Welcome to the January 2020 issue of the WBBROC newsletter.
Visit our new website at www.wbbroc.org.au for up-to-date information about our organisation, projects and events!
New Regional Economic Development Manager
.WBBROC has for many years had a very strong focus on economic development. This is understandable, as national statistics show that the region is the poorest in Australia.
Last year, WBBROC agreed to employ a full-time economic specialist to help implement the new Regional Economic Development Strategy. Gary Warrener started as WBBROC’s Regional Economic Development Manager on 13 January this year.
Gary has extensive experience working in local and state government levels in the field of economic development, with over 24 years’ experience in executive and senior management roles, including:
17 years – Regional Manager Queensland Government Department of State Development
3 years - Manager Economic Development and Tourism - Wangaratta (Vic.)
2.5 years – Manager Economic Development and Tourism – Colac Otway Council (Vic.)
2 years – Executive Regional Manager – Advance Bank Sunshine Coast
8 years’ owner/operator 3 family businesses.
Gary Warrener meeting with Cr Rachel Chambers (North Burnett Mayor) and Rachel Cooper, CEO of North Burnett Regional Council.
Biosecurity Response Strategy
In 2019, the WBBROC’s Invasive Species Committee developed the WBB Regional Biosecurity Response Strategy, which presented a high level operational framework for how the region’s stakeholders would work together to respond to an invasive species (weed and pest animal) incursion.
Integral to the Strategy is the need for all regional stakeholders to take a shared responsibility in response to an invasive species incursion, where inaction will negatively affect all regional stakeholders over time.
Training events were incorporated into the Strategy’s delivery, to ensure it continues to be refined even more.
An initial training event was held in Monto on 8-10 October 2019, where participants from Bundaberg, North Burnett, Gympie and South Burnett Regional Councils, as well as Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and WBBROC used an isolated infestation of African boxthorn in the upper Burnett River catchment to test the operational procedures of the Response Strategy.
In addition to 450 hectares of land being surveyed and controlled for African boxthorn through the training event, participants also demonstrated an increased level of understanding on how the region would work together in response to a biosecurity threat.
Bundaberg Regional Council and North Burnett Regional Council biosecurity officers controlling an African boxthorn plant along a fenceline.
Mary Regional Resilience Strategy
WBBROC endorsed the Mary Regional Resilience Strategy late last year, after much consultation across the region by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) and this has now been released by the QRA. You can view the strategy at: https://www.qra.qld.gov.au/maryregion .
Andrew Bryant, WBBROC’s Regional Resilience Coordinator, has been focussing on the Burnett River Catchment Resilience Strategy over the past 18 months. The focus of this strategy was on resilience in preparing and recovering from floods. The new Mary Strategy looks at resilience from all types of disasters, including bushfires, cyclones, etc.
WBBROC will be seeking Natural Disaster funding to employ Andrew for a further 2 years in order for him to complete actions from the Burnett Strategy and to work with the additional Councils and communities in the Mary River catchment to implement the Mary Strategy.
The Mary River in flood
Concerns over water pricing
The Queensland Competition Authority has recently submitted recommendations to the Queensland Government for increases in water pricing. A quick analysis indicates that the average annual price increase recommended across irrigation schemes in the Wide Bay Burnett region is 33%. For irrigators at Three Moon Creek, Bundaberg and Barker-Barambah, the increases are up to 137% for volumetric charges.
WBBROC wrote to Minister Anthony Lynham in early February to express its concerns about these steep price increases. The letter pointed out that the increases come at a particularly bad time with much of the region drought declared, depressed commodity prices and escalating energy costs recently indicated by ABARES data showing that terms of trade for Queensland farmers have shown a dramatic decline over the last year.
WBBROC is concerned that the excessive water price increases could force some family owned irrigation enterprises out of irrigated agriculture, causing a flow-on water charge impacts on the remaining water users.
Dengue Fever mosquito
WBBROC wrote to the Queensland Health Minister in December last year, seeking funding to support the eradication of the dengue fever mosquito from the Wondai/Murgon/Goomeri area.
Studies conducted by the CSIRO clearly show that the DNA of the mosquitoes in this area are unique and different to dengue mosquito further North. This indicates that if we can eradicate the mosquito here, the threat will be moved further North.
The current dengue mosquito population is close to the South East Queensland corner, and if the problem were to reach the SEQ, the costs of eradication would be astronomical.
The 2-year funding proposal would assist in implementing the region’s eradication plan and complement existing Local Government mosquito management plans in the Wide Bay Burnett region.
Stop Press: WBBROC has just received a response from the Minister. No funding has been approved, but WBBROC has been asked to provide further information on the sustainability of the eradication program. The Minister also invited WBBROC's mosquito group to work with the relevant section of his department to look at ways of collaborating.
WBBROC MEETING DATES
WBBROC will be meeting on the following dates in 2020:
