September 18, 2026
The Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s September meet’n’greet was so popular that guests packed the KCCI’s Hub building in Kingaroy, spilling out into Kingaroy Street.
Almost 100 local businesspeople attended the event which featured guest speakers from Tarong Power Station owners Stanwell – which is in the middle of a maintenance overhaul for generating Unit 3 – and Golding, which took over operation of the Meandu coal mine earlier this year.
Stanwell site services manager Scott Tucker said the 11-week Unit 3 outage started on August 21 and was expected to end on November 6.
Planning for the shutdown started about 18 months ago.
Mr Tucker said about $62.5 million would be spent on Unit 3 over the 11 weeks as well as $30 million on other projects at the same time.
About 500 extra personnel had come to site, including tradespeople and technical support; and about 50 contractors and suppliers had been engaged.
Some other statistics from the outage:
- About 200,000 hours of work
- About 600 tonnes of scaffolding erected
- 3 tonnes of welding materials
- 300sq m of replacement steel plate
- About 2km of replacement angle bar, flat bar and channel steel
Mr Tucker said local engineering firms and workshops had been involved, as well an supplying supplementary labour for regular maintenance.
Other local businesses to benefit included buses, other transportation and crane hire.
An estimated $3.3 million had been budgeted for accommodation and another $3.2m for meal allowances etc.
Bakery supplies were also sourced locally and South Burnett CTC’s The Gumnut Place had received a 50 per cent boost in its laundry business.
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Stanwell acting general manager of mining operations Anthony Goodger said Meandu Mine was the sole supplier of coal to the Tarong power stations, delivering between 4.8 million tonnes and 6 million tonnes to Tarong units.
He said about 30 million cubic metres of dirt were removed every year.
Mining has now begun in the King 2 East extension.
Golding began as the mine operator on July 1 this year.
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Acting Inspector Scott Prendergast updated KCCI members on “Operation Tutela“, the Crime Stoppers program launched in Kingaroy in June this year.
He said police relied on “eyes on the street” and since Operation Tutela had been promoted, calls to Crime Stoppers had increased 52 per cent.
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Other highlights from the meet’n’greet:
- The KCCI Golf Day raised about $13, 300 to support the SMILE program
- KCCI membership renewals will come due on October 1
- The next KCCI meet’n’greet will be hosted by South Burnett CTC and Favier Building Industries at the new CTC Youth Park buildings
- Expressions of interest are invited by KCCI members to join the Executive Committee; the KCCI AGM will be held on November 17
