September 7, 2016
A torch relay for the 2016 Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games will pass through Kingaroy’s CBD on October 4 … and local residents have been encouraged to come out and cheer it along.
The Australasian Police & Emergency Services Games is a biennial “Olympics” for police and law enforcement officers and emergency services such as the fire brigade, ambulance service, surf lifesavers, rural firefighters and SES volunteers.
Competitors will be coming from all over Australia and New Zealand to the Sunshine Coast for the event, which will run from October 8-15.
Sports range from AFL and T20 cricket to trap shooting, lawn bowls, golf, equestrian events and dragon boat racing.
It has been 14 years since the Games were last held in Queensland.
The torch relay to launch the event will begin in Brisbane on October 3, and then pass through Esk, Kingaroy, Bundaberg, Maryborough, Gympie and Caloundra to finish on October 8 at the Sunshine Coast.
The Kingaroy leg will begin at the Kingaroy Police Station at noon on Tuesday, October 4, and then proceed up Alford Street to Glendon Street, up Glendon Street to Haly Street, along Haly Street to William Street, and then down William Street to Alford Street before finishing at the Kingaroy school oval.
The torch will be greeted at the oval by an honour guard of students from the Kingaroy Special Education Unit as well as a display of emergency service vehicles.
Streets in the Kingaroy CBD will be briefly blocked as the torch relay passes by.
There are several entrants from the South Burnett planning to take part in this year’s games.
Kingaroy is the only town in the South Burnett that is scheduled to host a torch relay event.
