SM137_Shift Miner Magazine

SHIFT MINERMonday 21st May 137th Edition 2012 The Queensland mining community’s best source of local news

Locally Owned and Operated - www.shiftminer.com

THE structure of the resources workforce is not allowing Queensland to take full advantage of the boom. That was a key finding in a major industry report into employment and workers that provides an annual snapshot of the sector.

The just-released Kinetic Group Heart-beat Report 2012 found workforce growth, a high turnover rate, and a large non-resident, ageing workforce were factors compromis-ing the resources sector’s ability to capitalise demand for coal.

The report provides a detailed overview of turnover and recruitment trends in the industry, as well as an in-depth analysis of 21 identified industry job roles.

Nine major industry organisations pro-vided data for the survey which covered 30,500 workers.

Most alarming was a high turnover rate is contributing significantly to industry costs.

The report found the annual turnover in the sector, including contractors, is 24.4%. Of all separating employees, 18.4% left within the first 12 months of employment.

“The turnover burden to industry is con-servatively estimated at $140 million annually for direct costs of recruitment, induction and training; and the turnover rate for non-resi-dent employees was more than double that of other employees during the 12 month sam-ple,” Kinetic Group CEO, Derek Hunter said.

» continued page 10

Blackwater buzzes over long weekend » More pictures page 15

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NewsBMA ballots lost » page 4

NewsSex worker appeals ruling » page 5

NewsFIFO doctor for Moranbah » page 6

Around TownBulls trample Dogs » page 14

Off ShiftFine fillies trackside » page 21

WIN $500 IN custom tattooINg - page 13

Page 3 - Shift Miner Magazine, 12th March 2012

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4 BMA ballots lost

5 What sex boom?

7 Contractors cautious

9 Pipe activity increases

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CONTENTS

Regulars 16 Stuff to the Editor 17 Frank the Tank 18 Miner's Trader 20 Weather & Tides 25 Money Matters

Page 4 - Shift Miner Magazine, 21st May 2012

127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

Next stop YeppoonWANDOAN Chamber of Commerce president Ray Mortimer will be getting behind the wheel of a Holden Rodeo of questionable condition from July 9 to 19 for the Great Endeavour Rally. The Toowoomba to Yeppoon (via the Gulf) event will be bone jarring but all for a good cause - it raises money for the Endeavour Foundation which is one of the largest non-government disability service providers in Australia. Ray says several resource companies have already supported his team’s effort and further assistance is still sought..........................................................................................

Surat on showREGISTRATIONS have opened online for workers wanting to attend the 2012 Surat Basin Energy and Mining Expo. The event will be held at Toowoomba Showgrounds on June 20 and 21 and is experiencing strong interest from sponsors, exhibitors and companies wanting to attend. There will also be a number of high profile speakers and over 100 extra exhibitor sites are available to cater for the demand from first time exhibitors. Further event details, including registration, are available from www.suratbasinexpo.com.au .........................................................................................

Train report nearsTHE feasibility report into a proposed Gladstone to Rockhampton fast train service is expected to be delivered to Capricorn Enterprise by the end of the month. The study is being jointly funded by Capricorn Enterprise and Queensland Rail, with Rockhampton firm Tanner Consultants employed to carry out the work. Capricorn Enterprise economic development manager Neil Lethlean said late last year the report was about highlighting the level of demand. A fast train could pick up between 500 to 1000 people in Rockhampton and 200 to 300 from Bundaberg daily..........................................................................................

Resort renamedHE’S not just signing the cheques anymore he also has his name on the front gate. Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has chosen Palmer Resort Coolum as the new name for the Hyatt Regency Coolum he owns on the Sunshine Coast. Palmer was in a public stoush with the hospitality chain earlier this year over claims they weren’t managing the place properly. There are now plans to develop the resort into a luxury retreat which will take further financial commitment from Palmer as the relaxing resort is looking a little rundown.

FAST NEWSTHE future of sex workers’ rights will be fought out in a legal battle in July when a sex worker who lost her anti-discrimination case to a Moranbah hotel has her appeal heard.

Last October, the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) decision ruled that the sex worker known as GK did not have a discrimination case against the Drover’s Rest Motel owners, who had refused her accommodation.

Now motels across the state are using QCAT’s decision to prohibit sex workers from using their premises.

Gold Coast-based GK told Shift Miner Magazine she is determined to take up this fight because it is a case of discrimination.

She said the only reason sex workers are refused accommodation is because staff don’t like what they do.

“Their excuse is that they don’t like strange men walking around the motel. But what is the difference between a miner who stays next door, and has his mates coming in and out to catch up for a drink? With sex workers, the only difference is that it is sex,” she said.

“The general excuse is they don’t want undesirables, but the clients I see are not delinquents. It is just a myth. We see fam-ily men, single men - men from all walks of life. At the end of the day I have seen cli-ents who range from 18 to 19 up to 70.”

Joan Hartley runs the Drover’s Rest Motel with her husband, and the couple have engaged the services of a Brisbane barrister for the appeal.

“I am not a prude. I believe there is a place for everyone in the world - sex work-ers have a place,” she told Shift Miner Magazine between phone calls.

“I didn’t want her here because it is not legal,” Mrs Hartley said. “We have a licensed premise from boundary to boundary. I under-stand people are not allowed to run a busi-ness, and she ran under the radar for 13 visits.”

When Shift Miner Magazine asked if this would prohibit people from using their laptops or phones to conduct busi-

ness from their rooms, she said no.Mrs Hartley said she would refuse

accommodation to anyone wanting to sell goods from her motel.

GK has been working in the Bowen Basin for four years and had been staying at the Drover’s Rest on separate occasions without raising suspicion.

“The only reason why my activities were noticed on my last stay at the Drover’s Rest was because my room was opposite recep-tion, which makes it kind of hard to disguise the comings and goings so to speak,” she said.

“On 12 occasions I was allowed to stay there when they thought I was just a ‘nor-mal’ business person. As soon as it’s dis-covered I’m actually a sex worker I’m refused accommodation in the future.

“If that’s not discrimination I don’t know what is.”

It is because of this that GK is taking up the fight and is now raising $13,000 so she can engage the services of a solicitor and barrister.

“I have gone this far to stand up for my rights, and it will benefit others. A lot of girls won’t speak out for fear of being out-ed to their family and friends,” GK said.

Anglers throw the lines back inANGLERS in Gladstone seem to have moved on from the controversy surround-ing fish deaths and water quality.

Last year sections of the harbour were closed to fishermen after a high number of unexplained fish deaths and serious red sores were seen on other caught fish, includ-ing barramundi and sharks.

Government investigations are continu-ing and legal action has been launched by a group of fishing-related businesses.

The issue decimated fishing and tour-ism industries almost overnight as the story was covered by national and international media that implied a link between the water woes and heavy industry and dredging.

But anglers themselves seemed to have got the rods and reels out of the garage in past weeks and moved on.

At Pat’s Tackle World in Gladstone, Josh Lunn said the quality of the water hard-ly rates a mention these days among those that drop into the shop to buy gear or boast about the one that got away.

He says the attitude and conversation has returned back to what it was before the fish deaths.

Customers don’t really want to talk about it, he said.

“It’s probably because there hasn’t been any fish deaths for a few months,” he says, in between serving customers. “Conditions have improved and talk of fish deaths has faded out of conversations.

“Things seem to be back to normal.”Meanwhile, the latest test results from

Gladstone harbour have found no signifi-cant change in water quality, no single cause for all fish health issues and a decrease in the number of barramundi with eye prob-lems or lesions.

The results were released by the Queens-land government but compiled by its inde-pendent panel set up to investigate the fish deaths and water quality.

Of the 185 crabs in the Narrows and 170 crabs at Turkey Beach caught in sampling in January, 5 per cent displayed shell abnor-malities, which is similar to levels observed in historical studies.

About 40 kilograms of prawns were caught in the harbour and a further 60kgs outside with all in good condition.

BALLOT papers have been handed out to BMA miners who weren’t sent the forms in the mail.

It’s the latest saga in a 16-month union-versus-company confrontation over a new enterprise agreement for 3500 BMA work-ers at seven Bowen Basin mine sites.

Employees have already voted once on the issue last September, and resoundingly rejected the company’s offer.

There has also been strike action across the seven sites over the past year, causing significant disruption to BMA’s operations.

When talks between unions and BMA once again broke down last month, the company decided to take the latest offering directly to employees.

Despite union protests, a postal ballot was settled on as the vehicle for the vote, and now the CFMEU claims at least 154 employees are yet to receive their ballot papers.

CFMEU District President Stephen Smyth has told media the number of workers with-out ballot papers could be much higher.

“These figures are only those who have come forward, we think the actual number of workers without voting slips to be much higher,” Mr Smyth said.

BMA reacted quickly to the claims and said in a statement that the employee ballot on the Enterprise Agreement had been car-ried out in accordance with the Fair Work Australia Act and was being conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission.

“After becoming aware that some employees had not received ballot papers, BMA took immediate corrective steps,” the statement said.

BMA has contacted all of the employ-ees who were listed as not receiving a bal-lot paper and has spoken directly to 70 per cent of them, the company says.

Electoral Commission officials were in Emerald and Moranbah last week, handing out ballot papers to those who missed out.

“BMA wants all employees to have the chance to have their say on the enterprise agreement,” a spokesperson said.

The vote closed last Friday with results unavailable at the time of print .

Missing ballot papers irk union

“Conditions have improved and talk of fish deaths has faded out of conversations.”

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News News

IT was an industry boot camp of sorts for the new Mines Minister Andrew Cripps recently after enjoying a pit to port tour from Moranbah to Hay Point.

Hosted by the Queensland Resources Council, the newly minted Minister visited BMA’s Goonyella-River-side mine outside Moranbah plus QR National’s Jilalan rail complex near Sarina and the Hay Point - Dalrymple Bay coal port facilities.

He was impressed.“Right across Queensland’s mining communities we

see examples of resource companies making (social) contributions, which I welcome and applaud,” he later said.

“I had the opportunity to see affordable housing projects, new employee accommodation, a new airport, contributions to local road maintenance and even the new state of the art aquatic facility in

Moranbah, all built with significant funding from the local mining operator.”

Minister Cripps said the Newman Government had an expectation that mining companies would be good cor-porate citizens and work hard to meet their social obliga-tions within their local communities.

He added that the government would also deliver on its commitments through the Royalties for the Regions programs.

Moranbah is projected to have more fly-in, fly-out workers in the town this year than full-time ratepay-er residents and that has placed enormous pressure on housing, health services and infrastructure.

Minister Cripps said after the tour that the challenge for the government and resources sector was to contin-ue to increase the capacity of export ports and maintain a strong supply chain to meet the growing demand of international customers who depend on Queensland as a reliable supplier of coal.

Mines Minister’s been trippin’

Comment orSmS 0428 154 653

Sex worker appeals being bootedWhat sex boom?IT’S a case of media hype - while there may be a resources boom, an influx of miners in central Queensland is not fuelling a sex worker boom.

GK, based in Queensland’s southeast corner, has been a fly-in, fly-out sex worker for a number of years after “discovering” the mining towns, and she has seen no boom.

“The reasons why few sex workers travel to these areas could be down to the lack of accommodation, high price of flights, hire cars and very average accommodation,” she told Shift Miner Magazine.

“For a two-night work trip to these areas in central Queensland it costs me a minimum of $1100 in expenses - hotel, car hire, advertising, flights, etc.

“This is a huge expense for ladies to fly to these areas on a whim with no guarantee of work. Yes, it can be lucrative but like in any business where there is a chance to make good money, there is always that risk that you won’t cover your costs too. Even in a boom town business can have its quiet moments,” she explained.

GK said there are very few sex workers who regularly travel to the Bowen Basin, despite the boom.

“I think you will find that there are more sex workers touring from city to city rather than regional country areas.”

Occasionally new sex workers might do a one-off visit, but overall there is not a boom, she added.

“Towns like Middlemount, Dysart, Blackwater and Clermont are just a few of the towns that I know where ladies rarely seem to visit.

“These are all booming mining towns so I think it’s safe to say that, speaking from my personal knowledge within the industry, it is all media hype that the mining towns are overflowing with FIFO sex workers, when they actually aren’t.”


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

A six-month pilot programme that gives BMA employees and contractors access to medical care at an Moranbah accommo-dation village aims to alleviate pressure on town-based medical services.

BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) has been running the programme at Eureka Accommodation Village outside Moranbah since February and has contracted a Mackay-based medical business to run the clinic.

“BMA is aware of the difficulty in attracting and retaining medical profes-sional in the region, and hopes the trial will relieve pressure on town-based services,” a spokesperson told Shift Miner Magazine.

The clinic is run on BMA’s behalf by Best Practice OHS, who are responsible for sourcing staff, the spokesperson said.

“A doctor is present at the clinic between the hours of 5am-8am and 5pm-8pm eve-ry day. Outside of these times, the doctor is available on an on-call basis. The clinic is staffed 24-7 by nursing staff.”

The growing number of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workers in the region and the pres-sure it puts on medical services in Moran-bah has been an ongoing concern for local residents.

The local medical surgery recently lodged a submission with the federal inquiry into FIFO and DIDO, which pointed to a lack of a relationship between doctors and non-resident worker patients, which was resulting in lower levels of compliance and co-operation from some patients.

The submission also noted a tendency for some unattached men to engage in reck-less behaviours such as drinking and drug taking, which resulted in more emergency calls in the town.

“Medical services based in our towns are also under pressure, and providing on-site

services should reduce the demand on these services, providing additional capacity for local residents and their families,” BMA’s asset president Stephen Dumble said.

All BMA staff and contractors within the area can access the village clinic for both work and non-work related medical issues.

“We have initiated this service in order to provide high-quality medical care for employees and contractors staying in the village, particularly while they are away from home.”

The Eureka Village service is offered to BMA employees and contractors, primarily from the Goonyella Riverside and Broadm-eadow mines.

At the end of the six-month pilot, BMA will look at rolling out the service to its oth-er mining locations.

BMA has also commissioned Health Workforce Queensland to develop a sus-tainable model for the provision of medical services in Moranbah and Dysart.

The project will be lead by a communi-ty steering committee, including represent-atives from BMA, Anglo American Coal, Isaac Regional Council, the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, and Moranbah and District Support Services.

Recommendations on the preferred model are expected to be made mid-year.

CENTRAL Queensland contractors are jit-tery, but is the mining boom experiencing a drop off?

The mining giants of the region - BHP through its BHP Mitsubishi alliance (BMA)

arm and Rio Tinto have given more than just hints that some aspects of their busi-ness will slow down.

Last week, Rio Tinto’s chief executive Tom Albanese flagged that higher costs

were forcing a rethink of the company’s expansion plans, and driverless trucks and trains would soon be part of the Bowen Basin landscape.

“I do see this work (automation) prop-agating in Queensland and the rest of the world. The first stage of that will happen over the course of this year,” he said.

Last Friday, BMA shut the doors of its Norwich Park mine near Dysart.

The mine’s permanent workforce, based predominantly in the town, has been asked to list which of the company’s other mines they would prefer to work at.

BMA has confirmed that 99 per cent of Norwich Park workers will be re-deployed to either their first or second choice.

About 400 Downer contractors from the mine will be moved to BMA’s Blackwater operations.

However, that move means the current Golding contractor workforce at Blackwa-ter will be out of work when the company’s contract expires.

One employee told Shift Miner Magazine contractors were beginning to become a lit-tle nervous about the current work climate.

“Things don’t seem as secure as they did six months ago,” he said.

“The feeling is there isn’t a lot of work in the Bowen Basin at the moment, and peo-ple are looking elsewhere.”

That general sentiment isn’t helped by the fact the end of financial year is approaching, and companies are making bottom line decisions on staff.

Anglo American’s Foxleigh mine has laid off 20 contractors recently, and others have had their hours reduced.

But CFMEU union spokesman Steve Smyth is not overly concerned by the move.

Mr Smyth says it’s just part and parcel of the industry using contract workforces.

“Their jobs are like seasonal workers - they can have a job now and not tomorrow and that’s one of the issues that we face in the mining industry,” he said.

“It’s not good but it does happen as it gets towards the end of the financial year. It has been a practice in the past in other places.”

In Mackay, which is the main feeder of major contractors and mining related serv-ice businesses for the Bowen Basin, locals firms aren’t yet feeling the pinch of any sug-gested cuts or a levelling out.

“I think the reality is that things have slowed down because of what’s happen-ing on the markets, and companies are being more cautious,” said the Mackay Area Industry Network’s (MAIN) Narelle Pearse.

“That means the acceleration of new jobs hasn’t happened as quickly as we expected, and we are in a holding pattern.”

h e i g h t s

News News

FIFO doctor for Moranbah

Boom steadies, but is it all so bad?


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

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News News

AN electrician who was checking for fluid leaks on a longwall pump sled in an under-ground coal mine was struck in the face by a loose hose and sprayed with hydraulic emulsion fluid.

The hose normally feeds through floor plates to discharge to an area below the walk plates of the pump cart.

But, in this instance, the discharge valve on the pump sled turned on and caused the hose to move around and hit the electrician.

The Mines Inspectorate has put out a safety bulletin in relation to the accident, because it is the latest in a series of inci-

dents related to high pressure hydraulic flu-ids on longwalls.

The Inspectorate says poor design - includ-ing hose layout and hose retention design - were major contributing factors to this incident.

The Inspectorate has recommend-ed all hose assemblies should be properly restrained to prevent unplanned movement and injury, with regular audits to make sure they are in place.

Meanwhile, the Inspectorate has also wrapped up its investigation into the death of a truck driver at Anglo American’s Fox-leigh mine in December 2010.

The driver had been changing a truck tyre, when it exploded and killed him.

The Inspectorate has released a lengthy safety bulletin on radial construction tyres.

It found that in this instance the driver had followed set procedures, and that it was likely the “almost new” replacement tyre selected by the driver had previously oper-ated at low pressure.

It had a puncture repair indicating it had probably run flat.

For the full safety bulletin and advice go to www.mines.industry.gov.au/mining/safety -alerts-bulletins.htm

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A new charter jet aimed at servicing the Queensland mining industry’s fly-in fly-out workforce is now ready for take off.

JetGo, which has bases in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and Rockhampton, has been granted its Civil Aviation Safety Authority certification and is now open for operation.

“Our registration approval came through last week, so now we are in the ramp-up stage of our business,” chief executive and co-own-er Jason Ryder told Shift Miner Magazine.

“We have one contract starting at the end of the month where will be flying to the north-west of Queensland, to Mt Isa.”

Mr Ryder, a Yeppoon businessman and former international pilot, set up JetGo with Sunshine Coast based co-owner Aar-on Mulder to service the booming resourc-es industry.

“The interest is what we expected and we will be a lot busier in the next two to three years,” he said.

The type of jet being used by the compa-ny can carry up to 37 passengers and three crew, and will be able to access remote loca-

tions that other jets can’t get to.It is also twice as fast as the aircraft cur-

rently servicing remote communities.“Typically a client would spend half

their time in travel on our service compared with a propeller aircraft, so they arrive less fatigued,” Mr Ryder said.

JetGo plans to fill a gap in the market by providing the flexibility to fly to plac-es that are not serviced by the major air-lines and it bypasses airline hub structures by flying directly from remote sites to pop-ulation centres.

“We will be able to fly out to a destina-tion and return in the morning, and then do another service in the afternoon, but this will depend on demand.”CAPTION: Queensland charter flight company JetGo is set to fly workers to and from mine sites after being granted approval to do so by the Civil Aviation Authority.

OPTIONAL PULL QUOTE: “Typically a client would spend half their time in trav-el on our service compared with a propeller aircraft, so they arrive less fatigued.”

BUILDING pipelines over hundreds of kil-ometres takes a lot of money, planning and of course pipes. Big, long pipes.

Those pipes have started to arrive for major gas projects in the Bowen Basin.

There are so many of them - about 420

kilometres worth - for the Santos project alone that there are going to be noticeably more trucks on the road and at least one mayor in the Basin has urged ratepayers and road users to be extra cautious.

The Santos pipeline will transport coal

seam gas from outside Roma to the Curtis Island LNG processing and export facility at Gladstone.

Its contractor started delivering the pipes required to a stockpile site last week with the first batch on the ground by Sunday night.

People may well be amazed at how many trucks and how many pipes are on their way.

“We can expect to see these trucks on these roads on a fairly regular basis over the next nine months,” said Central Highlands mayor Peter Maguire said.

He asked people to exercise caution on the road, drive to the conditions and respect other road users, particularly when there were extra truck movements on the roads.

This included west on the Dawson High-way, south on the Carnarvon Highway and east on Mulcahys Road.

All loaded trucks travelled only during daylight to reduce risks and there was no report of any incidents surrounding the first shipments.

Meanwhile, QGC has just awarded a construction contract to Murphy Pipe and Civil Constructions to install gas and water gathering pipelines throughout QGC’s gas fields in the Surat Basin.

The initial phase of the contract is worth about $250 million.

Brisbane-based Murphy Pipe and Civ-il will install high-density polyethylene pipe

to gather and transport gas and water from wells to processing facilities.

QCLNG Project Senior Vice President Sandy Nairn said the contract was significant for the Western Downs region and would create many employment opportunities.

“Much of what we spend on the project goes into local communities in one way or another, through wages, supply of materials and associated services,” Mr Nairn said.

“The contractor has indicated that a fur-ther 250 people will be employed to ful-fil the contract and that it will draw heavily on its network of Western Downs’ suppliers and service providers.”

The Murphy Pipe and Civil contract, which runs for about two years, complements other work the company is doing for QGC through innovative “spider plough” machin-ery and fast-fusion welding technology.

In 2011, QGC awarded a A$120 mil-lion contract to Iplex Pipelines to supply high-density polyethylene pipe for the gas fields through a new manufacturing plant at Toowoomba.

The plant is scheduled to reach full pro-duction by September 2012.

QGC’s 540 kilometre gas pipeline will consist of 46,200 12-metre lengths of pipe welded together and then buried.

So, yes, more pipes for the region and the roads.

New FIFO service set to go

Pipe trucks to be common sight

“Typically a client would spend half their time in travel on our service compared with a propeller aircraft, so they arrive less fatigued.”

Hit in the head with a hose

Hose normally positioned within confines of pump cart body.

Page 10 - Shift Miner Magazine, 21st May 2012 Page 11 - Shift Miner Magazine, 12th March 2012

PUBLIC submissions on a proposed $500 million coking coal project in the Cape York Peninsula have opened.

The proposed Wongai underground mine 150 kilometres north-west of Cooktown has the potential to operate for at least 30 years and could export 1.5 million tonnes of cok-ing coal per year.

About 250 jobs are expected during the construction of the mine if it goes ahead.

The proposed Aust-Pac Capital mine site is freehold land owned by the Kalpowar Aboriginal Land Trust established under the Aboriginal Land Act 1991.

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said the Won-gai project was declared a significant project last month meaning a comprehensive environmen-tal impact statement (EIS) was now required, which would run concurrently with a Federal Government environmental assessment.

The draft terms of reference form the basis of the project’s EIS which will consid-er the environmental, social and economic implications of the proposed mine.

“It’s important to stress that this does not mean the project is or will be approved,” Mr Seeney said.

“A rigorous environmental assessment must be conducted covering all the issues and impacts before any decision on the project is made. Community consultation is a valued aspect of the assessment process.”

The draft terms of reference can be viewed until Tuesday, June 12, on-line at http://projects.industry.qld.gov.au or at Cairns, Cooktown and Brisbane State libraries.

All public submissions must be in writing with further details on the project website or by emailing wongai@coordinatorgeneral .qld.gov.au

Wongai open for comment

THE gas industry-funded rescue chopper has carried out more than 60 patient trans-ports in its first year.

Funded by Arrow Energy, Origin, QGC and Santos GLNG Project, the Surat Basin service was launched last April to help min-imise the impact on local medical services of growing gas industry operations.

Thirty-nine of the patients rescued in the past 12 months were members of the public.

Stephen Pearson, Chair of the Surat Basin Gas Industry Working Group, said that the service had also become an impor-tant aero medical resource for communi-ties in southern Queensland.

CareFlight Group Queensland operates the service, which provides immediate first aid and emergency transportation for criti-cally ill and injured patients.

“We have workers located in remote are-

as which are often hard to reach in the event of a medical emergency and we didn’t want to draw on communities’ medical services,” Mr Pearson said.

“The solution was to come together as an industry and launch the Surat Basin Gas Industry AME retrieval service.”

As part of the service, up to 100 hours of dedicated community use a year is funded by the industry.

The choppers have played a vital role in the rapid evacuation and treatment of local people injured in a range of situations including motor vehicle accidents, farming mishaps, horse falls and even snake bites.

One helicopter is based in Roma and a back-up is in Toowoomba. Each has the capability to accommodate two patients.

As part of the service a critical-care doc-tor and a paramedic, along with a pilot and co-pilot, are stationed full-time in Roma.

Chopper helps five a month

“Thirty-nine of the patients rescued in the past 12 months were members of the public.” “The Wongai mine has the potential to operate for at least 30 years...”

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Go to www.mercycq.com/careersor call our recruitment team on (07) 4931 7478

MERCY HEALTH and AGED CARECentral Queensland Limited

“There is significant churn of employees within the industry. This is really concerning for productivity as, based on these figures, the industry will need to replace the equiva-lent of its whole workforce within 5.8 years.”

The non-resident workforce is on the rise, with one third of current employees living more than 300 kilometres away from their place of work.

The report found that non-resident work-ers had a high turnover more than double the rest of the industry.

Key industry stakeholders, such as the Queensland Resources Council, expect enor-mous growth in the non-resident workforce. The QRC argues that any additional mining workforce could comprise up to 75% non- resident workers, with some mines opting for

a 100% non-resident workforce.“This tells us we need to carefully manage

the issues arising from a mobile workforce, and that it will be a key challenge to address for the industry over the coming years as the FIDO/DIDO workforce increases,” Mr Hunter said.

New entrants in the industry are propor-tionally older than the existing workforce.

According to the report findings, 22% of employees are aged over 50 years and 3.2% are over 60 years of age and eligible for retirement.

“The industry is constantly recruiting new people to help support its exponential growth but a third of these new recruits are aged 50 years and over,” Mr Hunter said.

“An ageing workforce is concerning because it exposes the industry to significant

risk in terms of losing critical skill, knowl-edge and experience to retirement.

“What we need to do is examine strate-gies to mitigate this risk; things like pathway programs, replacement planning and knowl-edge management.

Industry actively seeks experienced work-ers, with the majority of the workforce over 25 years old.

Alarming statistics highlight that the number of workers under 25 years is significantly low, at less than 10% of the industry workforce.

The industry is more likely to employ staff once they enter their late twenties, rein-forcing the notion that industry employers are actively seeking workers with previous experience or transferrable skills.

“Our main concern with this figure is that

it highlights the lack of pathway programs for young people to enter the industry,” Mr Hunter said.

“If the Queensland mining industry is to grow a workforce to meet productivity goals, we must improve our capacity to introduce new workers to the industry in a timely way. Industry must do significantly more to create pathway programs and foster the develop-ment of school leavers.”

We are at the forefront of an exciting industry experiencing significant growth. As Australia’s leading energy and mining services company we value our people – the talented team who bring our unique blend of products and services together and set us apart from the crowd.

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FROM PAGE 1

OPPORTUNITIES MISSED: REPORT

THE Kinetic Group Heartbeat Report 2012 isn’t all doom and gloom with the sector workforce forecast to grow significantly over the next three years, by as much as 14%.

“We believe the data identifies signifi-cant opportunities for our industry to meet productivity goals through thoughtful and intelligent management of the workforce now and into the future,” Kinetic CEO Derek Hunter said.

“Their commitment to workforce planning and development is evidenced through participation in this groundbreak-ing research project.

“It’s important we focus our attention on the solutions. The findings may paint a grim picture but the industry growth and oppor-tunities available mean we can easily turn this around.”

He said the the intention of the report

is to support industry to meet productivity goals through careful workforce planning and development, and the key outcome is an industry skills strategy, an invaluable report which provides a holistic strategy to overcome the issues coming to light because of the skills shortage.

The report quantifies the skills shortage in relation to critical roles by aggregating data across the industry and projects skills shortages into the future.

The 2012 report draws on a compre-hensive sample of human resource data covering 56% of the Queensland mining industry’s workforce; with data collected from more than 30,500 employees across 9 participating organisations.

Data was collected from nine participat-ing organisations including Downer EDI, New Hope Group, BMA, Xstrata Cop-

per, Leighton, Peabody, Manpower Group, Golding and Anglo American.

Formerly the Mining Industry Skills Centre, Mr Hunter said the Kinetic Group has a unique understanding of the capabil-ities required of a modern resources sec-tor workforce, and works to ensure a skilled workforce for a sustainable future.

For copies of the full report visit www.kineticgroup.org.au

Industry insight says jobs to increase


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

TEACHERS from central Queensland schools got dirt under their fingernails at a recent earth science field trip in a bid to make the school curriculum more exciting.

The teachers from Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) Schools in Biloela, Emerald, Middlemount, Moura, Tan-num Sands and Wandoan State High Schools were involved in the three-day Teacher Pro-fessional Development (TPD) activity based at Emerald State High School.

It focussed on exciting ways to present the curriculum to years 8 and 9 students.

Teachers took part in a range of field and laboratory activities that included open-cut and underground experiences at BMA’s Gregory Crinum site and a visit to the Gemfields to fossick for sapphires.

“This was a worthwhile and engaging experience which I recommend to all teach-ers. It has provided me with a range of experi-ences that I will incorporate in my teaching,” said Emerald teacher Bede Horsfall.

“An understanding of the geologi-cal processes that shaped the local area is important in teaching science and geogra-phy concepts,” said BMA senior geologist in site exploration, Brendan Mapham.

“The site visits provide teachers with an opportunity to apply their understanding of basic geological principles to interpret the geology of a mine site or to predict where sapphires would be found, while also build-ing strong links with industry,” he said.

SMALL business in Sarina is struggling to survive the town’s increasingly transient population that lives locally but works in the mines or Mackay.

The Mackay Chamber of Commerce is work-ing to bring Sarina businesses into the fold, and help combat some of the challenges they face.

“Sarina main street businesses have the same issues as any other community like Mackay or Airlie Beach when it comes to increased online and shopping centre com-petition,” said Chamber chair Kylie Porter.

“What is different is that it doesn’t have as many local residents to support them, and a lot of the residential community work in Mackay or travel out to the mines. That means they don’t have the same bank of dedicated shoppers.”

Ms Porter said a loyal customer base was hugely important now there was so much more competition for goods and services.

“While Mackay city centre businesses

are facing the same threat of online compe-tition, there is a really large residential com-munity who live and work in the region, and many of those are loyal customers.”

Ms Porter said the Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with the Sarina Community Bank, would work over the next few months with Sarina businesses to ensure their survival.

“They need to look at the services and prod-ucts they are offering and they have to make sure what they are offering is comparable.

“Comparable not just in price, although that is always important, but in all are-as of the business that draw in customers. Whether it’s the type of mirrors in your fit-ting rooms, customer service, that your shop windows always look great and that your staff are trained in product knowledge.”

Ms Porter said it was increasingly hard for small business owners in central Queensland, even if it was a boom region.

CQ schools rock News OFF sHIFT

The tattoo was designed for his late mother, who passed away 17 years ago when he was just 12.

“It’s a combination of two designs,” he explained. “The main design is to the left with the cross, dove, sacred heart and praying hands.

“It originally had some other things on it, which looked silly so I took them out and added in a separate design of the angel slumped over the gravestone, and I put my mothers name on that.

“It covers the majority of the right side of my torso and took 10 hours to complete over three sittings, with all the work done by Benny Morgan at Whitsunday Tattooing Airlie Beach.”

As usual, we have our resident life guru, Frank the Tank, on hand to “decode” the latest entrants.

What does it all mean? Let’s ask Frank...Well, faithful readers, I am thoroughly enjoying critiquing your tattoos.

I finally feel like a real psychiatrist, which is a big deal for me after posing as one for so many years in an attempt to impress women.

Using my incredibly advanced methods of psychological assessment I have come to a conclusion regarding the mental state of central Queensland, based on its tattooed population.

You’re all nuts. But let’s take a look at the latest offerings on display.

This image was also sent in by Evan Wright.

Evan says: I’ve never cared about what people think of me, hence the top one. And the Kanji symbols mean “Love Hurts”.

Frank’s thoughts:I used to think only God could judge me too, how wrong I was. Thanks to the District Court of Queensland I’m now banned from every theme park in the state. I’m not bitter, though, like I said to the judge who sentenced me, “Let he who has never ridden a rollercoaster naked cast the first stone.” The bottom tattoo appears to be some kind of treasure map, but I can’t for the life of me decipher it, which is unusual; I’ve seen every Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Remember last edition’s star entrant? Well, Blackwater’s Grahame Goddfrey’s back with a new offering:

Grahame says: This is my new tattoo done last week. It’s Medusa... and to me it means women can be pretty and evil.

Frank’s thoughts:Now this is my kind of tattoo! A beautiful woman with a penchant for snake handling is just my type. When we were younger my wife used to dress up as a saucy Medusa on our anniversary. We used real snakes for authenticity too. That is until she was partially constricted by a rogue python. It was good while it lasted though; why just thinking about it turns me to wood… or was it stone…I don’t remember Greek mythology too well.

This was sent in from Catrina Gollan, who works at German Creek mine at Middlemount.

Catrina says: This tattoo is for my daughter her name is Lilly and her favorite colour is pink. It was done by Fletch in Mackay and everyone always tells me it’s nice ink so I’m happy I got them.

Frank’s thoughts:To the layman these are obviously flowers, but to someone like me, who once argued psychiatry with a Sigmund Freud lookalike at a pub in Alice Springs, they’re much, much more. The flowers here could signify the bond between mother and child. I myself had a strained relationship with my mother, particularly after I put her in a crooked retirement home run by the Vietnamese mafia.

İnk running in your blood

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FROM the photos we’ve been receiving here at the Shift Miner Magazine office, there is a lot of ink on display at CQ mine sites. This edition’s stand-out entrant is Evan Wright, who posted this pic on our Facebook site.

BOOM Logistics is a name that is known throughout the Bowen Basin for its fleet of cranes and 200-strong team of experienced local operators.

It’s a name that’ll soon be known in sporting circles, since coming on board as the Gold Shorts sponsor in the CQ NRL Bid Junior Development Program.

Boom Logistics CQ Regional manag-er Joe Kosecki said the Bowen Basin was a key business region for the company.

“The Bowen Basin is very, very busy and expanding and it’s where we have most of growth strategies in place,” he said.

“We already have depots in Moran-bah, Middlemount, Blackwater, Nebo and Mackay and contracts with all the major miners including BMA, Anglo American and Rio Tinto.”

The vast majority of the company’s work relates to maintenance, but it also carries out emergency breakdown work on a regular basis.

“If a dragline goes down then we send crews and equipment immediately. Break-downs of one kind or another happen eve-ry other day, and it’s not uncommon to have two or three happening at once.

“Sometimes the repair job will run for four or five 24-hour shifts so it consumes a huge amount of labour, you can turn around 20 to 30 people in a few days.”

Mr Kosecki said Boom Logistics could offer an unrivalled network of local work-ers and reliable equipment.

“No other crane company has the depots or infrastructure that we’ve got. Currently, we have 75 houses in the Bowen Basin that we lease out to our employ-ees, that’s a huge investment, especial-ly given the current squeeze in the real estate market.”

That local presence is exactly why Boom Logistics has come on board to back the CQ NRL bid.

Joe, why is Boom Logistics behind the bid?We try really hard wherever we can to support local communities around the Bowen Basin. We are an integral part of the Bowen Basin, we have no fly-in, fly-out workers, they all live locally - everyone is a resident. The Bowen Basin community is very, very sports orientated and that’s why we have come on board to wave the flag.

What would it do for the region?Having an NRL team based in CQ wouldn’t so much put it on the map, but give it an identity and a greater sense of pride in the region. The Bowen Basin is known for its coal, but it would be great for the wider region to be identified and promoted as a sporting area.

Do you think it really is a possibility?Look, I do - and I hope it does happen. One of the things I find amazing about the Bowen Basin is it’s such an important part of the Queensland and national econo-my, yet it is incredibly underdeveloped. It contributes so much to the overall econo-my, but you don’t get that feeling when you drive around the region. There are some very talented sporting people up there, and many more who are passionate about their sport and their clubs and it would be fan-tastic for everyone.

Proudly supported by Shift Miner Magazine

Boom backs the bid

BMA Geologist Brendan Mapham with Middlemount State College teacher Kayla Fawns and Bede Horsfall from Emerald State High School.

Sarina shops struggle


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

www.shiftminer.comBUY THIS AND MANY OTHER IMAGES AT

Shift Miner magazine – bringing the mining community closer togetherHolding a social event you want photographed? Call the Shift Miner office on 4921 4333 to let us know. You can also give our office a bell if you’d like a copy of any of the photos in this edition.

arOuNd TOwN arOuNd TOwN

DOG DAYS ARE OVER

THRILLS AND SPILLS

The Moranbah Bulls took the shield back after a slow start, but came home strong in the second half and defeated the Capella Cattle Dogs 35-29 in the annual Marcus Bourke Memorial Game. All proceeds from the day went to the Beyond Blue Founda-tion. Round 6 will be a Bulls home game against Emerald Rams on Saturday 26th May.

It was an action-packed weekend for the Moranbah Junior Motocross Club, which held the CQ Motocross Championships on May12-13.

Capella Captain Glenn Bourke and Bulls Captain Kristian Paul

RODEO, RIDES AND FIREWORKS

MAY DAY WEEKEND May Day weekend was a big one for Blackwater, with a rodeo on Saturday night, free

mums and dads. A Labour Day march on the Monday was followed by sack races, tug o war and all-round fun. The Union paid for Sunday’s events.

Hayley Conway

Jo and Joe Coppo

David Tobane and John McEffer Mitchell and Joanne BassKaren Holznager, Crystal Eary and Therese Williams

Blackwater’s Hayley Daniels in the Ladies Barrel race.

A high school rider in the bucking bronc ride

Roping action The high school bull ride

Dylan Shield, Callum McKellar and Angela Russell


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

IN NEW ZEALAND - It ain’t sophisticat-ed but playing possum appears to be pret-ty effective.

Kiwi students are embracing a drinking game that is literally leaving them paralyt-ic as possums. All you need to do is drink until you are so drunk you fall out of your tree. Dunedin City Council spokesman Alan Matchett told the Otago Daily Times that local students started playing ‘possum’ at the city’s botanic gardens roughly four years ago, but the game has since gained popularity and it was not uncommon for garden staff to have to chase people away.

A spokesman for the University of Otago said that any students caught play-ing the game would be disciplined.IN JAPAN - are ice bras the next big thing in over-the-shoulder boulder holders?

Triumph Japan has unveiled a concept bra with in-built gel packs that remain soft and supple even when frozen and report-edly give the wearer a refreshing ‘cool sen-sation against her skin’.

The underwear company, which has a long tradition of novelty launches, said it

conceived of the bra in response to a need to save energy during the hot summer.

With no working nuclear reactors amid heightened public mistrust over atomic power in post-Fukushima Japan, the coun-try’s ‘Cool Biz’ campaign urges people to dress down for work and avoid the need to crank up the air-con.IN SWITZERLAND - who wants a kid’s birthday party with a jumping castle or petting zoo when you can get novelty par-ty kudos and scare your kids witless by hiring the services of an evil clown?

For a fee, parents can hire Dominic Deville to send threatening texts, phone calls and booby trapped letters to their birthday ‘Sebastian’ or ‘Charlotte’.

After days of stalking, Deville then shows up in a creepy clown costume and smashes your kiddie in the face with a cream pie.

According to the Herald Sun, the Swiss actor claims that children ‘absolutely love’ being terrified by him: “It’s all in fun and if at any point the kids get scared or their parents are concerned, we stop right there.” Just anoth-er way for Mummy and Daddy to say I love you.

FaiR Dinkum!

Got somethinG to share? send us your text messages or phone photos to

0428 154 653 or email to [email protected]

Last month, Shift Miner Magazine was so chockablock with content, that we didn’t run our regular puzzles and sudoku page for a couple of editions. But we never anticipated a backlash from the puzzle-mad mining community!

What happened to the crossword and the best soduku in the Basin? At least Frank the Tank is still sharing his price-less pearls of wisdom... Jamie

Thanks for the Shift Miner - I do enjoy it - but I was quite disappointed to see the crossword and sudoku disappear! Kate

Ed’s note: To get your hit of sudoku this edition, turn to page 19. Shift Miner Mag-azine does solemnly swear it will never get rid of the puzzles again (we thought you were interested in the news... but we realise now it’s just puzzles you’re after).

Our front page story on mental illness in mining has some of you talking:

Miners with mental illness? You’d have to be mad to go down a coal mine wouldn’t ya?! Dave, Mackay

Did you notice the ones that seek help are women? Men are hopeless at ask-ing for help when they need it - it’s not just miners, it’s all men. Jodie, Emerald

Smelled something delicious cooking in your street recently? It could have been the latest recipe in our Zestie cooking column...

I cooked the Aussie beef and beer pie from your mag. It was delishhhhhh. Who ate all the pie? I did. J.R, Rocky

SHIFT MINERMonday 7th May 136 Edition 2012

The Queensland mining community’s best source of local news

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Locally Owned and Operated - www.shiftminer.com

THE Black Dog continues to stalk Australian

mining workers but almost two-thirds choose

not to get help.

The startling � gure is contained in a

groundbreaking report into health of mine

workers released at a New South Wales con-

ference last week.

The Hunter Institute of Mental Health’s

Trevor Hazell, who carried out the research

and put together the 43-page report for a

conference in Newcastle, says that most

workers that saw their GP were successfully

diagnosed and treated.

But troubling for families and employers

only 35 per cent of workers that experience

mental and other health issues seek profes-

sional assistance. Most of those are women.

The report showed that an estimated

8,000 to 10,000 mine industry employees

in the state experienced a common mental

health illness like anxiety, depression or sub-

stance abuse over a 12 month period.

An estimated 70,000 workers nationwide

have similar issues.

No part of the industry was immune with peo-

ple from across all mining employment categories

affected equally, from managers and professionals

through to machinery operators and drivers.

Estimated costs to the industry including low-

ered productivity were put at between $320 mil-

lion to $450 million per year or around $300,000

to $400,000 for an average mine of 170 people.

» continued page 5

Blackwater tri gets

hearts pumping

» More pictures page 14

LUNGBUSTER

BLACK DOG

STALKSWorkers ignore

health issuesNewsGas Commission

wants input » page 4

NewsSapphire miners face

new laws » page 5

NewsUS workers a good � t

for QLD » page 6

Around Town

A � shy business at

Bedford Weir » page 14

Off Shift

Some serious ink on

show » page 13

SHIFT MINERM A G A Z I N E

BLACK DOG Workers ignore

NewsNewsGas Commission Gas Commission

wants input wants input » page 4» page 4»

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TATTOOING - PAGE 13

stuff to the editor At the Dawson mine in Moura.

Sent in anonymously.

SEEN SOMETHING WE HAVEN’T?Prizes for the best mining Photos.take it on your phone or Camera and Send it in

Text to 0428 154 653 [email protected]

Stuart,Just because your girlfriend said no to

your proposal doesn’t mean she’s reject-ing you.

Getting married is an extremely big decision, and there’s a lot of factors that

come into play (finance, social commit-ments, family matters).

As for what you should do, well, I per-sonally wouldn’t do anything.

You said yourself that your girlfriend made it very clear that she still wants to be with you, so that should be the most important thing.

Give it some time, and let your girl-friend get used to the idea of marriage before you propose again.

You never know though, she may just ask you in the meantime!

Susan.

Sensible Susan

Frank the Tank’s “Streakin”

good love advice

Dear Frank,I recently asked my girlfriend to marry me and she said no. She made it very clear she still wanted to be with me, just that she wasn’t ready to get married. I’m having a hard time coming to grips with this. I really feel like she rejected me and I’m not sure I can get over it. What should I do?Stuart - Rocky

What should you do?You should dress your girlfriend up

like Abe Lincoln and shower her with gifts — because she just freed you from slavery.

Do you have any idea what it’s like to be married?

You can’t shower or go to the toilet in peace, your free time is strictly monitored, and your wife tells you what to do.

It’s a lot like being in prison, only with less sex.

I personally think the problem is that women these days have far too many rights.

Sometimes after work on a Friday afternoon I find myself yearning for a simpler time when a man was well with-in his rights to force his wife to cook din-ner naked.

I suppose you could say I want what my parents used to have.

Dad had the same philosophy on wom-en as he did on dinner, he’d say: “Franky, they should look good, smell good, but

they’ve got no business being outside.”My father was a very old fashioned

man, and he and my mother had a won-derful marriage until she accidentally reversed over him in her car a few times.

I’ve become a little sidetracked here - onto the problem at hand.

If you’re feeling rejected by your girl-friend you’ve got to do something to swing the balance of power in the rela-tionship back in your favour.

You’ve played your biggest card – the marriage card – and she rejected you, so now you’ve got nothing and she holds all the power.

You can rectify this by doing one of two things.

You could pay a local homeless man to accost your girlfriend while she’s out on the town, after they struggle long enough for her to panic, you show up and punch the homeless guy, saving the day.

This usually works a treat, but it depends on what the going rate in your city for punching the homeless is; they tend to charge about as much as a cask of mid-range wine.

Your second option is you can pay a homeless woman to pose as your ‘wife’ to make your girlfriend jealous.

To use what I understand is female parlance, this will “let her know she shoul-da put a ring on it”.

If this backfires on you and you’re feel-ing upset, you can always have a good time with the homeless woman — it’ll cost you as much as a cask of mid-range wine.

Frank.

If you have a question for Frank and Susan Email Us at: [email protected]

sTuFF TO THe edITOr FaIr dINKuM

The musings of a CQ miner...Redmond’s RantsinSomniaIT’S pathetic.

It makes me feel as weak as a kitten and as angry as a dragon.

It feeds itself.

But yet it’s totally curable.

It needs nothing at all to fix it.

Just forget about it and it will go away.

Sleep sleep sleep.

Insomnia’s side-kick is the flatness and haze that fills your days after sleeplessness.

The total loss is appalling.

I feel as stupid as a smoker coughing.

I don’t need a $20 packet of self-ruin every day; I can supply my own misery.

Insomnia robs you of your dreams, your proper fantasy dreams - the ones your mind made for you as a buffer.

Your first moments of consciousness

were punctuated by slumber dreams.

In your nursery you dreamed of Peter Pan, of an Arabic flying carpet, of a deep blue ocean and a whale, of green forests and elves, of candy houses, of kings and flying horses.

In your dreams you stand leading an army out into the world.

Owning a house and early retirement are incorrectly called “dreams”. But that’s just lazy grammar.

Your slumber dreams are not meant to offer direction I think they are just visions.

I can’t sleep.

Who is REDMonD?Redmond was born in a cross-fire hurricane and now resides in Queensland. Former Golden Glove champ turned champion shearer, his shearing career was cut short when he entered the adult film industry and made 3467 films in three months. He now enjoys semi-retirement and lives happily on his 100,000 acre property with his seven wives. He has received the annual Golden Pen award from the Writer’s Guild four years in a row in the Truth Telling category...

A much-anticipated annual report into the industry workforce showing more needs to be done to get the most from the resources boom.

The Kinetic Group Heartbeat Report 2012 is startling in what it has found by talk-ing to nine organisations within the industry and crunching the numbers on 30,500 work-ers and then interpreting that data.

What they got is a look at the average age and location of workers and the hiring habits of the industry.

It seems at first glance FIFO is not ideal for workers and the industry with a high-er turnover rate for the travelling work-er than those that live near the mine site. This is going to generate a lot of debate in the industry, particularly with the federal probe into FIFO/DIDO still under way.

The report has been given extend-ed coverage on pages 1 and 10 as the

workforce issue is critical.Another interesting statistic is that

younger workers are being shunned in favour of the older, more experienced employee, but that has lead to an ageing, less dynamic workforce.

Solutions to these problems will bring some exciting energy to the workplace in the next year or two.

Another issue faced by communi-ties within the industry is what premises are acceptable for escorts to work from with news this week that one sex industry worker is appealing a motel’s decision to ban her from their Moranbah premises.

This is a debate with many sides - both practical, pragmatic and moral - that is sure to also have people talking as the appeal over the ban heads to court later this year.

FROM THE EDITOR

Comment orSmS 0428 154 653

Greg Sweetnam

Page 18 - Shift Miner Magazine, 21st May 2012 Page 19 - Shift Miner Magazine, 12th March 2012

127th EDITION. 2012

The idea came suddenly to Joel, as he sat con-tentedly on the toilet seat. In that moment he knew it was a winner. Ten seconds later, some unsuspecting soul wandered into the Gents, and let out a moaning, retching type of sound. Whoever it was, left in a hurry. Joel smiled to himself, and finished up.

He looked at his face in the mirror as he care-fully washed his hands, and decided that there would be no problem. He felt confidence flow into him as he headed to the waiting area again.

Joel’s trouble was that he never did well in job interviews. He was a solid worker, he felt, but he just couldn’t think of the examples and stories they wanted in interviews these days. And even if could drag up a story, he’d always down-play his own role in the drama, or the significance of the solution; mostly because he pretty much always was a minor player, and generally very modest. Modest and mediocre: that was Joel.

That was all about to change, as Joel strode down the hallway. Why not take the skills from his hobby of creative writing and apply them to job interviews? The writing itself hadn’t yielded the blockbuster novel or criti-cal acclaim he’d dreamed of – for he’d come to realise he was mediocre at writing too; but, it was a hobby that he enjoyed.

Eventually he was called into the interview room. It had white painted walls and ceiling and glaring fluro lights. The HR lady shuf-fled her papers and kicked things off. “We’re going to ask you some behavioural questions,” she said. “We’re looking for specific examples, where you can tell us about a situation, what you did, and then what the outcome was. Is that okay?”

Joel smiled; that was going to be perfect. “Sure.”

The lady smiled back. Even the grizzled old manager beside her seemed to soften a bit.

“Can you tell us about a time you came across a situation or a practice that was unsafe; what you did about it, and what the outcome was?”

Joel took a deep breath. “Sure,” he said.

“When I arrived at the place I currently work, I found that people had to walk across the roads on site a lot, which involved lots of inter-actions with light and heavy vehicles.”

Which was true; but of course, he’d gotten used to it, like everyone else. Grizzly and HR lady both nodded, starting to scrawl notes. Joel smiled; he was about to get his creative writing written by dictation. He continued, “So I con-ducted a traffic study, and based on my analysis and my research into Australian Standards and the Coal Mining Health and Safety Act and Regulations, I wrote a draft Traffic Manage-ment Plan for the site, which included quite a few changes.”

They’d stopped writing now, and were watch-ing him, awestruck. Joel didn’t miss a beat. “I costed all the changes, and then facilitated a semi-quantitative risk assessment around the major changes I’d identified; using a cross-sec-tion of the work force. I then presented my findings and recommendations to the Senior Management Team. They approved the plan, and further approved $900,000 in out-of-plan capital to make all the proposed changes.”

Joel smiled, as if at the memory. “I project-managed all the changes, though I was given a few resources to help out, of course. We now have a system of well-lit and signed pedestri-an crossings, as well as segregated traffic flows and hard barriers in the higher risk areas.”

HR lady was back to scribbling notes now. The manager looked stunned.

“Was that the sort of answer you were looking for?” asked Joel, trying to sound as innocent as he could.

“Perfect,” they both said together, then laughed.

He nailed the rest of the interview, of course, and heard promising noises at the end about “progressing things to the next stage”. The job was his – he knew it – his first senior engineer-ing role. It was his, until that grizzly fool had to talk to his boss for the reference check, and started to blubber on about how impressed he was with the traffic changes, and the increases in plant yield and the reduction in site costs.

5 minute fictionCreative interview

Bernard S. Jansen is 32, married has three young boys. He lives in Emerald, works as an engineer at a local coal mine and is active in his local church. Read more of Bernard’s writing online at surgebin.blogspot.com or email him at [email protected]

GOT AN IDEA FOR A STORY? Let Bernard know - email him at [email protected] or hop on his blog surgebin.blogspot.com

OFF sHIFT

Tune into the Michael J. Breakfast show from 7:35 am every Monday for 4RO's CQ Mining Update, with special guest Angus from Shift Miner.

Greg CaryMichael BaileyWeekdays 5am - 9am Weekdays 9am - 12pm

Weekdays 12pm - 1pmAlan Jones

Weekdays 1pm - 6pmLaurie Atlas

SALES ENQUIRIES: (07) 4920 2000PHONE: 1300 872 911WWW.4RO.COM.AU

NOW WITH MORE NEWS, MORE TALK AND THE MUSIC YOU LOVE

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ACROSS 1. Worrying problem 5. Held for trial, on ... 9. Jumped for joy 10. One by one 12. Social events 13. Join up 14. Shortly 16. Colourful garden annual 19. Porch 21. Candle string 24. Untruthful people 25. Wandered leisurely 27. Of family group 28. Middle Easterner 29. Awaits with horror 30. Sit astride

DOWN 1. Bombed base, Pearl ... 2. Pitiful 3. Corrosive substances 4. Country dance 6. Person suffering convulsions 7. Enraging 8. Launder with spirit (3-5) 11. Pronto (1,1,1,1) 15. Magazine booth 17. Adored 18. Fiery 20. Root vegetables 21. Feeblest 22. Buddy 23. Hold fast (to) 26. Tense situation

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O P T I M I S T C L U M S YK H O I O E EA L A C A R T E H A V A N AY T N T R T L RE X C E S S I V E H O T E LD H N P S I I

A G O G S H O W M E NM T R M E GE M A N A T E K N E WD L N M I A EI R K E D U N C H A N G E DO B S S K R H IC R A W L S P O I G N A N TR C A F U S EE S K I M O A F F E C T E D

by Bernard S. Jansen

HOUSE FOR SALESUNSHINE COAST

SACRIFICEBrand New impressive

Level, 4bed 2 bath, DLUG,Fenced, Side accessRoom Shed/Van Nth

EntertWalk shops/schoolFantastic Buy

Offers NEAR $400,000Ph. 0409 055 062

LAND FOR SALE

Land for sale, Hervey Bay. Turtle Cove Estate.

views of Fraser Island. Cannot be built out.

$262,000 ono

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HOUSE FOR SALEFully furnished fully a/c modern home on

beach, 2 bedrooms 2

equipped workshop

Phone 0428 476 001

CAR FOR SALE

Allison Transmission

owner vehicle loaded with options. $89,700egc.

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CRANE TRUCK FOR SALE

Nissan Atlas Crane Truck

RWC, Only car licence

needed to drive

$13,500

07 4941 7147 or

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BOAT FOR SALE

Only used in FRESH water.Mercruiser Black Scorpion

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for the serious skier/ boarder.

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worn located near rocky.

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HOUSE FOR SALE

pavillion style home, 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms

fenced, waterhole and a

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CAR FOR SALE

SLT Lonestar Edition Heavy Duty

Diesel Allison auto

inserts 5th wheel hitch, tow bar 4 door dual cab

Dula Wheels

$79 000 onoPhone: 0432 429 264

CAR FOR SALE

shower, water, deep cycle

$80,000Phone: 0417 587 425

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condition

buy

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LAND FOR SALE

and house sites

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condition.spare boots.

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three speed manual with overdrive,All

new upholstery New whitewall tyres,All new

fuel tank,New cd player and speakers,

$49,500 Phone 07 5523 0330

or 0409 209 246

BOAT FOR SALE

motor.

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$85,000 or make an offer

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BOAT FOR SALE

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particulars see www.catspaw2011.

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BUSINESS FOR SALEInterested in Interior Decorating?

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to retire.

Established clientele

assist with take over.

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UNIT FOR SALE

plan unit with a HUGE

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HOUSE FOR SALE

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AIRCRAFT FOR SALE2 seat aircraft

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motor from airframe.

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HOUSE FOR SALEGRACEMERE, Immaculate

panels. Fully insulated

bathrooms. 2 Toilets.

Stainless steel kitchen appliances. Spacious open

$429,000Ph: 0418 796 074

HOUSE FOR RENT

ATTN FIFO workers To rent fully furnished, 4

bedroom house.Train 2 min walk.

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in advance.Ph: 0447 033 730

XT500 PARTS WANTED1976 -1981 Yamaha XT 500

Phone : 0428 154 653

- All parts considered

- All locations considered- All prices considered

CLASSIC FOR SALE

condition

buy

$26,950.

Phone : 0422 377 385


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

FISHING YEPPOON

HOORAY, those big southerlies seem to be easing so some sweet fishing offshore should be yours!

According to Bob at Capricorn Sports Yeppoon there are some nice cod to warm the cockles out wide once that weather win-dow opens up.

“Up in the fern country or around the islands” are the places to hunt your quarry, says Bob.

“They are getting some bream, dart and whiting and the occasional salmon on the beaches up around Sandy Point and any-where north of Iwasaki.”

Bob reckons if you are having a go on the beaches to bait up with either worms or prawns.

The cold snap is ushering in some move-ment up the creeks and estuaries with salm-on, whiting, flathead and the occasional grunter on the go.

And don’t mothball those pots just yet; there are a few crabs around the traps too.

FISHINGGLADSTONE

WINTER is beginning to extend its chill in the waters off Gladstone with the cool cli-mate species starting to take centre stage.

“Flathead, whiting and a few jew are starting to turn up with some late season barra, and the odd jack in amongst them,” says Josh from Pat’s Tackle World.

If you want to focus on flathead hook up with some soft plastics or hard bodied lures.

It is not completely chilly willy as finger-mark are still out and about...find them off bars and structures.

There are big mackerel out wide and Josh says “on the reef there are quality catches of reds”.

Red emperors and red throat emperors in the 5-10 kilo weight bracket are well and truly up for grabs and we have a photo to prove it!

FISHINGMACKAY

Adam from Nashy’s Compleat Angler says there are lots of big flathead and whit-ing being caught and double bonus, they are in BIG numbers.

Load up with fresh yabbies and hot foot it to the creeks just out of town...Alligator, Bakers and Sandy.

“There are plenty of trevally and queen fish off the harbour wall and around East Point,” according to Adam.

He also promises some mackerel will be on the bite very shortly, so start making plans to hit the inshore islands.

Offshore there are good numbers of nan-nigai and Adam reckons “target the deeper bombies with whole squid on the bottom and soft plastics”.

The good news keeps on coming with barra still having a chew. Rack up your toll using surface lures.

BaIT SHOp BaNTER

Gla

ds

to

ne

Ma

CK

aY

Gla

ds

to

ne

Ma

CK

aY

TIDE TIMES MAY/JUNEMon 21 Tue 22 Wed 23 Thu 24 Fri 25 Sat 26 Sun 27

Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht

0317 1.01 0349 1.02 0423 1.06 0458 1.12 0537 1.20 0621 1.27 0046 3.67

0917 3.34 0947 3.27 1018 3.19 1051 3.11 1129 3.03 1217 2.97 0713 1.30

1503 0.86 1532 0.92 1602 1.01 1633 1.12 1709 1.25 1755 1.40 1317 2.96

2131 4.08 2204 4.04 2238 3.96 2315 3.87 2357 3.76 1901 1.54

0509 1.32 0539 1.38 0609 1.46 0012 5.21 0047 5.08 0130 4.94 0224 4.81

1049 4.35 1117 4.24 1147 4.13 0642 1.56 0721 1.65 0809 1.71 0908 1.69

1654 1.01 1722 1.10 1751 1.22 1221 4.03 1303 3.92 1356 3.84 1506 3.85

2313 5.40 2341 5.32 1824 1.37 1904 1.54 1954 1.74 2102 1.88

Mon 28 Tue 29 Wed 30 Thu 31 Fri 1 Sat 2 Sun 3

Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht Time Ht

0145 3.59 0252 3.56 0400 3.58 0506 3.63 0015 1.06 0114 0.83 0208 0.63

0815 1.28 0923 1.18 1029 1.01 1129 0.82 0608 3.68 0706 3.71 0801 3.72

1431 3.02 1547 3.21 1657 3.49 1758 3.81 1225 0.64 1318 0.50 1408 0.41

2026 1.59 2153 1.50 2310 1.30 1852 4.11 1942 4.35 2031 4.52

0331 4.74 0445 4.77 0555 4.88 0100 1.44 0203 1.15 0301 0.89 0355 0.68

1017 1.56 1126 1.30 1228 0.99 0656 5.00 0752 5.07 0846 5.09 0938 5.07

1627 4.03 1742 4.39 1845 4.84 1324 0.69 1417 0.45 1507 0.29 1555 0.19

2226 1.89 2348 1.72 1942 5.29 2033 5.70 2123 6.02 2211 6.24

If you have a good photo or fishing yarn

send it through to our resident bait chucker- [email protected]

Winter racing...fillies, flutters and FROCKSIF you don’t know a trixie from a yankee but you do know how to find the perfect feather fascinator, Fashions on the Field might very well be your best bet.

Winter racing is a season to rejoice as scorching sun, sliding make-up and distinct-ly un-glam sweat marks can be kissed a not-so-fond farewell.

There is plenty of trackside action to choose from around CQ and further south and with generous gift vouchers and hol-idays on offer, being the best dressed can rake you in some serious booty.

But, if you want to be the prize pea-cock in the birdcage there are some rules of engagement you will need to adhere to.

Spaghetti straps, clamouring cleavages and vanishing hemlines may be hot prop-erty on a heaving dance floor but only add zeros to your credibility in the critical sun-shine of race day.

Race wear hinges on nailing the ‘appro-priate’ look.

Fresh, feminine, conservative and chic

should be embedded in your brain when piecing together your outfit.

You want to tick boxes not break new ground.

Think about all of your outfit’s elements. Making accessories ‘matchy matchy’

is a time honoured trick for ensuring you appear to have stepped seamlessly out of a look-book.

Wear stockings and pumps for the cooler carnivals and leave strappy sandals to strut their stuff in summer.

Stilettos and grass are a no go zone.Take note of the season trends. Winter’s winning looks include bold

shades of berries and gems but whoa up on that colour blocking.

Ladylike and immaculate tailoring are odds on and think Gatsby and Underbelly to channel the emerging flapper trend.

Print clash may be attempted by the ambitious but for most mortals, polka dots are a more suitable on song style.

Flatter your figure.

Being scrupulously ‘on trend’ is utter-ly pointless if your peachy buttocks distort rather than taper a pencil skirt.

And of course the fashions on the field must have is headwear.

Felt and wool hats and fascinators get the nod in winter. Leave the straw and sinamay headpieces for spring.

The proper way to wear a hat or fasci-nator is over the right eye and towards the front of your head.

But most of all have fun with your frock-ing up.

It might be a cliche but the most stun-ning accessory on a Fashions on the Field catwalk is an honest and happy smile.

OFF sHIFT OFF sHIFT

FISHING PARADISE

FOUNDCalling all serious fisherman to the best fishing

location on the coast. Close to mining areas (You have probably driven

past the turn-off!)Fully s/c accommodation silly season, 2011 & 2012

Crew bookings available

Phone: 49373145email: [email protected]

web: www.stanagebay.com

Accommodation starts from $189 per night (min 3 nights)

Stay 3

nights or more and

receive a complimentary

$100 restaurant

voucher.

OFFSHIFT SPECIALS

Lucky Gladstone lads score red emperors a piece plus a tidy looking trout.

MACKAY26 May Mackay Amateurs Cup

7 July Mackay Cup

ROCKHAMPTON9 June Tattersalls Gold Cup Day

16 June Girls Grammar Race Day

23 June Rockhampton Cup

GLADSTONE11 August Gladstone Cup

BRISBANE19 May Doomben Cup Day

26 May Doomben 10,000 Day

2 June Queensland Oaks Day

9 June Stradbroke Day

At last year’s Moranbah North race day held in November.

YOUR WEATHER FORECASTWith Mike Griffin

EaRlY WINTER cOlD NIgHTSWeek 1A cold wintery burst of dry southerly air brought widespread frost to inland NSW and southern Queensland. This crept into the Coalfields causing the lowest minimums, so far this year. Also a light patchy frost for Biloela and Clermont and surrounds last Tue/Wed. Some of last Tue/Wed coldest minimums so far this year: Biloela 0.7C, Clermont 0.8, Rolleston 3.3C, Moranbah 3.6C, Baralaba 4.6C, Collinsville 7C and Emerald 8.2C. Overnight temperatures rise from the single figure values into the early teens early in the week as cloud develops over the Central West/Warrego. An unusual trough develops which could trigger a late isolated weak thundery shower around Tue/Wed. If an upstream trough in WA (see Sat pic) moves rapidly east late thundery showers could develop in the eastern Coalfields late Thr/Fri.

Boaties! Watch the weekend closely! Mon: ESE 15-20 with a brief squally shower. Tue: ESE/ENE 18-13 with a brief showerWed/Thr: E/ENE 16-11 with a ch. Brief shower. Fri: ENE/NE 15-10Sat: NNE/NNW 11-16 Late squally Storms ( gusts to 35-40 knots) mainly south of Shoalwater Bay. Sun: A cold SSW 15-20 gusting 28 knots offshore – lighter inshore.

Week 2 The SOI has jumped from -7 at the end of April to +5.5 in mid-May. Is this a herald for the storm activity? Cold single figure minimums start the week with frost in the south; as the early winter continues.. Then a gradual warming later in the week.

Marine Lovers! The offshore winds are SSW/SSE 15-20 tending ESE 16-12 mid-week then NE’ly 11-16 late week. A deep low in southern Australia will affect timing of the easing and tending more northerly which looks like Sat/Sun.


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

If you, or someone you know suff ers from these symptoms phone Clarity Hearing Solutions today for a free no obligation consultation.

Advanced Hearing Aid and Audiological Specialists

e [email protected] w www.clarityhearingsolutions.com.au Jodie Miles Audiologist B.SPATH(HONS)., M.AUDST., MAUDSA(CCP)Grant Collins Audiologist B.PSYCH(DIST)., M.AUDST., MAUDSA(CCP)

Hope for Industrial Deafness

Call now for your free no obligation consultation 4957 2000

Visiting Moranbah, Proserpine, Sarina & Northern Beaches

Are you at risk of permanent hearing loss?

An undiagnosed or poorly treated hearing

loss can lead to a very real danger of

permanent physical damage to both the

structures of the ear, and areas of the brain

responsible for processing speech sounds.

Hearing loss can prevent critical speech sounds from reaching the areas of the hearing system and brain responsible for processing these sounds. Over time, these areas may die away from a lack of use. Consequently, speech sounds are never heard clearly again even when the sounds are loud enough to be heard or when wearing a hearing aid. Just like any part of the body, it’s a case of use it or lose it.

Further psychological side effects, such as feelings of isolation, loss of confidence, anxiety, frustration, loneliness, depression and withdrawal from social situations, can also result from the hearing loss.

Very few people are aware of when intervention for

a hearing loss is needed. Poor technology has led many people to steer away from hearing aids due to problems with unnatural sound quality, excessive background noise and the unsightly size of devices.

However high quality modern hearing aids that are correctly chosen and fitted allow the ear and auditory structures of the brain access to speech sounds that the hearing loss usually prevents. With this access, the deterioration of auditory/hearing structures is slowed or halted, and the rate at which the remaining hearing decline is greatly reduced. Consequently hearing and communication difficulties associated with the loss are alleviated and the quality of life for the hearing impaired person is greatly increased. Furthermore most new hearing aids are now virtually invisible regardless of the hearing loss severity.

Senior Audiologist Jodie Miles, of Clarity Hearing Solutions, agrees it’s critical to seek treatment for hearing loss as early as possible to avoid permanent damage.

It is critical to seek treatment for a hearing loss as early as possible; anyone who is experiencing difficulties

with their hearing should arrange a consultation with a university qualified Audiologist. Most clinics offer this service free and take bookings direct – it’s not necessary to have a referral from your GP.

The earlier treatment is sought, the greater the chance of halting further damage and restoring hearing to normal or near normal levels.

Typical warning signs that a hearing loss is present are frequent requests for repetition, misunderstanding conversations, TV/radio much louder than “normal” or not clear, difficulty hearing phone conversations or the phone ringing, difficulty differentiating background noise, ringing in ears (tinnitus) and familiar sayings such as “People mumble when they talk”, “He only hears when he wants to”, “I can hear but not understand”, and “People talk too softly”.

For a free rehabilitative hearing consultation contact Clarity Hearing Solutions on 07 4957 2000 today.

Jodie Miles – Clarity Hearing SolutionsB.Sp.Path.(Hons).,M.AudSt.,MAudSA(CCP). Senior Audiologist

Call now for your free no obligation consultation 4957 2000Shop 6, 25-29 Evans Avenue, North Mackay

Visiting Moranbah, Proserpine, Sarina & Northern Beaches & Walkerston.

If you, or someone you know suff ers from these symptoms phone Clarity Hearing Solutions today for a free no obligation consultation.

Advanced Hearing Aid and Audiological Specialists

e [email protected] w www.clarityhearingsolutions.com.au Jodie Miles Audiologist B.SPATH(HONS)., M.AUDST., MAUDSA(CCP)Grant Collins Audiologist B.PSYCH(DIST)., M.AUDST., MAUDSA(CCP)

Hope for Industrial Deafness

Call now for your free no obligation consultation 4957 2000

Visiting Moranbah, Proserpine, Sarina & Northern Beaches

Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow

Dear Eddie: Please bring back Beverly Hills Cop!I’d like to state for the record that I’m a big Eddie Murphy man.

When I first watched Delirious (Mur-phy’s first stand-up comedy special) in my youth, I spent months afterwards

reciting it word for word.Films like Coming to America, Trading

Places and Life brought me similar joy, which is why it pains me to see Murphy’s current movies go from bad to worse.

His latest offering A Thousand Words was universally panned by movie critics as one of the worst films of all time.

I keep praying that Murphy’s renais-sance of hilarity is right around the cor-ner, but I must admit my unwavering hope cannot remain so for much longer.

Since I’m not holding out much hope for the future, I’ve decided to look at one of Murphy’s best films in retrospect — Beverly Hills Cop.

Eddie Murphy plays Axel Foley, a fast-talking detective from Detroit whose unorthodox methods of police work make him a headache for his supe-rior officers.

After Foley’s best friend is murdered, he travels to Beverly Hills to investigate and finds himself pursuing one of LA’s largest drug smugglers.

The film is pretty much your stock standard eighties action mov-ie – car chases, gun battles, bad guys

getting blown up, et cetera.What sets Beverly Hills Cop apart

from a lot of other action movies is that the primary focus is to make the audi-ence laugh, the explosions and car chas-es are merely incidental.

In a lot of action movies this dynam-ic is reversed.

The dialogue in Beverly Hills Cop is sharp and funny, and nearly 30 years is virtually guaranteed to raise a smile, if not full blown fits of laughter.

This is really a testament to the writ-ing of the film, which was recognised with an Oscar nomination, as well as Murphy’s hilarious delivery as the irrev-erent Axel Foley.

If your only Eddie Murphy experi-ence is with lacklustre movies like Nor-bit and the seemingly endless parade of Disney films he signs up for, take a trip down memory lane and check out Bev-erly Hills Cop.

If you’re anything like me you might find yourself scratching your head and wondering why Murphy can’t seem to recapture the essence of what made him so hilarious in the past.

MOVIEREVIEWBY JUSTIN CARLOS

MONeY MaTTers

For those too busy or embarrassed to ask the important questions about their healthEXPERT ADVICE

Tammy Farrell is a registered nurse, nutritionist and author of ‘The Real Man’s Toolbox – A DIY Health Manual for Men’. Tammy grew up in the Hunter Valley with two brothers in the local coal mines. In 2007, she started to give health talks in the Hunter, and that’s when she began compiling the book, helping hundreds of men answer questions about their bodies.

Dear Tammy,Lately I’ve been experiencing bloating and headaches after eating anything with cheese in it. Does this mean I’m allergic to cheese? If this is the case, what can I eat instead?Regards, Sam

Dear Sam,Many people think they are allergic

when they have a reaction such as cramp-ing or bloating after eating a certain type of food when in fact they may be intolerant.

If a person has an allergic reaction to food it can be life-threatening and can affect a person’s breathing, gastrointesti-nal tract, skin and heart.

SYMpTOMSSymptoms of food allergy can include:• Hives.• Swellingofthelips,face

and eyes, or tongue.• Difficultyinbreathing.• Abdominalpain,vomitingora

sudden drop in blood pressure.

If left untreated, these symptoms can be fatal (anaphylaxis) though most peo-ple who are allergic to certain types of foods carry emergency medication with them such as an EpiPen® or Anapen, which are adrenaline auto-injectors.

Between 2-4 per cent of Aussie adults and 6-8 per cent of children have food aller-

gies and 10 people die from severe anaphy-lactic reactions each year in Australia.

Intolerances, on the other hand and are not life-threatening.

SYMpTOMS CAN INCLUdE:• headaches• bloating• wind• nausea• mouthulcers• hives

Intolerances usually rear their ugly heads several hours after a food is eaten or build up slowly over weeks or months as the foods are regularly consumed.

Many food intolerances can be caused by sensitivities to lactose in milk or natu-ral chemicals found in foods such as gluta-mate, amines and salicylates.

Amines are found in pineapples, bananas, vegetables, red wine, chocolate, citrus fruits and mature cheeses.

Salicylates are found in herbs, spices, fruit and vegetables and glutamate occurs naturally in foods such as tomatoes, soy sauce, mushrooms and some cheeses.

If you are continually experienc-ing bloating and headaches after eating cheese, try eliminating it from your diet for a few weeks and see if you still get the same symptoms when eating other foods.

Take your findings to your GP or a naturopath and ask to have tests done for food intolerances.

Until next time. Stay healthy, stay informed.

YOur HealTH

Serves 4Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from the Peranakan culture, a combination of Chinese and Malay cultures.

INGREDIENTS:100g vermicelli noodles 500ml chicken stock 2 tbsp good-quality laksa paste

600g), trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces 8 cherry tomatoes, halved 2 tsp caster sugar 1/2 tsp sea salt100ml light coconut milk 200g green beans, ends trimmed 50g bean sproutsCoriander sprigs, spring onions and lime wedges, to serve

METHOD:Heat the chicken stock in a saucepan over a medium-high heat. When it begins steaming mix in the laksa paste.Once combined add the chicken, tomatoes, sugar and sea salt and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.While the chicken is cooking, soak the noodles in warm water for 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and set aside.Once the chicken is fully cooked add the coconut milk and green beans and simmer for a further 5 minutes or until the

Divide the noodles across 4 deep serving bowls and top with the chicken and laksa broth.Top with bean sprouts, coriander and spring onions.Serve with lime wedges for added zing.

Tip: To spice up the dish, serve with fresh chilli or dried chilli

Chicken Laska

Zest Eatery Open 4.00pm to 8.00pm daily

CALLIOPE | COPPABELLA | DYSART | MIDDLEMOUNT | MORANBAH | NEBO

1300 732 911themac.com.au

A Thousand Words is the reason we need to bring back Beverly Hills Cop.


127th EDITION. 2012

If your local club has any news or

photos it wants added to this page,

you can submit your articles to

[email protected]

What’s happening in SpORT in your town?One man to offset exodusThe Moranbah Bulls Rugby side is hoping former Welsh international Brent Cobain will offset the pain of a player exodus from the club over the summer months.

Brent Cobain has played 26 games for Wales - arguably the most passionate rugby playing nation on earth - and is brother of Matt Cobain who played for the Australian Wallabies.

However despite it being a large injection of quality into the Moranbah rugby side, the club’s player roster is notably bare after losing 50 per cent of its players in the off season.

Year-on-year continuity, is probably the largest contributor to success in regional rugby, because of the limited training time available throughout the season.

However coach and captain of the Moranbah Bulls Kristian Paul says its just the nature of mining.

“We picked up Brent Cobain who is now working at Goonyella Riverside mine,” he said.

“He played 26 games for Wales and while he is yet to play a game for us he has trained heaps.

“Unfortunately for me, he plays in my position so I guess we are going to have to work something out there; he is a class player.

“Because of the nature of mining we have actually lost more than 50 per cent of the team that we went to the grand final with last year.

“It’s just how it is, people come here to complete a project, and when it is finished they move on.

Meanwhile former Samoan International Onehunga Mata’uiau has been linked to the Dawson Valley Drovers in a coaching role.

Mata’uiau represented Samoa in the 1999 World cup when the small Pacific island nation made the quarterfinals playoffs.

He has also played extensively in New Zealand premier rugby competition.

clubbing for charityNo it’s not a charity disco.

But it is a big month for golfers of all abilities, who might like to have a drink, make some new business contacts and help charity along the way.

The Mackay Area Industry Network (MAIN) is holding its annual charity golf day this weekend at the Mackay Golf club and the Capricorn Resort Yeppoon has set June 15 as the date for the battle of the mines golfing tournament.

Organiser of the Battle of the Mines Graham Shephard says they have a range of activities planned.

“The event has been organised by myself with a goal of donating $20,000 to the Prostate Cancer foundation,he said.”

“The format for the golf is a two-ball ambrose with the winning pair winning two spots in the 2013 Sydney Invitational Pro-Am.

“After the golf there is a dinner and a charity auction.”MAIN says the aim of the day is threefold.“We want to raise money for the Mater Foundation

Prostate Research of course, but it is a great way for businesses in the mining sector to network, and let’s face it, it’s great weather for golf.”

Tigers turn around a cultural thingAfter round four in the Central Highlands Rugby League competition, the world has turned upside down.

The victorious of last year are this year the vanquished.

Sitting on top of the A-grade competition at the time of printing is the Emerald Tigers, who last year came dead last in the competition.

While at the bottom of the table are Dysart - a team that was unbeaten for most of 2011.

So what’s changed at the Tigers?A new coach, new players and a new culture.The club’s new coach is Nigel Soden, who in an

earlier life played for the South Queensland Crushers and various English sides.

After spending his post school years away from the coal fields, he has returned home to develop his mining services business Summit Tower Hire.

He says it’s good to be back.“I was actually born in Blackwater, where my father

and his brother were heavily involved in mining and rugby league,” he said.

“Now with business bringing me back here, I wanted to get involved in the community, and rugby league was an obvious pathway.

“The turnaround at the Tigers is due in part to a number of reasons, we have recruited some excellent players, but importantly there is a renewed spirit and energy at the club.

“We ran dead last in 2011 and it won’t happen again, we talked about that before we had our first training, about pride in the jersey.

“And it seems to be working, and I guess there is no hiding the fact that we are a front runner in the competition.

Part of the cultural turn around for the club has involved getting old boys involved, and making sure that the post game social functions have a good atmosphere.

On top of that he says they have tried to play a brand of rugby league that is attractive to the crowd.

Their ability to do that has been largely because they have chosen players for key positions that will be able to play most weeks.

“I think that is important” Mr Soden added“We have tried to get some of our more important

positions on the field filled by players that can be there most of the time, so our 5/8 is a police officer rather than a coal miner.”

CommUnitY CALenDArSport event date venue

Rugby league Bluff v Dysart 26/5/12 Bluff

Rugby League Cowboys v Middlemount 26/5/12 Emerald

Rugby league Peak Downs v Blackwater 26/5/12 Tieri

Rugby League Emerald v Clermont 26/5/12 Emerald

Rugby League Moranbah Miners v Brothers (ladies Day) 02/06/12 Moranbah

Rugby Union Emerald v Moranbah 26/5/12 Moranbah

Rugby Union Clermont v Capella 26/5/12 Tieri

Rugby Union Clermont v Rolleston 12/5/12 Emerald

Want your club details here? Call Shift Miner 07 4921 4333

Capricorn Coast demand surges with resources boomTHE CAPRICORN Coast property mar-ket is riding a wave of buyer activity as min-ing industry-related housing demand spills over from nearby regional centres.

Real estate agents from the Yeppoon area are reporting an upsurge in deals as mining personnel based in Mackay, Rock-hampton and Gladstone look to the Capri-corn Coast for a better quality lifestyle.

Ross O’Reilly, of O’Reilly’s Real Estate, said as the larger centres began to burst at the seams buyers were turning to the coastal strip for an attractive, value-for-money alternative.

“Coastal towns like Yeppoon are seeing a spillover from traditional mining centres that are getting too busy, too expensive and aren’t conducive to a family lifestyle,” he said.

Mr O’Reilly said the trend was set to continue in the long term with State Gov-ernment figures showing the populations of Gladstone and Mackay were predicted to jump 30 per cent and 25 per cent respec-tively between 2011 and 2020.

The data from the Office of Economic and Statistical Research reveals that Rock-hampton’s population is set to grow by 11 per cent over the same timeframe and a further 13 per cent by 2031, while Brisbane is expected to experience more modest

increases of 10 per cent by 2020 and a fur-ther six per cent by 2031.

Kev Doolan, of Professionals Emu Park, said residents of Gladstone were moving to the Coast after cashing in on rising house prices in the city.

“The trend of people relocating to the Capricorn Coast is real, I have dealt with seven individuals or families in the past six months who have moved from Gladstone and Calliope,” he said.

“Some are finding that Gladstone is get-ting too busy for them, so they are taking advantage of a rising market and moving to a more laidback environment without leav-ing the region.”

Mr Doolan said the mining industry was the major driver of property sales and rent-als with up to two-thirds of transactions related to resources.

“There has been a wonderful run in the market since November (2011),” he said.

Mr Doolan conceded the current union dispute at BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s Dys-art mine had had some impact on demand.

He said house-and-land package pric-es on the Capricorn Coast had risen 20 per cent in the past 12 months, with the average shift from $430,000 to $500,000.

Apartments were being rented for between $300 and $450 per week while quality short-stay product was attracting $230 - $250 per night.

Having purchased a house in Yeppoon, Wayne Perry plans to relocate his fami-ly from Gladstone at the end of the year to escape the city’s rapid population growth.

“We were looking for a change as Glad-stone was becoming over-industrialised and Yeppoon offered an enviable family life-style in what is arguably the most beautiful coastal area in Queensland,” said Mr Perry.

“My wife and I are planning to enter semi-retirement, and the kids won’t have to travel far to attend a good school.

“Our new home is in reach of all day-to-day needs, with the added advantage of being in a quieter neighbourhood just moments from the beach and close to Rockhampton.”

Mr O’Reilly said Brisbane-based devel-oper Concept Living Properties had timed its entry into the market well with construc-tion to commence soon on the $35 million Oshen apartment development at Yeppoon.

The project, which has secured more than $17 million in pre-sales, features 62 self-contained and professionally managed one, two and three-bedroom apartments across five levels with ocean views to the

Keppel Islands and beyond.CLP director Sandy Murdoch said Osh-

en was meeting the needs of the investment market with a high quality product, afford-able pricing (from $349,000) and potential strong returns driven by the huge resources presence in the region.

“Resource projects will drive the most dynamic phase of growth in Central Queens-land’s history and place even greater demand on accommodation across the region,” he said.

“The subsequent impact this has on res-idential values is being felt in areas such as Gladstone and Mackay and is now filtering through to Rockhampton and Yeppoon.”

MONeY MaTTers

www.riotintocoalaustralia.com.au

We support a range of local projects through the Clermont Region,

Kestrel Mine, and Hail Creek Mine Community Development Funds.

For more information contact:

• Clermont Region - Alissa Gordon on 07 4988 3505

• Kestrel Mine - Maureen Tutton on 07 4984 7694

• Hail Creek Mine - Marie Cameron on 07 4951 6437

Rio Tinto has committed to a three year lease on half of the houses, so that current workers from Clermont Mine can join the local community with their families.

The remaining homes are being sold by the private developers, providing extra accommodation to the Clermont community.

This initiative is a part of the Clermont Preferred Futures Strategy.

Rio Tinto Coal Australia is pleased to partner with Isaac Regional Council and the community to support the construction of 108 new houses in Clermont.

Beachfront location with spacious air conditioned 2 and 3 bedroom Ocean and garden side apartments. Low rise apartment complex with pool, gym and indoor spa and sauna. Walk to restaurants & Jupiters Casino. Totally non smoking complex

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Outback Barbarians clobber maggots at festival : The Queensland Outback Barbarians rugby side has continued its dominant tour of the USA with a clean sweep of the interestingly named “maggotfest” rugby carnival. They defeated the Missoula Maggots 71-5 , the Calgary Cannucks 66 -7 and Colorado 57 - 0


127th EDITION. 2012


127th EDITION. 2012

MOST of us spend our down time from a demanding job just chilling out, either spending the weekend playing rug-by, going for a spot of fishing, or hang-ing around the house with the spouse and kids - perhaps all three and more if you are Frank the Tank.

But what would happen if you did a Mol-ly Meldrum and fell and were out of action for months or even longer? And there was no way you would be able to get back into a job that would earn you the big bucks?

Insurance.Okay, it might sound boring and insur-

ance companies certainly get a lot of flak - don’t mention the floods.

But the truth is that no one can afford not to insure and there is an insurance package out there to suit any budget.

Shift Miner Magazine had a little chat with Rockhampton-based Darryl Strelow, of Strelow Insurance and Financial Serv-ices, who has many years of experience under his belt and lots of advice.

“Most people are not insured, and if they are they are usually under-insured. They will get cover for a debt, but would not cover for looking after the kids,” he said.

“Life insurance is dirt cheap, and if you do get killed on the job, at least your fami-ly is looked after.

“But what I do say to people is get your income protection insurance in place first, so at least you have your wage or salary protected.”

Income protection insurance is meant to help you if you can’t work temporarily due to either illness or temporary disable-

ment. You get monthly compensation pay-ments when you need extended leave for a few weeks or months.

“The premiums for income protec-tion insurance could go up from $3000 to $6000 a year depending on your salary, but it is silly not to take it out because it is tax deductible. It is an educational and life-style choice and it is the first insurance pol-icy I would sell,” Mr Strelow said.

Shift Miner Magazine posed as a 41-year-old non-smoking truck driver in an open cut mine for the good of a quote (we tried underground and there was no income protection insurance available).

“So for you, on $150,000 salary, you are covered for up to two years because you are in the mining industry. If you smash your ankle at your weekend rugby and you are unable to work, you will be covered until you are able to work again.”

Note that the words are “until you are able to work again”. You may not be able to drive a truck once your ankle heals, but you could become a taxi driver. Income protec-tion will stop once your meter starts running.

“Your premium would be $537.40 a month - almost $6500 a year - and you will have a two month waiting period before you get your first payment.”

Your payment would then be 75 per

cent of your salary - worked out on a monthly basis. So you would get just under $10,000 a month until you got back on your feet.

Not all insurance companies will offer income protection for mine workers, and those who do will only pay for you being out of work for up to two years. For other occupations, the payout is much longer.

“After a year, we can then talk about life insurance. When you get around the 40 mark, then we are looking at getting trau-ma and permanent disability insurance. From this age on, you can have a heart attack or stroke, but not die from it.”

TPD insurance is meant to help you if you are permanently disabled and you can no longer work and you get a lump sum payment.

“I had a client who was a painter. He fell off his ladder, broke his back and was paid out,” Mr Strelow said.

Hmmm. Channelling Molly Meldrum.“It is complicated, because there are

some occupations the companies won’t insure for, so you do need to speak to an insurance consultant,” Mr Strelow said.

And also note that insurance will cov-er you for events that happen outside of work. If you have an injury at work, it is another story for another time.

The good, the bad and the ugly... (or managing debt)IT’S easy to borrow money these days - and even easier to get into debt. Don’t give up if you are having trouble managing your debts.

Here are some strategies to help you cope with debt from the federal government’s Money Smart website.

Making repaymentsIf you keep up with or make extra repayments on your loans, you can get rid of your debt fast-er. You will save money in interest payments and take a financial load off your shoulders.

Why make extra payments?The more money you owe, the more interest you’ll pay. If you miss a repayment, the inter-est on your loan will build up so you end up paying interest on your interest.

By keeping up with or making extra repay-ments on your credit card or home loan when you can, you’ll pay off your debts faster and save on interest. If you have more than one cred-it card or loan, pay off the one with the highest interest rate first, or tackle the smallest debt first.

If you choose a loan at a fixed rate, you may not be able to make extra repayments without incurring extra fees. Ask your credit provider if you can make extra repayments on your fixed rate loan without penalty.

Pay off your home loan fasterThere are two things you can do to pay off your home loan faster.

Find a cheaper interest rateShop around to find a home loan that offers a lower interest rate than your current loan. A loan that offers a honeymoon or introductory rate can be good but you need to check that it is right for you. The savings tend to be short-lived and once the honeymoon period ends, you could end up with a more expensive loan.

Be cautious, though, as switching home loans may cost you extra. See if you can save on interest and fees without switching by:• Asking your current lender to match the

best deal you can find or offer you a bet-ter loan so you can avoid refinancing costs

• Askingthelendertowaivefeesto keep your business

• Askingforadiscountonyourloan(some-times called a ‘professional package’).

Don’t be pressured by sales staff, brokers or loan minimisation ‘experts’ to switch home loans before you’ve compared fees and charges.

Make larger or more regular payments on your loanUnless you have an interest-only loan, you

usually pay both principal and interest on a home loan. On a typical 25-year mortgage, anything extra you pay in the first five to eight years (when most of your payments go towards paying off the interest) will cut your interest bill and shorten the life of your loan.

Check if your loan allows you to make extra payments, and if there are any fees for doing so. You may not be allowed to make extra pay-ments on home loans with fixed rates. Even if you can make extra payments, there may be a limit on how much you can repay over the life of the loan. Find out if there are any fees or penalties if you pay off the loan early.

Making extra repayments can cut your loan by years and can save you thousands. It is really worth looking into.

Paying off credit cardsTry to pay off the entire amount owing on your credit card each month (or as much as possible). This will let you take advantage of any interest-free period and pay off the whole debt (not just the interest, fees and charges).

Paying off multiple credit cardsDo you really need more than one credit card? Here’s how to get rid of your debt and feel the stress go away.

Step 1: Keep up your repayments

Keep making minimum payments on all your cards each month, to avoid any additional fees.

Step 2: Pay the highest interest rate or smallest debt first

You can either:

• Pay off the card with the highest interest rate first: keep making minimum payments on all cards, but pay more on the card with the highest interest rate, so you pay off the total amount on that card first. Then work your way through your other cards.

• Pay off the smallest debt first: keep making minimum payments on all cards, but pay more on the card with the smallest debt, so you pay off the total amount on that card first. Then work on paying off the next smallest debt, and so on.

Step 3: Close each account as you go

Whatever option you choose, stop using all but one of your credit cards, and try to only use it for emergencies.

As you clear the debt on each card, cut up the card and close the account by contacting your provider. This is important because if you just cut up the card you may still have to pay fees, even if you are no longer using the card.

Step 4: Lower the limit on your last card

You may decide to keep one credit card for emergencies and online payments. If so, lower the limit on it to an amount that you can repay within three months, say $2000.

For more tips like these go to www.moneysmart.gov.au

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Are you sorted if

you smash your ankle?

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SM137_Shift Miner Magazine