Avoca State School students with Premier Bligh.Back: Shaniah Naumann, Tegan Bonnett andChelsea Brooks. Front: Zac Hutton, Zachary Hampson,Isabella Artcheua, Bradley Rebbeck and Jarrod Raines.

Premier'sI was delighted to be in Bundaberg forthis, my 18th Community Cabinet.Giving Queenslanders the opportunity tohave one-on -one contact with ministers,department heads and me is a high priorityfor my Government.

It was great to talk with so many people abouta wide range of issues both at the publicforum and in deputations. This CommunityCabinet was a record breaker, with 193 formaldeputations.There were so many highlights, includingreceiving Bob Hillier's beautiful gift of amodel of the HMS Bounty, and my visit toAvoca State School. I received a letter fromthe students of the Junior Seagulls andJunior Galahs classes requesting help witha vegetable garden they are planting.I dropped in to see the students andpresented them with seedlings for theirgarden. Congratulations Seagulls and Galahs,and to your teachers Mr Richardson andMrs Slocomb on this wonderful initiative.Thankyou for making us so welcomein Bundaberg.

Anna Bligh MPPremier of Queensland

Model ship builder BobHillier presents PremierAnna Bligh with a modelof the HMS Bounty,captained by William Blighbetween 1787 and 1789.

Queensland Parks and Wildlife Senior Ranger Robert Thompson, Ranger in Charge of Mon Repos CathyGatley, Department of Environment and Resource Management Chief Scientist and world turtle authorityDr Col Lim pus and Mon Repos Ranger Gemma Haley.

Turtle numbers'.'PremierAnna Bligh and Minister forClimate Change and SustainabilityKate Jones announced some encouragingstatistics for endangered loggerheadturtles nesting in eastern Australia.

'From the mid-1970s to 2000, thenumbers of nesting loggerhead females ineastern Australia plummeted from 3500to 500,' Premier Bligh said.

`Since 2000, the previous long-termdecline has reversed and is beginning toclimb. It's expected loggerhead femalenumbers would be more than 600,'she said.The data was compiled by theDepartment of Environment and ResourceManagement Chief Scientist and worldturtle authority Dr Col Limpus.

Inspecting stage two of the new $100 million Bundaberg Ring Road at the North Coast railway andClayton Road overpass were Director-General of Transport and Main Roads Dave Stewart; Minister forMain Roads Craig Wallace; and Regional Director, Wide Bay-Burnett Main Roads Doug Wass.The Ring Road, open 12 September2009, is the biggest single road investmenta State Government has ever made in Bundaberg.

A nou cementsBetter facilities for boaties

The Miara Road boat ramp atYandaranhas reopened after a QueenslandGovernment-funded $185 , 000 upgrade.Bundaberg Regional Council carried outthe work on the boat ramp , located on thenorth bank of the Kolan River.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan alsoopened the reconstructed Queen Streetboat ramp and trailer parking facilityduring the Community Cabinet.The $435,000 work was funded bythe Boating Infrastructure Capital andMaintenance Program.

A floating walkway alongside the BurnettHeads Boat Harbour has also beencompleted at a cost of $340,000.

Bundaberg's clean marina

PremierAnna Bligh and Minister forTransport Rachel Nolan have presentedBundaberg Port Marina managementwith the nationally recognised CleanMarina accreditation.

The accreditation acknowledges themarina's high standard of environmentalmanagement and practices.

Bundaberg bridges honour pioneers

Minister for Main Roads Craig Wallacehas announced the names of six newlycompleted bridges in the Bundabergregion, as part of the QueenslandGovernment ' s Q150 bridge - namingprogram.

The new bridge at F E Walker Street onthe Bundaberg Ring Road will be calledthe Wedge-leaf Tuckeroo Bridge, namedby the Wildlife Preservation Society.

Also named were five new concretebridges built as part of the $ 126.5 millionSouthern Queensland Accelerated RoadRehabilitation Program.

The Gregory River bridge on GoodwoodRoad will become the Leeson - OliverBridge (afterthe Leeson and Oliverfamilies); the Cockatoo Creek Bridgewill be named the Noel Ross Bridge(after a Bun daberg bridge builder);the Littabella Creek bridge will honourthe Gamblin family; the Mullet Creekbridge will honour the Neubecker family;and the Yandaran Creek bridge will benamed the Buchbach Bridge.

Community Cabinet reception at Bundaberg RSL. Mal Collinge, Burnett Mary Regional Group for NaturalResource Management,, Pam Soper, Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council; PremierAnna Bligh;Beryl Crosby, Bundaberg Hospital Patients Support Group; and Leah Flatley, Wide Bay Group Training.

Kalkie State School JuniorTurtle Rangers involved in the `Stop the glow to help turtles go!' project.Sarah Caldwell; Mrs Sharlene Peterson (Reef Guardian and Mon Repos Turtle Coordinator); Jesse Harding;Jaydah Cutmore and Olivia Lascelles. Other schools in the project are Elliott Heads, Burnett Heads,Bargara, Childers and Norville State Schools, St Luke's Anglican, StJoseph's Catholic Primary,StJohn's Lutheran Primary and Shalom College.

PremierAnna Bligh chats with Mayor of Bundaberg Regional Council Lorraine Pyefinch at the CommunityCabinet reception held at the Bundaberg RSL.

A nou ce mentsFire services boost forWide Bay-Burnett

Fire services in the Wide Bay-Burnettregion have been enhanced with theestablishment of an Elliott Heads AuxiliaryFire Brigade , a $65,000 Elliott Heads FireService upgrade and a new fire and rescueappliance for Bundaberg Fire Station.

Elliott Heads is experiencing a populationboom, and these new services willcover Elliott Heads, Coral Cove and InnesPark as well as provide support to theBundaberg area.

Outside the Community Cabinet public forum held at Bundaberg North State High School, QueenslandTeachers' Union organiser Greg Purches leads a combined union protest against the sale ofStateGovernment assets.

Treasurer and Minister forEmployment and Economic DevelopmentAndrew Fraser met with regional mayorsto discuss infrastructure funding issues. Cr David Carter, South Burnett; Cr Ron Dyne, Gym pie; ParliamentarySecretary to the Minister for Employment, Jon Jarratt; Cr Mick Kruger, Fraser Coast; CrJoyJensen, NorthBurnett; and Andrew Fraser.

Two new ambulances, three moreto come

Minister for Emergency Services NeilRoberts has handed over two newMercedes 318 Sprinter ambulances tothe Bundaberg station, with three morevehicles on order for the Wide Bay region.

The new ambulances , valued at$180,000 each , are equipped with thelatest technology , including new Strykerstretchers and stair chairs with increasedweight capability.

Sunflower and mustard powerforAustchilli

Minister for Climate Change andSustainability Kate Jones has presented a$53,000 rebate cheque to Austchilli fromthe State Government's ecoBiz program.

Auschilli will grow sunflower and mustardto power machinery for the production ofchillies and sugar cane.

The company hopes to reduce theirgreenhouse gas emissions by up to350 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalentseach year through this project. Theyestimate that 85 per cent of their dieselusage can be substituted for bio-fuel.

Powerful Lady Elliott island

Minister for Climate Change andSustainability Kate Jones has officiallyopened the Lady Elliott Island Eco Resort'sHybrid Solar Power Station.

The solar power station, consisting of130 square metres of solar panels, batterypacks with 48 cells, inverters and a newgenerator, has cut the resort's annualpower costs by 75 per cent.

Their long-term goal is to run the resortentirely on solar power.

Member for Bundaberg Jack Dempsey with Volunteer Marine Rescue Bundaberg 's Bill Ker (TrainingOfficer), Garry Dick (President) and Graeme Morley (Secretary).

An 0 0 nce mentsTableland Road upgraded

Work on the $ 700,000 upgrade ofTableland Road , south of Baffle Creek,has begun.

The one kilometre upgrade allows forstrengthening of the road surface,bitumen sealing , increased visibility,signage and line-marking , to caterfor increasing traffic volumes onthe highway.

The project is due to be completedby October.

Smart assessment for councils

Bundaberg Regional Council is rolling outa new electronic development assessmentsystem, Smart eDA, developed by theState Government in consultation withthe Local Government Association ofQueensland, councils and industry.

Smart eDA will speed up the applicationprocess and reduce costs for the counciland industry. The Bundaberg Councilis only the second local government inQueensland to adopt the system.

Keeping it aboveboard

A public forum to discuss the newgreen paper on Integrity andAccountability in Queensland washeld in Bundaberg following theCommunity Cabinet meeting.

Attorney-General Cameron Dick,Queensland's Integrity CommissionerDr David Solomon and ProfessorCharles Sampford from the QueenslandUniversity of Technology Law and JusticeResearch Centre led a discussion on howaccountability and transparency in publicadministration can best be achievedand maintained.

The Bundaberg forum was one of nineheld across Queensland between25 August and 15 September. Apartfrom Bundaberg, forums were held inToowoomba, Sunshine Coast, Townsville,Cairns, Mackay, Gold Coast, Rockhamptonand Brisbane.

Premier Anna Bligh also hosted two onlineforums on integrity and accountability inQueensland on 2 and 7 September2009.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Health Paul Lucas (left) and PremierAnna Bligh (centre) presented Certi/icatesofAppreciation to Queensland Health employees Carol Guy, Ian Calladine, Donna Canino, Andrew Smart,Dean Hutchins and Debbie Bowman.

Minister forSustainabilityand Climate ChangeKate Jones was presented with a 'repurposed' workshirt by Dean Hazelwood of Sustainabundy. org

I Chairman of Gin Gin Fruit and Vegetable Growers

Minister for Multicultural Affairs AnnastaciaPalaszczuk opens the Bundaberg Multicultural Festivalorganised by the Bundaberg Sunrise Rotary Club.

Colin Jeacocke; Member for Burnett Rob Messenger;Spokesperson for COD (Citizens Over Desalination)and Manager of Sunrise at 1770 Greg Millar andson Lachlan.

Jan Schuler and Joseph Ataria, residents of YoonmarPlace, 13 low-income self-contained studio unitsopened by Minister for Community Services andHousing Karen Struthers (right).

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Manager of the Port of Bundaberg Jason Pascoe;Transport Minister Rachel Nolan; PremierAnna Bligh;and Ocean Pacific Marina Pty Ltd's Peter Packmanat the presentation of Clean Marina accreditation toBundaberg Port Marina.

Produced by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Communication Services

Telephone : (07) 3227 7111 Freecall (outside Brisbane): 1800 803 788 www.gld.gov.au orwww.thepremier.gld.gov.au

Photos: Rhondda Scoff and Hugh O'Brien

Bundaberg Community Cabinet photo goffery^: n it 0 theprcmiecgld,gav. a u, neo.sroom/photos

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