June 12, 2015
by Deb Frecklington
In the first week of June I had the opportunity to attend CRT Farmfest, one of Queensland’s premier agricultural field days.
This event is held annually at Kingsthorpe, 20km west of Toowoomba, and is now in its fourth decade.
It was an excellent opportunity to show my support for the agricultural sector in my role as the Shadow Minister for Agriculture.
But I also wanted to catch up with the many South Burnett businesses and individuals who were at Farmfest this year.
They were showcasing their products and services to the more than 60,000 farming families who visit Farmfest.
I’m happy to report that the mood at the event was extremely positive for the sector.
Many farmers in our local regions have experienced a good season this year, compared to the 80% of the state that is still in horrendous drought.
We certainly do live in a very diverse state, don’t we?
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Every Creek Needs Its ‘Friends’
It was a genuine privilege to spend some time with the Friends of Yarraman Creek recently.
This passionate and dedicated group have taken on the task of caring for their patch of Yarraman Creek, and over the past few years have made some amazing progress.
The section they’ve chosen to look after is right next to Errol Munt Park, and what was formerly an overgrown, rubbish-strewn eyesore is now so beautifully maintained that it regularly attracts tourists.
Last year this group received a State Government Everyone’s Environment Grant for just over $3,000 to help them tackle Stage 4 of their multi-stage, multi-year project.
This has allowed them to continue their goal of eradicating Class 2 and 3 weeds along the creek by replacing them with 4000 Australian native plants they’re growing from seedlings – wow!
The group’s members include Val Page, Della Clark, Colin Clark OAM, Kay Lancaster, Anthony Slade, and Scott and Susan Reilly.
I would really like to thank the Friends Of Yarraman Creek for inviting me to share some time with them and see the progress they’ve made.
On the day, the group also had their second visit from the SB Care Friendship Bus who came to spend some time in the beautiful outdoors with Yarraman Creek’s quiet achievers.
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New Services Will Help Families Stay Together
Two new services are coming to the South Burnett soon: Family and Child Connect and Intensive Family Support.
I want to highlight these services in my column because I believe they will be an invaluable service which will help keep vulnerable families together.
The services were developed as part of the former LNP Government’s commitment to overhaul Queensland’s child protection system, and the South Burnett was identified as an area which would benefit from this new service.
I would like to congratulate South Burnett CTC, who have been chosen as the local provider.
They’ll be taking on eight new staff based across Nanango, Kingaroy and Murgon, and both services will be available for local families from July 27.
Family and Child Connect will offer families an alternative.
The aim of the program is to reduce the number of unnecessary referrals to Child Safety (when the family needs assistance rather than a statutory intervention) and increase the support for families in need who have children under 18 years of age in their care or who are currently pregnant.
It will help keep families together, while offering support in the areas of parenting skills, managing child behaviour, help with violence at home, budgeting, and managing drug-related problems.
This service will also act as a referral point for people in the community such as police, doctors, nurses and teachers who may be concerned about a family.
Intensive Family Support will be offered alongside Family and Child Connect and will help families who have more complex needs.
If you would like to find out more, please call 13 FAMILY (13 32 64) to be referred to the South Burnett service.
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More Than 100 Attend Small Business Info Session
Finally, I’d like to thank the more than 100 people who attended the Small Business Information Session with guest speaker, Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg in Kingaroy on May 27.
After a brief introduction from me, Lawrence explained the context of this year’s Budget.
He explained what the Federal Government is hoping to achieve with the changes it has introduced, and he encouraged local businesses to take full advantage of them.
The floor was then thrown open for questions, and they certainly came thick and fast.
Many thanks to Susan and Peter Mortimer from Mortimer & Co who took on the technical questions!
Afterwards I’m sure many guests went off to watch the first State Of Origin match. But I’m hopeful they all left with a much better understanding of the new Budget.
If you weren’t able to attend but would like further information, please give my office a call on (07) 4162-1381.
