CANEGROWERS has written to the Federal Government, urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise the disaster recovery grant threshold to at least $75,000 for primary producers impacted by the recent flooding in north Queensland. It has been more than two weeks since the government announced recovery assistance packages of up to $25,000 for affected growers. While growers are grateful for the swift response and the inclusion of replant costs in recovery grants, reports from the ground m
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On Act of Kindness Day, Ayr State Primary School was privileged to receive a heartfelt and thoughtful donation from Mrs Penny Ford. With creativity and compassion, Mrs Ford transformed scrap materials into stunning library bags, pencil cases, and bookmarks, providing the students with unique, handcrafted items to enhance their learning experience through reading. The donation, made from upcycled materials, not only promotes sustainability but also serves as a reminder of the power of giving. Ea
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Nineteen new apprentices have kicked off their careers with Wilmar Sugar and Renewables. The new recruits are based in the Burdekin region, where Wilmar owns four sugar factories. The apprenticeships are in the electrical, fitting and turning, boilermaking and diesel fitting trades. Wilmar Sugar and Renewables Training Superintendent Daniel Shipard said he was pleased to welcome such a high-calibre group of first-year apprentices into the business. “Wilmar Sugar and Renewables has a long hist
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Federal Member for Dawson Andrew Willcox believes that residents in the electorate of Dawson have again been let down by the Government when it comes to the Bruce Highway being upgraded. He states that Queenslanders were promised $7.2 billion in funding by the Prime Minister to fix the notoriously dangerous highway. However, in evidence to the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport estimates hearings on Monday, department officials confirmed that just $432 million would be spent on th
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Home Hill-Ayr Lions Club hosted the club’s Youth of the Year Final on Monday 25 February. Four talented students from Home Hill High School submitted applications addressing a range of criteria about their academic results, their school and community involvement, and their aspirations for the future. On Monday afternoon, the judging panel interviewed them separately. This component is worth 70 marks. That night, at a dinner at the Crown Hotel, the judges, teachers, family members and Lions and
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Simon Hood Wilmar Manager Grower Marketing February was a positive month for prices with growers using the rally to tidy up 2024 season Target and GMPRS pricing. Additionally, with 2025 season prices breaking through $650/t, there has been increased scale up selling from Target price growers. There is, however, still plenty of 2025 pricing to go with only about 25 per cent of Target prices locked in at this point. The rally has also allowed our 2024 season pools to be forecasting higher retur
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Almost $600,000 had been committed to help state schools in the Burdekin turn the tide on poor behaviour according to Member for Burdekin, Dale Last MP. The funding, which is in addition to existing funding, will allow schools to tailor solutions focussed on tackling poor behaviour and lifting education outcomes. “This funding is not only about making our schools safer to help improve attendance rates and education standards, it is also about backing our local principals and teachers,” Mr Last
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I attended the Industry Breakfast on 26th February with my fellow Councillors. It was a very interesting breakfast. Mick Theobold from Rio Tinto came along and gave a very interesting talk about the Pongamia Farms project. Rio Tinto are developing seed farms in Australia as part of a new biofuels project. They have partnered with Midway Limited to oversee the planting and management of the Pongamia seed farms in the Townsville and Burdekin areas. I also attended the launch of the Sweet Days Ho
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Emergency Relief Program BCA provides financial and material assistance for adults experiencing personal, family, relationship and/or financial issues. The Service assists adults and children with basic needs in times of financial hardship, through the provision of: Food parcels Toiletries Vouchers (food, clothes, chemist, transport) Prepaid cards Payment of third-party accounts Please note that a Centrelink Income Statement is required unless you are affected by dom
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The Burdekin Shire Council hosted its first Industry Breakfast for 2025 on Wednesday 26 February at the Burdekin Theatre. With a receptive and large crowd who all turned up for the 7am start, they got to hear some great talks all while having a warm cooked breakfast. Providing local businesses with key insights into emerging opportunities and developments in the region, the breakfast brought together industry leaders and business representatives for a morning of networking and knowledge-sharing
Read moreCANEGROWERS has written to the Federal Government, urging Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise the disaster recovery grant threshold to at least $75,000 for primary producers impacted by the recent flooding in north Queensland. It has been more than two weeks since the government announced recovery assistance packages of up to $25,000 for affected growers. While growers are grateful for the swift response and the inclusion of replant costs in recovery grants, reports from the ground
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The Home Hill Choral Society is back for more fun in 2025, with their first show this year entitled, Shamrock Shindig. We sat down with Erin Brennan, the show’s writer and director, to find out what the audience can expect in what is always a hoot! “We will be featuring Irish songs, typical ones, you know such as: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling; If You're Irish, Come To The Parlour, and many more. And of course we’ll have jokes. There's lots of jokes that I've found over the years. I always find j
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Recently a beautiful and rare china tea set, which depicts the Ayr Council Chambers and the Ayr Post Office, made its way to a local radio station. The station is calling on any Burdekin historians or those who might be familiar with the family that donated them, to come forward and help solve a mystery. “They were sent to Pat Lawson via Victor Cecchin. The Cecchin's had a service station back in the day before they sold it to Romeo motors. After that, I believe it was demolished to become Wool
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Friday 7 March Creedence Clearwater Collective Friday 7:30pm The community is invited to a night of celebrating the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival and John Fogerty from the songs they wrote, to the songs covered to the songs they wrote for others. Tickets can be purchase on the Burdekin Theatre’s website. Burdekin Theatre Sunday 8 March BBQ Breakfast Sunday 8am The community is invited to attend the Burdekin Aero Club Inc. Monthly BBQ Breakfast at the Ayr Aerodrome from 8am to 11am. Meet
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Friday 28th February (Night Bowls) ** Under slightly cooler conditions we all had a great evening at Brandon Bowls Club with 13 players venturing onto the green. Winners of the evening were Lloyd Shepherd, Jayson Farry, and Jamie Woods over Margaret McLaughlan, Margaret Chapman, Peter Legarraga, and Joe Yipnazar. In the other game of triples Ben Mills, Ross McLaughlan, and Ray Paneccasio, defeated Dave Sheehan, Lyn Storrie, and Gary Pearce. Sunday 2nd March Under very hot and extreme conditi
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Hot conditions greeted our teams on Saturday for Round 13 of the Home Hill Senior Cricket competition. Alliance Pharmacy v Peto Marine Alliance Pharmacy won the toss and chose to bat. Lee Watts led the way with 35 runs from 57 balls, supported by 18 runs from both Kane Batchelor and Mark Spalding. Alliance finished with a total of 5/132. The chase from Peto Marine was lead by Brad Parravicini, who retired not out on 50 runs from 31 balls, and consolidated by Greg Flanagan’s 50 not out from 24
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Thankfully, Cyclone Alfred has slowly moved on from the Burdekin, though it continues to tease the Queensland coast. While we’ve had significant rainfall, it’s amazing how quickly life has returned to normal. In true Burdekin fashion, our farmers are already back to watering their crops - just another example of the adaptability of our community. This week, we also celebrate International Women’s Day, a time to reflect on the incredible contributions of women throughout history and the ongoing j
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Our year started off this weekend with our annual sign-on and coaching session for new members. We also had our regular juniors turn up to refresh those skills and play a few holes, mainly to get rid of the cobwebs on their clubs after a couple of months off! A wonderful morning was had for the Ayr Juniors sign on this Saturday. Tara Jenkins joined us to teach many basic golf skills to our juniors with some familiar faces from last year, and many news ones too, which was great to see. It looked
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The Centre is excited to introduce Maddy Darley, who is our new Community Development Officer. Maddy has hit the ground running and is heading up our new community project: Charge Up! Charge Up! has received funding from the Queensland Government through the Enable Grants Program. This project is a collaboration involving QCOSS (Queensland Council of Social Service), NCQ (Neighbourhood Centres Queensland), and various Neighbourhood Centres across Queensland. Charge Up! aims to help households
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Regional Queensland, Australia – Songs from the Reef are extending applications until March 10. This exciting community songwriting program is for emerging songwriters living along Queensland’s stunning reef, from Townsville to Mackay. Regional Queensland music makers will take their creativity to new heights with mentorship, community, and a chance to perform at QLD Music Trails – The Reef. Starting in April, 20 songwriters will join a 10-week online program with I Heart Songwriting Club, to s
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When Lui Populin and his brother, Peter, who were second generation cane farmers developed the Populin Automatic Cane Planter, it forever changed the cane industry worldwide. Fast forward some 50 years, and their popular invention is now on display at the Lions Diorama in Home Hill, to commemorate this once revolutionary machine. “We had an ordinary planter with a chute, where we would sit at the back and the bin was in the front and we'd get the billets and throw them down like that. I said,
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The Burdekin Shire Council officially launched the Sweet Days, Hot Nights Festival on Tuesday, with guests and sponsors treated to a wonderful evening. Planning for the 2025 Sweet Days Hot Nights Festival is well underway, with several local suppliers and stakeholders keen to take part in one the Burdekin’s premier destination events. Major Sponsor Lachlan Sturt from Pacific Blue spoke to the audience on the night, sharing his appreciation for local cultural events and gratitude to the commun
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The recent floods from the Burdekin River have caused significant disruptions at the Ayr Golf Course, with water lapping up to the edges of the men’s tee on holes 3 and 16. From the 16th green, golfers are witnessing the rising waters flooding over the fairways of 3, 4, and 16. Additionally, the 13th tee has been impacted by the water flowing down 14, while it stretches across the 9th fairway as well. This is a familiar sight for the locals, as when the Burdekin River floods over Plantation Cr
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It has never been harder and more expensive to see a doctor, especially in regional Queensland under this failing Labor government. Many GP’s are moving away from bulk billing because the Medicare Rebate is too low. This has resulted in more patients being charged out-of-pocket fees thanks to the Albanese Government. “Medicare bulk billing rates have dropped by 11 percent and the average out of pocket cost to see a Doctor has skyrocketed by 45 percent which is simply not good enough.” Federa
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Burdekin Life newspaper journalist and celebrated author, Mark T. Rasmussen, wowed a packed Home Hill Chamber of Commerce meeting last Wednesday at the Home Hill Community Sporting Club, as he discussed his award-winning novel, The Journey, and his own life story. The first meeting of the year for the Home Hill Chamber of Commerce proved to be a popular one, with the full house of attendees treated to a special night to hear about Mark’s novel, his writing, as well as his own journey, which inc
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