June 29, 2016
Great news for the Blackbutt and District Tourism and Heritage Group with their success in Round 88 of the Gambling Community Benefit Fund grants!
They have been awarded $35,000 to help them commission of a bronze statue celebrating home-grown tennis sporting hero, Roy Emerson.
It was a great moment to contact member, Hazel Christie-Small, and officially let the group know they had been successful, as I know how hard they have been working towards this goal.
BDTHG officially launched the Roy Emerson Statue project at a special luncheon in 2015. Since then they have been working tirelessly to achieve their goal to honour one of Australia’s tennis greats, in his hometown of Blackbutt.
The statue will be placed outside the recently re-named Roy Emerson Museum and will provide locals and tourists with an insight into this wonderfully talented tennis player and his connection to Blackbutt and the South Burnett.
Also announced in this round as successful grant recipients were:
- Upper Yarraman Farmers Hall – $21,700 to upgrade the facility
- Tanduringie SS P&C – $31,818 to install a timber play system
- Kingaroy Soaring Club – $12,710 to construct an outdoor shelter
- Kingaroy Rugby League Club – $30,909 to install a clubhouse awning
- Nanango Rugby League Club – $3,879 to purchase of equipment
- South Burnett Motors in Motion – $34,400 to purchase of safety barriers
- Kingaroy RSPCA – $25,124 to install a solar system
The Gambling Community Benefit Fund is available to Queensland not-for-profit organisations to help achieve key projects and fund equipment. To find out more go to www.justice.qld.gov.au/grants.
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Kingaroy Locals Do Us Proud
Two Kingaroy locals have been chosen as Darling Downs South West regional finalists through the Queensland Training Awards.
They are:
- Kingaroy Joinery – finalist in the Medium Employer of the Year category
- Thomas Hunt – finalist in the ‘Harry Hauenschild’ Apprentice of the Year (through Huston Motors)
This is a great achievement as they two out of 175 chosen from 660 applications across the state.
I’d like to sincerely congratulate Darrin Kefford and his team at Kingaroy Joinery, and Thomas Hunt from Huston Motors for reaching the finals of these prestigious awards.
These awards are a great way of demonstrating the excellent job our local businesses do and the high level of achievement they are reaching.
It is excellent for the South Burnett and we should be proud of the business talent coming from Kingaroy.
The regional finalists will go on to compete at the Darling Downs South West Regional Final Presentation Ceremony on July 22, with the winners progressing to the Queensland Training Awards in Brisbane on September 9.
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Martin Celebrates 25 Years As A JP
It was a pleasure to present Martin Hirsch of Nanango with a special certificate for achieving 25 years as a Justice of the Peace recently.
I think it is so important that we recognise local JP’s, like Martin, who dedicate so much of their time to supporting members of the community when they need help with documents, often at very important moments in their lives.
It was great to be able to thank Martin personally and present him with his certificate.
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A New Flag For Kingaroy Bowls Club
Kingaroy Bowls Club Mens President John Lacey popped in to my electorate office in Kingaroy recently.
He was there to pick up the club’s new Australian Flag that they’d ordered through my office.
This is a free service that I offer to all community groups in my Electorate.
So if your club needs a new Queensland or Australian flag, please call us on (07) 4190-7100.
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Charity Ball A Great Success
Finally, huge congratulations to Kingaroy Rotary and Kingaroy Police, and in particular to Sgt Wayne Bushell, for another amazing RACQ Careflight Ball in Kingaroy.
I was honoured to again be a part of this annual event and join with the South Burnett community to raise funds for such a great cause.
This event raised an incredible $44,000 for RACQ Careflight, and I think everyone involved deserves to be congratulated for all their hard work.
[Photos: Nanango Electorate Office and southburnett.com.au]
