The dedication of the over 45,000 volunteers across the country was recognised in the annual National Meals on Wheels Day celebrations across the country last week.

As part of the annual celebrations, Bowen Meals on Wheels welcomed Federal Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox, and local Whitsunday Councillors, Mike Brunker, Jan Clifford, and Michelle Wright, to share lunch with Meals on Wheels clients.

The experience gave the councillors, as well as the lucky few clients, a first-hand view of the difference Meals on Wheels makes to people across the country every day.

Treasurer of Meals On Wheels Bowen, Chris Storrie, said the organisation sincerely thanked everyone for participating in the celebration.

“It was a most enjoyable experience for all involved,” Mr Storrie said.

The organisation tirelessly supports the vulnerable members of the Australian community across over 590 service locations nationwide.

The Member for Dawson said he wanted to extend his thanks to each volunteer across the Dawson electorate.

“A special thank you to Lenore Brown, who welcomed me into her home to join her for a very yummy roast lunch,” Mr Willcox said.

Councillor Michelle Wright, and Councillor Jan Clifford joined Mrs Joyce Macdonald for her lunch, while Mr Stan Jensen was fortunate to host Councillor Mike Brunker.

Mr Brunker said it was excellent to eat with Mr Jensen and “have a good old yarn.”

“Not to mention the bloody good tucker that was served up by the wonderful volunteers of the group. Thanks, Stan, for being a wonderful host,” he said.

Councillor Michelle Wright, Mrs Joyce Macdonald, and Councillor Jan Clifford

Mrs Lenore Brown and Member for Dawson, Andrew Willcox

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The Whitsunday wedding industry is thriving once again and new hope is building with this season already recording the highest volume of happy couples choosing to tie the knot on our sunny shores since before COVID.

Committee member of not-for-profit association, WeddingsWhitsunday.com, Debbie Savy, said it was a relief to see the industry starting to get back to normal.

“Marketing weddings during covid was difficult,” she said.

“Between state border lockdowns and capacity restrictions it was a tough couple of years. It’s been a relief that things have started to return to normal.”

Weddings Whitsunday was established 15 years ago and is an online directory for local wedding businesses to showcase their offering.

Always on the front foot in generating additional goodwill, the group decided to introduce a giveaway campaign offering one lucky couple a free wedding in the Whitsundays.

Emma-Lee Sherring and Ian Andrew were the lucky winners and the couple held their ceremony at the Garden Bar Bistro at Coral Sea Marina last month.

The couple have been together for 10 years and Ian proposed on Whitehaven Beach in March this year with their three children present.

“Winning this prize has brought so much joy to our family as we couldn’t think of a more beautiful place in Australia to get married,” said Emma-Lee.

Steve the Celebrant said that it was such a pleasure and a privilege to showcase our beautiful town to the couple, their family and friends.

“The sun shone. We laughed, shed a happy tear or two and created some sweet and everlasting memories,” he said.

The Garden Bar Bistro, Steve the Celebrant, Divine Weddings Whitsundays, Tropix Photography, Sofi & Flora, Apricate and Wild and Style au Natur`Elle all volunteered their services on the day.

Emma-Lee and Ian when they got engaged on Whitehaven Beach in March

The happy couple on their Whitsunday wedding day

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One of the country’s only children’s hospices is at the heartfelt centre of a state-wide fundraising appeal, and its local iteration is being led in memory of Cody Gibbs.

The 15-year-old Airlie Beach boy passed away this year after a battle with a rare form of brain cancer and spent the last weeks of his life at Brisbane’s Hummingbird House, which provides specialised paediatric palliative care.

Coles Queensland have held annual, month-long fundraisers for the care facility for the past eight years – and with the exceptional hospice having a place in the hearts of the Gibbs family and friends, it made more than sense to join forces for this year’s charity campaign.

“For the next four weeks of September, we’ll be here at Coles on Saturdays and Sundays to raise funds for Hummingbird House on behalf of Cody and his family,” a family friend of the Gibbs and driving force behind the joint effort, Maz McDougall, said.

“The Cody Effect continues by helping Hummingbird House; we are supporting the staff that let mums and dads be just that in what are tough times.

“It’s just one way I thought we could help show them our love and appreciation after they looked after our little superstar and his beautiful family.”

Coles Cannonvale staff and family friends of the Gibbs’ will man the sausage sizzle and raffle station at the local supermarket for the next four weeks, which includes prizes donated from several Whitsunday businesses.

A large poster which featured at a commemoration of Cody’s life event has also been hung up in store. It features messages to Cody written by family and friends.

Coles customers making purchases in store also have the opportunity to donate $2 dollars to receive cards created by Hummingbird House families.

If you would like to donate directly to The Cody Effect’s Hummingbird House fundraiser, follow this link: https://fundraise.wmq.org.au/fundraisers/thecodyeffect

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With hundreds of people being displaced across the region, it is a common story to hear of a family that has lost their rental and is now struggling to find a new one.

As price increases suddenly exclude them from the market, these families are scared and vulnerable with no security.

While wages remain the same, the cost of living in the Whitsundays has been driven up and it is no longer the lower socio-economic groups that are impacted by the housing crisis - we are now seeing blue- and white-collar workers facing homelessness and the issue is swiftly becoming everyone’s problem.

Fortunately, there are people within our community who are standing up and actively trying to create long-term practical solutions and avenues to funding that could make a real difference.

In Bowen they have 466 people who are currently in a ‘crisis’ situation with regard to housing, and their soup kitchen, which used to see 40 people a month, is now struggling to keep up with 40 people per week.

Meanwhile in the Greater Airlie Beach area, Rebecca Woods from the Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre says she is struggling to find funding streams to help people with homelessness and that she lost $10,000 of emergency relief funding last year.

When someone presents as homeless, the neighbourhood centre can offer a $30 voucher which is meant to help them through the first 24 hours. There is no longer term relief.

Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre are currently applying for Council funding for a Tenant Connect Program which will pay for a facilitator to help people at risk of homelessness so they can prevent the root cause of the issue.

“We see six new homeless people each week,” said Rebecca.

“We are seeing blue-collar workers and white-collar workers come through and many of them are not eligible for housing assistance”

“But because of the size of our population we do not get the support – our biggest barrier is funding.”

Amanda Camm MP said that waiting lists for social housing is skyrocketing across the region, with demands rising 90 per cent in Mackay and 43 per cent in the Whitsundays.

There are 1,350 applications rated at ‘high need’ across the region.

Neil McGaffin, head of Development for Whitsunday Regional Council said that there are several social housing projects that Council have approved across the region.

These include 12 units in Cannonvale and an apartment block in Bowen.

Currently they are in the planning stages so there is no time frame for completion.

Amanda Camm MP said that if the community groups could propose exact projects, plans and costings, they would have a better chance of receiving funding.

In answer to this, Rebecca Woods said there are currently some houses up for sale that could be modified to provide emergency housing.

She also suggested that land could be allocated at the Council owned caravan park in Proserpine.

Eager to see short-term practical solutions, the crisis continues but at least there is new hope.

What is causing the affordable housing crisis?

• There are 1,500 more people living in the Whitsundays than Council statistics predicted two years ago

• Investors who had been renting their properties have now sold because prices are high – this means there are now significantly less rentals in the market

• More competition for limited rentals has pushed the prices up making them unaffordable for many families

Tim Mander MP, Sandy Clark, Joanne Moynihan from Whitsunday Housing Company, Councillor Jan Clifford and Member for Whitsunday Amanda Camm MP

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Good Deed Feed

A group of local electricians have been suiting up in funky floral shirts each Friday to spread a message: come say gidday and chat about mental health.

When All Whitsunday Electrical staff head out on the job on a ‘Fun Shirt Friday’, they’re decked out in their usual workman pants and boots, but topped with vibrant flowery shirts to spread the simple idea to be open about mental health and supporting your mates.

Co-owner of All Whitsunday Electrical Chris Shea said the idea was “to put mental health at the forefront of people’s minds.”

“We had a couple of episodes over the past few years where people have left town because they’ve had mental health issues,” Chris said.

“We think about that now with our twelve staff. Whatever drama you’ve got, someone near you has probably been through the same. You could be one conversation away from saving a life just because of a fun shirt.”

Mr Shea said they began Fun Shirt Fridays to spread that message around not just their workplace, but the community.

The company plan on wearing their floral shirts indefinitely for Friday fun shirts to maintain that culture of being an open book.

“Give us a wave if you see us out there in the Whitsundays!” he said.

All Whitsunday Electrical, a local business to Airlie Beach and surrounds, have been trying to start a conversation about mental health through wearing floral shirts on Fridays

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A young mum with a severe spinal cord injury is currently adjusting to life as a quadriplegic and coming to terms with being confined to a wheelchair every day.

Just three months ago Cassie Thorpe was still able to drive a car short distances and hold her 20 month old daughter in her arms, but as a severe decline in the disease she had been battling for the past 13 years took hold, her life took a dramatic turn.

In her teenage years, after noticing the muscles in her hands had started wasting away, Cassie was diagnosed with a Hirayama Disease and attended fortnightly medical appointments to receive intravenous medicine at the Mackay Base hospital for two years.

After she completed this treatment, the symptoms seemed to plateau and she went on to live a relatively normal life.

When her daughter, Sienna, came along however, she noticed a rapid decline.

Desperately trying keep positive, Cassie was determined to continue as normal but in June this year she was losing all movement in her legs, her left foot had started to drop and the left side of her body began to drag.

Living in a little cottage out the back of her parents’ rural property in Gregory River, Cassie was struggling to cope.

“She was collapsing and falling all the time,” said her mum, Jenny.

“She was battered with bruises from the falls. It took us a long time to convince her because she didn’t want to leave Sienna, but eventually she let us call an ambulance.”

Cassie was taken to Proserpine Hospital where she spent five days before being flown to the Royal Brisbane Hospital and transferred to the spinal cord unit to receive specialist care.

The last few months have been some of the most traumatic in Cassie’s life, not only has she had to be without her baby daughter, but she has also endured spasms and severe pain, and is unable to look after herself.

She now needs 24-hour care and can only move a little of her right finger which enables her to drive her electrical wheelchair.

“She always looked lovely when she went out,” said Jenny.

“She was used to having a shower twice a day minimum, at hospital it’s once a day or if they’re busy with an emergency it is every other day – that was really hard for her to take.”

Sienna is currently staying with her grandparents although she talks to her mum every day through Face time.

“The adjustment is tough, there are many nights when she rings me up and is bawling her eyes out, we are all still very much in shock,” said Jenny who now stays at home looking after Sienna every day.

“The hardest thing with Cassie is that she’s now realised that she will never pick her daughter up again - she can’t do her hair, can’t feed her, can’t dress her, can’t walk or run around with her anymore.

“Just three months ago before this all went downhill so fast, she was driving the car still, walking around with Sienna,” Jenny said.

The next step for Cassie will be moving to a 24-hour care facility in Mackay in October.

It is expected to be some time before funding comes through which will help pay for a modified bathroom and bedroom at the house.

It will be nine months before a lift to the Queenslander style house is installed.

The family are currently working on accessing funds from the Superannuation so they can build an independent living space for Cassie and her daughter under the house. The cottage out back has been deemed unsuitable now.

There is a GoFundMe page set up in Cassie’s name and if there are any tradies reading this article who might like to donate time or products, such as air-conditioning, lighting or plumbing to help please, reach out directly to Jenny on 0400 796 542.

Cassie and her daughter Sienna in happier times

Cassie at the Princess Alexandra Hospital spinal cord unit in Brisbane

Baby Sienna at home with Cassie’s mother Jenny

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A Whitsunday organisation celebrated two impressive milestones last week on both a local and national scale.

The Whitsunday PCYC Branch invited mentors and participants from its Braking The Cycle program to a morning tea in honour of the program’s nationwide ten year anniversary last Thursday.

The program – which began its Whitsunday iteration in June this year – aims to help young people achieve their mandatory 100 hours of supervised driving and obtain their license.

The Braking The Cycle program first began in August of 2012 at two sites in Logan and Ipswich, and now 10 years later operates at 53 sites across Queensland, including the Whitsundays and Bowen.

In that time, PCYCs across the country have driven an accumulative 5,499,539 kilometres throughout the program – the equivalent of travelling to the moon and back 7.15 times.

Mentors and participants from the Whitsunday PCYC iteration of Braking The Cycle gathered to celebrate the award-winning program’s decade long run, as well as their own coinciding achievement – their first Braking The Cycle graduate.

Participant Dominic Di Benedetto became the first to Brake The Cycle at the Whitsundays PCYC just days before the 10-year birthday celebrations.

PCYC Branch Manager and Police Sergeant Billy Li said it was exciting for the local branch to see the results of what is an excellent program.

“To achieve that so close to the nationwide ten-year anniversary is just fantastic; it really highlights the hard work of our volunteers,” Sergeant Billy said.

Dominic said it helped him enormously to have the accessibility of Braking The Cycle to get him off his Ls and onto his Ps.

“It’s going to give me a lot more freedom of deciding where and when I want to go. For someone considering being a part of the program: do it,” Dominic said.

“It helped me achieve something I’ve wanted to achieve for a while. For all you learners out there, driving doesn’t have to be as scary as it seems.”

Mentors and participants from Whitsunday PCYC’s Braking The Cycle celebrating the program’s nationwide 10th anniversary

The local program also achieved a milestone – its first learner turned P plater, Dominic Di Benedetto pictured here with Police Sergeant Billy Li

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The Great Endeavour Rally Pulls In At Airlie Beach

A total of 45 rally cars arrived at Endeavour Foundation’s Cannonvale Learning and Lifestyle day service on Tuesday afternoon and they were greeted with fanfare by staff and clients who were ready to wash away the dusty red dirt of the Australian outback.

The convoy of vehicles have been participating in a 2884-kilometre journey from the Sunshine Coast to Cairns in an outback adventure that has so far raised $524,000 for the Endeavour Foundation which helps people with disability to live independently, engage in meaningful employment, and be an active part of their community.

Charity Car Rally Comes To Town

Big smiles and superhero costumes greeted the Great Endeavour Rally when its 45-car convoy drove into Cannonvale earlier this week.

Covered in dust from travelling the outback, fun-loving adventurers disembarked and gratefully allowed their vehicles to be washed down by the eager team of superheroes.

Endeavour Foundation Cannonvale’s Acting Site Manager Ricki Conn said there had been a big build-up to the arrival and that a lot of their clients had come in specifically for the day.

“The local team will put the funds raised from the car wash and BBQ towards day trips and outings, but the most important thing is that we’re having a lot of fun on the day,” she said.

The Endeavour Foundation has been championing the rights of people living with a disability since 1951 and the Great Endeavour Rally has been one of its chief fundraising avenues for the past 35 years.

During this time more than $11 million dollars has been raised and is put towards helping people with disabilities lead a meaningful and interactive life within the community.

This year, the event’s theme is the ‘Beach & Bush Run’ and the rally decided to make an extra stop in Airlie Beach to celebrate this.

A range of vehicles compete and mechanical support provided by the Australian Army ensures a safe event.

The Great Endeavour Rally is not a race - an average time of all participants is taken after each section and the closer a team is to the average time, the more points they receive.

This means the overall winner of the rally isn’t the fastest and it isn’t the slowest. It’s the “most average” team!

Each day there is a different dress theme and on Tuesday it was superheroes, with many of the 124 racers and their supporters choosing to dress-up and entertain.

Jenny Atkinson, who is a client of the Endeavour Foundation in Cannonvale, said she enjoyed washing cars and taking part.

Trent Sylvester said that he loved cooking the BBQ and was pleased to be the only villain on the day.

Ricki Conn, Jenny Atkinson, Emma Pretorius, Kiara Schmidt and Selena Wright

The Endeavour Cannonvale Team

Some of the Great Endeavour Rally drivers

Soap and suds get the job done

Elvis is in the building

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Gone are the days when libraries were silent, dusty places, with rather stern looking women shushing even the slightest noise. Modern libraries are busy and vibrant centres for knowledge and community. This is certainly the case with our local council libraries.  

Our libraries deliver more than books. Our library spaces are increasingly being used for activities over and above collection use and study.

Why not try these different, unique activities during September at our libraries (head to mackay.qld.gov.au/libraries for venues and dates)?

• Participate in our adult therapeutic colouring in sessions to colour away your stress, or just relax in our Relaxation Corner

• Learn to play the bass guitar (no experience required and instruments are provided for ages eight and above)

• Learn techniques that can help explore calmness and mindfulness at our Breathing and Meditation classes  

• Enjoy craft?  Come along to create and chatter with our likeminded and imaginative craft group. Library members can also enjoy unlimited access to thousands of online art and craft classes. Watch classes anytime, anywhere. Since classes never expire, you can start and stop projects at your own pace

• Interested in joining a book club? We have several book clubs available to members across the region

• Home Library Membership (offered to residents or carers unable to visit the library). Items are selected by library staff and delivered by staff and library volunteers

• Mackay Regional Council Libraries have developed all-abilities programs that provide opportunities to meet other community members in friendly and fun environments.

September school holidays are fast approaching.  Our school holiday programs are specifically designed for children aged five to 12 years and young adults aged 12 to 18 years. Programs include:

• Shadow Puppet Workshops (discover, investigate, design, and create this traditional, theatrical form of entertainment

• Write With Kat (aimed at young adults, Grade 7 to Grade 12, these workshops provide an opportunity to encourage young people to embrace their writing creativity)

• Sensational Spring Sand Art (create colourful sand art designs inspired by spring, the season of colour, joy and growth)

• Movie Matinee - Turning Red (join us for an afternoon movie and popcorn) Rating: PG.

All these activities (and more), along with print and digital collections, are free to our library members.

Our amazing, friendly and knowledgeable staff will be thrilled to meet you and discuss the services we provide.

Cr Pauline Townsend

Mackay Regional Council

The final design for the Finch Hatton Trailhead has been unveiled and it is packed with features you would expect from a world-class trail network.  

Mayor Greg Williamson said council went the extra mile and conducted extensive community consultation with the Pioneer Valley community and industry experts.

“We needed to ensure the design met the needs of both the local community and visiting mountain bikers,” Mayor Williamson said.  

“This trailhead site will be a place where you start and finish your mountain bike adventure and enjoy a family day out,” he said.

“There’s a pump track suitable for all ages and riding abilities, plenty of picnic shelters, amenities and some local historical features.

“The historic features include the bin shop where cane trains were repaired and the old Cattle Creek Mill Administration building, which has been restored back to its former glory.

“This building will likely be used for tourism information and events.

“The area will be nicely landscaped, offer plenty of parking and feature footpaths and connections to the mountain bike trails and the township.”

The Mayor said community consultation had also lead to the inclusion of a landscaped buffer zone between the local residential properties and the trailhead site.

The design has been included in a development application that will now be considered by council and the State Government over the coming months.

Council will hold another community update session before the end of the year.

Member for Mackay Julieanne Gilbert said the State Government had invested $500,000 in the Pioneer Valley Mountain Bike Network.

“The State Government’s $500,000 investment in trail design elements delivers on an election commitment and brings this wonderful project a step closer,” Ms Gilbert said.

“I want to thank Mackay Regional Council for its dedication to this project that will put the region on the world map for mountain biking,” she said.

“The Finch Hatton Trailhead will enhance Queensland’s great lifestyle and help to create more secure jobs for the region’s visitor economy.

“It’s the beginning of a new visitor experience that will attract riders from Australia and overseas and give local families more options for staying active.”

To stay up to date on this project, please subscribe to project update emails at connectingmackay.com.au/mountain-bike-trails

The Queensland Government have contributed towards design elements of the project, including the detailed design of the trailhead and environmental assessments.

A concept design of the Finch Hatton Trailhead

A concept design of the Finch Hatton Trailhead showing shelters and picnic tables. Images supplied: Mackay Regional Council

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Just recently we were talking about hobbies on Star Breakfast, and the more I thought about it, having a hobby makes you more interesting, gives you an escape from work… and home if you need it.

It’s never too late to get a hobby, or, add a new one.

Paddling a kayak is one I only discovered in 2007 after friends took me out for a paddle down Cattle Creek at the tail end of wet season. It’s a great one to have because we have a few hidden creeks where you can sit in and paddle for hours, and see Platypus, but there’s nobody around.

Get a cheap camera, there’s another great one. Photography costs you a camera at the start, but then with digital photography you can take thousands of images for practically no cost, other than driving to a location like Cape Hillsborough.

Cheap hobbies are good. Expensive ones are better, and more fun though. Unfortunately, along with astronomy and astrophotography, which require equipment, which is expensive, every little bit, expensive; I’ve managed to stumble into home brewing in the last few years.  

Initially just dipping the toe in the water, or beer, with home brewing isn’t too bad. But then like with every hobby, you want more, you want better. Hobbies start with basic gear and before you know it your 5-bedroom home is a 4-bedroom home.

My home brew hobby is a cracker though, when you can have a beer as good as anything from the shops, made yourself on your back deck, it’s a real treat. It started with a 35L plastic bucket, but it’s now graduated to my own micro-brewery with 3 kegs of home brew chilled and poured from 2 beer taps on my own kegerator. Weekends are great.

Over the last 12 months though, twice I’ve been given giant Lego projects as a present from my wife and kids, one was the International Space Station, which was 2-3 feet long, and the other a NASA rocket about nearly 1 metre tall.

Not being a collector of Lego or a builder, the only thing I can take from these gifts is that my family don’t like me much and want me to leave them alone for several hours at a time.

If I receive a Millennium Falcon at Christmas or a giant Hogwarts, then I’ll know this to be true.

Scotty

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It’s time to dust off those rods and reels – Mackay Isaac’s Lucky Catch & Snap competition launched last Saturday on September 3.

Over 30 days through September and October, Mackay Isaac Tourism is proud to host the inaugural family-friendly fishing event which is set to be one of the most innovative in Australia.

Mackay Isaac Tourism Interim Chief Executive Officer Tash Wheeler said after years of analysing the region's fishing strategy, Mackay Isaac’s Lucky Catch and Snap was an opportunity that was not to be missed.

“Our long-term vision is to build community pride, gain feedback and grow as a destination event that will attract visitors from right around the country over the coming years,” she said.

Mackay Isaac’s Lucky Catch ad Snap organisers are anticipating that the annual fishing event competition will deliver and pump millions of visitor dollars in the Mackay Isaac region economy.

Mackay Regional Council Mayor Greg Williamson said fishing competitions like this really enhanced the visitor experience and help to build repeat visitation year after year.

“This is a really innovative initiative that we think will take visiting families’ holidays to the next level,” Mayor Williamson said.

“We can see that the competition will create quite a buzz – you can imagine that there will be plenty of banter and friendly rivalry at our coastal tourism parks as families vie to catch different species and get their entries in,” he said.

Winning this catch and release photo competition will be a game of chance. Everyday prizes will be picked based on the type of fish caught, where it was caught and how big it was.

With daily cash prizes, merchandise, and prize packs (potentially a large cash jackpot at the end of the 30 days) it promises to be a fishing event like no other.

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As a member of the Zonta Club, I am delighted to let Mackay & Whitsunday Life readers know about our activities and events each month. But first, I would like to address some of our most frequently asked questions…

What is Zonta?

Maybe you have attended our International Women’s Day Luncheon, or you have noticed some of the ‘Orange Lady’ figures around town. Perhaps you haven’t heard of Zonta at all – you are not alone.

The Zonta Club of Mackay is a not-for-profit group comprised of local women, who are passionate about addressing women's issues, both in our community and worldwide. Since the Mackay club was chartered in 1992, our members have volunteered their time to address education, health and economic needs in the Mackay region. This year, we are excited to celebrate our 30th birthday.

Our club is one of 1,200 Zonta clubs globally. The first Zonta club was formed in Buffalo, New York in 1919. 'Zonta' is a derivative of the North American Sioux Indian word, meaning 'honest and trustworthy'.

What does Zonta do?

Locally, some of our activities include:

• Service projects, such as assembling birthing kits for developing countries and sewing breast cushions for patients in the post-operative stage of surgery;

• Raising awareness of important issues, such as the Zonta Says No to Domestic Violence campaign;

• Collecting donations for vulnerable women in our community, including expectant mothers in need;

• Fundraising activities, such as the annual International Women’s Day event, sausage sizzles, raffles and cent sales;

• Fostering leadership skills and community involvement in high school and university students via Z Clubs, scholarships and awards; and

• Encouraging connections within our local community through networking and social events, in partnership with Mackay Women.

We also have the following event coming up, and we would love for you to be involved.

Zonta Monthly Dinner Meeting

Event Details

• Date: Tuesday, 20 September (Third Tuesday of each month)

• Time: From 5:30pm

• Location: Ocean International, Mackay

We welcome guests at our meetings – if you are interested in attending, please contact us as soon as possible for catering purposes.

Karlee Box

Zonta Club Board Member

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Caption: Fall armyworm on sweet corn

Growers dealing with fall armyworm (FAW) can now access the latest online resources using the new FAW engagement eHub, which features information on pest management, moth activities and research results.  

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said since the exotic plant pest arrived in far north Australia in early 2020 it had spread across much of the south, west and east of the country.

“As part of providing better services to industry, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is leading research and extension through Queensland Government and Hort Innovation-funded projects to co-develop an integrated FAW management strategy,” Mr Furner said.

“This involves field surveys and monitoring, control strategies, new techniques, compiling a literature review, and an economic risk analysis for horticultural crops in Australia.

“We have developed the eHub to share the outcomes of this work, including regular video and results updates from demonstration sites, event information, moth activities, insecticide resistance results, and to allow growers to engage in discussion.”

For all your fall armyworm information, visit https://daf.engagementhub.com.au/fallarmyworm.

Fall armyworm is a tropical migratory pest and is expected to be present year-round in warmer areas, and for part of the year in temperate zones.

In Australia, FAW has been mainly attracted to grass species with whorls, including sweet corn.

Fall armyworm on sweet corn

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Using innovative techniques and their world-class expertise, Mackay Regional Council’s Water Treatment team has saved ratepayers about $1 million in capital replacement costs.

Major upgrades have recently been completed at the Sarina Water Recycling Facility, which processes sewerage for the Sarina area.

The works at the facility involved a ‘slack adjustment’ on the membranes which filter recycled water and ensure it is of high quality for agricultural use or release back into the environment.  

A slack adjustment refers to the tension under which the membranes, which filter the water, are held at. When the membranes are not held at the correct tension, they fail to filter harmful bacteria and suspended solids.

Mayor Greg Williamson said the project highlighted the great teamwork within the department and the level of technical expertise we have both at council and in the Mackay region.

“In general, the expected life of the membrane is seven years, but the ones at Sarina Water Recycling Facility are eight years old and we are looking at getting close to 15 years based on their condition,” Mayor Williamson said.  

“Membranes are very expensive, close to $1 million to replace, so to get double the life expectancy and save those costs is a credit to our treatment team and highlights the care and attention the team gives to maintaining our assets,” he said.

Mayor Williamson said it was essential that this project was undertaken to continue to provide the best outcome for our water recycling scheme and to future-proof it for the growing population of our region.

“The project took place over only a week but took months of planning as it was a huge team effort between contractors, council’s own maintenance operations teams and our environmental and laboratory staff,” Mayor Williamson said.

“The slack adjustment overhaul was a technically challenging and labour-intensive process,” he said.

“However, it was done by our own operators and engineers, with the assistance of contractors, and was planned and completed on time and within budget.”  

The project involved high risk activities with exposure to raw sewerage, working at heights and overhead loads.

This marks the third major project completed this year by council’s water team.

Over the past twelve months the team has completed the repair of the Southern Rising Main on Paradise Street and major maintenance upgrades of both the Mackay South Water Recycling Facility (MSWRF) and more recently the Mackay North Sewerage Treatment Plant.

Staff work on the membranes as part of the slack adjustment works at the Sarina Water Recycling Facility

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