1216946-PB07-16
1216946-PB07-16
Nathan Horne Nathan Horne
07 4661 9800
Week commencing Thursday, 18 May | 2017 | Edition 876
13750 copies delivered weekly
www.freetimes.com.au
Latest on our new Coles
Wrangling g over Inland nd Rail
Rodeo Queen Quest opens up
All the fun of the ‘Picnics’
PAGE 3
PAGE 6
PAGE 7
PAGES 19-20
Gonski wins day By Jeremy Sollars
SOUTHERN DOWNS AND GRANITE BELT MONTHLY RURAL ROUND-UP MAY 2017
GROWING THEIR OWN WAY…
Petersen Grains continues to embrace new ideas to enhance yields and grow the future. STORY INSIDE, PAGES 6-7
12350047-JV17-17
Local high schools are all winners in the Federal Budget handed down last week - but some have fared better than others. With the Federal Government providing the majority of public funding for non-government schools, there’s been a major shake-up of funding models which have seen some top-notch city private schools around the country having their share of funding decreased. The Federal Government says a record $242.3 billion of its funds will be invested in total schools recurrent funding - government and private - from 2018 to 2027, including $81.1 billion over 2018 to 2021. Funding is based on what it also says is a genuine “student needs-based” model for all schools and claims its spending on government schools will increase by an average of 94 per cent over the next 10 years, along with 62 per cent for private schools. The model is fashioned along lines recommended by the 2011 Gonski Report on the nation’s schools commissioned by the then ALP Government of Julia Gillard, which many in the education sector see as ironic. The bottom line of Gonski is that students with greater needs will attract higher levels of funding from the Commonwealth - at least in theory. The Turnbull Government has also loudly trumpeted that the new funding arrangements will be tied to key education reforms, including minimum literacy and numeracy standards for students, recognition for teachers based on competency and achievement and early intervention for struggling students. The budget comes as The Scots PGC College in Warwick announced it would slash its fees by 40 per cent in 2018, which it says reflects the local economic realities and the difficulty for parents in paying annual fees. In a statement released last week, principal Simon Shepherd said despite receiving “a marginal
rural
PH: 07 4661 2255 | 10-12 Betta Place, Warwick
FREE
Looking to the future: SOTE principal Shane Power with students, from left, Indigo Douglas, Helena Faa, Sophie Collins, Xsanthia-Rose Frith and Abby McLucas. increase” in funding as part of the Federal Budget, Scots was “moving ahead with its planned lower tuition fees”. Mr Shepherd said the school was “striving to make quality and holistic education more affordable and accessible to families in Warwick and regional Queensland”.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the marginal increase in funding from the Australian Government,” he said in the statement. “This, combined with our planned lowered fees means our students will benefit twofold.
INSIDE TODAY The May edition of the Free Times’ new ‘Rural Links’ magazine. Check it out for the latest rural news and our region’s great rural businesses...
Continued to page 3.
CHAS SANKEY FRASER
AQUA RURAL SUPPLIES
Great new paint range in-store now!
QBCC1197750 NSW237076c Phone Neal Simpson and Lou Ots on 07
4661 9835
48 Fitzroy St, Warwick Ph: 4661 3900
Multi Focals $149 2 pair of frames plus single vision lenses $78 *conditions apply Full-time optometrist appointments 6 days/ week Bulk billing to Medicare Free Digital Retinal Photography included with eye testing
12339793-DJ07-17
Specialising in Commercial, Industrial and Domestic Sheds. Made from Bluescope Australian Steel Full service - Slab, Erection & Councils
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE
12344053-LN15-17
1198026-RC37-15
Warwick
12337217-CG03-17
4681 0355 | Walsh Drive, Stanthorpe, QLD 4380
70 Palmerin St, Warwick, QLD
PH: (07) 4661 1701
GRANITE BELT DENTAL Medibank Members Choice and HCF preferred providers Get your regular check up and clean for low or no out of pocket expenses, plus a range of other benefits. 9 BAKER STREET STANTHORPE 96 PERCY STREET WARWICK
4681 1238 4661 4188 1125183-CA12-14