In today's episode we learn about two important roles within Council, more on the Cochrane Artificial Reef and the first song from Art as an Act of Optimism project funded by the Regional Arts Development Fund, featuring local artist Peter Knight.
Local news highlights include Council working to become the state's Queensland Small Business Friendly Council, a $12 million infrastructure program underway at Bundaberg State High School, and Dorrie Day highlights current and future job and training opportunities for First Nations peoples.
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Podcast transcript
Dana Maggacis 0:07
Hello and welcome to the weekly Bundaberg Now podcast.
I’m Dana Maggacis from Bundaberg Regional Council, and today we have another interesting program filled with news and information from across the Bundaberg Region.
Soon we’ll hear about two important roles within Council, more on the Cochrane Artificial Reef history, and listen to the first song featured from Art as an Act of Optimism funded by Regional Arts Development Fund.
But first, here is Trish Mears with the news headlines…
Trish Mears 0:40
Making news this week. Bundaberg Regional Council is working on becoming the state's first Queensland Small Business Friendly Council following a presentation this week from the Queensland Small Business Commissioner. A $12 million dollar infrastructure programme is underway at Bundaberg State High School including a new three level Learning Centre housing state of the art library, classrooms, research and discovery spaces. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples will learn about current and future job and training opportunities at Dorrie Day today, organised by Port Curtis Coral Coast Limited. Back to you, Dana.
Dana Maggacis 1:16
Thanks Trish. Up first today I’m joined by Selina Hill and we’re going to chat about her important role within Council. Selina, thanks for joingin me. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what your role is?
Selina Hill 1:28
Yeah. Hi, Dana, and everybody out there listening. So my name is Selena Hill. I'm a proud Wakka Wakka from Burnett River, Gayndah, and I've been appointed as the cultural development officer within Bundaberg Regional Council since November last year. So first of all, I'd like to acknowledge the beautiful country and the regional landscape which belongs in the hearts of the traditional custodians who are the Taribelang Peoples, the Gooreng Gooreng Peoples, the Gurang Peoples, and Bailai Peoples.
Dana Maggacis 2:05
So it sounds like your role has many different facets. Can you tell me a little bit more about the specifics of some of those things?
Selina Hill 2:13
So part of my role is what we're calling the First Nation Strategy, and First Nations Strategy will be looking at how we can improve engaging with our indigenous communities from Bundaberg, Childers and Gin Gin. And then seeing what we can do together to build upon cultural inclusion. So whether that's through the arts and cultural programmes, or whether that's just in having more of our mob engaged within Council.
Dana Maggacis 2:53
So what exactly does your role as Cultural Development Officer involve?
Selina Hill 2:57
So internally my role basically is like shining a cultural torch within each and every department within Council. And of course, with Council being the largest employer within our region, that's a big job. So it's just doing what I can as I can. But I work closely with the PCCC PBC Body. Because we do have what's called an Indigenous Land Use Agreement with the traditional custodians upon this regional landscape.
Dana Maggacis 3:36
You were recently involved with heading up an exciting project with Council. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Selina Hill 3:43
So as part of engaging with the First Nations Peoples and communities from Council, you know, we got to start at the top. So that means looking at our Elders and our community Elders so from our cultural ways we always love coming together for a yarn. So put a shout out for yarning circle with the community Elders, because we always pay our respects to our old people first and foremost, regardless what country we're on. So I put it out there to the Uncles and Aunties and got a good response back. So if there's any more Uncles or Aunties out there, who'd love to become involved for anything future or just be kept updated call Council and get them to take your name and your number, and we'll start sending new SMS notifications. So Dana, the yarning circle is just simple. Fire, some great tucker, which was provided by our very own Trevor from the Moncrieff and just sets the scene for having a good yarn. So all we did was introduce ourselves. There's no agenda. There's no expectations and it's just a matter of so that our Elders in community can get to know who's who in Council and who does what in Council. And then vice versa. So that some of us as Council staff can start familiarising ourselves with who's our Elders out there in community. That's it.
Dana Maggacis 5:28
Sounds like a really great project. I'm sure you have a few more exciting things up your sleeve.
Selina Hill 5:34
Yeah, sure, Dana. So there's lots to come. As we all know, with COVID, everything's gone out the window. So it's a matter of plan – do – review. So I'd just like to mention that NAIDOC Week this year, we've got the best theme ever which is ‘Always Was – Always Will Be'. So that has been rescheduled at the national level to the 8th of November to the 15th of November. So there will be a lot of exciting things coming out of that, once again, pending COVID. So stay tuned, everybody. There's a lot going on.
Dana Maggacis 6:15
Exciting stuff on the horizon. Well, thank you so much for joining me today Selina. We're now going to hear again from Paul Donaldson and Alan and Brenda Cochrane. For more history about the Cochrane Artificial Reef.
Paul Donaldson 6:27
How do you think it impacted the community with tourism and things like that?
Alan Cochrane 6:34
All of the impacts were totally positive. There was no pollution caused by fishermen or divers. They valued what we had put down there and a wonderful community that did that work.
Brenda Cochrane 6:49
A lot of overseas backpackers came here.
Hundreds and hundreds of overseas backpackers etc. They did their dive courses here because Bundaberg was a best and the most inexpensive place to do a dive course. So there weren't any negatives there. Local fishermen absolutely adored fishing there. They went out in the wintertime for snapper and they got snapper. If you dive along the rubble trails, you're sure to be seeing those things. The divers love the soft and the hard corals that are growing on the a-frame of Ceratodus, the dredge we sank and you can view those and there's a cleaning station set up where the wrasse and all the big fish come in and these cleaner wrasse go into the gropers mouths and clean their teeth, etc. Local fishermen go out there by their thousands every year but we have never had, I say this now, we have never had any pressure or disturbance between the divers, scuba divers and the fishermen.
I feel that they're out there doing their own thing and don't impact on one another, which is amazing really. It is a fair sized area.
Alan Cochrane 8:11
Yes and we've got a lot of very greenie type people on board who thought deploying items out there is desecrating. And we've taken photos and shown these people since and they've been quite happy with what everyone's done.
Brenda Cochrane 8:25
Well, we were so restricted, it wasn't like we could just take anything out there. Everything had been inspected, everything had to be cleaned, inspected before we went. Had to meet standards, we had to give notice before, we had to give notice afterwards we had to have surveyors to help record all that was happening. Well, it was tightly, tightly monitored.
Alan Cochrane 8:46
It also brought into being dive monitoring. So we had to do sand measurements for instance. I did them on Ceratodus and hammering a peg in, stringing a line, and then doing the measurements to the sand to the point where there was no movement of sand, so we were allowed to stop it.
Brenda Cochrane 9:08
But the better we got at it, that the higher the bar was raised. Then the department wanted us to do all this fancy monitoring, grid monitoring, where we had a camera with frame on it with the location. So with the help of Roger Cowell, who was an absolute wizard, and he was Alan's right hand man, and took over when we left, but he was with a wizard on technical stuff. And so he he organised with Eddie Debrean, how this monitoring was going to take place and everything every item was sort of sectioned, and then we'd have to have the section number on a bar on the camera. And all this monitoring had to take place which the better we got into the harder they made it. It was unbelievable.
Alan Cochrane 9:57
But they appreciated it because they didn't get any sort of scientific knowledge of anything up that way except through the Cochrane Artificial Reef Committee.
Dana Maggacis 10:10
Thanks Paul, Alan and Brenda. Now, here's Sue-Anne Chapman to catch us up on changes happening in the tourism and events space here at Council.
Sue-Anne Chapman 10:19
Thanks, Dana. Hello, it's Sue-Anne Chapman here, Tourism and Events Manager with Bundaberg Regional Council, and actually only the manager for a few more days, I have resigned my position and taken up a new role with Scenic Rim Regional Council. And the announcement is bittersweet as I've absolutely loved this region and the role and my colleagues that I've worked with here at Bundaberg Regional Council. But I do have very exciting news. Lisa Douglas is in the room with me and she will be taking on the position. And I just want to spend the next couple of minutes introducing Lisa and having a little chat. Welcome and congratulations
Lisa Douglas 11:00
Thank you. Sue-Anne, I'm really happy to be here. I'm really excited about the new role.
Sue-Anne Chapman 11:04
Fantastic. So let's tell the listeners a little bit about who is Lisa Douglas.
Lisa Douglas 11:09
Who am I? Well, I have been working for Council for two and a half years now and I have loved every minute of it. I have a background in management in sales and marketing, community and events from the Gold Coast. And I just, I can't say I was really happy about you resigning, but at the same time, I've missed you so much. I was really grateful for the opportunity to step back into this role. And, and showcase Bundaberg and provide, you know, opportunities I guess, to show our beautiful region to the world.
Sue-Anne Chapman 11:47
Fantastic. So what is there anything specific that excites you about the role or is it the broad brush of the whole portfolio?
Lisa Douglas 11:56
Definitely the whole portfolio, all the wonderful events that you have. I'm loving the drive-in, thinking out of the box. The drive-in movies. That was a fantastic idea. Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting into the role as I officially start next week on the Monday the 10th of August. And what we have up and coming I just can't wait to get my teeth stuck into at all and be out there and meeting everybody.
Sue-Anne Chapman 12:22
Wonderful. Also next year, you'll be working with Heidi who we've profiled previously on the podcast with the Taste Bundaberg Festival. We also have just recently had Council endorse our application for ECO accreditation. So that will be a really fantastic programme to for you to work through to get our ECO Destination accreditation. Well Lisa, I think you have a rather full plate but it is one of the most exciting portfolios in Council with also the Multiplex business events, Hinkler Hall of Aviation and Fairymead House, our museums, and of course tourism and events. So congratulations.
Lisa Douglas 13:06
Thank you Sue-Anne.
Dana Maggacis 13:09
Thanks ladies. Sue-Anne I’ll miss having you on the podcast, but we’re excited to see what Lisa is going to bring to the tourism and events space for our region!
Arts Bundaberg Advertisement 13:17
The Moncreiff Entertainment Centre, Bundaberg Regional Galleries and Bundaberg Regional Libraries – and together we're Arts Bundaberg. We love the arts just as much as you do. And whether you're a book lover, and arts lover, or a theatre lover, the arts and cultural services of the Bundaberg Regional Council are connecting locals all in one place. To keep up to date with the things you love, jump online to artsbundaberg.com.au.
Dana Maggacis 13:48
And to finish off today, we’ve got a great tune. The arts and cultural services team have been working with local artists through the Regional Arts Development Fund to showcase their original work right here on the Bundaberg Now Podcast. A total of 11 artists will be featured throughout the upcoming weeks. This week we'll start off by hearing from Peter Knight.
Peter Knight 14:12
Hi, everyone. My name is Peter Knight and I'm this week's featured artist for Bundaberg Now. The song you're about to hear is called ‘These Days'. It's a positive song. The song is about freedom, the open road and the enjoyment of the journey, not just the destination. I hope you enjoy ‘These Days'.
Tell me something that I don't know. Take me someplace I ain't been. Ditch the doubt for the open road . Laughing always where you been. I don't care when we get there. We could get our share these days. Put your bag in my old car. Let her blast us out of here. Rolling wheels and endless tar. We could jog for a thousand years. I don't care when we get there. Let's get our share these days. Tell me something that I don't know. Take me some place I aint been. Ditch the doubt for the open road. Loving always where you've been. Okay. When we get there we could get our share these days. I don't care if we get there we could get our share these days. These days. These days.
Robert McLellan 17:38
Art as an Act of Optimism – the podcast series brought to you by the Regional Arts Development Fund, a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. Keep listening to the Bundaberg Now podcasts to discover more talented artists within our region. To keep up to date with all things arts, jump online to artsbundaberg.com.
Dana Maggacis 18:03
That’s all for today, we hope you enjoyed the programme. Join us next week for more news and stories from across the Bundaberg Region.
Bye for now!
