Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
The Great Barrier Reef Rays, the premier cricket team representing Mackay and North Queensland, proudly celebrated a noteworthy weekend at the Century Cricket competition. In the Rays inaugural year, they made it all the way to the grand final, although were not able to come away with the championship. Despite not securing the win in the finale, the team achieved significant milestones and garnered popularity amongst fans. Century Cricket Group is a privately owned cricket company co-founded by
Read more
Up to 150 Mackay children now have access to a free netball program thanks to Woolworths Pick Fresh Play Fresh Netball Grants. Mackay Netball Association was one of 11 community netball clubs in Australia to receive grants from Woolworths in an initiative providing young netballers with improved facilities and encouraging healthy habits. The $8,000 grant is being used to provide a six-week Woolworths NetSetGO program to up to 150 kids aged between five and ten. Children will also be provided wit
Read more
Social bowls results for August 9th, the winning team consisted of Betty Mulhall, Wendy McGee, and Doris Dodds. The runners-up were Carmel O’Loughlin, Lesley Baumgarten, and Daphne Offield. In the 'Champion of Champion' 4’s final, held last week, it was the ‘battle of the North’ with Northern Beaches facing off against North Mackay. The North Mackay Ladies from Goosies Sport and Recreation Club emerged as the victors in this year's competition. Congratulations to North Mackay for the win. Contri
Read more
Volunteer Recognised When Chris Breckell filled in for a touch football team over 20 years ago, he unknowingly embarked on a volunteer journey that saw him fill roles such as Player, Vice President, Canteen Assistant, Coach, and Referee with Mackay Touch. The humble volunteer was named NRL Touch Football’s Volunteer of the Month and shared the story of his journey, starting all those years ago. “Once I started to get involved in the club and people heard I was an accountant, I was approached to
Read more
Makenzie Weale is a young rugby league prop forward in a big hurry. The Mackay Cutters powerhouse is making every post a winner in the early rounds of the NRLW premiership with the new North Queensland Cowboys franchise. Weale produced a strong performance as the Cowboys snatched a 16-12 victory over the Wests Tigers last Saturday at Brisbane’s Totally Workwear Stadium. The West Mitchelton Panthers junior ran for 161 metres, made two line-breaks and four tackle busts and scored a crucial try
Read more
Mackay Cutters have bolstered their Hostplus Cup stocks for 2024 with the signing of former Tonga international centre Mahe Fonua. The power-running outside back has secured a two-year deal with the Cutters after successful stints in the English Super League with Hull FC and the Castleford Tigers. Fonua, who played six Tests with Tonga, made his NRL debut with the Melbourne Storm and spent two seasons with the Wests Tigers before carving out a decorated career in the United Kingdom. He won ba
Read more
Emerging junior cricketers Jack Law and Ishaan Rana stole the show with extraordinary batting achievements at the Mackay 2023 Street Smarts Secondary Schools Twenty20 Challenge at Harrup Park. Hot shot Law underlined his batting skills to help St Patrick’s College Mackay clean-sweep district titles in the Junior Male, Senior Male and Female categories. The 14-year-old young gun smashed an unbeaten 113 off only 45 deliveries in St Patrick’s victory over Whitsunday Anglican School to confirm his
Read more
In the adrenaline-charged circuit of the UCI BMX World Championships, the spotlight found its mark on Mackay rider Dylan Secher, a name now etched in the annals of BMX greatness. Amongst the hard work in preparation and the intensity of competition in Scotland, Dylan's journey shows that regional athletes can mix it with the best on the world stage. Dylan's World Championship campaign launched with a spectacular performance that set the tone for his achievements. In the Cruiser class 8-12 Boys r
Read more
Close to fifty runners and spectators enjoyed the cool morning sunshine for the racing of the annual Tri-ActiV8 Bonson’s Scrub Rd 6km and 12km mountainous challenge. Race Sponsor, Nikki Giles from Tri-ActiV8 has been on board as sponsor for this epic event for several years now as well as her day job of encouraging athletes in a multitude of activities including cycling, running, swimming, and paddling. The ultimate winner was a very happy Lauren Connor who was two seconds off her estimated time
Read more
Congratulations to Karina Dunn who played in the Champion of Champions Ladies Singles at St Helens Club and reached the semi-final. The Champion of Champion Fours were also played with Karli Burns, Carol Savage, Karina Dunn and Denise Mezzen also making it to the semi-finals. Alan Summerville and Gerard Black competed in the Multi Disability Championships last week and won a number of games. This weekend Ross Dunstan will compete in the Men's Championship of Championship Singles at North Mackay.
Read more
The 2023 Australian National Championships (ANC) was played at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from 9th to 21st July. Mackay Bridge Club member Lauren Morgan and her partner Paddy Taylor came 1st in the interstate pairs youth category. The Queensland team finished 3rd in the youth team’s event. The full Queensland team was K. Macdonald, L. Morgan, S. Langdon Macmillan, P. Taylor, A. Wu, Z. Ros. Weekly Club Results Monday 7 August 2023 – ANNE HIRD MEMORIAL TROPHY Week 1 of 3 N/S E/W
Read more
The Whitsunday community has been rocked by a spike in road accidents over the past six weeks, with five fatalities across the Mackay and Whitsunday region, four of which occurred in the Whitsundays.This comes off the back of a wider eight-month period of fatal accidents that have claimed 10 lives in the region to date, almost half locally within the last two months.Across Queensland to date this year, 170 lives have sadly been lost on Queensland roads, with 10 deaths alone occurring in the Mack
Read more
Hi Everyone,On the front page this week you will see faces of people that have tragically lost their lives on our region’s roads in the last 12 months.Every person you see was very special, they had loved ones whose lives will never be the same again and futures that will now remain untold.
Read more
Every parent’s nightmare is a sick kid vomiting in the car, not only is the child unwell, but the car’s interior is at risk of smelling like vomit for several years afterwards. Mum of three, Crissy Bottrell, almost experienced this first-hand last week when she rushed to Cannonvale State School last week to pick up her youngest daughter who was sick and vomiting.
Read more
Stakeholders from across the region gathered at the Greater Whitsunday Communities’ Housing Summit held in Mackay on Tuesday.The event was held to address housing issues and develop solutions to issues that were identified at the Greater Whitsunday Housing Roundtable which was held in December last year.
Read more
On August 8, a 37-year-old Mackay woman was arrested and charged with two counts of breaching a protection order and one count of common assault in relation to actions she took against a person’s neighbour. She will appear in court. On August 11 at about 11pm, a 43-year-old Brisbane man was arrested for breaching a protection order and public nuisance offences within a safe night precinct due to his behaviour towards another person.
Read more
With National Homelessness Week underway, the Bowen Neighbourhood Centre completed their annual Hamburgers for Homelessness last Thursday. The annual event sees community members buy a hamburger, with all funds raised going towards supporting homeless people in Bowen.
Read more
The Whitsundays have lost one of its most charming and compassionate community members earlier this month when Janelle Casey passed away peacefully surrounded by close friends and her much-loved husband, Phil.Most well-known as the owner of Flower Hut, Janelle spent 20 years bringing people joy through her exceptional eye for flower design and styling.
Read more
Whitsunday Regional Council will see an internal restructure in the coming months, with more streamlined strategic planning for the region its goal. This organisational restructure will see a separation between operations and strategy, to better focus and strengthen the delivery of services and future planning.
Read more
A group of Collinsville State High School students have just experienced an exciting and educational two-day future-focussed workshop delivered by the education arm of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC). The event deep dived into renewable energy, offering students insights into the subject and practical tasks to put their new knowledge to the test.About 60 students from the Year 7 and 8 cohort participated in the action-packed Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) initiative which o
Read more
This year, for the first time, the Whitsunday Tourism Awards will be introducing two new region-specific categories into the mix.This follows the recent announcement that the Bowen Best Business Award and Collinsville Business of the Year Award will be featuring in the upcoming 2023 event which is due to be held at the Proserpine Entertainment Centre in October.
Read more
As we head into mid-August, preparations are well underway for the much-awaited Cape Edgecumbe Walking Trail upgrades which are due to commence shortly.The first stage of the upgrade will start at Murray Bay Road and stretch to Rose Bay Lions Lookout and Mother Beddock Rock. These initial works are set to take place between the 4th of September and early October.
Read more
Hi, I’m Bec, the Tourism Whitsundays Member Services Coordinator. My role is to help you get the most out of your membership with Tourism Whitsundays. Did you know that Tourism Whitsundays has four levels of membership for businesses to ensure no one misses out on an opportunity to be involved?
Read more
The local community is assured that new social housing will be delivered to the region thanks to the Quick Start Fund which will facilitate commencement of 100 new builds in the area before 2025.Two projects are already underway in the region, one being recently completed on Livingstone Street in Bowen, supplying four one-bedroom houses for people living with disabilities.
Read more
The second annual PRD Annual Property Research Night was a huge success, with PRD’s Chief Economist Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo, more affectionately known as Dr Asti, speaking about the Royal Bank of Australia and local property predictions. With almost 70 people in attendance, the second annual PRD Property Research Night was well received with attendees feeling both inspired and reassured by Dr Asti’s comments and predictions.
Read more