AusBiz Magazine - Feb/Mar 2020

AusBiz.

NEWS+VIEWS | MINING | AGRIBUSINESS | INFRASTRUCTURE

UPSETTING THE APPLE CART Disrupting a primary industry isn’t easy, but these three operators are keeping the doctor at bay with innovative thinking. p24

p.10 mining: tailings management P.18 regional coworking spaces p.28 transport: new inland rail P.34 charity spotlight: careflight

Waverley Mills Recycled Grid Charcoal Throw $199.00 (140cm x 200cm) Made from recycled merino wool and designed by BernabeiFreeman.

WRAP YOURSELF IN LUXURY Waverley Mills is Australia’s last remaining weaving mill located in Launceston, Tasmania.

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AUSBIZ NEWS

BUSINESS NEWS & VIEWS

DEFINITION OF ‘AUSSIE BEACH’ CHANGED IN TOP 20 OF 2020 LIST

Image: Rik Soderland

In the official ‘Top 20 Australian Beaches 2020’ list, an inland ‘beach’ has been named for the first time. Wagga Wagga’s historic Wagga Beach made the cut at number nine this year in Tourism Australia ambassador Brad Farmer’s list. Farmer, who co-wrote 101 Best Australian Beaches in 2012, has spent his life visiting and studying thousands of Australia’s sandy hotspots.

The annual top 20 list takes into account academic-based criteria such as environment, water quality, cleanliness, social history and facilities, as well as factors such as international suitability, beach safety and engagement with authentic Aussie locals.

101bestbeaches.org

OzHelp wins ACT Social Change Maker Award Nominee for the 2019 Telstra Social Change Maker Award and winner of the ACT category, OzHelp is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to preventing suicide and promoting mental health by providing evidence-based preventive mental-health programs in high-risk workplaces across the country.

“Our hope is that by winning the ACT category for Social Change Maker and being placed on this renowned national platform, we can shine a light on suicide risk factors in high-risk industries, as well as show how employers can take a proactive approach in supporting their employees and their communities to be healthy and to thrive.”

OzHelp seeks to break down barriers in order to better promote positive self-care and help-seeking behaviours. The organisation was established after apprentice David O’Bryan took his own life, followed by another three young Canberran men in a three-month period. David’s mother realised the dire lack of support services for young apprentices and vowed to make a change.

Eighteen years on, OzHelp’s programs are delivered nationally, and in 2018 more than 38,000 people benefited from a range of programs, tools and awareness campaigns. ozhelp.org.au FEB/MAR 2020

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AUSBIZ NEWS

TINY HOMES CARNIVAL REACHES SYDNEY For the first time, the Tiny Homes Carnival will come to Sydney this March 7–8. Leading the way in the tiny house movement – described as “a social trend to simplify our lives by reducing size without sacrificing quality of life” – Big Tiny are collaborating with Australian Tiny House Association to bring this exciting international carnival to St Ives Showground in Sydney’s north.

The tiny house trend has grown enormously in Australian in recent years, as has integrating the concept of tiny houses with ecotourism.

Special guest speakers John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin from Netflix’s Tiny House Nation will be taking the stage, as will Bryce Langston, creator of the popular web series Living Big in a Tiny House. tinyhomescarnival.com

FAST FACTS WA’s newest national park

Image: Tourism WA

The Houtman Abrolhos Islands, a series of 122 ecologically significant islands surrounded by coral communities, have recently been granted national park status. Located 60 kilometres off the coast of Geraldton, the islands extend across 100 kilometres of the Indian Ocean. They’re accessible by several boat day tours, as well as scenic flights from Geraldton and Kalbarri, which offer land-based activities such as guided nature walks and snorkelling. westernaustralia.com

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50m²

According to the Australian Tiny House Association, “tiny houses are moveable dwellings up to 50m² that are suitable for residential use.”

11,761

Australia is officially home to a total of 11,761 beaches. This number has the potential to soon grow with the introduction of ‘inland beaches’ to the list.

16%

Just 16 per cent of Australia’s beaches are accessible by conventional roads.

A further 12 per cent are accessible by unsealed roads, 29 per cent by four-wheel-drive, and 43 per cent are inaccessible.

KARIJINI

eco RETREAT

World class Karijini National Park is a must-see for any visitor to the Pilbara and located in the depths of the park is the magnificent Karijini Eco Retreat.

Designed with the environment in mind • Deluxe and dorm style eco tents and cabins • Outback restaurant & bar • 15 min. walk trail to Joffre Gorge • Campground with BBQ facilities, showers/WC • Easy access - only 3km unsealed

Bookings T: (08) 9425 5591 E: reservations@karijiniecoretreat.com.au W: www.karijiniecoretreat.com.au Off Weano Road, Karijini National Park, Western Australia Owned by the Gumala Aboriginal Corporation

ecoretreat karijini

27 June to 3rd July 2020 7 days of riding Road - Elite Rider & Social Rider Packs Mountain Bike - Fast Pack & Fun Pack Fully Catered & Supported

Raising funds to support the education of kids in the bush.

Early Bird Offer

Register Now until the end of February to receive a free pair of C2K Knicks (Value $185)

C2KBIKERIDE.COM.AU

SPECIAL PROMOTION

Cairns to Karumba Bike Ride Taking place this June 27–July 3, the 2020 Cairns 2 Karumba Bike Ride will see riders of all abilities and experience levels race or ride 780 kilometres through astounding Far North Queensland scenery, from Cairns on the east coast to Karumba in the remote Gulf of Carpentaria.

For elite riders, the event offers the chance for a solid training week before a major event. To the social rider, the journey can mean an unforgettable week away with mates and the chance to meet new people and make life-long friends. If the full week isn’t possible, there’s also the option to join for a one- or threeday ride, which still allows you to be part of the amazing experience.

The ride offers two main tracks: Like to keep it clean? The road ride will be your thing! Don’t mind getting a little dirty? Then the ‘Dirty Boys’ ride is for you! Both rides start and end together daily, before splitting off during the day to offer two very different riding experiences.

The ride has never been just about the cycling. C2K raises money each year for the Cairns School of Distance Education to assist in the education of kids across Far North Queensland, which allows them to be part of experiences that may not be otherwise available. In recent years this has included a program called Pedals, where students have been part of workshops provided by some of Australia’s best presenters across a range of areas. Small schools along

the ride’s route also benefit from the ride with funds going to projects such as interstate trips, robotics programs and upgrading school sporting grounds and equipment.

Along the ride, riders meet with many families for whom they are raising funds, and see the benefits they have received. Each year, the almost

70 volunteers and event sponsors involved make the ride possible.

The early bird registration special ends February 29. After that, you can register any time until May 31. If you are interested in riding, being a supporter to a mate or family member, volunteering, or becoming a sponsor, please visit c2kbikeride.com.au FEB/MAR 2020

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Workforce

solutions

Are you looking for a reliable workforce to help you plan ahead?

The Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) is an employer sponsored program connecting eligible businesses in rural and regional Australia with workers from nine Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste. The PLS offers employers access to a reliable workforce when there is not enough local labour available to fill low and semi-skilled positions.

The PLS is open to all sectors, including: • • • • •

Aged care and social assistance Accommodation and food services Non-seasonal horticulture & agriculture Fisheries and aquaculture Meat processing

For more information: Contact the Pacific Labour Facility Enquiries@pacificlabourfacility.com.au Phone: (07) 3557 7750 www.pacificlabourmobility.com.au

SPECIAL FEATURE Jason Mani from Malaita province in Solomon Islands harvests vegetables at Gracekate Farms.

Photo: Pacific Labour Facility.

David Sondopiea from Papua New Guinea works at Skybury Farm in Mareeba, Queensland, through the PLS. Photo: Pacific Labour Facility.

Helping regional and rural businesses address labour shortages The Pacific Labour Scheme connects workers with rural and regional Australian businesses that can’t find enough local labour.

Kerry and Simon McCarthy own and manage Gracekate Farms on the Darling Downs in Queensland, supplying leafy greens to farmers’ markets as well as major national supermarkets.

Gracekate Farms has employed workers from Solomon Islands through the Australian Government’s Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) since 2012, and many of these have returned to the farm for several seasons in a row. Having these seasonal workers on the farm has enabled the business to expand, and the McCarthys have now also signed up to the Government’s newer Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) to meet their longer-term labour needs.

While the SWP allows farmers to employ workers from nine Pacific

countries and Timor-Leste for unskilled roles for up to nine months, the PLS enables employers to recruit workers for low-skilled and semiskilled roles for a longer period of one to three years, subject to local market testing requirements.

Kerry McCarthy says the Solomon Island workers have been highly productive and have hit the ground running from the start.

“Our team from Solomon Islands is fabulous – because of them we’re now able to plan ahead,” she explains. “It will be great to get a more permanent workforce on the ground soon to help us prepare for the harvesting season.”

Along with the SWP and the Working Holiday Maker Programme, the PLS is another way in which rural and regional

Australian businesses and Pacific island workers can benefit from labour mobility arrangements in our region.

People from Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu can apply for employment in Australia through the PLS. Anyone who signs up to the scheme from these countries has the same workplace and health and safety rights as Australian workers, and built-in systems protect them against exploitation.

Rural and regional Australian employers from any industry or sector can apply to join the PLS. For more information, and to find out your eligibility and if Pacific labour mobility meets your employment needs, visit the website: pacificlabourmobility.com.au FEB/MAR 2020

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MINING: TAILINGS

TELLING TAILS We delve into the management of tailings storage facilities, highlighting the risks and looking at how new technology is being utilised.

Words: Darren Baguley

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MINING: TAILINGS

When Vale’s tailings dam near the Brazilian city of Brumadinho burst, it killed hundreds of people, threatened global iron supplies, and reset the conversation on tailings dam safety.

Just after noon on 25 January 2019, Tailings Dam I of the Brazilian mining giant’s Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine collapsed, flooding the valley below with a 12 million-cubic-metre cascade of thick brown tailings sludge that swallowed the mine’s offices and its packed caféteria, farms, the hamlet of Vila Ferteco, and buildings on the outskirts of the city of Brumadinho.

Official figures state that 272 people died in the disaster, including 14 whose bodies have never been recovered.

In the aftermath of the disaster Vale’s stock price plummeted 24 per cent, and was followed by a farreaching, criminal investigation that’s still ongoing. The company’s viability is being questioned after numerous individuals, companies and businesses launched the largest lawsuit in UK history in the wake of a previous disaster: the 2015 Samarco Mariana dam collapse. That failure killed 19 people and virtually destroyed the nearby villages of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo.

It does not take much imagination to expect that similar suits will follow the Brumadinho disaster.

There are more than 3500 tailings

dams worldwide, and according to mineral process engineering company McLanahan’s International Business Manager Richard Williams: “there are one or two tailings dam failures a year.” But the 2019 failure threatened the global iron ore supply, with frenzied trading pushing prices up 18 per cent in a fortnight, rocketing the commodity price towards 2014 levels as other miners struggled to lift production.

Another impact was the effect the disasters had in the boardrooms of the world’s major mining companies.

In December 2016, the International Council on Mining & Metals, which encompasses the 27 leading mining companies in the world, put out a position statement bluntly titled ‘Preventing catastrophic failure of tailings storage facilities’. In September 2019, the Minerals Council of Australia followed up with the Australian Mining Tailings Communique, a document developed in concert with its members. The communique acknowledged that “tailings management in Australia is advanced and highly regulated but focuses on demonstrating global leadership and best practice in governance, information sharing and technical expertise in tailings storage management. The communique also seeks to solidify 

FEB/MAR 2020

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Further information at: www.liebherr.com.au/jobs

MINING: TAILINGS

AS SOCIETY COMES TO ACCEPT THE NEED TO ELIMINATE TAILINGS DAMS, THE INDUSTRY SHOULD BE ABLE TO MOVE IN PARALLEL.

the industry focus on preventing a repeat of past tailings storage errors.”

The mining equipment, technology and services sector has responded favourably to what it sees as a new willingness on the part of mining companies to invest in tailings storage management and safety. Williams says, “without a socially acceptable plan to responsibly deposit and rehabilitate these areas, you have no project and the community expectation appears moving to some form of dry tailings.

Multiple technology options exist currently to produce and stack dry tailings. There are no technical limits to achieving this, only a cost implication.

As society comes to accept the need to eliminate tailings dams and loss of life, all of the industry should be able to move in parallel to improve the safety and reliability in these areas.”

He adds: “A number of McLanahan customers are currently assessing how ‘filtered tailings’ could fit into their resource expansion projects or upgrade projects. When we configure a filtered tailings solution, we typically aim for a closed loop or zero pond tailings management strategy. For a closed loop tailings system, quarry operators are encouraged to consider an ultra-fines recovery system, where potentially usable ultra-fine product can be reused as a blend medium or for other products, rather than sending it straight to waste. Quite simply, product fines that would go to a pond can now be redirected to a thickener, where they are densified, and process water is captured for plant reuse.

The thickener underflow is pumped to a mixing tank and run through a filter press, where the solids are further dewatered and a dry cake is produced.

The filtrate (water) is also captured from this process for reuse or disposal to alternative markets.”

While there is a definite move

towards dry processing of tailings, there are thousands of tailings storage facilities in existence, and a key challenge for mining companies is monitoring the status of both open and closed tailings facilities.

According to Inmarsat’s Mining Innovation Director Joe Carr: “there is a wide range of methods used across the industry for collecting data at tailings dams by mining companies, regulators and auditors, but the vast majority typically rely on manual processes … This manual approach to data collection commonly leads to human error in the reporting of  FEB/MAR 2020

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MINING: TAILINGS

There are innovative technological solutions which give mining companies a centralised, real-time and reliable view of the status of their tailings facilities.

FAST FACTS • Tailings are the finegrained solid residues left after minerals and metals have been extracted from an ore.

They are commonly transported as slurry and thickened before being stored in tailings dams.

• There more than 3500 tailings dams worldwide.

metrics, which leads to a lack of consistency in reporting, making it difficult for mining companies to obtain a complete view of the conditions at their tailings facilities. ”The net effect of this is that mining companies often have a disjointed and siloed approach to managing tailings dams, which they struggle to access, comprehend and use any data they collect. It is a particular problem for mining companies with global operational footprints, as they often struggle to bring the data together from their tailings dams across the world to a central place,” says Carr. ”Furthermore, even the larger companies that have more sophisticated multi-sensor systems may have a completely different arrangement at another dam, making data standardisation a difficult and inconsistent process.

“Fortunately, there are innovative technological solutions that have been developed and implemented, which give mining companies a centralised, real-time and reliable view of the status of their tailings facilities. For example, our solution allows mining companies

OPAL MINE TAILINGS NEAR COOBER PEDY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

to gather and process data from various sensors via edge computing technologies, like LoRaWAN, and send it via our ultra-reliable L-band network to a central cloud dashboard that displays the data.”

According to Carr, the most obvious benefit of this approach is that “it allows off-site teams to manage their tailings sites more proactively by giving them a centralised and real-time oversight of key metrics, such as pond elevation, piezometric pressures, inclinometer readings and weather conditions. This means mining companies can make faster, better-informed decisions and stop any issues from developing into more serious problems, dramatically improving the safety of their dams and local communities.”

Given that two tailings dam collapses in less than 10 years have killed close to 300 people, caused massive environmental destruction and are threatening the viability of one of the world’s largest mining companies, both the change in emphasis and the advent of new technology are very welcome developments.

FEB/MAR 2020

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Tiny Surveyor Pre-Marking Robot Mark lines from the comfort of your car!

Tiny Surveyor is a robotic pre-marker tool that will save you time, increase safety and enable you to mark out road lines automatically. With the ability to interface to any GNSS or total station for precise height measurements, the Tiny Surveyor is a versatile and reliable tool that works for eight hours on a single charge.

Key benefits: • Up to 10 times faster than marking out on foot • Increase safety by following the robot from a car • Reliable, repeatable 2-3cm accuracy • Works as hard as you do with 8 hour battery • Versatile to accommodate different spray can sizes • Compact, portable design makes for easy transportation • Use with your existing GNSS and optical survey equipment • Works with a variety of standard file formats Visit our website to register for a demo roadshow near you in 2020!

Get in touch today:

1300 867 266 info@positionpartners.com.au www.positionpartners.com.au Australia • New Zealand • SE Asia

SPECIAL PROMOTION

Final trim the Topcon way

Topcon machine control technology will provide you with the flexibility to mix and match your grader solution to suit different applications at different stages of the project you’re working on.

With many of the new construction graders in Australia arriving from the factory or dealer with the option for an integrated system and basic machine control technology already installed, it is more important than ever to ensure you have the best solution on your grader that both suits your current needs and has the ability to grow with your business.

If you rely on a factory-fitted system, you may be limited by the fact that these systems are often not upgradeable or transferable between machines, so if you need a more sophisticated solution, it can be difficult to proceed without starting again with a different option. This can be needlessly expensive and time-consuming.

Ensuring you have the best machine control solution is arguably even more important on your grader, because if fine tolerances are not achieved consistently across the site, it will result in rework and extra materials, increasing costs and decreasing efficiencies. Ideally, you need to get the grade right the first time, and Topcon machine control can ensure you do.

“The machine control technology available from Topcon is compatible across all machine types, makes and models. This makes it a highly

flexible and customisable solution.

A GNSS machine control system can be adapted with a high precision laser transmitter that combined will deliver millimetre vertical precision for fine grading tasks, a technology unique to Topcon,” says Josh Allan, Construction Business Manager at Position Partners Australia.

Topcon machine control technology is the most flexible on the market, so you can mix and match your solutions to suit whatever job you’re working on.

All contractors can attest that every job is different, and you often need more than one machine control system configuration to complete the range of tasks you work on to the tolerance you require.

Topcon grader machine control gives you the option to: • Easily swap machine control technology between machines – so you can stretch your machine control system across a range of machines.

• Scale up or scale down to suit the job – for example, you might box out a subdivision with GPS/ GNSS, but then you can switch to a sonic tracker to follow the kerb.

Topcon lets you work with 2D or 3D technology without having to install a whole new system.

• Combine GPS/GNSS with other technology, including laser or prisms with a total station, to increase accuracy even further for final trim work.

FEB/MAR 2020

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REGIONAL: COWORKING

COWORKING IN THE COUNTRY Coworking spaces are popping up all over regional and rural Australia, but are they here to stay or just another ‘remote working’ fad?

Words: lisa smyth

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REGIONAL: COWORKING

I wanted to see if you could create a software engineering industry in a small rural town.

When Liam O’Duibhir opened the tech-focused coworking space CoWS Near The Coast in the rural NSW town of Bega in 2014, it was a big deal.

“There was a massive opening ceremony – the local MP came and gave a speech and everything,” laughs O’Duibhir. “It was a grand experiment – I wanted to see if you could create a software engineering industry in a small rural town. Now we have freelancers, people who work remotely for big companies in Sydney and Brisbane, and people just passing through, visiting family. But it’s still mostly people in the tech sector.”

Australia is the sixth fastest-growing

market for coworking in the world, just behind the UK at number five, and Luxembourg in the top spot.

While the vast majority of coworking spaces are located in capital cities, and concentrated in the central business districts of those cities, a 2017 study reports that 15 per cent are located in Australia’s regional towns.

“It’s become unstoppable,” explains O’Duibhir. “There are now multiple coworking spaces in the Bega Valley, and Bega is only a town of 5000 people! We were the first ones to introduce the idea to local government – they had no idea what coworking was – and now our valley is brimming with coworking spaces.”

WORKING ON A ‘SEA CHANGE’ Initially, coworking spaces were seen to only cater for IT start-ups and entrepreneurs, and were snapped up due to their reduced costs, flexible leasing terms and speed of delivery – the average move-in time for a small business in Australia to a coworking space is just 37 days. In the beginning, the ability to get a business up and running in a short space of time with minimal spend was the key attraction.

But lifestyle choices are now increasingly becoming a factor, with places like Byron Bay, the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and NSW South Coast having the highest concentration of  FEB/MAR 2020

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REGIONAL: COWORKING

A COMMUNITY OF CO-WORKERS

coworking spaces. Ben Howe, CEO of Co Spaces in Southport, Queensland, says, “It’s unbelievable the people who live on the Gold Coast and fly in and fly out to Sydney a few days a week. With technology getting better and internet speeds getting faster, there’s no reason you can’t work outside the major cities.”

When it comes to regional coworking spaces, there are no hard and fast rules, says Dr Yvette Blount, Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University Business School. “Regional coworking spaces are unique to their locations because communities and their needs are so different,” she explains. “Jobs are different, and lots of people are looking for a ‘sea change’ or ‘tree change’. Working remotely all the time is not productive or good for your mental health, and coworking spaces

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can help with social isolation.”

While many people would never consider giving up a stable job in a big city, ‘sea changers’ are increasingly blending the best of both worlds. Major corporations, such as Woolworths, Accenture and LG Electronics, now make up 20 per cent of coworking space clients in Australia; five years ago they constituted only 2 per cent.

“Out of the eight businesses we have working from the space at the moment, four are satellite offices for larger companies, two of which are international businesses,” notes Julia Telford, Director of Queensland’s Goondiwindi Business Hub. “People want to raise their kids in a country town, but also have a professional environment to work from, and we offer that.”

Along with price and leasing terms, coworking members in large cities usually consider if a space is close to major transport links or has parking, as well as whether it’s within walking distance of good lunch options. In regional and rural towns these factors are obviously less of a consideration, and instead the focus is on how the space contributes to the local community.

“We partner with the Chamber of Commerce on events for new arrivals,” says Telford. “We have afternoon meet-ups for people who are new to town to help them build their network quickly – both professionally and personally. Rural Queensland can be quite isolating, and we want to support and provide connections, so no one feels like they are on their own.

“Of course, one of the big challenges in regional areas is good internet access. A lot of farmers come into the hub specifically to use the internet – if we don’t have a desk available we sometimes set them up in the kitchen! No one gets turned away.” 

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REGIONAL: COWORKING

Tim Ford founded CoHoots Coworking in Castlemaine, Victoria, in 2014, and he declares community, not coworking, was always the focus of the business. “Our passion is enterprising communities, and we run events for the Castlemaine community all the time. We wanted to build a sense of community cohesion within the coworking concept.”

COMMERCIAL COWORKING

FAST FACTS • 7.3 months is the national average length lease of a coworking space.

• 64 per cent of coworking members are aged 25-44.

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While many regional coworking spaces are a positive addition to their communities, overall they don’t have the highest success rate.

“A lot of coworking spaces in regional and rural areas are set up using government grants and they are not sustainable in the long term,” explains Blount. “The volume is just not there in country locations, and that’s why a lot of them fail.”

Telford knew the risks of setting up a coworking space in a town of just 6000 people in 2014, but kept the bottom line in mind. “We knew we needed to run it as a commercial business, which is why we focused on getting longer-term tenants. You need to consider the rural context, especially when deciding the price point, but you have to run your space with a long-term business model in mind.”

Howe agrees that the future of regional coworking spaces is about finding ways to make them more profitable, and thinking outside the box. “We built the first rooftop bar in Southport and it has started to change how people view the area.

People want mixed-use spaces – coworking spaces that also function as art galleries, cafés and bars. We need to get smarter and create spaces that are just as much about liveability and community as work.”

AGRIBUSINESS: APPLES

Disrupting a primary industry isn’t easy, but these three operations are keeping the doctor at bay with innovative thinking.

Words: Ian Lloyd Neubauer

UPSETTING THE APPLE CART

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AGRIBUSINESS: APPLES

If you think Australian dairy farmers are doing it tough, spare a thought for our apple growers.

Since the turn of the century, one out of every two has gone out business. Of the relative few who remain, some are choosing to let crops rot on their trees rather than accept farmgate prices set by the big supermarkets at as little as 90 cents per kilogram for a fruit that costs at least $2 a kilogram to produce.

At the same time, Australians are eating 12 per cent fewer apples than they did in 2015, while apple exports have fallen 19 per cent since 2016, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Then there’s the drought and its impact on the size and number of apples produced. Australian farmers grew 14 per cent fewer tonnes last year compared to 2017. ď ˝

FEB/MAR 2020

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AGRIBUSINESS: APPLES

PREVIOUS PAGES: BRAVO™ APPLES; DARKES ‘HOWLER‘ CIDER FROM GLENBERNIE ORCHARD. FROM LEFT: BRAVO™ APPLES ORCHARD; BRAVO™ APPLES; CHRIS MCCOLL OF KALANGADOO ORGANICS; GLENBERNIE ORCHARD; KALANGADOO ORGANICS APPLE JUICE.

Consumers are happy to pay more for new ‘designer apples’.

Many in the industry believe the outlook is grim and that soon only large-scale producers will survive. But with every new threat to business comes an opportunity. We talk with three apple farmers using novel strategies to earn a living in the face of a perfect storm.

DESIGNER STRAINS While sales of mainstream apple varietals like Red Delicious are in decline, consumers are happy to pay more for new strains of ‘designer apples’ that comprise about 10 per cent of the market. Examples include Redlove, a red-fleshed apple developed in a Swiss breeding program, Yello, a new hybrid varietal from Japan, and Bravo™ apples, a sweet burgundy-coloured apple from Western Australia that comes loaded with juice. At the time of writing, Bravo™ apples were selling for $8.50 at Coles. Granny Smiths? Only $3.50.

“Consumers are willing to pay a premium for Bravo™ apples because they taste better, have a distinct look and because people know it’s a better quality product developed here in Australia,” says Rebecca Blackman, CEO of Fruit West, a cooperative of growers that owns the global Bravo™ apples Plant Breeder’s Right (PBR). “We can’t keep up with demand.”

Currently, 8 per cent of Fruit West’s Bravo™ apples are exported to markets in Asia, UAE

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and North America. The figure towers above the national average (only 1 to 2 per cent of Australian apples are exported), and already eclipses the 5 per cent target set by Agrifutures Australia, a government body focused on the long-term prosperity of rural industries.

Exporting more apples, the industry recognises, can give farmers some leverage over the prices paid by Australia’s big supermarket chains.

Fruit West has set a much higher export target for Bravo™ apples. Within a decade, the cooperative aims to export 70 per cent of stock to lucrative new markets in China, North America and Europe. “We definitely see exports as the future,” Rebecca says.

“It’s always been the plan.”

CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLEMAN In the 1990s, Chris and Michelle McColl of Kalangadoo Organics, a small apple farm on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, grew table apples and sold them to a wholesaler who on-sold them to supermarkets where they went for $4 per kilogram. But the McColls were getting only 40 cents.

“We couldn’t survive. It wasn’t sustainable,” says Chris. “So, in 2002, we changed our business model and converted to organic.

The difficult thing about the conversion was

AGRIBUSINESS: APPLES

that many of the problems organic farmers face are unique to their properties. It took a lot of trial and error to get things right.

“Once we had our product right, we decided we only wanted one person between us and the consumer, because in our experience the longer the supply chain, the less we earn.

So we had to start doing all our own packing and distribution. We also decided to sell to independently owned businesses only because you can build personal relationships with them.

It’s a much more resilient business model than having just one big corporation that’s typically foreign-owned buying all your apples.

“There’s a mantra in farming today that you have to get big or get out. But that’s not necessarily the case. You can go in another direction like we have: stay small, focus on quality and do things big producers can’t do. We grow 50 tonnes of apples a year – nothing in the grand scheme of things – but we’re doing okay.”

THE THEME PARK The Fahey family have been growing apples in Darkes Forest in the Illawarra region since 1939. But around 30 years ago, the family began noticing a downward trend in apple consumption and narrowing of profit margins, so they diversified into stone fruit, a crop with very different agro-ecological requirements

to apples. If one crop has a bad year, the other tends to flourish, and vice versa.

“Our family has always been innovative and looked at creative ways of doing things,” says Jo-Anne Fahey of the Darkes Group, a small business empire that incorporates Darkes Brewing, producers of an apple cider than won gold at the World Cider Awards last year; the Appleshack, a boutique cellardoor-like retail outlet that sells branded apple juice, jams, honey, ciders and vinegar; and Glenbernie Orchard, a working farm that offers pick-your-own apple tours and hosts weddings on the weekends.

“Our tours are not just point-andpick experiences. They are value-adding experiences,” explains Jo-Anne. “We take people on a journey of learning so they can understand the journey our trees go through in the different seasons of the year and the constantly evolving challenges we face.

We demystify farming. We answer questions.

We share stories that they take with them and share with their family and friends.”

She adds: “It’s not all doom and gloom in our industry. It is if you take the approach that our business is just about growing table fruit and accepting low prices. But if you get creative and more in tune to what is possible beyond the farmgate, things look very different.”

TOP 5 AUSSIE APPLE PRODUCTS 1. APPLE JUICE The average Australian consumes 1.2 litres per year.

2. CLOUDY APPLE JUICE Unfiltered apple juice, full of pulp and fibre.

3. APPLE CIDER An alcoholic drink made primarily from ‘cider’ apples.

4. APPLE VINEGAR Made from fermented apple juice.

Great on salads.

5. DRIED APPLES A healthy snack with no added sugar or preservatives.

FEB/MAR 2020

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TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS: INLAND RAIL

THE MISSING LINK While the debate over a high-speed rail link between Australia’s far-flung cities rages on, a new freight railway line between Brisbane and Melbourne is right on track.

Words: Ian Lloyd Neubauer For all the talk of a high-speed rail link between Melbourne and Brisbane, it’s not going to happen any time soon.

It’s just too expensive: $120 billion, the equivalent of a generation’s worth of Australia’s infrastructure spend on one project. As the debate trundles on, another rail link between the two cities is quietly taking shape: the $10 billion Melbourne-to-Brisbane Inland Railway. With a top speed of 115 kilometres per hour, it was not designed as an alternative to air travel but to provide fast and cost-effective freight transport between Australia’s four richest farming regions and booming export markets in Asia.

When it comes online in 2024 or 2025, Inland Rail will reduce freight time along the 1700-kilometre route from four to five days to less than 24 hours.

According to the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), the

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government body managing the project, Inland Rail will add $16 billion to Australia’s GDP and do much to relieve congestion in Sydney – the current midway point for freight on the eastern seaboard. It will also reduce carbon emissions by 750,000 tonnes per year.

Inland Rail is not one big new project. It is 13 individual projects that will link existing rail infrastructure and complete the backbone of a national freight network. The longest project is Narromine to Narrabri in Central New South Wales, at 307 kilometres long. The most complex section is a 6.38-kilometre tunnel that will be built through the steep terrain of the Toowoomba Range in Queensland.

PADDOCK TO PORT

Inland Rail is no ordinary train line; it’s a high-tech freight line of the

future. Instead of regular trains, it will use mega-trains up to 1.8 kilometres long with double-stack carriages and increased axle loads that significantly increase the payload of each train.

And instead of carting produce to stations, farmers will able to load produce onto trains in their fields thanks to new mobile rail loading kits.

“Traditionally we would have carted the chickpeas to port in trucks,” says Stuart Tighe of Boolah Partnership, a grain grower in north-central New South Wales participating in trials of the mobile loading system. “We are loading today the equivalent of 70 double-stacked train carriages. Before it would have taken us about a week and we’re now doing it in six hours.”

The ARTC says Inland Rail will deliver savings for farmers of $5 to $10 per to tonne. “It’s sort of history-making when farmers can 

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS: INLAND RAIL

Inland Rail is no ordinary train line; it’s a high-tech freight line of the future.

FAST FACTS • The steel required to complete Inland Rail is five times the quantity used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

• Inland Rail will remove 200,000 truck movements from our roads every year and prevent road deaths, according to the Truck Accident Research Centre.

FEB/MAR 2020

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TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS: INLAND RAIL

FROM TOP: MODERN HIGHSPEED TRAINS AT MILAN CENTRAL STATION, ITALY; INLAND RAILWAY IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA.

actually load directly into a train from their paddock. It just makes sense,” says Moree Plains Mayor Katrina Humphries.

The National Farmers’ Federation believes the new system will prove a game-changer for agriculture in the eastern states. “In my opinion, Inland Rail represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” says CEO Simon Talbot. “The mining boom is over but Australian agriculture can double in value and provide high-quality produce to Asian markets.”

NOT IN MY BACKYARD Yet in parts of the country where individual Inland Rail projects are taking shape, the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) phenomenon has divided opinion. In some places it is being alleged routes have been selected in the interest of big business instead of farmers and regional communities.

Documents obtained by The Guardian show the Wagners – a prominent Queensland family who came in at 14th place of BRW’s rich

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families list in 2015 – lobbied the government to divert the line past their Wellcamp airport outside of Toowoomba. The Guardian’s report did not allege the Wagners had acted unlawfully, but it highlighted concerns the ARTC is not being as consultative as it claimed in a $190,000 taxpayerfunded advertising campaign.

“I support Inland Rail and all it has to offer,” says Robert Mackay, a farmer on the NSW-Qld border whose land will be cut into four portions by the project.

“But the ARTC has disregarded advice regarding flooding from the local community and proceeded with an alignment right below the junction of the two biggest rivers in the area. It’s a recipe for a flooding disaster.”

The ARTC has also come under fire about its routing decisions along the Narromine and Narrabri project in Central NSW. There, in a section near the town of Coonamble, it decided to build a new railway line that will cut through 300 properties instead of using an existing rail corridor that wouldn’t impact a single landowner. 

DISASTER

APPEAL Please donate now

salvationarmy.org.au

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS: INLAND RAIL

FROM TOP: CENTRAL STATION, SYDNEY; SOUTHERN CROSS STATION, MELBOURNE.

FULL STEAM AHEAD ARTC says it took the aforementioned decision in order to make the inland route quicker. But the NSW Farmers Association says that’s bull, claiming the new route will lead to savings of only four minutes – not enough to justify the impact on 300 landowners.

After failing to convince ARTC to rethink its decision, NSW Farmers took its case to Canberra in early 2018, and demanded an independent inquiry into Inland Rail.

No one much listened until the federal election was called in April, and the Labor Party saw an opportunity to steal votes from the Nationals.

“This is appalling. The government has botched this from day one,” thenInfrastructure Spokesman Anthony Albanese said on talkback radio at the time. “It’s very clear that there are real issues with the route going through prime agricultural land, that the locals aren’t being listened to.”

Labor’s announcement gave those 300 landowners a clear way to make their voices heard at the election. But a large majority of people in the bush voted against Labor and its calls for an independent enquiry into Inland Rail.

Outgoing ARTC chief John Fullerton did, however, take the challenge to heart, and promised to take a more consultative approach with landowners. But he also maintains an independent enquiry cannot be allowed to delay Inland Rail. “Every day our freight task grows – freight volumes are forecast to more than double by the year 2050,” he says.

“Our existing transport network won’t cope with this increase in freight without further investment.”

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SPECIAL PROMOTION

Fast Fact

CareFlight’s 24/7 HelpPoint centres make or receive more than 80,000 phone calls each year when coordinating medevac missions around Australia.

Taking the hospital to the patient: CareFlight’s medevac mission

As a patient-focused organisation, CareFlight finds innovative ways to get medevac patients to the vital treatment they need as quickly and safely as possible.

It’s the type of scenario that most FIFO workers would rather not think about: you’re working in a very remote location, a long flight away from essential services, when you become seriously unwell; or there’s an accident and you, or a workmate, require urgent hospital treatment. What happens next?

While the statistics tell us that the probability of these scenarios happening is very low, in the notso-distant past patients requiring emergency treatment in remote locations had a reduced chance of making a full recovery.

But today, thanks to advances in aeromedical care, patient outcomes have improved significantly.

CareFlight, a not-for-profit organisation, funds many of its community programs by providing

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aeromedical and medical staffing solutions to the oil, gas and mining industry across Australia helping it realise its mission to save lives, speed recovery and serve the community.

Commencing in 1986 with a single rescue helicopter, CareFlight’s founders had a vision to create a new kind of medical retrieval service in Australia that focused on starting emergency department care at an accident scene, rather than many hours later when the patient arrived at a city hospital.

For severely injured and very sick patients, starting treatment at the scene dramatically increases their recovery prospects.

“We know that patients have the best chance of recovery if we reach them quickly and immediately commence emergency department standard

treatment on-scene,” says Dr Toby Fogg, CareFlight’s National Medical Director and Retrieval Specialist.

“Our mission on a medevac is to remove any time, distance and logistical barriers to getting hospital treatment delivered to a patient at the place of injury – well before the patient actually gets to a hospital emergency department.”

From its urban beginnings, CareFlight now operates a fleet of more than 15 aeromedical aircraft, including search and rescue medevac helicopters, air ambulance jets and turbo-prop aeroplanes, as well as patient transport vehicles. The CareFlight team is made up of more than 520 people across Australia, including emergencycare doctors, nurses, intensive-care paramedics, pilots, engineers, logistics,

SPECIAL PROMOTION

dispatch and support staff.

“We spend much of our time either performing medevacs or training to be the best we can be for a patient going through the worst day of their life,” says CareFlight CEO Mick Frewen.

LIFE BLOOD

CareFlight’s established relationships with hospitals across Australia, and its sophisticated logistics network, means that it can gain rapid access to blood if needed during a complex medevac.

Dr Fogg relates a case where a patient who needed four units of blood over an extended medevac received two life-saving transfusions enroute to hospital, because CareFlight’s team was able to arrange for blood delivery from its hospital partners during transport transfers.

“Not only did the patient need blood, they needed to get to hospital quickly.

We were able to deliver both aspects of care in a compressed timeframe.

We have put in place processes that allow us to get rapid access to blood if we need it,” says Dr Fogg.

THE I-CARE STRETCHER SYSTEM – AN INNOVATIVE RESCUE REMEDY

In 2013, INPEX approached CareFlight to assist in the development of an innovative solution to speed up the medevac process from remote locations to city hospitals. INPEX is operator of the Ichthys LNG offshore facilities located approximately 220 kilometres off the coast of Western Australia.

Conducting a medevac from an off-shore oil and gas facility is inherently complex, involving rotary, fixed-wing and road ambulance platforms for the journey to the nearest hospital, which could be more than 1000 kilometres away.

Multiple transfers mean a patient could be moved from one stretcher and life-support equipment to another, three or four times. Each transfer can take up to 45 minutes for a patient in a critical condition.

“This creates a lot of challenges,” says Dr Fogg. “These transfers can take 30 minutes or more to move the patient. If they’re on life support, we have to slowly and methodically swap all the monitoring equipment and the drips, the life support and the breathing machine. Each change carries a risk of something going wrong, usually in the middle of nowhere.”

INPEX had conducted a detailed study to assess the capabilities of hospitals and airfields in north-west Australia. Based on this, INPEX’s objective was to devise a solution that adopted world’s best practice for the seamless delivery of remote and offshore diagnostics, medical care and aeromedical evacuation to INPEX staff and their contractors.

Fundamental to this objective was the need to develop a new stretcher system that could be used seamlessly between road, rotary and fixed wing assets needed for a medevac from the Browse Basin.

With funding from INPEX of $3 million and a team of more than 80 technical specialists working together for seven months, INPEX and CareFlight developed and launched the ‘I-CARE‘ Stretcher System.

I-CARE allows a patient to be transported from an offshore clinic to hospital on the same stretcher and life support system, irrespective of how many different modes of transport are used. It comprises a light-weight stretcher, a secure oxygen system and a swivelling ‘bridge’ that holds vital medical equipment. The unit locks securely into the transport platform – whether, helicopter, jet, turbo-prop aircraft or road ambulance – and is easily wheeled between them.

I-CARE also includes a telediagnostic unit, so remote medical specialists who are part of CareFlight’s extensive Australia-wide network can help offshore paramedics determine whether a patient needs evacuation, and also provide lifesaving medical diagnosis and direction to CareFlight paramedics working in remote locations.

“Thanks to INPEX’s investment and research, we’ve been able to bring something new to the industry and dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to get a patient in a remote location to hospital care,” says Dr Fogg. “For example, in one client’s medevac logistics chain, we have reduced the medevac time from their remote location to a city hospital  FEB/MAR 2020

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SPECIAL PROMOTION

from eight to six and a half hours, while also reducing the risk to the patient.”

CareFlight was named Australia’s most reputable charity at the end of 2019. Fraser Allen, CareFlight’s General Manager Partnerships and Development, says that having partners such as INPEX for joint collaboration and innovation is crucial to the organisation’s focus on bringing quality care to regional and remote Australia.

Sponsorships, donations and contributions from the proceeds of oil, gas and mining service agreements have also helped CareFlight fund and deliver more than 400 ’MediSim’ Trauma Care Workshops to 5800 first responders working in remote locations across Australia.

“Collaboration and innovation are a critical part of our DNA because saving lives only improves when you challenge the traditional barriers that slow medevacs down,” says Mr Allen.

“We share a common denominator at CareFlight: we collaborate and innovate to improve speed to patient; the medical skillset we take to the patient and the aircraft type that is best for the patient – we just keep re-examining how we can make this faster and better to reduce the impact on the patient.”

TELE-DIAGNOSTICS – EXACTLY WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED In May 2014, CareFlight’s telediagnostic system was put into practice for the first time during a life-saving medevac off the coast of Western Australia.

A worker on an offshore drilling rig was feeling unwell and visited CareFlight’s intensive care paramedic in the rig’s medical facility.

Tests were done immediately and the real-time results sent via the I-CARE tele-diagnostic device to a CareFlight emergency department specialist in Perth. The specialist confirmed that the patient was suffering a heart attack.

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CareFlight and INPEX developed the I-CARE Stretcher System

reduces time and clinical risk when transferring patients between multiple modes of transport = better patient outcomes

To save the cardiac muscle, time was of the essence. The paramedic activated a medevac via CareFlight’s 24/7 HelpPoint centre and arranged online assessment of the patient’s ECG results in real-time via a tele-diagnostic link to a cardiologist at Royal Darwin Hospital.

The on-site medevac team, the CareFlight critical care specialist, and the Darwin cardiologist decided that instead of waiting for the patient’s arrival at hospital, that thrombolysis would be immediately administered on the rig to break up and dissolve the blood clot that was blocking the patient’s artery.

The patient was evacuated to an airbase in WA’s North Kimberley, transferred on the same I-CARE stretcher and critical care equipment to a waiting jet air ambulance, and

flown to Royal Darwin Hospital.

As a result of the integrated response, the worker made a full recovery and was back at work three months later.

“Everything combined to save his life: the speed of transfer made possible by the I-CARE system; our paramedics; specialist consultant doctors; CareFlight’s logistics; and our relationships with our hospital partners,” says Dr Fogg.

“We’re here to make a difference because we can significantly increase the level of care that the patients get at the place where they are most vulnerable: the side of a road; down a canyon; lost in the bush; out at sea – to be able to put in place all the procedures and equipment and people to not only help the patient survive, but to see them back at work, it’s fantastic.”

Save lives, speed recovery and serve the community

DE L I V E R I NG COM M U N I T Y BE N E F I T S F ROM BUSI N E S S SOLU T IONS

• Priority medevac services by fixed wing • Corporate social responsibility programs

• On-site helicopter, clinic and paramedic solutions • Corporate sponsorship opportunities

• Trauma training (on and off-site) • 24/7 clinical governance and logistic solutions

Call Fraser for your business solution on 0488 999 582 or email fraser.allen@careflight.org

OPINION FEATURE

SOMETIMES YOU SIMPLY NEED TO HAVE THE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS Words: Beau Robinson

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30–6 was the final score. We had been beaten, and convincingly.

It was round two of the 2011 Super Rugby season and we, the Queensland Reds, had suffered a thoroughly disappointing loss to our arch-rivals the NSW Waratahs. This season had been looking good, after the boys had finished the previous season in fifth position.

But the start of the season definitely wasn’t going to plan. We’d had a skin-of-your-teeth win against the Western Force in round one at home, with the final scoreboard reading 21–20.

As a playing group, we had high expectations for the season – higher than anyone else could have placed on us. I wasn’t there the previous season, but coming at the start of the 2011 preseason, there was a real buzz around the place.

So what happened that night in Sydney with the Waratahs defeat? We were up for the game, but they were up for it more. They had sensed that this year would be tougher than they had faced in a long time… and they would be right, but not on this night.

Ewen McKenzie, our coach, got us into the meeting room to face him. There were no heated words, no yelling and screaming – something Ewen was more than capable of, but not tonight.

He wanted answers from the playing group.

Why were we not up for it? Pre-season, the pre-season games and training had all been good. Why weren’t the performances? This went on for about 40 minutes. Were we still living on last year’s achievements? There seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm and that showed in a lack of communication. Communication is one of the best indications of whether a team – business or sport – is committed. Communication leads to clarity and confidence.

We walked out knowing what had to change.

And it did. The next time both teams met we were on a roll and went on to beat the Waratahs.

We would actually go on to become champions.

As a business leader, you will at times find yourself in Ewen’s position. You don’t always know, or have to have the answers. So, ask your team what’s going on. Especially if you’ve set the standards and expectations as a group, and they aren’t being met. Sometimes the team needs to take ownership for their performances.

Don’t just allow it to go on, unaddressed.

Have the tough conversations.

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PUZZLES

CROSSWORD

14. Masted vessels

16. Wheel covers

18. Nakedness

17. Wound with claw

21. Pencil end

19. Illinois is there (1,1,1)

22. Canoe oar

20. Surrendered

24. Wear by rubbing

22. Short pasta tubes

25. Global hostel chain (1,1,1,1)

23. Highest ranking peers

26. Charitable 27. Dessert, ... pie 28. Cash machines (1,1,2) 29. Occurred afterwards

ALEXANDER BASSANIO BEATRICE BENEDICK BURGUNDY CALIBAN

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CASSANDRA CLARENCE CLEOPATRA DESDEMONA FREDERICK HIPPOLYTA

HOLOFERNES LYSANDER MARCELLUS PROSPERO QUINTUS VALENTINE

H O L O F E R N E S Y E C

L L O I E L I A A U R N O

C Y O L L N E U P C S E N

L T N U A B I P Q L T B A

F A S A V Y D N U G R U B

E O R X N N E S T E D E M

O P E Z T A S C D R C D E

P P P U I A S N R N I I D

A I S A N F A S E A S C S

T H O D E X E R A D M K E

R A R H E C A L I B A N D

A A P L D L Y S A N D E R

P W A K C I R E D E R F A

SOLUTIONS:

15. Try

P W A K C I R E D E R F A

13. Eve’s mate

A A P L D L Y S A N D E R

12. Devour

R A R H E C A L I B A N D

6. Unrelenting

11. Recesses

T H O D E X E R A D M K E

10. Erected

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: SHAKESPEARE CHARACTERS.

A I S A N F A S E A S C S

5. Dancer’s costume

P P P U I A S N R N I I D

9. Australian gem

WORD SEARCH

O P E Z T A S C D R C D E

4. Actress, ... Monroe

E O R X N N E S T E D E M

8. Large

L L O I E L I A A U R N O

3. Anaesthetises

C Y O L L N E U P C S E N

2. Attain

7. Consumption

L T N U A B I P Q L T B A

1. Feminine

5. Look before you ...

F A S A V Y D N U G R U B

DOWN

1. Series of rabbit tunnels

H O L O F E R N E S Y E C

ACROSS