Airnorth airlines magazine - June/July 2018

June/July 2018

TAKEME ME HO AD TO RE

ROAD TRIPPIN'

From Perth to Broome

TOOWOOMBA

Art, nature, history and a whole lot of culture

TheWest's

best beaches WE COVER A COOL 12,000 KILOMETRES OF COASTLINE

BEYOND ARNHEM Fun, sun and learnings with a Yirrkala country clan

AusBiz. The new Aussie business mag

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P H O T O G R A P H Y: T O U R I S M WA

Welcome aboard In this edition, Airnorth celebrates 40 years in Australian aviation history, making us the second-longest running airline in Australia. Established in 1978, Airnorth commenced operations with charter flights throughout the Northern Territory. Fast-forward 40 years and we’ve certainly come a long way from our humble outback beginnings.

Once operating a single Cessna light aircraft, we now boast a fleet that includes some of the most advanced jets in regional Australia.

Our business has been built on our core values: commitment to safety, and strengthening connectivity for our customers. Since those early days, Airnorth now operates 220 scheduled departures weekly to 20 different destinations.

As we reflect upon our remarkable history, I note that none of this would have been possible without the contribution of those who have worked for Airnorth with such passion and commitment over the past four decades.

Most importantly, we’d like to extend our thanks to you, our customers. Whether you’re a new customer or a loyal routine traveller, your patronage has enabled us to reach this momentous occasion.

We’d like to welcome you on board and wish you a pleasant journey.

Here’s to another 40 years!

Daniel Bowden Chief Executive Officer, Airnorth JUNE/JULY 2018

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contents

AusBiz.

30

Check out AusBiz. at the back of the magazine. In this edition, you’ll find:

Cover story

Western Australia has many amazing beaches.

These are our top 12.

BOOM AND BUST The economic cycles affecting property pricing in mining towns.

TRASH AND TREASURE The economic viability of reprocessing tailings from legacy mines.

REGIONAL HOTSPOTS Promising Australian regions to invest in.

AGRIBUSINESS The truth about foreign ownership of Australia’s agricultural lands.

INFRASTRUCTURE Waterfront developments changing our foreshores.

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Upfront

Features

12 Community Spotlight

22 Destination Highlight

Worthy causes that Airnorth has been proud to support in the community.

14 Airnorth News

Airnorth celebrates 40 years in aviation.

18 Events

Don’t miss what’s happening in Australia throughout June and July.

20 Entertainment

The latest films, programs, books and music to inspire you during your journey.

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Why Toowoomba and the Darling Downs, on the doorstep of Brisbane, are attracting so many visitors.

24 Road Trip

A drive between Broome and Perth is packed with adventure and reveals some great Australian characters, remote swimming holes and vast expanses of land.

34 Culture Vulture We visit the Yolngu people in East Arnhem

land and learn about their unbreakable bond with their homeland.

40 Philanthropy

We shine a spotlight on the amazing work of WA-based GenerationOne.

42 ArtSpace

The arresting style and works of renowned artist Salvator Zofrea.

45 Conferences

We profile Australia’s best venues to host workplace conferences and team bonding sessions.

A Room with a Zoo ...

WINNER - Best Deluxe Accommodation in Australia*

NATURALLY!

A unique animal lodge located in Canberra, rated by local and overseas celebrities and guests as one of the best in the world.

Check our guest feedback on Tripadvisor.

02 6287 8444 | info@jamalawildlifelodge.com.au

www.jamala.com.au

* 2017 Australian Hotels Association Awards for Excellence

P R E C I S I O N WAT E R J E T C U T T I N G

Using Waterjet technology, our precision cutting service can cut all materials up to 150mm thick (in some cases thicker) and with the 5-Axis cutting head we offer straight-line, bevel and countersunk cuts. That’s all steel types (including stainless), aluminium, speciality metals, glass, marble, granite, plastic, foam, rubber, wood, composite products, gasket materials, vinyl, Teflon and everything in between!

The 6x3m Waterbed will accommodate the largest of sheets and provide accuracy with the smallest of tolerances for intricate designs.

FA B R I C AT I O N & W E L D I N G

Our team can custom fabricate, maintain and repair all steel and aluminium in our workshop or with our mobile onsite service.

Including Heavy Fabrication for Mobile & Fixed Plant, Ute Trays, Canopies & Tool boxes, Boat Modifications and Machinery & Equipment.

08 8947 4501 info@abbfab.com.au 786 Stuart Hwy, Berrimah NT 0828 www.abbfab.com.au

EDITORIAL

Publisher: Michelle Hespe publisher@publishingbychelle.com Editor: Katrina Holden editor@publishingbychelle.com Art Director: Jon Wolfgang Miller Sales Enquiries: advertising@publishingbychelle.com Lifestyle & Travel Sales Manager: Sonja Halstead sonja.halstead@publishingbychelle.com Sub Editors: Claire Hey, Sally Macmillan, Jessica Multari Editorial Assistant: Sarah Hinder editorial@publishingbychelle.com

CONTRIBUTORS

publisher's letter

In this issue of Together We Fly we’re delighted to bring you another well-researched selection of inspiring travel stories and articles about extraordinary Australians doing great things. With winter now upon us, we thought it was time to start planning a spring or summer trip around some of WA’s best beaches, and boy did we have a task on our hands narrowing down the list.

In this colourful issue, Jac Taylor met some beautiful Dhuwa and Yirritja people while staying on the Yolngu Homelands in Arnhem Land, who are reportedly a part of the world’s oldest living culture.

She took a lesson in basket weaving with the women of the tribe, and learnt a host of other things from these creative, resourceful people who spend their lives learning from the land.

We’ve been all over the country these last two months! Diana Plater hits the road in her trusty Falcon called Reddy, for an eventful road trip from the bustling, cultural hub of Fremantle right up to beautiful Broome, taking in busy Port Hedland and delving into little coastal hamlets, sandstone ruins and deserted swimming holes en route.

We also bring you the latest from Toowoomba, aka The Garden City, which has firmly established itself as a peaceful yet progressive hub of history, culture and art. And speaking of art, I was lucky enough to spend some time with artist Salvatore Zofrea, whose work has been hung in the Archibald more times than I can count on my fingers. His latest work celebrates native Australian flora.

So once again, come with us on a journey, and hopefully we’ll inspire you to head off on another adventure very soon. Drop us a line any time, as we love hearing from you.

MICHELLE HESPE

Darren Baguley Kirsten Craze Briar Jensen Danielle Lancaster Ian Lloyd Neubauer Diana Plater Jac Taylor Ryan Watson

PRINTING SOS Print + Media 65 Burrows Road, Alexandria, NSW, 2015

June/July 2018

TAKE E ME HOMD TO REA

ROAD TRIPPIN'

From Perth to Broome

TOOWOOMBA

Art, nature, history and a whole lot of culture

TheWest's

best beaches WE COVER A COOL 12,000 KILOMETRES OF COASTLINE

BEYOND ARNHEM Fun, sun and learnings with a Yirrkala country clan

AusBiz. The new Aussie business mag

Photo courtesy of Tourism WA

Together We Fly is published by Publishing ByChelle, (ABN: 78 621 375 853 ACN: 621 375 853) Suite 2, Level 8, 100 Walker Street North Sydney, NSW, 2060 (02) 9954 0349 publishingbychelle.com The reproduction of any content, in whole or part without prior written permission by the publisher is strictly prohibited. Opinions expressed in the content are those of the contributors, and not necessarily those of the publisher. All information in this magazine was believed to be correct at the time of publication, and all reasonable efforts have been made to contact copyright holders.

Publishing ByChelle cannot accept unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. If such items are sent to the magazine, they will not be returned. We apologise if we don’t get back to your email, as we do receive a large volume of communication via various online channels. Some images used in Together We Fly are from istock and Getty images, and we make every effort to credit all contributors.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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Learn about the history of the Huon Valley apple industry

Enjoy a Willie Smith’s cider paddle

Take a tour of the Charles Oates Distillery

Visit the Saturday Artisan & Produce market

Visit the home of Willie Smith’s cider where you can enjoy a great meal and a cider paddle, visit the Huon Valley apple museum, get up close and personal with a working distillery, peruse the Saturday Artisan & Produce Market.

Hobart Hobart Huonville

Contact

25mins

Huonville

www.williesmiths.com.au appleshed@williesmiths.com.au (03) 6266 4345 2064 Huon Hwy, Grove, TAS, 7109 25 minutes from Hobart

i CHARTER ROUTES SCHEDULED ROUTES

APRIL/MAY 2018

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!

airnorth news

Girl Power! Airnorth's Kathy Cash was on hand at the awards ceremony in Gove to hand out prizes.

Congratulations to Louise Deutsher, the winner of our photograph competition with her whopping Barra!

2018 AIRNORTH GOVE LADIES FISHING CLASSIC

TIMOR AWAKENING 12

BIDDESTON STATE SCHOOL P&C GARDEN PARTY

airnorth news

Community Spotlight 2018 AIRNORTH GOVE LADIES FISHING CLASSIC We were proud to support the Nhulunbuy Regional Sports Fishing Club yet again to help bring together the Airnorth 2018 Ladies Fishing Classic. Regarded as the largest ladies-only fishing competition in Australia, the annual competition gathers fisherwomen from near and far in a bout of healthy competition angling in the Arnhem Land waters.

Held on March 16–17, the club saw more than 250 contestants fish over a two-day period. An impressive array of black marlin, sail fish, jewfish, golden snapper, coral trout, red emperor, trevally, tuna, mackerel, barramundi and salmon was caught — and even one surprising barracuda!

Aside from providing the lucrative first prize to the winning team, consisting of return flights from Gove to Cairns, we also decided to run an impromptu photo competition, providing a further return flight for one lucky winner who was game enough to flaunt their catches on Facebook or Instagram.

Well done to all the ladies who gave it their all despite the choppy conditions — we can’t wait to see you again next year.

BIDDESTON STATE SCHOOL P&C GARDEN PARTY White Ribbon Australia is a charity that’s very close to the town of Biddeston.

Biddeston State School near Toowoomba held their third annual Ladies’ Twilight Garden Party earlier this year, in an effort to raise money and awareness for a special cause.

Airnorth was honoured to lend its support to the annual function this year, by donating two return flights from Toowoomba to Melbourne.

Organised by the Biddeston State Schools P&C Association, the successful function raised an overwhelming $32,000 to benefit White Ribbon, Domestic Violence Action Centre Toowoomba and

the Biddeston State School COLA project.

Ladies were treated to a special threecourse meal, live entertainment, auctions and raffle prizes in a picturesque twilight country setting, complete with twinkling fairy lights.

We’d like to congratulate local winner Leah Hofmann on winning our lucky door prize, who is incredibly excited to have a weekend away with her husband.

TIMOR AWAKENING Airnorth was proud to continue its long running relationship with Timor Awakening, a program that supports rehabilitation for 200 Australian veterans and 140 Timorese veterans.

Starting in 2016, the 11-day immersive program provides experiences to promote healing and strengthen the health and wellbeing of veterans and bridge the relationship between Australia and Timor Leste.

The joint initiative between RSL QLD and Veterans Care Association aims to provide holistic care to those who are serving or have served in the Australian Defence Forces, and their dependants.

The program also strives to maintain the standard of dignity and honour among past and present defence force members, as well as provide welfare to the sick, vulnerable and aged.

For more information, head to veteranscare.com.au/timor-awakeningexperience/ Airnorth is committed to giving back to the communities we service, by offering in-kind support for a variety of reasons.

Whether it’s free-of-charge flights for fundraising, to providing travel for participants, judges and award nominees or flying in talent for an important event, we’re proud to offer assistance to deserving causes.

If you have a deserving cause we should know about, please get in touch with us at marketing@airnorth.com.au JUNE/JULY 2018

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airnorth news

Celebrating 40 years in aviation In what is a poignant milestone in Australia’s aviation and business history, Airnorth is due to celebrate its 40th anniversary in aviation on July 4, 2018. This not only cements the airline’s position as Australia’s second-longest serving and operating airline behind Qantas, but also its position as a proud Territory business since its inception in 1978.

Airnorth first burst onto the aviation scene flying Cessna charter flights throughout the Territory, with regular passenger travel eventuating in the following years. From 1980 through to the late 1990s, Airnorth continued to firmly establish itself as a significant operator across Northern Australia, servicing remote communities and operating through harsh conditions across the Top End. Airnorth introduced 19-seat Fairchild Metroliners and 30-seat Embraer Brasilia turboprop aircraft to the fleet.

In 2007, jet services commenced on the 76-seat Embraer E170 aircraft, with services to remote areas such as McArthur River. Jet services subsequently expanded to regional centre destinations, and on international routes including Dili in Timor-Leste.

Luke Fisher, General Manager Commercial, highlights that “the introduction of that jet into our fleet transformed our business. Every market it operates in has grown. We now have five E170 jets across our network.

“Today Airnorth operates the world’s most sophisticated regional jet aircraft into some of the world’s most challenging environments.”

Airnorth’s vital contribution to the local economy, through job creation and increased prosperity, was recognised in 2012, when it was awarded the 2012 Large Services Award at the NT Chief Minister’s Export and Industry Awards. The

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airline’s contribution to the NT economy is significant, with more than $50 million dollars invested in the employment of Territory-based staff and the use of local suppliers.

Today Airnorth is owned by the world’s leading helicopter operator, the Bristow Group. Employing almost 300 staff across administration and operational capacities, the airline remains true to its Territory roots and remains headquartered in Darwin. The airline services 20 destinations across two countries, with more than 220 scheduled weekly departures as well as chartered flights.

Airnorth prides itself on being a full-service carrier, accommodating the needs of both business and leisure travellers, operating state-of-art regional jets across its network and safely delivering more than 330,000 passengers around Australia annually.

The airline also seeks to deliver support to communities by sponsoring a variety of charities, events and deserving causes. Airnorth this year has been proud to continue annual support for the Gove Ladies Fishing Classic, the 2018 Airnorth Cable Beach Polo in Broome, Tour de Timor — an extreme 474-kilometre cycling race held over four days in Timor-Leste — and this Christmas it will celebrate 20 years of the famous ‘Santa Run’, which seeks to spread cheer in remote Indigenous communities.

Not only does 2018 mark Airnorth’s 40th anniversary, but it also brings with it the launch of our new inflight magazine, Together We Fly, a new uniform launch and new technologies to support our customers with booking and managing their flights.

For more information, or to book, head to www.airnorth. com.au, call 1800 627 474 or contact your local travel agent.

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REGIONAL news Keep up with what’s happening across Australia’s communities.

WORDS: Sarah Hinder and Katrina Holden

Saving the reef The Australian Government has announced an investment of half a billion dollars towards the protection of the Great Barrier Reef, including a new $444 million partnership with the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. “The Great Barrier Reef Foundation welcomes this announcement of the biggest single investment in a coral reef ecosystem anywhere in the world,” said Dr John Schubert AO, chairman Great Barrier Reef Foundation. “There is no doubt that our great living treasure is under enormous threat from climate change and we must all work together to do everything possible to achieve the Paris Agreement.” Dr Schubert said there are many immediate actions that must be taken to build the resilience of the Great Barrier Reef including improving water quality, addressing crown-ofthorns-starfish outbreaks, ensuring reef managers and scientists are better equipped to manage and monitor the reefs, and new scientific insights that can help restore the reefs that have suffered damage.

Construction of luxury hotels to transform Cairns A $500-million investment is set to transform Cairns with the construction of three new five-star hotels, Riley, Bailey and Flynn.

The company behind the investment, Crystalbrook Collection, headed by Ghassan Aboud, will see the hotels add to their growing portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts across the region. “Cairns is a great city and on the doorstep of one of the great wonders of the world,” Aboud said. “In the next five years, you will see it transformed.

FAST FACTS

2.1%

The Cairns region has experienced an annual average growth rate of 2.1% over the last 10 years. The estimated residential population was 164,536 as at 30 June, 2017.

A strong last quarter helped Cairns take out the top spot as the nation’s best performing hotel market for the fourth year in a row.

There have been no new five-star international hotels in Cairns for over 20 years.”

With all construction set to be completed by early 2020, the three luxury hotels will open 800 new hotel rooms, create 3,500 jobs and are expected to boost the local economy by $900 million. Riley Resort will open November 2018, Bailey Hotel in mid-2019 and Flynn Hotel by early 2020.

Fly to Cairns with Airnorth starting from $189*.

30 years

The Great Barrier Reef, the largest living structure on the planet, has lost up to half of its coral cover in the past 30 years due to coral bleaching and pollution.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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What's on & what's hot Our pick of the very best gigs, festivals, cultural and sporting events from around the country.

Compiled by: Sarah hinder

June 8–10 Barunga Festival

Barunga NT This celebration of Indigenous community life and history centres on music, sport and culture.

From didgeridoo and sporting competitions to storytelling and traditional performances, the festival is a much-loved Territory event. barungafestival.com.au

June 9–11 McLaren Vale Sea & Vines Festival

July 6–7 Alice Springs Show

Alice Springs NT This rural show highlights regional agriculture, horticulture and produce in a lively program of blueribbon competitions and displays, as well as arena entertainment and family-friendly farmyards. alice-springs.com.au

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Adelaide SA At this celebration of McLaren Vale's food and wine, visitors can enjoy degustation dinners, winery tours and wine tastings.

With regional produce being the star attraction, this threeday event is one for foodies. seaandvines.com.au

June 15–17 Crown Bet Darwin Triple Crown

Darwin NT For the revheads, this touring event sees V8 Supercars fans flock to the Hidden Valley

Raceway in Darwin this year during the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. supercarsdarwin.com

June 21–24 Brunette Races

Barkly Tablelands NT Now in its 108th year, this four-day celebration of country hospitality, amateur horse racing and rodeo is the biggest event of the Barkly Tablelands region. Novelty contests such as gymkhana for kids, barrel racing for adults and the rugged Battle of the Barkly ironman make for a memorable time. abcraces.com.au

Events calendar

June 29–July 2 Alice Springs Beanie Festival

June 22–24 Truffle Kerfuffle

Manjimup WA Drawing truffle lovers from across the country, the Truffle Kerfuffle will this year welcome a stellar line-up of acclaimed chefs to WA’s Southern Forests region, including Guy Grossi and Mark Best. Take part in masterclasses, long-table dinners, wine sessions and truffle hunting. trufflekerfuffle.com.au

July 1 Territory Day

Northern Territory Celebrating its 40th anniversary, this free, state-wide event honours everything great about living in the Northern Territory.

The occasion is marked with fireworks and entertainment across most communities, with major events held in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. territoryday.nt.gov.au

Alice Springs NT Originally organised as an event to sell beanies crocheted

by Aboriginal women in remote communities, the Beanie Fest has now grown so big that artists from all backgrounds come together to promote women’s culture. beaniefest.org

July 5–18 Revelation Perth International Film Festival

Perth WA Australia’s leading independent film festival will present more than 120 international films across Perth over 13 days. revelationfilmfest.org

July 6–15 Darwin Fringe Festival Darwin NT Darwin Fringe is an openaccess festival dedicated to the development of the arts community with around 70 individual events. darwinfringe.org.au

July 13–15 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair

Cairns Qld Designed to showcase the vibrant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, CIAF

is a not-for-profit celebration spread across three days of markets and workshops. ciaf.com.au

July 22 Darwin Lions Beer Can Regatta

Darwin NT This quirky day sees spectators line Darwin Harbour to cheer on competitors racing in boats built from beer cans, in the epic Battle of Mindil.

Visitors can also have a crack at kayak racing, sandcastle competitions, ironman events and thong-throwing contests. beercanregatta.org.au

July 27–August 5 Australian Festival of Chamber Music

Townsville Qld The world’s finest chamber musicians unite for a series of concerts including beach performances on Orpheus and Magnetic Islands. afcm.com.au

July 28 Australian Outback Marathon

Uluru-Kata Tjuta NT The Red Centre will host runners in this once-in-alifetime experience. Choose from the six- or 11-kilometre fun run and walk, the half or full marathon. australianoutback marathon.com JUNE/JULY 2018

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entertainment

Compiled by: Sarah hinder

series Picnic at Hanging Rock

First episode aired May 6, 2018, Drama Mini-series, Showcase channel, Foxtel & Foxtel On Demand Shot on location, this six-part mini-series is a reimagining of Joan Lindsay’s 1967 novel in which three schoolgirls and their governess mysteriously disappear on an excursion to Victoria’s Hanging Rock on Valentine’s Day in 1900. Like Peter Weir’s 1975 film, the new series — which stars Game of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer and a number of rising Aussie stars — is completely enthralling and haunting all at once.

ART VIVID Art After Hours at AGNSW

Art Gallery of NSW, May 30, June 6 & 14, 2018 Vivid Sydney will take over the Art Gallery of New South Wales for three nights of talks, music and art. Special guests will speak on mortality, female sexuality and conflict.

When your brain’s had enough, you can feast your eyes on this year’s Archibald Prize.

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I hope you get this: Raquel Ormella

Shepparton Art Museum, May 26–August 12, 2018 This travelling exhibition from one of Australia’s leading contemporary artists explores themes of social and environmental activism, national identity, and human and animal relationships through installation, video, painting, drawing and experimental textiles.

entertainment books

music

Revamp: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin Rather His Own Man, Geoffrey Robertson

Released February 26, 2018, RRP$45.00/EBook $15.99, Knopf Australia, Autobiography.

One of the world’s leading human rights lawyers, Australia’s Geoffrey Robertson’s memoir is deeply honest and equally entertaining, sharing tales from his days at school right through to his career in the courtroom. His stories are witty, candid and at times poignant.

Australians on the Western Front 1918, David W. Cameron

Released February 26, 2018, RRP $34.99/EBook $14.99, Viking, History.

The first in a two-part landmark series, this book by historian David Cameron is a compelling account of victory on the Western Front during April and May 1918 with troops at VillersBretonneux. The anticipated second instalment of the series will be released August 20.

In the Garden of the Fugitives, Ceridwen Dovey

Released February 26, 2018, RRP $32.99/EBook $13.99, Hamish Hamilton, Fiction.

Emerging Australian author Ceridwen Dovey’s new novel takes readers on a page-turning journey across ancient Pompeii and post-apartheid South Africa, exploring the obsessions of unrequited desire and how the power of the past can stifle our present.

TOUR Todrick Hall American: The Forbidden Tour

Adelaide June 10, Melbourne June 13, Sydney June 14, Brisbane June 16, 2018 If his 2017 sold-out tour Straight Outta Oz is anything to go by, Todrick Hall will have no problem filling seats for his latest production. The singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, costume designer and director brings his newly curated world tour Down Under, with a new storyline, songs and costumes.

Out now (April 2018) Revamp is a curated selection of Elton John and co-writer Bernie Taupin’s greatest hits reinterpreted by today’s biggest artists, from hip-hop and soul to pop and rock.

Guest artists include Ed Sheeran, P!nk and Florence and the Machine .

Matchbook, Ian Moss

Release: June 1, 2018 Nearly 30 years after it was first released in 1989, Matchbook, the debut album of former Cold Chisel guitarist Ian Moss, has hit the shelves again, this time as a limited edition white vinyl. As popular as ever, Moss will tour both metro and regional Australia between June 22 and November 24, 2018.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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TREMENDOUS TOOWOOMBA On the doorstep of Brisbane, Toowoomba and its neighbouring communities provide an easy, enjoyable getaway. words: Danielle Lancaster

FAST FACTS

117,000

Behind Canberra, Toowoomba is Australia’s second most populous inland city, with a population of just over 117,000.

1863

Toowoomba is home to Queensland’s oldest licensed hotel, The Farmers Arms, which was first licensed in 1863 and once part of the local jail.

A

Destination Highlight

s you leave the buzz of Brisbane behind on an Airnorth jet, the busy streets are replaced by the lush paddocks of Lockyer Valley, nicknamed ‘Australia’s salad bowl’. No matter what time of year you visit, the countryside is forever changing colours as crops ripen. Splatters of orange, yellow, green and gold fill field upon field as the road meanders westward to Toowoomba on the edge of the Great Dividing Range.

Kick back a gear as life takes on an easier pace and Toowoomba welcomes you.

Parks and Gardens Toowoomba is known as ‘The Garden City’ and, as its nickname suggests, it’s home to countless gardens to wander through, including the Japanese Gardens, the Scented Gardens, picturesque Queens Park and Picnic Point Lookout and Parkland, particularly impressive with its panoramic views across the valley towards Brisbane.

Here, the rich volcanic soil allows even the laziest green thumbs to grow dazzling floral displays. To celebrate, Toowoomba puts on the Carnival of Flowers each September — and there’s more than petals to admire. The city and surrounding localities come alive with music, markets, food and wine tasting and fabulous touring options.

A little tip: don’t skip a visit to Spring Bluff Railway Station, around 20 minutes south of Toowoomba. Open year-round, the Heritage-listed station is flanked by stunning landscaped gardens, and during Carnival of Flowers a train runs twice daily, delivering loads of fun for all ages. Plus, there are various entertaining events held throughout the year.

History, Culture and Art As one of the first inland cities, Toowoomba is bursting with historical places to visit. The Cobb+Co Museum houses the National Carriage Collection, Australia’s finest offering of horse-drawn vehicles. There are interactive displays, a variety of major exhibits on topics spanning everything from space to ancient indigenous culture, as well as workshops on vintage trades and kid-friendly activities.

Call in to the Royal Bull’s Head Inn, a Heritage-listed landmark whose rusted tin roof screams of the early days of settlement. Established in 1847 by ex-convict William Horton, it is now lovingly restored, much like the Empire Theatre, another Heritage-listed building in the city. Dating back to 1911, it oozes Art-deco elegance, making for a unique performing arts venue.

Speaking of the arts, the scene in Toowoomba is flourishing.

Artists work throughout the city creating fantastic murals, and more than 50 large-scale works adorn buildings across the city centre. Put your walking shoes on and start your tour at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, where you can grab a map and download the app so you don’t miss any murals.

Allow half a day to take it all in, plus there are plenty of shops and cafes to stop at as you wander. You won’t find it on all the maps, so make sure you visit Mark Lane, off Margaret Street and west of Ruthven Street, which features street art.

For other art establishments, there’s Tosari Galleries on Margaret Street, the USQ Arts Gallery at Artsworx, the Toowoomba Art Society in Godsall Street, Kontraband Studios on Laurel Street and the MET Galleries at Highfields Village, along with many artist studios and works displayed at weekend markets. AN Airnorth flies to Toowoomba from Melbourne, Cairns, Townsville and Darwin.

For more details go to airnorth.com.au JUNE/JULY 2018

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Road trip

Driving like A road trip between Broome and Perth, travelling as the locals do, makes for a lot more fun — just make sure your wheels are working.

WORDS: Diana Plater

Broome Port Hedland Pilbara

Kalbarri

Meekatharra Cue

Perth

the locals JUNE/JULY 2018

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w

Road trip

At Port Hedland, Australia's largest bulk exports port, we watch the giant ore ships coming in and out...

w Clockwise from above: long stretches of road outside of Perth, with storms brewing above; giant ships at Port Hedland; Reddy, the trusty 2004 Falcon XR6 driven from Perth to Broome.

e’re in Perth ready to set off on our road trip back to Broome, around 2,200 km away. I originally flew to Broome from Sydney, then drove down to Perth.

Every other day has been blue-sky beautiful, but today in Perth it’s raining cats and dogs.

Maybe it’s fortuitous, giving us time to do the last bit of mechanical tweaking on Reddy, our red 2004 Falcon XR6.

During our stay in Fremantle we enjoyed plenty of live music, markets, galleries, great coffee and renowned Point Peron, an important feeding ground for the endangered little penguins. We also spent some time at Little Creatures Brewery, — which pioneered the craft beer movement in Western Australia — knocking back some of their pale ale with joy.

But we’re ready now to head into the sparsely settled north, in the air-conditioned car we swapped our 1989 Suzuki Vitara for in Meekatharra — it’s sure to be a smoother return ride back to Broome than our drive down here to Perth.

There are two main routes between Perth and Broome: the North West Coastal Highway (or 'coast road', as it’s known in this neck of the woods) and the slightly shorter Great Northern Highway (or inland road'), preferred by locals.

I flew into Broome just after Cyclone Hilda swept through, but the road is as dry as Arnold — my companion, a Yawuru musician, carver and bush mechanic from Broome. We leave town on New Year’s Eve on our road trip to Perth.

Barely a couple of hours after leaving, we hear a police car siren and realise it’s us they’re tailing.

“Is there a reason for driving 60 kilometres per hour in a 110 zone?” the policeman asks.

“I can’t talk and drive that fast,” says Arnold, explaining we have a lot of catching up to do.

When I first drove from Perth to Broome in the late 1970s, this next 610-kilometre stretch was a rough, red dirt road edging the Great Sandy Desert. Today it’s bitumen, but most travellers still stop at Sandfire Roadhouse for petrol, a shower or frozen mangos.  JUNE/JULY 2018

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Road trip

At Port Hedland, Australia’s largest bulk export port, we watch the giant ore ships coming in and out of its busy working harbour, and trace history on Wedge Street through the timber homes topped with corrugated iron roofs. Rounding out the historical feel there’s the Pier Hotel, the Old Methodist Church and the old Courthouseturned-art gallery, as well as Dome cafe, housed in a heritage building.

The trip’s going well until just north of the Munjina (Auski) Roadhouse, before the Mount Tom Price and Karijini National Park turn-off. I have my foot flat to the floor and the car won’t push past 80 kilometres per hour. There’s something wrong; Arnold thinks it could be the spark plugs.

“What’s a spark plug?” the backpacker working at the roadhouse asks.

Further down the road we clamber down into a bushfire-blackened gully, walking through the soft ash to strip some bark off the burnt gum trees.

Arnold’s excited; the bark is perfect for making yarrvidji, the Yawuru term for 'flat plate'.

We change the spark plugs at the mining town of Newman, but 80 kilometres out of Meekatharra the speedo keeps dropping until it’s down to 50 kilometres per hour. It’s 43 degrees and we’re laughing at our bad jokes, but I’m worried.

And then a 4WD HiLux drives along beside us.

“What's wrong?” the driver and passenger yell.

“Spark plugs,” Arnold yells back.

It’s a father and son, both called Patrick, just knocked off from a long shift at a nearby mine.

When they can’t sort out the problem the Patricks tow us into town, before asking if we’d like to swap our Suzuki for a little red Ford they have in their garage. It’s a matter of Aussie lateral thinking: they want a bush car for hunting and fishing (and they have a spare engine), and we want a car that will get us to Perth.

Patrick Senior is sympathetic; he was once stranded in the desert with his wife and baby girl.

He’s typical of the friendly locals in these parts of the country, like the chef at the Royal Mail Hotel in Meekatharra who left his kitchen to offer veggies for Arnold’s barramundi, or the kids cooling off with me at the town pool.

We leave town early to make it to Perth before dark since Reddy’s headlights don’t work, but not far out of Cue — the ‘Queen of the Murchison

28

Secluded water holes along the way; Little Creatures Brewerey at Fremantle

Goldfields’ — I brake suddenly.

“Is there something wrong with the brakes now?” Arnold asks.

I point at a male emu and four chicks crossing the road. Broody males are known for their soleparent duty.

And so after finding spare parts and fixing the headlights in Perth, we’re on the coast road back north, turning off at Northampton towards the small coastal town of Horrocks. I love its colourful beach shacks and the pontoon that bobs in the sea. Locals fish off the jetty as we watch a giant orange sun sink into the Indian Ocean.

Road trips are about discovering mysterious sites, and past White Cliffs Road, a spectacular shortcut heading north to Kalbarri, we stumble across the Lynton Convict Hiring Depot.

Established in 1853 to supply labour to the Geraldine Lead Mine on the Murchison River, the site is scattered with sandstone ruins — and it’s eerily quiet. As we inspect the area we’re

reminded of the harsh and isolated life the early settlers would have led.

We think we have a swimming hole between Nanutarra and Roebourne all to ourselves but, as I swim out through the reeds towards a river island, I see two girls on li-los catching a few rays in the beautiful sunshine.

We soon have front row seats to theatrical displays of electrical storms flashing above the vibrant Pilbara scenery as we drive towards Port Hedland.

Cyclone Joyce has hit in the meantime and locals have been using tyre levers to catch barramundi washed across Roebuck Plains, 30 kilometres east of Broome.

“Keep your eye on the yellow line,” Arnold says as water splashes all over the car. “If it disappears we’re too deep!”

But with Arnold’s skilful driving, Reddy just glides on through the water and we arrive safely back in Broome.

FAST FACTS

2345km The trip is 2,345 kilometres on the coast road and 2,239 kilometres on the inland road.

If you time it right, summer can be a good time to go, with less traffic in the north.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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Best beaches

Western Australia boasts a cool 12,000 kilometres of coastline, earning it more spectacular beaches than anywhere else in Australia. From the mainland to the islands, we list 12 of the best. words: Katrina Holden

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Top

WA

beaches

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Best beaches

Clockwise from left: Cottesloe Beach; Lucky Bay; Mullaloo Beach and Penguin Island.

Penguin Island

seabirds. The island closes from early June to midSeptember each year for the winter penguin nesting season.

Cottesloe Beach

Perth Arguably Perth’s most popular beach, ‘Cott’ is the ideal spot for swimming, snorkelling and surfing — not to mention stunning sunsets. It’s a picturesque favourite among Perth’s 19 white-sand beaches, with shady Norfolk Island pines, smooth lawns and clear waters. Cottesloe Beach can be reached by car, bus or train from Perth, and if you visit in March you’ll be treated to an outdoor gallery

space when the artistic displays of Sculpture by the Sea takes over the foreshore.

Mullaloo Beach

Mullaloo Soft, white sands lap against the calm waters of the Indian Ocean at this family-friendly beach, just a 20-minute drive from Perth’s CBD. A great swimming beach suitable for children of all ages, Mullaloo is patrolled on weekends by surf lifesavers. Kids will also lap up the excellent playground facilities and parklands that overlook the beach. Adults might want to pack a fishing rod, and head north of the main car park, where you’ll find a popular fishing spot.

Lucky Bay

Esperance Hailed Australia’s whitest beach, Lucky Bay stretches five kilometres along the coast of Cape Le Grand National Park, a 40-minute drive east of Esperance. Turquoise waters, squeaky-clean sand, ideal swimming conditions, curious kangaroos and views of the Recherche Archipelago often earn Lucky Bay a top spot in a list of the country’s best beaches. Daily Indigenous cultural and eco-tours depart from Esperance, and several walking tracks provide views of whales between July and October.  JUNE/JULY 2018

P H O T O G R A P H Y: T O U R I S M WA

Perth With the star attraction here being petite penguins, it’s easy to see why this is one of Australia’s most prized nature-based tourism attractions. A 45-minute drive south of Perth and a five-minute ferry ride will get you to the island, where you’ll find the smallest penguins in the world. At the Discovery Centre rangers host three daily penguin feedings, providing the best opportunity to see these little guys. Penguin Island is in the heart of the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park, teeming with wildlife including dolphins, sea lions, stingrays, pelicans and

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Best beaches

Ningaloo Reef

sculpted rock boulders make for interesting sights on a stroll over the headland. The journey to this magical spot is special in itself, as you’ll pass through forests of giant timber trees.

Exmouth At 300 kilometres long, World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef is one of the largest fringing coral reefs in the world, and can be reached just footsteps from the beach. Visitors can swim alongside hundreds of colourful, tropical fish and enjoy pristine coral gardens at a number of doit-yourself snorkelling sites at Exmouth’s Cape Range National Park or Coral Bay. Tours to swim with whale sharks take place between March and August, and other eco-tours to spot sea turtles, humpback whales, orcas, dugong, manta rays and reef sharks are also on offer.

Meelup Beach

Sugarloaf Rock

Rottnest Island

Rottnest Island

Perth Famous for its smiley quokkas, Rottnest Island isn’t just home to these mini marsupials — here you’ll find 20 bays, 63 secluded beaches, and unique coral reefs. Cars aren’t permitted on the island, which lies just 18 kilometres offshore from Perth, so be prepared to walk or hop on a bicycle. Of course swimming, surfing and snorkelling are other fun options. A popular day trip from the city, Rottnest can be reached in 25 minutes from Fremantle, 45 minutes from Hillarys Boat Harbour or 90 minutes from Perth’s Barrack Street Jetty.

Greens Pool

P H O T O G R A P H Y: T O U R I S M WA

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Denmark On the edge of William Bay National Park in Denmark, more than four hours’ drive south of Perth, visitors can discover one of Western Australia’s most beautiful beaches. Here, at Greens Pool, turquoise waters and rock pools mean for great snorkelling, and huge

Dunsborough The protected waters and white sands of Meelup Beach have ensured it remains a favourite for holidaying families, and boat owners who drop anchor to enjoy swimming and unwinding here. Surrounded by bushland, the area offers a number of coastal trails where, in spring, you’ll come across vibrant wildflowers, and in late winter perhaps some migrating whales. For a few evenings in summer the full moon rises from the Indian Ocean over Meelup — one of the few beaches in Western Australia to view this ‘staircase to the moon’ spectacle. Fittingly, the word “Meelup” means “place of the moon rising” in the local Wardandi Aboriginal language.

Dunsborough Sugarloaf Rock in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, three hours’ drive south of Perth, is one of the most photographed seascapes in the state.

The striking rock formation is found on the coastline near Cape Naturaliste.

Despite the powerful swell, experienced fishermen attempt the challenge at the edge of the rock, but if you’d prefer to stay on safe ground set foot on the Cape to Cape track, which takes in sights of Sugarloaf Rock and other spectacular vistas over the Indian Ocean.

Eighty Mile Beach

Kimberley In the north of the state, halfway between Broome

and Port Hedland, Eighty Mile Beach stretches endlessly with pure white sand. Offering solitude, it’s a well-known area for fishing and bird-watching, and each year an astonishing half a million migratory shorebirds descend here, flying in from their feeding and breeding grounds in the Arctic Circle.

To drive, it’s about twoand-a-half hours north of Port Hedland, or four hours south of Broome.

Turquoise Bay

Exmouth A standout location in the Cape Range National Park of Exmouth, Turquoise Bay is regularly voted among the top-three best beaches in all of Australia, thanks to the crystal-clear water of Ningaloo Reef Lagoon, brilliant white sand and dense coral beds. The bay is home to hundreds of species of brightly coloured reef fish, as well as sea turtles, harmless reef sharks and stingrays.

Monkey Mia

Peron Peninsula There’s not a monkey in sight, but dozens of playful dolphins more than make up for it. One of the state’s most famous dolphinwatching destinations, Monkey Mia is where you’ll find pods of the friendly mammals visiting the shores to be handfed. Less than a two-hour flight from Perth, Monkey Mia in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area offers a unique opportunity to get up close to dolphins in their natural habitat. AN

Best beaches

Clockwise from top left: Meelup beach; Eighty Mile Beach; Ningaloo Reef; Turquoise Bay; Sugarloaf Rock; Monkey Mia; Greens Pool.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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Culture vulture

Behind the mystique of the remote homelands of the Yolngu people in East Arnhem Land lies a fun, involving way to stay with a Yirrkala country clan.

WORDS and photography: Jac Taylor Frowning at a reddening sandfly bite on my shin, I then realise this should be seen as an opportunity to learn a little bushcraft. I turn to Marcus Lacey, an elder of East Arnhem Land’s Yolngu people, teacher and family patriarch, in the hope of finding some mystical cure to this eternal Top End nuisance. He glances over.

“Don’t scratch it,” he says. “Just rub it.

Scratching only makes it worse.”

For this citified white girl, the prospect of staying on the Yolngu homelands for a few days threw up all sorts of preconceived notions and a vague worry of foot-in-mouth-ness. After all, this isn’t some fourth-grade lesson in Aboriginal Australia; this is real life for the two moieties of Dhuwa and Yirritja people, who hold a prominent place in the history of reportedly the world’s oldest living culture.

The Yolngu (more correctly spelled Yolnu and roughly pronounced ‘YOL-nyo’) present a strong, cultural face to the world, with their songlines relatively intact compared to many others in Australia. Their language, in its dozenish dialects, is living, breathing and important; their relationship with the land here is obvious, practical and unbreakable.

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Their bark petitions, presented in 1963 to protest against the bauxite mining begun in the area in the 1950s, paved the way to statutory Aboriginal land rights and the Mabo decision.

Recently, when Prince Charles visited Arnhem Land during the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he was unexpectedly presented with a message stick requesting his help to form a treaty to acknowledge Yolngu sovereignty of their land.

These are not people who shy away from saying what they think and actioning what they say — they take their position seriously as proud carriers of the oldest living culture in the world.

Aside from any history, the politics and my perceptions, a visit to the Yolngu homelands is positively surprising. Taking care not to scratch my sandfly bite (Marcus is right), I am joyfully immersed into the day-to-day doings of a close and happy clan. This place has often hosted school groups but has now opened up to small, intimate groups with Intrepid Travel as of this year.

There are basic but good-quality tents set up for us, complete with bed and bedding, overlooking the rather spectacular beach and close to the amenities building. It’s glamping, down-to-earth Yolngu-style. 

Clockwise from top left: Marcus's son with puppy; Beachside guest tent; Marcus Lacey, elder of East Arnhem Land's Yolngu people.

FAST FACTS The Yolngu culture has plenty of signs of the people’s past relationship with Macassan traders, hailing from the Sulawesi area. Stories passed down through the generations (and physical evidence) mark the relationship as lasting about 600 years, until Federation in 1901 put a sudden stop to it, as the Yolngu tell it. Old Yolngu songs include references to Allah and the Macassans’ Islamic faith, and Yolngu language includes several Yolngu/Malay pidgin words such as ‘rrupiya’ (money) and ‘bayini’ (women).

JUNE/JULY 2018

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The A.B.C. Amateur Race Club welcomes you to the 108th annual

Brunette Races Thursday 21st - Sunday 24th June 2018

Amateur Horse Racing (2 Race Days), Battle of the Barkly Ironman Challenge, Campdrafting, Gymkhana, Live Entertainment, Rodeo, and much more.

Established 1910. It’s a Territory Tradition!

A.B.C. Amateur Race Club, Brunette Downs Station, Northern Territory, Australia Phone: 0427102355 Email: info@abcraces.com.au Web: www.abcraces.com.au FB: www.facebook.com/abcraces

Culture vulture,

Their relationship with the land here is obvious, practical and unbreakable.

Clockwise from top left: Guide Randy Yibarbuk catches some good tucker; women sharing stories while weaving; Randy admires another beautiful sunrise.

Through the eyes and eager explanations from Marcus and the more taciturn Randy Yibarbuk, my impression of the starkly beautiful country transforms from seeing trees, beach and animal life to seeing a supermarket, chemist, temple and university. Those calendar trees there, as Marcus refers to them, tell when sharks are in the bay, and even how plentiful they are. The stringybark smells just like a hospital and the moist bark is great for toothache.

“Walkabout as a concept is misunderstood,” says Marcus. “It’s like studying up on family history in the library. This bush is our university; the trees, the land — it’s all knowledge, and there’s a lot to learn.” I realise that taking us on a bush tucker or medicine tour is more than just showing us a bit of culture; it’s bringing us into the heart of Yolngu life, past and present, right here.

As we walk the country, I notice that Marcus and Randy barely talk — or do they? The Yolngu are renowned for their complex sign language and I see their hands are often involved in silent conversation. Randy is a fantastic hunter and his quietude is a big advantage on that front. He and the other men bring a steady stream of food from the abundance of the bay and we are as involved as we like in preparing such exotic (and tasty) treats as gigantic crab, stingray meat and shark liver. The latter two ingredients are carefully prepared, mashed together and squeezed of excess moisture; the result challenges my preconceptions a little but is quite delicious.

For all my fantasies of learning to throw a spear or catch dinner, the fact that I’m female means there are other plans for me. Frankly, I baulked at the idea of sitting weaving baskets while the men got to do the macho stuff, but that quickly fades  JUNE/JULY 2018

37

Culture vulture

The clan divides into women's and men's business when there are jobs to be done.

Clockwise from left: Aerial view over East Arnhem; crushing yellow dye; weaving pandanus baskets.

FAST FACTS There are 30 remote Yolngu homelands like Nyinyikay in northeastern Arnhem Land, all supported by the Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation (LHAC). Because it was never settled by Europeans, it is said to retain the purest links to traditional life and Aboriginal storylines.

Many locals didn’t see a white settler until the 1930s, when anthropologist Donald Thomson came to study and ultimately advocate for the Yolngu.

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when my girls’ own adventure begins.

The clan divides into women’s and men’s business when there are jobs to be done. The women gather on woven mats under shade with associated children and animals; one day, a dog and her mewling puppies feed alongside us, while the next day a clingy kangaroo joey, rescued from her deceased mother’s pouch days ago, takes turns curling up in our laps.

The women have painstakingly gathered hundreds of tiny sea-snail shells and generously share them with us so we can thread necklaces as a meaningful souvenir, but it turns out to be the aforementioned basket-weaving that brings the challenge. Packing up a machete, a digging stick and young hangers-on, we hit the trails through the bush in their 4WD. The first task is easy — gathering pandanus leaves to dry — but then the hunt begins for some very specific plants.

Bridging the language gap and putting in some serious muscle, we finally hunt down what we’re looking for: two distinct plants with startling, bright roots that will make fabulous colour dyes.

I’m so a part of the task at hand — the crushing, the boiling, the weaving that follows — that time passes in easy silence or women’s business chat, and the simplicity and absorption into the practicalities of the homelands ultimately forms the real magic of the visit here. When we see the menfolk from our group again, their faces are shining with sweat and the thrill of throwing a spear. The turtle and shark have been pretty safe for the afternoon, I suspect, until Randy heads out to stalk the shallows once again. Some have retired to sing with Marcus's guitar, some to chat through the complexities of Yolngu intermarriage in an ‘Ask Me Anything’ style sit-down. I settle in to catch the last of the sunset and weave my pandanus, just a little more.

You can visit Nyinyikay homeland on Intrepid Travel’s East Arnhem Land itinerary, including a light-plane flight and a visit to Bremer Island.

Intrepidtravel.com

Airnorth flies to Arnhem Land seven times a week. For more information go to airnorth. com.au

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FULL DAY HE LIFISH

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PHILANTHROPY

“It’s an organisation that is not afraid to challenge the status quo, and which has a track record of implementing some really good policy changes around Aboriginal employment.”

– Tim McDonald

Toward Indigenous Parity With a vision to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, GenerationOne is at the forefront of ambitious initiatives to secure prosperous futures for the country’s first peoples. words: Sarah Hinder

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ommitted to improving the plight of Aboriginal people, GenerationOne works to end the disparity between Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australians, to afford all Australians the same opportunities — as the name suggests — as one.

Empowering communities through vocational and jobspecific training, the organisation has placed thousands of Aborigines into jobs. They aim to end cycles of unemployment and repeat incarceration among Indigenous Australians.

GenerationOne is fully funded by the Minderoo Foundation, which supports more than 250 initiatives in Australia and abroad, from education and indigenous affairs to cancer research. For Dr Tim McDonald joining the organisation as CEO in February was a no-brainer considering his background in education and his work with disengaged youth. “The attraction was to join and lead a group to make a difference to Aboriginal disparity in Australia,” he says. “It’s an organisation that is not afraid to challenge the status quo, and which has a track record of implementing some really good policy changes around Aboriginal employment.”

C

PHILANTHROPY

Images VTEC candidates as pictured. From left: Eddie Moran, Vision Stream NSW; Marbuck Duroux, Michaels Metal Mart NSW; Sanchez Charles, Kununurra Waringarri Aboriginal Corporation, WA.

During its nine years in operation, GenerationOne has set up a demand-led employment approach through the Vocational Training and Employment Centres (VTEC) model, which has been adopted by the Australian Government and has facilitated the long-term employment of 6,500 Indigenous Australians.

“GenOne works with a lot of Aboriginal people who have been unemployed for a number of years and who’ve found employment difficult,” McDonald explains. “The Employment Covenant has created thousands of opportunities for Indigenous Australians to get into employment. That has been the greatest achievement for GenOne: to identify that gaining employment is key to ending disparity and giving people a sense of worth and a sense of purpose, not only for them but for their family and community, too.”

Working across Australia, GenerationOne has formed partnerships with organisations and companies dedicated to achieving parity and providing opportunities for Aboriginals.

“Employers have been phenomenal. Some of the great work GenOne has done is to form relationships with employers and maintain strong relationships over many years,” says McDonald.

As a result of these relationships, there is a trial underway in Western Australia that uses the VTEC model to

prepare Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners for employment beyond bars. In a first of its kind, the initiative provides vocational training and mentoring for inmates in their last six months before release to guarantee them a job.

Beyond work, GenerationOne looks into accommodation and housing, and works closely with the individuals and their families to address any at-risk factors on the outside.

They hope to roll out the initiative in prisons and juvenile detention centres across Australia. “It’s a great initiative that we know will break the cycle of Aboriginal people leaving prison and then returning to prison,” says McDonald.

And for anyone convinced that a disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians doesn’t exist, McDonald is quick to point out the evidence. “We know this through the Closing the Gap report, through employment opportunities, through education, through life longevity and through Aboriginal health.”

While the Federal Government forks out $33.4 billion on indigenous affairs across Australia, GenerationOne believes its spending needs to be re-evaluated so as to provide a measurable impact. “We need to work with the government to ensure they adopt a different process for how they allocate money to Aboriginal communities,” says McDonald. “It must be linked to community needs, with clear outcomes, transparency and accountability for these resources that have an impact in changing the lives of Aboriginal people.”

With an aim to end welfare dependence, GenerationOne is currently trialling the way individuals receive payments.

Instead of money, welfare payments are converted to a debit card that limits all cash withdrawals to 20 per cent of the available funds. “This restricts the amount of cash available to be spent on destructive measures in vulnerable communities.

“We need to work with the government to ensure they adopt a different process for how they allocate money to Aboriginal communities.” – Tim McDonald It’s a strategy that ensures money goes towards paying rent, bills and food for children in the family,” McDonald explains. Underway for two years now in communities across Western Australia and South Australia, it’s an initiative the organisation hopes to roll out across the country, if they can get government onboard.

“I’ve had wonderful learning and great experiences with Aboriginal people. It’s an incredible culture. We know that Australia can benefit so much when all of our people are living lives where they can thrive, flourish and contribute to society,” says McDonald. AN JUNE/JULY 2018

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Images P H O T O : A G N S W, F E L I C I T Y J E N K I N S

Clockwise from left: Salvatore Zofrea at work; Ode to the White Rose # 2 - morning (2016); Flowering Gum Tree Blossoms (2016); Moonlight over The Hawkesbury (2017); Painting of Sally Dowling SC for the 2018 Archibald Prize.

ARTSPACE

The Light Fantastic This August, artist Salvatore Zofrea will have a major exhibition in Melbourne.

There, you can step into a dazzling circle of light.

WORDS: MICHELLE HESPE

alvatore Zofrea’s energy is boundless.

It’s no surprise, then, to discover the scope of the project he’s currently consumed by: three circles of paintings depicting the cycle of the sun (morning, midday and afternoon) with Australian native flora as the subject upon which light gracefully makes its presence known to a man who considers nature to be ‘God’.

“There’s no guy with a beard sitting up there in the sky called God!” says Salvatore with a laugh.

“That’s utter rubbish, isn’t it? To me, nature, wildlife — that is God. What an ego humankind had and does have, to use the human image to represent God!” Each of Salvatore’s circles of light are spread across 30 metres of canvas divided into 25 panels, each one measuring 1.5 metres high. The intricate detail is extraordinarily loaded with love (or perhaps Salvatore’s awe) — each stroke that makes up a tiny portion of a leaf, a petal of a flower or a feather of a bird, singing out for attention.

And then there’s the light — painted on top or emanating from within. It’s truly mind-boggling in its definitive beauty.

The first circle, capturing dawn until midmorning, was sold to an American art collector, and the midday cycle is now nearing completion.

It’s so scorchingly brilliant, a viewer may need to squint to recognise the detail behind the hot Australian sun’s glare.

“This circle captures the wildflowers just at that time when the sun is at the pinnacle of midday and there’s such blazing heat giving it that white-hot glow,” explains Salvatore, who moved to Australia from Italy when he was nine. “It’s such a challenge for me — but one that could be seen as subtle in terms of its effect — capturing that shimmering of light. I must capture the heat!"

And he has; the panels glow. “Through all of

S

this, I’m expressing how my spirit feels on these vast canvases, in response to nature.”

The afternoon circle is next on this maestro of colour’s agenda. It’s been three years since he started and, like everything he does, Salvatore becomes utterly consumed, funnelling his endless energy into fresh creation. The first circle, Morning Light, took him two years. “I don’t compromise,” he says. “Never have, never will.”

His exhibition at the Australian Galleries in Melbourne will showcase 20 paintings, 15 woodcuts and etchings (for which he is also famous) and five watercolours. Many of Salvatore’s fans, in love with his bold, bright, brash portrayals of human life and all of its complexities — beauty and vulgarity entwined — can also appreciate what he is trying to convey through wildflowers.

“We all get bogged down in day-to-day life, and you must go past all that to evolve as a human. Let it go, let it go!” he cries. “You’re no longer dealing with the human ego when you’re immersed in nature. To be honest, I didn’t have much more to say about the human figure, and so nature has opened new doors for me, to express my feeling about the meaning of life.”

Salvatore has been hung in the Archibald Prize many times during his extensive career, and he has won the Sulman Prize three times. For this year’s Archibald, he painted Crown Prosecutor Sally Dowling, the daughter of his partner Stephanie Claire. She is depicted in his oncesignature bold, bright, brash colours and strokes, but I can’t help but notice what surrounds this strong woman of law — wildflowers. It’s like a nod to the fact that his past and present phases, in life and in art, are most definitely united.

Salvatore Zofrea’s latest work will be on display at the Australian Galleries in Melbourne from August 28 to September 16, 2018.

EX DARWIN

CORPORATE RETREATS

TOP 10 CONFERENCE and incentive destinations in Australia From the focused conference to the exciting incentive getaway, these are some of the best corporate-minded retreats around Australia.

Words: Sarah Hinder

Elements of Byron, Byron Bay NSW This resort in beautiful Byron Bay is purpose-built to hold a range of conference and team getaway events, from largescale pavilions and beachfront gardens to private rooms fitted with the latest tech support.

Accommodation-wise, there are 193 free-standing villas dotted across the grounds’ 20 hectares of grasslands, natural waterways and forest. elementsofbyron.com.au ď ˝ JUNE/JULY 2018

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CORPORATE RETREATS

Freycinet Lodge, Freycinet National Park Tas

Q Station, Manly NSW With its exceptional — and eerie — history that dates back to the 1830s and its sweeping views across Sydney Harbour, today’s restoration of the original North Head Quarantine Station makes for a memorable visit.

Set within 12 hectares of Sydney Harbour National Park, Q Station is home to 11 Heritage-listed meeting rooms with harbour views, a grand ballroom and a private beach and wharf precinct able to accommodate up to 500 guests. For a unique team-building experience, brave a night-time ghost tour — but beware: the site is one of Australia’s most haunted. qstation.com.au

QT, Gold Coast Qld An entertainment-focused destination, QT Gold Coast is the goto choice for those wanting to throw anything from a quirky networking party to a bespoke celebration.

Aside from the hotel’s 297 designer guest rooms, it’s decked out with 15 meeting rooms spread across three floors of dedicated conference space, and a grand-scale ballroom for up to 750 delegates. qthotelsandresorts.com/gold-coast

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At the heart of the world-renowned Freycinet National Park you’ll find this cosy winter escape. Imagine panoramic coastal views of Great Oyster Bay and a log fire crackling in your homely cabin. An outstanding destination for foodies, the retreat serves up premium Tasmanian produce and local seafood at The Bay restaurant. Versatile conference facilities cater for anywhere between 10 and 110 delegates year-round, while the lodge’s special winter conference package — available between June 1 and August 31 — is reserved for smaller corporate groups looking to get down to business with hot chocolates in hand and wintry menus to look forward to. freycinetlodge.com.au

CORPORATE RETREATS

Mount Lofty House, Adelaide Hills SA

Silky Oaks Lodge, Mossman Gorge Qld

Perched above the banks of the Mossman River, this boutique accommodation is surrounded by the lush Daintree. Set on 32 private hectares of the world’s oldest living rainforest, Silky Oaks provides an especial conference environment. The resort houses two well-equipped meeting rooms, set against a tropical backdrop and flooded with natural light, the largest catering up to 100 delegates. For an even more immersive experience, guests may conference and dine in a long-table setting right upon the sands of the river. silkyoakslodge.com.au

Grange Bellinzona, Hepburn Springs Vic

Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW

Grange Bellinzona offers a hidden oasis nestled between historic towns Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, at the heart of Victoria’s spa country, around 115 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. An experience in fivestar luxury, the retreat specialises in creating individual corporate getaways. Purpose-built as a conference and team-building centre, it houses five meeting rooms that hold up to 180 people and look out to Wombat Forest. grangecc.com.au/bellinzonadaylesford

Located just one minute from the International Convention Centre, Sydney’s newly refurbished exhibition and entertainment precinct, the Sofitel is both perfectly located and equipped with competent facilities for professional meetings and events.

The luxury hotel boasts nine flexible meeting and conference spaces, including an elegant ballroom seating up to 300 guests. For extra-curricular activities, there’s the French-inspired Atelier restaurant and infinity pool and bar overlooking the Sydney skyline. sofitelsydneydarlingharbour.com.au

Originally built in 1852 as a summer residence overlooking Piccadilly Valley, Mount Lofty House is an iconic manor home just 15 minutes from Adelaide’s CBD. The residence takes pride in hosting opulent corporate getaways and is equipped with meeting and presentation rooms able to accommodate up to 1,000 delegates. Signature experiences include hiking the Heysen Trail around Mount Lofty Summit, team building within the estate gardens, and group masterclasses. The residence will appeal to epicureans, home to a 170-year-old cellar and the multiaward-winning Hardy’s Verandah Restaurant, along with five-star accomodation. mtloftyhouse.com.au

Cable Beach Club Resort & Spa, Broome WA Expect brilliant sunsets over the turquoise Indian Ocean at this resort in the Kimberley. Tailor-made conference packages ensure each company achieves what they set out to experience. Formal dining and adaptable conference venues — which accommodate between 10 and 200 delegates — overlook worldfamous Cable Beach. cablebeachclub.com

Wildman Wilderness Lodge, Mary River Wetlands NT Wildman Wilderness Lodge is an experience in bush luxury for smaller corporate groups at the edge of Kakadu National Park. The resort has meeting rooms, private dining spaces and a theatre seating up to 40 people. Its 25 rustic cabins and luxury safari tents can be booked out exclusively for individual corporate events. The lodge offers group tours of Kakadu National Park, airboat safaris across the Mary River Wetlands and sweeping helicopter tours. wildmanwildernesslodge.com.au JUNE/JULY 2018

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ROCK COTTAGE WINMARK WINES (formerly Pooles Rock) is a stunning property situated on 116 acres, with 28 acres covered by vineyards. Nestled into the property's bushland is Rock Cottage — a perfect getaway for exploring the Broke Fordwich region. The residence has three bedrooms, a stylish, cosy living area with a fireplace, and an adjoining kitchen and dining room.

Rock Cottage offers privacy and spectacular views capturing the vineyard and mountain range, making it an ideal retreat.

Rock Cottage | Winmark Wines 229 Wollombi Road, Broke NSW 2330 E: info@winmarkwines.com.au Ph: 0429 265 268

AusBiz.

NEWS+VIEWS | MINING | AGRIBUSINESS | INFRASTRUCTURE

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26 P.4 PROPERTY: BOOM AND BUST IN REGIONAL TOWNS P.10 MINING: TURNING TRASH TO TREASURE P.14 PROPERTY: REGIONAL HOTSPOTS P.22. AGRIBUSINESS: FOREIGN OWNERSHIP P.26 INFRASTRUCTURE: WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENTS P.32 EDUCATION

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Business News+Views

Business News+Views Bringing you the latest insights and analyses. WORDS: Sarah Hinder Stephen Hawking’s last predictions From an Artificial Intelligence (AI) apocalypse to nuclear war, Stephen Hawking, the theoretical physicist and genius who passed away in March, has left us with these alarming predictions.

Fireball

Global warming, over-reliance on fossil fuels and overpopulation all put our planet at risk. “By the year 2600, the world’s population would be standing shoulder to shoulder, and the electricity consumption would make the Earth glow red-hot,” he hypothesised.

AI

Hawking has warned of the dangers that self-aware AI will pose to

Imbalance between corporate gain and the average worker’s reward

Corporations are already reaping the overwhelming benefits of productivity and economic growth as a result of automation. The trend is predicted to make a $2.2 trillion boost to productivity between 2015 and 2030.

There is a disturbing divergence, however, between this growing economic surplus and the average worker’s compensation. Research suggests the gap between productivity and wage compensation for the average worker has been larger since the 2000s than at any point in the postWorld War period, and the trend is expected to grow.

humanity. “This will be a new form of life that will outperform humans,” he predicted. In an interview with Wired magazine, Hawking forewarned, “We need to move forward on artificial intelligence development, but we also need to be mindful of its very real dangers.”

Extinction

Alarmingly, Hawking proposed that within the next 100 years, humans will either leave Earth to repopulate elsewhere in the universe, or face extinction. It was his belief that, unless we succeed in becoming a multi-planetary species, the human race is very likely to die out within the next century.

Housing market problems having significant increases in homelessness

The number of Australians experiencing homelessless has steadily increased over the past decade by 13.7 per cent since 2011, as measured by the 2016 Census. Groups experiencing the biggest increase in homelessness were overseas-born migrants aged over 65 and those living in New South Wales.

A recent study from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has found that changes to Australia’s housing system have played the most predominant role in rising homelessness across the nation.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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Mining

Boom and bust HOUSING VALUES IN MINING TOWNS HAVE BEEN ON A PRECARIOUS RISE AND FALL TRAJECTORY IN RECENT YEARS AFTER THE COMMODITIES BOOM BOTTOMED OUT. NOW, THE UPWARD CYCLE HAS BEGUN. ILLUSTRATION BY: ANNA FARRELL

Kirsten Craze Kirsten Craze is a freelance journalist who has been writing about property in Australia and overseas for more than 15 years.

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Mining

Australia’s mining towns have ridden a rollercoaster ride of real-estate prices over the past decade. During that time some investors made a pile of cash as home values soared, while others dug themselves into a financial ditch when the market bottomed out.

Today, however, the dust is settling after the rise and fall of the commodities boom, and many mining towns are bouncing back.

Louis Christopher, founder of property data firm SQM Research, crunched the numbers on several resource-rich towns and, while he admits prices are on the mend, he says buyers should still enter the mining market at their own risk.

“If they buy at the right time, then great, but for those who bought at the wrong time, they might as well have just gone down to the casino,” says Christopher.

“You get extreme volatility, so people should keep that in mind.

The good times are going to be fantastic and the bad times could be a nightmare,” he says.

According to Ray

White Western Australia CEO Mark Whiteman, the bad dream is over for prices in the golden state.

“There are definitely signs of improvement in the mining towns of Western Australia — that is evident by increased numbers of inquiries and better auction clearance rates in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions,” he says.

“It appears that supply is being soaked up by additional demand, which should see things improve from what was certainly a very big correction. The market is certainly not back at boom proportions, but it is way better than the dire situation that it was,” Whiteman says.

“My view on any market is that, provided people don’t get carried away at the peak and overcommit in any part of the market, then mining towns represent excellent buying opportunities right now.”

Whiteman adds that, with property data showing a “flattening out” of the North West Shelf, prices are close to, or even at the bottom, of the cycle. “And that is universally known as the best time to buy,” he says.

“We’ll see an improvement over the next 12 to 36 months as a number of mining companies are going through upgrade phases and are developing their facilities in some of these towns. I think the markets 

“The market is certainly not back at boom proportions, but it is way better than the dire situation that it was.”

—

Mark Whiteman, Ray White Western Australian CEO.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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Mining

in the Kimberley, Karratha, Broome and Port Hedland are going to see significantly good times ahead,” he predicts.

Sophia Keily of Jays Real Estate Mount Isa says the market in North Western Queensland also looks promising.

“Mining is picking up, there’s no doubt about it. We’ve got more people back in town and the rentals are steadily picking up. We’re just coming out of a down cycle and it appears as if commodity prices are coming back up. The town’s prices are lagging, but the potential is looming again.

It’s a good time for investors to get back in,” says Keily.

Keily adds that, with limited accommodation in Mount Isa, landlords with well-presented property will always find tenants while the local copper and zinc mines are hiring.

“We had about 10 years of zero to maybe one or two per cent vacancy. We even had those extreme situations where people were renting out their backyards as makeshift camp sites and any caravan was being used. It was so bad that people were homeless, but they were working homeless,” she says of the boom times.

While property cycles in mining towns might be extreme, Keily says what goes up does come down, and vice versa.

“People picked up places really cheaply in the low of 2004, and they caught that wave. I remember by 2012 a lot of those landlords wanted to capitalise, so sold up and made huge capital gains,” she says.

“At that time, people who came to town for work were being forced to pay a lot for property that

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wasn’t being maintained, so they ended up buying very high, which was still better than paying high rents for something that was falling apart.

“Where it all came unstuck is when those same people got put off as the mines retrenched in 2014 and 2015, and then had to sell. They’re the ones who got into trouble. But there were a lot who fixed up their homes, rented them out when they could, and waited. If they can wait they will get their money back, because every time we’ve had this cycle it’s always come back. It’s all about timing.”

Karratha

Population: 15,828 (Census 2016) Current gross rental yield: 12.5 per cent (houses) and 8.95 per cent (units) At the height of the inflated market between 2011 and 2012, the main caravan park in Karratha was charging up to $2,400 a week — but today a van is as little as $85 a night.

At the peak of the mining boom, Karratha had a vacancy rate of about 0.4 per cent according to SQM Research. 

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Mining Those rates then rose during the downturn to 7.5 per cent in April 2015. Between late 2015 and now, vacancies have been trending down, and by early 2018 were sitting at 2.5 per cent.

The median weekly rent peaked in July 2012 at $1,700 a week for houses and $1,100 a week for units. By January 2017, rents finally bottomed out at $450 a week for houses and $300 a week for units. Today, rents are now climbing again, with the median house rent sitting at $495 a week, while units have picked up to $333 a week as at April 2018.

Sales in the town saw a huge rise and fall during the same timeframe. At its peak, the median house price in Karratha reached $870,000 — with some homes selling for more than $1 million — and units hit a median of $600,000.

The market began falling in 2012 through to 2017, finally bottoming out at a median house price of $300,000 and a median unit price of $127,000. By the first half of 2018, the median house price got to $390,000, with units yet to move.

Port Hedland

Population: 13,828 (Census 2016) Current gross rental yield: 8.25 per cent (dwellings) In the height of the boom, there was 0.2 per cent vacancy in Port Hedland according to SQM numbers. That then skyrocketed in the downturn to a high point of 7.5 per cent.

Now on a downturn since late 2016, the local vacancy is sitting at about 2.6 per cent.

Weekly rents for a house in Port Hedland soared to $2,800, with units at $1,400. But then by the bottom they were sitting at $600 a week for houses and $350 a week for units. Port Hedland rents are on an upward swing in 2018 and are sitting at $800 a week for houses and $400 a week for units.

When the market was booming in WA, Port Hedland prices were skyrocketing. In 2012, the median house price reached a whopping $1.6 million, but by 2017 it bottomed out at $525,000. At the same time units hit their peak at $810,000, but then began to fall.

Units in Port Hedland were at $264,000 by early 2018.

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Mount Isa

Population: 32,588 (Census 2016) Current gross rental yield: 6 per cent (dwellings) Similar to Port Hedland and Karratha, vacancy rates were tight during the mining boom, getting as low as 0.3 per cent in October 2012. They peaked at 6 per cent by December 2014 and have slowly fallen since to 2.5 per cent this year.

House rents in Mount Isa reached $600 a week in the boom, while units were at $480 a week. The bottom finally came in late 2016 when rents for houses fell to $350 and units were $200 a week.

SQM data shows that the median house price hit a high of $495,000 in December 2012, then gradually fell to $325,000 by mid-2017. They climbed to $330,000 in early 2018. Meanwhile units peaked in mid-2013 at $410,000, then bottomed out in October 2017 at $250,000, and have inched back up this year to $295,000.

Roxby Downs

Population: 3,884 (Census 2016) Current gross rental yield: 6 per cent (dwellings) Resource-rich towns in South Australia have also been along for the ride. Roxby Downs, a purpose-built town that services the Olympic Dam uranium and copper mine site, has been on one of those property price waves.

Vacancy rates sat at around zero in March 2012, then hit a dramatic peak in June 2016 of 17 per cent. Since then vacancies have fallen, and, by September 2017, were back down to 0.8 per cent. They are now slightly up 2.5 per cent.

At their height weekly rents for a house reached $520 in August 2012, then dramatically dropped to $190 a week in January 2017. Now they are on the rise again to $377 a week.

The few units in Roxby Downs did peak at the same time as houses at $350 a week, then bottomed in April 2016 at $160 a week. Now, local units have climbed to $310 a week.

In October 2012 the median house price in Roxby Downs was $470,000, but fell to $310,000 by June 2017. That was up by early 2018 to $339,000. Similary, units peaked at $377,000, then slumped to $192,000 and have increased to $220,000.

Darren Baguley An agriculture, tech, mining, energy and business specialist.

Trash to treasure AS HIGH-GRADE DEPOSITS BECOME HARDER TO FIND, REPROCESSING TAILINGS FROM LEGACY MINES BECOMES ECONOMICALLY VIABLE AS MINING COMPANIES GO BACK TO THE FUTURE. For thousands of years the process of prospectors working in remote areas, under harsh conditions, to find an ore deposit, develop the mine and extract the resource has fired the imagination.

There can be no denying there’s a romance to this progression. However, it invariably misses out the final phase — the inevitable closure of the mine when the finite resource has been extracted, processed and turned into the products of our comfortable industrial world.

While there are mines, such as Potosi in Bolivia, that were opened hundreds of years ago, most have a life span of 30 to 50 years. New technology and a new way of viewing mining waste, however, are changing perceptions as to what is the end of a mine’s productive life.

All mines generate waste. There is the overburden, rock that overlies the ore seam or mineral body, and tailings, the material

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Fast Fact

80%

Mined since the 1500s, and the source of Spain’s wealth at that time, the Cerro Rico de Potosí is the world's largest silver deposit. In the early years the ore grade was as high as 40 per cent silver.

remaining after ore has been processed and the valuable fraction separated out. The amount of tailings can be large depending on the metal or mineral being mined and the purity of the ore or mineral body. During extraction, the ore is ground into fine particles.

Tailings are usually stored near the mine site itself and present challenges when it comes to rehabilitating the mine site at the end of its life: acid mine drainage, alkaline drainage and fine particles loaded with toxic substances such as lead. Mine site rehabilitation is expensive and it’s often the taxpayer picking up the bill.

There are about 60,000 unrehabilitated mine sites in Australia, which represents a considerable burden that could be minimised if mining companies, government and the public see these ‘waste’ materials as potential resources. According to Anita Parbhakar-Fox, the Senior Research Fellow — Minimising Geoenvironmental Risks Transforming the Mining Value Chain — an ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub at the University of Tasmania, tailings dumps could be part of a new mining boom as there is vast potential for these massive piles of waste to be re-mined.

Not only are the tailings from some older mines the equivalent of economic grade with modern processing methods, but changing demand for metals means there are also desirable elements contained within the waste.

“If we’re looking at historical, legacy sites, the sites that had quite high grade in the first place would be the sites to prioritise if a mining company was chasing the same commodity,” says Parbhakar-Fox. “Take, for example, Western Tasmania mining around Zeehan and Queenstown started in the early 1900s and as mineral processing technology has changed,

Mining review

what was once waste material would now be considered as economic grade.

“The other thing to consider is the accessory metals you might have in some of the assemblages that are associated with those high-grade deposits. When we look at some of the mine waste material from Western Tasmania, we may be looking for lead, silver and base metals but we actually find there is quite a nice accessory of critical metals. For example we’ve had a bit of success with finding indium and cobalt.

So, looking at those mine wastes a bit more broadly and seeing if there is a metal or mineral that is in demand now can certainly improve the potential revenue companies can generate from reprocessing these materials.”

According to Parbhakar-Fox, the Old Tailings Dam, a site at Savage River on the west coast of Tasmania, has pyriterich waste from mining activities between 1967 and 1982 containing 38 million tonnes of material. While rehabilitation measures such as vegetating the site or flooding the area have been deemed technically too difficult, studies by Parbhakar-Fox found that the tailings contained as much as 3 per cent cobalt, a metal priced at US$81,000/tonne at the time of writing. She adds that by using bacterial oxidation, a greener process developed to release gold from pyritic rocks, much of the cobalt could be recovered.

The Baal Gammon mine near Herberton in northern

Queensland produced copper, tin and silver for more than 70 years, but acid drainage from the site’s tailings has contaminated the waste near Jamie Creek and Walsh River. Analysis by Parbhakar-Fox’s team of shows it contains high levels of tin and indium that could be recovered using modern processing technology. “Reprocessing the waste would also remove the sulphides that are causing the acid drainage and threatening local waterways,” she adds.

At its most basic, the way companies reprocess their waste depends on the metal or mineral being extracted and the grade of the parent material. “Operational mines need to take their waste material and treat it the same way they treat ore characterisation, understanding where the metals are sited, and start using appropriate metallurgical techniques,” says Parbhakar-Fox. A good example of a company doing this is the Ernest Henry Mine, a copper and gold mining operation in northwest Queensland. The mine began commercial production in March 1998 and it has undertaken good work in terms of reprocessing its tailings. “They’ve gone back to their tailings dams and dredged the material there. They’re chasing magnetite so it’s quite easy for them to put the material through magnetic separation and recover it much the same way they treat their ore,” says Parbhakar-Fox. Cobalt and indium are ‘hot’ elements right now because  JUNE/JULY 2018

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Mining review

they’re used in electronic gadgets the world currently has an insatiable thirst for, and a similarly in-demand element, lithium, is being recovered from waste in Western Australia.

Over the past two years Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) has developed its patented SiLeach® lithium processing technology that promises to produce lithium at very low cost and can also process ores that were up until now regarded as waste material.

According to a report by RM Research, “[Lithium Australia’s] flagship lithium processing technology, SiLeach® is a halogenbased lithium processing technology which eliminates the expensive roasting step used in conventional lithium processing. SiLeach® is able to treat all lithium silicates including micas and low-spec and contaminated spodumene concentrates that are currently being disposed as waste from mining operations. Conventional processes can only recover lithium. SiLeach® efficiently digests and recovers all metals from the minerals processed and has the capacity of recovering valuable by-products which conventional processing is unable to do.”

While reprocessing of mine waste is far less destructive to the environment than building a new mine, Parbhakar-Fox says that it can still be controversial. “When you consider the cultural aspect, the different land uses involved, [reprocessing] can be quite tricky. In Zeehan, we’re working on the infamous slag dump as another project. We’ve worked out where the zinc is residing, and we can improve the metallurgy of the recovery of that zinc, but it’s an area of cultural significance.

“It sounds simple to say you should remove all this because it would remove a risk. We know it’s generating dust and contributing to the low pH waters with the slag pile sitting right next to a tailings repository all of which is impacting Austral Creek, which has a pH of 1.7.” Despite the logic, a company that was reprocessing the slag in 2011 struck opposition from locals who saw it as destroying history. “It’s a hurdle that isn’t always obvious when you’re thinking about minerals and dollars and things,” sums up Parbhakar-Fox.

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Fast Facts

40,000

The oldest continuing mining operation in the world may be the Wilgie Mia ochre mine in Western Australia’s Weld Ranges.

Archaeologists believe excavation began 40,000 years ago.

Gold

South Australia's integrated metallurgical plant at Olympic Dam mine is able to process copper, uranium, silver and gold.

While high grade deposits continue to be found, the reality is that mining companies worldwide are chasing lower grade deposits across all commodities. According to ParbhakarFox, the logic of reprocessing legacy waste and further processing waste as it is produced is undeniable, but more research is needed.

“Any decision that needs to be made in the area of reprocessing or rehabilitation needs to be based on good solid mineralogy. A lot of decisions can be made by looking at element signatures, but unless you understand where those elements were actually sited mineralogically then you can’t make a good decision in terms of the site. Developing techniques that can predict, characterise or capture mineralogy more cost effectively in the field is quite critical, as it can potentially transform the mining value chain. If we don’t do things like that, then we’ll continue to make mistakes."

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Property

On the money THERE’S MONEY TO BE MADE FOR INVESTORS IN REGIONAL MARKETS WHEN IN THE PROPERTY GAME FOR THE LONG RUN. HERE, WE LOOK AT THE AUSTRALIAN REGIONS OFFERING THE BEST INVESTMENT POTENTIALS

Kirsten Craze Kirsten Craze is a freelance journalist who has been writing about property in Australia and overseas for more than 15 years.

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One of the great real-estate myths is that only cities are home to big returns. But savvy investors know the real story.

Sure, Sydney and Melbourne have multi-million-dollar price tags and have seen impressive annual growth, but high entry costs and mammoth mortgages mean many investors just can’t play the field. However, switched-on investors who have stepped into regional markets are finding there is money to be made when playing the long game.

Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo, National Research Manager for PRD Nationwide, says there are plenty of regional hotspots where prices are affordable and gains are strong.

“There’s a lot of potential in regional areas. Many people just think about Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, or within an hour’s drive of those places — they don’t think about regional areas and their investment potential,” she says.

Mardiasmo recently released PRD Nationwide’s annual Ready Set Go Regional Report that analyses which Local Council Areas show property investment promise.

Property

The comprehensive report takes into account affordability, property price trends, investment potential, future development and the local unemployment rate.

“We also made sure the LGAs we chose had a median price below the average state loan. For example, in NSW the average state loan for the December 2017 quarter was $476,449, while in Victoria it was $410,000 and in Queensland $338,000,” she says.

The LGAs highlighted also had positive 12-month price growth, a rental yield on par with, or higher than, the nearest capital city, and rental vacancy rates on par with, or lower than, the capitals.

“I have talked to so many investors who are hung up on two things: median price and percentage growth. People tend to look at it from a 12-month perspective, whereas if I was going to look at it from a growth perspective, I would look at the five- or even 10-year average.

“Investors get enamoured by the idea of cheap prices and rental yields, but some haven't even heard of vacancy rates before.

You need to know what they are, because you need them to be as low as possible."

True property hotspots, Mardiasmo says, need to have solid future development prospects.

“Without a high level of development, that level of price growth will not be sustained five or seven years down the track. There are people out who will want to flip properties in 12 months or so but, to me, property is still a long-term gain.”

The PRD report concentrates on the Eastern Seaboard as these populated states have been most struggling with affordability.

New South Wales

Fast Facts

$1.17m While Sydney’s median house price sits at $1.1795 million, Melbourne’s is $821,000 and Brisbane’s is $530,000.

$769,051 The weighted average house price in Australia’s capital cities is $769,051.

The Ready Set Go Regional Report tipped Tamworth, Goulburn Mulwaree, Orange and Wagga Wagga local councils as hotspots.

Tamworth is home to around 60,000 people and has a local initiative in place to hit 100,000 by 2030. The median house price as at April 2018 was $340,000, with a rental yield of 4.9 per cent and a vacancy rate of 2.3 per cent. With approximately $131 million of development planned for the region, the area 400 kilometres north-west of Sydney is looking pretty good to investors.

“People ask me what the major industry is in Tamworth and the answer, which is our strength, is that we don’t have one. We’ve got lots of contributors, so that protects the local economy from the boom and bust cycle that can happen in some other regional places,” says Dean Cummins, founder of PRD Nationwide Tamworth.

“People see just how well priced our properties are and you can get a pretty good return. You can achieve a 6 per cent return pretty easily or even better,” he says.

Cummins, whose office manages 1,800 properties, said his current vacancy rate is sitting at a very low two per cent, with homes renting out in just 2 weeks on the market.

Also pegged as a hotspot, Goulburn’s median house price was $420,000, while there are returns of 3.4 per cent, with vacancies at just 1.7 per cent. The Orange median house price was $387,000, while the yield was 3.8 per cent, with vacancies also at 1.7 per cent. In Wagga Wagga, the median sat at $345,000 and the yield was 5.5 per cent, with the vacant rate at 2.8 per cent.  JUNE/JULY 2018

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Property

Queensland For Queensland the regional councils of the Whitsundays and Southern Downs, as well as Ipswich and Toowoomba, were highlighted as solid investment spots.

In Toowoomba, which is 125 kilometres west of Brisbane and home to approximately 160,779 people, the median house price was $380,000, while rental yields were sitting at 4.7 per cent and the vacancy rate at 2.7 per cent.

With almost $2 billion worth of development given the green light in the greater Toowoomba region, local agents have reason to sing its praises.

“We have a steady growth rate and low vacancy, and obviously you get a lot more bang for your buck in Toowoomba than you do in any of the capitals. You’ve also got a much better rate of return,” says Simone Files, cofounder of Blackbird and Finch, a real-estate business based

in Toowoomba.

Files says despite an oversupply of units in the area in recent years that has since corrected itself, houses are hot property and there is no shortage of tenants.

“As soon as a property goes up for rent, it generally only takes about two weeks to get it leased. But we don’t have very many for rent — we’d dearly love some more,” she says.

Other promising areas in the Sunshine State include the Whitsundays region, where the house price median was $375,000, the rental yield was 4.5 per cent and the vacancy rate 1.6 per cent. Further south and Ipswich’s median is $347,500, while the local rental yield was 4.8 per cent, with vacancies at 2.9 per cent. In the Southern Downs the median house price was $280,000, with a yield at 4.6 per cent and vacancy at 1.6 per cent. 

JUNE/JULY 2018

17

Property

Victoria In Victoria the Ready Set Go report pinpointed the Mitchell, Bass Coast and Moorabool shire councils.

Moorabool Shire Council has a population of around 32,000, a median house price of $433,750, a yield of 4.1 per cent and a very low vacancy of 0.8 per cent.

There is approximately $40 million worth of investment set to be pumped into the local area in the short term, so values are looking up.

Matthew Edwards, senior country and lifestyle consultant at PRD Nationwide Ballarat, sells in the Moorabool Shire to a number of Melbourne-based investors keen to cash in on the high growth in the Moorabool region.

With a median house price of $410,000, the Mitchell region had a rental yield of 4.6 per cent and a vacancy rate of only 0.6 per cent.

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AusBiz.

“We manage close to 1,600 properties and a lot of our investors are coming out of the city looking for affordability and good returns,” says Edwards.

“We also have a lot of cranky tenants at the moment because they’re missing out — it’s pretty competitive. Every time we have a rental open, there’s a big line.”

“With a vacancy rate that low, you’ve got less risk of waiting for a tenant and you can start getting returns quicker. And not only are you likely to get a tenant quicker, the growth seems to be better year on year,” he adds.

Along the Bass Coast the median house price sat at $395,000, with a 4.5 per cent yield and 2.3 per cent vacancy, while the Mitchell Shire Council has a median house price of $410,000, with yields at 4.6 per cent and vacancies incredibly low at 0.6 per cent.

Finance Special

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Mining Recruitment Special

Work with the best in mining OreWin is an independent mining consultancy based in Adelaide. Our key areas of consulting expertise are geology and mining engineering, but the day-to-day work our consultants undertake can vary widely depending on the nature of the active projects and our client’s requirements.

OreWin’s core business is the preparation of studies — the deliverable is generally a technical report describing the analyses that we carry out and the parameters used and results obtained. In going about our work, we always aim to provide targeted advice to each client to help maximise the benefit of their specific project.

We provide whole-of-project analysis, from mineral resources and ore reserves, through to economic analysis. Sometimes we may be commissioned to prepare just a part of the analysis, but to ensure we provide value to our client, we will still need to understand how the part fits the whole.

Typical work that our consultants

might undertake includes: Geologists • Drillhole planning • Geological interpretation • Statistical and geostatistical analysis • Resource estimation • Resource classification and reporting under several jurisdictions Mining engineers • Mine optimisation and design • Production scheduling • Cost estimation • Reserve reporting • Economic analysis options and sensitivities.

OreWin's consultants may be tasked to provide input into any aspect of a study, depending on their core discipline and their level of experience.

We work on projects in Australia and around the world. In the last 12 months we have worked on projects located in South Australia, Queensland, Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo,

Mexico, Mongolia, South Africa and Turkey. Most of the work is carried out in OreWin’s Adelaide office, with visits to sites and client offices to collect data and present results as required.

To keep up with the growth of our business, OreWin is looking for full time senior and principal consultants for Adelaide-based roles.

We need people that have the skills and outlook to complement our existing team of consultants; people who can think independently, who can look critically at the data and are able to understand and explain what needs to be done and what results mean.

This generally requires high technical proficiency and good communication skills.

We are a consultancy in which our people understand accountability and take pride in their work.

If you are interested in the type of work we do and think that you have what it takes to become a member of our team, contact us on the OreWin careers link found at orewin.com JUNE/JULY 2018

21

Agribusiness

Whose land is it anyway?

THE OWNERSHIP OF AGRICULTURAL LAND IN AUSTRALIA HAS BEEN A HOT TOPIC FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS AND RECENT PURCHASES

BY CHINESE COMPANIES HAVE REIGNITED THE DEBATE.

Darren Baguley An agriculture, tech, mining, energy and business specialist.

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AusBiz.

Arguments about foreign investment and ownership of Australian agricultural land are almost as old as white settlement. With a large land mass and sparse population, the costs of developing vast plains west of the Blue Mountains couldn't be borne by the fledgling colony so development of Crown land leases was financed by Britain.

For the next 150 years, foreign investment in Australian agriculture was an issue that bubbled to the surface of Australian politics at intervals. Few politicians, except those on the extreme left, challenged the high level of British investment in Australian agriculture, but a burst of American investment in mining and agriculture in the 1960s provoked some disquiet. Overall, however, mainstream Australia seemed to accept that in a big country with a small population, some foreign investment was inevitable.

In the early 2010s, however, the national debate surrounding foreign investment in Australian agriculture reared again. This time, however, the concern was not about British or American investment but Chinese. At first there were rumblings of discontent in rural electorates as people noticed that Chinese-owned corporations had bought up some large-scale agricultural properties.

Everything changed in 2012, when the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approved the sale of Cubbie Station to Shandong Ruyi Scientific and Technology Group Co Ltd, a textile and garment company owned by Chinese and Japanese investors. Shandong initially bought 80 per cent of the Cubbie Group in consortium with the Lempriere Group, an Australian family-owned company with a 150-year history

Agribusiness

in wool trading and agricultural property management.

Cubbie’s status as the largest irrigation property in the Southern Hemisphere attracted media coverage, which ensured the issue received major attention from the public and both sides of politics. Voters in electorates dominated by the National Party may have been the most vocal, but according to a 2012 Lowy Institute poll quoted by the Australian Farm Institute (AFI), 63 per cent of those surveyed were strongly against “the Australian government allowing foreign companies to buy Australian farmland to grow crops or farm livestock”. By 2016, it was up to 69 per cent.

To allay public concern — and shore up National Party support — the Coalition went to the 2013 election with a promise to establish a register of foreign-owned farmland.

The Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land Register, managed by the Australian Tax Office, produces an update after the end of each financial year. Nevertheless, concerns remain. Not only does the system require individuals to self-register, the penalty for not doing so is $9,000. Another concern unrelated to the register is that the threshold of $15 million required for referral to the FIRB is too high.

A further concern is the source of the investment. Cubbie Station may have been the first landmark agricultural property to be sold to a Chinese-owned company, but it certainly wasn’t the last. When the FY2017 findings from the Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land Register were released at the end of September 2017, certain factions of the National Party, mainstream television, radio and newspapers worked themselves into a lather when it showed that Chinese

investment had increased tenfold over the previous year.

Little mention was made regarding the agricultural land owned by British, American, Netherlands and Canadian companies and individuals.

Independent-minded specialist agricultural publications and websites were quick to point out that the tenfold increase was accounted for by one single pastoral company — the sale of S. Kidman & Co to a consortium mainly comprised of Gina Rinehart and a Chinese company, Shanghai CRED. That sale added 7.8 million hectares of grazing country to ledger of Chinese interests alone. In addition, a further 1,390,095 hectares of Kimberley cattle country was acquired by Hong Kong billionaire property developer, Hui Wing Mau, when he bought the Yougawalla Pastoral Company.

To further put foreign ownership in perspective, while the report showed that offshore investors owned 13.6 per cent of all Australian agricultural land, the AFI asserts that 99 per cent of Australian agricultural businesses are entirely Australian owned. Nevertheless, the AFI also noted that one of Australia’s largest superannuation fund managers has no investment exposure to Australian agriculture despite managing 10 per cent of Australia’s trillion-dollar-plus investment pool.

To some extent, this simple fact supports the assertion made by proponents of foreign investment in the Australian agricultural sector — there is a massive gap between the capital available and the capital required domestically.

According to the ANZ Bank, it’s about $850 billion; 

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Agribusiness

a figure that National Farmers Federation CEO, Tony Mahar, annualises to $9 billion; that’s $9 billion that could be spent developing Australia’s land that’s not being spent.

While there is no doubt there are extensive agricultural properties all over Australia that could benefit from investment, for the extensive cattle properties of Northern Australia the calculation is simple. More investment means more fencing, more water points and more yards; other key infrastructure means beef producers can run more cattle on the land they have, which improves profitability.

Foreign investors are often innovators as well. In 2015, Singaporean businessman Bruce Cheung bought Pardoo Station in the Pilbara for $13 million because he had been told there was a hitherto untapped underground river flowing beneath the 200,000-hectare station. After investing a further $20 million on 18 centre pivot irrigators across 840 hectares of pasture, Pardoo Station’s herd of Wagyu cattle are reaping the benefits of the Pilbara’s year-round growing season.

What then are the disadvantages of foreign investment?

And is Australia’s resistance to Chinese investment just a rerun of the 19th and 20th century’s fear of the ‘Yellow Peril’?

While some sectors of the Australian community — One Nation supporters for example — may well be motivated by racism, the AFI has listed some legitimate concerns about foreign investment, some of which apply more to Chinese investors than others.

For example, China’s agriculture is living on borrowed time. Production may be sky high now but that has come

from wholesale degradation of the country’s land and water resources, including over-extraction of the North China Plain’s fossil groundwater. As a result, Chinese companies have deliberately been buying up farmland all over the world.

The concern is that the production of that farmland may be diverted when Chinese agricultural production begins to fall.

Other concerns include sustainable management. The argument goes that foreigners who own the farmland but don’t live on it have no incentive to look after the land. While the environmental sustainability concern is not groundless, there are plenty of Australian-owned agricultural properties that are not being operated sustainably. As foreign investors usually buy high value properties, there is no incentive to degrade the asset base by running it unsustainably.

The final concern is that of foreign workers. While Chineseowned farms in Africa have become ‘Little Chinas’ t­ here is little evidence that is happening in Australia. The reality is that Australia has strong labour laws that are usually enforced, and the harshness of the Australian environment also mitigates against wholesale importation of foreign workers.

Despite the legitimate concerns, it’s clear that foreign investment in agricultural land is here to stay. It may be nice to think that Australia has the financial resources to develop its own farming land, but the reality is that the world is beginning to realise that Australian agriculture has many competitive advantages, not least being on the doorstep of Asia’s burgeoning middle class. Given this trend, it would be unusual if foreign investors weren’t keen to invest.

JUNE/JULY 2018

25

Infrastructure

Down by the boardwalk BEING ON THE WATER’S EDGE IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE FOR AUSSIE BUSINESSES. HERE WE EXPLORE SOME OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL AUSTRALIAN WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENTS AND THE REASONS BEHIND THEIR SUCCESS — ALONG WITH FACTORS THAT SANK A FEW PROJECTS.

In 2016 Michelle Grand-Milkovic moved her successful restaurant love.fish from Sydney's inner west to a new 160-seat waterfront location at Barangaroo. A former container port and cruise ship terminal on the western fringe of the CBD, it’s been reinvented as a worldclass dining, retail, residential and business park, with gleaming waterfront towers, a new ferry terminal and a supersize promenade.

“Making the move was a risk but a calculated one, because we knew we could strike a chord with the larger CBD audience the same way we did in the suburbs,” Grand-Milkovic says. “It paid off. The dining destination and community that's been built at Barangaroo is more than we could have hoped for. We now turnover more in one day than we used to in a week.”

Grand-Milkovic is one of scores of Australians migrating to our bays, rivers, beaches and harbours to capitalise on the natural beauty of the waterfront. To meet the demand, government and developers are investing billions to dredge rivers, beautify old ports and build brand-new waterfront precincts that are changing the faces of our cities and towns.

In this special feature, AusBiz. looks at some of Australia’s most successful waterfront developments and a few that have fallen below the waterline. We also explore the latest in waterfront architecture, innovative new finance models and the supercomplex environmental MICHELLE GRAND-MILOVIC WITH HER HUSBAND, considerations for building E X E C U T I V E C H E F, M I C H A E L M I L K O V I C on the water’s edge.

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AusBiz.

Ian Lloyd Neubauer With nearly 20 years’ journalism experience, Ian is abreast of global news as it happens.

Infrastructure

The stepped approach

Did You Know?

18m Barangaroo is projected to receive 18 million visits per year — 10 million more than Sydney’s iconic Circular Quay.

Twin

A new twin-tower project featuring Australia’s first-ever elevated hotel lobby is now being built at Perth’s Elizabeth Quay.

With Barangaroo, it appears Sydney’s politicians and planners finally recognised the full value of the city’s magical waterfront — not just in financial terms, but as a cultural and social asset that matters to the community.

On completion in 2024, more than half of the 22-hectare site will have been relegated to public spaces. There will be a new amphitheatre, a park modelled after Bryant Park fronting New York’s Public Library, a walkway connecting to a new metro station, and a new boardwalk with sandstone steps leading into the water.

“Successful models for waterfronts seem to involve partnerships between the public and private sectors, to create a series of active and passive precincts that provide something for all generations of residents and visitors alike,” Nicholas Brooke, Chairman of the Hong Kong Harbourfront Commission, tells AusBiz. “But at the end of the day, it all boils down to accessibility and getting people to the water.”

Brooke and his team have also learned about the importance of limiting all buildings on the water’s edge in their continuing mission to beautify Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. “A stepped approach is preferable as it reduces visual intrusion and creates a much more permeable waterfront,” he says. “In this context, Sydney is very much one of our role models. We’re very envious of what you've achieved.”

Kim Dovey, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Melbourne, agrees a stepped approach is critical. “In principle, you want as much density as possible close to the water’s edge as long as that doesn't damage the attraction. You want lots of activity close to the water with relatively small setbacks, but heights should then be stepped back to prevent overshadowing and wind effects,” he says.

“The best examples of this in Melbourne is probably Southbank on the Yarra River,” says Dovey. “While the buildings are poorly designed, this is a highly active waterfront, with very good promenade design.”  JUNE/JULY 2018

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Infrastructure

Sustainability report

Perth has its own Barangaroo in Elizabeth Quay, a $2.5-billion project transforming 10 hectares of underutilised foreshore on the Swan River into a thriving recreational and commercial hub built around a newly excavated 2.7-hectare inlet.

“Elizabeth Quay has literally changed the face of Perth,” says Vanessa Toncich of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA), overseeing the delivery of the 15-year project which, over the next decade, will include commercial, residential and hotel accommodation. “Retailers are registering record sale days: Gusto Gelato served up a tonne of ice-cream in one week over summer. Ferry patronage increased 300 per cent in the first few weeks after the precinct opened in 2016, and Deloitte Access Economics predicts it’ll attract up to 50 million people over the next decade.”

Given the scale of inlet creation, the MRA went to extraordinary lengths to ensure a sufficient level of flushing to keep the water healthy. Silt curtains were installed to manage turbidity and suspended sediments in the water. A temporary limestone wall was built on the riverfront to shield the river from construction, and only biodegradable oils were used in machinery and tools.

But only three months after Elizabeth Quay opened, the swim leg of a triathlon that was to take place in the inlet had to be cancelled after faecal coliforms were found in the water. The problem was caused by birdlife droppings following a big storm. But ecologists pointed out at the time that the MRA’s monthly water monitoring program was wholly inadequate and the inlet should be tested weekly, as the Swan River is, to identify flare-ups before they become an issue.

There have been no further reports of contamination.

However, the incident shows the infinite complexities of constructing — and managing — waterfront properties.

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AusBiz.

Show me the money

Mega-waterfront projects like Elizabeth Quay are usually underwritten by government and too big to fail. But the private sector in Australia has a spotted record navigating the financial roadblocks that are part of waterfront projects with multiple stakeholders.

Hinchinbrook Harbour, a residential marina north of Townsville in Far North Queensland under construction since the mid-1990s, is a textbook example. Plagued by problems since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–2008 and sucker-punched by Cyclone Yasi in 2011, the marina has sent two different management companies into administration. It’s also left dozens of small investors high and dry, including a resident who bought a two-bedroom apartment for $565,000 in 2007 only to sell it for less than $170,000 a decade later.

Meanwhile, dodgy environmental planning has seen the marina filled with half a million cubic metres of mud, with crocodiles now trying to move into the seaside community. “It’s a crazy, complicated story. I’m learning more about it by the day,” says Nick Dametto, Member for Hinchinbrook. “Everyone has an opinion and/or a vested interest in the outcome.”

Melbourne's $500-million Wyndham Harbour project was also hard hit by the GFC. However, Wyndham Harbour has become a case study in achieving innovative funding solutions for complex marinas.

“We turned traditional marina funding strategies on their head by mapping a funding solution that saw the profit from the land development fund the marina delivery,” said Michael Kark, CEO of Monark Property Partners, a Wyndham Harbour financier since 2009.

The masterplan was concurrently adjusted and scaled back. When Wyndham Harbour was launched in 2003, it comprised 500 finished homes. Version 2.0 has only 350 plots, all of which have finally been sold.

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Mining Technology Special

Position Partners welcomes Andrew Jones to the Monitoring Solutions Team Position Partners is pleased to announce that Andrew Jones has joined the company as the second Business Development Manager in the Monitoring Solutions Team. In his new role, Mr Jones will be responsible for the New South Wales and Southern regions.

Mr Jones has built a 20-year career as a geologist in the mining industry and comes with an extensive array of operational experience both domestically and abroad.

With a background in mines rescue and emergency services, Mr Jones is passionate about providing solutions contributing to the safe operation of projects.

Whilst in Mount Isa, he gained experience in both underground and open cut mining processes whilst catering for challenging geotechnical conditions requiring various monitoring solutions. This included mining an open cut over a historic underground operation whilst needing to guarantee the structural integrity of nearby critical surface infrastructure.

Mr Jones has since consulted throughout Asia, Africa and the Middle East to companies in a variety of commodities and extraction techniques. He also gained exposure to the civil engineering industry whilst consulting to quarrying and cement companies.

Mr Jones holds a Bachelors Degree in Applied Science and a Masters in Mineral Economics. He has a strong appreciation in both the technical and commercial aspects of operating a project safely.

Position Partners centralised Monitoring Solutions Team supports customers with tailored solutions for the civil, geospatial, mining and building industries.

Position Partners offers two industry-leading monitoring solutions including Senceive, an innovative wireless platform and Topcon Delta, a comprehensive optical and GNSS-based system with advanced reporting and integrated communications technology.

Mr Jones added: “I’m excited to be a part of the growing team at Position Partners and look forward to providing clients with solutions from the vast range of products we supply. I’m keen to draw on my varied operational experience to assist clients with their onsite strategies.” positionpartners.com.au JUNE/JULY 2018

31

abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au An Anglican Pre K-12 day and boarding school for girls

Board at Abbotsleigh Our specialty is country and regional NSW In Sydney?

Come and visit us â&#x20AC;&#x201C; weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d love to show you around Please contact Colleen Fenn on 02 9473 7744 or registrar@abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au We empower amazing girls to do amazing things

Education Special Feature Mining

Chooks away

BY CARRIE KABLEAN

For most of us, eggs at Easter mean the chocolate variety, in all their sugary delight — but the girls at Abbotsleigh’s Ag Club have a different agenda. In the run-up to this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show students were busy raising meat chickens, taking care of Light Sussex hens, and learning about egg and meat production.

It was the first time the girls from Abbotsleigh, an Anglican girls' day and boarding school in Sydney’s north, had competed in the show.

Three of the hens were entered in the Purebred Layers Competition, which involves selecting well-matched birds and putting together a project about husbandry and laying.

Four students competed in the Junior Showmanship Schools division, presenting birds to a judging panel to demonstrate handling skills and breed knowledge.

Others competed in the Steggles Meat Pairs Competition. These girls picked up their day-old chicks in February, 16 little 45 gram balls of fluff that would eventually bulk up to more than three kilograms each, during which time the students were required to track the growth and feed

consumption, document husbandry and calculate feed conversion efficiency.

While some Abbotsleigh girls come from a rural background, that’s not true for all of them. So, how did the students do? In the Steggles Meat Pairs, their male meat birds placed second as a live bird pair, and they came fourth in the carcase competition; their Light Sussex hens placed third in the Purebred Layers. As the competitions drew entrants from 75 schools, the Ag Club girls were delighted to be placed.

As for the Junior Showmanship, the four girls had no idea what to expect and were competing against Agriculture students! Nerve wracking, to say the least — and not just for the entrants. After the event, the girls’ teacher Susan Filan was sought out by one of the judges and shown how to properly handle a caged bird. “She was very helpful,” said Filan. “She thought the girls must have a bad Ag teacher! When she learned that we are a club with a Science teacher in charge, she took the time to help us out. Now that we know what happens in a competition, we look forward to improving next year.”

Want to know more?

Visit www.abbotsleigh. nsw.edu.au | 02 9473 7777 JUNE/JULY 2018

33

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We knew that Nudgee College could provide so many more opportunities.

Not just in normal everyday education, but in a way that would expose Tom to new challenges, that could help him to grow into a young man who will leave an indelible footprint on his surrounding world.â&#x20AC;?

Education Special Feature

Guiding the next generation St Joseph’s Nudgee College has a rich history that dates back over 125 years, with a grand reputation built by successive generations of students, staff, parents and community members.

Located only 16 kilometres from Brisbane, the College’s campus sits on 136 hectares of sprawling bushland and ovals. The founder of the College, Ambrose Treacy, recognised the need for a Catholic boarding school for rural Queensland in the 1880s, as boys from the region were sent to boarding schools located far away in New South Wales. To achieve his vision, Treacy raised money for the College and gathered boarding enrolments while travelling on horseback around regional Queensland.

“We say that Nudgee College was originally built by funds from the bush, for boys of the bush,” says Principal Peter Fullagar.

Since those early, humble beginnings,

the College has continued to grow from strength to strength throughout the years. Today Nudgee College has 1,300 day-school enrolments and 280 boarders.

At Nudgee College, students are taught, cared for and challenged by teachers who want the best for each student. A focus on the holistic education, personal development and wellbeing of each student remains important for the college.

Offering some of the best facilities in the country, Nudgee College has everything available to students on ‘one footprint’– modern, technologically advanced classrooms, an exceptional agricultural centre (that includes cattle yards), state-of-the-art science labs and a trade centre designed for vocational education learning areas.

“In any one day, boys can move from one of our many Google classrooms, to the agricultural centre to tend to the on-site cattle, take a P.E class on our Olympic-grade athletics track, or perform on stage in our purpose-built 400-seat auditorium,” says Principal Fullagar.

The most outstanding facility the College has to offer however – and one of their proudest achievements – is the newly redeveloped boarding village that

was completed in 2015.

“The boarding community has been at the heart of the College since its founding, and is a valued and thriving facet of Nudgee College, with plenty of fantastic opportunities to further all aspects of a student’s development,” says Principal Fullagar.

The Bathersby Boarding Village features spacious individual rooms, shared common areas for study and recreation and a large communal courtyard with eco-friendly design.

It also offers a health centre staffed with skilled nurses, doctors and physiotherapists that are available 24/7 and a kitchen staffed with chefs that prepare nutritious, well-balanced meals.

Boarders include students from all over Australia, the South Pacific and beyond.

“Our focus in Nudgee College Boarding is to help boys to find and develop their strengths. We do this by creating a safe, supportive environment where boys have multiple resources and opportunities to cater for their interests,” says Principal Fullagar.

“Ultimately at the end of their Nudgee College journey we hope that we have moulded an independent, empathetic, culturally aware young man who is able to fulfil his potential.” nudgee.com.

JUNE/JULY 2018

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The Catholic residential college for university students in Adelaide, under the care of the Marists.

AQUINAS COLLEGE Now accepting 2019 applications.

(08) 8334 5000 www.aquinas.edu.au admin@aquinas.edu.au 1 Palmer Pl, North Adelaide SA 5006

Education Special Feature

Aquinas: giving uni students the edge Decades of experience in working with beginning university students from regional Australia has allowed Adelaide’s Aquinas College to develop both the expertise and support networks that foster success, both while they are studying and when they begin their professional careers.

It’s all about people and culture according to College Rector, Brother Michael Green.

“Aquinas is a like a great family,” says Brother Michael. “That’s what I hear from our students and alumni time and again.”

“First, we go out of our way to create a genuine home for everyone, somewhere where they are known, feel safe and can belong. People matter to each other. No-one falls through the cracks.”

“Second, as in any good family, everyone wants the best for one another,” he explains. “At Aquinas, that translates into such things as a comprehensive tutorial program, oneon-one mentoring, academic support, and career advice and opportunities from former Aquinians.”

Student President, Eliza Boulton

from Mildura who is in her fourth year at Aquinas, points to the academic culture that pervades the College.

“It’s cool to want to achieve highly at Aquinas — and we do,” she says.

“Over 75 per cent of our students have a credit average or better, and over 35 per cent a distinction average or better. That’s way ahead of the bell-curve and doesn’t happen by accident.”

Brennan Lockwood, a second-year resident from Mount Gambier, relishes the positive vibe that defines Aquinas.

“People really do look out for each other,” says Brennan. “It’s a very people-oriented place. Right from day one I felt that I had made a smart choice.”

“Just about all of us are from country areas or from interstate,” adds Brennan, “so we’re all in the same boat at the start. The seniors really helped us feel at home immediately.

That’s in the Aquinas DNA.” Eliza describes Aquinas College as a super-active environment.

“There’s always something on,” says Eliza. “Lots of social activity and fun, absolutely, and plenty of

sport and also opportunities for social outreach. We form great friendships and have epic times together. But everyone knows why they are here, and that’s to do well at university.”

Brother Michael believes that for any young adult residential community to be a nurturing and safe environment then it needs to be unequivocal about its valuebase.

“We’re confident at Aquinas that we’re in touch with what young people of the 21st century want and expect, things such as mutual respect, inclusion, intellectual honesty, choice, and critical engagement with the discourse of the times. That’s all consistent with the Marist educational tradition that underpins Aquinas. Our students have all that and they share it with good companions.

“I think they are very fortunate to have both the opportunity and the support that they do.” aquinas.edu.au

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Tec-NQ’s Senior School serves a niche market in the boarding school arena.

With an integrated focus on trade training, Tec-NQ is the market leader amongst boarding schools in establishing work placement and apprenticeship opportunities.

Y10 Tec-PREP “Try-Every-Trade” JULY START. Y11 & Y12 JANUARY START. FULL TIME APPRENTICES – Start any time.

Boarding available at the Townsville campus.

Website: tecnq.com.au Virtual Tour: tecnq.com.au/school#virtual-tour Contact us today for more information on career focused pathways and apprenticeship opportunities.

Townsville Campus 54 Discovery Drv DOUGLAS 4814 | Email reception@tecnq.com.au | Phone (07) 4779 2199 ENGINEERING | CONSTRUCTION | ELECTRO TECHNOLOGY | AUTOMOTIVE | INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY | CAREER READY | P-TECH

Finance

End of financial year tax time tips Tax time. Two words that bring a sense of dread to most people. If this includes you, read on. We’ve compiled our top tips to ensure smooth sailing this financial year.

Start early

If you’re after a stress-free tax return, the best thing you can do is stop procrastinating and lodge your return as early as possible. Get ahead of the ball this year by organising any statements for savings accounts or other investments in advance, as well as ensuring that you have your Pay As You Go (PAYG) Payment Summary or Group Certificate on hand.

Having these prepared before you begin your tax return will save time and help you receive your tax refund sooner.

Become a boss at deductions

The thought of adding deductions when filing a tax return often seems like a hassle – but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, once you know what you can claim, the process becomes easy and it could end up saving you thousands.

We’ve compiled a quick list of the top deductions that will help you dominate this financial year and put some of your hard-earned tax dollars back into your own pocket.

• Mobile phones – Workers can claim the costs of their phone and internet expenses that are work-related.

• Electricity – Many people take work home with them.

If you don’t want to claim comprehensive home office expenses, you can still claim for electricity used when doing work at home.

• Education – If you’re studying subjects related to your

Ryan Watson Tribeca Financial's CEO knows all about money management.

current paid employment, it’s tax-deductible after the first $250. You also can claim travel expenses for the cost of getting to and from your place of education.

• Printer ink — There’s a pile of home office items that can be claimed including inks, stationery, printers, computers, chairs, desks, paper shredders and rubbish bins.

• Bricks – The most lucrative potential tax deduction for property investors is not the carpets and curtains, but writing down the bricks and mortar. For most people it’s a 2.5 per cent annual tax deduction on the cost of the building – but not the land, which does not depreciate. For an investment property costing $300,000 to build, that’s a welcome $7,500 tax deduction every year.

• Your income – If you pay income protection insurance premiums, make sure to claim them. It’s the only form of personal insurance that is tax-deductible.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

An estimated 46 per cent of us spend three or more work hours per week thinking about our finances (PWC 2017 Employee Financial Wellness Survey), resulting in low financial wellness. Add on the stress of a tax return and it’s easy to see why so many of us become overwhelmed.

Our financial wellness impacts all aspects of our lives — from our physical and mental health, right through to the relationships we have with our family and friends.

So, if you need a little extra help filling out your return, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Accountants can take the hassle out of your tax return, leaving you to live your good life.

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Puzzles

CROSSWORD

A D O H G G M E O U Y D L

W N Y B O P Y Y B F O Y L

S O R O O R N M Y R C F W

P E R O R R N O D E E F I

O C R E C A T U O M E A N

S R J W O K B S O L L D K

D O N A L D Y E A E I T L

R E N N U R D A O R W T E

SOLUTIONS:

A D O H G G M E O U Y D L

W N Y B O P Y Y B F O Y L

S O R O O R N M Y R C F W

P E R O R R N O D E E F I

O C R E C A T U O M E A N

S R J W O K B S O L L D K

D O N A L D Y E A E I T L

R E N N U R D A O R W T E

SCOOBY-DOO SCROOGE TOM WILE E COYOTE

D Y G S F F E K O D O U U

T O M E T L M C C D T C B

F L L E Q E T I S S E K M

E I N N I M J M O T U L P

D Y G S F F E K O D O U U

FELIX FLINTSTONES FOGHORN JERRY JETSONS

X P F L I N T S T O N E S

T O M E T L M C C D T C B

MICKEY MOUSE MINNIE PLUTO ROAD RUNNER ROCKY

Find all the words listed hidden in the grid of letters. They can be found in straight lines up, down, forwards, backwards or even diagonally. Theme: CARTOON CHARACTERS

F L L E Q E T I S S E K M

AusBiz.

ASTRO BOY BULLWINKLE DAFFY DUCK DONALD ELMER FUDD

WORD SEARCH

E I N N I M J M O T U L P

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DOWN 1. Rectified 2. Dog or horse 3. Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Marble ...

4. Recedes 5. Recurrence of illness 6. ... Sea Scrolls 10. Exclude 11. Fencing swords 13. Divulge 14. Awry 16. Type of cigar 18. Benefit (of) 19. South African currency 20. Scalp growth

X P F L I N T S T O N E S

ACROSS 1. Transylvania is there 4. Made slip-up 7. Baby fierce cat (4,3) 8. Steam burn 9. Consumer pressure 12. Adopted (policy) 15. Water removal system 17. Radio interference 18. Embroidery expert 21. Anchorage native 22. Alter (text) 23. Fling, shipboard ...

The Aboriginal Artists Project combines the fashion accessory designs of Catherine Manuell with the artworks of many wonderful women artists from remote Australian communities. Shown here is the Bush Yams artwork by Evelyn Pultara from the Utopia region of Central Australia. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of these products goes directly to the artists.

Call us on 03 9486 4066 for help or a little personal service, or email: info@catherinemanuelldesign.com

www.catherinemanuelldesign.com