Page 8 - Peak Downs News Today

Premium Content Subscriber only With the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine under way, economies around the world are beginning to rebuild and recover. Here are 10 projects set to kickstart the Mackay Whitsunday economy again, in no particular order: The Mackay Waterfront Priority Development Area was declared in 2018 to kick start a visionary project to transform the city and unlock the true value of the Bluewater edge. It is hoped the redevelopment of the city’s waterfront areas will set th...

BHP’s industrial relations guru exits Save Share The architect of BHP’s controversial industrial relations reforms has departed the company amid attempts to revive a national enterprise agreement for the “Operations Services” division and as BHP prepares to bargain a new workplace deal for its struggling Queensland coal mines. Mark Swinnerton was a key lieutenant of BHP boss Mike Henry until his exit earlier this month.   BHP vice-president Mark Swinnerton was the archite...

How the boom bypassed iron ore’s poor cousin in Queensland The Queensland coal towns that helped Scott Morrison to election victory in 2019 are missing out on the global steel boom – and rightly or wrongly, many blame BHP. Times are tough in the Queensland coal fields.  Glenn Hunt Save Share The mining industry is partying once more on a wave of stimulus spending, record commodity prices and talk of a new “supercycle”, but someone forgot to invite north Queensland. In the...

Premium Content Subscriber only A major cash splash on an iconic project is a key outcome of the Federal Governments 2021 Budget for Rockhampton residents. An extra $7.5m has been earmarked for Rookwood Weir as part of a $98m injection over three years under the National Water Grid Fund, formerly known as the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund. This brings total project funding to $183.6m for the Weir. Rockhampton residents will benefit from a pre-Budget announcement of $400m fo...

A volunteer road safety group is demanding funding in the federal budget to address a “chronic” issue it believes is a major contributor to road crash trauma in Central Queensland. Road Accident Action Group life member Graeme Ransley said the lack of overtaking lanes on the Peak Downs Highway west of Nebo was a major concern for road users. “Everyone feels with the amount of royalties that does come out of the Bowen Basin, there’s not enough focus on road safety issues, p...

Premium Content Subscriber only Cash for the Peak Downs and Bruce highways, a funding injection to build Urannah Dam and money towards the Pioneer Valley Mountain Bike Trails have topped our pollies federal budget wishlists. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will deliver the federal governments financial blueprint to parliament next Tuesday May 11. Here are the projects Dawson MP George Christensen and Capricornia MP Michelle Landry want to see included for their respective regions in the budget. Ge...

Premium Content Subscriber only UPDATE 7PM THURS: A driver who lost their arm in a horror head-on crash on the Peak Downs Highway remains in a critical condition at Mackay Base Hospital. The collision between a car and a semi-trailer happened near Coppabella about 8am Tuesday. UPDATE 3PM: The Peak Downs Highway has reopened at Coppabella after a driver lost their arm in a horror head-on crash about 8am Tuesday. UPDATE 11.20AM: A driver who had to be cut from the wreckage of a crumpled ute duri...

UPDATE 10AM: Power has returned to Central Queensland homes and businesses following a region wide outage on Tuesday morning. Ergon Energy has removed its power outage alert covering parts of the Central Highlands, although the cause of the outage remains uncertain. INITIAL 9.21AM: Nearly 10,000 Ergon Energy customers are without power across Central Queensland communities due to an outage. Ergon Energy’s outage finder shows 9020 customers in the Emerald area lost power just before 8.30am ...

When the varied financial position of Central Queensland Local Government was put under the microscope of the Auditor-General, Rockhampton and Central Highlands councils were revealed as the only financially stable entities. The analysis by Auditor-General Brendan Worrell found one-third of Queensland councils were at “high risk” of not being financially sustainable and 70 per cent spent more than they earned in 2020. The report ranked councils financial sustainability measures and risk. Gl...

Motorists travelling on the Peak Downs Highway can now take in spectacular views across the Pioneer Valley from the new rest area on Eton Range crossing. Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the Eton Range realignment project had improved road safety on the Peak Downs Highway. “It is vital for road safety that we have places for drivers to stop and take a break,” the Federal Transport Minister said. “The Eton Range rest area provides a great incentive to stop, with elevat...