Whitsunday Brahmans score new coach

 The Whitsunday Brahmans have scored a major coup, luring one-time captain and former Foley Shield-winning coach Cameron McPherson back to Proserpine.   McPherson, who guided Townsville to Foley Shield glory in 2010 while also coaching his club side, the Burdekin Roosters, has agreed to head up next year’s Brahmans – the same he played for under local legend Eddie Muller in 2002.

 "It’s a great club with loads of potential. "I’m really excited by the challenge ahead," said McPherson, in an exclusive interview with the Guardian after farewelling the Burdekin club at 
the Roosters’ presentation dinner on Saturday.

 "Prossie’s a great town and they love their rugby league. I really like the town and the way they support the Brahmans. I want to help, I want to improve the standard and build over the season. I’ll start from the bottom and work from there."

 Born and raised at Mareeba on the Atherton Tablelands, McPherson, 35, will be a non-playing coach, similar to his role in Ayr over the past four years – highlighted by Burdekin’s grand final appearance in this year’s Townsville competition. In fact, during his four years at the helm of the senior side, the Roosters were always in contention for the TDRL premiership and with a bit of luck, the Tri-Colours would have jagged the 2011 title against the Murray Hurst-coached Brothers.

 "We never finished worse than third," explained McPherson, who also coached Townsville to last year’s XXXX Cup grand final against Gold Coast.

 Brahmans official Paul Maxwell said McPherson’s signing was a massive boost for the Green Machine in their quest to win a first-ever Mackay premiership, especially following on from a solid campaign under player-coach Adam Wright.


"We’ve tried to get Cameron in the past but it just didn’t happen. Now the planets have lined up and he’s coming back as coach. We couldn’t be happier," said Maxwell, who was largely responsible for contract negotiations with the ex-Brahmans hooker.


 As a player, McPherson was a stand-out in the Cairns competition, helping his hometown of Mareeba to no less than three premierships. At the same time, he featured in three Foley Shield grand finals for Cairns before winning one with Townsville in 2003.


 That same year, McPherson was man-of-the-match for the Roosters in the club’s grand final victory before turning his hand to coaching – his first success coming in 2007 when he was captain-coach of Burdekin’s triumphant reserve grade side.


 "He’s got plenty of experience as a player and coach and has been very successful," Maxwell said. 


 "He knows our club and will fit in extremely well."


 Away from rugby league, McPherson works as sales manager and animal nutritionist for Elders in Bowen, where he services rural customers from Proserpine in the south, north to Giru and west to Mt Coolon.

Sucrogen warns Proserpine it's 'now or never'

 It’s “now or never” for Proserpine’s cane farmers according to Sucrogen CEO Ian Glasson, who says his company will not come back if the vote goes down on October 27.

 “We stayed in this process the first time because it was such a close vote, but a second “no” vote gives us a very clear message we’re not wanted. Our offer expires in October at the end of the (second) vote,” Mr Glasson said.

 Mr Glasson, who arrived in Proserpine on Sunday, said growers who focussed on a potential bidding war were playing a “dangerous game”.

 “It’s a bit like playing Russian roulette. They (the members) pulled an empty chamber because we happened to come back, but we’re not going to do that again. Quite simply a bird in the hand is worth an extra $2.8million in the bush,” he said.

 Mr Glasson has spent much of the past three days talking with growers, mill employees and members of the community, taking questions on topics such as the no-shop clause, asset sale agreement, warranties, and how Sucrogen came up with the magic “$115million” bid.

 Mr Glasson reiterated that $115million was a “fair and reasonable” price for a mill that requires a lot of work.

 “I’m sorry. I can’t put another $5million on the table. We’re business people. There isn’t more money to come. We understand mills. We’ve got to get a return on our investment. Beyond that we don’t make money,” he said, reminding members that after the crush the mill “starts to bleed $3million a month”.

 On the matter of denying access to other bidders, Mr Glasson said there was “absolutely a fair chance”.

 “We got rid of it (the no-shop clause). We stood aside and allowed Proserpine’s board to engage with Cofco. I understand Cofco looked at some 1,300 documents, which is more than us. I haven’t seen any of the Cofco offers but the advice from the independent experts is they still have not put a binding offer on the table.

 “The board are obliged to consider a binding offer. There isn’t one. If there’s a better offer you’re free to take it but the offer here is ours,” he said.

 “It’s very clear that if Cofco want to buy the business they need to make a firm, binding offer like ours,” he said.

 And finally, Mr Glasson said, “I don’t want to be party to something that’s destroying the community”.

 “I genuinely believe there is 75 per cent of people who can see the benefits of this so it would be very disappointing to see the vote go down

 “We want to buy it (the mill). We’re serious. Either say yes, or put us all out of our misery and good luck!”

Tully Sugar talks takeovers

 Tully Sugar’s chairman Dick Camilleri and CEO John King, joined Deputy Chairman John Amies on the ground in Proserpine last week. The three executives conducted further meetings with growers and the local community, citing comparisons with Cofco’s takeover of Tully in many of the conversations that occurred.

 “I think it’s fair to say Tully’s had a bit of experience with takeovers given the fact we’ve just been acquired by Cofco and that process was open and transparent,” Mr King said.

 “There were three bidders and the board and management negotiated with all of them and as a result of that the shareholders ultimately got a better result.

 “Ultimately the growers here will make their decision. We just think an open and transparent process would be in the best interests of all,” he said.

 Tully’s three executives had already left town by the time Sucrogen’s Ian Glasson arrived and an opportunity presented itself for a “round table” scenario at a shed meeting on Monday night.

 While Mr Glasson said publicly that he would be happy for Tully Sugar to attend, Tully’s executives said they would prefer to be contacted direct.

 “We don’t believe it is appropriate for us to attend Sucrogen’s grower meetings without a formal invitation from the company,” Mr King said.

 “We would very much support a joint forum, whereby Tully and Sucrogen present their offers to growers to give Proserpine members full visibility of what each bidder is proposing.

 "A Tully/COFCO representative has left messages on Mr Glasson's mobile and his office phone in Sydney and I have written to him to formally invite Sucrogen to jointly host a forum with us for growers in Proserpine at a mutually convenient time.

 “We look forward to Mr Glasson's response and to continuing to engage Proserpine growers through a joint forum in the very near future,” Mr King said.

 “Tully/COFCO is committed to securing the best offer for Proserpine’s members and supports a full, open, honest and transparent process - a joint forum is a good step in this regard," he said.

Whitsundays' white whale needs a name

 Following the spectacular sighting of a white baby whale in the Whitsundays two weeks ago, a campaign has been launched to give the little humpback a name.

 Tourism Whitsundays together with local charter company Whitsunday Escape is offering a five night Whitsundays sailing holiday to the person who submits the best name for the new baby whale.

 “As we hope to see this new whale each year on it’s annual migration, we felt it really needed a name for everyone to refer to it as,” Tourism Whitsundays Chief Executive Officer Peter O’Reilly said.

 “Whether or not it’s related to the famous ‘Migaloo’ who has migrated up and down the coast over the past few years, this white calf will be equally as popular for whale spotters and should have a name,” he said.

 “Of course the name will need to not be gender specific, as we know so little about this calf including whether it is male or female. We look forward to learning much more about it as it grows up and continues to migrate along the coast each year.”

 The competition opens today at www.facebook.com/WhitsundaysQLD and closes on Wednesday, October 26, with judging to be conducted by Tourism Whitsundays, Whitsunday Escape and the local who first spotted the whale.

 The winner’s holiday includes five nights on board a 38foot sailing catamaran (which comfortably fits five passengers) during the Whitsundays prime whale watching time from July 1 to August 31, 2012.  No formal qualifications are required to charter a vessel, and a sail guide will be provided for up to 2 days to teach the charterer/s the basics of sailing.  The prize is valued at $5,000.

 Manager of Whitsunday Escape Trevor Rees said the white baby whale had been sighted on several occasions over the past couple of months, by charter guests, staff and other visitors.

 “It is expected that the (competition) winners will more than likely see the whale they named when it returns to the Whitsundays (next year),” Mr Rees said.

 “There has been a lot of interest in the new calf and video footage has been shown on news channels all over the world. This is a great opportunity to promote the Whitsundays,” he said.

Photo courtesy Wayne Fewing.

Arrow Energy talks coal seam gas in Proserpine

 More than 100 people turned out to Arrow Energy’s Coal Seam Gas update at the entertainment centre on Monday.

 After his near one-hour presentation on who Arrow Energy is and what they want in the region, the company’s Vice President of Explorations Tony Knight and his team of experts answered questions from the crowd.

 "Arrow Energy has 237 exploration wells in Queensland at the moment, only two of them are in this region. We only plan on sinking the same amount again in 2012," he clarified.

 How the landowners will be compensated, what will happen with the water and what are the risks associated with the practice were just some of the 30 or so questions fired at the presenters during the session.

 Greens candidate for Whitsunday Jonathan Dykyj asked whether there was any data into the cumulative effect of all the companies searching for the same resource to which Mr Knight answered he wasn’t sure but it was up to governments, not his company.

 Mr Dykyj also asked what the ratio was between compensation paid to landowners and how much money each well would generate to which Mr Knight said it was impossible to answer.

 "How much money does a software company make?" he said.

 Bloomsbury landowner Trevor Costigan put the meeting into perspective when he asked Mr Knight what his gut feeling was.

 "Are we talking about this and it's never really going to happen? Are we getting all worried for nothing," he said.

Whitsundays briefed on cyclone season ahead

 Whitsunday Regional Council’s CEO John Finlay was one of a number of attendees at Friday’s Queensland Tropical Cyclone Consultative Committee (QTCCC) workshop in Airlie Beach. Mr Finlay and other representatives from local government and disaster management agencies were able to hear firsthand from a panel of experts, including Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) and the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), who all gave advice on preparing for the season ahead. 

 “It’s absolutely tremendous to have all the different departments and agencies in one room advising and telling us of their roles, that from a council perspective, we include in our disaster management plans,” Mr Finlay said.

 “Ultimately it’s about having all of the information so that in the event of a disaster we are 100 per cent prepared,” he said.

 Mr Finlay said the overall message was to not be complacent.

 “Adhere to all the warnings – the preparations with batteries and food etc – those things are so important,” he said.

 Mr Finlay also said the forthcoming cyclone shelters would be a “plus” for the region.

 “It’s really positive to have those types of facilities constructed here and in terms of evacuation centres we are lucky we’ve got a lot of buildings in the region that can be quickly converted (into evacuation centres), so we’re well catered for in the event of a disaster.”

 Regional Director for BOM Jim Davidson gave a presentation on the outlook for the forthcoming season, saying the weather pattern was “trending” towards a La Nina.

 “The jury is still out. The experts are still undecided as to what’s going to happen. It may not become one, but more than likely will,” Mr Davidson said.

 Though a La Nina generally means above average rainfall and the possibility of increased cyclone activity for our tropical coast, Mr Davidson said this did not mean a repeat of last year’s extreme weather events was necessarily correct.

 “No two La Nina’s are the same and we’re a far cry from where we were at this time last year, but we still need to keep our guard up,” he said.

 “Even in a normal wet season, we need to be prepared.”

Proud moment for Quota of Whitsunday at Kuffs launch

 An idea that started from a conversation in a bathroom in the Orient some 18 months ago came to fruition on the Cannonvale foreshore on Saturday afternoon with the official forming of a vivacious new youth club for the Whitsundays.

 Kuffs, which stands for Kids United for Friendship and Service, and comes under the Quota Whitsundays’ umbrella, is Kerrie McCallum-Coles’ baby and on Saturday afternoon she was glowing with delight for her newly formed group.

 "This turnout out today and the number of kids that we have now is well above my expectations and exceeds anything I dreamed of," she said.

 "I have fallen off the mountain a few times in the past 18 months but I got back into it and here we are today, with 15 members, which exceeds all of my expectations."

 Quota Club International President Chris Tracey-Patte and several more dignataries were all on hand to witness the momentous occasion, which has attracted the attention of quota clubs worldwide. In a speech in front of the gathering crowd, Ms Tracey-Patte congratulated Ms McCallum-Coles on her new ideas and enthusiasm and welcomed all the new members to the fold.

 "I look forward to hearing about your successes and also to seeing you at our world conferences in the future," Ms Tracey-Patte said.

 Quota Whitsunday member Margaret Roberts made a delicious cake to mark the occasion, which was officially cut after the ceremony.