Ben Franklin coined this timeless phrase in 1736 to remind the citizens of Philadelphia about fire prevention. As is true of many of his quotes and advancements, it still has great relevance today.

Like oral disease, fires can be prevented. Queenslanders are excellent at fire prevention, but are you getting the dental checks you deserve? Are your teeth going to last?

Airlie Smile Care (previously Noel Danton Dental) has prevention and excellent oral health at its heart.

Life is busy. Who has time to attend to dental appointments?

If it doesn’t hurt, then it is healthy right? Unfortunately, no. Just like feeling thirsty, feeling tooth pain is a bad way to judge your health. Pain often means bigger problems. It can mean that the fix needs to be much bigger than if issues had been caught earlier. A good healthcare professional will look for signs, not wait for symptoms.

At Airlie Smile Care we ensure that your  dental exams are extremely thorough, and understandable. We take the care to listen to the history and current environment of your mouth and teeth. We utilise the most modern training and use technology to show and explain any issues that might be starting to arise in your mouth.

You will be checked for gum disease, tooth decay, tooth wear, muscle and jaw joint (TMJ) health and we check for oral cancer. We provide all treatments from extractions, white fillings and root canal treatments and also excel at replacing lost teeth with implants, straightening and whitening with fast orthodontic treatments, cosmetic veneers, “smile designs” same day crowns and whitening, and we do it all in a caring gentle manner. Painless and with a friendly smile from our caring team.

Dr Cormac Farrell and wife Carolyne are celebrating their 6th year owning Airlie Smile Care and providing hygiene and dental services to the area. Originally from England, they have completed their studies in diverse locations such as Edinburgh, Cardiff, Germany, USA, Bristol and Colombia.

10 years ago, they settled in Airlie Beach to start a family and when not at the clinic they can be found being buried in sand at the beach, dressed like Barbie or kicking footie with their three children Megan, Catherine and Bodhi.

They would love to see you at Airlie Smile Care.

Please call the clinic on 49467600 to book an appointment today.

Caption: Dr Cormac Farrell and his family

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A big thankyou to our outgoing secretary Cait Fleming for her amazing contribution to the chamber over the past two years. We wish Cait all the best with her new endeavours.

The evening chamber event on 11 August at the VMR was a networking only event. It was fantastic to meet some new businesses and for all to make some new connections. Thank you to Gale at the VMR for another flawless hosting effort.

Our next networking event will be at the VMR, please follow us on social media or watch for emails for further details. For non-members wishing to attend please get in touch via social media or contact details on our website.

Airlie Beach Race Week, congratulations to all involved. It is a fantastic event for our region and a real winner for the small and medium business in our region. Good luck to those competing in Hamilton Island following this event.

We have an opening on our chamber committee, if you are passionate about small and medium business in the region, we would love to speak to those who wish to give a little back to our thriving region.

By Gus Walsgott from Whitsunday Coast Chamber of Commerce

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What gives me anxiety in the garden? Moths!

There is nothing more frustrating than nurturing your tomato plants from seed, snow peas or cauliflowers (or any vegetable for that matter) for 60-100 days only to see numerous holes left by caterpillars in what was a week ago, a beautiful vegetable that you were excited to pick, eat, or share with friends and neighbours.

Well, that was before I installed my vegie nets. Now I watch them flutter over the nets, occasionally land on them and “fly away”.  I can appreciate them now.

Many vegetable gardeners will be picking their tomatoes now or maybe preparing new tomato beds after other crops have recently finished producing.  

So, what are common problems with tomato growing (other than caterpillars)?

If you are not getting many flowers (and therefore poor fruit set), there may be too much nitrogen in your soil. Over fertilising tomatoes will encourage leaf growth but at the cost of your fruit.  

If you have lots of flowers but no fruit set, chances are your tomato plants are too close together. Tomatoes, like corn (as discussed last week) are self-pollinators. They rely on the wind to pollinate (as well as beneficial insects), so if your tomato plants are way too close together, you are stopping the wind from doing its job. Poor pollination can also mean undersized and/or tasteless tomatoes. So, thin out your tomato plants.

Other things to be aware of during pollination are temperature and water.

I know I am always going on about watering your vegetable patch every morning but you really do need to water your vegetable patch every morning!

A lack of water when your flowers are appearing will guarantee that they will fall off your beloved plant.  

The one other thing worth mentioning at this time of year is that if the temperature at night drops below 12 degrees, chances are your tomato flowers may drop off. Another month and that should no longer be something you need to consider.

A sure sign that pollination was poor and that your soil lacked fertiliser, is when your tomatoes look great, but they are light in weight and when you cut them open, rather than being juicy and full, they have gaps/spaces with no content.  Fertilise your tomatoes monthly with Seasol. Make sure you give them a great kick start when first planting with good soil. We have bagged soils specifically for tomatoes but you can certainly mix your home compost through the soil.

Later in the year, sunburn can be a problem for tomatoes (again vegetable nets are great, offering 20 per cent shade). Over pruning can expose tomatoes to the sun too, so you want to always leave shade leaves.

One last thing I have to mention, is cracked skin. This is caused by inconsistent watering. If you let the soil dry out for a day or three, then your tomato is going to be very thirsty!  When water finally arrives, it is going to take in as much as it can (you try going two days without water and see what you do when given a litre) and your fruit will split.

Did you know: That if your milk is on the edge, you can dilute it and add that to your tomato plant’s soil?  

Healthy tomato plants

Flowers for pollinating

Caterpillar damage

Inconsistent watering causes tomatoes to split

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Personality is the characteristics and traits that define a person's thoughts, emotions, and behaviours.

Difficult workplace personalities negatively affect the well-being of team-members, the business, and its customers. Personality irritations result in lower productivity and increased absenteeism among other negative consequences. Examples include belittling comments, gossip, double standards, yelling at others, with-holding important information, and taking credit for other’s work

There are so many personalities in a workplace and managing them so they stay effective becomes the major focus for many in leadership roles. Today’s workspace requires adapting to those personalities you have in your team to enhance their work strengths in a way which suits the business and creates a sense of achievement for each individual. When this is achieved, the business and its people thrive.

Personality types can range from – dramatic, controlling, needy, bully, pessimist, gossip, passive-aggressive, narcissist.

Identifying the behaviours of those above helps us manage the behaviours in order to create positive outcomes. Each personality has some strength you may be able to leverage.

Consider, the pessimist can be a great asset in an auditing role, the needy loves to be micro-managed, the controlling can be a greater project manager, the gossip could make a fantastic social club coordinator. Potentially negative personalities exist in all workspaces but by harnessing the positive strengths of each you can turn a potentially harmful personality into a workplace asset.

But also ask yourself, could you be one of these personalities? Is being a difficult person who I am or what I sometimes do? And how could you manage your more negative behaviours to create a better workplace culture. Stop, think, and pause. Learn to respond rather than react. It’s worth the effort.

From Judy Porter at SHIIFT

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After 48 locations, 56 shoot days, and the contribution of 350 “amazing local extras,” the STAN Original Series ‘Black Snow’ has completed its principal photography in Proserpine.

The small town was bustling with production crews and high-echelon Australian actors when the shoot began in mid-2022.

Locals were saddened to see the massive crew – primarily Goalpost Pictures employees, who are producing the series – leave the town on August 24.

Airlie Beach residents certainly will be saddened to see the show’s lead, Travis Fimmel of Vikings fame, depart – although they got their fair share of selfies alongside the actor.

For the duration of the shoot, Proserpine was transformed into the fictional town of Ashford for the six-part, one-hour mystery-drama series which promises a “coming-of-age drama with the mystery of a classic whodunnit.”

Set half in 1994 and half in 2019, it follows the story of the murdered seventeen-year-old Jasmine Baker. The crime, which shocked the small town of Ashford and devastated Jasmine’s Australian South Sea Islander community, was never solved, the killer never found.

But in 2019, the opening of a time capsule unearths a secret that puts cold-case Detective James Cormack (Travis Fimmel) on the trail of the killer.

With principal photography wrapped, work will now undoubtedly begin in the editing room.

Goalpost Pictures’ Tony Clarke thanked the community on behalf of his employers, the cast, crew and producers.

“We’d like to extend a sincere thank you to the wonderful residents and the business community in the region,” Mr Clarke said.

“We have loved filming here and the level of support we have received locally has been unprecedented.

“It’s been amazing to see the enthusiasm for our series from all the locals we have met, along with great help from the Whitsunday Regional Council.”

Mr Clarke said the “series is looking amazing.”

“The beautiful locations of the region are as much a star of the production as the cast,” he said.

Locals will be keeping an eye out for Black Snow when it comes to the streaming platform, STAN, in 2023.

Travis Fimmel and the production crew of Black Snow have departed Proserpine this week, having completed principal photography. Image: STAN

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Proserpine Museum was saddened to hear of the recent passing of Colin Abell in Perth on August 3. Colin was the great grandson of pioneers, Richard (Dick) and Annie Abell, and is the author of “Three Abell Men” and its sequel “More Abell Men”; books which chronicle the part played by the Abell family in the settlement of Airlie Beach. Colin spent twenty years writing “Three Abell Men” - a compilation of the family's stories as Airlie's first settlers.

Colin’s grandfather told most of the stories, corroborated by Colin’s father, Edward, and his siblings. Edward Abell was the first white child born in upper Jubilee Pocket (now known as Airlie Beach). In his teen years, he had an aptitude for photography. He was one of few to have a camera in the early 1920s, a little box brownie, and he spent many months writing down the various stories and events eventually compiled in this book.

“Three Abell Men” is no dry and dusty history of the early days in the Whitsundays. This wonderful family history is full of adventure, laughter and mishaps.  It is a story about three generations of adventurers.

As told by Edward Abell and compiled by Colin, “Three Abell Men” is the story of the Abell family who migrated from Herefordshire, England; firstly, to Boonah in southern Queensland before moving to Jubilee Pocket. In August 1904, Colin Abell's great grandparents stepped onto the Whitsunday coast with nine children and a babe-in-arms. To escape the southern drought, the family had travelled by train to Rockhampton and then a ship, the “Aramac”, took them to Bowen. From there they hired the sailing boat, “Nellie”, to make the journey to their selections in Jubilee Pocket. Colin’s grandfather, Arthur (Pa) Abell, was twenty at the time. The family stood on the beach, laden with luggage and tools and facing a new world.

When the Abells came to Airlie Beach, it was raw rainforest. Here, Colin’s great grandparents, Dick and Annie, selected and purchased the area now known as Airlie Beach for the princely sum of 2/6 (25c) per acre.  Dick arrived with hardly a penny to his name yet he ended up owning the whole of what is now known as Airlie Beach.

Throughout Colin’s book, adversity and laughter intermingle. The Abell children were fortunate in the extreme to live in a para¬dise where hardships and hard work were tempered by daily adventure in the ever changing environment of the beautiful Whitsundays.  

The name “Abell” is still well known in the district.  Abell Point and Abell Road are reminders of the family’s significance in the area.

“Three Abell Men” is a great read and hard to put down as this fascinating family history unfolds through the pages.  Illustrated with wonderful old black and white photos of their homes, boats and friends, this book will induce nostalgia in locals who can relate to the area and fascinate those who are more recent arrivals to the district.

Colin Abell was passionate about the value of recording the first history of mainland settlement in Airlie Beach, believing it was vital to preserve this information.

We are indebted to Colin for this important record of Airlie Beach in its early days.

Vale Colin Abell

Story courtesy Proserpine Historical Museum. Photo by Peter Carruthers, sourced from  “Whitsunday Times” July 9 2017

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An inspiring local is setting sights on raising both awareness and financial support for the mental health of our valued emergency services by participating in the Kokoda Trail in October alongside other personnel, side by side.

Ti Hokins has worked in the emergency services for many years, coordinating events for disaster management situations. Involved with memorial services for high profile murders, massacres and terrorist attacks, Ti was often the person who others looked to for support and strength.

“I was tasked with providing support for the community but in many ways was not allowed to feel it myself,” said Ti.

“Emergency Service Personnel are so resilient but these collective trauma events tear at the fabric of society and this eventually impacts on our personal wellbeing.”

In 2019, Ti began suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through,” they said.

Eventually with the support of a peer group within the Emergency Services Foundation and working closely with a GP, Occupational Therapist and Psychologist, Ti managed to find a way out.

“I thought, if I could get through that, then I could get through Kakoda!” they joked.

Leaving for Papua New Guinea in October, Ti will trek 96 kilometres in nine days and will be accompanied by 20 other emergency service personnel who all have a connection with, and are raising money for, mental health within the service.

Currently in training, Ti is going to the gym as regularly as possible and completed the 27-kilometre Honey Eater to Brandy Creek trail last weekend.

With two young children and a supportive wife, Ti has decided to embark on this ambitious adventure and is thrilled to see many locals rally around the cause.

From kind raffle prize donations to hosting events, there are many ways the community can support.

This Saturday Airlie Beach Bowls Club are hosting a barefoot bowls Kokoda Fundraising Event and next Saturday 3 Little Birds Espresso is hosting a Paint and sip for a Cause.

If this topic has brought up anything for you, reach out to your supports.

Lifeline 13 11 14 — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

WHAT: Barefoot Bowls Kokoda Fundraising Event

WHEN: Saturday, August 27 from 4pm-6pm

WHERE: Airlie Beach Bowl’s Club

WHAT: Paint and Sip For A Cause

WHEN: Saturday, September 3 from 2pm-4.30pm

WHERE: 3 Little Birds Espresso Bar

Incredible views from the top

Ti Hokins practices for Kokoda the Whitsunday Great Walk

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The skills of a knowledgeable and dedicated local workforce has been attributed to the successful completion and quality workmanship behind Bowen Rail Company’s $62 million rail yard which employed a team of over 300 during its construction phase.

Nine hundred and fifty-seven drainage elements and 28 footy fields of earthworks later and Bowen business, Hillery Group, has put the finishing touches on the local rail provisioning yard.

Its Chief Executive Office, Luke Hillery, said that winning the $20 million contract as part of the overall project was enormous for his business and the community and the benefits would be felt long into the future.

“We see the value that Bowen Rail Company is bringing to the Bowen area on a daily basis,” he said.

“So to win a contract of this size and then deliver it using local people with local skills is something we’re really proud of.”

The project was undertaken as part of the construction of the Carmichael Rail Network under the banner of Bravus Mining and Resources’ Carmichael Project.

Bowen Rail General Manager Brendan Lane said the rail yard was a shining example of the capability of regional contractors and how BRC was delivering on its promises of jobs and contracts for locals.

“The provisioning yard is a critical piece of infrastructure for us,” Mr Lane said.

“This is where our maintenance crews are based and where our state-of-the-art locomotives take on fuel and the sand, oils, and lubricants that keep our trains operating safely.”

An aerial view of Bowen Rail Company’s provisioning yard

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An inspiring local lady and much-loved family woman, Cathy Knezevic, passed away last week following a brave two-and-a-half-year battle with cancer.

Remembered by everyone who knew her as a kind-hearted, deeply caring person with a flamboyant and distinctive sense of style and passion for the arts, Cathy lit up any room she entered.

Hailing from Walkerston and then a cane farm on the Victoria Plains, Cathy married when she was young and had three children: Benjamin, Emma-Kate, and Adam.

Cathy worked for 20 years as a librarian at Mackay City Council, as well as managing the Council’s art collection. She was the Inaugural art curator of Mackay Artspace gallery and exhibitions, and Collections manager of Mackay Artspace’s nationally significant Artists Book collection.

She became the Director of Mackay’s Arthouse Gallery and Whitsunday Art Gallery, and was the Founding Director of the Whitsundays Art Festival, which is now in its third year.

In a loving relationship with Tom for 38 years, the couple were a formidable force as the multi-award-winning Mackay Queensland Homes building company where Cathy’s interior design skills were invaluable.

The people she met throughout her life and the positive and lasting relationships she created, however, were by far her biggest accomplishments alongside raising her children and becoming a grandmother.

“Cathy was a woman of beauty, flair, love, culture and all things absolutely fabulous,’ said her son, Adam.

“Although this is what she is most known for, mum was also humble, very shy and insecure at times - I think Mum's beloved Library friends summed it up best when they gave her the nickname 'the shy peacock'.”

Cathy loved a practical joke and, if she saw a family member’s car unattended, would often jump in and either drive off or hide and jump out on them.

She will also be remembered for her unique dress sense.

“Mum's look and image is iconic - she had some serious style!” said Adam.

“The big permed black hair, the nail polish, the lipstick, the bright clothes, the animal skin patterns and the pineapple hair!”

Cathy’s vibrant personality and positive presence touched everyone that knew her, and she will be deeply missed both in the Whitsundays where she lived and in Mackay where she grew-up and spent much of her life.

Cathy wearing her favourite dress

Airlie Beach is usually known as a picturesque holiday destination but in recent times dumped supermarket trolleys are causing our usually immaculate streetscapes, waterways and boardwalks to be littered with an unnecessary eyesore.

A local resident named Josh said that when he walked home one evening from the town centre to Port of Airlie, he came across 21 abandoned trolleys in a 600-metre walk.

“It’s a big problem in Airlie Beach right now and whenever you go out you see them everywhere,” he said.

“Of course, it starts with the people but it has been proved that people can’t be trusted so I believe it is up to Woolworths and Coles to take responsibility.”

It appears that many of the culprits are local yachties who take shopping trolleys down to their vessel then simply leave them in the bushes assuming the supermarket will eventually retrieve them.

In the meantime, they are left to become an eyesore.

A Woolworths spokesperson said that Trolleys are provided for the convenience of their customers and the vast majority do the right thing in returning them.

“We understand abandoned trolleys can be a nuisance and that's why we invest millions in collection services to help mitigate their impact in the community,” they said.

“We work closely with dedicated collection contractors who respond quickly to reports of abandoned trolleys to return them to our stores. They also conduct regular sweeps for abandoned trolleys in the streets surrounding our stores.”

Whitsunday Regional Council Director of Infrastructure Service Adam Hagy confirmed that shopping trolleys are owned by and are solely the responsibility of the respective supermarket chains and not the core business of Council’s Parks and Gardens teams.

“All bbq areas are also cleaned 5 days per week, park furniture maintained and litter picked up to ensure these areas are tidy,” Mr Hagy said.

“It would be unfair to burden the ratepayer with increased costs for employing extra staff to collect shopping trolleys for the supermarket chains.

If you see an abandoned trolley you can a free phone Trolley Tracker on 1800 641 497 or download the App “Report a Trolley” (RAT) to alert the supermarket chains to missing trolleys.

Caption:

An abandoned trolley in one of our local waterways

Josh once found 15 trolleys left at a taxi rank

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Keeping our beautiful region clean and actively seeking ways to prevent litter entering our oceans is everyone’s responsibility, and for the next two months the Whitsunday Regional Council is taking the lead by encouraging us all to participate in the Great Northern Clean Up.

This annual project is part of the Clean Up Australia initiative which was started by avid sailor Ian Kiernan in 1990.

He is one ‘average Australian Bloke’ who started a movement which over 20 million Aussie’s have now participated in.

The Great Northern Clean Up is held at a specific time of year, between August and October, to encourage communities who live in the tropics to clean-up the land before the wet season arrives and washes all the litter into the ocean.

When we think of plastic pollution, we usually think of chip packets, drink bottles or straws, but cigarette butts are the most abundant plastic litter item in the world, with up to 8.9 billion butts dropped in Australia each year.

This little but large polluter was reported as being the most prevalent waste material locally by Eco Barge Clean Seas who orchestrated a clean-up earlier this year.

Locals are now encouraged to join the Great Northern Clean Up by making a pledge and posting it online with the hashtag StepUptoCleanUp.

Many Council staff including Acting Mayor John Collins, Councillors Michelle Wright, Gary Simpson, Mike Brunker, Al Grundy and Jan Clifford have made a pledge.

Pledges include teaching children about recycling, stop buying bottled water, carrying a reusable coffee cup and remembering shopping bags.

What’s your pledge going to be?

Whitsunday Regional Council staff pledge to protect the environment

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Not all heroes wear capes. Saving a life can be as simple as paying attention while driving.

When we’re behind the wheel, we can easily forget that we’re in control of a machine which can easily kill.

This road safety week we’ve been reminded of the ‘fatal 5’.

SPEEDING

SEAT BELTS

DRINK / DRUG DRIVING

FATIGUE

DISTRACTION

While these are a given, there are other things we could be doing while driving to reduce the incidence of accidents and frustration caused to other motorists.

Learning how to properly indicate on a roundabout would be a good start. There’s an unbelievably high proportion of motorists who incorrectly indicate right when going straight ahead. Check the Queensland Government transport page which states you only need to indicate left when you’re about to exit a roundabout when driving straight ahead.  Of course, even more frustrating are those who don’t bother to indicate at all when turning.

The other simple courtesy is to keep left unless overtaking. In Queensland, it’s only law if the speed limit is sign posted at 90km/hr or above, or if there is a ‘keep left unless overtaking’ sign. However, in many other countries like the UK, drivers will adhere to this rule in all speed zones. When cars are only using right lanes when they need to, to overtake, the traffic flows better. There aren’t those blockages caused by that one person who sits in the right lane shadowing the person in the left lane, seemingly oblivious to the large lines of traffic backing up behind them.

It's also better for emergency services because the right-hand lane is clearer more often.

Being aware of others and paying attention while driving can go a long way towards happier roads for everyone.

Amanda

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Lachlan Spark, an avid runner and mental health advocate who’s spent most of 2022 running half marathons up the Australian east coast, dropped into Bowen’s Big Mango last week in the latter stage of his epic 5000-kilometre journey from Hobart to Cairns.

Over 200 days ago, Lachie began his mission in cold Tasmania to run 228 consecutive half-marathons up the country’s eastern seaboard in what he calls ‘The 222 Run’, arriving in sunny Cairns.

He had two goals aside from the physical and mental challenge of running 21.1 kilometres per day for the better part of a year: to raise funds and to raise awareness for Australians living with depression and anxiety, an issue deeply close to Lachie’s heart.

“I’d come up with the idea many years ago while I was living in Melbourne. I was incredibly depressed and was worried about my future because of it,” Lachie said.

“I thought I could do something extraordinary. So, I came up with the idea that I wanted to run the length of the Australian east coast.”

Lining up with the charities R U OK? and Heart On My Sleeve to raise awareness and funds, Lachie began his long, personal journey with an altruistic goal.

Last week, on day 196, Lachie dropped in at Bowen’s Big Mango for the “world’s best mango sorbet”.

“The mango sorbet is honestly the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” Lachie laughed.

Now in the journey’s closing stages, he reflected on what it all meant.

“The thing I’ll take with me once the race is finished is the impact that we’ve had on people who’ve never felt comfortable having a conversation about what they’re feeling,” he said.

“In a small way, I feel we’ve given their voice volume – just having a chat can do that. Keep having those conversations.”

You can donate to Lachie’s cause here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-222

Lachlan Spark has run almost 222 half-marathons in a row each day for the better part of a year, and dropped into Bowen for a Mango Sorbet as he approached his journey’s end in Cairns

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Forty members of the same local family gathered for a luncheon to celebrate an incredible milestone: their matron’s 105th birthday.

Proserpine local Thelma Porter reached the incredible age of 105 on August 24 and was joined by five generations of her descendants for a birthday bash the weekend before at Northerlies Airlie Beach.

Mrs Porter cut her 105th birthday cake surrounded by her two children, 10 grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, and one great great grandchild.

“It surprised me,” Mrs Porter said of reaching the age.

“I just did it; it’s just another day, as far as I’m concerned! I had no say in it. But to be surrounded by my beautiful family who came up from Brisbane, that has been special.”

Ms Porter said people were always asking her what the secret to such a long life was.

“I lived a very simple life; I grew up in properties out west, and I don’t know what it was [that helped me reach 105], but I always tell people: don’t smoke.”

Mrs Porter arrived in Proserpine in 1949 with her late husband, George Porter, and their young family. The pair owned the newsagency and jewellery business in Main Street through the early 1950s to the late 1960s.

The family have been strong proponents of the region, with George involved in plotting the walking track rom Airlie Beach to Shute Harbour and was a strong advocate for the construction of Shute Harbour Road itself.

Setting up a kiosk on the Jetty at Shute Harbour in 1967, the family organised day trips, island bookings, and sold souvenirs.

Their son, Bob Porter, continued their tourism-centric legacy through arranging the first cruise ships to anchor at Cid Harbour, and even the very first Whitsunday Fun Race – a precursor to races now run in the Whitsundays today.

They are “the name that comes to mind when referring to the early tourist development in the Whitsundays” according to Proserpine Museum.

A barman at Northerlies told Mrs Porter that “she didn’t look a day over 92”.

Proserpine local Thelma Porter surrounded by her great grandchildren at her 105th birthday celebration

Mrs Porter cutting her birthday cake to celebrate the incredible milestone

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Abandoned and dilapidated island resorts here in the Whitsundays could soon come under more stringent land management criteria if results from this week’s parliamentary enquiry find that better practices would ensure correct monitoring of these precious local resources.

Whitsunday Conservation Council put in a submission with the state government some months ago and Member for Whitsunday Amanda Camm MP spoke passionately about the issue at the enquiry which was held in Cannonvale this week.

Island Resorts in “Sad Disarray”

Two significant island resorts in the Whitsundays have been closed for over a decade and with private lease holds on the premises, these dilapidated remains are largely left unmonitored.

The three-star Club Med resort on Lindeman Island has been closed since 2012 when it was purchased by Chinese firm White Horse Holding for $12 million.

Similarly, Brampton Island which is in the Whitsunday Island group but located in the Mackay region, has been closed since 2010 when United Petroleum, who are registered in Victoria, bought the resort.

There were plans for a $600 million redevelopment but so far nothing has come to fruition.

More locally, the resort on South Molle Island was bought by a Chinese company in 2016 and was largely destroyed by Cyclone Debbie a few months later.

It has been officially closed and slowly falling into disrepair since 2019.

Long Island’s Club Croc has also been closed for several years but was purchased by a Sydney-based company in 2021.

There are plans for major redevelopment to create an upscale resort, but nothing has commenced yet.

Whitsunday Conservation Society put a submission in for an enquiry into the management of all resort islands and spokesperson for the group, Tony Fontes, said that there needs to be a better system in place.

The group would like to see a stop to any new leases on national park land, no more expansion of existing resorts onto national park land and a bond system created where resort owners must deposit an amount that will be used to maintain the island in the event that they are no longer willing to invest.

Member for Whitsunday Amanda Camm MP said that resort development needs to be looked at in a sustainable manner and that many of the islands are in “sad disarray”.

“I see a real opportunity, post Covid, to see our islands return to their full potential in the way that they are managed sustainably into the future,” she said.

“If the current disrepair were happening on the mainland, no-one would allow that.”

Ms Camm went on to cite the case of Brampton Island where a seven-star resort was going through planning approvals with Council and their current management criteria was rolled-over for a further six years without any new impact study or community consultation.

“This island still has no investment and there is significant debris which is impacting the environment,” she said.

The parliamentary enquiry of the resort islands continued onto Hamilton Island the following day and then Keswick Island at the end of the week.

It is hoped that the findings will create new regulations which will better supervise the management of our islands.

Member for Whitsunday Amanda Camm MP speaking at the parliamentary enquiry in Cannonvale earlier this week

A dilapidated South Molle Island after Cyclone Debbie

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