Young councillors take a stand

LONGREACH teenagers are bouncing back from criticism regarding their behaviour and have formed a youth council to raise money for the foundering youth club and to organise more activities for the town’s young people.

Fourteen young people attended the first meeting of the council held last Thursday night which elected a mayor and committee.

New mayor Nina Ah Wong said she was tired of hearing people talk about the town’s youth in a negative way.

“We’re not that bad,” she protested.

“There is too much stereotyping of young people who really need more activities and things to do in this town,” fellow committee member Angela Skaines agreed.

“It would definitely be a shame if we lost the youth club and hopefully we can stop this from happening.”

“The youth council is a way we can help young people in this town by planning activities that will give them something to do,” another committee member, Adam Borton, said.

“The issue of keeping kids occupied is a fairly big problem, especially in smaller towns like Longreach where it’s more noticeable.
“But there are the same problems in bigger places like Rockhampton where I used to live.
“Youth in general are all over the place.”

Ms Ah Wong explained that with so many young people feeling that more activities for youth were needed, the main aim of the council would be to raise money for the youth club.

“We’ve decided that April will be Save the Youth Club month,” she said.

“We want the youth club to stay open and hopefully we can raise a few thousand dollars towards this goal.”

Youth council members have plenty of ideas about how to do this, such as walking the streets with signs and banners while collecting donations and selling raffle tickets.

“We also hope to hold a youth dance, a car wash and Easter activities like an egg hunt, egg-throwing contest and a costume competition,” Ms Ah Wong said.

The youth council is determined to organise all these events and many others with as little adult input as possible.

“We want the council and its ideas to have a youth perspective,” Ms Ah Wong said.

“The meeting last Thursday was excellent and I never expected so many people to show up.
“We now plan to hold regular meetings every Monday at 5.30pm at the youth club and anyone aged between 13 and 25 years old are welcome to come along.
“But anyone who wants to join the council has to make a serious commitment to work together for the youth of this town.”

Longreach Shire Council youth development officer Wendy Hunt was pleased about the formation of the council and especially with its aim to save the youth club.

“They’re discussing youth concerns amongst themselves and even starting to talk about how they can raise these concerns with the government,” she said.

“With the kids themselves taking an interest in the club and its future, a lot more might happen.”

Youth council members will hold a street walk tomorrow from 9am and anyone is welcome to volunteer their time and help out.

A youth dance will also be held next Thursday at 7.30pm at the youth club, with an entry fee of $3.

For more information on the youth council and its activities, contact Nina Ah Wong on 0437 643 954.

Helping out our mates in cyclone country

LONGREACH handyman David Minchin packed up his truck and travelled to north Queensland on Tuesday, keen to help the many communities affected by Cyclone Larry.

As a professional glazier with a wealth of other practical skills, including carpentry and welding, Mr Minchin was certain tradesman like him would be badly needed in the devastated region.

Yet he was undaunted by the difficulties he would face over the next few weeks, explaining that over the years he had had first-hand experience of cyclones.

“I was in Darwin after Cyclone Tracy in 1974 helping to repair the damage and I’ve lived in Cairns and had cyclones come through and rip my own house down,” Mr Minchin said.

“So I know what it’s like to experience one and I know what they can do.”

Mr Minchin has deliberately waited a week before travelling to the region as he believes that it is now that people like him will become an asset to the community instead of just "getting in the way".

“It’s no use going there unless you can do something practical to help,” he said.

“Otherwise you’re just in the way.
“I’ll take my own tools, a tarpaulin and a swag and my truck can be used as both a work bench and as a bed.
“I’ll also take my own timber which will help in construction.”

Mr Minchin had no illusions regarding the extent of the damage in the region and how long it would take to fix.

“It’s going to take at least two years for the region to return to normal,” he said.

“You don’t put up a house over night.
“But I believe if you’ve got the means to help out and you don’t do it, then there is something wrong with you.
“After all, what comes around goes around.
“We might need north Queensland’s help one day.”

Safer sky for heli-musterers

HELI-MUSTERING companies may once have had a reputation for overworking their pilots and their machines, but with an increasing awareness on safety, the industry is changing for the better.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said it is also more aware of the industry’s safety problems and continually emphasised the importance of education and training.

However, there are still industry issues that concern both heli-musterers and aircraft engineers, such as a lack of skilled employees and sufficient training for young heli-musterers.

Cloncurry Mustering’s chief engineer, Dick Powell, said the company had only experienced three heli-mustering incidents in recent years.

“Safety has improved lately,” Mr Powell said.

“But many industries continually suffer from safety issues, such as the trucking industry.
“It’s just human nature to try and cut corners because many people are too lazy to do it the right way.
“Most heli-mustering companies are now above board because they have to be, but it’s a lot harder for those who live far away from maintenance facilities.
“If they can cheat, they will.”

Mr Powell emphasised that accidents were always bound to happen in such a dangerous job where pilots fly low and fast, even in such a “robust and survivable” machine as the small Robinson 22 (R22), the helicopter most often used to muster cattle.

“Anytime you’re flying low, the risks will go up because you don’t have time to make the right decisions,” he said.

Mr Powell believes the industry’s main problem is that there are too few helicopter engineers in the West.

“We’re in big demand but there are only two of us engineers west of Mareeba,” Mr Powell said.
“CASA makes it very hard for us to get our licences and the average age of helicopter engineers is 54 years old.”

Heli-mustering pilot Frank Hoare, who works for North Australian Helicopters (NAH) which has bases in Katherine, Kakadu and Mount Isa, said he is impressed by the safety standards.

“The industry is 100 per cent safer than it used to be,” Mr Hoare said.

“We undergo two check flights a year with a more experienced pilot as well as an R22 safety course.
“These options weren’t available to us when I began work at the company a few years ago.
“Our chief pilot John Logan really drills safety into us.
“We’ve learnt that while a cow might be worth $1,000 we shouldn’t push a machine because of just one cow, as our machine and our safety are more important.”

However, while Mr Hoare believes safety has improved, the industry’s young pilots still need more training and guidance.

“Many older pilots have now retired and there are a lot more young pilots entering the industry,” he said.

“I think it’s too easy to become a helimusterer as you only need to fly for 10 hours with a more experienced pilot to obtain a licence.”

Mr Hoare said under this system, young pilots were being rushed through important training.

“CASA needs to hold onto some of the older pilots so they can train our younger pilots more,” he said.
“Heli-mustering is such a high-risk job and young pilots need as much dual mustering time as possible.”

CASA corporate communications manager Peter Gibson explained that while pilots and engineers may have issues with CASA, there was only so much the organisation could do to help them, especially as so much heli-mustering occurred in remote parts of Australia.

“It’s hard to get CASA inspectors out to these places when they’re in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
“Surveillance of the industry is very difficult.”

However, Mr Gibson said that even with distance as an obstacle, he believed that there were now very few companies who did the wrong thing.

“The accident rate in the industry is certainly not going up,” he said.

“Yet there are a few companies who try to keep costs down by doing the wrong thing and they are the ones we’re trying to catch.
“If they are caught, we’ll take the appropriate action which could include cancelling their licences.”

Mr Gibson said since CASA inspectors couldn’t always be on hand to keep an eye on heli-mustering companies, the organisation continually emphasised the importance of education and training.

“It’s critically important not to fly too many hours and to accurately record every hour a chopper flies,” he said.

“Safety is ultimately in the hands of pilots and their companies and the onus has to be on them to do the right thing.
“There are always going to be people who don’t do the right thing, but we’ll do our best to combat that.”

Sandy Creek saga returns to the deep end

A SECTION of the Cramsie Road was inundated with water once more last week when the Thomson River broke its banks, concerning local residents who have battled with the Department of Main Roads for years to have the low-lying Sandy Creek crossing reconstructed.

Mayor Pat Tanks was upset that both the local sale yards and ‘Sandalwoods’, a popular housing estate, became almost inaccessible to residents.

“This has been an ongoing saga since 2002,” Cr Tanks said.

“The State government needs to come out and spend some money on this road.
“Their reason for doing nothing has always been that there is no funding for it, but I think they need to find some.”

Cr Tanks said he had sent letters to Premier Peter Beattie and the Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Paul Lucas, about the issue, and was determined to continue highlighting the importance of it in the future.

“This issue needs to be addressed and resolved now,” he said.

Cr Tanks said the issue could have catastrophic consequences especially with thousands of cattle being trucked to the saleyards every week for regular sales.

“If that many cattle were trapped at the saleyards, the logistics of feeding them would be enormous,” he said.

“There are also about 100 people living at ‘Sandalwoods’, and those driving this route from Muttaburra, who would be affected by major flooding of the road.”

Sandalwoods’ residents and other locals often need to use detours when flooding of the crossing occurs such as cutting through ‘Longway’.

“‘Longway’ is the only real alternative to the Sandy Creek crossing,” property owner Rosemary Champion explained.

“Although we’re glad to help out in this situation, the flooding of the crossing becomes a real issue for us too.
“If the road is to be effective, it needs to be raised at least one metre.
“It is already so badly constructed and water only damages it even more.
“This is a critical issue and if we get large amounts of rain, no one will be going anywhere.”

Saleyards manager Johnny Egan was especially concerned that while road trains might be able to drive through high levels of water on the road, the water could cause serious damage.

“Truck bearings can become very hot while travelling and when water gets sucked into these seals, you’ve potentially got quite a big maintenance issue,” he said.

“This is why a lot of truck drivers don’t like to drive through water.”

Local Member for Gregory, Vaughan Johnson, said he would discuss the Sandy Creek crossing issue with Federal Minister for Transport Warren Truss at this weekend’s central council meeting of the Nationals Queensland.

“I’m approaching Mr Truss about the issue because I really want to highlight its importance,” he said.

“It’s about time that we saw some responsible leadership on this issue from both the State and Federal governments instead of it being put in the too hard basket.
“Longreach Shire Council really needs to be given support some support, as does the cattle industry as a whole, which is one of the biggest wealth-earners for the district.”

A spokesperson from the Department of Main Roads said while the Department had spoken extensively with Longreach Shire Council about potentially upgrading the Sandy Creek crossing, Council had agreed that ongoing work to improve the gravel and extend the seal on Cramsie Road was the highest priority for the road.

“Upgrading the crossing would have meant this ongoing work would have had to be put on hold,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson explained that the Cramsie Road was part of the local roads of regional significance network and priorities on these roads were decided by the Outback Regional Road Group.

“The State Government contributes $2.8 million a year to the Outback Regional Road Group to go towards high-priority road projects in the region,” the spokesperson said.

“Over the next three months, the road group will consider which projects to direct their funding to.”

However, Cr Tanks is strongly of the opinion that the Cramsie Road was not included by Council as a road of regional significance in the Roads Alliance listing.

“It is a State Government controlled road,” he insisted.

“Given that works on it were commenced by the State Government and were not completed to the appropriate standards, it is incumbent that the State Government complete this upgrade.
“Council is prepared to work with the State and federal Governments to achieve a solution to this issue which will allow the Cramsie road to remain open and not cut off fromboth the Muttaburra community and the residents of Sandlewoods Estate.”

The Popular Apprenticeship

A recently launched white paper may reduce some apprenticeships by 12 months, but at what cost to service quality? Charlotte Durut reports.

THE Queensland Government’s new billion-dollar plan which is attempting to streamline the State’s apprenticeships program has produced mixed reactions from employers, apprentices and tradespeople.

The Queensland Skills Plan is the outcome of the most extensive review of the vocational education and training system in 40 years, and could mean the length of 80 per cent of available apprenticeships will be reduced by up to six or 12 months based on the concept of competency-based training.

Employment and Training minister Tom Barton explained that under this system, apprentices would complete a trade qualification when fully competent.

“This would be irrespective of time served through the apprenticeship while still maintaining the integrity of the qualification,” he said.

Yet local plumbing and gas-fitting apprentice, Daniel Neuendorf, believes it is important to train for the full four years of his apprenticeship.

“I really need all this time to learn so I can gain as much experience as possible,” he said.

“In this industry, you’re always learning new things and always learning more.”

Mr Neuendorf’s industry trainer, Ashley Zischke, agreed with his apprentice on this point and highlighted the fact that his industry covered a wide range of abilities.

“A plumber not only needs to know about plumbing but also about drainage, gas-fitting and maintenance,” he said.

“If they were working in a more specialised field, apprentices could possibly learn all they need to know in a shorter time period. But in an industry like plumbing, they need a lot of time to learn all the different skills.”

Yet the white paper does have its supporters who believe the new program could benefit apprentices and trades industries.

The Australian Industry (AI) Group, an organisation which represents 10,000 employers in industries such as manufacturing, construction and mechanics, believes the State Government’s new plans would result in greater workforce flexibility and fast track apprentices towards competency-based training.

“The importance of workforce flexibility to Queensland’s expanding industry base cannot be underestimated in this era of heightened global competition,” AI Group Queensland Director Andrew Craig said.

“The white paper provides the real prospect of delivering an appropriately skilled workforce in the medium term, while also providing some short-term relief to the challenges that industry faces.”

Mr Craig emphasised that it was important for the State’s industries to become more skilled, innovative and adaptable.

“To this end, it is important for the State Government to remain focused on providing the right conditions for this transformation to occur,” he said.

Denis Wilson from the Master Builders Association was pleased with the prospect of competency-based training for apprentices.

“Apprentices are older than they used to be and the training systems for them are better,” he said.

“Therefore, competency-based training is a very good system for them to work under.

“At the moment, apprentices are ‘ticked off’ at the end of their courses whether they are competent or not.

“But we want to have competent people in the trades industries, not just ‘quickie brickies’.

“We should only be giving people their qualifications when they’ve gained competency, not just gone through their necessary three or four years of training.”

Other highlights of the white paper include a $303 million capital improvement program to modernise Queensland’s 15 TAFE institutes; $159.39 million of funding over four years to improve the State’s apprenticeships systems and structures; an increased number of trades training places to be provided by 2010; and a Trades and Technician Skills Institute which will lead training delivery in the key areas of automotive, building and construction, manufacturing and electronics.

Premier Peter Beattie and Minister Barton said the white paper will assist the supply of skilled labour to better match the workforce needs of industry and the economy.

“The white paper includes 24 action statements which, when implemented, will re-energise our already robust vocational education and training sector,” Mr Barton said.

“The key priority is to take immediate steps to meet the shortage of skilled workers.
“If sufficient numbers of apprentices are not attracted to trades, Queensland will suffer and we will all be poorer.”

Copies of the white paper are available from the Department of Employment and Training’s website at http://www.trainandemploy/. gov.au

Editor's Cut, with editor Tuppy McIntosh

WHEN I first arrived back in Western Queensland after 10 years away, I felt that something had shifted, that there was some fundamental change.

But I couldn’t isolate what it was.

Over the last six months I’ve found many things, good and bad, have remained the same: the easy larrikinism still warms my heart and the easy judgements still squeezes it.

The coffee had changed but the beer hadn’t.

Then a couple of weeks ago I sat in on some presentations made to Desert Channels Queensland at their bi-monthly board meeting.

I met a few DCQers (including chairman Peter Douglas, who upon discovering my occupation, rolled his eyes and said ‘Jeeezus’, which is still making me laugh) and sat down to tuck into nibbles and listen to the presentations.

One of the talks was from PhD student Jenny Moffat, who had spent five months in the Central West and in the Gulf, researching graziers perceptions of ‘sustainable development’.

I thought it sounded a bit dry and jargon-oriented, and felt a tad sorry for the 57 graziers who had offered to take part.

But the most remarkable ideas unfolded during Jenny’s presentation, and at the end of her seminar I had begun to understand just how much things had changed out West.

Her research was motivated by the idea that as graziers control most of the land mass in Queensland, they were really the ones on the frontline of land management and conservation.

Jenny deduced that graziers’ ideas of sustainable management were most meaningful in real terms.

But battling declining terms of trade, climatic extremes, constraints of distance and the growing pressure for proper environmental care, the idea of being a ‘grazier’ means something vastly different to what it did a generation ago.

Graziers are now akin to enterprise managers, given the complexities of single-handedly running multi-streamed businesses in a competitive marketplace, with continual need for self-education and officework.

In the Gulf, some talked of the seeming ineffectualness of attending committees; in the Central West some spoke of the economic rationalising that pushed landholders into overgrazing.

Yet as Jenny revealed the results of her study, it became obvious she had come across a commonality between graziers that wasn’t anticipated.

Standing before the group with hands on her hips, Jenny asked point blank why people stayed out here on the land.

Things were incredibly tough - what motivates anyone to stick it out?

It was then that people began to talk about their spiritual connection to their land.

Someone responded to Jenny’s question with, ‘Because my soul is connected to this land.’ I was suprised to hear it spoken - although not surprised about the idea - and I assumed the respondent would be alone in their comments.

Not so. One after the other, almost everyone at the meeting had something to say.

People cope with the drought, the hardships, the battle, because theirs is a place where they feel connected.

These people can’t walk off the land like many before them have been forced to.

But they can walk out to meet the horizon at the end of a bugger of a day and feel, somehow, that it is worth it.

“The people I met defied the stereotypes that urban Australians give to those in rural areas,” Jenny said afterwards.

“These people are passionate.”

It wasn’t the idea of spirituality that so stunned me.

It was that people seem to now respect these ideas enough to be able to share them openly with each other in such a way.

This is not the stuff of tight-lipped cockies squinting off into the middle distance for five minutes while searching for an answer to ‘How’re ya goin?’

The acknowledgement of a shared connection to place - and that powerful choice to stay - might help overcome barriers and difficulties other than those encountered due to geography that come about in the politics of daily life. Who knows?

Give it another 10 years and I’ll get back to you.

Zonal taxes needed, say regional groups

COMMUNITY groups, politicians and medical associations are calling for a review of zonal tax rebates, some of which have remained largely unchanged since they were first put in place fifty years ago.

Under the current zonal tax rebates scheme, Australia’s rural and remote regions are divided into two zones.

The most remote parts of the country, such as northern Western Australia, north-west Queensland and the Northern Territory, have been placed in Zone A, while more accessible rural sections such as southern WA, South Australia and parts of western Queensland and New South Wales have been placed in Zone B.

The aim of zonal rebates is to entice people to rural areas as well as compensate them for the higher cost of living and the difficulties they face in working in such remote, inaccessible regions.

The Remote Area Planning and Development Board (RAPAD) is one organisation currently calling on Federal Treasurer Peter Costello to review the rebate scheme.

“The system was last reviewed in 1993, but the changes were quite minor in their effect,” RAPAD general manager David Arnold said.

“If the government is serious about rural and remote Australia, a revamped zonal tax system could stimulate investment, economic prosperity and population growth in rural and remote regions.”

Gordon Gregory is executive director of the National Rural Health Alliance, an independent, peak body for rural and remote health professionals across Australia.

He believes a review of the scheme which only pays very small allowances to rural residents is long overdue, as allowances in certain zones are too low and many towns are now too large to be considered ‘remote’.

“For example, Darwin is situated in Zone B, along with most of the northern section of Australia,” he said.

“However, this city arguably offers quite a good lifestyle so the allowances for Darwin residents should differ from those applied to more remote, inaccessible regions.”

Mr Gregory believes the reason why a review of the rebate scheme has not occurred earlier is because there have not been sufficient pressure from remote and rural areas.

“We need to continuously remind the government of this issue,” he said.

“This is not a pie in the sky idea.
“We need to invest in rural areas so people will gravitate there.”

Member for Mount Isa, Tony McGrady, has written to Senators Ian MacDonald and Barnaby Joyce to join with him in making representations to the federal Government on the issue.

“Our country will never reach its full potential whilst we have a population centred on the coastal strip,” Mr McGrady said.

“Senator Joyce is quite vocal about being the champion for the bush, while Senator MacDonald has said he has no problem with Townsville and Cairns losing their status as areas which attract remote zone tax rebates.

“I believe this is a great time for us to combine our voices on this issue.”

No cash, no club ... no care?

LONGREACH’S community-owned Youth Club is set to close due to a lack of volunteers willing at the centre, combined with ongoing financial constraints.

Club president Glennis Ford and Longreach Shire Council youth development officer, Wendy Hunt, are keen to keep the centre open or see the building redeveloped, while the children and volunteers who love to work at, and visit, the centre are upset about the possible closure.

“The Longreach Youth Club is a drug and alcohol-free space where there is a caring adult to supervise the kids,” Ms Ford explained.

“Adults come second at the club and kids have right of way.
“There is no other space in Longreach like this.”

Shadae Lewis is one of many young people who believe the club is a great place to be.

“Kids can talk together and chill out instead of walking the streets,” she said.

“I think the club is a valuable and meaningful place for the youth of Longreach because of this.
“Without the club, they’ve got nowhere else to go and they’ve got nothing to do.
“Parents often hear their kids say that they’re bored, but imagine what they’ll say when the youth club closes down?”

Troy Vambael is another fan of the youth club and said that while in high school he used to go there every afternoon.

“We’d chill out, have fun together and organise events like discos,” he said.

“To close the place down now would be a big shame, and I don’t know where the kids will go as there is not much else to do in Longreach.”

Ms Ford said the committee had been discussing the club’s possible closure since 2003.

“However, no one has come forward to volunteer at the centre,” she said.

“We still haven’t got people to organise activities for the kids and we can’t fulfill their requirements any more.
“There needs to more than one person at the centre supervising the kids.
“And it really should be open 24 hours, seven-days-a-week.”

Shadae was also of the opinion that there were not enough parents and community members involved with the club.

“No one wants to get involved to help it look better,” she said.

“I hardly ever see any parents here, most of them think it’s just a waste of time and space.”

Ms Ford said youth clubs in Emerald, Biloela and Mount Isa were lucky enough to receive funding from the mining industry and had the advantage of many more members.

“These clubs are maintained by a population size which we don’t have,” she said.

Ms Hunt agreed and said that while there were a lot of ideas to help youth in the town, there were no extra volunteers to put these ideas in place.
“The volunteers at the centre are spread very thin and they all help out at many different places,” she said.

Ms Ford and Ms Hunt are very concerned that the lack of volunteers plus little financial assistance equal a town that no longer cares about its youth.

“If youth problems are an issue now, what will happen when there is no centre at all?” Ms Hunt said.

“What will be the impact on the town when there is no such place as a youth centre?” Ms Ford added.
“Will kids see this a sign that we don’t care anymore?
“The clubs has helped so many kids over the years, but realistically – if it is to survive - it needs a big injection of money and more volunteers.
“We now need to put this issue back out the community to inform them of the clubs’ probable demise if nothing is brought forward to the committee.”

The Longreach Youth Club committee plans to hold a meeting next month to instigate the proceedings of the club’s closure.

Cricket's legendary yarn spinners

IF you were in Longreach on Sunday and Monday, it was hard not to run into an Australian cricketing legend or two.

Players from the Cricket Legends Outback Tour made their presence felt in the town, with official engagements, autograph signings and the much anticipated game between local side Outback Heat all featuring in the whirlwind stop.

It was a great opportunity for cricket enthusiasts and players to hit up their favourite player at the bar for a chat.

Colin ‘Funky’ Miller told The Longreach Leader that cricket continued to take him around the world, with commitments in Thailand next month.

“Team sports always lend themselves to spending time at the bar, and when you can do that with 12 mates, you have got to consider yourself pretty lucky,” Mr Miller said.

The chance to talk about old times was too good for Victorian fast bowler Rodney Hogg to pass up.

“It was better in the old days,” Mr Hogg said.
“You didn’t have to train as hard in the 1970s and 1980s.
“In those days, the Australia team didn’t have a coach, training schedules and regimes were up to the individual.
“If you got five ducks in a row or didn’t take any wickets in two tests then you knew you were doing something wrong and that you would probably get axed.”

The Legends Outback Tour will continue until next Sunday with the players taking in Mount Isa and Townsville.

Tambo's Outstanding Achievement

THE Federal Government has presented Tambo State School with an award for its fostering of student identity and academic performance.

Tambo was the only school in rural Queensland to receive a Highly Commended National Achievement Award, as part of the Federal Government’s National Awards for Quality Schooling.

School principal Brendan Smith was presented with the award and a $10,000 cash prize by the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Julie Bishop, at a special ceremony held at Parliament House in Canberra last week.
“I was very fortunate as principal to have the honour of receiving the award on behalf of the school, students, staff and community,” Mr Smith said.
“We are all extremely proud of this achievement.”

Mr Smith said the award recognised a program the school had developed to increase student’s identity within the community, as well as improve academic results.

“The theme of our submission focused on our Developing Positive Change program that has been gradually improving the school for the past two years,” Mr Smith said.

“The program includes lifting our school profile in the community, improving and creating a identity for the secondary school students, offering alternate career pathways, creating positive community relationships through student participation at events like Anzac Day, and focusing on strategies to lift and improve literacy confidence.
“We have seen great results, especially academically with student’s OPs [overall positions for tertiary entrance] increasing and an overall increased satisfaction with their school work and community involvement.”

The National Awards for Quality Schooling were presented to 80 schools from across Australia, including 13 from Queensland, and recognised outstanding achievement.

Federal Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott congratulated Tambo State School for improving its community.

“Students produce higher standards of work when the entire school community has a high level of satisfaction and enthusiasm,” Mr Scott said.
“I am delighted to see Tambo State School receive the recognition it deserves and I join with the community in celebrating its achievement.”