Friday, 8 April 2011

Advance Cairns is pleased to announce that Mr. Stewart Christie has accepted the role of CEO.

Mr. Christie has a background in Queensland Regional Development through his leadership of the Arup Program and Project Management consultancy business in Cairns.

Mr. Christie’s extensive knowledge of the key economic, social and environmental drivers across northern Queensland and northern Australia and his commitment to developing a diverse and resilient regional economy makes him an invaluable resource for Advance Cairns and the region.

Advance Cairns Chair Russell Beer said Mr. Christie was an outstanding candidate with a commitment to sustainable and diverse economic development.

“Advance Cairns and Tropical North Queensland will benefit enormously from Stewart’s abilities, focus and commitment to Cairns and the greater region,” Mr. Beer said.

The CEO’s key tasks will include:

• Assessing  the resilience of our transport and freight network
• Reviewing Tropical North Queensland’s infrastructure needs
• Improving the viability  and resilience of our core regional industries
• Attracting new industries to diversify the economy
• Identifying the opportunities for our region within a  low –carbon economy
• Championing Tropical North Queensland as the home of Tropical Expertise

Mr. Christie said, “While our region is experience pain at the moment, the building blocks are in place to turn our economy around. Major initiatives are already underway including the Commonwealth Government’s Regional Development Australia Road Map and the Advance Cairns led Tropical North Queensland Regional Economic Plan. These initiatives will influence the long term strategic direction of the region. Advance Cairns plays a vital part in this process, through the provision of leadership, expertise, relationship-building and advocacy.”

“It is increasingly important for Tropical North Queensland to present a united and solution-orientated front to State and Federal politicians. Advance Cairns brings together the key stakeholders of our region and is an excellent platform to facilitate consensus, collaboration and cooperation and I am looking forward to working with all the constituent organisations to create a bright future for the region.”

Mr Christie will commence his role in early June, taking over from Acting CEO, Ms. Margaret Darveniza.

Mr. Beer thanked Ms. Darveniza and the Advance Cairns team for keeping up the momentum during the transition period.

“Stewart’s appointment adds a new skill set to the already highly accomplished Advance Cairns team. Margaret, who has done an outstanding job as Acting CEO, will become Stewart’s Deputy. Our now formidable team is, in my view, the equal of any regional economic development team throughout Australia,” Mr Beer said.

Study Cairns is a collaborative marketing cluster and the peak international education and training industry body representing organisations, institutions and businesses in Cairns that are leaders in their field.

Linking with the Cairns Regional Council’s vision to establish Cairns as a “Learning City”, Study Cairns will again be attending the ANZA International Conference on the Gold Coast from 12th to 15th April 2011.

By hosting an ANZA 2011 famil, Cairns will showcase its impressive education, training and tourism industry to 16 education/travel agents from 10 countries. This in turn will increase export dollars into the region in the future.

With the ANZA Workshop being held in Queensland for the first time, it is very important for Study Cairns to be present and promote the far-north region, to establish firmer relationships with agents at the workshop, and to leverage upon our agent FAMIL tour to visit institutions and iconic tourist attractions in Cairns.

Following the widespread negative media coverage Queensland has received internationally after our floods and Cyclone Yasi, it is more important than ever to reassure agents that “Queensland is open for business as usual” so they can in turn reassure their home market (students) that Australia, and particularly Queensland, are once again safe to choose as a preferred study destination.

It is also important to consider the overlap between tourism and international education and training. 85% of international students travel while studying, and 72% of trips are 1-3 days. 62% of students travel in groups, with their friends. 70% of international students anticipate at least two or more friends plus two or more family members will visit them while they are studying.

International Education and Training is within the top 4 industries in Cairns, currently contributing in excess of 100 million dollars to the local economy and is an industry that can reduce the risk associated with over reliance on a turbulent tourism industry.

Research suggests that by 2015, international student visitor enrolments in the region have the potential to increase to over 34,000 a year and that the region’s international education earnings could rise from $100m to approximately $150m annually.

It is crucial that marketing and promotional activities are funded to help make International Education and Training one of the region’s significant foreign exchange earners.

We are excited to continue to build on the future of the international education and training sector in Cairns and look forward to support of this rapidly developing industry.

Susan Rees

Chair

Study Cairns

Cyclone-affected not-for-profit organisations have until Thursday (APRIL 7) to apply for help under a Queensland Reconstruction Authority “Join Forces’’ program which matches generous businesses with organisations in need.

Mayor Bill Shannon today urged organisations to register on the Join Forces website if they needed help with their Cyclone Yasi recovery.

The registration deadline is the close of business on Thursday April 7.

The Join Forces program is for organisations and groups across Queensland which have been affected by natural disasters.

The website, at www.qldreconstruction.org.au, states that Queensland’s clubs and organisations are the backbone of our communities. Join Forces organisers have put the call out for businesses and industries to help clubs in need by committing goods, services and expertise pro bono, and many generous businesses have answered that call.

Corporate donors will be matched up with community organisations.

Community members can register their sporting clubs, community groups or other not-for-profit organisations by going to www.qldreconstruction.org.au and describing how the club or group was affected by Cyclone Yasi, why the group is important to the community and what support is needed to get the group up and running again, as normal.

More than 50 students from Papua New Guinea are half way through their semester of study in automotive, engineering and construction at TAFE campuses in Cairns and Townsville.

The students, who arrived in January, are the first to participate in the Technical Vocational Education Trade (TVET) skills scholarship program, which is expected to train more than 2,000 PNG nationals over a five-year period.

TNQT Institute Director Joann Pyne said the program would give students the tools to make a difference in their own lives and to make an impact on the future of their communities in PNG.

“Not only are we extremely proud to be a part of this amazing initiative and look forward to contributing to the development of a highly skilled technical workforce in PNG, but we are also pleased to be directly contributing more than a million dollars into the Cairns economy during the first six months ofthe program, “ Ms Pyne said.

“During each semester of the program, the students will spend their time in either Cairns or Townsville learning valuable technical and life skills they will benefit from for years to come.”

The group of 30 Certificate II in Civil Construction and Carpentry students visited the MATRIX construction site of the new trades facility on the Cairns campus to see first hand worksite procedures put into practice.

TNQT continues to develop and strengthen industry partnerships to ensure its students receive the most practical yet state-of-the-art training available.

The civil engineering students will train in a simulated work environment on the types of machines and equipment they will be called upon to operate once they take up their careers full time.

During their time at TNQT the students will regularly visit work sites as part of an overall strategy to gain knowledge and become familiar with the requirements of the civil construction industry.

Technical trades teacher Glen Kelb said the site visits, although not included in the course assessment, were beneficial in creating industry relationships while exposing students to functioning construction sites.

“This is the first time that these students have entered a construction site.  After being in the classroom for a few weeks now, this is a fantastic opportunity for them to witness theory being put into practice,” said Mr Kelb.

“Site visits like this are imperative in giving our students the best education

possible which wouldn’t be possible without ongoing support from our local industry.”

Dawsons Engineering generously allowed the PNG students to observe civil engineering work being completed on-site and the students also spent a week in Babinda working on machinery at a local Accreditation and Training Services facility.

Just in case you haven’t heard…

Cook Shire Council and the Cooktown Chamber of Commerce and Tourism are excited to present a short film “YouTube” competition for residents of Cook Shire.

Entrants are invited to present a short film in one of the following categories:

• Video camera
• Mobile phone
• Animation/slowmation (rapid slideshow)

Films must be based around the theme Adventurous by Nature and be no more than 3 minutes long.

Some great prizes are up for grabs and will be awarded to the adult and junior (17 years and under) winners of each category.

Entries are open from 14^th March and close 29^th April.

To enter:

Create and edit your film then upload to your own YouTube account

Email us with the link to your film online and we’ll add it to our YouTube page www.youtube.com/user/cooktownandcapeyork.

See our poster here.

For full terms and conditions, more information or assistance creating a YouTube account please contact Council’s Tourism Coordinator David Barker on 4069 5444 or email dbarker@cook.qld.gov.au.

USM EVENTS in conjunction with Events Queensland, Tourism Queensland, Cairns Airport and Cairns Regional Council are thrilled to launch the Cairns Airport Adventure Festival on Sunday May 29th, 2011.

The 10 day Adventure Festival has an explosive start with 3 exciting events set for day 1, the Coral Coast triathlon celebrating it’s 30th year, the RRR Mountain Bike Challenge and the inaugural Hekili Great Barrier Reef Ocean Challenge.

The pinnacle festival event is the Cairns Airport Challenge Cairns iron-distance triathlon set for Sunday June 5th.

With over 1,400 international, national and local athletes signed up, the Challenge Cairns race is set to showcase Cairns and Port Douglas to the world.

For more information on the Cairns Airport Adventure Festival and to enter any of the exciting events, logo onto www.usmevents.com.au.

Mer Island – Tagai State College

Hansen Yuncken has recently set up site to commence works for the Tagai State Collage Campus Replacement School on MER Island.

The college replaces the current facility at a cost of $30m.

The new facility will enable Senior Students to continue their education on MER Island, and enhance the learning environment for all students.

All materials are to be barged from Cairns and surrounding areas, from the road base and aggregates to the prefabricated buildings.

It is expected this logistically challenging project is to be delivered in a surprisingly short time frame of seven months.

Project commencement and site set up are currently underway, shipping food, furniture etc for staff members and soon to start shipping project materials to ensure Hansen Yuncken achieve the short time frame given for this project.

Let’s hope we don’t get anymore Queensland disasters anytime soon.

By the time project completion rolls around the staff allocated to this project will be sick of travel: to get to the island staff  are required to catch two small sized planes.

On top of this, site staff will have to fly to Horn Island for supplies

James Cook University – School Of Dentistry

The $20m James Cook University School of Dentistry facility in Cairns, North Queensland, was completed by Hansen Yuncken Cairns office in October last year.

Featuring world-class dental simulator and audio visual equipment, the dental school has everything required to prepare graduates with expertise in issues of special concern in northern Australia and the tropics including rural, remote and Indigenous health.

Awarded a High Commendation in 2010 in the ‘Project of the Year’ category in the Group Engineering Awards and is also entered in the Architects Association and Master Builders Association awards for this year.

$5m Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre, Cairns

Another project currently underway in Cairns is the Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre for Cairns Regional Council.

The $5m structure includes a multipurpose visitor centre with a café, and another building with offices for the Tanks Art Centre who facilitate numerous art, music and cultural events locally.

Designed by Charles Wright Architects the building features mirror finish stainless steel external cladding and glass panels infused with artwork based on a montage of historical images of the region.

Due for completion in June 2011, the project is expected to be another contender for several awards.

The newly appointed Cairns Regional Manager

Hansen Yuncken has appointed a Regional Manager for the Cairns Office.

Greg Baumann and his family recently made the move from Adelaide to Cairns to take up the new position as Regional Manager for Cairns, continuing Greg’s long term employment with Hansen Yuncken.

The Baumann family move has been eventful to say the least, with major transportation delays with belongings and cars, Category 5 tropical cyclone Yasi, monsoonal rains, 100% humidity and flooding, it is safe to say that Greg is quickly getting used to the FNQ tropical environment.

Greg has settled nicely into his role as Regional Manager, with Tagai State College – Mer Island project kicking off and more tenders for island and hospital projects, he is being kept busy.

The Cairns office would like to extend an official and warm welcome to the Baumann’s to Far North Queensland and it goes without saying that we all look forward to working with him in the future

$80m Rockhampton Hospital redevelopment

Hansen Yuncken has been recently appointed Managing Contractors for the $80m Stage 2 Rockhampton Hospital Redevelopment.

This project will be a great kick start to our newly formed Brisbane office.

Construction of the new seven story health facility is forecast to commence before end of June 2011 and includes the provision of a new regional cancer centre with associated Linear Accelerator bunkers.

New ward areas will also be provided

Like most small and medium size business owners in the region, the last few years have been challenging.

Our growth rate became sluggish and our profits started to erode.

We discussed this with our accountants and decided to take an aggressive approach by reviewing our offer.

We have watched the closure of other long term businesses in Cairns in a variety of industries, and the problem we identified was a common failure by proprietors to reinvest in their offer.

We then realised to be the market leader in Cairns you need to look at what the consumer is looking for, not what is currently on offer.

Amcal Day and Night Pharmacy was the original Day and Night chemist in FNQ, our offer was based on convenience and location.

By joining the Good Price Pharmacy Warehouse Group our retail footprint has doubled and we can now compete on product depth and price.

We have had a great response to our new branding and our new site, we’d like to encourage other SME’s to take the leap and invest in improving their offer in the Region.

Interest rates are reasonable and local contractors are easy to engage with short waiting times.

The small business sector in FNQ is a large section of our economy and we’d encourage other owners to take advantage of the same opportunity.

Not only will it help stimulate job creation but it will help place all of us in a stronger position with spare capacity to really fire when strong demand returns.

Trent and Georgina Twomey

Pharmacist Proprietors

2011 is shaping up to be very busy with the Centre ready to host 22 Conventions along with an array of other business including banquets, seminars, concerts and of course the Cairns Taipans.

In fact, during April, we will welcome over 1,500 delegates for three major conventions along with great local events including the Taipans, JCU Graduation and Skill360 Awards Night.

To ensure we cope with the upcoming workload, the Centre recently welcomed 44 new staff to the team.

The new team members have completed their induction training and are ready to be of service to our important clients and delegates.

Overall, the 22 conventions taking place during 2011 will inject over $60 into our economy and bring over 11,500 delegates to our region.