Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
If you are an artistic teenager looking to extend your creative skills, then Mackay Regional Council’s new Art and Design Club is for you. The new term-based art program gives people aged 13 to 17 the opportunity to be inspired, explore and respond to Australian contemporary art within the gallery environment. Participants will work with a practising local artist to experiment with art tools and materials, techniques and ideas to make their own art. The club will be held each Sunday, from July 2
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Mackay detectives are investigating an alleged armed robbery which occurred around 6pm on Thursday, July 13. The incident occurred on the Bluewater Trail near River Street and the Bluewater Lagoon in Mackay city. A 40-year-old adult male was walking in this area when he was allegedly approached by two people whose faces were concealed, one of them was holding a knife. Mackay police reported that the walker handed over a backpack containing a laptop, tablet, watch and iPhone, following a demand t
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“Keep oil containers out of your kerbside bins, unless they are completely empty”, that’s the message from Mackay Regional Council following a recent oil spill incident. It was the neighbouring properties and rubbish truck that were affected when a local resident threw an oil container into their kerbside bin. The oil spilled all over the JJ Richards truck and nearby driveways as the bin was emptied, leaving behind a very sticky mess. Mayor Greg Williamson said placing motor oil in recycling or
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Australian sign language plays an important role in the hearing-impaired community. For students at St Patrick’s College Mackay, the establishment of an AUSLAN club has enabled them to communicate with the hearing impaired and learn about the club’s history and culture. Long serving St Patrick’s teacher and AUSLAN Co-ordinator Brett Comerford revealed that the Club was “going strong” with 43 members at present. This Saturday July 22 the St Patrick’s College AUSLAN Club will travel to Townsvil
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Mackay Sugar delivered its Annual General Meeting to shareholders yesterday, announcing a positive financial result driven largely by a strong market, improved industry collaboration and the ongoing significant investments supported by its major shareholder, Nordzucker AG. Chairman Michael Gerloff, said that despite a season marked by extraordinary wet weather events and mill performance concerns, Mackay Sugar achieved a $41.7M profit during the 2022/23 fiscal year. “Off the back of a solid cr
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By Kevin Borg, Chairman, CANEGROWERS Mackay Recent rain not only shut down all four of Mackay-Plane Creek district mills with disrupted cane supply, but also delayed any planting activity underway, as growers get ready for the 2024 crop. The rain event, which brought up to 70mm in some areas, but for most part dropped in the vicinity of 50mm or less, delivered some needed moisture, restoring the condition of the existing crop. Many paddocks had been getting fairly dry. A continuation of dry weat
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St John's Rock Pop Mime Team Conquers 'The Wizarding World of Hogwarts’ The St John's Rock Pop Mime team delivered an outstanding performance last Saturday night at the New Life Church, North Mackay, in their own interpretation of "The Wizarding World of Hogwarts." The team's hard work was evident as they took the stage and wowed the audience with their magical performance. The event, hosted by the Lions Club, brought together nine talented teams, each showcasing their unique artistic flair. Des
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Roaming cats have become an issue that Mackay Regional Council’s Local Laws Officers deal with daily as new research shows the number of native animals killed by pet cats nationally has escalated by 34 per cent since the pandemic pet boom. “We’re receiving an increasing number of calls from residents who are reporting stray cats roaming on their properties,” said Director Community and Client Services Janine McKay. “Our region is home to many rare and threatened species, including the Eungella a
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The Rotary Club of Walkerston has, just a couple of weeks ago, welcomed its first exchange student since the world pandemic put a stop to any sort of international travel. For about three years there were no exchange students moving around the world. It is indeed a delight for Walkerston Rotary Club members to welcome Alice Macciocu from Sassari on the Italian Island of Sardinia, the largest island in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Alice will be hosted by the club for a year. Attending a local
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Earlier this year, laws were passed to bring Queensland into line with New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT by limiting rent increases to once per year to assist in stabilising rents. However, reports have emerged of some landlords and agents ending leases with tenants in order to increase rents more frequently than once per year. A discussion paper has been released to ensure annual rent increase frequency limits are effective. The discussion paper considers a propos
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Light up the barbeque and fill your buckets, Porters Mitre 10 is keen to help you raise funds for your organisation. From sausage sizzles to car washes, your not-for-profit can raise funds and have some fun at Mackay Porters Mitre 10. To help your fundraiser run smoothly, they also provide the water, hose, and detergent for car washes, as well as a barbeque, gas, tables, and marquees for sausage sizzles. What’s more, for a limited time Porters Mitre 10 is also donating $100 meat vouchers to or
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Nothing lights up our region like Daly Bay Illuminate. Queens Park will come alive with giant neon dogs, unworldly flowers, glowing sea creatures and so much more, from next Thursday, July 27, to Sunday, July 30. Better still, entry to this all-ages, illuminated wonderland is completely free. The event will run from 6pm to 9pm each night. Mayor Greg Williamson said this year’s massive drawcard installation was the Lost Dogs’ Disco by ENESS. “This is an immersive installation of 16 dogs, some up
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My dog, Millie, is a three-year-old black and white border collie/kelpie/something else cross, that looks a bit like the dog in the recent New Yorker magazine cartoon we’ve put in this column, though she has shorter fur. When she was about six months old, my wife and kids took her to visit some neighbours, who had recently acquired two fluffy little miniature poodle puppies. Millie is a friendly dog so they left her with the two little poodles in the backyard while they went inside the neighbour
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OPINION PIECE The Mackay region is quickly becoming a premier fishing destination, offering 365 days a year fishing. Reef Catchments, as part of their “Turning Rubble to Reef in the Mackay Whitsundays” project, seeks to facilitate the expansion of coral reef habitat into otherwise bare areas of the marine environment. This will be achieved through the deployment of 30 Habitat Reef modules in the coastal waters off Mackay in the second half of this year. Installation of the Habitat Reef module
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By Sam Gillespie She’s mesmerised audiences across the world on the stage and the screen, and now Mackay gets its chance to experience acclaimed singer/songwriter Bloom performing her Stevie Nicks, Carole King and Linda Ronstadt Songbook. Sam spoke to Bloom about her musical motivation, what we can expect from the show and her important fundraising work. You’ve clearly got a wide variety of experiences in the music industry, from writing your own music to tribute shows and even The Voice. How d
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As you read this, I’ll be just about to jump on a plane at the Mackay Airport and head down to Sydney with my daughter for one of the best holidays you could ask for. A few months ago, my 19-year-old daughter asked me if I wanted to come for a trip to the home of the Opera House with her so I could show her around my old hometown. I of course said yes and here we are, Friday about to start a weekend of fun. One of the big reasons my daughter wanted to travel to Sydney was to see Lizzo in conce
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Local students of Mackay will experience the opportunity of a lifetime when they perform alongside Australia’s finest professional opera vocalists at the MECC this month. Opera Australia is Australia’s largest performing arts company, presenting over 700 performances to more than half a million people every year. The company will return to Mackay with its 27th annual national tour, showcasing crowd favourite The Barber of Seville with a choir of local students as part of the company’s Regional
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Film and Arts Mackay (FAM) is renowned for delivering alternative cinema to the region and their flagship event, the Mackay International Film Festival, is returning across two weekends in 2023. Showcasing a diverse range of thought-provoking stories from around the world, the festival will screen six films, beginning with Three Thousand Years of Longing on Saturday, July 29 at Pinnacle Playhouse. Described by The Guardian as “a heartfelt Aladdinesque adventure for grownups”, visionary director
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Friday 21 July Friday SUN.sets Every Friday Evening From 6pm Knock off drinks, lakeside dinner, good friends, and LIVE MUSIC. Wake House Australia Mushroom Valley Presents...Techno Dinner Party Friday, 6:00pm to 11:00pm Mushroom Valley presents Soundfood, a unique fusion of Mark's two biggest passions - music and food. During a Soundfood session this Melbourne based Kiwi simultaneously DJs and cooks, resulting in a sensory explosion; bringing the heat with sweet treats and phat beats. Get yo
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Champion Mackay point guard Isaac White is racing the clock to be fit for this Saturday night’s NBL 1 North Basketball Conference quarter final showdown with South West Metro Pirates at Brisbane’s Hibiscus Sports Stadium. The mercurial White was a late withdrawal from the Meteors side that tossed Red City Roar 102-84 at Mackay Basketball Stadium to clinch a finals berth but is hopeful he can overcome a torn quadricep injury to lead the club in a do-or-die fixture. On the final night of the pre
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The final of the B singles and the open singles were played on North Mackay greens on June 21. The open singles game was between Nuggy Pratt and Lorna Bowers. Nuggy got away from Lorna early, but Lorna managed to come back, but unfortunately just a bit too late, so the winner was Nuggy Pratt. The B singles was between Maryann Bartolo and Brenda Trannore. In much the same vein as the open ladies; Maryann got away to a substantial lead early, but Brenda clawed her way back to only lose by a few p
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Les Stagg Oval in Proserpine is the established home base for the Whitsunday Brahmans Rugby League Club. Last Saturday night the high-flying Souths Logan Magpies nearly described it as a “graveyard” after snatching a 14-12 victory over the Mackay Cutters in QRL Hostplus Cup action. With ten minutes left on the clock the Cutters were poised to spring the boilover of the season when they led the competition leaders 12-10 in an absorbing tussle. But a late try by centre Jesse Jennings enabled th
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Mackay SLSC recently held their annual awards presentations on the grounds of the surf club overlooking Mackay’s beautiful Harbour Beach. Club President Brendan Smith opened the afternoon recognising the club’s contribution of “Vigilance and Service” to the Mackay community as the “Guardians of Harbour Beach” for over 70 years, as well as another challenging yet rewarding season. Mr. Smith said, “Being a volunteer organisation there are many people who make sacrifices to contribute to the runni
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Mackay Road Runners held a very social 5km and 10km afternoon run/walk from Bluewater Quay in perfectly cool and sunny conditions, although the seriously swirling headwind on the return trip across Forgan Smith Bridge was a bit testing. Great to see the return of Colin Hardy, Carol Brown and Jarrod Mackie for a rare Sunday afternoon event with the Mackay Road Runners. Carolyn Mapes had a sensational 10km run backing up well after her third place in the Eungella King of the Mountain the previ
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Mackay Bowls Club is hosting the Championship Men’s District Fours this weekend. Representing Mackay Bowls Club is K Tranberg, A Gibson, G Edmonds, and N Wilson. Tuesday Social Bowls was back to normal with 28 players rolling up, the club welcoming visitors P Hancock and P Nikitin. Winners of Winners: Leanne Jenner, Barry Jenner, Peter Taaffe. Winner of Losers: P Hancox, P Nikitin. Thursday Scroungers started late after a few showers put the afternoon on hold for a while. In the final Brad Robe
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