Facing the future Keep laughing Back into the badlands - Central ...

What you are. What you can become
Issue 12 2011
CQUniversity Australia. rrp $5.95
www.be.cqu.edu.au
Facing the future
Building resilience after disasters
Keep laughing
Basil Fawlty returns
Back into the badlands
The truth behind the folklore

BE SOMEBODY…
Leading CQUniversity to become a great university
CRICOS Provider Codes: Qld 00219C, NSW 01315F, Vic 01624D CO13071
Apply today to become a CQUniversity Engaged Research Chair
CQUniversity will be one of the most engaged universities in Australia by 2020. Engagement
permeates through our teaching and learning, our service to communities, and our approach to
research. We are rapidly building our research activity and culture through significant strategic
investments for our engagement future. In order to do this, we are actively recruiting research leaders
to become Engaged Research Chairs at CQUniversity.
What is an Engaged Research Chair
CQUniversity is looking for researchers and their research teams to join our current high performing
research institutes, centres and individuals. You will have:
• Entrepreneurial fl air and vision and the courage to pursue research that is ‘outside the box’
• The ability to engage and connect teams, both internally and externally, across a range of
discipline areas and themes
• Proven individual and enterprise research performance and the ability to inspire others to
perform at their best
In return the University will offer:
• The opportunity to set an agenda to explore your ideas and areas of interest
• The opportunity to join us enjoying the ‘power of place’ which includes some of the best
environments in the country, and negotiate a choice of lifestyle locations across our 10 campuses
• The opportunity to make an immense contribution, along with our current team,
to the University’s continued and emerging research excellence
Apply today to become a CQUniversity Engaged Research Chair
For an information package please contact Michael Toohey at UniRecruit on
0418 883 807 or michael.toohey@uni-recruit.com.au.
BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
www.cquni.edu.au 13CQUni 13 27 86
BRISBANE BUNDABERG EMERALD GLADSTONE GOLD COAST MACKAY MELBOURNE NOOSA ROCKHAMPTON SYDNEY DISTANCE EDUCATION

Be: Contents
3
20
Bush Babies When expecting mums live hours
from the nearest hospital, how do they cope
«
30Eungella
«
In-Depth
10 | Resilience rising
Communities are building
resilience after disasters
14 | Cover story: The long
and the short of surfing
Surfers talk about the allure
of riding the perfect wave
18 | Coal keeps on keeping on
The coal seam gas industry
promises benefits despite
controversy
24 | Stepping back into the
badlands
The spooky tales of the
Marlborough to Sarina
‘horror stretch’
People
13 | Retired High Court Justice
Michael Kirby shares his
thoughts on legal education
16 | Peter Mitchell talks about
his life as a Compassionate
Bastard
17 | Should Central Queensland
score its own NRL team
Former State of Origin Maroon
PJ Marsh shares his thoughts
25 | Basil Fawlty is brought
back to life with the help of
actor Jordan Edmeades
33 | John Harbin helps
troubled teens with a new gym
program
Read
about
Eungella –
the land
of clouds
– and you
could win
a twonight
getaway.
Living
5 | Calendar Things to do and
to add to your diary
6 | Upfront CQUniversity
news, advancements and
discoveries
26 | Parenting Learn how
playing outdoors can create
valuable memories
27 | Finance Simple strategies
to boost your retirement fund
30 | Around Central
Queensland The mountaintop
township of Eungella
was once a goldfield but now
is home to eco-tourism and
enviro-arts
28 | Medical getaway
Developing countries are
cashing in with medical
tourism
33 | Literary magazine still
thrives because of founding
editor Liz Huf
34 | Partnership An Australian
mining giant invests in
education
Follow us!
• be.cqu.edu.au • email: be@cqu.edu.au • twitter.com/bemagatcquni • youtube.com/user/cquninews
• facebook.com & go to friends of be magazine in groups • uninews.cqu.edu.au

4
Welcome
Blogging, tweeting and more
For about two years now, I have been recording my personal
experiences, thoughts on higher education and random
musings on an online blog (which you can visit at vccquniversity.blogspot.com).
Recently, I decided to take the next step in digital
communication and become a Twitter-er. And ‘tweet’ I did.
Someone asked me recently why I bothered to blog and now
sign up to Twitter. Good question. The simple answer is: I
really want to work in partnership with all of the stakeholders
of CQUniversity to build a truly great university.
Now there is a terrible word - “stakeholder”. It really is management speak. What
I’m really referring to is people I can work with. This includes students, colleagues,
the wider sector, industry, government and people from all corners of our diverse
communities.
Without electronic communication, I simply could not get around to speaking to all
of you. My blog garners about 2,600 views per month - that’s a lot of communication.
However, this communication needs to be two-way – so please, if you find yourself
perusing my blog or my Twitter profile, drop me a comment, or feel free to email me
(or ‘tweet’ me!) directly.
Be is another way for me to fill you in on what’s happening at CQUniversity, on its
campuses, within its research divisions, and with its students and alumni. It also
gives our experts a chance to comment on issues that affect and interest you.
I also believe Be provides an opportunity for two-way communication; that’s why
we’re re-launching our letters column. I encourage you to send us your thoughts
about our magazine and the articles that feature in it. You can do this via traditional
post or join me in the digital age and post your feedback on Facebook. Join our
Facebook group and Be connected with CQUniversity. Our various points of contact
are listed to the right of this page.
Be is published by
CQUniversity Australia.
CQUniversity North
Rockhampton‚ QLD 4702
www.cquni.edu.au
Editor-in-chief
Priscilla Crighton
Publisher Chris Veraa
Associate Publisher
Jen Cooper
Editor Deborah Tarrant
Contributors
Marc Barnbaum
Joanne Perry
Martin Elms
Art Director Lyn Ellerton
Photo Editor
Peter Lawrence
ISSN 1836-1870 (Print)
Environmental
Statement This stock is
certified as FSC ‘Mixed
Sources’ product group
from well-managed
forests, controlled
sources & recycled wood
or fibre. Certificate No.
SGS-COC-005343.
www.fsc.org.
Professor Scott Bowman
Vice-Chancellor & President
CQUniversity Australia
About CQUniversity
AUSTRALIA (Central
Queensland University)
CQUniversity engages
with communities in
Queensland‚ New South
Wales and Victoria‚
providing research and
educational services
and products to
approximately 20‚000
students and other
customers across 10
campuses and learning
sites, and by distance
education. Established
as the Queensland
Institute of Technology
(Capricornia) in
Rockhampton in 1967‚
CQUniversity provides
access to people of
all backgrounds and
ages‚ working closely
with individuals and
organisations to help
them follow their own
dreams and achieve their
own goals.
Acknowledgement
CQUniversity recognises
that our Rockhampton
headquarters is located
on ceremonial land which
is spiritually significant
to the Darumbal
people. CQUniversity
acknowledges and
respects Elders both
past and present of the
Darumbal Nation and all
Aboriginal peoples and
nations on all the lands
in which we operate.
In working together to
create a better future
for us all‚ CQUniversity
commits to a just and
meaningful partnership
of reconciliation
with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander
people throughout
the communities we
serve. CQUniversity’s
Reconciliation Statement
was issued in 2002. It is
available at
www.cquni.edu.au
The fine print. No
person should rely on
the contents of this
publication. Rather‚
they should obtain
advice from a relevant,
qualified professional
person. This publication
is distributed on the
basis that CQUniversity‚
its publishers‚ authors‚
consultants and editors
are not responsible for
the results of any actions
taken in reliance on
the information in this
publication‚ or for any
error in‚ or omission
from‚ this publication‚
including those
caused by negligence.
Unless specifically
stated‚ products and
services advertised or
otherwise appearing
in the publication
are not endorsed
by CQUniversity.
CQUniversity gratefully
acknowledges Hardie
Grant Magazines for the
development and initial
publishing of Be.
Great read
POst
Hi Dr Black ...
Just sending,
as an alumni of
CQUniversity
(albeit
unknown to
you), congrats
and thanks for
your article in the last BE
publication titled A Vision of
Education ... enjoyed reading
that.
Geoff Arnold
(Ph. D grad of 2006)
What do you think
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Issue 12

Be: Calendar
5
For more details and
additional events
please click on Events
2011 Calendar at
uninews.cqu.edu.au
17 September
THE
CONSERVATORIUM
ACADEMY
PERFORMANCE
The Conservatorium
Academy is a new
centre for creative
and performing arts
training for primary
and secondary
school-aged
children in Central
Queensland. This
public performance
will showcase the
work of students
who have been
attending music
theatre classes
at the Central
Queensland
Conservatorium of
Music this year.
Where: Central
Queensland
Conservatorium of
Music, Mackay
Contact: Kim Mackenzie
on 07 4940 7800.
2011 Graduation
CALENDAR
For complete listings
and more information
please go to www.
graduations.cqu.edu.au
September
7 Sydney, From 2 pm
8 Melbourne, From 1.30 pm
9 Gold Coast, From 2 pm
15 Rockhampton, From 2 pm
December
6 Melbourne, From 1.30 pm
7 Sydney, From 2 pm
9 Brisbane, From 2 pm
Be:Connected
3 – 24 September
Brisbane festival
Brisbane Festival
will light up the
city’s streets and
creative spaces with
a fusion of high art
and pop culture.
From theatre, music
and dance, to fringe,
fireworks and light
shows, indie rockers
to the world’s
greatest classical
pianist – the bold
and beautiful
Brisbane Festival
offers the hottest
tickets in town.
For more information
visit www.
brisbanefestival.com.au
27 September
Alumni networking function
A fabulous opportunity for Sydney‐based
alumni to enjoy a social evening
on campus with fellow alumni and
CQUniversity staff.
Where: CQUniversity Sydney
RSVP: Anthea Cuddihy on 07 4923 2898
20 OCTOBER
RESEARCH UNPLUGGED SERIES – PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY INTERVENTIONS
Dr Corneel Vandelanotte will talk about
how internet-delivered and computertailored
physical activity interventions
are working to improve the health of
adults.
Where: Criterion Hotel, Rockhampton
Contact: Dr James Douglas on 07 4930 9371
Santos City of Lights Artist Impression –
Brisbane Festival
17 – 19 & 21 – 23 September
Jammin’
Jammin’ is a music program designed
to inspire high school students through
an intensive music-making experience.
Mentored by staff and students from the
Central Queensland Conservatorium of
Music, students participate in a three-day
program jam packed with music making. The
program is open to all instrumentalists and
singers and is great school holiday fun.
Where: CQUniversity Rockhampton and Mackay
Contact: Derrin Kerr on 07 4923 2898
2 December
CQUniversity masquerade ball
CQUniversity staff, students
and community are invited to
attend the 2011 CQUniversity
Masquerade Ball at the
CQUniversity Sports
Centre, Rockhampton.
Enjoy dancing with
friends and meeting
new people. Music
will be by The Mood, a
bar will operate and fingerfood
served.
Where: CQUniversity
Sports Centre,
Rockhampton
Contact: Sue Jensen on 07 4930 9718.
27 December – 1 January
Woodford folk festival
Held over six days and nights on 500
acres on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland,
an hour north of Brisbane, the Festival
offers more than 2000 performers and
580 events featuring local, national
and international guests. It will also
feature the work of CQUniversity
researcher Ben Kele, who has designed
and installed an ultra-environmentally
responsible sewerage system at the
Woodford site. For more information visit
www.woodfordfolkfestival.com
Photo: Kane Sullivan, Lucid Metal.
Issue 12

6
Be: Upfront
Expert view
A smart gamble
• A Queensland
gambling
researcher
believes precommitment
gambling
limits
on poker
machines
could have
a big impact
on Australia’s
problem gamblers.
CQUniversity’s
Dr Matthew Rockloff believes
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie’s
gambling limit system could be the
best way to combat problem gambling.
“People experiencing gambling
problems are likely to circumvent the
pre-commitment process if given an
option, but a national system will help
people control their own behaviour,
without putting an unnecessary
burden on players who are enjoying
gambling products recreationally,”
Dr Rockloff explained. He believes
primary prevention strategies, such
as television advertisements, to warn
players about the signs of problem
gambling should continue, while he
also supports lower bet size limits.
Research development
$6 million research
precinct
• CQUniversity has announced a
multi-million dollar research facility
that will place Central Queensland
on the world map for cutting edge
research and innovation. The new
$6 million Central Queensland
Innovation and Research Precinct
at the former CSIRO Rendel facility
in Rockhampton will inject millions
more in new capital, resources and
staff to transform the region into a
research and innovation powerhouse.
“CQUniversity is embarking on an
ambitious agenda of research and
innovation resurgence over the next
10 years, which will revolutionise the
University and the way we impact on
the communities we service,” Vice-
Chancellor Professor Scott Bowman
said. Member for Capricornia Kirsten
Livermore said she welcomed the
renewed focus on research and the
major investment it will make in the
region over the coming years.
Be:Connected
Reef Research
Tool-using tuskfish
• CQUniversity’s Dr Alison Jones has helped shine light on a rare
observation in the wild, providing evidence for the use of tools
by marine fish. Dr Jones and colleague Dr Culum Brown from
Macquarie University have reported the evidence in a recent
edition of Coral Reefs, the Journal of the International Society
for Reef Studies, based on photos taken at the Keppels by
professional diver Scott Gardner. The diver heard a cracking noise
and observed a tuskfish grasping a cockle shell in its mouth before
rolling onto its side to land alternate blows on the rock until the
shell fractured. The report says the use of the rock as an anvil
rather than a hammer could be considered a sign of intelligence.
The black spot tuskfish.
Industry mentorship
Uplifting advice
• Internationally acclaimed
singer, songwriter, composer,
pianist and educator Bruce
Brown visited CQUniversity
Rockhampton and
Mackay recently to give free
workshops for music and
music theatre students.
Bruce inspired the students
with tales about his personal
musical journey and gave
advice on how to shape their
own careers in the music,
performing arts and musical
theatre industry. Originally
from Los Angeles and now a
New Zealand resident, Bruce
was visiting at the same time
his acclaimed musical Breast
Wishes was touring Australia.
Composer Bruce Brown inspired
CQUniversity’s Peter McKenzie,
Amelia Kase, Joshua Greenwood,
Alanna Jensen and Alyssa Priddle at a
workshop in Rockhampton.
PHOTO: SCOTT GARDNER
Issue 12

7
Student success
Hostage negotiator and author
• In August 2008, Bundaberg photojournalist Nigel Brennan travels to
Somalia with Canadian reporter Amanda Lindhout. They were abducted by
a criminal gang, brutalised, and kept in isolation and ignorance. The ransom
amount was US$3 million; if it was not paid, they were to be killed. This is
a true tale brought to life in a new book titled The Price of Life co-authored
by Nigel, his sister-in-law Kellie Brennan and his sister Nicole Bonney, a
CQUniversity environmental science student. Nicole played a pivotal role in
Nigel’s eventual release as a ‘crack hostage negotiator’.
Read more about the media frenzy that accompanied the
launch of the book at www.uninews.cqu.edu.au and watch
an interview with the authors by Penguin TV via the Friends of Be
Magazine (group) on Facebook.
Graduate survey
Show me the
money
• CQUniversity graduates are
once again ahead of their state
and national counterparts
in terms of annual salary
comparisons issued by Graduate
Careers Australia. CQUniversity
graduates in fields such as health
are earning $18,400 (or about
37%) more than the national
average. CQUniversity graduates
performed well with an overall
median salary of $52,000
compared with the national
and state overall median
salary of $50,000. In general,
CQUniversity graduates fared
well across many of the fields
of education comparisons, in
particular building, humanities,
psychology, business studies,
engineering other, health
other, computer science and life
sciences.
Building
Humanities
Psychology
Business Studies
Accounting
Education Initial
Engineering Other
Health Other
Nursing (Basic)
Computer Science
Life Sciences
International conferences
Top engineers head to Oz
• Hundreds of the world’s top engineering
managers are expected to converge on Sydney in
2014, with CQUniversity helping to bring two huge
conferences together in Australia. Professor Gopinath
Chattopadhyay will be Chair for the combined
International Congress on Condition Monitoring and
Diagnostic Engineering Management (COMADEM) and
the Conference on Asset and Maintenance
Management (CAMM). The Gladstone-based researcher
says CQUniversity will have an integral role in arranging
the dual event in Sydney. Professor Chattopadhyay said
the conferences are expected to attract more than 250
delegates. “We are expecting to attract international
industries, institutions and researchers for future
collaborations, funding and high quality publications.”
CQUniversity
National
State (Qld)
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$ $
$
$
$
$
$
$ $
$
$
$ $
$
$ $
$
$ $
$
$
$
$ $
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000
Overall median salaries of graduates of CQUniversity Australia compared to the
national and state median salaries – taken from Graduate Careers Australia's Table
J Main Destinations of 2010 ALL bachelor degree Australian citizens and permanent
residents in full-time employment in Australia.
Professor Gopinath Chattopadhyay
PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE
CQUniversity
staff and
alumni…
Jarmille sneath
BaChelor of accounting, 2010
As a shareholder
and partner in
McLaren Knight,
an accounting and
insolvency firm
that operates two offices in
north Queensland, Jarmille
manages one of the offices
and is involved in public
accounting for a range of
clients.
Gavin Hsu
BaChelor of business (Human
resource Management), 2002
Managing
Director of China
Operations
for Biotek
Environmental
Science Ltd, a company
involved in the manufacture
and sales of electrolytic
ozone generators. Based
in Shanghai, Gavin has
overseen the establishment
of a direct sales team for the
domestic household market
and was instrumental in
partnering with shareholders
to strengthen the business.
Sue Court
Dean, School of Humanities
and communication
Newly-arrived
Professor Court
is keen to lead
by example by
sustaining her
own active research interests
as a music historian focused
on the late Renaissance and
early Baroque periods. She is
also a professional guitarist
and lute player.
Roslyn Dalton
Bachelor of Applied Science
(Chemistry)
As Senior
Operations
Improvement
Superintendent
at Queensland
Nickel, Roslyn leads a team of
process engineers, chemists
and project leaders. In this
role she has instigated process
and business improvements
within the refinery, final
products department and
across the site.
See over for more...
Issue 12

8
Be: Upfront
National voice
Uni praised in
parliament
• CQUniversity was praised in Federal
Parliament for working with its communities
to understand and respond to regional skills
demands. Member for Capricornia Kirsten
Livermore commended the University’s
efforts and results during the June
Parliamentary sittings. The University’s
push to become ‘dual sector’ was especially
encouraged to provide greater opportunities
within a region with lower than average
participation in tertiary education. Vice-
Chancellor Professor Scott Bowman said it
is always gratifying to see the University’s
hard work and persistence recognised
in Parliament by local MPs like Kirsten
Livermore, with whom the University enjoys a
very productive working relationship.
New program
Forensic
investigation
• CQUniversity is developing exciting new
teaching programs in the field of forensic
accident investigation. The programs are
planned to be offered at bachelor through to
masters and PhD levels and will start being
rolled out in 2012. The move stems from work
researchers have been doing to improve
knowledge related to safe design and human
factors in road, rail and air transport. There
is also a clear interest in the field within the
community. “The increasing popularity of
crash investigation programs on television
demonstrates that the public are keen to
understand why accidents happen,” says
the Dean of the School of Health and Human
Services, Professor Andrew Bridges. “We’ll be
teaching students how to join the growing
number of professionals who have the skills
to analyse the cause of accidents, and assess
what’s needed to prevent them re-occurring.”
Be:Connected
Campus investment
New health clinic
• CQUniversity is planning to construct a new public clinic at the
Rockhampton Campus as part of a $12 million investment in new
Allied Health programs in 2012. Up to 160 clients will use the new
facility each day, as students learn by working alongside qualified
health professionals in the areas of oral health, occupational
therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry and speech pathology. There
will also be opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration with
other discipline areas.
• 160 clients to use facility daily
• Rehabilitation gym, a daily living kitchen and bathroom
• $2 million worth of specialty equipment
• Queensland Health staff and local specialists on hand
Published research
Native biodiesel
• Up to 10 native plant species can
be readily used as biodiesel feed
stocks, growing in monoculture
or mixed cropping systems, and
could also help farmers reverse
land degradation problems.
That’s according to Associate
Professor Nanjappa Ashwath from
CQUniversity, who notes that
promoting the use of native plants
and the establishment of centralised
and co-operatively run processing plants
could serve the interests of the rural
community, as well as the Government’s
target of boosting Green Energy production
to abate climate change. Dr Ashwath has published his latest
findings in a Rural Industries Research and Development
Corporation publication.
Campus expansion
Green light for Noosa
• CQUniversity has approved $2.5 million worth of expansion
of its Noosa Campus, agreeing to double student capacity and
operational space while upgrading facilities and broadening
the range of courses available. The University Council green
light follows confirmation that the campus in Goodchap Street,
Noosaville, is set to have its first full-time dedicated Head of
Campus. The appointment of Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive
Dean Professor Kevin Tickle is designed to drive growth at the
facility. Professor Tickle welcomed the expansion, saying student
numbers could increase from around 600 to more than 1200 over
the next four years.
Issue 12

9
Climate change
Community engagement
Volunteers keep iTrack on track
• CQUniversity staff have been volunteering their time as online chatroom mentors, working with
students enrolled in the Learning for Life program offered by The Smith Family. iTrack is an online
mentoring program that focuses on the school-to-work transition. Senior Lecturer in Accounting at
Mackay Campus, Dr Natasja Steenkamp says it’s been rewarding to make a difference to a young
person’s life. “You can influence their future in a positive way, helping them to believe in themselves and
giving them hope,” she said. “Being a mentor is teaching me to see and understand the world from a
different perspective. Our role is to listen, care and guide.”
Industry study
Technology
Dr Natasja Steenkamp
Community perceptions gauged
• CQUniversity is helping to gauge community
perceptions of Gladstone industry, releasing
a report prepared for the Gladstone Industry
Leadership Group. The report by the Centre for
Environmental Management, with contributions
by Lindsay Greer, Dr Delwar Akbar, Professor John
Rolfe and Julie Mann. The study found the highest
level of concern by Gladstone residents was dust,
followed by air quality. Many of the air quality
concerns were associated with the Queensland
Robotics challenge
• CQUniversity Bundaberg hosted the third annual Bundaberg Robotics
Challenge attracting primary school age competitors from 14 schools
across the Wide Bay region. Organiser Dr Rosie Thrupp said it was "most
exciting" to see so many children working with technology in one space. "It
was a delight to look up into the theatre to see a full to overflowing theatre
with parents, teachers and children from 14 schools. Sadly, the theatre was
not big enough to seat them all, but this did not dampen their spirits after a
hard day slogging it out with their Lego NXT and presentations.”
Carbon rich forest
A CQUniversity researcher has spent the past two
and a half years investigating ways to reduce carbon
emissions to positively impact on climate change,
while reducing poverty in developing countries. PhD
researcher Thakur Bhattarai has been looking into the
impact of carbon trading on developing countries and
hopes to convince governments on policies that will
maintain the integrity of forests and improve the wellbeing
of forest communities. Mr Bhattarai believes
a new United Nations backed climate policy has the
potential to reclaim the forests and compensate the
communities for their lost income which had been
generated from the forests.
Carol McPherson
Deborah Tunnicliff
Alumina Limited facility (odour, caustic vapour)
and the prevalence of coal dust from the rail
and port facilities within close proximity to the
Gladstone CBD area. The study concluded that
the performance of Gladstone industry and the
high level of acceptance within the community
indicates that Gladstone industry is performing
satisfactorily in the task of
maintaining a ‘social licence
to operate’ in the region.
Kadie Cheney
PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE
CQUniversity
STUDENTS
and alumni…
Joseph Hong Kah Ing
Bachelor of Business, 1992
Owner and
director of
GreenWorld Group,
an Indonesian
company that
began 12 years ago as a small,
visionary IT company. The
company now has expanded
and is involved in diesel fuel
distributorship, property
developing, coal and nickel
mining and also operates
a wood work factory. The
company was founded on
three sustainability principles:
sustainable environment,
community and business.
Kevin tickle
Appointed head of campus,
noosa
Professor Tickle has
been appointed
Head of Campus,
Noosa and will
begin full time
in the role in 2012. Presently
based in Rockhampton as
the Pro Vice-Chancellor and
Executive Dean of the Faculty
of Arts, Business, Informatics
and Education, he will
increasingly take a hands-on
role with the Noosa campus,
during a period of transition.
STEVE NOAKES
APPOINTED SENIOR LECTURER
IN TOURISM, MACKAY
Steve Noakes has
taken a lead role
in CQUniversity’s
new Tourism
program in
Mackay. A strong advocate
for creating linkages between
industry and academia,
Steve has previously served
as an Adjunct Professor in
Tourism at the University
of Queensland and Griffith
University and has an active
industry background having
served on a number of boards
of tourism within Australia
and national and international
tourism organisations
including Pacific Asia Travel
Association (Bangkok) and UN
World Tourism Organisation
(Madrid).
are you on the move
Let us know at: be@cqu.edu.au
Issue 12

10
Be: Resilient
Resilience
Rising
Recent extreme weather events have
put Central Queensland communities
on notice. Researchers have
identified preparedness, community
support and long memories as key
to building the resilience required
to face an uncertain future, writes
Amanda Woodard.
Issue 12

11
There’s a perception that our weather
is changing, that we are experiencing
more ferocious weather patterns more
often. In recent years in the southern
hemisphere alone, severe storms, floods,
cyclones, tsunamis and earthquakes
have all wreaked havoc on communities causing loss
of life and destruction. While there is much talk
about human-induced climate change, a fierce debate
continues over whether there is a direct link with the
recently experienced extreme weather patterns.
According to Ross Garnaut, head of the Federal
Government’s influential Climate Change Review,
the impact of climate change is “potentially highly
destabilising to human societies” and, in the past
year, Queensland communities experienced firsthand
insights into the disruptive and tragic impact of
extreme weather events.
The state suffered a double blow when devastating
flooding was followed by the impact of Cyclone Yasi
in early February 2011. Three quarters of the state
was declared a disaster zone and costs for repair and
reconstruction have been estimated at A$6.8 billion.
But extreme weather doesn’t only take a physical
and financial toll. There is loss of life, psychological
and societal impacts that are harder to heal. How
communities prepare, withstand and respond
afterwards to these disasters is the subject of much
recent research. Building resilience within communities
is seen as a crucial step to improving not only people’s
individual chances of survival in the future but the
speed of recovery within a community as well.
Seismologist Michael Turnbull at CQUniversity is
equivocal about climate change and believes that it
is our collective memory loss that is more to blame
for the unpreparedness of communities in the face of
extreme weather.
“These disasters are no more severe than what’s
happened in the past,” maintains Turnbull. Recent
flooding in the state capital, Brisbane, was reported
to be the worst since the storms of 1974 – and that’s
Turnbull’s point. “The time period is about 30 to 34 years
between extreme flooding on the coast of Queensland.
[In that time], a new generation has grown up that
hasn’t experienced the flooding their parents or
their grandparents went through. The generational
memory isn’t long enough to keep the significance
of these events in the forefront of their mind.
Other social things take more priority and then,
all of a sudden, it happens again.”
Turnbull believes to be ready
for the next big storm,
communities need to
propagate the memory
down through the
generations “so that
they know what has
happened in the past
and be prepared for it
to happen again, as
it will.”
Event planning
Perhaps the lessons need to begin with the youngest
in a community. That’s certainly the approach taken
by CQUniversity lecturer Julianne Impiccini. She is
coordinator of a program aimed at raising awareness
among schoolchildren of the types of natural disasters
that could occur in Central Queensland’s Gladstone
region and strategies that could be used to prepare and
cope during and after such events.
“There’s a fine line
between alarming
children and
boosting their
confidence.”
Impiccini was approached by Gladstone Regional
Council which had funding allocated for disaster
management through the Natural Disaster Resilience
Program (NDRP), introduced to reduce Queensland
communities' vulnerability to natural hazards by
building community resilience.
The funding allowed a group of Bachelor of Learning
Management students at CQUniversity to plan and
implement an arts program that would be educational,
informative and fun. One school was singled out for
trial: Kin Kora State School lies in an area subject to
flooding from the Tigalee Creek; and some of the children
had recently experienced the loss of family members.
“Some of the children had lost grandparents during
the disaster and we had to be really mindful of that,”
says Impiccini. The program was screened by the
school’s principal and focused on coping and building
resilience rather than on the disaster itself. “There’s a
fine line between alarming children and boosting their
confidence,” explains Impiccini. “It was better to get
them thinking about if they are in a situation, what they
can do and deliver that in a way that they could quickly
understand.” Impiccini says reading about the reactions of
some of the children in Toowoomba who had had to “think
on their feet” during the disaster helped them in the
creation of a character called SID Star (Safety In Disaster),
whose five “points” – Stay calm, Stop and think, Safety
first, Stick together, Steps to take – are easy to recall.
As this generation of children may well have to
cope with the next natural disaster, the Australian
government’s Bureau of Meterology and the Queensland
state government also believe in targeting education
towards them and have a range of strategies including
an online 3D interactive game called Stormwatchers
(www.bom.gov.au/storm_watchers_game/). This
requires children to plan and create a town that will be
most resilient to extreme weather. It then allows a child
to choose a particular hazard, such as a tsunami, and
simulates what would happen to the town in the event
of the disaster.
Issue 12

12
Be: Resilient
Occupational Health
and Safety student
Natalia Muszkat.
Back in the real world, it’s been far from fun and
games for businesses affected by the flooding in
Queensland. Small and medium sized businesses
suffer disproportionately as, unlike large companies,
they tend not to have planned procedures in place nor
the financial and human resources to bounce back
from a natural disaster. It was something that Natalia
Muszkat, a CQUniversity Occupational Health and
Safety (OHS) student observed in the aftermath of the
flooding. As part of the work experience component
of her degree, she decided to see how these businesses
could be helped to recover quickly from natural
disasters and Gladstone Regional Council offered her a
scholarship to further the research.
“My theory – which I hope to confirm with study –
is that being prepared and having community support
makes all the difference to how resilient a business can
be. But saying that, if you’re very prepared but you have
no support from the community, that’s not going to pay
off,” she says.
Muszkat has sent out an initial survey, the results
of which are still being evaluated, to discover the best
communication techniques and the level of preparedness
in the Gladstone community as well as the psychological
impact on business owners and customers.
Business continuity
Already she has found one or two companies operating
best practice measures that include backing up
data, having emergency contacts up to date and
quickly available and a thought out preparedness and
continuity plan which is rehearsed and reviewed.
Measures such as these, she says, can give a company
the confidence to plough on.
But Muszkat stresses that community backing is
important. “Small businesses need to know that the
council will pass on information as quickly as possible
and make their facilities available if they are needed.
They must be confident that the council is going to be
able to deliver on these things,” she says.
She believes there is room for improvement. During
the recent flooding, many small and medium-sized
businesses were indirectly affected by road closures and
food shortages. “While the RACQ website was being
updated all the time, you never knew until you got
there, whether a road was closed.” Another problem
was panic buying in the shops and the consequent
shortages of certain foods that undermined businesses’
ability to operate. “It would be interesting to see if there
is a way for council to centralise information to make
it more effective.” At the end of the project, Muszkat
intends to deliver an action plan report and disaster
resilience toolkit for local businesses.
The crucial role of mobile networks, in particular,
has been highlighted by the recent natural disasters.
When the power fails people resort to their mobile
phone to pass information around. Michelle Samson
is another recipient of a Gladstone Regional Council
scholarship who is working on developing social media
communication tools to relay information during
natural disaster events and clean up operations.
“…I wondered
why councils and
governments
weren’t using
social media to
communicate
information…”
Samson says the idea came from watching coverage
of natural disasters in the media. “As the mobile
network seemed to be the most reliable communication
source, I wondered why councils and governments
weren’t using social media to communicate information
as it can still work when electricity is down, as long as
your smart phone is charged, of course!”
The familial nature of social media helps to create
a bonding “we’re all in this together” effect on
communities, so Samson wants to find out initially
to what extent sites such as Facebook and Twitter and
mobile devices are being used. Like Muszkat, she has
sent out an online survey to determine the attitudes
and preparedness of the community in the event of a
natural disaster. “The survey will also ask what sort of
information the community would like available on these
tools and also if they would join/follow on Facebook/
Twitter or download a mobile app,” says Samson.
While modern technology will no doubt aide
communities in building resilience in the future,
Michael Turnbull believes that we have a lot to learn
from Australia’s Indigenous communities whose
experience of extreme weather and its effects is
far greater. “They use their Dreamtime mythology
to propagate the knowledge down through their
generations.”
Issue 12

Be: Innovative
13
Legal view
Law education in Australia
needs a boost of innovation
and experimentation, writes
retired High Court Justice
Michael Kirby AC CMG
There is a natural tendency in human affairs to think
that the familiar is good; that the well-established
is better; and that the training that produced a
person as estimable as oneself, is best of all. It is
important that we, in the law, should be on our guard against
such self-satisfied thinking.
In this country, law programs are required to conform to
certain fundamentals, but they should also be prepared to
welcome new approaches to legal education. Universities are
required to instruct in prescribed subjects and seek the approval of
statutory accreditation bodies, however within these parameters
there is room for experimentation and innovation. Indeed these
qualities are essential if the tertiary sector is to meet the needs of
our future lawyers.
My own legal education took place 50 years ago at the Law
School of the University of Sydney in 1959-61, comprising instruction
by both academics and legal practitioners. At this time, in most
parts of Australia, a large proportion of future lawyers were not
prepared for practice in universities at all. They received instruction
in professional courses, offered by both the Barristers’ Admission
Board and the Solicitors’ Admission Board. In fact, it was not until
1966 that systematic courses were offered.
Lack of access to law courses due to physical locality, costs
associated with the courses and possibly a stigma in the legal
fraternity regarding students’ educational background has played
a big part in isolating the profession for a select few. Studies of law
students in 1965, showed that only 32% had attended public schools.
This was despite the fact that, at that time, 70% of all students were
educated in such schools.
Professor John Goldring’s survey in 1976 found that 42% of law
students had a relative or family friend who was a solicitor; 24% a
barrister; and 15% a judge. Allowing for overlaps in these groups, the
social cohort entering law certainly did not then match society at
large. In my own case, although I attained very good results in the
school leaving certificate and attended selective public schools, I
found it next to impossible to secure articles of clerkship.
It is because law is not an ordinary occupation, but one in which
the values of practitioners can influence the rules by which society
lives, that the intake of lawyers is a matter of legitimate concern to
society and to fellow citizens. For most of my service on the High
Court of Australia, I was the only Justice whose entire education
had been received in public schools. Although more than 65% of
Australians are still so educated, most of Australia’s judges and
nearly all of the justices of the High Court of Australia, have been
educated elsewhere. Such disparity could not but influence the
values that are reflected in judicial decision-making.
Law launch: Hon Michael Kirby with law student Samantha
Shepherd, a mother of five children who said ‘something has
come alive in me since enrolling in this new law degree’.
It is against the background of this understanding, as well as
recent developments affecting course content, that I welcome
the creation of the new law course at CQUniversity. Within the
contours set by the applicable accreditation standards, it is desirable
that diversity should feature strongly in contemporary Australian
legal education.
I see a number of advantages in the new law course offered
by CQUniversity with its special feature of online instruction.
It provides opportunities to many who have previously been
neglected for such a career. Distance has often prevented regional
and rural students from considering law as a career, but with an
online program legal education can be accessible by all. It will also
prove easier to retain skilled, talented and qualified graduates in
the regions.
However CQUniversity also faces a number of challenges. I
believe thought will need to be given to how students will cope with
the lack of physical interaction with their teachers and peers. It is
difficult online to replace the vibrant, exciting and often emotional
contacts provided by participation in student societies. This is
particularly important as there is growing evidence that suggests
students, particularly law students, are more susceptible to stress.
Isolation and lack of immediate or proximate support may add to
these pressures unless special initiatives are pursued.
Law is a special vocation. Potentially, it is a noble one. It is
concerned with order and justice in society. It is in the hope and
belief that this new law course will fill a space in Australia in the
preparation of fine lawyers for the future, I wish the students and
university well in the challenges that lie ahead of them. Those
challenges include building on the strengths of legal education
offered elsewhere, but adding new ingredients, so that the
lawyers of the future in Australia will serve their communities in
new and better ways.
Retired High Court Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG officially
opened CQUniversity’s new Bachelor of Laws degree in May
2011. The above writings were taken from Justice Kirby’s guest
lecture on the day. The full video recording can be viewed at:
http://content.cqu.edu.au/FCWViewer/view.dopage=14513
Photo: Peter Lawrence
Issue 12

14
Be: Cover story
For passionate surfers, the length of the
board definitely counts, along with the
laughing dolphins, the fitness factor and
the spirituality that comes with riding that
perfect wave, writes Melinda Ham.
At 72 years young, Lawrie Hohensee
still goes surfing as often as he can.
Depending on the weather, he first
picks one of his own eight handmade
boards before he heads out to the
waves near his home in Emu Park,
50 kilometres east of CQUniversity’s campus at
Rockhampton. Despite winning numerous national
and state championships, the allure of his home beach
never wanes and he mostly uses a longboard now.
“Surfing is the best sport around. It keeps you fit,”
Hohensee says. “You learn so much about the ocean. The best
time is during and a little after a cyclone – Yasi was great!”
At 15, Hohensee first stood on a board at Southport Surf
Club on the Gold Coast. Then he trained as a shipwright and
started making his own surfboards in 1955. In those days,
he surfed on the really longboards, known as “Malibus” or
“Mals”. Made of hollow plywood, the early ones were about
14 feet long – 4.26 metres by today’s measure.
Hohensee – whose name aptly means “high seas” in
German – used his surfing knowledge and craftsmanship
to experiment with a number of different board designs
and materials, progressively moving from plywood to
fibreglass-covered polyurethane foam, with a variety of fins
attached, making them shorter and shorter.
With the success of his signature boards, he created his
own company – Hohensee Surfboards – opening the first
surfboard shop ever in Queensland at Mermaid Beach on
the Gold Coast in 1963, followed by other shops around the
state, selling both short and longboards to suit everyone
from the professionals to the surfer-wannabes.
Photo: Simon Martin – Farnborough Beach, capricorn coast
Issue 12

15
“I had world and Australian-title holders working
in my shops and factory, shaping, glassing, sanding
and making the boards,” Hohensee recalls. “I sold-up
in the 1980s because it was interfering with my own
surfing time.” But he never really retired. His boards
are now highly prized collectables and to this day, he’s
still shaping new boards in his backyard for friends and
surfing pros alike.
Sharing Hohensee’s love of a fast wave is
CQUniversity’s Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean,
Professor Kevin Tickle. “We’re inside the Barrier Reef
here at Rockhampton, so you wouldn’t think we’d get
such good waves, but on many days you do get a good
swell and you can fly,” he says. “The young blokes like
the shortboard, but now I enjoy a longboard so I can
really savour a wave.”
From the age of 11, Tickle surfed as he grew up at
Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, starting off with his
dad’s 9’6” (2.9 metre) board that he could barely carry
and then moving to a more manageable 8’ (2.4 metre)
board. He says he surfed every morning, evening and
holidays into his teens.
But after a bit of a hiatus when he married, and had
two daughters who weren’t into surfing, Tickle got back
into the sport in his 40s. “I was driving the kids around
less and had a bit of time on my hands so I started
surfing again. I prefer the 7’6” (2.8 metre) board now,”
he says, adding that he also enjoys the conversations he
has with other midlife surfers as they wait patiently on
their longboards for the perfect wave.
Tickle’s most treasured surfing memory comes
from a holiday in Byron Bay, NSW, when a whole pod
of dolphins charged directly towards him. “I thought
they would run me over,” he says. “Instead at the last
moment they jumped over the back of my surfboard,”
he says, with relief. “I think they were laughing at me.”
A recent convert to surfing is Lynda Hawryluk,
CQUniversity lecturer in Literary and Cultural Studies. She
grew up in Sydney, but not near the beach, and only took
up the sport four years ago when she moved up to Yeppoon
in Queensland in her 30s. She’s analysed many surfing
memoirs and believes the sport has a real spirituality.
“Surfing is like this non-generic religion. It’s totally
reliant on the elements; the water, the wind and the
sun,” she says, “We get this connection with nature
and other surfers that takes us away from our busy lives
and jobs.”
While the sport has centuries-old Polynesian roots
and was first introduced to Australia by Hawaiian Duke
Kahanamoku, a swimming Olympic medallist, who
travelled to Sydney’s Freshwater Beach in 1914 and
demonstrated surfing there, today many young people are
attracted by popular surfing culture, which first gained
momentum in the 1960s through movies and music.
Many older people fall in love with surfing as a
way to regain some athleticism and reconnect with
themselves, Hawryluk says, speaking from personal
experience. “Usually I am using my brain all the time,
but surfing lets me stop thinking so hard, to let go and
deal with my instincts. I appreciate the sheer joy of it.
I have a longboard because I am a ‘soul surfer’, doing
it not for competition but pure enjoyment, to de-stress
and de-clog.”
Surfing has affected her writing style too, she says:
“I am more aware of nature and the environment. I
have more time to be reflective and descriptive. My pace
is slowing down and I’m smelling the roses.” Or maybe
the sea spray
Photo: Peter Lawrence
Surfer and surfboard builder
Lawrie Hohensee
Issue 12

16
Be: Compassionate
Tough cookie’s
soft centre
Peter Mitchell reveals how
he maintained compassion
while never losing sight of his
responsibilities to border security,
writes Priscilla Crighton
Having to sniff out, hand
cuff and lock up illegal
visitors to Australia was
not an obvious career
fit for a man that had previously
been a struggling musician, poet
and story writer. However it was the
career move that led to Peter Mitchell
becoming manager of the infamous Villawood Detention Centre
and the first insider to put pen to paper about life behind its razor
wire.
Knowing nothing about border security, Mitchell joined the
Immigration Department as a compliance officer in 1990 after
completing an Arts degree in history and sitting the public service
exam. “I was thrown straight into the deep end, doing raids on
illegals, given handcuffs and walk-talkie on my first night, and
locking them up in Villawood. I was shocked at the confronting
nature of this work, the harsh conditions at Villawood, and felt
tremendous empathy with the people I was locking up.”
“I always endeavoured to be as compassionate as I could, while
enforcing the law toward people who were simply seeking a better
life in Australia."
It was this Jekyll and Hyde persona that brought about
Mitchell’s self-title, Compassionate Bastard, and now the birth of a
new book in the same name.
“I did compliance work for about five years until starting at
Villawood in the mid-90s. It was, no doubt, the most fascinating
job I ever had and especially rewarding when we were able to assist
people to get visas, that they were eligible, for but had been too
afraid to ask for help with.”
Stories of Villawood encompass much of Mitchell’s
Compassionate Bastard, giving an insider’s perspective on the highly
controversial issues of immigration and asylum seekers in Australia.
“I wanted to bear witness to an important, though little
understood, part of Australia’s recent history,” said Mitchell, who
has been developing the book over the past three years as part of a
PhD project at CQUniversity.
“The media often cover immigration issues, but usually simplify
the complex and sensitive nature of the work of immigration
officers ... I wanted to show the human side of doing a difficult, but
always a fascinating job.
“A key issue for the book is how public servants reconcile their
sense of compassion with the demands of fair and proper procedure.”
“I wanted to show the
human side of doing
a difficult, but always
a fascinating job.”
Although Compassionate
Bastard talks about some of the
heart wrenching tales of those
seeking refuge from their war-torn
homelands, many of the stories are
funny, even farcical.
There is a story about Mitchell’s
compliance team kicking down a
door, looking for illegals, only to discover the voices heard were from
a radio. Another talks about an occasion where an unlucky ‘overstayer’
was only located because his ill-timed fart was overheard as
Mitchell passed by – amazingly he was actually wanted for murder
in the USA.
Mitchell also talks about how his softer side came in handy
when confronting demonstrators. “At Villawood, an angry detainee
was calmed, and agreed to stop a protest, when he learned that I
was, like him, a poet and songwriter. He reasoned: ‘I can trust you
now, Peter. No poet would ever harm another’.”
The final part of Mitchell’s book talks about the most rewarding
phase of his career as the Immigration Manager of Operation Safe
Haven at East Hills where he worked with Kosovar and East Timorese
refugees following the conflicts in their countries in 1999. “These stories
show the happier side of immigration – working to assist refugees.”
According to Mitchell, Australia faces a number of problems
with its immigration policy and few easy solutions.
“The current system has many fair elements, which are rarely
reported on, but will always need adjustment to ensure that it truly
reflects Australian community standards. I do not believe however
that mandatory detention, in its current form, is fair or delivers the
outcomes for which it was designed.
“Asylum seekers will not be deterred by the prospect of staying
in an Australian detention centre when they are running from war,
persecution or, most commonly, simply looking for a better life.”
Mitchell says it was interesting to note that most boat arrivals
are found to be refugees, but the majority of asylum seekers actually
come by plane and are over-stayers of tourist or student visas.
“My instinct is to be wary of anyone who promises simple
answers to these complex issues.”
Compassionate Bastard has been published by Penguin and is on
sale at the CQUniversity Bookshop and all good book stores.
RRP $24.95.
More on Mitchell’s new book at:
youtube.com/user/CQUninews
Issue 12

Be: Sport
17
CQ plays hard, dreams big
An NRL team in Central Queensland is long overdue and an
opportunity exists to really nurture the careers of young,
up-and-coming stars, writes former Queensland State of
Origin player PJ Marsh.
The stars have finally aligned
and the time has come for
Queensland to have its fourth
NRL team. It’s time we stop
watching more and more young players
head to Sydney clubs, and really begin to
get behind our own locally grown talent.
Up until now Central Queensland
has done all it can to nurture and develop
young players. Unfortunately there are
only three Queensland sides, so the road
to the NRL is narrow and young players
find it tough to get a break. And it’s not
because the region lacks quality players,
Central Queensland has put forward some
fine talent and they still keep coming.
Hailing from the Central Highlands,
my own story shows just how hard it is to
play for the NRL. After missing out on a
chance with Brisbane and the Cowboys, I
had all but given up on a NRL career; it just
took a little bit longer to come to fruition.
If it wasn’t for Ross O’Reilly [former coach]
believing in me as a footballer I may have
missed my chance for good.
If only we had a team in the region
at that stage, things may have turned
around much sooner. A team in Central
Queensland would have meant that
I could have stayed at home with my
family and continued to have that much
needed support for longer. When young
players leave their home town to follow
their league dreams it is tough on all involved.
CQ NRL Bid Snapshot
As the CQ NRL bid gains momentum I see huge
benefits to emerge for our young players. As some
are scouted as young as 14 or 15, a local team would
potentially see players gain a real vision for themselves.
Many lose heart as they see gaining a spot on a Sydney
side or with Brisbane such a world away. I foresee it giving
them real hope for a future in football.
I am not sure the NRL realise the amount of support
that a Central Queensland team would have behind
them. Central Queensland has always fostered a huge
fan base for the sport, and for the region to have its own
national team, this would just thrive. I think it would be
hard to get a seat at most games, and this is something
that some Sydney clubs struggle with on a regular basis.
Since retiring from football due to injury last year,
There is no national
sporting entity currently
representing CQ
Rugby league dominates
local sporting landscape –
6500 registered juniors
Many great rugby league
players originate from CQ
CQ among 7 teams bidding
for a place in the NRL
CQ pushes for an NRL team
by 2015
QR National commits to
principal sponsorship of the
CQ NRL team
CQUniversity
signs MOU
with CQ NRL Bid
Government
commits
to building world class
stadium for successful bid
team
I have lived and worked
in Middlemount in the
Central Highlands, in
what I call the heart of
Central Queensland. I
have moments that I
wish I could run out
and play again, but
my body tells me
otherwise. I have had
two back surgeries since
my neck operation in
2003 and I still have a way
to go with my recovery. I
believe I will get there; it just
takes time and lots of rehab.
My life away from football
has given me the opportunity to
spend more time with my wife and
three children; and I love living in the
same region that provided me with
the opportunities to do the things
I did in the NRL. For now football
is limited to the odd football game
on TV and when I get the chance to
promote the sport in the region.
My boys have already shown
signs that football will be a
childhood sport for them. So I
foresee myself doing as my father
did: travelling, assisting and
helping support them with their
dreams. That’s another reason I feel
so passionate about having a team based in Central
Queensland. As a father of young boys, I would love
to see them have the opportunity to play for their local
team in the national arena – if that’s their dream.
Photo:Bradley Kanaris/ Getty Images
Issue 12

18
Be: Informed
Coal keeps
on keeping
on
The Coal Seam Gas industry may have many hurdles to overcome, but the
writing is on the wall – it’s here to stay, writes Priscilla Crighton.
Geologists will tell you that if you
put extreme heat and pressure on
coal, you’ll eventually produce a
diamond, and that’s potentially what’s
happening to Australia's coal industry.
Governments and the power generation
industry have been forced to re-think how they produce
power and they’ve come up with a gem – coal seam gas.
It’s still a bit rough around the edges and may have
a number of flaws, but the coal seam gas industry is
about to spark the biggest power revolution we’ve seen
since Thomas Edison’s light bulb moment back in 1879.
In a push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
also to meet the growing global demand for natural
gas, the Queensland Government has been encouraging
a transition from coal to gas in the power generation
sector. In its Smart Energy Policy document the
Queensland Government set a target of 18% of all
electricity sold in Queensland to be sourced from gasfired
generation by 2020.
What is coal seam gas
According to CQUniversity’s Director of the Centre for
Environmental Management and regional economist
Professor John Rolfe, coal seam gas (also known as
coal bed methane) is mostly methane in its make-up
and is typically attached to the coal along its natural
fractures and cleats. This gas is released when pressure
on the coal seam is reduced, usually by removal of water
from the seam. Both the water and gas is brought to
the surface through piping and separated, with the
gas then sent to a compressor station and into natural
gas pipelines. It is this process that the Queensland
Government is backing. There is potential that the
new industry could generate over 18,000 direct and
indirect jobs and an increase in gross state product of
over $3 billion. (Queensland’s LNG Industry Snapshot –
Queensland Government)
According to Queensland Resource Council’s Director
of Communications Jim Devine, the LNG (Liquid
Natural Gas) industry has the potential to be as big as
the thermal coal industry within the next 10 years.
“We’re in a golden era of investment in the resources
sector in Queensland, one that is unprecedented.”
There have been eight publicly announced LNG
proposals in Queensland with the four major coal seam
gas/LNG projects forging ahead in Central Queensland.
Two have received investment approval, one is pending
investment go-ahead and a fourth is moving through
state and federal approval processes. “If all four projects
proceed, the value of LNG production could exceed $22
billion per annum by 2020,” said Devine.
With most of the State’s LNG industry focused on the
Gladstone region, Professor Rolfe said the region will
benefit from a job boom. “Central Queensland is set to
secure about half of the new jobs if the four main LNG
projects get off the ground. We foresee the positions
will be apportioned about 50:50 across construction and
operations. The flow-on effects in jobs will be much
larger, but probably mostly in South-East Queensland.”
Gladstone Liquid Natural Gas (GLNG) has forecasted
that its project will create 5000 jobs in construction and
an additional 1000 permanent jobs in production.
Issue 12

19
Fracking Controversy
Despite the obvious attractions, not everyone is a fan of
coal seam gas exploration. Farmers, for one, are worried
about the controversial fracking method used to extract
the gas. Fracking (or hydraulic fracturing) is where
water, sand and chemicals are injected, under high
pressure, into a well. The pressure fractures the shale
and props open fissures that enable natural gas to flow
more freely out of the well. It is the potential for this
water and chemical cocktail to seep into groundwater
that has the NSW Farmers’ Association concerned.
The Association’s Mining Chair Fiona Simson
believes there is an urgent need to better regulate
the chemicals used in this process of fracking. “It’s
appalling to think the country’s chemicals watchdog
hasn’t been required to test these toxins for the purpose
of fracking. We’re aware of only two most commonly
used fracking chemicals that have been tested by
the national Industrial Chemicals Notification and
Assessment Scheme, and even these weren’t regulated
for the purpose of fracking.” Simson said.
The Queensland Government has introduced new
laws to protect groundwater interests for landholders
and to ensure long-term aquifer stability. The
regulatory framework requires stringent evaluation
and management of current and future coal seam
gas activities and includes amendments to the
Environmental Protection Act 1994. These changes now
require operators of coal seam gas activities to submit
an Environmental Management Plan including a water
management plan outlining how coal seam gas water
will be managed. Amendments have also been made to
the Water Act 2000 and the Water Supply (Safety and
Reliability) Act 2008, requiring coal seam gas operators
to monitor underground water quality and imposing
strict rules on recycling coal seam gas water.
Associated Water
While the Queensland Government is pushing towards
coal seam gas water being disposed of by re-injection
back into aquifers of lesser quality water, or treated
and supplied for beneficial use in urban, industrial or
agricultural settings, a report co-authored by Professor
Rolfe states there are a number of ramifications that
flow on from the disposal or re-use of
associated water.
“Coal seam gas water, otherwise
known as associated water, is high
in salt and without undergoing a
desalination process it is unable to each project
be re-used. While there is potential
pa by 2020
for the associated water to be treated
to different standards and used in
water project
forestry, irrigated cropping and
industrial settings, the difficulties
in treating the water and bringing to
central points for use from dispersed
well-heads means that there are no easy solutions to
wastewater disposal.”
While economics and environmental issues plague
the coal seam gas industry, research being conducted at
Gas industry snapshot
18,000 new jobs expected
About 1000 permanent jobs for
Production to exceed $22 billion
CQUniversity partners in CSG
Senate inquiry into CSG industry
hears water concerns
CQUniversity wastewater expert Ben Kele has his faith in
volcanic rocks
CQUniversity in Rockhampton may have the solution in
sight. CQUniversity water researcher and lecturer Ben
Kele has his hope in ‘special’ volcanic rocks that filter
salt out of water, replacing unwanted elements with
ingredients that will replenish soils. The project, being
conducted with wastewater treatment company Midell
Water and leading recycled water consultants Arris, is
developing a process that is potentially much cheaper
than the money-thirsty desalination plants currently in
use that rely on reverse osmosis to treat the water.
“The concentration of salt is the major water
quality issue limiting the beneficial use of coal seam
gas water,” Kele explained. “The salinity and sodicity
concerns of associated water need to be addressed before
the water can be reused for agricultural or industrial
purposes. We have sourced coal seam gas water from
several companies within Queensland and are currently
researching new volcanic rock filter technologies to
meet the unique challenge of treating this water.”
Kele says the construction of a pilot treatment plant
is currently underway and foresees the
technology to be used in the industry
within the year.
While issues with gas extraction
are still being ironed out, the LNG
industry continues to push forward to
bring prosperity to Central Queensland,
leaving a sweet taste in the mouth
of Gladstone Economic and Industry
Development Board Chairman Leo
Zussino. “I welcome the investment that
is bringing more wealth and employment
to the region and look forward to
embracing the region’s growth and prosperity.”
More on Kele’s water treatment technology at:
youtube.com/user/CQUninews
PHOTO: PETER LAWRENCE
Issue 12

20
Be: Health
Bush
babies
Move over Snugglepot & Cuddlepie
– the true stories of Aussie bush
babies are far grimmer. Quite often,
pregnant women will travel hundreds
of kilometres to have a doctor present
at the birth of their babies, writes
Alex Graham.
When the first contractions
start, most soon-to-be mums
seek medical attention fast.
For Longreach mother-of-five
Chrissy Arthur, that meant a
short stroll.
“I was close enough to the hospital that I actually
walked there for two of my labours,” says Chrissy. “To
top it off, because Longreach is such a small place, I had
my own room in the hospital with the doctor and all the
midwives to myself.”
The doctor in question was her family GP. “He used to
compare my kids. He’d say to me, ‘Well this one has more
hair than the last one’, that sort of thing. I had great
confidence in him, we were very fortunate.”
Sadly, for many women in rural Queensland, giving
birth in their home town is unlikely, let alone giving
birth with the help of a health professional they know
intimately.
Take Barcaldine, an hour’s drive east from Longreach.
It has six pubs, a million dollar maternity ward, and no
anaesthetist. No anaesthetist means no local births. In
fact, in far western Queensland, the only towns where
women can give birth locally are Longreach, Mt Isa and
Charleville.
Issue 12

21
Maternity matters
In Central Queensland towns like Emerald and Biloela,
maternity services are currently running under the steam
of locums. However, four years ago when Sophie Burrows
was pregnant with her first child, there wasn’t a doctor
nearby to help her. The closest hospital to her Rolleston
property was Springsure, 100 kilometres away, and then
Emerald, another 100 kilometres further down the road.
“Neither of those hospitals were delivering at the time,
so for me the closest option was Rockhampton.” That
meant driving four hours to town for check-ups, before
eventually staying there for several weeks in the lead up
to the birth.
“We had a thing called ‘share care’ where one
appointment I would see my GP in Springsure and the
next I would see my obstetrician in Rocky.
“I ended up having to come to town three weeks before
my labour and just wait for it all to happen. I stayed with
my sister, but some people are not so lucky and paying for
hotels can get very expensive.”
Sophie is a very positive woman and not one to whinge;
but even she concedes it was difficult. “It was hard for
Rohan, my husband, because he was still trying to run
the property, but also wanting to be close by.
“If you are overdue or there are complications after
birth you could end up being away from home for more
than a month.
“A lot of country women get induced because they don’t
want to wait so long, or book in to have a caesarean to
make it more convenient. That’s a bit of a sad thing – to
have to fit a birth into a schedule.”
Slow to act
So what is being done to fix the situation Well, the
answer is a lot - but it’s just not happening fast. Over
the past five years there have been both state and federal
reviews into maternity services. The federal review led to
new laws to strengthen the role of midwives.
Since last November, midwives have been able to
provide taxpayer-funded maternity care (through
Medicare) in hospitals, as long as they have collaborative
agreements in place with doctors. But seven months
down the track only 24 of Queensland’s 6500 midwives
have signed up.
“We are in a situation where there is amazing
opportunity for services in rural and regional areas to
significantly expand, for women to be able to birth closer
to home. However we are not at the point yet where
we are seeing that actually happen,” says President of
Midwives Australia Liz Wilkes.
The reasons why are a complicated mix of bureaucratic
bungling and hospital politics. Part of the problem is that
while midwives are technically permitted to deliver a baby
in a hospital, state-level laws do not provide them with
visiting access to those hospitals.
“The whole point of these reforms was to provide a
continuum of care, and if you can’t be at the birth, then
you are only doing half your job, or even less than that,”
says Wilkes.
Midwifery solution
However, in good news for bush mums, Queensland
Health has just become the first state authority in
Australia to act. In July, it granted visiting access to
a private midwifery practise in Toowoomba in a pilot
program that - if successful - will be rolled out across the
state.
Access aside, the other stumbling block is hospital
politics. Midwives say finding a doctor willing to sign a
collaborative agreement to allow them to work is almost
impossible.
“These are very, very, very tricky to obtain,” says
Wilkes. “It is particularly hard in rural and regional
areas because of the small number of obstetricians or GP
obstetricians.
“The great shame of it all is that rural and regional
areas are the exact market that these reforms were aimed
at.”
Attracting and retaining midwives to the bush is also
a tricky business. That’s why CQUniversity’s midwifery
program is encouraging rural areas to “grow their own”,
as lecturer Anne Eaton explains.
“If you are overdue
or there are
complications after
birth you could end
up being away from
home for more than
a month.”
“If a nurse is already in a rural area because they are
married to a local farmer, then the reality is they are
likely to stay in that area. We call that ‘growing your
own’, and we encourage those girls to train in their local
hospitals.”
The University has had great success placing local
midwives in remote hospitals because of its successful
distance education program; three have just qualified
from Charleville and Proserpine and two in Mt Isa and
Kingaroy.
Rural doctor shortage
However in even shorter supply than rural midwives are
rural doctors. “What we are seeing is our more senior
rural doctors approaching retirement age, and what we
are yet to see is a sustainable number of younger rural
practitioners to replace them,” says Dr Dan Halliday.
Halliday works in Stanthorpe and is the Past President of
the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland.
Issue 12

22
Be: Health
Rohan and Sophie Burrows, and their children Miller, 4, and
Evie, 2, love their country lifestyle, but it has its pitfalls with
family planning. They are pictured here at their property
Bellevue near Rolleston in Central Queensland.
While experienced doctors are on the decline, Halliday
says there is hope in a new training program. Since 1997,
Queensland Health has recognised rural generalist
medicine as a discipline in its own right, with its own
training program.
According to Halliday, the program is showing some
early signs of success. “The trouble is you don’t create a
GP obstetrician or GP anaesthetist overnight; it takes
a good five years to train them up enough to practise
independently.
“The program has been running since 2007 and we are
starting to see some of those junior doctors moving out
to rural areas, but they still need ongoing support and
mentoring. But given the leakage of experienced doctors
in those areas we are in a state of flux and just don’t know
whether there will be a stable change over.”
Halliday says Queensland Health also needs to be more
flexible in finding maternity solutions in country towns.
“Just because it works in one town doesn’t mean it will be
the panacea for all. Decisions need to be made at a local
level, and it should be an integrated public-private system.”
Once again, traditional hostilities need to be put to
bed. “Historically there has been conflict between the
public system and private clinicians,” confirms Halliday.
Queensland Health needs to recognise there is the ability to
make amends and attract those senior clinicians that have
been alienated and get back to practising in a collaborative
model.”
So will all the ducks line up “My gut feeling is that
we are on the right track,” says Halliday. “I don’t know
whether that is optimistic or just naive, but the quality of
our junior doctors wanting to do rural medicine certainly
gives me heart.
“If we can iron out some of these other issues, then it
opens up a lot more choice for women wanting to give birth
close to home.” That, at least, is some comfort.
The great feeding dilemma
Breast or bottle The choice is often
emotional and divisive, but it is one that all
new mothers have to make.
Theodore midwife Rachael Austin has
released a book aimed to help women
make the right choice for them.
“I noticed while there were many ‘how
to’ books out there, none gave parents
the information they needed to make
informed choices,” Rachael said.
The CQUniversity graduate said there was
little reliable information about formula
available for mothers.
“This is a very emotive topic and in no
other area of healthcare would women be
given such inaccurate advice.
“You hear nurses say to new mums – I did
this and it worked for me – but that’s not
necessarily supported by research or best
practice.”
Statistics show formula feeding in
Australia is on the rise, with only 18% of
women breastfeeding once their baby is
six months old.
“This book isn’t about questioning how
women feed their babies.
“It is about helping them understand their
choices and to give them the information
to help them minimise risks, particularly if
they are formula feeding,” she said.
Feeding Baby: A Definitive Guide to the
Science and Wisdom of Infant Feeding
Choices is available online through
Xlibris as an ebook and paperback.
Issue 12

Be: Fawlty
23
It was the world’s worst hotel but Britain’s most loved
sitcom. As writer Marc Barnbaum discovers people are
still laughing at its gangly star.
If the sight of a tall man bashing a small car with a tree limb
brings back fond memories, then you'll be pleased to know
the spirit of TV classic Fawlty Towers is still alive, thanks to a
small band of roving performers.
Yes it's true - but “don't mention the war” - Basil, Sybil and
Manuel are still being brought to life up to a dozen times each
week as characters in Faulty Towers the Dining Experience, which
has been touring the world since 1997 thanks to Brisbanebased
troupe Interactive Theatre Australia.
Fans of the TV series which ran from 1975-79 often
express sadness that only 12 episodes made it to air, but
also relief that it never went on long enough to become
stale. It has been voted as the most popular British TV show
ever, despite being set in what an on-screen guest described
as “the crummiest, shoddiest, worst-run hotel in the whole of
Western Europe”.
The live touring show evokes the original to make people
cringe and laugh at the same time. Each episode of the TV
show featured hotel manager Basil being caught in a tangled
web of deceit driven by his own vanity and prejudices.
There was an inconvenient dead body, an unreliable
builder, a fake Lord, a flirtatious couple, undercover hotel
inspectors, German guests, clandestine horse betting, an
attractive Aussie girl with a suspicious hand mark on her chest,
a demanding American and veal cutlets covered in rat poison.
The live show features the core characters from the TV
show, including long-suffering waiter Manuel who had to
be forgiven because “he's from Barcelona”. There's also a live
version of Sybil who was often portrayed on the phone saying
“I know ... I know ... oh I know”.
And of course there's Basil who, when he wasn't hitting
Manuel over the head with a spoon or shouting at guests,
was ripping the last of his hair out while contorting his huge
frame and stamping about.
Who could forget Mr Fawlty with a finger held under his
nose goose-stepping across the room while chanting in a
mock German accent, pretending to faint to avoid a tricky
question, or running legs flailing up and down the stairs to
avert one tragedy or another in the hotel.
Physical comedy features heavily in The Dining Experience
with plenty of “do not try this at home” moments. However,
diners are assured their meals are edible (so it's not entirely
faithful to the original show).
A portion of the dinner show is scripted but the rest is based
on interaction with the ‘guests’ so there's plenty of audience
participation and the theatrical ‘fourth wall’ is well and truly
broken down. One audience member recalls her six-year-old
son being forcibly shoved into a baby seat and there often
seems to be an excuse for Manuel to wield a fire extinguisher.
For the past few years, the spirit of Basil has been brought
to life with great flair by an extremely tall and energetic
CQUniversity Music Theatre graduate – Jordan Edmeades.
When first cast as Basil a few years ago, Jordan
commented that his goal had always been to travel the world
as a professional actor “and it seems following in the footsteps
of John Cleese may be the ticket to achieving that dream”.
“I turned up to the audition in full character and costume
and threw caution to the wind. Much of the audition was
improvisational and having studied Improv Comedy in the
United States I was well equipped.”
Jordan says he is very much like Basil Fawlty in real
life. “My girlfriend tells me I am easily frustrated, openly
obnoxious at times and have a tendency to over-exaggerate...
but always with a smile. I also have what I affectionately call
‘dufus days’, whereby I wake up with a tendency to bang my
head, run into things and accidently hurt people.
“There are not many roles out there for actors as tall as
me. At most auditions I get the classic remark, ‘WOW, you're
tall aren't you’, which can be translated as ‘this guy will never
get the part!’ The Basil Fawlty character is probably the only
role that gives me an advantage; being thin, lanky and overanimated
... I couldn't find a more perfect fit if I tried.”
Find out if there's a forthcoming Dining Experience
near you via www.interactivetheatre.com.au
Issue 12

24
Be: Spooked
Stepping
back
into the
Badlands
The Bruce Highway from Marlborough to Sarina has been the
subject of many a spooky tale. Writer Alex Graham looks for
the truth behind the folklore and discovers why some still get
goosebumps when talking about the ‘horror stretch’.
“Get back onto the bus with the kids.”
It was close to midnight on the
side of a lonely stretch of highway
when Garry Fergus whispered those
instructions to his wife Jann.
Garry was a well-known Mackay builder
– a big, burly bloke – and not one prone to skittish
behaviour. Jann was a New Zealander who had never
heard the local folklore about the Marlborough
“horror stretch” and had no cause for alarm.
Yet both were scared witless when a car silently
pulled up in front of their broken down bus, the
headlights switched off and a door opened.
“It was pitch black, we couldn’t see anything
but we heard footsteps coming towards us,” recalls
Jann. “There is no other way to explain it other
than to say we both had the sense we were in
real danger – we just sensed evil.”
Twenty years on, Jann still gets
goosebumps describing that night. The
footsteps walked right up to the bus, where
she and her kids huddled inside, and Garry
lay underneath clutching a spanner.
Then, for whatever reason, the footsteps stopped,
turned and walked away. Moments later the car drove
off. “I have no idea what turned them around, but I was
shaking violently – I was absolutely terrified.”
The Marlborough stretch of the Bruce Highway is
known in Central Queensland circles as the “horror
stretch” or the “crystal highway”. It is a long and lonely
section of road traversing the vast yet sparse brigalow
scrub that clothes the country north of Rockhampton
until the green, lush canefields of Sarina emerge.
It has been part of local folklore for generations,
cemented there through a series of grisly murders in the
60s and 70s.
In 1967, English holiday makers Joyce and Ron
Linfoot pulled their caravan over on the side of the road
to stretch their legs. Moments later, they were shot at
from the scrub.
They escaped with their lives, but a year earlier, a
man described in court as an “aggressive psychopath”
had killed a camper and wounded two companions
in the same spot. When police asked the killer about
his motives he told them: “It must have been my
headache”.
Issue 12

25
“There is no other way
to explain it other
than to say we both
had the sense we were
in real danger - we
just sensed evil.”
Fast forward to 1975, and skydiving enthusiasts Noel
and Sophie Weckert, exhausted after a nine hour drive
from Townsville, had pulled over for a sleep at Connors
River. They were set upon and killed by a group of
itinerants; Sophie’s body was not found for two weeks.
These events – and the very grimness of the land
itself – captured the imagination of artist and author
Ross Gibson from a very young age. “I used to travel the
stretch often as a child,” he says. “It was an area that
just got deep inside my brain, it spooked and fascinated
me at the same time.”
Gibson is now a Professor of Contemporary
Arts at the University of Sydney and has written a
comprehensive book on the subject: Seven Versions Of
An Australian Badland.
“There were plenty of good histories written about
Central Queensland, but none that explored the power
of the stories that constantly come out of this place.
“I was interested in how those legends get told and
retold, and how the most powerful ones are always
those that have an attachment to fact.”
In his book, Gibson explores the concept of a badland
– a no-go zone which people are warned to stay away
from, and evil can be banished to. “I am interested
in the long-term rhythms of places and I always get
the sense when an area has been formed by extreme
violence.
“For thousands of years that country has been belted
up by climate – droughts and cyclones – and cleared for
agriculture.”
Gibson also uncovers the colonial history of the land,
from the Aboriginal massacres that took place, to the
“blackbirding” of Melanesian Islanders.
The badlands concept is also explored by local
musician and CQUniversity literary and cultural studies
lecturer Steve Butler. Butler has written a song called
Crystal Highway, and has plans for a feature film of the
same name.
The song’s lyrics reflect the mythology of the area:
“It’s a hard road that we’re on through the badlands of
Capricorn,
and it’s a dark night of the soul on the Crystal Highway.”
Photo: The Herald & Weekly Times Limited
So what is it like to actually live in the heart of the
badlands Maureen Olive grew up on a property north of
Marlborough, then married and raised six children in
the area. Most of her children still live locally.
Far from finding the landscape hostile, for Maureen
the brigalow country is full of fond and familiar
memories. “To me it just feels like home, I recognise
many landmarks that might not be significant to other
people but are familiar to me,” she says.
Even at the height of hyperbole during the 1970s,
locals were never fearful. “We might have shut our
doors, but we didn’t lock them,” she said.
Certainly, the badlands legends that were larger
than life a generation ago have started to wane. The
highway itself now takes a different trajectory to the
one haunted by the ghosts of the past.
But Gibson warns it will be a long time before the
myth dies out completely. “The badlands legend won’t
disappear quickly, all you need is one stray, spooky
event and it will all flood back.”
INSET: Skydiving enthusiast Noel Weckert was killed at Connors
River in 1975.
RIGHT: Shooting victims Ronald Linfoot and his wife Joyce after
being flown to Brisbane by aerial ambulance in 1967.
Issue 12

26
Be: Parenting
Childhood spaces
and places
Making mud pies, building outdoor
cubbies and playing superheroes,
create valuable childhood memories,
writes Ali Black
When we watch children closely with openness
and respect, we see that childhood is filled with
curiosity, creativity and unlimited possibility.
Children are born to dive in, take apart, rearrange,
get messy and invent using whatever captures their imagination
and curiosity. Yet, too often we don’t take the time to watch closely.
We don’t take time to see what is capturing their interests or
delighting their senses. We rush them on, or we worry about safety
and getting dirty, or we interrupt what they are playing to impart
our adult words of wisdom.
Whilst we want to support children to make it safely in
the world, and to support their learning via conversation and
involvement in their play, we also need to ensure we provide
multiple uninterrupted opportunities with environments and
materials to expand their curiosity, imagination and inventiveness.
We must value and encourage children’s natural curiosity and offer
time for them to play and learn in their own unique, creative and
original ways.
Childhood places and spaces can hold enduring memories and
influence what we value later on in life. Remembering our own
childhood experiences, adventures and play is a powerful tool for
recognising what mattered to us as children and what is significant
for our own children and for kids today.
What do you remember from your childhood An atmosphere
of adventure, a feeling of togetherness, make-believe, images of
light and colour, feelings of joy and wonder, sensory bliss, mud
oozing down your fingers as you made mud pies or animals and
friendships Where did you play Were you a superhero or a story
book character Where did you get your ideas from and what props
did you use Where was your favourite place to play Try to recall the
feelings you had when you imagined, explored and played.
Practice remembering what the main thing about being a kid
was for you:
The main thing about being kids then … all of us
spent a long time picking wildflowers, catching
tadpoles, getting our feet wet, playing with mud,
and sand, and water … what there was to do with
sand was let it run through your fingers. What
there was to do with mud was pat it, and lift it
and throw it down … my world as a kid was full of
things that grownups didn’t care about.
— Robert Paul Smith
The outdoors are really important places for children. The
outdoors help us to feel connected to the earth, the sky and other
living creatures. Being outdoors is one of the most wonderful
joys of childhood. It is vital for parents and adults who work with
children to recognise the profound importance of children making
connections with the natural world.
As you consider the times you felt most powerful and engaged
in your childhood, reflect on how often this was related to being
adventurous and playing outdoors. What were the things that were
growing there What living creatures did you find or see there What
were the forms and structures both natural and human-made
(cubbies, rocks, water, trees) that made your play wondrous
The outdoors should be part of our thinking when we are
planning children’s play spaces and when we are thinking about
what to do on the weekend. The outdoors nurtures children’s
aesthetic awareness. The natural environment offers a stimulating
multi-sensory world that has many play choices and opportunities,
and a wide variety of materials and tools.
The outdoors offers open-ended materials, beautiful and
collectible things, things that can be acted on and transformed
and that support imagination and play. Nature and the outdoors
offer a refuge from the fast-paced world we live in. They offer
opportunities for magic and discovery, wonder and delight, for our
children and for us.
Share your childhood memories with the Friends
of Be Magazine group on Facebook.
Issue 12

Be: Finance
27
Super Recharge
There are some simple strategies that will help you
maximise your retirement fund, writes Ken Bruce
Australia has a compulsory
superannuation system
which was introduced by the
Hawke/Keating government
in 1992. It is called the superannuation
guarantee which means that employers
are obliged to contribute 9% of an
employee’s income to superannuation.
When this law was introduced in 1992, the
contribution rate was 3%. This rate was
progressively increased to 9% by 2002, and
it will soon progress to 12% by 2020.
Superannuation is really a form of
compulsory savings and is necessary
because of the increasing gap between the
number of people in the workforce who are
contributing to government tax revenues
and those who are aged over 65 and no
longer in the workforce and receiving
various government social security
payments, especially the age pension.
So, therefore the government
wants employers and employees to put
money aside as superannuation during
an individual’s working life to lessen
the burden on government coffers and
to ensure people can live a financially
comfortable life in retirement. In fact,
despite the global financial crisis,
compulsory super has significantly
contributed to national savings and is now
over $1 trillion.
Individuals can maximise their
superannuation balances through some
simple strategies. The most common
way of doing this is by sacrificing some of
your salary to superannuation. This has
the effect of saving tax, as that portion
sacrificed (that is, contributed to super)
comes off the gross salary and the tax is
then calculated on the reduced gross. As
the contribution into the super fund is
taxed at 15%, this strategy only works if
your marginal tax rate is greater than 15%.
Let’s have a look at a simple example.
Let’s say your annual gross salary is
$50,000, and you decide to sacrifice
$10,000 of that into your superannuation
fund. The adjacent chart shows the
amount of tax you will save – which is the
difference between $9,300 and $7,650
or $1,650 each year. That might not seem
much, but over 20 years and assuming
that amount is invested with an annual
interest rate of 6%, that could grow to
over $60,000 of savings in your pocket.
However you have to feel comfortable
about living on a lower annual take-home
pay of $34,550 instead of $41,450. But when
you add back the $1,650 saved in tax, it’s
not quite that bad.
If salary sacrifice doesn’t work for you
– perhaps because you are on a low income
and your marginal tax rate is only 15% –
then the super co-contribution might. If
you are a low or middle-income earner,
you can take advantage of the super cocontribution
payment by making eligible
personal super contributions to your super
fund or retirement savings account and the
government will then match up to $1,000
of your personal super contributions. You
can qualify for the full contribution if your
annual income is up to $31,920 and this
reduces to zero when your annual income
reaches $61,920.
Without
salary
sacrifice
With salary
sacrifice
Gross salary $50,000 $50,000
Less super
salary
sacrifice
Assessable
income
Deductions
(assume no
deductions)
Taxable
income
Income tax
(using the
2010-11 tax
rate)
After tax
income (takehome
pay)
- $10,000
$50,000 $40,000
- -
$50,000 $40,000
$8,550 $5,550
$41,450 $34,450
Medicare Levy $750 $600
Tax on super
sacrificed (15%
in the fund)
Total tax and
Medicare levy
paid
- $1,500
$9,300 $7,650
Associate Professor Ken Bruce is the Head
of Program, Finance and Economics, at
CQUniversity. Based at CQUniversity
Melbourne, Ken is currently researching
the ‘professionalism’ of financial planners
in Australia, US and Hong Kong.
Super tips
1. Plan for your retirement:
give consideration to how
much you may need in
retirement.
2. Consolidate your super:
if you have more than
one super fund, consider
consolidating them into
one.
3. If you can salary
sacrifice: make additional
contributions and save.
4. Take an interest in the
performance of your
fund: if you are not happy,
then consider switching
funds.
5. See a financial planner: if
it gets all too hard, consult
an expert.
To find a financial planner in
your area visit the Financial
Planning Association’s website
www.fpa.asn.au. Another
useful website for general
information is ASIC’s Money
Smart www.moneysmart.
gov.au.
Issue 12

28
Be: Travel
Medical
Getaway
Aussies are boarding the medical tourism
bandwagon in growing numbers and writer
Priscilla Crighton finds out that combining
your next holiday with surgery could make a
great deal of sense.
Knee
Countries Heart By pass Hip Replacement Replacement Hysterectomy
Australia $33,340 $23,800 $20,089 $7,113
USA $130,000 $43,000 $40,000 $20,000
India $9,300 $7,100 $8,500 $6,000
Thailand $11,000 $12,000 $10,000 $4,500
Singapore $16,500 $9,200 $11,100 $6,000
Korea $34,150 $11,400 $24,100 $12,700
Source: American Medical Association (2010) and Medibank Private (figures from 2006 / 2007
financial year) Note: With regard to Australian surgical procedures as listed above, many costs
are generally covered by private health insurance when undergone in Australian hospitals;
however Australian private health funds will not cover overseas medical costs.
Australians, like many other
westerners, are facing huge dilemmas
as the cost of keeping healthy is
causing blood pressures to rise.
The costs of medical procedures in
Australia are ever‐increasing, while
health insurance premiums seem to be constantly
costing us more each month. The public health
system provides little relief as long waiting lists
mean elective surgeries could take years, while
some procedures are just not offered at all.
While many suffer silently, coughing up the
thousands of dollars to be treated or waiting by the
phone to hear from a public hospital, others are taking
to the skies in revolt, travelling to countries like India
and Thailand for a medical tourism getaway. It is
here, Aussies are going under the knife for cut‐price
procedures and combining their trips with five-star
boutique holiday experiences. In fact, according to
tourism experts, surgery is said to be the 7th ‘S' of
tourism – complementing sun, sea, sand, sex, safari
and spirituality.
It's a win-win for both patients and the developing
countries that are making it all happen, according
to CQUniversity medical tourism researcher and
economics lecturer Anita Medhekar.
"Medical tourism is international economics in
action. It is an economic activity that involves trade
in two distinct sectors of the economy: medicine and
tourism. It's a growing phenomenon that is expected
to be worth $4 billion in Asia and $2 billion in India
by 2012. While it's worth a lot of money for these
developing countries, it also means a lot of savings for
people in the UK, US and Australia, who are seeking
affordable, quality, medical procedures without having
to wait."
Top hospitals in Thailand and India – the world's
leaders in medical tourism – are offering surgeries and
Issue 12

29
medical treatments at between a
third and a tenth of the costs charged
in countries like Australia. With
prices like these it's hard not to
doubt the quality of treatment and
the credentials of the medical staff,
but according to Medhekar, global
health authorities are ensuring
internationally accredited high
standards are maintained.
"Patients can be assured of
quality if they choose hospitals that
are accredited through the Joint
Commission International (JCI) – a
not-for-profit organisation focused on
improving the safety of patient care
globally. These JCI approved hospitals
in India and Thailand are comparable
Travel Tips
to some of the best medical facilities in the world, and
their medical staff are second to none."
1. Do your research – the procedure,
the hospital, the surgeon, the
country
2. Compare the overall costs
3. Ensure the hospital is accredited
with Joint Commission International
(JCI)
4. Keep your local doctor informed
5. Have all your important documents
in order – medical records, passport/
visa, cash and cards, drivers licence
6. Keep important contact information
with you
7. Be prepared to stay longer if
necessary
8. Work with a medical tourism
company
sharing their medical records to
booking medical appointments,
travel, accommodation, ground
transportation, local tours, as
well as assistance in obtaining the
necessary travel documentation and
financing," explains CEO Saroja
Mohanasundaram.
According to Medhekar the
medical tourism industry in India
is booming with no plateau yet in
sight.
"It is quite amazing to see.
Surrounded by some of the world's
biggest slums [in India], these
hospitals designed specifically for
the international patient market
are pristine, clean, accredited with
state‐of-the-art medical technology and are highly
respected globally."
Suite of surgeries
Contrary to popular belief, medical tourism isn't all
about liposuction, facelifts and boob jobs – at least not
in 2011. Medical tourism providers are offering a suite
of medical surgeries and procedures from cosmetic
and dental to major, invasive surgery including bone
marrow, liver transplants, orthopedic and heart
surgery. While it could cost up to $250,000 for a bone
marrow transplant in the US, Indian medical tourism
provider, Travel India Company is promoting its reduced
fees online at under $70,000. A hip replacement
could cost up to $19,000 in Australia (before Medicare
rebates), while Health Line is quoting an average cost
of $4300 in India. Lasik eye surgery used for vision
correction could cost about $4000 each eye in Australia
(with no Medicare rebate offered), but will only set you
back $1100 each eye at Bangkok Hospital in Thailand.
Depending on the severity of the medical procedures,
some Aussies are packaging these services with a
complete holiday, spending a few days in hospital
and the rest of the time sightseeing; and according
to Medhekar countries like India and Thailand are
capitalising on this market.
"In some cases, we are seeing high rise, state-of-theart
hospitals combining with five-star accommodation.
The first few floors are for diagnosis, surgery and
medical suites, and the remainder is similar to any topend
resort. What countries like India and Thailand are
offering is a new kind of patient experience – a balance
of western medicine and eastern hospitality."
Travel agencies
With the spike in interest in medical tourism around
the globe, medical travel agencies are gaining in
popularity. US-based medical travel agency Healthbase
Online Inc promotes itself as a leader in medical
tourism and is able to connect patients with a list of
internationally accredited hospitals in 18 countries
around the world.
"Healthbase provides a complete door-to-door
arrangement of medical travel logistics starting from
Middle-class tourists
While this level of opulence and service is normally
reserved for the rich and famous, it’s middle class
Australians who are getting their passports stamped
as medical tourists. Anna (not her real name) from
Rockhampton in Central Queensland travelled to
Thailand last December for gallbladder surgery. She had
already been planning a trip to Thailand and decided
to look into getting the procedure done at the same
time. After a week of shopping and sightseeing with
family, Anna checked in to have her troubling gallstones
removed.
Anna said the alternative was to have the surgery
done through the public health system in Australia.
"My GP told me that I could be waiting six to nine
months to have the surgery done through the private
hospital here and would have to pay a fortune; or could
be waiting six years through the public hospital. It
would have cost me $5000 to have the operation here,
while it only cost me $2000 to have the surgery through
the hospital in Thailand."
One of the drawbacks with medical holidays is that it
may not be practical to enjoy sightseeing after surgery,
especially if that's the doctor's advice. By venturing
out of a sterile hospital environment you may be
exposed to bacteria which could reduce your recovery
time. According to Medhekar, this is a problem for
those who undergo quite invasive surgery, but some
might be quite willing to take the risk for the chance to
experience the eastern culture. And it seems many are
doing just that.
Anita Medhekar is interested in talking to people
who have travelled overseas as medical tourists for
her research. Contact: a.medhekar@cqu.edu.au
Or share your experiences via Friends of Be
Magazine (group) on Facebook.
Issue 12

30
Be here: Eungella
AROUND CENTRAL QUEENSLAND
Land of the
Clouds
by Jeannette Delamoir
“Insure your life … Write your will.” This
advice was given in February 1891 to Travelling
Reporter, a journalist for the Brisbane Courier,
when he enquired in Mackay about travelling
to Eungella, the newest Queensland goldfield.
“There was quite a consensus of opinion,”
he wrote, “regarding the difficulty of reaching the
recently opened mining township”. Even today’s
vehicles make a slow ascent up the Clarke Range,
but arriving at a lush, cool world makes the climb
worthwhile.
Whereabouts
The village of Eungella, 80 kilometres west of Mackay, is
over 100 metres above sea level. With an average annual
rainfall of 2000mm, it overlooks the Pioneer Valley –
that is, when not shrouded by mist. Its name comes
from the Wiri people – the area’s traditional owners –
and means ‘land where cloud lies over mountains’.
The township itself perches on the edge of an
escarpment, surrounded by the Eungella National Park
and several state forests.
Dense subtropical and
tropical rainforests smother How to Spot Platypus
rugged gorges and steep
A trip to Broken River, at just
the right time, may catch you
slopes.
a glimpse of Eungella’s furry,
Travelling Reporter in water inhabitants.
1891 described Eungella as a Platypus are shy creatures, but
“lovely spot” on the Broken with some patience you’ll get a
peak at these amazing mammals.
River, “alive with life –
Here are some tips to improve your
quivering with beautiful chances.
plant life, insect life,
Look during dusk and dawn, or on
and bird life”. Eungella
a cloudy day.
National Park boasts 860 Don’t just glance at the water
plant species and 225 kinds
– platypus can hold their
breath for up to 10 minutes –
of birds, including the
you’ll need to wait a while.
recently discovered Eungella Check for bubbles and stirred up mud
Honeyeater. Even the
– they scurry for food on the bottom.
normally shy platypus makes Check for concentric rings in the water –
reliable appearances in the these are often the first thing to see before
Broken River.
the platypus appears.
Issue 12
Look off the Broken River platform or under
the traffic bridge – these are regular spots to see
platypus.
People and Property
Amidst this natural splendour, about 125 people live
in Eungella itself, with another 300 or so in small
communities: Broken River, Crediton, Dalrymple
Heights and Eungella Dam. Median age is 47, a full 10
years older than the Australian median and nine years
older than Queensland’s.
Median family income is low, at $710 per week
(Australia’s median family income is $1,171,
Queensland’s $1,154), although it is likely that these
figures don’t reflect the true joy of living here.
The 2006 census records 66 residences, 52 of which
are inhabited. There are few new houses, and many of
the unpretentious homes are semi-rural, with property
sizes ranging between one and 10 acres. Median price
is $300,000 (although there are so few sales that this
figure is considered an unreliable statistic).
An eco-friendly time-share holiday home
development in the rainforest is also planned.
What goes on here
The new goldfield of 1891 had five public houses and
no church. However,
Travelling Reporter
added, “The people are
most orderly and very
hospitable”. The township
already had a school and
plans for a miners’ reading
room.
Before long, however,
the gold that promised
to transform Eungella
into one of “the leading
mining townships in
Australia” – as Pyrites
claimed in the Brisbane
Courier of December 30
1889 – gave way to logging
and dairying. Other
crops were attempted and
according to the Courier
Mail of September 22 1933,

31
Queensland’s Minister for Agriculture announced a
tea‐growing experiment.
The town today offers tourists refreshments or
accommodation at the Broken River Mountain Resort,
Eungella Chalet and Eungella Holiday Park. Food can
also be found at Broken River Kiosk, Platypus Takeaway,
Possum’s Table Restaurant and Angies Homemade
Ice‐cream.
The area attracts creative people whose work connects
deeply with the environment. Carol and Arthur Rosser
are potters and conservationists whose kilns are fired
with local, sustainably harvested wood; Murray Cockings
weaves lawyer canes; and Owen of ORB Timbers uses
fallen timbers to craft high-quality furniture.
No longer are people’s souls neglected: the Eungella
Uniting Church now takes care of them.
With determined energy, residents actively promote
their area and enterprises through the Eungella
Community Development Association and Eungella
Business Group.
Eungella also participates in a unique community
festival, River Rocks to Mountain Top, which every May
unites a number of Pioneer Valley townships.
Schooling
The Eungella State School may have only about 42
enrolments, but the students have won a swag of
awards: the region’s 2008 Lets Get Physical Award;
Environmental Protection Award; Remondis Resource
Recovery Award, and the MacAir Airlines School Spirit
Award. The principal won the Allan Phillips World Peace
Trust Individual Outstanding Accomplishment Award.
The nearest high school is at Mirani.
Sports
The natural environment inspires a range of sporting
activities. The Mackay Highlands Great Walk – a threeto-five-day,
50-kilometre walk – begins at Eungella, but
other, shorter walks present differing challenges.
On Eungella Dam or the river, water sports include
windsurfing, sailing, canoeing or fishing (with a
licence), while paragliding and hang-gliding give
bird’s-eye views of the valley.
Views of the Pioneer Valley from Eungella. Inset: 1935 Chrysler
Plymouth at Pease's Lookout on Eungella Range.
CQUniversity connection
Wayne Ah-Wong, in his Masters of Communication
Living between cultures: Reflections of three Mackay elders:
Aboriginal, Torres Strait Island and South Sea Island residents in
Mackay from the 1930s to 2000, writes that his father, who
was of Aboriginal descent and from Mossman in North
Queensland, worked in Eungella’s timber industry
during the 1950s.
Last words
Pyrites, writing in the Brisbane Courier, December 30
1889, said that doctors were not needed in Eungella
because the climate was so healthy: “It is tolerably cool
even near to midsummer”.
Win a Eungella Getaway
Be magazine is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a
fabulous eco-stay at Broken River Mountain Retreat at Eungella in
Queensland, just an hour’s drive from Mackay. You and a friend will
stay 2 nights in a Platypus Lodge Studio Unit, just footsteps away
from the ‘world’s best location to see platypus in the wild’. You
could enjoy strolling through the rainforest, watching platypus
feeding at sunset or just relaxing in the serene ambience of the
Eungella National Park. But that’s not all, you will also receive
a meal voucher from the Eungella Chalet, where you will enjoy
fabulous food at a magnificent location. The Chalet offers both
indoor and outdoor restaurant areas and an all weather viewing
deck of the Pioneer Valley.
How to enter: Join the Friends of Be
Magazine (group) on Facebook and post a
memory (words or photo) about your favourite
Australian holiday or a brief note about why you
should win this prize.
Competition Closes: COB September 21, 2011.
NB. Voucher must be used before November 30, 2011.
Competition is not open to
CQUniversity staff members or
their immediate families.
www.brokenrivermr.com.au
www.eungellachalet.com.au
Issue 12

32
Be: Supportive
A sporting
chance
Photo: Marc Barnbaum
“I've walked in their shoes.
I've been in situations when
I was younger where I've
either needed a hug or a
kick up the bum, or both."
A new gym program is helping troubled teens get back on the straight and
narrow, discovers Marc Barnbaum.
John Harbin’s blue-grey eyes flicker across the
gymnasium. His gaze is kind but piercing, in equal
measure, as he watches young men challenge
themselves on the rowing machines and weights.
Lean or muscular, tall or short, they’ve all been sent to John
for the same reason; they’ve been in trouble with the law and
need a special sort of guidance to turn their life around.
John says he’s not just applying his talents as a teacher or as
a sports psychologist or professional coach. “I’ve walked in their
shoes. I’ve been in situations when I was younger where I’ve
either needed a hug or a kick up the bum, or both,” he says.
“I try and make sure they are turning up when they are
supposed to and not pretending to be at other youth agencies.”
Earlier this year, John’s Carpe Diem Gym Program for troubled
teens featured in a Morning Bulletin special investigation entitled
‘Our Kids in Crisis’, focusing on an apparent surge in youth crime
in the regional city of Rockhampton. The investigation has been
prompted by seemingly endless reports about alleged vandalism,
robberies and bashings, and young gangs roaming the streets late
at night.
Some local figures have blamed Indigenous males for most of
the crime, John says his experience shows there are also plenty of
females involved as well as children from ‘well-off’ white families.
One 16-year-old boy who admits being involved in street
fighting reported that the program has given him direction
and stability in his life, including the incentive to get fit for his
football team.
John reports that, after 18 months, four kids from the
program have jobs, one is studying at university, 12 have gone
back to school and others have been diverted from crime.
The Carpe Diem Gym Program is now based at the
CQUniversity Rockhampton Campus Gymnasium, where it gives
troubled teens the chance to turn their lives around.
Darumbal Community Youth Service has thanked the
University for hosting up to 80 young people referred by CQ
Youth Justice Centre, secondary schools and concerned parents
and guardians.
When working with the young people, John draws on his
teaching, psychology and coaching background. He has worked
professionally as a coach for leading football (soccer) and rugby
league teams in England and is now coaching teams in the
Rockhampton region.
At first glance, the program is about health and fitness, with
a bit of maths as well. However, the prime benefit is providing
discipline and boundaries, while showing troubled teenagers
ways to overcome obstacles.
“We can demonstrate concepts; if a weight seems too heavy,
it can be shifted by getting help or by reducing the weight of
stress involved. If you smoke and drink your response times will
suffer the next day.”
John says the program has become more viable since moving
to the Rockhampton campus this year.
Darumbal CEO Margaret Hornagold says many of the young
people referred to the Carpe Diem Gym Program have struggled
with anger management, depression and loss of motivation and
identity. “The program has assisted them with refocusing on
their lives and their goals.
“John Harbin is a motivational sports leader who has brought
a wealth of experience back to Central Queensland based on his
work in the United Kingdom. Feedback and evaluations show
the program is working and enabling young people to be more
settled in their school environment and fosters self belief.”
Issue 12

Be: Inspired
33
Behind the pages
While CQUniversity celebrates the longevity of its literary
magazine, Idiom 23, Lynda Hawryluk shares about the
tireless work of its founding editor Dr Liz Huf.
Photo: Peter Lawrence
Dr Liz Huf’s involvement with Idiom 23
literary magazine stretches back
to its inception in 1987, and her
influence and encouragement
ensures its ongoing relevance and success.
Encouraged by the late Professor David
Myers, this intrepid documentarian and journalist
helped found and edit the original magazine with
a group of eager creative writing students at the
then Capricornia Institute. The magazine was
initially called Yapunya, then renamed a year later
as Idiom 23 for the Tropic of Capricorn, where Liz
has lived since arriving with family in tow
from Victoria in the 1960s.
Idiom 23 has survived and indeed
flourished through the various
incarnations of what we now know
as CQUniversity. Liz in particular has
worked tirelessly to ensure Central
Queensland’s writers, artists and
photographers are provided with
an outlet to demonstrate the rich
variety of arts-related activities in
the region.
Idiom 23 provides much more
than a magazine; it represents a
plethora of opportunity for students
and aspiring writers of all kinds. The
Idiom 23 collective has produced
a magazine for over 20 years,
administered the Bauhinia Literary
Awards and organised successful
writers’ workshops in several
locations, including Pumpkin
and North Keppel Islands
and the rainforest of Byfield.
The combined activities
of the magazine provided
community engagement
opportunities long before
the University made it one
of its core goals.
In 2005, Liz
was one of the first
colleagues I met upon
commencement at
CQUniversity, and to
say she has provided
me with boundless
opportunities
and encouragement is an understatement.
Under her generous guidance I was fortunate
enough to act in the role of Writer in Residence
on North Keppel Island, and have now taken
over the reins of the annual writers’ workshop.
The magazine is still a priority and while Liz
takes the lead on editorial direction, she is never
too busy to neglect the other activities of the
Idiom 23 collective. Her advice and support at every
level of organisation for the writers’ workshops
keeps them fresh and relevant, not to mention
running smoothly.
Together, Liz and I have seen the magazine,
workshops and collective grow, with Idiom 23’s
online profile at http://idiom23.cqu.edu.au/
garnering support and interest at the regional,
state and national level. Attendees to the annual
workshop come from all walks of life, from as far
away as Ireland, and as close by as Rockhampton.
From the initial writing students who
assisted with Yapunya to the legions of writers
who have submitted their writing to the
Bauhinia Literary Awards’ judges, the collective
under Liz’s tenacious direction has provided
incredible opportunities for regional writers.
This was one of the initial goals for Idiom 23, and it
has been achieved countless times through the
respected awards, with local writers prominent
among the honourees.
Professor Myers’ brief to Liz back in 1987
was a fairly simple idea: utilise student skills
to produce a magazine to provide a voice to
Central Queensland writers. Both of these
mirror concepts that CQUniversity is now
forging strong ties to, and attempting to
champion: those of work integrated learning
and community engagement. Students still
assist with the editing and design of Idiom23,
and the success of the workshops, coupled
with their popularity and position within the
writing community of the Central Queensland
region, demonstrates their effectiveness as a
community engagement opportunity.
From that simple suggestion we have
the ongoing legacy that is Idiom 23: a long and
successful tradition of writing and publishing at
CQUniversity. That Idiom 23 continues to thrive is
due in no small part to the energy and enthusiasm
of Dr Liz Huf.
Watch an interview with Liz Huf on
Youtube at:
youtube.com/user/CQUninews
Issue 12

34
Be: Partnership
Building
sustainable
communities
An Australian mining giant is funding non-mining scholarships in a unique
project with CQUniversity, writes Tamsen Clifford-Banks
Managing the impacts of mining growth on its
communities is a priority for many of Australia’s
large mining organisations. However, for BHP
Billiton Mitsui Coal Pty Ltd (BMC), this is a
commitment they take seriously; working to ensure they are
promoting healthy, strong and sustainable communities, equipped
with the resilience to change by understanding community needs.
This emphasis on working harmoniously with their community
is a principle shared by CQUniversity, and provides the foundation
for a beneficial and successful partnership.
In December last year, BMC undertook a community
needs assessment to determine issues relevant to the
Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac regions. The results showed
accommodation, skills shortages particularly in non-mining fields,
and managing impacts of mining growth were critical issues for the
community. Also as part of this process education was identified as
one of the region’s strengths.
To help develop strategies to address these areas of concern,
the BMC Education Initiative Advisory Group was developed.
Comprising three BMC leaders and three community opinion
leaders, the group set out to develop the first of its projects to
address regional challenges through education and training
initiatives. The BMC Building My Career Scholarships were created.
The five-year scholarship partnership with CQUniversity,
which is valued at $1.1 million, encourages students to participate
in education by eliminating what is perceived to be one of the major
roadblocks for students in and around Mackay in participating in
tertiary education – accommodation. Scholarship winners will
be selected based on their intention to remain in the area after
graduation and give back to the communities in which they live, as
well as their prior academic achievements.
Offered to first year CQUniversity students residing in the
Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac regions, who are commencing
their studies in 2012, it will provide students with modern ensuite,
motel style accommodation units or ‘pods’ throughout their
studies at CQUniversity Mackay, including full board during the
academic term. This allows students to stay close to their families,
in a safe and secure environment, where they can concentrate
on their studies without the financial strain of renting private
accommodation. The scholarship will provide encouragement and
support to students as they gain the skills that will have a direct
benefit to the region.
The benefits of the scholarship will continue long after the
students graduate, and will have long term benefits for the region
and the community, by injecting professional skills into the area.
The scholarship is an unusual offering in some ways for a
mining company, as it is specifically offered to students wishing to
undertake non-mining careers that are deemed as being of benefit
to the region.
BMC Asset President and Chair of the Advisory Group Michael
Rosengren says BMC acknowledges that accommodation, skills
shortages and sustaining rural populations are key community
concerns in the greater Mackay region.
“Often the cost of living away from home, relating to rent and
other expenses is prohibitive, and the desire to study often loses out
in the battle against high paying roles available to school leavers,”
says Michael.
“These scholarships will enable students wishing to study in
non-mining skills areas such as teaching and nursing to access their
local world-class university with minimal impact to their budget.”
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) CQUniversity and Head of
Campus Mackay, Pierre Viljoen says the partnership will provide
benefits for multiple parties. “This productive partnership with
BMC, is a great example of CQUniversity engaging with industry
and the community in a collaborative relationship which will
provide mutually beneficial outcomes, for BMC, CQUniversity and
most importantly for the Mackay region.”
Issue 12

GRADUATE/ALUMNI BENEFITS
CQUniversity AUSTRALIA
CRICOS Provider Codes: QLD 00219C, NSW 01315F, VIC 01624D
CO12863
In support of our graduates’ careers, we are delighted to
provide a range of benefits and initiatives:
• Library Access (electronic databases and catalogues)
• Career Development Service
• Graduate/Alumni Discount Study Program
• Be Magazine
• Bi-monthly E-newsletter
• Social Networking (Facebook and Twitter)
• Networking Opportunities
• Assistance with keeping in touch with friends/
classmates
Over time, new benefits will be created, so it is important
to ‘be connected’ and to keep your details up-to-date to
receive information about the new benefits, which have
been especially created for our graduates.
Contact details can be updated online.
For further information, visit the official graduate/alumni website:
www.graduates.cqu.edu.au.
BE CONNECTED. BE INVOLVED. FOR LIFE.
BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE
13CQUni 13 27 86
www.cquni.edu.au