STAKEHOLDERS in the booming AgTech sector gathered in Toowoomba this week to discuss how digital innovation is revolutionising Australian farming, but it wasn’t long before speakers addressed the elephant in the room – foot and mouth disease (FMD).
Asked whether authorities should consider taking the extreme measure of closing the Indonesian border while the FMD outbreak was managed, the representative from a prominent Wagyu beef operation responded by saying “one hundred percent”.
Jessie Chiconi, from family owned Chiconi Grazing PTY LTD based in western Queensland, told the 400M Agrifood Innovation Forum that the arrival of FMD in Australia would be dire for the entire beef industry.
“We are far, far too big an industry to lose because we can’t throw our shoes out and wander back in,” Chiconi said.
“It’s not only returning holidayers that are perhaps an issue, it’s little bits of meat that might get stored in a suitcases on the way home. It’s the things that aren’t declared which is always going to be an issue.”
Meanwhile North Queensland senator Susan McDonald has suggested the Federal Government should consider suspending flights from Bali, saying an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Australia would unleash a crisis of “biblical proportions”.
Chiconi’s and McDonald’s comments echo sentiments expressed by some cattle industry figures on social media.
“If foot and mouth disease does end up in Australia – and I do think it is more of a ‘when’ than an ‘if’ – we will never eradicate it, not with our wild pests and pigs and goats,” Chiconi said.
“We have an 85,000 acre property north of Mungallala and there’s an entire eastern boundary that is just all range country, and you simply can’t exclusion fence that area.
“In the meantime, foot and mouth is also an airborne disease, so we will never be able to fence for it because it’s going to get through somewhere… unless there is a way we can develop a vaccine for it. Hopefully there is something something we can look into.
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“But at the moment, as it stands, if foot and mouth enters our country, we’re at a point where we’re very strongly considering not buying new genetics for our business.
Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) Queensland chairman Michael James, who also owns the renowned Carina North Quality Meats butchery in Brisbane, also said authorities should close our border with Indonesia “as a first step”.
He said contamination of FMD in the Australian national herd would be disastrous, not just for animal welfare but for the entire beef supply chain.
Australian Meat Industry Council Queensland chairman and Carina North Quality Meats Michael James. IMAGE: Supplied
“If foot and mouth got in it would decimate the entire meat sector, not just the production side of it, but the meat retail, wholesale, processing – it would hurt the industry significantly and a lot of people as well.
“AMIC is working very closely with the government on task forces and committees, talking to the government and the minister, working very hard and taking this very seriously because it would have a very signifiant impact on our members.
“You have to destroy stock which means the whole supply is impacted. It’s not just immediate destruction of livestock and the potential drying up of supply. It’s the destruction of years of research and genetic improvement of herds.
“It would resonate for a long time to come and through the entire industry.”
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In a statement late yesterday Agriculture Minister Murray Watt announced he Federal Government would provide $1.5 million to support Indonesia’s response to the FMD outbreak.
The funding will provide at least 1 million FMD doses for Indonesia’s vaccination program, following a formal request for assistance from the Indonesian Government.
“During my meeting with Lieutenant General Suharyanto we offered to share Australian expertise on emergency disease management and biosecurity,” Watt said.
“The Albanese Government is taking a two-pronged approach to preventing the incursion of Foot and Mouth disease, first by strengthening biosecurity measures at the Australian border, and also by supporting efforts to curb the spread overseas.”
THE legacy of one of the Royal Flying Doctor Service’s longest serving aircraft mechanics lives on at one of the organisation’s far flung outposts, as Charleville base manager Liane Spencer embarks on her third year working for the vital country health service.
Spencer’s father, Gordon Fraser, was employed by Trans Australia Airline and spent 30 years servicing RFDS planes at Charleville between 1950 and 1983.
His decades of contribution is commemorated by a street out by the Charleville aerodrome, Gordon Fraser Drive, bearing his name.
Sharing the special historical significance of being a second generation RFDS worker, Spencer said her fond memories in the RFDS Charleville hangar as a child inspired her longing to work for the service.
Charleville RFDS base manager Laine Spencer. IMAGE: Katrina Lehmann
“In Dad’s days, engineering was officially outsourced to Trans Australia, meaning Gordon not only did the maintenance on the Fokker Friendships for TAA but also the Flying Doctor planes as well, often having to fly to remote locations to get the crew back in the air,” Spencer said.
“He was however an RFDS man at heart, forming many strong friendships with the RFDS staff.
“So many of my early memories are spending time with him in the hangar and him telling me about how much he enjoyed his time with the organisation and instilling in me his love of aircraft.
“When the opportunity to work for the RFDS came along I knew I had to take it, and I love coming to work every day and seeing that the special impact he had on the community in Charleville is honoured.”
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(Right) Long-serving Charleville RFDS aircraft mechanic Gordon Fraser
Along with her own personal memories, Liane has shared some historical images and handwritten notes detailing her father’s time with RFDS.
“It’s mind blowing to see the changes that have happened over the years between dad’s time and now,” she said.
“The RFDS of today has world-class engineers and technology, but back in his day, they had to innovate and work with what they could to keep the aircraft running during the weeks it took to get parts in.
“I’m just very pleased that the one consistent between Dad’s time and mine is that the incredible team culture has still stayed the same.
“Working for the RFDS is by far the best job in town, there is so much diversity in daily tasks, plus I work alongside the smartest people who all treat each other with incredible amounts of respect.”
The RFDS has 23 air bases around Australia and 79 aircraft. Over the past year alone, the organisation has flown 28,953,688km and tended to 337,686 patients in rural and remote areas.
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A letter written by Gordon Fraser during his time as aircraft mechanic servicing the RFDS
TOWERING over the dusty south west Queensland landscape, Thallon’s GrainCorp silo art and its striking sunset colour palette is truly a sight to behold.
“The Watering Hole” tells the story of Thallon’s resilient region, from the tranquil banks of the Moonie River to its rich agricultural history and stunning natural beauty.
Five years since the paint dried on the magnificent mural, this tiny town 550kms south west of Brisbane is a very different place thanks to the community’s determination to create a tourism destination in what was the middle of nowhere.
The silos under the stars. IMAGE: James Gard
It was 2015 when Thallon Progress Association first started searching for ideas to reinvigorate the town.
“This was a town that was in decline, but the community didn’t sit back and wait for someone else to bail them out,” Balonne Shire Mayor Samantha O’Toole said.
“They hit upon the idea of painting the silos and became the first in Queensland to do that.
“It’s all the more notable because the Thallon wheat silos are still operational and GrainCorp have shown wonderful community spirit in being part of this initiative.”
It took the Progress Association two years to plan and fundraise for the epic project, which was officially completed on July 20, 2017.
Stretching 40m wide and 30m high, it took 500 cans of spray paint to bring “The Watering Hole” to life.
WATCH: How “The Watering Hole”was painted
“The foresight and determination shown by a small group of people back in 2015 has been responsible for raising the profile of both the town and the region, by creating an iconic tourism attraction that has boosted our economy,” O’Toole said.
Association project coordinator Leanne Brosnan said when the idea was first hatched to paint the silos, no one could have imagined the transformative effect the project would have.
“We couldn’t have imagined some of the ways it was going to reinvigorate the community,” she said.
“It’s just spawned more people in the community to step up and do things and give them confidence to do things.”
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She believes the tourism dollars generated by the silos saved the town’s last remaining local business, the Francis Hotel and its Post Office and store, when drought ravaged the region from 2017 to 2020.
“I don’t think Thallon wold have survived the drought – we definitely would have lost the pub,” Brosnan said.
Instead, she said momentum driven by the murals attracted a new business venture to town in 2020 with the old General Store, which had been closed for years, being reimagined and reopened.
It’s now serving up coffee and food for locals and visitors alike and producing a range of local merchandise designed by the Progress Association to help fund more community projects.
Silo merchandise for sale in Thallon and online
The success of the silo murals inspired the Association to create a range of other new tourist attractions in Thallon, including William the giant hairy-nosed wombat statue, sculptures explaining local history and the newly opened Thallon Information Station.
The silos were also the perfect backdrop for biennial dining event, “Grazing at the Watering Hole” (pictured below) which will return to the region in March next year.
The view from “Grazing at the Watering Hole”
GrainCorp’s Kyle Docherty said the mural had brought a huge sense of identity and pride to the community and GrainCorp was proud to have played a role in reinvigorating the region.
“The true heroes are the Thallon Progress Association,” he said.
“They’ve been instrumental in keeping the momentum of the mural going and are always looking at how it can attract more people to their beloved town.”
William the Giant Hairy-Nosed Wombat statue
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Annette Green from the Australian Silo Art Trail also congratulated the association for how it had continued to drive interest around the artwork.
“Upon completion, many other silo art committees and associations dissolve and when ended so does the enthusiasm and reasons for painting the silos in the first place,” Green said.
“Thallon however, has continued to grow and prosper – when I’m sure at one stage many thought the town was lost.
“They have worked hard and still do in promoting their town. They have encouraged a new business to open and ensured the continued survival of the Francis Hotel and Post Office which is also a great achievement.
“Tourist attraction through art is sweeping the country and Thallon has embraced the concept fully. I look forward to seeing this town continue to grow and prosper in the future.”
The silos were featured on an Australia Post commemorative stamp
The artists behind the iconic bush scene, Travis Vinson (Drapl) and Joel Fergie (The Zookeeper) always wanted to create more than just a stunning artwork.
In their original design brief they said, “our aim is for the work to reflect the identities of those in the town and also the environment around it.”
“Our objective is to make the work beautiful, in order to draw travellers to the town. But also to tell a story, and encourage its viewers to become more familiar with the town of Thallon.
“We want the community to look up to the silos as the sun sets each day and be reminded of why they love the land they live in.”
As the community prepares to mark 5 years since “The Watering Hole’s” completion with a special “Silobration” morning tea on July 20, it’s clear that goal has been achieved.
“We could never have envisaged how “The Watering Hole” mural could have transformed Thallon over the last 5 years,” Leanne Brosnan said.
“Now that we know what is possible we will continue to dream big.”
THE developer of a major wind farm on Queensland’s Western Downs is assuring local suppliers their tenders will be at the “top of the priority list” when deciding which contractors to engage during the $1 billion project’s construction phase.
Cubico Sustainable Investments, the company behind the 500MW Wambo Wind Farm being built near Jandowae, has appointed global energy giant Vestas as its Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor and said Western Downs businesses would now be the focus for the construction supply chain.
Close to 160 local firms expressed interest in working on the wind farm as part of a capability survey overseen by Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE).
Cubico executive director Andres Maasing (pictured) said the survey report had given the company a strong overview of how requirements for the project could be fulfilled as it prepared to begin construction later this year.
(L-R) Cubico Head of Australia David Smith, Powerlink business development manager Brett Mann, Stanwell executive general manager Richard Jefery and Cubico executive director Andres Maasing
“Vestas is currently in the process of tendering for subcontractors – civil and electrical – and looking to appoint somebody within the next few months,” Maasing told guests at a TSBE Enterprise Evening in Chinchilla.
“That information (from the capability survey) has been all passed on to Vestas and they’ve passed that on to subcontractors who are currently tendering for the activities.
“The intention is that all those participants will be either approached or will be engaged to tender to Vestas. It is our intention to ensure that as much opportunity is presented to local industry as possible in order to deliver this project.”
Map showing the location of the Wambo Wind Farm site
The Wambo Wind Farm is being built in two stages, the first comprising the construction of 42 turbines with an additional 68 turbines to follow.
Maasing said Cubico hoped to also build a 50MW/200MWh battery at the site, about 70km north of Dalby, but said the storage facility was still remained “a bit of a dream for us” at this stage.
Around 200 jobs will be created during construction of the first phase and 20 jobs will be supported over the 30-year operational period.
Additional jobs will be required for government owned transmission operator Powerlink to build infrastructure to connect Wambo Wind Farm to the energy market.
Powerlink business development manager Brett Mann said local suppliers would also be prioritised where possible for that part of the project.
Local suppliers visiting the Wambo Wind Farm site last year
“We’ve just completed the final corridor selection for the transmission line for connecting the wind farm,” Mann said.
“Our next step is going to be working out exactly where in the corridor the infrastructure for the transmission will go, which will transport the green energy from the wind farm to the grid.
“As you’d appreciate, building transmission lines and electricity infrastructure is highly specialised and technical work, which sometimes means that general employment opportunities on the transmission parts of the project can be a bit limited.
“The technical work is generally undertaken by specialised contractors that Powerlink engages, however where possible we will engage with local suppliers and work with our principal contractors to ensure that local goods and services and suppliers are used at every opportunity.”
Andres Maasing from Cubico said “it’s not too late” for those who missed the capability survey to express their interest in tendering. Contact information is available on the Wambo Wind Farm website.
SLIDESHOW – Guests in attendance at a TSBE Enterprise Evening in Chinchilla
FARMERS and Ag industry leaders are calling on both sides of politics to ditch “pointless point scoring” and cooperate to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD) from tourist hot-spot Bali, into Australia.
Indonesian authorities confirmed 63 cases of FMD in Balinese livestock on Tuesday this week, sending a “shiver up the spine of Australian farmers” according to National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson.
“Ever since FMD was detected in Bali our industry has been on edge given the growing volumes of traffic between our countries,” Simson said.
FMD isn’t a risk to humans but it’s one of the most serious and contagious livestock diseases, causing painful sores in cloven-hoofed animals including cattle, sheep, goats and pigs.
The viral disease spreads rapidly between animals and can be transmitted by their breath, saliva, milk and faeces.
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Farmers fear tourists returning from Bali with contaminated clothing or products could trigger an Aussie outbreak.
The looming threat is Labor senator Murray Watt’s first big test as federal agriculture minister as ABARES modelling shows FMD cases in Australia could cost our economy up to $80 billion.
Within a day of being notified of the Bali cases, the Albanese government said it had ramped up biosecurity measures which built on protocols put in place when the Indonesian FMD outbreak was first detected in May this year.
“These existing strengthened measures include new targeted operations at major airports servicing travel from Indonesia to check a wider range of passengers who could be contaminated with FMD or be carrying contaminated goods and assessment of all passengers on flights from Indonesia, with high risk passengers identified for intervention,” Murray Watt said.
Detection dog Boris inspecting sausages, an FMD risk. IMAGE: DAF Media
New measures being taken or introduced include:
The location of biosecurity detector dogs in Darwin and Cairns Airports,
Additional signage and the distribution of flyers at major airports, informing travellers of FMD risk and precautions,
Expanded social media campaigns, informing travellers of their biosecurity responsibilities,
Additional training of airport biosecurity staff,
Enhancement of mail profiling and inspections, and
Additional measures, including boarding by biosecurity officers on arriving flights from Indonesia, will begin in coming days.
However Watt’s predecessor and Nationals leader David Littleproud was quick to criticise Labor’s response, issuing a press release and a series of posts on social media.
Tweet from David Littleproud on Thursday
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“The Government has conceded that their proposal to increase the number of sniffer dogs at airports with incoming Indonesian flights cannnot actually directly detect FMD if attached on boots,” Littleproud said.
“There also remains a number of passengers who falsely declare or don’t declare all of their movements, while in Indonesia.
“The only way to effectively mitigate this vulnerability is to introduce disinfectant foot baths at airports.”
But that was criticism Murray Watt wasn’t going to cop, labelling Littleproud’s spray “total crap”.
He said he’d had Mr Littleproud briefed by the Ag department’s biosecurity team about all the measures being imposed, and that Littleproud had “chosen to lie about it”.
Tweet from Murray Watt on Thursday
The response from farmers and industry leaders on social media was swift too, with a tidal wave of calls for both sides of politics to work together to strengthen borders and “act without political point scoring”.
The CEO of the New South Wales Country Women’s Association Danica Leys went a step further, telling Littleproud to “step up, grow up and work together.”
“Both of them (Littleproud and Watt) have experience and between the two different sides, this is a time where some serious collaborative effort could actually result in a good outcome,” Leys told the Caller.
“Point scoring detracts from the issue at hand. It’s pointless and that’s not what we need at the moment.”
Leys runs a mixed cropping and cattle operation west of Gunnedah in NSW and said all the livestock producers she’d spoken to were “on edge and really concerned”.
“Even for us as smaller operators, this threat would be completely devastating to our business,” Leys said.
“The minute FMD lands on our shores it affects us financially. It affects the entire beef industry, that’s when we lose our FMD-free status and prices go through the floor.”
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Danica Leys with some of her cattle in NSW. IMAGE: Supplied
Leys said both the federal Ag minister and his shadow counterpart were “slow to respond” to news FMD had been detected in Bali, and that industry had been hearing about the outbreak for days before anything official was issued by the Australian government.
“People are concerned and they’re seeking reassurances that appropriate steps-up in biosecurity controls are being taken by the Australian government,” she said.
“It’s not just the actual response, it’s the communication around it.
“I would have expected to receive it (advice) directly from the levy paying bodies that I pay money to and I haven’t received anything as yet.
“There is good information out there around what producers can be doing – but a lot of it is very general in nature and you have to go and proactively search for it.
“What we’re needing is that very specific advice, on what we should be doing right now.”
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Murray Watt on Thursday’s virtual meeting about FMD risks. IMAGE: @MurrayWatt on Twitter
Minister Watt (pictured above) convened a virtual meeting of almost 80 farming and biosecurity leaders on Thursday afternoon.
“Separately, I was also briefed from some of Australia’s leading biosecurity experts, including from CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, the Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis and Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Mark Schipp,” Watt said.
“At both briefings, I received valuable feedback and suggestions for additional measures and am now seeking departmental advice on them.”
NFF President Fiona Simson said this threat, as well as the recent incursion of varroa mite in NSW, “highlights our call for a long-term, sustainable biosecurity funding pipeline”.
“We are relieved to see the government respond to calls by industry to ramp up biosecurity through detector dogs, greater communications material for travellers, and further biosecurity staff training,” Simson said.
“We are pleased Minister Watt is listening and taking this matter seriously, and acting appropriately to protect Australian shores from this potentially devastating disease.
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“We now need the Government to continually review whether these measures go far enough, and consider the appropriateness of screening all incoming arrivals from high risk areas.
“We would also like to see an increase in frontline biosecurity officers at return airports and ongoing reviews into the appropriateness of additional intervention methods such as footbaths.”
It’s not just federal MPs politicising the issue either, with Queensland shadow Ag Minister Tony Perrett claiming last month’s state budget was a “missed opportunity for the State Labor Government to deal with and prepare for our biosecurity risks.”
“When public service numbers are soaring in other departments DAF’s biosecurity staff has not changed,” Perrett said, claiming Animal Biosecurity & Welfare (ABW) staff numbers have significantly dropped under the Palaszczuk government.
“ABW operations staff have dropped from 56.5 in 2015 to 44.8 in May, and field vet staff have gone from 7.6 to 6.3 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs). Biosecurity is going backwards as our threats increase,” Perrett said.
Queensland Ag minister Mark Furner didn’t respond to the Caller‘s request for comment by deadline.
Culling of animals during the 2001 British FMD outbreak. IMAGE: Daily Post
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More than six million cattle, sheep and pigs were culled during the UK’s FMD crisis in 2001, causing losses of more than 8 billion pounds (approximately $AUD 19 billion).
AgForce CEO Michael Guerin said the risk of the disease arriving in Australia is very real and with the potential for widespread devastation, Agforce is warning members to stay alert and watch for signs of the disease.
“AgForce recommends tightened farm biosecurity on livestock properties, assessing the risk of property visitors (especially overseas’ travellers), visitor register for traceback/forward, footwear and equipment hygiene and checking for FMD symptoms among all affected livestock and feral species,” Guerin said.
WITH all due respect respect to Mick Balzary, the Australian father of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ superstar bass player, Flea, I have to disagree with assertions he made earlier this year in email correspondence with the Caller.
I’d asked whether Mick agreed or, even better, could confirm, that the lead single from the Chili Peppers’ newly released album was a reference to natural disasters recently experienced Down Under.
“I doubt very much that ‘Black Summer’ relates to Australia,” Mick (pictured) wrote.
“Words to the Peppers songs are in the main written by Anthony Kiedis. Don’t dream anything up.”
I’ve been dreaming about Red Hot Chili Peppers music for a long time, ever since my older brothers first loaded the songs ‘Otherside’ and ‘Scar Tissue’ onto their Winamp MP3 player in about 1999.
So it was just a tad crushing to be so swiftly shut down by the father of a band member I’ve idolised since childhood. Mick Balzary even signed off the email by imploring, in capital letters, “PLEASE DO NOT MAKE THINGS UP!”.
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But then, in a follow up phone call with Mick, he said “if you think you know more, then go for it”.
So I am.
And it’s not just ‘Black Summer’ which connects the Californian funk rock kings to regional, Outback and Indigenous Australia.
Going right back to when Flea was a child, there are enough links between the band and our sunburnt country to justify a whole feature article.
Being NAIDOC Week, and because this week the Chili Peppers announced a national tour of Australia scheduled to begin in January next year, the time for that article is now.
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Michael “Flea” Balzary. IMAGE: Supplied
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Flea performing with the Chili Peppers in London earlier this month. IMAGE: Red Hot Chili Peppers official
The kid from Victoria becomes an international rock star
Flea was born Michael Peter Balzary in Melbourne on October 16, 1962. His father, Mick Balzary Snr, said of that day: “It was so bloody hot you could fry a bloody egg on the sidewalk, mate!”.
Flea was aged just four when Mick Snr moved the family to the United States after he landed a job with the Australian customs office, based in New York.
His parents parted ways while overseas. Mick Balzary moved back home, his mother partnered with a Big Apple jazz musician, and the rest is history. Flea has gone on to become one of the world’s most renowned bass guitar players, ever.
In his memoir titled ‘Acid for the Children’, Flea wrote effusively of the connection he’s maintained with Australia and particularly its natural beauty:
Cover photo of Flea’s autobiography
Everything is more alive there, the food, the wildlife, the ocean. But its feels foreboding, like every beautiful thing has a meanness to it that will kill you, take you down, leave you as dusty as bones. When I walk in its bush trails, I'm uplifted and intoxicated by the smells, the silent and watchful animals, yet always alert that I could be killed by some kind of spidersnakemonster, or have my throat slit by a lunatic zapped by too much of that bright light, too much space and time to let his maniac mind wheels spin.
A gorgeous, rejuvenating, friendly, terrifying, poisonous place. Is it cursed? The disenfranchised and ethically cleansed aboriginal people put a whammy on white, retaliation for genocide and years of systematic abuse?
I always feel an umbilical connection to my birthland. It's a pillar of my life, no matter how long I'm away. My first four years shaped me profoundly, yet early childhood is a funny dream and murky memories hard to decipher. Australia's openness and dirt roads, the smell of eucalyptus forests, kangaroos dozing lazily in secret shady spots snapped to alert wakefulness by the sound of me and my dog crunching through the trail. Ahh, the taste of meat pie from the local baker, tomato sauce dripping from its warm flaky crust. My homeland's colors and feelings are etched deeply into who I am.
Michael “Flea” Balzary with his sister, Karyn, during their childhood in Australia. IMAGE : Acid for the Children
Lamenting the Australian bushfires
Despite the idea being shot down by Flea’s dad, there’s no doubt in my mind that ‘Black Summer’, in far more than title alone, is a reference by singer-songwriter Anthony Keidis to the devastating bushfires which raged across Australia’s east during the summer of 2019 and 2020.
The timing fits perfectly.
It was mid December of 2019 when the Chili Peppers announced the bombshell that the band’s seminal guitarist, John Frusciante, had rejoined the band following a decade-long departure.
Band members have said that ‘Black Summer’ was one of the first songs they began writing after Frusciante rejoined.
The confronting images of bushfires ripping down the Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian coastlines would have been blaring on Anthony Kiedis’s television just as he began putting pen to paper.
I believe these lyrics are the result:
“A lazy rain am I… The the skies refuse to cry. Cremation takes its piece of your supply… the night is dressed like noon… platypus are a few, the secret life of roo…”
C’mon. You can’t tell me those lyrics aren’t Anthony Kiedis lamenting the months of devastation in Australia, which have become known as the “Black Summer” bushfires.
An ode to Aboriginal Australians
While the potential references to Australia in ‘Black Summer’ are metaphoric, there’s another Chili Peppers song which pays tribute to the land Down Under in a far more literal sense.
‘Walkabout’ was released on the band’s 1995 album One Hot Minute. It clearly refers to the traditional rite of passage for young Aboriginal Australian males, to live in the wilderness for a long period as they transition into manhood.
Have a listen to this funky number:
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – Walkabout
I think I'll go on a walkabout
And find out what it's all about
And that ain't hard
Just me and my own two feet
In the heat I've got myself to meet
A detective of perspective
I need to try and get a bigger eye, open wide
Blood wood flowers in my gaze
Walkabout in a sunny daze
To me now
On a walkabout
You could do it in the city
You could do it in a zone
You could do it in the desert
You could do the unknown
On a walkabout
High desert skies, are what I spy
So fly, you've got to wonder why
The stingrays must be fat this year
Moving slow in my lowest gear
The digeridoo original, man with a dream
I believe the Aborigine
On a walkabout
You could do it with a shuffle
You could do it with a stroll
You could do it with a stride
You could do the unknown
On a walkabout
A walk could cure almost all my blues
Bare feet or in my two shoes
One, two
I think I'll go on a walkabout
Find out what it's all about, can't hurt to try
Use your legs to rock it wide
Take a ride to the other side
David Gulpilil, what an awesome dude
Back to Flea, the Australian-born bass guitar god who declares an “umbilical connection” to his home country.
When the iconic Indigenous actor, David Dhalatnghu Gulpilil, passed away in November last year, Flea was among a star studded list of international celebrities who expressed their condolences on social media.
And his tribute was perhaps the most heartfelt.
“Anyone who knows me, knows Walkabout is my favourite movie ever made,” Flea wrote on Instagram.
“We were just watching another amazing performance by David Dalaithngu in The Last Wave, the night before last.
“His performances are part of who I am, they’ve had a profound effect, opening me up to the mystical, the invisible world.
“What an awesome dude.”
Cleansing rain in the Gulf country
The tiny coastal Queensland town of Karumba in the Gulf of Carpentaria was put on the map in the 1940s when it was used by the RAAF during World War II as an aircraft fuelling and maintenance base.
Fast forward a few decades and Anthony Kiedis put Karumba on the map again – for Chili Peppers fans at least – when he penned the song Animal Bar on the 2006 album Stadium Arcadium.
“There is actually a bar called the Animal Bar and it’s in Northern Australia and it’s a tiny, one road dirt town where they don’t get rain for 10 months,” Kiedis said.
“At the end of that 10 months everybody in the town is basically on the verge of death because there’s been no f***ing rain, and the first drops of rain start to fall and it really does kind of rebirth you. It just comes and washes everything away.”
Flea’s father, Mick Balzary, apparently wasn’t aware of the Karumba anecdote, telling the Caller “I don’t think they have ever been to Karumba. Maybe you mean Currumbin on the Gold Coast. So it (the song Animal Bar) was not inspired by a visit that did not occur”.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – Animal Bar
Kiedis’s salute to Karumba is well known among locals, despite only vague recollections of him ever having visited.
“I think it was in the 80s or the 90s when they were here,” said Kyra Hill, a long time Karumba resident, frequent patron of the Animal Bar and one time employee at the venue.
“At one stage we thought that it was taken from Shane Howard’s song about Karumba, because it’s basically about rain.
“All of us know the feeling you get when it finally rains. It’s a totally different feeling you get here.”
The Animal Bar, she said, had a colourful history as a drinking hole for drunken sailors who came in to “unwind” after months out in the Gulf angling from fishing trawlers.
“When the fishing started big time in the 1960s, the fishermen lived hard and worked hard,” she said.
The Animal Bar in Karumba, North Queensland
“The only way you could get here into Karumba was by dirt road. You had to be a certain type of breed to come here. You come in from sea with a pocket full of money after not seeing anybody else, and the people played hard.
“There were concrete floors so you could hose it off in the morning.
“Up until 20 years ago you could come in and drink until you fell down because you’d been out at sea and everyone understood. It was about the release of being out at sea for six weeks, working hard 24 hours a day, and the Animal Bar was the place to unwind.”
Asked about the Chili Peppers song, Hill said locals appreciated the nod from Kiedis, but weren’t holding their breath until the band came and performed the song for the community.
“We’ve got our 150th anniversary celebration next year, celebrating 150 years since Karumba was gazetted, and we’re not expecting the Red Hot Chili Peppers to come over and play for us,” she said.
“I’ve tried to reach out but it didn’t go anywhere.”
Commentary by Anthony Kiedis about the inspiration for Animal Bar
Flea’s spiritual home away from home
It’s undoubtedly just a coincidence that the Red Hot Chili Peppers chose NAIDOC Week to announce their Australian tour, but the band’s myriad other links to First Nations Australians and the Aussie outback surely are not.
In light of Flea’s romantic descriptions of how he was shaped by his early childhood in Victoria, I asked his father Mick about that period during the 1960s.
“Michael at the time was a young boy playing with others. No different,” Mick said.
“He broke his arm one Saturday because I told him to get off the garage roof and play on the swings.
“He did so, falling off and breaking his arm. I took him to the Box Hill hospital and when asked how he broke his arm he said his Dad did it.”
Mick Balzary, in a picture posted by Flea on Instagram
No doubt Flea will take some time away from the band’s national tour next year to spend time with his relatives and father, who live on the south coast of NSW.
“He has a house near me, we spend a lot of time together when he is in Australia, albeit it being short,” Mick said.
Asked whether he’s proud of what his son has gone on to achieve since those early days in suburban Melbourne, Mick said “I’m pleased at what he has achieved – he has become a very well known celebrity and has done a lot for the poor people of LA”.
The Chili Peppers will perform in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth during their Australian tour.
The Caller calls on the band to venture further afield, to the beating heart of the country that’s inspired all those iconic lyrics.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers – singer Anthony Kiedis, guitarist John Frusciante, bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith
CHARLEVILLE could become home to Australia’s first commercial argan tree crop, if an experimental trial underway just outside the outback town proves successful.
The first argan trees have just been planted at a local trial site after several years of research driven by two entrepreneurial Toowoomba brothers, with support from Murweh Shire Council and SQ Landscapes.
Adnun and Albab Khan were already involved with a local charcoal manufacturing business, but it was their participation in the town’s successful Guinness World Record attempt to produce the world’s longest damper in 2019 which got them thinking about the region’s potential.
“Once we saw the Council working so positively we thought, what else can we do out here?” Adnun Khan said.
“We got talking to the Council and they were really interested in different, unique industries they could possibly set up in the town.”
Adnun Khan, Andrew McCartney from SQ Landscapes and Albab Khan at ‘Croxdale’
The brothers began researching the region’s climate and soil types and found strong similarities between Charleville and Morocco, the home of the lucrative argan tree.
Argan oil is one of the world’s most expensive edible oils, widely used in cosmetics, hair care and pharmaceuticals.
The Khans have spent the last three years importing argan seeds and learning how to germinate them successfully, planting the first of around 200 trees in recent weeks at former DPI research station ‘Croxdale’, a 4500 hectare property 12kms west of Charleville.
An argan sapling at ‘Croxdale’
SQ Landscapes is the trustee of ‘Croxdale’ and was approached by Murweh Shire Council to be part of the argan trial.
“Our reason for doing it’s really clear,” CEO Paul McDonald said.
“We know with the changing climate we’re facing, we do need to find new agriculture for our rangelands.
“Australia’s rangelands form 83% of the continent – if we can find new agricultural crops that are high value, low impact and suit the climate in our rangelands – which is essentially dry – it will hugely help the bush.”
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Adnun Khan said the group’s hoping to have the most genetically diverse collection of argan trees in Australia.
“We plan to work with different universities to develop a superior yielding argan plant that is specific to outback Queensland and Australian conditions,” he said.
The argan nut is similar to a macadamia, and Khan said they plan to use existing technology and harvesting techniques from Australia’s macadamia industry on the new crop.
The trial plants have also been treated with different kinds of fungi and “plant food” to see what combination proves most beneficial.
Argan growing at ‘Croxdale’
“We’ll spend the next year watching the growth differences between them,” Paul McDonald said.
“Right now it’s got very cold and these plants aren’t lovers of zero and minus temperatures, so we’re watching them closely for that.”
Argan isn’t the only crop the group is looking to trial in Charleville, investigating the potential of jojoba, carob and saffron.
Murweh Shire Mayor Shaun ‘Zoro’ Radnedge said the crop trial was the sort of project Council wants to support to attract investment to the region.
“It’s diversification – if there’s anything we’ve learnt from floods, droughts and covid, diversification is definitely the key to any business,” Zoro said.
“To attract that sort of investment, our idea as Council is to be as easy as we can to work with, to bring it to our communities.”
SURE enough, within minutes of pulling up on the banks of the Dawson River at Theodore, platypus guru Tamielle Brunt spotted one of her unique and shy aquatic mammals, boldly swimming around and duck diving into water often visited by noisy tourists and locals alike.
Bingo. That’s exactly why she’s there – to document the mere presence of platypus in areas of the Dawson catchment as part of her research with Queensland Wildlife’s PlatypusWatch network.
But despite immediately spotting one at a key location along her research route, Brunt insists the ancient Australian icon is still an “elusive and cryptic” creature.
“A lot of people don’t see them in the wild,” she said.
“They’re not a species that you could go out and be confident that you’ll see a platypus, unlike kangaroos or even emus for example.
“They’re not something that you’d categorise as abundant and they can be quite shy in some areas. They’re not used to human disturbance. Seeing anything different on the banks, they’ll just disappear.”
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But platypus have inhabited the Dawson River, which starts around Injune and runs north through the downs country around Taroom and Theodore before feeding into the Fitzroy River near Rockhampton, for probably as long as the catchment itself has existed.
Brunt said ancestral fossil records showed that the modern day platypus had been around for up to a 110 million years, endemic to much of Australia’s eastern seaboard.
It’s one of only three species of monotremes (egg-laying mammals) in existence, the other two being variations of another unique Australian icon, the echidna.
“They’re weird”, said Brunt, who has one platypus tattooed on her forearm and another dangling from a chain around her neck.
Tamielle Brunt, the “Platypus Protector” taking samples from the Dawson River to confirm the presence of platypus DNA
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With their duck-like but “pliable and leathery” bills, splayed out paddles used to swim which can then retract “Wolverine style” to produce claws, and electro sensors used for hunting, the platypus was once thought to be fake.
“The thing that got the first European settlers thinking that this weird and wonderful creature was a hoax was this duck billed, beaver-tailed thing with flippers – what was this thing?” Brunt said.
“They used to have what were called asiatic fantasy makers, who would take different parts of animals and finely stitch them together. A mermaid was a little monkey torso with a fish tail and they’d try to pass them off as new species to naturalists.
“Most of the species back then were hunted, killed and sent back to England, so when this specimen of a platypus came in big vats of alcohol to the museum over in England, they thought it was a hoax.”
It’s the cryptic and elusive nature of platypus which fascinates Brunt, who is about to complete her PhD with the University of Queensland on how environmental factors can influence platypus genetics.
Queensland Government grant funding is allowing her and the rest of Wildlife Queensland’s Platypus Watch Network to study the animals’ presence and development throughout the Dawson River system.
The platypus is one of only three species of monotremes (egg-laying mammals) in existence, the other two being variations of another unique Australian icon, the echidna. IMAGE: Supplied
There are about 20 locations along the Dawson where she’s using water samples to establish exactly where platypus populations are located.
“The Dawson River itself, being a big river system, would be the main thoroughfare for connectivity between populations,” Brunt said.
“If there are other tributaries along a river system, the main river would be kind of a highway for them to get to each other. That’s important for the integrity of genetics and making sure those populations are healthy and not inbreeding.
“If they’re isolated, if there’s a barrier like weirs or dams, that movement is then cut off you then potentially have issues of inbreeding which causes them problems with genetics and they may not be able to adapt to environmental changes that we are seeing.
“Connectivity is super important to these species and because they are solely dependent upon fresh water ecosystems, keeping water in the system is very important.”
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Brunt’s instagram handle is @platypus-protector. She hopes the work of PlatypusWatch will help to raise the profile of her beloved creatures and contribute to their conservation.
“I just like their quirkiness,” she said.
“Everyone is completely mesmerised by them. It’s about trying to continue that fascination and get people connected to the platypus and to take action in wanting to help and conserve them.
“We’ve already lost them in some of the creek systems in Brisbane in the last 20 years. That’s the blink of an eye when it comes to a species.
“It’s a concern because they’re a species that you can’t see and we’re losing them under our noses.”
Tamielle Brunt is testing for the presence of platypus at about 20 locations along the Dawson River
INDIGENOUS Australian colours have taken pride of place outside the Miles Police Station as local officers celebrate NAIDOC Week by raising the First Nations flag permanently and also welcoming the town’s first Aboriginal cop.
After years as an officer based in Rockhampton, Senior Constable Jason Iles last month traded the Capricorn region for the Western Downs after a bad situation turned into a good opportunity.
“I knew Vern, the local sergeant here in Miles, from when I was in Blackwater, and I happened to run into him when my young fella had a traffic crash in Wandoan,” Iles said.
“Thankfully he wasn’t injured badly, but he had to come back to Miles to see the doctor and I saw Vern at the hospital.
“He said there was a spot opening at the police station in Miles. I was looking for something different so I decided to come here.”
Australian, Queenslander, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flag raising outside the Miles Police Station
“I’ve worked in country stations before and I like that sort of work. This is the first time I’ve actually spent time in Miles and I’m enjoying it. It’s a nice, friendly, country community but it’s cold!”
Relocating to Miles has almost been a return to Iles’s ancestral home. His tribe are the Iman people, who belong to the Upper Dawson region including Taroom and Wandoan.
“It’s great to be the first Aboriginal police officer in Miles and celebrating NAIDOC Week is very important to me. My family has always celebrated NAIDOC Week,” he said.
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Goolburri CEO Gary White, Aunty Robin Derksen and Miles Police Sergeant “Vern” Crous
A smoking ceremony as Miles police mark NAIDOC Week
Iles’s arrival in Miles comes as local police celebrate the success of its ongoing Look to the Stars program, a statewide initiative by the Queensland Police Service aimed to foster mutual understanding and respect between officers and the Indigenous community.
To mark NAIDOC Week, Sergeant Werner “Vern” Crous arranged for new flagpoles to be installed outside Miles Police Station and for the Australian, Torres Strait Islander, Queensland and Aboriginal flags to be raised permanently.
“The Look to the Stars program focusses on enduring respect and the communication lines being open between the police and First Nations people.
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“It’s a project we’ve been working on for a while and it’s culminated today with the flags being raised.
“Raising the Aboriginal flag is a symbol of the progress that we’re making between healing from the past and leading into the future.”
Fundamental to the Look to the Stars program have been local Aboriginal elder Aunty Robin Derksen (Kamilaroi) and Goolburri CEO Gary White (Kullilli) from Dalby.
“I am proud to be part of the flag raising. I welcome our First Nations police officer and his family to Miles and hope they enjoy their new home here,” Aunty Robin said.
“We have an excellent relationship with the police and I think of them as family. I will always welcome them into my home and I know I am welcome when I come here to the police station, especially when I bring my cakes.”
Aunty Robin Derksen being presented a certificate of appreciation by Miles Police Sergeant Vern Crous
AN INNOVATIVE outback business built around turning gidgee hardwood into restaurant-quality charcoal is exploring a wide range of new markets for its organic, renewable products.
Leannda Dierke founded Charleville Charcoal back in 2014, originally manufacturing the product in huge underground pits.
Then she partnered with entrepreneurial Toowoomba brothers Adnun and Albab Khan and local tradesman Steve Hockham to rebrand as Chef’s Choice Charcoal in 2018.
Now the team uses kilns to cook its charcoal, turning wood which would have been left to rot on outback farming properties into fully carbonised Aussie hardwood charcoal.
“We’re cleaning up their property for them (farmers), picking up their rubbish,” Dierke said.
“They have been fine with it, it’s just waste to them.
“Instead of the tree naturally decomposing, we carbonise it so no carbon dioxide emissions are released into the atmosphere.
“We are then left with a high quality charcoal. It’s all organic, it’s got the smoky flavours and it’s just beautiful.”
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Steve Hockham and Leannda Dierke with their gidgee charcoal
Chef’s Choice Charcoal expanded its offering through the pandemic, when importing charcoal from overseas became more complex and expensive for Australian restaurants.
Now it’s the wider applications for the group’s latest business venture, Australian Country Carbon, that has Dierke really excited.
“We came into it just to make charcoal and we’ve been able to grow it bigger than what we ever thought,” she said.
“We have big plans, we want to do it in a big way.”
The team has been working on a form of charcoal called biochar which is created at a very high temperature over an extended period under controlled conditions called pyrolysis.
Biochar is highly porous and holds onto water and nutrients and is a way of adding organic matter to sandy soils, reducing fertiliser requirements and leaching.
Dierke said the team was also exploring opportunities for Australian Country Carbon products to be used in water and alcohol filtration, animal feed additives and even cosmetics.
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The business has been supported by Murweh Shire Council from the very beginning, with every bag of Chef’s Choice Charcoal also proudly displaying the ‘Experience Charleville’ logo.
Murweh Mayor Shaun ‘Zoro’ Radnedge said it was a great partnership, helping raise the profile of Charleville nationwide.
“Turning gidgee wood into charcoal – it’s very exciting,” Zoro said.
“It’s pretty broad what they can do and who would have thought – this product was just laying in paddocks, the wood could have been pulled 50 – 100 years ago.”
Leannda Dierke said she’d always wanted to do something for Charleville and she felt proud to be involved in the business and the opportunities it presented.
“I’m so proud to be a local, I’ve lived here all my life,” she said.
“I just know the plans we have, it’s going to be something I can leave for the rest of my family.
“Australian Country Carbon – it’s got so much to offer yet, watch this space.”
