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Morning Tea For Leprosy Mission

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Morning Tea For Leprosy Mission
Leprosy_Mission
Toowoomba Leprosy Mission Support group invite you to a Morning Tea on Friday 26th February at St Barts Anglican Church, Rangeville to hear about leprosy in Papua New Guinea.
In PNG recently there has been a sharp increase in leprosy cases diagnosed, some with severe disability. This is due to a lack of medical training and health education over recent years, and difficulty in accessing health care.  Health workers need training in early diagnosis, because leprosy can be cured, and disability can be prevented.
Come along to St Barts Anglican Church, 103 Stenner Street, Rangeville,  on Friday morning 26th February at 9:30am,
and hear Sheldon Rankin, CEO of The Leprosy Mission Australia. Sheldon will open your eyes to the deepening crisis situation in PNG, and how you can make a difference.
Admission is by donation towards training health workers in PNG.
 For more information phone Penny on 4635 0516.
Submitted by:
Trevor and Penny Fuelling

SEQ Mayors’ Thoughts And Prayers With Mayor Jones

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Steve JonesThe thoughts and prayers of the SEQ Mayors and the entire Council of  Mayors (SEQ) team are with Lockyer Valley Mayor Steve Jones as he remains in a critical condition at the Princess Alexandra Hospital today after suffering a stroke.

Council of Mayors (SEQ) Chair and Brisbane Lord Mayor Cr Graham Quirk shared the sentiment of his fellow Mayors in wishing Mayor Jones a full and speedy recovery, along with offering their support and assistance to the Councillors and staff of Lockyer Valley Regional Council.

“Mayor Jones has always been a strong advocate for the Lockyer Valley and communities of SEQ. He is someone who speaks his mind and stands by his convictions, and most importantly, we know he is a fighter,” said Cr Quirk. “The SEQ Mayors will continue to keep Steve and his family in our thoughts during this difficult time. We know the situation is serious but we’re all praying for Steve to keep fighting and make it through this.

“Our thoughts are also with the Councillors, staff and close knit communities of the Lockyer Valley who are no doubt devastated by this terrible news. The Council of Mayors (SEQ) continue to offer Steve, his family and Council any support or assistance they need during the challenging times ahead,” said Cr Quirk.

Mayor Steve Jones was elected as the inaugural Mayor of the Lockyer Valley Regional Council in March 2008, after serving as Mayor of the former Gatton Shire Council since 2004. Mayor Jones has been a Director of the Council of Mayors (SEQ) since its inception in 2005.

Submitted by:
Melissa Fitzgerald
Media and Communications Coordinator
Council of Mayors logo

 

Local Apprentices In Ergon 2016 Intake

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Local Apprentices In Ergon 2016 Intake

Six apprentices based in Toowoomba and one in Millmerran are among 85 apprentices and trainees in Ergon Energy’s 2016 intake.
Megan Seigmeier, Matthew Steger, Kim Major, Matthew Reis, Jacob Parkin and Jake Crisp are the new Toowoomba apprentices, while Jordan Pettman has joined the Millmerran depot crews. The seven recruits are undergoing their initial training in Toowoomba before heading to their depots, which are among 40 locations across regional Queensland to accept new apprentices this year.

New Ergon apprentices (from left) Megan Seigmeier, Matthew Steger, Kim Major, Matthew Reis, Jordan Pettman, Jacob Parkin and Jake Crisp.
New Ergon apprentices (from left) Megan Seigmeier, Matthew Steger, Kim Major, Matthew Reis, Jordan Pettman, Jacob Parkin and Jake Crisp.

Isaac Volker and Michael Markey (Dalby), Henry Tardent and Ben Ridge (Roma), Adam Upton (St George) and Duncan McNair (Charleville) also have secured Ergon apprenticeships this year and are undergoing their initial training in Rocklea.
Acting Chief Executive Roslyn Baker said the induction of 85 apprentices and trainees this month demonstrated Ergon’s commitment to providing regional Queensland with a safe and reliable electricity network now and in the future.

“It’s vital we continue to teach and pass on the front-line expertise and skills now and into the future to deliver a safe, reliable and affordable electricity supply to customers,” Ms Baker said. “Just a year ago, we saw the importance of having a highly trained workforce when our company responded to Cyclone Marcia.” More than 900 field staff from Ergon and other agencies worked for almost a fortnight to restore power to about 65,000 customers early in 2015.

“Most of our crews begin their careers in the industry as apprentices, just like this year’s intake, and the value and reliance the community places on their work soon becomes apparent in times of natural disasters,” Ms Baker said. She congratulated the 2016 inductees for their success in attaining a position with Ergon from a quality field of about 2200 applicants and wished them a rewarding career.

“The apprentices come from a diverse range of backgrounds, including eight indigenous applicants, 17 females breaking into the traditionally male-dominated roles and a  good proportion of mature-age candidates, as well as school-leavers,” she said.  “The newest recruits will gain skills such as communications technicians, distribution linespersons, systems electricians and transmission linespersons.

“Some of the new recruits will embark on tertiary studies for either an associate degree or advanced diploma qualification while undertaking their usual apprenticeship training.” Ms Baker said the apprentices include six employees from around the state who had successfully sought an apprenticeship to further their careers.

She said many of the recruits would work and train in their home towns, meaning they could gain valuable skills in a trade while continuing to contribute to their local community. All new apprentices receive health, safety and environmental awareness training as part of their induction before undergoing three to eight weeks of technical training, depending on their trade.

Submitted by:
Rod Rehbein
Corporate Communications Manager – Southern
Ergon Energy

 

USQ Assists Senate Revenge Porn Inquiry

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USQ Assists Senate Revenge Porn Inquiry

University of Southern (USQ) Queensland researcher Dr Jenny Ostini will be giving evidence this week to the Federal Government’s first Senate Inquiry into the phenomenon of revenge porn.

Along with USQ colleague Dr Susan Hopkins, Dr Ostini is a recognised expert in the area of technology violence in intimate-partner relationships, and said she hopes the government’s inquiry will shed some light into a dark area.

“People can lose their jobs, and have relationships with friends and family destroyed through revenge porn. As a society, we need to look at our laws and our services, and see if they can adequately address what’s happening,” Dr Ostini said.

“I would like to urge the government to fund some research into getting a handle on the scope and the prevalence of revenge porn because we know it’s out there, but we know so little about it.”

Revenge porn typically involves the non-consensual sharing of inappropriate images and recordings taken or accessed during a relationship being made available on the internet, including social media. Sometimes it involves images taken entirely without the owner’s knowledge or consent.

It can also involve the posting of inaccurate or harmful information, including people’s contact details, sexual preferences and activities, and may have links to physical as well as virtual violence.

USQ's Dr Jenny Ostini (far left) is working on digital safety strategies for communities and is pictured with (from left) Queensland Police officers Wendy O'Neill and Nadine Webster, Ipswich City Council Mayoress Janet Pisasale and USQ's Dr Susan Hopkins
USQ’s Dr Jenny Ostini (far left) is working on digital safety strategies for communities and is pictured with (from left) Queensland Police officers Wendy O’Neill and Nadine Webster, Ipswich City Council Mayoress Janet Pisasale and USQ’s Dr Susan Hopkins

Dr Ostini was invited to join the inquiry’s academic panel by the office of Queensland Senator Glenn Lazarus, which became aware of Dr Ostini and Dr Hopkins’ research into technology violence in relationships through an article they jointly published on The Conversation website.

Dr Ostini said education about the risks of being either the victim or the perpetrator of revenge porn need to be spelled out to children as well as adults. “Our work within the community has identified that there are some 10-year-olds out there getting involved in sharing inappropriate images, and they need to know that even if they are under 16, they can get a criminal record for taking these images of themselves or other people.”

Dr Ostini will be participating in the inquiry on Thursday (February 18), when Dr Hopkins will concurrently be presenting at the Respectful Relationships: Education as Violence Prevention forum being hosted by True (formerly Family Planning Queensland) in Brisbane.

“We need to be thinking and talking about it because, no matter what you might think, nothing is private online, and we need to understand the role technology plays in contemporary relationships.”

Dr Ostini was last year named as one of the inaugural Advance Queensland Community Digital Champions for her work in supporting community groups to use technology to fight domestic violence.

The Senate Inquiry into revenge porn is due to lodge its report on February 25.

Submitted by:
Liz Wells, email: elizabeth.wells@usq.edu.au
Rhianwen Whitney, email: rhianwen.whitney@usq.edu.au
University of Southern Queensland

Member For Groom To Quit Politics

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Ian McFarlaneSenior government MP Ian Macfarlane has announced his retirement as the polling gap tightens between the Coalition and Labor.

The veteran Queensland MP has decided not to contest his seat of Groom at the next election after 18 years in parliament, nine of which he spent as a minister.

Five Liberal MPs and two Nationals have signalled they won’t contest the election due around September, with nine ALP members also retiring.

Mr Macfarlane (60) said he had made his decision late last year and announced it now in order to give his party time to find a replacement.

He was demoted to the backbench after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took over from Tony Abbott last year, and his attempted shift to the Nationals was blocked in December by the state executive.

2016 Tour Of Toowoomba A Non-Event

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2016 Tour Of Toowoomba A Non-Event
Queens Park Criterium - Tour of Toowoomba
Queens Park Criterium – Tour of Toowoomba

The 4 day National Road Series cycling event, The Tour of Toowoomba, scheduled for April 2016, will take a 12-month holiday with the view of returning in 2017.

An economic downturn in Toowoomba, Queensland’s largest regional inland city and failure to generate adequate sponsorship, are the main reasons cited by the organisers. According to Mac Stirling, President of Toowoomba Cycling Development, “there’s been a drop-off in sponsorship dollars.”
“We didn’t want to cancel and we apologise to the young riders and teams who won’t be given an opportunity to race on our roads and in our area,” Stirling said. “Rather than put on a half-baked race, we felt it’s best to wait until next year when we plan to invite a host of international teams (from Asia).”

The plan for 2017 is to organise a women’s stage race to coincide with the men’s. No women’s and men’s events are currently held in unison on the NRS circuit.

The four-day race is the only event on the NRS calendar held in Queensland and is considered one of the best in the country. Plans are in place to employ an events co-ordinator as opposed to an organising committee which has been operating on a voluntary basis.

By: Mike Tomalaris
Cycling Central

 

Absence of Debate Colours Stealthy Referendum

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Absence of Debate Colours Stealthy Referendum

The move to extend Queensland’s parliamentary terms to four years has been dubbed capricious, marking the end for democracy and accountability in the State. Highly regarded Brisbane Lawyer, community activist and republic campaigner, David Muir believes the upcoming referendum has been deliberately kept absent from public debate as the Queensland Government makes a stealthy grab for political power.

David Muir“This referendum is a vote on an extremely important public issue and so far Queenslanders have not been privy to the implications,” Mr Muir said. “Queensland is already the most vulnerable State in Australia because it’s the only State without a House of Review.  Laws can be passed in one day without proper scrutiny or debate. I believe democracy in Queensland is under threat with both sides of politics joining together in a bid to extend their parliamentary terms by one year.”

Mr Muir is well known as a champion for a direct election model for a republic and was an elected delegate to the 1998 Constitutional Convention. He says the vote on an extra year in parliamentary terms addresses the QueenslandConstitution, but both sides of politics have worked together to keep it away from public scrutiny.

“This referendum will be held under cover of the local authority elections,” he said. “There needs to be rigorous public debate on this referendum. All Queenslanders have a right to be aware of the implications of giving a dominant and powerful Executive an extra year in office.  Queensland has no adequate checks and balances against tyranny or capricious law making.”

“Parliament is further weakened in Queensland by the dominance of the Executive which controls our only House of Parliament. Our parliamentary committees are not entrenched and can simply be ignored. The role of Speaker has been weakened. In fact, once again both sides of politics have acted together to do so. This is all about accountability. I am very worried about a ‘one house’ parliament dominated by an executive getting so entrenched without recourse for an extra year.”

David Muir has been asked to present the NO case on the referendum by the Queensland chapter of the Australian Study of Parliament Group (ASPG) at a public forum in Parliament House in early March.

Valentine’s Day And Newtown Park, Toowoomba

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Friends of the Queensland State Rose Garden would like to thank everyone who supported their Valentine’s floral arrangements sale and assisting the fund raising for further improvements to the Garden in Newtown Park, Toowoomba.
Regina Albion & Lexi CaldicottThe Friends have had a fabulous offer of a collection of 200 rare Historic Roses and are seeking funding support to construct beds before the roses can be delivered. If you would like to assist, please contact Regina Albion on 0408 282 515.
State Rose Garden 2016 Valentines Day

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