Youth

The Melbourne Grammar School Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Morundah Paradise Palladium this Saturday as part of a tour of 11 regional locations this month. Travelling over nine days and 3200 kilometres, the tour provides a wonderful opportunity to experience a full orchestra live in these towns.

CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, is part of a nappy recycling trial announced today to help address the 1.5 billion disposable nappies that end up in Australian landfill each year ... The trial has been underway in South Australia since July 2022 and uses anaerobic digestion to turn the organic materials in used nappies into nutrient-rich compost, as well as bioenergy which is captured and used to power the recycling process.

Allora local Mary Higgins, who is a student at Griffiths University, studying Psychological Science and Business, has been awarded a Scholarship under the New Colombo Plan ... “Growing up in Allora, a small town of just 1200 people, I’ve seen my community come together through droughts, floods and many other crises, which has inspired me to work further toward social justice on a grander scale,” Mary said.

Katter’s Australian Party is flagging a proposal incentivising Year 12 students to take up the forgotten “wet” trades of bricklaying, concreting and scaffolding in a transitional schedule strategically-timed with the winter weather. In response to predictions that North Queensland would face an alarming lack of willing workers in the “wet” trades of bricklaying, concreting and scaffolding in the next decade, the KAP proposed to incentivise and provide employment pathways for an annually-set number of Year 12 students.

A partnership between Forestry Corporation of NSW,  Pentarch Forestry and the Tumbarumba community has seen donated timber enhance facilities at Tumbarumba Carcoola Children’s Centre and Tumbarumba Public School. The partnership has seen renewable resources used to benefit children and the community, said Forestry Corporation’s Billie-Jo Brown.  

Santa Claus has been flat out this year preparing to fill the Christmas orders from all the well-behaved children around the globe, and urgently enlisted the help of the Mayor of the Barkly when trouble arose. Thousands of dollars of presents for this year’s 88th annual Tennant Creek Christmas Tree event were at risk of not arriving for the event due to freight issues.

Denmark circus performer Zak Launay joined a team from the National Institute of Circus Arts to run a series of workshops in the Kimberley ... “We are looking at possible options to organise residencies that could lead to workshops for the Denmark Circus Collective in the future,” Zak said. A key focus of the workshops was to re-engage youth through circus.

The Brisbane Entertainment Centre became the classroom for Urbenville Public School students on Saturday, December 3. The students were special guests of rockstar Keith Urban. Teacher Mel Sifko said they “had the most magical night. We were ushered in through a VIP entrance to our own special room."

Pam Dillon. Two days of various multi sports had the students laughing, smiling and shouting for joy. The sessions conducted were aimed at developing skills for different year levels ... Students in Years 4 to 6 worked focused on improving their skills and experimented with cricket and paddle tennis bats using various types of balls.

Kirstin Nicholson. The residents of ‘Rochy South’ were given a boost to their makeshift living quarters on Sunday when the Cohuna Leos and Cubs spent the day with them and brought much needed supplies. Dubbed ‘Rochy South’, the temporary village set up for Rochester residents displaced by the floods is located on the Elmore Field Days site.

As car thieves and other juvenile and youth offenders are disengaged with society and seeking notoriety by using social media, police call for public assistance in securing vehicles and identifying stolen cars. Last week, Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon addressed the media as questions surrounding the nature of youth crime on the Downs were circling in the community.

Sheep farmer Suzanne Lewis has just published her first children’s book and had no further to look for something to write about than her own front paddock. “Queenie the Quad Lady” is the story of a remarkable ewe that captured Suzanne’s heart after giving birth to four lambs and successfully raising them all despite all the trials and tribulations a sheep can face.

The Allora Swimming Club annual David Rackley Memorial Swim was held under a stunning sunset sky on Friday 25th November. Pictured with Patron Marg Rackley is the 2022 Winner Maggie Philp.

Sarah Martin. Cape York police, including Sergeant Ken White, are urging locals to secure their homes and vehicles to help prevent a rise in crime in the community, following a spate of break-ins. Two people have been charged and police are warning residents to lock it or lose it after another week of home invasions, burglary and fear for Cooktown locals.

At just 16 years of age Narrandera’s Xavier Beauchamp is a young talented up-and-coming professional rap artist from the Western Riverina who goes by Beacho2700 and whose original tracks are available through Spotify, Apple Music, Instagram, Youtube and Sound Cloud. Beacho2700 is a combination of Xavier Beauchamp’s nickname and the postcode for Narrandera NSW where he comes from.

Kendall Jennings. It has been a challenging start to the 2022/23 cricket season for the Murray Raiders Under 16s. Road closures have made it difficult for the team and players to participate in the Swan Hill Cricket Association matches.

Sarah Martin. Cooktown tadpole Maiika Hegamaea has blitzed a Far North record time at the recent Dimbulah Swim Club meet and brought home six first place ribbons to add to her collection. The seven-year-old has been a confident swimmer since she was a toddler and has been a member of the Cooktown Amateur Swimming Club since she was four.

Although she stars as a goalie, Jordon Fenton-Anderson, a 14-year-old from Cambooya, who has been scoring goals in her own way, recently returned to Australia from her first time wearing the green and gold, competing in the sport of futsal. Jordon was a member of the girls’ futsal team to tour the United Kingdom in October 2022.

The children of the Allora Swimming Club were delighted to return to their home pool in November to commence their new season of swimming ... Allora Swim Team members have already competed in the Winter Short Course Championships, Fairholme Time and Technique Meet, Turbo Jets Spring Carnival, Toowoomba Open and a weekend out West for the Chinchilla and Dalby Open meets.

Aurukun is no stranger to unrest but locals fear that issues in the community are at breaking point after a year of violence and sorry business ... Attendance at the school has dwindled as a result of violence in the street and sleepless nights, while the council struggles to find staff for essential roles, meaning services such as the post office and community bank have been closed intermittently.

Imagine being a talented, horse-loving teen stuck in the middle of a war. Instead of dreaming about representing your country at the Olympic Games, you are helping your family set your horses free in the hope they will survive the bombing. The one thing about horse lovers worldwide is they stick together ...