Past and present entice last-minute Chrismas shoppers in Whitsundays

A tea aptly named Christmas Eve, nostalgic wooden train sets, and second hand treasures at bargain prices – Proserpine’s Main Street has it all for anyone stuck for gift ideas this Christmas.

Cathy Selman from Epicure said blokes especially knew what they wanted this festive season and they weren’t afraid to spend up big on their loved ones.

"People are buying practical, better quality stuff. Something that is going to last.

"Men this year have been great customers. They come in, know exactly what they want and then ask us to keep it here, hidden until closer to Christmas. It's quite funny when we call them to tell them their gift is ready to be picked up, and you know the wife is in the background!" she said.

Epicure stocks a beautiful range of kitchenware from S&P which Ms Selman says is rare for northern shops.

"We are the only store north of Rockhampton that stocks the entire S&P catalogue range and we have some beautiful products in stock," she said.

Epicure is open every day until 6pm but hoping to close up by 5pm on the night before Christmas.

"We’re open by appointment as not everyone can make it in time so just call us," she said.

A little further up the street is Lifeline which has literally been a lifeline for those within a budget this year.

Lifeline’s Jodie Lee said the store stocked beautiful brand new silver plated rings, a lot of bric-a-brac and plenty of last minute festive ideas for Christmas.

"We’ve been selling a lot of costumers for Christmas parties. Plus we’ve got a lot of Santa hats and stuff for Christmas," Ms Lee said, adding, glass platters were proving popular.

Across the road is Cherrie Baby a shop packed full of stuff for babies, toddlers and mums.

"Parents are choosing gifts that will last a long time and gifts that can be used by all aged kids," said Kerry Roulston.

"Our tee pees are popular, same with our train track. They’re durable lasting products which means people don’t have a lot of money for frivolous things this year."

The shop where everything has a story boasts a tea which is designed to relax you – which might be handy if the home is packed full of relatives.

"Christmas eve tea by Mad Hatters range is brilliant," says Amanda Deering from Akiah Elan.

"We also have books on massage techniques and essential oils which make great presents, that will help to get the reflexology going and relax people," she said.

Ekiah Elan is open 9am until 6pm and by appointment.

1647 RBTs conducted in Whitsundays before Christmas

Twelve drink drivers were nabbed during an early Christmas police traffic operation over the weekend.

Police from the State Traffic Task Force and Roadside Drug Testing Unit were involved in Traffic Operation Paddington, which focussed on drink/drug driving, speed, seatbelts and fatigue, for three days last week.

Police covered the Whitsunday and Proserpine area, with Bowen, Proserpine and Mackay Traffic Branch, Mackay Tactical Crime Squad, Whitsunday and Proserpine Police also taking part.

The operation was also run in conjunction with the Christmas road safety campaign.

From 132 roadside drug tests, five offenders were caught while 12 drink drivers were stopped out of 1647 RBTs.

Seven people were found to be driving while unlicensed, 61 speeding tickets were issued and 16 people were caught not wearing a seatbelt.

On Friday 10.40pm a 29-year-old male from Western Australia was intercepted on Shute Harbour Road Cannonvale and BAC of .092.

The male was charged with drink driving and his licence was suspended for 24 hours.

On Saturday, at 7.52am the following morning the same male was intercepted on Shute Harbour road and gave a breath alcohol reading of .114 per cent and charged with drink driving and unlicensed driving. Then at 10.30am the male again drove along Shute Harbour Road. Police from the State Traffic Task Force have impounded the driver’s vehicle and charged him with unlicensed driving.

Whitsunday Airport officially opened

If we build it, they will come.

Whitsunday Mayor Mike Brunker, Member for Whitsunday Jan Jarratt and Acting Premier Andrew Fraser.

This was Acting Premier Andrew Fraser’s message to the community at the official celebration marking the completion of the $7 million airport upgrade.

Flanked by Member for Whitsunday and Tourism Minister Jan Jarratt, Mayor Mike Brunker and a myriad of dignitaries, the former local boy used his speech to celebrate the massive achievements of the community and the airport staff.

"First impressions really count and this new airport with room to grow and allow for future growth will be the well springs of the Whitsundays’ vital tourism industry," Acting Premier Andrew Fraser said.

"This re-development which is on the doorstep of a beautiful region, really puts the region’s best foot forward," he said.

Member for Whitsunday Jan Jarratt said she was really proud to welcome "local boy" Andrew Fraser back into the community he grew up amongst.

"We never lost sight of this vision and it has been worth the fight. There were some doubters but it was never me, Andrew or Mike. I want to thank each and every member of the community for having faith," she said.

"I cannot overstate how important first impressions are and this is fantastic. I have to thank the council and the workers," she said.

Mayor Mike Brunker opened his speech with his gratitude to council, staff and workers at the airport.

"This is the jewel in the crown to our region. The upgrade has battled floods, two cyclones and an earthquake, so it’s a bit delayed but the fact that it is complete is a real credit to the people on the ground," Mr Brunker said.

Fly in fly out options were discussed as was increasing the number of flights in and out of the airport.

"The sky’s the limit now," Cr Brunker said.

"It’s a remarkable achievement and we’re only going to get bigger and better."

Whitsundays gets into the spirit of Christmas

Embrace the true meaning of Christmas this week by buying a gift for a little boy or girl and putting it under the tree in the library.

The Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor’s Community Christmas Tree Toy Appeal is being extended until this Wednesday, December 21 in the hope there will be plenty for the Salvos to collect.

Council’s Mayor Mike Brunker said the appeal provided an opportunity for the community to donate new toys to assist families facing tough times over the Christmas period and will compliment other appeals occurring throughout the region,” he said.

“All toys will be donated back to the Salvation Army close to Christmas and they will distribute the items to families throughout the whole region.”

All gifts are extremely welcome and the community is asked to place a tag on the gift to indicate the age and gender of the recipient of the gift to assist with the distribution. Gifts can be taken to the local library in your community.

“The Whitsunday community has proven itself in the past to be extremely caring and generous, and this is a great way to help others who are doing it tough at what is such a special time of year,” Mayor Brunker said.

Challengers to take on Mayor Mike Brunker

The man who is tipped to be the next most likely contender to run for mayor says rumours he will ask Councillor Jennifer Whitney to stand down from her campaign are simply not true.

Anthony Maine whose background is in corporate marketing, moved from Sydney to the Whitsundays almost two years ago after selling his successful IT company to a major telco.

“Some people may be saying it out of vicious intent … others just get excited and run away with the story, but I haven’t even met Councillor Whitney yet and i honestly, have not yet even made up my mind whether or not I will run,” Mr Maine said.

Mr Maine’s story begins earlier this year after a series of discussions and meetings with Mike Brunker.

“I was seeing more and more that the Whitsunday region was sick, really sick. So I thought with my 35 years of experience in the world of corporate marketing, I would phone the mayor and go and see him, help him develop a plan because as far as I could see, nothing was fitting in,” he said.

“But they were just humouring me.”

Over the next few months, Mr Maine says the conversations around dinner tables at countless functions were constantly drifting towards concern with the current council.

“I knew they were looking for someone to stand … there were several meetings and names were thrown around but because of business responsibilities or the like, many felt they wouldn’t do it justice. Then there was another meeting and they came back to me and said they would like me to consider running for mayor.

“I didn’t put my hand up for the job. This is something I could never orchestrate myself. The community itself really needs a pat on the back for moving forward with a story and a redirection for the whole region,” said.

On the momentum of the story for the whole region, Mr Maine and his entourage held meetings in Bowen, Dingo Beach, Hydeaway Bay and Proserpine with Collinsville in their sights before Christmas.

“Now we met with a very wide field of key people and I am not going to say that they were marching as one against council wanting to pull the walls down, but there is a definite feel that they are not happy,” he said.

“The Whitsundays is not a homogenous unit. It is not just one thing … apart from the name. The social structure of Airlie Beach is completely different to that of Bowen so if we are going to put up a challenge for the mayoral position we have to be mindful of what the community wants and we are doing that by talking to people everywhere,” he said.

Mr Maine says after Christmas he would be announcing his decision.

“Do we really want this challenge and how are we going to pay for it? They are the fundamentals of it.

“I understand it would be a cheeky, gutsy move to spend 20 months in a place, get a feeling for it and think I might stand for mayor.

“But I am not that barefaced and it is the community who deserves the pat on the back for calling for this challenge.”

***

After hearing rumours of a possible candidate asking her to stand down, Councillor Jennifer Whitney reaffirmed her commitment to the community.

“I always knew it wasn’t going to be a one horse race. I had heard that someone might ask me to stand down but my clear intention is that I will not. I have the skills and knowledge to undertake this role. I have been working within the realms of local government since the early 1980s, and I know that I can hit the deck running,” Cr Whitney said.

Moving to the region from Mackay with her husband Shane in 1983, Ms Whitney said her long term history within local community groups had established mutual trust.

“I have been involved with this council since I moved here. I was secretary to the CEO and the Mayor from 1984 for 13 years until I decided to run for council and was successful in 1997.

“I ran for mayor in 2000 but I was unsuccessful, and in 2012 I am hoping the community will see what is in front of them and know that I will do my very best to put the community’s interests first. At the end of the day I am hoping people will see how dysfunctional we have been since amalgamation,” she said.

The woman who prides herself on honesty and integrity said she didn’t believe there were splinter groups within the community – just people who wanted to be able to trust their local council.

“These groups form because people feel they have been let down. They feel council is not listening,” she told the Guardian, adding she would welcome the opportunity to meet with Anthony Maine.

“If the community can’t see the offer in front of them then there is nothing I can do.

“Everyone who knows me realises my passion is for
the whole region and over the next few months I will be meeting with as many people as I can,” she
said.

LNP talks with Whitsunday small business operators

The inspirational life story of one of Proserpine’s oldest family-owned businesses was shared with the Shadow Minister for Tourism, Manufacturing and Small Business Jann Stuckey on Monday afternoon.

Gray’s Timber Trusses and Frames’ co-owner Jeanette Gray treated Ms Stuckey to a pictorial-history tour of her family’s business when she pulled into the near 100-year-old mill as part of her tourism roadshow to promote the LNP’s 20-year-plan to get Queenlsand tourism back on track.

“In the Whitsundays especially, tourism and small business are intertwined. A lot of small business operators are actually tourism operators and as part of our roadshow we are finding out from the community exactly what red tape needs to be cut,” Ms Stuckey said.

Ms Gray said the lure of the mines was making it extremely difficult to find workers, across many industries.

“They had a big mining expo here and yes it was well attended but it’s so frustrating for us small business owners who are left to pick up the pieces,” Ms Gray said.

Ms Stuckey said the Labor government had put all its eggs in one mining basket and there were simply no guarantees that people were going to stay.

“The life of a miner is not for everyone,” she said.

Ms Stuckey met with tourism operators from Airlie Beach and talked about the detrimental fallout of the lagging airport upgrade.

“The last time I came here it looked like a dust bowl. Today it’s still not finished and in the past 12 months there’s hardly been an increase in flights,” she said.

Ms Stuckey said the industry had suffered under the policies of the tired, 20-year-old Labor government.

“The Whitsundays is a key tourism industry and has long been the envy of the rest of Australia. The LNP is committed to getting tourism back on track through a common sense plan that includes increasing overnight visitors' spending in Queensland to $30 billion by 2020, coordinated decision making in government and a special unit to encourage investment and infrastructure development,” she said.

LNP candidate for Whitsunday Jason Costigan said Sucrogen’s acquisition of the Proserpine Sugar Mill would no doubt put a lot of the region’s small business operators’ minds at ease.

“Like many people in the community, I am relieved this issue has been finally resolved, especially with Christmas almost upon us. Santa’s arrival had been threatened by some very dark clouds hovering over Proserpine but now we have certainty....not only for the mill but the town in general.”

Whitsunday MP Jan Jarratt said as horrible as it was for Campbell Newman to stand beside Jann Stuckey at a press conference and publicly disown her, she said she thought she was starting to understand his reasoning.

“The LNP is shamelessly selling Labor’s position as their own by adopting the visitor and expenditure targets already committed to by this Government.”

“Even worse, the LNP’s tourism “policy” uses pictures of Mexico to promote Queensland.”

“I’m not surprised Campbell Newman was outraged by this embarrassing error,” Ms Jarratt said.

Same Sex union bill great for Whitsunday tourism operators

Quoting the Bible in the gay marriage debate is no longer an argument says Greens candidate for Whitsunday Jonathan Dykyj who this week is imploring Christian faithfuls to read on.

"The Bible says marriage should be between a man and a woman. This is true, it does state this. But in the very next paragraph it says that marriage should be forever. If they are going to quote the verses why aren’t they out there advocating as strongly against the 50 per cent of couples now who get divorced," Mr Dykyj said.

Setting aside the extreme views that some community members hold on the same sex union debate, the Greens candidate welcomed Labor’s move to catch up with a motion the greens have been pushing for some time.

"It’s a good first step but the ultimate change in the marriage act cannot be done at the state level," he said.

"And why shouldn’t two consenting adults be able to have the same rights as others? Back in the day you couldn’t marry someone outside religion or race but times have changed … and that is basically because love transcends all barriers and bounds," he said.

Member for Whitsunday Jan Jarratt is sure clever local tourism operators are already working to capitalise on the new opportunity brought about by a same sex union bill passed in parliament last week.

The Guardian caught up with Ms Jarratt at the Whitsunday Coast Airport moments after she landed last Friday.

"This (bill) not only bolsters "brand Queensland" by promoting our state as a friendly and tolerant destination, it delivers a very practical economic boost," she said.

"The Whitsundays is internationally renowned as an unbeatable wedding destination and for the family and friends of same-sex couples it will certainly be much easier to attend a ceremony in Queensland, rather than having to travel interstate or overseas."

Ms Jarratt says research shows the niche market actually represents one of the fastest growing and most profitable tourism segments in the international travel industry.

"This market likes to travel and has the money and flexibility to travel frequently," she said.

LNP candidate for Whitsunday Jason Costigan says he is terribly disappointed with the outcome of the vote.

"Labor’s Jan Jarratt and the tree-huggers who’ve been holding this country to ransom might be jumping for joy but I’m certainly not."

"This vote served two purposes for Labor – firstly, to distract people from the real issues such as cost-of-living pressures and secondly, to score Greens preferences to keep people like Andrew Fraser in the Parliament," Mr Costigan said.

"I maintain that marriage is between a man and a woman, simple as that. Even traditional Labor voters must be thinking...the Labor Party is off its head."

"I wonder what the response would be from various church groups, ministers, etc, in the local community?

"I’m sure they’d love to weigh into this debate."