I told them sarcastically ‘that’s polluted water from Linc Energy’. It just brings a laugh.
“Nobody on my gully is actually catching the overland flow water for irrigation (crop farming). It’s an overland flow gully and we love it because we’ve got a big lawn and a big garden.”
Trebilco has watched in exasperation over the past week as revelations, showing that potentially dangerous chemicals had been found in groundwater outside the former Linc property, have become what he believes is nothing more than a political football.
“We put up with all the phone calls and the slinging and the slurs that are levelled at us, making out that our land is ruined, when in fact there’s nothing wrong,” he said.
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The Weekend Australian newspaper revealed that, as recently as April, low levels of cyanide and benzene had been detected around the former Linc Energy site during ongoing groundwater monitoring by the Department of Environment (DES), which now owns and manages the property.
Documents leaked from the department reportedly indicated that benzene, a chemical linked to leukaemia and other blood cancers, had been found up to 25 times the maximum limit of Australia’s drinking water quality and livestock watering guidelines.
Cyanide levels in the bores have been found to be up to 10 times the same standards, The Weekend Australian reported.
Further, the leaked documents also indicated the test results had been kept secret from landholders amid warnings of possible legal action against the Queensland Government.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli described the decision not to publish the findings on the land contamination register as “a cover up of the highest order”, while a DES statement said “analysis of the four samples indicates that the concentration of contaminants is trending down, and the likelihood of environmental harm arising is considered very low to negligible”.
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Trebilco, whose family originally owned the UCG site, named “Capowie”, before it was purchased by Linc Energy, said he was convinced any toxic chemicals found during DES tests were not impacting his land or his cattle.
He also said historic testing of bores on his property had found no contaminants, which is in line with the DES statement that said “landholder bores surrounding the former Linc Energy site have not been impacted”.
“The environment department would have known about this but decided not to let it out because of what’s happened, of course,” Trebilco said.
“Politics is a filthy game and they would have wanted to sit on this and hope it didn’t get out, but when all is said and done it doesn’t affect us.
“There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that the levels of benzene and cyanide that were detected when these wells were sampled won’t develop.
“I think this whole mess is due to the incompetence of the department and their advisors and contractors. The only way the truth will probably come out now is if there’s a full and impartial assessment of the department’s works.”
The Trebilco family has been running cattle through Linc Energy’s former UCG site since the early 1900s. IMAGE: Country Caller
The Trebilcos were among numerous landholders in the vicinity of the Linc Energy site whose properties were put under quarantine when the DES levelled charges against the company for environmental contamination as a result of its UCG activity in 2015.
The saga caused immense stress for Trebilco, who said perceptions that his produce was somehow contaminated threatened his longstanding commercial relationships with local meat works operators.
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“I breed very good, quality cattle and I produce for a niche market. I like to do it well and I don’t want to do it at all if I can’t do it well,” he said.
“The thing that I find terribly hard is that this brings another slur against us.
“We love our land, we’re connected to it and it’s in our DNA and we find it extremely hurtful when these things pop up. We love our land and our cattle. It rips me apart when I see this sort of thing.”
Trebilco also said that expert advice provided to him suggested that the contaminants found in the DES’s recent tests were the result of explosives used to perforate bores and gather underground water samples, as opposed to being a byproduct of historic UCG activity.
Responding to a query by the Caller as to whether the detections of benzene and cyanide may be the result of thermal decomposition of military grade explosives used to perforate the testing wells, a DES spokesperson said: “This is a complex question and further information and science is required to provide an answer”.
QUEENSLAND Senator Susan McDonald has branded agriculture the most disorganised sector in Australia when it comes to lobbying governments to improve legislative frameworks and industry regulation.
Speaking to emerging industry leaders at the annual Young Beef Producers Forum (YBPF) in Roma, McDonald also said an increasing disconnect between farmers in the paddock and the people representing them in government was one of the biggest challenge facing the industry.
But she said poor support for the various peak bodies within agriculture meant there were difficulties in representing the industry adequately in Canberra and improving regulation.
“We’re having more people in leadership roles in government who have less idea of what it means to grow things, and this is incredibly serious,” McDonald said.
“As we become more disconnected, as people become less understanding of what it is to farm and grow food, the most important thing we can do is be coordinated, smart and responsive.”
The Young Beef Producers Forum brings emerging industry leaders together for a networking and development conference. IMAGE: Country Caller
“We have to be a much more united and unified and legally relevant industry,” McDonald said.
“In the US, the Cattleman’s union is incredibly effective. When they walk up to Capitol Hill people take notice.
“The Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association has something like 96 percent of their growers as members, so when government talks to them they know that they are talking to the industry, and they listen.
“We don’t have those sort of percentages and it allows ministers to say ‘come back when you talk for all of industry’, and then they do their own thing and they make ups their own minds.
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“I see people come to me in Canberra from pretty well every other sector and they’re organised, they’ve got a plan, they know what they want – ‘here’s our top three and we need you to deliver on this’ – but we don’t work like that.
“I think we’ve got to go back to the days when we were much more unified and much more organised.
“I’m not suggesting that you all go and run for politics or run to be a president of AgForce – I’m saying be a member, and make sure you’re giving good, strong, clear direction to your organisations, and to me.”
Young Beef Producer Forum committee chair Dan Korff. IMAGE: Country Caller
For more than 10 years the YBPF, an initiative of the Future Farmers Network, has brought together emerging industry leaders for a networking and development conference at Roma.
As well as McDonald, this year guest speakers included Meat & Livestock Australia chair Jason Strong, AgForce Queensland president Georgie Somerset and Bush Agribusiness managing director Ian McLean.
YBPF chair Dan Korff said this year’s theme, ‘Prepare, Perform, Persevere’, reflected the rapidly evolving and advancing cattle industry.
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“YBPF is about bringing young people together for networking, development and learning, and exposing them to people who have achieved things in the beef industry,” Korff said.
“They talk about how they’ve got where they are, what challenges they’ve overcome, and that gives exposure to real life experience and how to young people can build their own career.
“Huge range of sponsors, supporters and speakers and we try to structure the program so that there’s plenty of time for people to meet casually, have some discussions to build their industry networks, so that when they walk away from the forum they’ve got some contacts in the industry.”
2022 Young Beef Producers Forum organising committee. IMAGE: Supplied
FOUR years after Chinchilla wool producers Rod and Margaret Back were approached by representatives of a Spanish energy company then barely heard of in Queensland, their property 15km west of town has become a sprawling solar farm set to power 80,000 Australian homes annually.
The 200MW Blue Grass Solar Farm, owned by the Madrid-headquartered power generator X-ELIO, was officially opened this week during a visit from Spain by several X-ELIO delegates including CEO Lluís Noguera.
The $200 million project, which kept the “Blue Grass” name of the Back family’s former property, employed 400 people during construction and comprises 375,000 bifacial solar panels.
“I’m honoured to be here because this is what we work for every day – to be in a situation like this and to present a project like this – one of the largest ones that we’ve done around the world,” Noguera said.
X-ELIO chief executive Lluís Noguera, speaking at the official opening of the Blue Grass Solar Farm. IMAGE: Country Caller
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“Everywhere we see that we have good conditions, the regional support, the government support, we want to be there and we want to participate in this very important transition as we move away from dirty fuels to clean energy.
“Today when you look at Queensland, most of the electricity still comes from coal. We are going to change that. This is our first project in Australia but it is one of many.”
The Blue Grass project’s construction and grid connection was overseen by EPC contractor Gransolar Group (GRS), Ingeteam and Powerlink.
The 200MW Blue Grass Solar Farm comprises 375,000 bifacial solar panels. IMAGE: Supplied
It received financial backing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), ING, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and has established long-term support from first-tier off takers Salesforce, Stanwell Corporation and ZEN Energy.
Belinda Fan, X-ELIO’s country manager in Australia, said: “The Western Downs region is known as a renewable energy powerhouse in Australia.”
“It provides absolutely optimal climate, landscape and location for renewable energy and we’re absolutely privileged to be able to operate in this region,” she said.
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X-ELIO Country Manager for Australia Belinda Fan, speaking at the official opening of the Blue Grass Solar Farm. IMAGE: Country Caller
“This all started a bit over four years ago. Rod and Margaret Back had a discussion with some of our guys right here on this land and we said ‘envision what it might look like on this flat, beautiful, sun-drenched piece of land, to build a utility scale solar farm’.
“It all started from that conversation, so we thank Mr and Mrs Back for that initial conversation that led us to where we are.”
The official ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by the Backs, who’d sold their 1,300 acre property to X-ELIO and said they were pleased to see the successful construction of the solar farm.
Margaret and Rod Back, former owners of the property Blue Grass. IMAGE: Country Caller
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“Margaret and I were honoured to be invited here today and would like to congratulate X-ELIO for what they’ve achieved,” Rod Back said.
“To see Blue Grass go from a wool producing property to a solar farm is impressive, and we think this is a good use of the land. The sheep and wool that we had for 40 years was becoming unviable, largely because of wild dogs.
“We were approached by X-ELIO and the timing was right. It’s good to see the solar farm opened and all the employment it created during construction.”
Also in attendance were the four recipients of X-ELIO’s $200,000 community grants fund – the Western Downs SES, Illoura, Chinchilla State School’s music program, and a steering committee from Brigalow which is planning to install a safety fence around their local park.
Belinda Fan cutting the ribbon at the Blue Grass Solar Farm alongside recipients of EX-ELIO’s community fund. IMAGE: Country Caller
THERE are ‘boots on the ground’ in an area north of Oakey that will soon be dug up as the controversial third stage of the New Hope Group’s open cut coal mine at Acland.
Initial surveying works for the billon dollar project are underway this week following a 12 year legal battle, which was finalised last month when the Queensland Government approved New Hope’s application for an Associated Water Licence – the last remaining requirement for mining to proceed.
Hundreds of workers who’d been laid off, as operations across New Hope’s exisiting mining pits ceased, have begun returning to communities around Oakey and to work at Acland.
The project’s third stage had been met with fierce opposition from the Oakey Coal Action Alliance which, in general, was concerned about the mine’s potential impact on ground water as well as potential light and noise pollution.
New Acland Coal Mine general manager Dave O’Dwyer. IMAGE: Country Caller
Excavation works on the Stage Three section (on the southern side of the mining tenement) are expected to begin just after Christmas. A full workforce of about 320 will return throughout the beginning of next year
“This is an exciting time,” said Dave O’Dwyer, general manager of the New Acland Coal Mine.
“We’ve come a long way. We’ve been waiting for our approvals, diligently working with government departments and we’re really happy to see those departments come through with the approvals.
“The care and maintenance workforce is out here today and we’re pegging out the first lines, which is the start of work at New Acland Stage Three.
“The pits over the back will be back filled. As we start mining here, this material will go into those (old) pits and we’ll reform the landscape, put the top soil back on there, and rehabilitate that like we have all the other areas of the mine.
“We’ve mined as much coal in the (previous) leases as we can and there’s just nothing left for us to get, hence why we moved into care and maintenance 12 months ago.”
Exisiting pits at the New Acland Coal Mine will be back fill with soil excavated during Stage Three. IMAGE: Supplied
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New Hope workers have begun surveying works for Stage Three of the New Acland Coal Mine. IMAGE: Country Caller
In September New Hope began calling for expressions of interest in preparation to recruit a new work force for its mine expansion. O’Dwyer said formal job advertisements would be published over the coming fortnight.
“We’ve had amazing response on the expressions of interest portal – over 12 hundred people have reached out to us,” he said.
“250-odd are returning employees looking to come back, so that’s just really great news for us. We know there’s plenty of people out there looking for work and we’re really keen to get going.
“I’m talking to the Chamber of Commerce about local suppliers and how they can get in with us and make sure that they’re in the hunt to supply for us once we get into full production.”
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Qube bulk operations manager Mark Beckman. IMAGE: Country Caller
Mark Beckman is the bulk operations manager for Qube, one of New Hope’s main contractors. He said seeing works finally commence on Stage Three was a “real sigh of relief”.
“It means a lot to us, particularly for staff who’ve had to leave the local area and relocate into Central Queensland or interstate,” Beckman said.
“It’s really exciting for them to be able to come back and pick up where they finished.
“I’ve worked her for almost 20 years now and it’s always been my goal prior to retirement to ensure that we were going to get Stage Three and the continuation of contract.
“So it’s really good when you look at our scope of work, from the transport of coal from the mine site, down to the loading facility and the management and stockpiling and loading of trains. It’s all those other services that benefit.”
Beckman is also a cattleman and former president of the Brangus breeders society.
Shannovale shooting victims (L-R) Graham Tighe, his mother Maree Schwarz and Maree’s husband Merv Schwarz
By HARRY CLARKE
WHEN accused murderer Darryl “Blinky” Young allegedly shot and killed three of his neighbours at the front gate of Shannonvale Station in August this year, it wasn’t the first triple casualty nor shocking deaths to occur on the historic Queensland property south of Bowen.
Shannonvale, a 20,000 acre cattle block spanning the Clarke Range wilderness inland from the Whitsundays, has a haunted past involving “range wars”, the death of an infant, suicide, and two pregnant women becoming widowed by an accident down an old mine shaft left over from the frontier days of the Normanby gold rush.
Folklore from those ranges recalls a massacre of Aboriginals in the adjoining Don River valley, carried out by early settlers who subsequently nicknamed the area Conquest Point.
William “Wild Bill” Walpole, one of Shannonvale’s past owners, told another story of a troubled gold prospector who literally dug his own grave before stepping into the hole, lighting a stick of dynamite and putting the explosive in his mouth.
“They wouldn’t have buried him there though, would they?” someone asked Wild Bill as the pair stood at the old Normanby cemetery in July 1995.
“I don’t know,” Bill replied. “Dug his own grave anyway… blew his head off.”
Wild Bill Walpole, former owner of Shannonvale Station, in July 1995. IMAGE: Norma Shannon
In 1905 a man by the name of Horace Rogers had to be chained to a tree for days outside a Normanby gold field hotel while the publican rode on horseback to the coast to call police. Rogers had shot a man dead during a tense and drunken game of cards.
“You think you know rough country, but you probably haven’t seen rough country until you’ve been to a place like this and had a look,” said Norma Shannon, whose ancestors were the miners who first settled Shannonvale as a grazing freehold property in the early 1900s.
Norma, now aged 60, was three months in the womb when her father, Tom Shannon, her uncle Glen Shannon and their mate Alec Lennig were gassed to death in a gold fossicking expedition gone horribly wrong on Shannonvale in 1961.
In the type of darkness only seen 90ft underground, the trio was overwhelmed by petrol fumes as they tried pumping groundwater from the rocky base of an abandoned gold mine just after Christmas that year.
At the time both of the Shannon brothers had pregnant wives back at home on their nearby property, Roma Peak.
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Norma Shannon, whose ancestors were the first owners of Shannonvale Station. IMAGE: Country Caller
Norma Shannon was born to her widowed mother, Betty Shannon, in June of 1962.
Today she lives on a secluded and stunning property at Grasstree Beach, near Sarina, with a hundred head of healthy Droughtmaster cattle and a dozen bay stock horses.
Norma’s retired from a long and rewarding career as a secondary school teacher.
Her life in the greater Whitsunday region has been filled with the riches of family and adventure, but she’s always faced the sad reality that her father was gone before she ever had the chance to know him.
The sad reality is the same for Norma’s cousin, 60-year-old Glen Shannon Jnr, whose father Glen Snr was killed in the same gold mine tragedy while his mother was pregnant with him.
“I always got told the stories about how big and strong they were and how they had no fear – rough and tough blokes,” Norma said.
“I remember as a kid, walking down the street in Proserpine, men would walk up to me and say ‘you must be Tommy Shannon’s little girl’.
“Everybody around town knew the history and I was always being reminded of it, but I just had absolutely no knowledge of Dad and my uncle at all.”
Map showing the location of Shannonvale Station, Normanby gold field and Roma Peak
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Patrick Shannon (second from left) with (L-R) Jim Harding, Frank McKormack, Percy Meredith and Bob Miller during the Normanby gold rush. Date Unknown. IMAGE: Supplied
According to historian Colin Hooper, the first person to strike gold at Normanby was Sam “Long Jim” Savage, a stockman from nearby Havala Station who was “looking for scrubbers (wild cattle) when he found both alluvial and reef gold” in the rugged Clarke Range in September 1872.
By 1891 more than 300 prospectors and their families had rushed the town of Normanby, which was named after the Marquis of Normanby, wife of Queensland Governor George Phipps.
Hotels, stores, butcher shops, blacksmiths, a school, a post office, a saddlery and a cordial factory thrived at various stages over roughly 40 years, but ongoing periods of poor yield and the lure of exciting new prospects in Queensland’s deeper north meant the Normanby gold rush never became a fully fledged gold boom.
Historian V.B. Jones explained another factor which plagued the gold field was that prospectors kept getting beaten by underground water.
“The influx of water proved too much for the means then in vogue for dealing with it,” Jones wrote.
By the 1920s Normanby became a ghost town as more financially stable cattle grazing took over.
The Shannon family began running Brahmans over the area and also owned Roma Peak, a property 30km to the north, which is characterised by a striking rocky mountain visible from parts of the Clarke Range.
The late Tom Shannon’s grandson, Mick Shannon, leading horses at Roma Peak. IMAGE: Norma Shannon
It was January 2nd 1962 when Bill Shannon, who’d by then inherited Shannonvale Station and owned the property with his brothers Tom and Glen, received a distressed telephone call from his sister-in-law, Betty.
Betty was concerned that her husband, Tom, had not returned when he said he would from a gold digging expedition on Shannonvale with his brother Glen and their mate Alec Lennig. They’d been due home two days earlier but there was still no sign of them.
Lennig, a friend of all three Shannon brothers, had acquired a prospecting claim over the historic “Marquis” mine which remained on Shannonvale from the Normanby gold rush.
Bill Shannon later told a coronial inquest that his younger brothers “had no interest in that mine whatsoever” but “were determined to help Lennig. They were very friendly with him”.
“I believe they went to the mine only for assisting him,” Bill Shannon said.
Despite the distressed phone call, Bill didn’t share the same level of concern for his brothers as Betty did. It wasn’t uncommon for visits up the range to Shannonvale to last longer than expected.
But the following day he saddled up a horse at the homestead on Roma Peak station and rode the five hours south to Shannonvale. He knew the trio had planned to camp at a hut not far from the Marquis mine.
“I wasn’t event worried until I got there,” Bill told his niece, Norma Shannon, during a visit back to the property decades later.
“When I got there the swags were still up on the bunk, corn beef was half cooked and the water was all slimy. I knew then they were dead.”
Hut near the Marquis gold mine on Shannonvale were Tom Shannon, Glen Shannon and Alec Lennig had planned to camp. IMAGE: Norma Shannon
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Bill Shannon (left), and his brothers Tom and Glen who were killed in a gold fossicking expedition gone wrong at Shannonvale. IMAGE: Supplied
At a coronial inquest months later, Bill Shannon described seeing flies and smelling the foul odour of decay as he approached the opening of the Marquis mine. Harrowing confirmation that his two younger brothers and their friend had perished down the deep black hole.
Traumatised, Bill let his horse go and drove a Jeep, which the gold prospecting trio had used to travel to the scene of their demise, back to Roma Peak to share the awful news that they weren’t coming home.
“Mum would have heard the Jeep coming down the driveway at Roma Peak and thought ‘oh thank God for that, Dad and Glen are finally back’. But they weren’t. It was just Bill,” Norma Shannon told the Caller.
“She never spoke much at all about the accident, even when I was in my 20s and I started getting curious and researching it all.
“All she ever really said was ‘they didn’t all have to die'”.
The Marquis gold mine on Shannonvale where the two Shannon brothers and their friend died. IMAGE: Norma ShannonDocuments at the Queensland State Archives from the 1962 coronial inquest examining the gold mine triple fatality at Shannonvale. IMAGE: Country Caller
Today, the original inquest papers documenting the deaths of Tom Shannon, Glen Shannon and Alec Lennig are stored in the depths of the sprawling Queensland State Archives facility at Runcorn in Brisbane’s south.
A large stack of now brittle paperwork details the little known tragedy that occurred in a remote mountain range just shy of 61 years ago.
The documents include statements from several members of a dozen-man party tasked to venture up to the Marquis mine on Shannonvale and carefully recover the three decomposing bodies.
It took the team six days, considerable planning, and numerous trips back and forth from Bowen and Proserpine to assemble the equipment required to eventually bring Lennig and the Shannon brothers back to the surface.
Samuel Hughes, a professional scuba diver trained by the Commonwealth Marines, descended down the Marquis mine in a bosun’s chair and rigged the three bodies into an apparatus that would finally pull them out, one by one, on the afternoon of January 9th 1962.
Had the recovery attempt failed, plans were afoot to fill the mine shaft in, creating a permanent tomb for the three doomed gold diggers.
A diagram from the Marquis mine (90ft deep) tabled in the inquest into the deaths of Tom Shannon, Glen Shannon and Alec Lennig. The “X” marks indicate the position in which their bodies were found. IMAGE Supplied
The coroner found that Tom Shannon, Glen Shannon and Alec Lennig died of “carbon monoxide poisoning as a result of inhaling the fumes from a petrol driven engine in the shaft of the Marquis mine” on or about December 28th 1961.
It’s believed Glen Shannon and Alec Lennig entered the mine shaft first, carrying with them a motorised water pump which they’d use to remove groundwater which sat about 4ft deep on the floor of the mine.
Experts said they would have perished within minutes of starting the engine.
Back on ground level Tom Shannon sensed trouble and climbed down to the pair’s aid, only to be quickly overwhelmed by the toxic fumes himself.
Evidence at the coronial inquest showed that before they ventured to the Marquis mine, the trio had been made well aware of the danger which ultimately killed them.
“They were warned,” Norma said.
Norma Shannon, with the transcript from a tape she recorded while visiting Shannovale with her uncle, Bill, in July 1995. IMAGE: Country Caller
Cyril Hughes, who in 1961 was the owner of a welding business in Proserpine, recounted how Alec Lennig visited his shop in preparation for his upcoming expedition to Shannonvale.
“I’d known Alec Lennig for years. He had, at different times, discussed the mine. He had told me about different parts of the mine and how he hoped to make money out of it,” Hughes told the inquest.
“He said there were several feet of water and loose stone at the bottom. He mentioned that he was going to pump water out. He came to the shop one day with his Jeep and left his engine there and came back with a pump.
“He asked me to rig up the engine and pump on a frame. After I got most of it finished he said he was going to use it down the mine. I said to him you can’t run an engine down a mine or in a closed room.
“He said we’d be running the engine for only about a quarter of an hour at most… it would only take a short time to get the water out… the gases made wouldn’t affect you.
“He was so sure about it I just let it go. I just said it was risky using it at all down there unless they had an exhaust to the top. Other people in the shop gave him similar information.”
Tom Shannon, who was killed in the Marquis mine on Shannonvale Station while his wife, Betty, was pregnant with his daughter, Norma. IMAGE: Supplied
“No gyms in those days, Harry,” Norma Shannon quipped as she retrieved an old black and white picture of her father, Tom – shirtless, barefoot and built like a brick outhouse as he steadied a nervous foal at the Shannonvale homestead, sometime before December 1961.
Aside from a few fading family photos and vague recollections from members of the generation before her, Norma has had little to remember the father she never met.
In July 1995 she made sure to see and hear first hand about the tragic accident which claimed his life, by convincing her uncle, Bill Shannon, to take her to Shannonvale and walk her through the scene of his death.
Wild Bill Walpole, who’d purchased the property in the mid 1960s, was their chaperone.
“Uncle Bill always swore he would never go back after he found the boys dead, but eventually he went back with me and showed me around,” Norma said.
“He didn’t want to, but I was asking him so many questions about Dad and I think I nearly drove him nuts. His wife gave me a bit of a hard time about convincing him to go up there but I think it was actually good for him.
“It’s probably a bit unethical, but I actually secretly tape recorded everything he said and transcribed it. If he knew I was recording he never would have spoken about it. It didn’t feel right, doing it, but how else do you get the history?”
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Norma Shannon at her Grasstree Beach home, which the chronicles of her family history. IMAGE: Country Caller
Over the years Norma has compiled a large stack of documents which chronicle her family’s history.
The three Shannon brothers also had an elder sister, Patrea Rose Shannon, who’d died suddenly of heart disease at the age of two on Shannonvale in October 1924.
Patrea’s grave remains on the property and was another of the sites Norma and Bill visited during their visit in 1995. A rose bush was planted during her burial, and Norma took a sprig which lives on today in her garden at Grasstree Beach.
More recently, tragedy struck again for the Shannon family.
Twenty-five years ago Norma’s brother, Robert Shannon, was killed on a property at Middlemount. He was out on a motorbike checking water troughs when he was struck by a coal train. Robert was 40-years-old.
“We don’t do things by halves in this family,” Norma said.
“She’s a pretty depressing family history. If you’re a Shannon, you either get done early or you live forever.”
A rose from a sprig picked at baby Patrea Shannon’s grave on Shannonvale Station. IMAGE: Country Caller
William Shannon Snr and Elizabeth Shannon, original owners of Shannonvale, with baby Patrea Rose, who died on the property aged two in 1924. IMAGE: Supplied
Sixty years on the from tragic accident in the Marquis gold mine which killed Tom Shannon, Glen Shannon and Alec Lennig, a second triple fatality occurred on Shannonvale Station.
Mr Young is charged with three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder relating to Mr Tighe’s brother, Ross. He is in custody. His next court appearance is scheduled for early next year.
For Norma Shannon the tragedy harks back to a turbulent and tragic history on the property named after her family.
“There’s been the range wars, I call it, going on for years and years,” she said.
“They were always fighting over cattle and whose were whose, and trying to steal other people’s. You always heard the stories of people being caught on other people’s blocks.
“When I heard someone had been shot I couldn’t believe it. But then it all unfolded and it turned out three people had been shot. It’s just horrific. But I suppose I wasn’t totally surprised that it came to that, given the history.
“Growing up, Wild Bill would tell us so many stories from up there and you’d think ‘I’d love to go up and live there. It sounds like so much fun. They all got along and had so much fun.’
“But Shannonvale also has a pretty wild history. It’s shocking to think that it turned out like this.”
A LEADING Australian stockbroking, wealth management and corporate advice firm will host hundreds of city workers nationwide for the fifth instalment of a charity function which has so far raised more than $3.4 million for country folk in need.
Instead of being a fancy corporate fundraiser characterised by ball gowns and black ties, Morgans‘ annual Big Dry Friday event aims to truly connect its donors from the big smoke to their beneficiaries in bush.
Guests are asked to consider the luxuries they enjoy in capital cities which often aren’t available to those facing hardships on the land, by setting aside whatever amount of money they might usually spend on a Friday long lunch and donating it to a selection of rural charities.
“Our business is a bit different to some of the other broker and financial advisory firms,” said Brian Sheahan, Brisbane-based Executive Chairman of Morgans (pictured).
“We’re very much a regional network and we always have been. It’s in our DNA. We’ve done a lot of work in the agriculture space and for regional businesses in general.
“We started Big Dry Friday in 2018 which was obviously a tough year in regional Australia with droughts, not only for farmers but also flowing through to regional communities.
“We decided we wanted to do something to help all of our friends, families, clients and compatriots in country areas.”
This Friday, November 18, Big Dry Friday in Brisbane will held on the banks of the Brisbane River at the venue Events On Oxlade. The event will feature a mechanical bull riding competition complete with a Calcutta charity auction.
Since 2018 the annual Big Dry Friday event has raised more than $3.4 million for rural charities. IMAGE: SuppliedGuests at Big Dry Friday can punt for rural charities in a mechanical bull ride Calcutta auction. IMAGE: Supplied
About 340 people are expected to attend. Similar Big Dry Friday events will be hosted by Morgans simultaneously in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
“The name ‘Big Dry Friday’ is a bit of a play on words,” Sheahan said.
“Guests can of course abstain from having a drink if they wish, but the idea is to make the event accessible to everyone and for people to donate whatever they might usually spend having lunch and a beer on a Friday afternoon.
“For some people that might be 10 or 50 dollars, and for others it might be 200 dollars.
“Sometimes stories of the terrible situations going on in regional Australia don’t get through to people in the cities. What we are trying to do is create a day that connects city and country and try to make it approachable for all people.”
When Big Dry Friday began in 2018, organisers distributed the funds raised to causes which supported drought-affected farmers and communities, however over the ensuing years the list of beneficiaries has expanded to reflect changes in the needs of people living in the bush.
One hundred cents in very dollar raised will go to the charities.
Rural Aid CEO John Warlters (pictured) said of the total $3.4 million raised through Big Dry Friday over its first four years, nearly $1.5 million had been received by Rural Aid and distributed to people impacted by droughts and floods.
“We’re huge fans of what Morgans has done and continues to do, knowing that all of their efforts go back into supporting organisations like Rural Aid and other beneficiaries so that we can, in turn, support those farming families which need a bit of help from time to time,” Warlters said.
“The dollars that come from Big Dry Friday go to people who are often in very desperate situations and we saw that very graphically illustrated through the drought, when every dollar was incredibly precious.
“People make huge sacrifices to keep their places going and keep their livestock alive. The help that Morgans and its supporters gave to Rural Aid, so that we could then pass that on, has made a difference to so many people.
“More recently, that same support from Morgans has been delivered against the backdrop of floods – that stark contrast that only Australia seems to be able to serve up.
“I love the Big Dry Friday event because it is an opportunity for story telling about why the funds raised are so important and how they make a difference to people.
“It helps people understand that what they’re a part of is not just a good social opportunity, but has a real impact in a positive way in someone else’s life.”
