The Generator news service publishes articles on sustainable development, agriculture and energy as well as observations on current affairs. The news service is used on the weekly radio show, The Generator, as well as by a number of monthly and quarterly magazines. A podcast of the Generator news is also available.
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A series of free webinars run by Business Queensland will be run across July to help you get your payroll right, and submitted to the Australian Tax Office on time.
Running on the 3rd, 9th, 14th and 15th July the one and a half hour webinar is designed to teach you how to prepare for the 2014 payroll tax annual return and use OSRconnect to lodge your return online.
For more information on these webinars and the other programs promoted by Business Queensland head over to the business events website.
Your will won’t matter much to you but it will mean a lot to your family
None of us really want to think about dying, so it may not surprise you that over 40 percent of Aussies die without making a will.
Of course, squabbling over the family home is hardly an edifying experience and so a bunch of researchers at University of Queensland have set out to explore our attitudes to laying down the law about what happens to our stuff when we are no longer here to watch over it.
Professor Cheryl Tilse wants to talk to people over 45 who do not have a will, or have complicated circumstances. The research carried out by UQ’s School of Social Work and Human Services Associate will help farmers, people with blended families, the very wealthy and people with assets in different countries.
There’s just one little catch. Not many people are putting up their hand to talk about the will they do not have, or the assets they don’t know how best to organise.
If you have complicated assets, or have not got around to making a will yet call Rachel at UQ and have a chat about how you can help them help all of us. They’d certainly appreciate the effort. Rachel can be reached on 3346 9090 or r.feeney@uq.edu.au
Businesses in 4101 are both blessed and cursed by the major events that take place in our midst.
While these events bring thousands of people into the postcode, they do not always have a positive impact on our business. If they drag people off the street and away from the existing shopping precincts and do not promote the area generally they can significantly dampen trade.
It is up to you to think creatively about how you can take advantage of all the people on your doorstep uring Regional Flavours this month. The official opportunities are limited. Basically you buy a stall and/or pay a sponsorship fee, or not.
Advertisers in Westender get some foothold, as well will be handing out magazines to visitors from time to time during the festival. If you are interested in participating in a special Regional Flavours flyer, please let us know at advertising@westender.com.au
Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said Regional Flavours was a must-do Brisbane event this winter.
“One of the greatest elements of Regional Flavours is its focus on creating awareness of the amazing fresh produce here in Queensland. The event gives locals and visitors of all ages the opportunity to celebrate food – whether it’s cheese, chocolate, wine – it’s all readily available right on our doorstep,” Cr Quirk said.
“This free annual festival continues to grow from strength to strength and is now considered one of the city’s most loved food and lifestyle events, attracting big names such as this year’s special guest, Matt Preston from Network TEN’s MasterChef Australia.
“The beautiful Brisbane weather also means we can enjoy alfresco dining throughout the year, so what better way to celebrate our food and lifestyle than in the stunning Parklands. This truly is an event for the people, and it’s free!”
The 2014 event program is available online at regionalflavours.com.au. Headline activities are highlighted below:
Producer Market
Little Stanley Street
Taste-test free samples from over 100 of Queensland’s finest regional producers at a food trail of market stalls along Little Stanley Street. Producers travel from across Brisbane, South East Queensland and tropical North Queensland to showcase their unique local produce over two days.
The Grove
Little Stanley Street (northern end)
A must-visit for all wine connoisseurs, The Grove is a fully-licensed area dedicated to local makers, free tastings and live music.
EAT-SHOW-TELL
The Courier-Mail Piazza
This year’s main stage, EAT-SHOW-TELL, will be hosted by Miguel Maestre from Network TEN’s The Living Room and will feature live cooking presentations from celebrity chefs and industry experts. Popular names appearing at EAT-SHOW-TELL include special guest Matt Preston from Network TEN’s MasterChef Australia, Annabel Langbein, The Free Range Cook on Foxtel’s LifeStyle FOOD; and Paul West from River Cottage Australia on Foxtel’s The LifeStyle Channel. V-ZUG’s Executive Chef, Felix Halter, is also returning to the event for a second year to showcase the health and taste benefits of cooking with steam.
The Hunting Club
Little Stanley Street lawns (southern end)
The Hunting Club Bar and BBQ, presented by South Bank Surf Club, will be decked out hacienda-style and will be serving up diverse and powerful flavours, with craft beer tasting paddles and barbecue beef with a South American twist. The Hunting Club Stage, presented by Nothing beats Beef and Target 100, will be hosted by beer guru Matt Kirkegaard and will offer slow-cooked barbecue beef and craft beer demonstrations from brew experts and high-profile chefs such as Alastair McLeod, ambassador and advocate of the Lockyer Valley Region produce, and Darren Robertson, Target 100’s Ambassador.
Eat Fleet Food Trucks
Little Stanley Street
A fleet of pop-up gourmet food trucks, the Eat Fleet Food Trucks, will be run by Little Stanley Street’s restaurants and cafes, with menus items available for purchase.
South Bank Kids Club
Central Café lawns & Arbour View lawns
The South Bank Kids Club will keep the children entertained with a range of free food-themed activities to ignite their creativity and love of food.
All Day Breakfast
Little Stanley Street lawns
All Day Breakfast presented by Di Bella Coffee will be serving up gourmet breakfast delights, specialty coffee and cooking demonstrations all weekend.
Savour at River Quay
River Quay Green
Savour an afternoon with great friends, high-end food and delicious cocktails while overlooking the Brisbane River and listening to live lounge music.
For a weekend full of food, wine, lifestyle and leisure, head along to Regional Flavours in the South Bank Parklands on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 July from 10am to 5pm.
Pick up a copy of the 2014 event program at Regional Flavours, or visit regionalflavours.com.au to plan your foodie weekend.
Civic Video has provided the West End community with home entertainment for more than eight years — the last video rental store in West End will sadly be closing its doors.
Craig and Paula Sheehan opened Civic Video September 2006 in West End.
In mid–2014 Civic Video lost the fight with Internet technology. Craig Sheehan tells the Westender they thought Civic Video would be viable three to five years, as the Internet was affecting the video rental market from the very start. “I used to look at the Internet as a threat, and then I just looked at it as the environment which I operate.” It is actually the loss in consumer confidence, Craig continues, that has affected Civic Video the most.
“People are saving money, not spending money. A lot of retailers are feeling that.” Australia’s economy is not “a disaster, other than what our politicians tell us … and the mainstream media play on that.”
Civic Video is not just a loss of a place for the community to meet, but also a loss of employment for locals, especially for the West End youth. Craig is not too worried about his future.
He is more worried for his employees, which he is working hard to find new employment for in West End. He remembers something that happened the first year or two that made him understand why West End is such an amazing community to operate a business in.
“[One of] our members of staff, didn’t turn up [one day]. [A weekend] afternoon I got a phone call from one of our customers I knew personally and he said, Craig, your store is not open and people are taking DVDs out of the return bin.”
“For the next week we tracked how many movies that had been stolen — none.”The return bin was full and people were taking out the DVDs to return them later.
“People here [in West End], there is a sense of community, a sense of honesty.”
Joe Hurley second from right accepting his Westender Local Legend award
When he was presented with The Westender Kurilpa Local Legend award in May, Joe Hurley was described as a “guiding light” in the West End Community House. Now he is leaving, not by choice, but because the government’s funding model for community houses is changing.
Dr Kay Pearse, Chairperson of the West End Community House (WECH) Board said budgetary constraints forced its hand and it reluctantly decided that it could no longer afford to keep Joe on as coordinator and manager.
“West End Community House and the West End Community, have a great debt to Joe.” she said. “He’s been around for almost 20 years serving the community and he will be sorely missed. It was a terrible decision for the board to restructure: we had to do it, we had no choice, but we will miss him terribly. The House will miss him, and the community will miss him”.
Norma aged 89 and a volunteer at the Community House for about 10 years summed up the feelings of many when she said,
“It’s impossible to describe the beauty of a person like Joe. There is something special about him that we will never see again.”
As to the future of WECH, Norma added, “Joe has set us a great example and I’m sure that somehow we will keep it going”.
When I spoke with him, Mr Hurley was philosophical about his move, and his focus was on ensuring WECH services have a future.
Cooking breakfast at WECH
“I am leaving because we need to change here. The organisation needs to find a sustainable footing, and part of that is reducing the costs of the organisation”, Mr Hurley said. “But,” he added, “It’s also a good opportunity for me to change. If I hadn’t had this motivation I might be sitting here for another 10 years”.
Mr Hurley said he is driven by a belief in social justice. He said he started his working life in the property sector, in valuation and property administration, and through that he came to the affordable housing world. “And that’s when I realised, wow, that’s what I’d like to be contributing to in the future, rather than just the economics of the property game.”
He describes WECH as: “a place of comfort and support, a place of opportunity… and something that contributes positively to people’s lives and outcomes, no matter what circumstances they might be in.”
As part of its support services, a Centrelink representative and Anglicare support workers attend the Thursday morning breakfasts. In addition to these services the WECH works with Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House to provide a homeless person’s legal service. WECH has a therapeutic arts program on Fridays, predominantly for people with a mental illness and those living in supported accommodation, as well as a women’s group and a computer literacy program.
“It’s a gateway to support” Mr Hurley said. “The way that plays out is having an open house for the large part of everyday so people can just walk through the door and ask questions, have a cup of tea, and hopefully get the informed and supportive assistance to get them where they need to be.”
Norma – volunteer at WEC
Mr Hurley will continue to work for a time with WECH on a contractual basis. He has a particular passion for the development at the Croquet Club in Musgrave Park. ” We’ve spent two and a half years getting a development application approved on a very sensitive site, with a very sensitive development, that we hope will be a legacy for the community… a meeting space that hopefully will be accessed for decades to come. I’m really very keen to see that come to fruition. And certainly I will continue to work to support our Annerley and Yeronga services: I’ve got a lot of affection for them, so it will be hard to let them go.”
About his own future Mr Hurley said, “I am definitely looking to keep working around some of the social justice issues that I have a passion for. I have had a focus for a lot of my career on tenancy and affordable housing issues and I’d like to see what sort of contributions I could make to that sector. I am also just looking to put a bit of time into my family”.
Dr Pearse said that the WECH experience is not unique. “…the financial constraints that all community services are working within these days are severe. Budgets have been cut over the last two years … and now all community services are struggling with financial viability issues”.
“It’s been a very difficult time for staff to see their colleagues leave and go to other services”, Dr Pearse added.
Dr Pearse said the WECH has been lucky because a few years ago it was given funding to implement a regional model which has enabled it to support the community centres in Yeronga and Annerley as well is in the West End. But she said in the 2014/15 financial year the service has reached crunch time. “This has placed enormous pressures on staff as they face an incredibly uncertain future” she said.
Funding WECH and associated services comes from the three main services Dr Pearse said, “We get government support, but that’s not sufficient now to cover our operational and service delivery costs. We also do a lot of fundraising, and then we look to our residents and to corporates to support us”.
Both Dr Pearse and Mr Hurley said that WECH has had great support from local businesses over the years. Dr Pearse made particular mention of Jacobs and Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM), which has partnered with WECH to support the breakfast program and in a number of other ways as well.
Joe Hurley – winner of The Westender Award for 2014
While both Dr Pearse and Mr Hurley acknowledged that the changes in state government funding have been a critical issue, neither was critical of government, talking broadly about difficult times for all. Norma however had no hesitation in attaching blame to government.
“My greatest disappointment is the people in Government cannot see the worth of what we do. They don’t seem to understand the amount of money we could be saving them…I can’t understand any government that does what they’re doing here,” she said.
Dr Pearse said that the state government, “has a very clear agenda of professionalising non-government services and wanting them to be financially stable; to be multistranded. We need to collaborate and work with our other community services on the South Side if we are going to survive in these very tough times.”
In the meantime Dr Pearse said WECH is adjusting to the new word and is collaborating in particular with the Acacia Ridge and Mount Gravatt community centres, for example, by applying for grants together in an attempt to secure regional funding.
Dr Pearse said the board will also continue to look for alternative sources of funding in order for its services to continue.
“Vulnerable people, people who are not working, people who have mental health issues, they’re people who are sometimes hidden … we need to support them, they’re members of our community, and they are valued members of our community, so we can’t just close our doors.”
Elizabeth Bennett from Brisbane Youth Service receiving the 2014 Sanofi Pasteur Vaxigrant Awards.
Brisbane Youth Service is one of the five winners of the 2014 Sanofi Pasteur Vaxigrants.
At the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners PHAA 14th National Immunisation Conference Brisbane Youth Service received a $20,000 educational sponsorship from Sanofi Pasteur in Melbourne 19 June.
Brisbane Youth Service had entered the category for applying innovation in areas of low immunisation.
With the educational sponsorship Brisbane Youth Service will be able to provide preventative treatment against human papilloma virus (HPV) and hepatitis B diseases to an estimated 400 homeless or at risk young people who are not eligible under the Federal Government School Immunisation Program for HPV or Queensland Immunisation Program for hepatitis B.
Allowing them to focus on services such as Pap smear, HPV vaccination and hepatitis B vaccination and aim to reduce incidences of cervical cancer, warts and hepatitis infection to reduce waiting lists at public hospitals.
Sanofi Pasteur Medical & Regulatory Affairs Director Dr Andrea Forde said in a media release, “It’s a real privilege to sponsor Vaxigrants and we congratulate all five winners this year.”
“In Australia we generally have high rates of immunisation, but there are some communities and areas where the awareness of vaccines, and the diseases they prevent, could be stronger. We look forward to seeing the winning entries put their ideas into practice.”
A series of free webinars run by Business Queensland will be run across July to help you get your payroll right, and submitted to the Australian Tax Office on time.
