{"id":361816,"date":"2025-06-22T16:44:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T06:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=361816"},"modified":"2025-06-23T10:45:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T00:45:58","slug":"a-new-direction-for-sbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/06\/22\/a-new-direction-for-sbo\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Direction For SBO"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"June 22, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Anne Miller<\/strong><\/p>\n

Can you believe it? South Burnett Online – www.southburnett.com.au<\/a><\/strong> – has been running for 25 years!<\/p>\n

And until September last year, Dafyd Martindale was faithfully at the helm, day in and day out, writing news stories, updating code and keeping the Daily Calendar ticking over.<\/p>\n

In fact, he phoned me to correct a typo in a news story from his hospital bed, only a day or so before he died.<\/p>\n

SBO was truly Dafyd’s baby, as I only came on board full-time in 2012.<\/p>\n

We had discussed post-retirement succession strategies for some time, opting for a not-for-profit model so that SBO could continue in some form.<\/p>\n

Dafyd’s untimely death brought that decision forward.<\/p>\n

I unveiled the new structure at the KCCI’s meet’n’greet in Kingaroy last week.<\/p>\n

Here is my speech, which explains the history of SBO and how to become a member of the new association:<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s some big changes happening at South Burnett Online …<\/strong><\/p>\n

But first a bit of history:<\/p>\n

South Burnett Online was founded in September 1999 by the South Burnett Local Government Association with support from the Networking the Nation program of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, the Tarong Coal Community Development Fund, Australian Cybermalls, and burnett.net.au.<\/p>\n

It also received valuable support from the Queensland Department of State Development and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources in Canberra.<\/p>\n

The community-based project was fostered by then-SBLGA economic development manager Cameron Bisley.<\/p>\n

Its mission was to:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Promote the economic growth and development of the South Burnett region<\/p>\n

2. Assist the region’s world-class exporting businesses expand their markets<\/p>\n

3. Spread knowledge about how to conduct effective online business as widely as possible through our local communities; and<\/p>\n

4. Provide a genuine local online service to South Burnett residents.<\/p>\n

SBO began operating on the Internet on March 14, 2000, and was corporatised on January 1, 2001.<\/p>\n

The sale by the SBLGA to Dafyd Martindale was on condition (listed in the contract) that SBO run the SBLGA’s own website for five years and must “at all times use its best endeavours through South Burnett Online” to facilitate:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Strengthening of the small business base of the South Burnett region<\/p>\n

2. Fostering extra-regional interest in the South Burnett<\/p>\n

3. Marketing the South Burnett region and its products to the world at large; and<\/p>\n

4. Developing intra-regional communication and trade.<\/p>\n

Dafyd did this for much more than the specified five years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He supported the ongoing development of SBO with his work as webmaster for the Rosalie, Nanango, Kingaroy, Wondai, Murgon, Kilkivan, Jondaryan and Cambooya shire councils as well as building and updating websites for several South Burnett companies.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the Council work dried up almost overnight with the Council amalgamations in 2008.<\/p>\n

My business, AM Publishing, had been working with Dafyd on other projects, including writing and maintaining a website for a large local company. When that decade-long contract ended in 2011, we began to formulate plans to amalgamate our businesses and relaunch South Burnett Online.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t that big a stretch to think about full-time news, as I was a journalist and our individual websites had been running “news briefs” for some time.<\/p>\n

SBO was relaunched as an online newspaper on April 2, 2012 … at a KCCI meet’n’greet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The design of South Burnett Online has changed many times over the years \u2026 and now the way it will be run into the future is also changing.<\/p>\n

Dafyd and I had been discussing the future of SBO for some time and had landed on the idea of creating a not-for-profit association, ie. handing it back to the community from whence it came.<\/p>\n

We felt there was just too much history collected over the past 25 years to simply switch it off.<\/p>\n

Dafyd’s death last September just hastened this process.<\/p>\n

So … tonight, at another KCCI meet’n’greet, we are unveiling the new not-for-profit association, already incorporated and open for membership.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have a management committee in place and already have signed up some members.<\/p>\n

This membership will guide the future of SBO.<\/p>\n

It’s success and longevity is now up to all of you …<\/p>\n

Interested in becoming a member of the new not-for-profit association? Contact the Secretary by email<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

All membership applications must be approved by the management committee.<\/p>\n