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24.01.2022 https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

24.01.2022 Farmers in Bundaberg are asking for a fair go by council. Farmers and the community know the councils rates raid decision can be fixed simply by applying a conc...ession to the whole of Category 9 (farmland) under Sections 119-122 of the Local Government Regulation 2012. Bundaberg farmers are reeling after rates increases of up to and more than $30,000 in one single year. That is a lot of money being ripped from the local economy, which is based on agribusiness, and when you consider the compounding effect of following rates notices over coming years the Bundaberg economy and the local businesses our farmers support will undoubtedly feel the negative impacts of this decision. Please show your support and sign the petition at https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-

23.01.2022 Come on Cr Honor - stand up for your community

21.01.2022 Sign the petition here: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

20.01.2022 Remembering Paradise Today marks the 1 year anniversary when in the middle of a drought and with no warning, 100,000 ML of water was released from Paradise Da...m and the announcement was made that the dam would be lowered by 5 meters and reduced to 42% of its full supply level. The last 12 months have been like a John Grisham novel, plenty of twists and turns, shady characters and anti-hero’s, sub-plots and conspiracy, political and court room theatre, international experts and espionage, quirky characters and by-lines all set as a classic clash between a quiet unassuming rural community and a harsh city based government. I’m just praying for the ending - hopefully a good one. I might write a book about it one day but the publisher will probably want to put it in the fiction section given the near unbelievable story line. While the battle still rages to save Paradise it’s a worth while occasion to stop and reflect. The last 12 months for me has been a waste of time and valuable energy. Not because it’s a battle not worth fighting for but a battle we didn’t need to have. I still shake my head about why anyone would spend more money to tear a dam down than it would cost to fix it. And we aren’t talking about some bit of useless infrastructure no one cares about but a dam that is the life blood of a region and helps support 25% of Australia’s fresh produce. I’ll be honest, the battle for Paradise has given me some dark days. I’ve been frustrated, angry, at times lost, disenchanted, defeated, deflated and genuinely pissed off. But the shining light out of the dark clouds that have engulfed Paradise is the great people and organisations I have worked with during its defence. I’ve met some people, actually now life long friends, who without Paradise I might have just nodded at in the street or at school pickup or maybe talked about the weather at a BBQ. And while we may have disagreed at times over how best we deploy the troops on the mission of Save Paradise, we all share one thing in common - the dam must be restored for our community and all our shared future. I’ve also seen politics in action. I’ve been both impressed and at times depressed with our political machines. But it’s been nice to be in the trenches with some of our elected politicians - both political and agricultural. If the only good thing that comes out of the waste of Paradise - other than having it restored - is an understanding that we will achieve more if we work together than apart, the battle will have been worth it. For the last 12 months I’ve been writing letters, reading technical reports, going to shed meetings, talking with industry, herding politicians, doing media with a head for radio and spending long hours for a worthy cause. But today, the whole reason for the fight became clear to me. Now we can argue about engineering reports, economics, politics and the like but today I understood why this battle must be won. It’s about people. Today I met Hamish and Megan McDonald and their three young daughters. They live directly below Paradise Dam. For the past 12 month they have lived in fear of the dam collapsing and also what their business looks like with the loss of Paradise Dam - or more importantly its valuable water. They told their story to the media for the first time and it was one of the bravest things I have ever seen. They have now learnt that the fear mongering around the safety of the dam was a fraud perpetrated for no other reason bar political expediency. But now their greatest fear is how they will survive without enough water to maintain - let alone grow their business. They bought their farm and moved their family to the banks of the Burnett river for one reason - water. They sacrificed and sent their daughters away to boarding school at great expense not because they liked the view. They sacrificed because they saw the value and opportunity in secure, reliable water. Now that sacrifice looks like it might be all for nothing. And then who can sell a farm in the middle of nowhere without enough water? I have met many great people through this debacle and have heard many sad tales of investment and opportunity lost. Although I don’t need much more motivation to save a dam that supports the town and community I love - that battle for me now has a face, a family and a renewed focus. I take my hat off to the McDonalds and all they have endured. But now they aren’t alone. They have a whole community behind them. So tonight I’ll raise a little toast to the McDoanlds and all of those people who have worked so hard to protect our Dam. I won’t mention them by name but they know who they are and no doubt will also be sharing a toast (responsibly) tonight. Because today isn’t the end of a chapter - tomorrow is the start of a new and hopefully brighter one. And while the battle still rages - it won’t be lost. But it won’t be won simply by politics, legal actions, water demand assessments and economics. It will be won by good, hard working and honest people. That is why victory will be so sweet.

20.01.2022 Our farmily farms in Bundaberg region are in serious peril - our own Bundaberg Council is imposing rates rises of up to 235% on our farmland, and push our Bundy... farmers OFF THE LAND. Mayor Jack Dempsey, Deputy Mayor Bill Trevor and their other elected councillors CAN and MUST fix this rates mess now. Please sign and share the petition to tell our council to PROTECT OUR FARMING INDUSTRY, which supports tens of thousands of local jobs and is the backbone of our local economy. https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-? #COVID19 #bundaberg #familyfarm #Rates #jackdempsey #community

19.01.2022 Please sign and share the petition to stop this rates hike on farmland of up to 235%: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

19.01.2022 Please sign and share the petition. Bumper stickers are available now - come into the office to pick some up and spread them around the community. https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

19.01.2022 Mayor Jack Dempsey, Deputy Mayor Bill Trevor and their other elected councillors CAN and MUST fix this rates mess now. Please sign and share the petition to tel...l our council to PROTECT OUR FARMING INDUSTRY, which supports tens of thousands of local jobs and is the backbone of our local economy. https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-? #COVID19 #bundaberg #familyfarm #Rates #jackdempsey #community

18.01.2022 Please sign and share the petition, which also is available at: Any Bundaberg Canegrowers, Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers, Agforce and Canegrowers Isis office Office of Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett Office of Member for Bundaberg David Batt... JA Toft and Co Wilson’s Industrial Sales Tyrepower Totally Workwear One Little Farm Formatt Machinery Sunfam McDonald Murphy Machinery Vanderfield Leading Appliances, Childers BGA Agri Services, Childers G.E.I. Irrigation and Reticulation, Childers https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

18.01.2022 Please sign and share the petition: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

17.01.2022 The National Energy Efficiency Conference begins tomorrow. Stay tuned for the winner of the Best Agricultural Energy Efficiency Project Award, celebrating energy efficient farmers delivering spark savvy projects and proudly sponsored by QFF! Purchase your tickets here: ow.ly/mUA230rlg81.

16.01.2022 Senator Gerard Rennick, who has spoken up for Queensland community loudly and often about the devastating impacts of the State Government’s Reef Regulations on ...our farming industry, will be presenting at the forum on 8 October titled: "Checks and balances around Great Barrier Reef marine science and the 2017 Scientific Consensus Statement". Senator Rennick presented at the recent Senate Inquiry into the Reef Regulations, and his voice will be a valued one at this important community forum. It is to be streamed live from 4.30pm from this Facebook page. All welcome. In the meantime, please take the time to read this post-Senate Inquiry release from Senator Rennick: https://www.gerardrennick.com.au/joint-media-release-regio/

16.01.2022 Here it is! Our first monthly edition - you can read it for free, here: https://issuu.com/theruralleader/docs/mergedpdfxx

13.01.2022 Some more comments from our Stockland petition today in Bundaberg. We are there tomorrow from 10am-1pm - come along and sign the petition. We also have BUMPER S...TICKERS. - Reverse the rates so we get the discount back. 90% of people pay their rates on time. Stop ripping people off in these hard times. And the high water use costs. Normal wages aren't going up to afford these increasing costs. - Fix this mess. Restore our early payment discount. You said no rate rise but removing the discount is JUST THAT. Lying to the people who pay your wages will bring you down ... and well before the next election. - Reverse the increase to farmers. We all need food. - No one can justify rates increases of up to 235 %, not even the laughing Councillor Steve Cooper. Treat all farmers with the respect they deserve. - Once upon a time, the discount was applied to the whole rates not just the general rate, now nothing. - Please explain how rates in Regional QLD can be in some cases double/triple to those in our metro areas? Demand on council infrastructure is %%%% less as there are less people populating the area yet we pay more! It is highway robbery!! - As if we don't already have enough extras to pay for without the proposed 235% rate increase. Buying water is a huge issue we are all facing with the drought in the last several years. An increase like this in our rates would be the end for some farmers and make things very hard for others. Please sign and share the petition: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-

11.01.2022 A great article in today's Courier Mail by Mike O'Connor which starts as follows: "THE Great Barrier Reef is dying, coal is finished as a fuel and no Australian... politician would ever lie under oath. True or false? If we are to believe the state government, sugar cane farmers are evil and are destroying the Reef in their pursuit of greater profits with their use of fertilisers. To counter this, new regulations are going to be introduced. These will have the handy effect of allowing the Palaszczuk government to trumpet its environmental credentials while at the same time pandering to the Greens, the latter being an article of faith held dear by Labor governments. Given this, it was intriguing to hear the head of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Paul Hardisty, concede under questioning before an ongoing Senate inquiry that only three per cent of the Reef, the inshore reef, was affected by farm pesticides and that even that three per cent was at low to negligible risk. This in effect means that 97 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef, which lies 50km to 100km off the coast, is completely unaffected. It is also worth noting that while scientists regularly shriek warnings that the Reef is dying and in so doing damage the tourism industry, no one has bothered to measure coral growth or the lack of it for the past 15 years. Marine scientist Peter Ridd, who questioned the validity of claims made regarding the imminent death of the Reef by his peers, was sacked by James Cook University for his impertinence. James Cook has since spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of university funds pursuing him through the courts." We're counting down, meanwhile, to the Great Debate - not long now. Tune in to this page at 4.30pm on Thursday 8 October for the real facts about the GBR. Posted by Janette Young for Dr Peter Ridd #drpaulhardisty #AIMS #drpeterridd #farmersfeedus #checkthescience #letstalk #GBR #reefregulations #queensland #government

09.01.2022 Please sign and share the petition. https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

09.01.2022 Let's get this petition out as far across Bundaberg LGA as possible -- this affects every citizen: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

09.01.2022 Australian farmers are being pushed off the land by the Queensland Government's Reef Regulations Amendment Act 2019, which is based on unchecked science. We are... inviting everyone to hear first-hand about Great Barrier Reef science with the myths stripped away. Is the iconic and much-loved GBR really dying before our eyes? You are invited to a live-streamed one-off forum on 8 October from 4.30pm (AEST*). The forum will include data and findings from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the pre-eminent GBR research institution based on the GBR, and Great Barrier Reef Marine Geophysicist Dr Peter Ridd, who has researched the GBR for three decades. Dr Ridd co-created the marine science equipment that has been able to provide accurate and insightful readings on sediment and pesticides on the Great Barrier Reef. A presentation not to miss. Set your watch we’re counting down. *Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) is 10 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Click here to check the time in your country or region: https://time.is/AEDT This forum will be recorded live and shared on YouTube and Facebook. Posted by Janette Young for Dr Peter Ridd

08.01.2022 Please sign and share the petition - this is for all Bundaberg people and the future of farming: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

06.01.2022 Please sign and share the petition, and get behind the new weekly paper BundabergTODAY, not the council propaganda machine BundabergNow. https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-

06.01.2022 https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-? Sign and share the petition - put the pressure on Jack Dempsey and our councillors

05.01.2022 Sign and share the petition. Time Jack Dempsey fixed this rates mess: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like-?

05.01.2022 I was lucky to have worked at Bingera Sugar Mill from 1986-1990. Sadly it is closing here are few shots from this century. please add in any descriptions on ea... image & tag people that you know. Cheers PBB #bundaberg #SUGARMILLS #bingeramill #myoffice

03.01.2022 Here's an interesting little snip from Mayor Jack Dempsey's so-called "Mythbuster" handout created: It seems Jack Dempsey and BRC CEO Steve Johnston are not on ...the same page when it comes to the amount being raised by council through the rates hike on farmland Rating Category 9. The farmers consortium fighting the massive rates hikes of up to 235% are saying $5 million because that's we've been told from the horse's mouth. Mr Johnston told Bundaberg Canegrowers in an email on 25 May 2020: The general rate income levied on Rating Category 9 for 2019/2020 was $4,960,000 representing 5.88% of the total levy. See the email attached to this post. Mr Dempsey, in his ratepayer-funded Mythbuster said this week: Agricultural general rates revenue went from about $7.6m to $10m. That's a variance of $2.4m not including the early payment discount. A lot less than $5m. Again, see the snip from the Mayor's mouth attached to this post. Ratepayers must be treated with respect, Mr Dempsey. All of us. Please sign and share the petition: https://www.gopetition.com//dont-treat-bundy-farmers-like- This situation can and MUST be fixed by Mayor Jack Dempsey and his Councillors.