Hervey Bay Gossip

It seems that something like that is quite easy to forget

It seems that Gordon Nuttall - who just happens to now live “north of Hervey Bay” - can’t remember asking a developer for a loan of that magnitude.

Perhaps he needs to take some lessons in memory management from she-who-must-be-obeyed, she has no trouble remembering that I asked her for a loan of $10.00 last week

And if you were born in 50’s or earlier you’ll love it (and thats just the music)

Take Me Back to the Sixties

And for the record in the early sixties I was in high school in Sydney and always knew that I would be able to find a job when I left school.

In 1967 I got my first pay from my first real job - $44.00 for 80 hours work - I thought I was a millionaire until Mum promptly took half of it for board.

I bought my first car - a 1966 Mini. Six months later I almost wrote it off when I ran into the back of the car in front of me because I was too busy checking out the chick in the mini skirt on the footpath.

I waxed my board and surfed (rather badly) places like Narrabeen. Wave rage was unheard of and there was plenty of room on every wave for everyone out there.

I bugged my parents with music from the Dave Clark Five, Loving’ Spoonful, the Beach Boys and 5th Dimension and played the Animals version of House of the Rising Sun loudly and often (I was too innocent to realise that it referred to a brothel) 

You didn’t stay out too late because everything closed at 10pm but it was still save to go parking somewhere quiet.

I could still ride in a train pulled by a steam engine that was powered by the muscles in the back of the fireman as he swung the banjo (shovelled coal out of the tender and into the firebox).

There were still SP bookies - two of my uncles made a very tidy living doing that - where you could lay a bet by phone on the strength of your word rather than what credit you had in your account.

And Bob Menzies was doing a much better job of running the country than little Johnnie will ever do no matter how hard he tries to emulate Pig Iron Bob.

So what were you doing in the 60’s?

Or perhaps I’m just too old to understand

Mobile phones are great little tools and there is no doubt that they have revolutionised the way we communicate with each other but they remain nothing more than tools … don’t they?

I mean, when you’re heading down down to the shops or over to the beach to do a spot of fishing they’re just something you shove in your pocket or purse aren’t they?

Well that’s all they are to the crew here at the Hervey Bay Gossip but to people in Japan a mobile phone is something to be loved, cared for and dressed in the latest fashion statement.

I kid you not and if you want to see what the well-dressed Japanese mobile phone is currently wearing head over to New Trend Cell Phone Fashion and see it with your own eyes.

There are plenty of people here in Hervey Bay who love to join the search for a bargain on eBay

If you’re one of those who can’t get enough of the well-known online auction site then perhaps you should also check out Australia’s very own home-grown auction site - Oztion.

OZtion, Australia’s second largest online auction site, has today announced Australian online shopping statistics for October 2006.

Based on more than 1 million Australian visitors in October 2006, 65% of all items sold at Oztion were purchased in the evening after work, or on a weekend.

The top five product categories by sales revenue for October 2006 were women’s clothing, video games, jewellery, computers, and adult products.

Philip Druce, Managing Director for OZtion commented, “The after work rush to shop is astounding. The rate at which products sell online at our site typically doubles between 6pm and 10pm on a week day. Instead of sitting down to watch TV and relax after work, Australian’s across the country are firing up their computers to bargain hunt and buy essentials. The trading hours of traditional retail outlets are clearly not convenient for many Australians.”

The average visitor at OZtion spends 20 minutes browsing the site, chatting with friends in the 26 different forums, and shopping for bargains.

Free Membership in Australia’s second largest online auction site
Membership at OZtion is free. Anybody can join and purchase products.

OZtion offers extensive online safety features, including in-depth identity verification measures:
•    extensive identity checks for businesses, organisations, and individuals wishing to setup vShops at OZtion
•    identity verification for all individual sellers
•    optional identity verification for buyers
•    easy to understand icons to indicate identity verification levels achieved for every user of the site

OZtion’s online product listings have grown 545% since Jan 2006, currently averaging 305,000 simultaneous items for sale. OZtion, Australia’s second largest online auction site  has today announced Australian online shopping statistics for October 2006.

Tests of samples taken from a cane farm in the Mackay district have now shown a positive return for the presence of sugar cane smut. Steps are being taken to quarantine the property.

A new outbreak of sugar cane smut may have been discovered in the Mackay region after samples were taken from a Mackay property for testing.

The results will be available tomorrow.

The driver of a a vehicle was killed when his car struck a power pole in Pialba around 7pm Saturday night. The passenger in the vehicle escaped serious injury.

Around 3.30am another single vehicle accident occurred on the Booral Road at Urangan when a Holden Commodore left the road and struck a power pole The driver was killed instantly while the passenger escaped serious injury.

Don’t get a toothache if you’re new to town

The Queensland Government has just announced that they Department of Education and Training will understake a study to help legislators understand what areas of the public and private sectors will be affected by the current skills shortage.

That’s nice to know but why start studying it now? The skills shortage has been around for several years.

Here in Hervey Bay there currently seems to be a shortage of dentists at the moment. Last week a recently arrived family from Britain were unable to find a single dentist in Hervey Bay who was willing to treat a toothache.

They even went so far as to ring every single dentist listed in the phone book and could not find one who was prepared to see them.

All houses and units built before July 1, 1997 are now requred to have smoke alarms installed.

On Thursday night State Parliament passed legislation to help reduce fire dangers and save lives.

Emergency Services Minister Pat Purcell said the successful passage of the Fire and Rescue Service Amendment Bill 2006 was an important step forward for fire safety in Queensland.

“Lives will be saved and property losses will be reduced by this legislation. A key provision of the law requires all houses and units built before July 1, 1997 to have smoke alarms installed,” he said.

Mr Purcell said homes built after July 1, 1997 are already required to have smoke alarms installed.

“Since 1997 smoke alarm coverage has increased from 38.7 per cent of homes in 1996 to 84.2 per cent in 2005. This new law aims to lift smoke alarm coverage significantly,” he said.

“Smoke alarms are very important domestic safety devices. The risk of death from fire in a home is up to three times higher in homes without smoke alarms.

“In fact, here in Queensland over 78% of all home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms.”

Mr Purcell said that in Queensland since June 2004 19 people have died in house fires in homes that either did not have smoke alarms or had smoke alarms that did not work usually because batteries were removed or dead.

“These sort of tragic statistics show the serious risks presented by house fires and why we need to act to address this risk,” he said.

“If we can achieve 100% coverage of working smoke alarms in domestic residences, we could potentially save over 100 lives over 20 years and approximately $70 million in reduced property losses and injury costs.”

Mr Purcell said the legislation makes smoke alarms compulsory but leaves it to the householder to select what type of alarm to install.

“The minimum acceptable alarm will be a one-year battery alarm that meets the applicable Australian Standard. This type of alarm provides a reasonable level of protection provided that batteries are replaced regularly and the alarm is tested and cleaned in accordance with the alarm manufacturer’s instructions,” he said.

In rental properties, landlords will be required to install smoke alarms, replace them when needed, and test and clean them seven days before a new tenancy starts. It will be the responsibility of tenants to annually clean and test the smoke alarm and check the battery.

State Parliament last night passed legislation to help reduce fire dangers and save lives.

Emergency Services Minister Pat Purcell said the successful passage of the Fire and Rescue Service Amendment Bill 2006 was an important step forward for fire safety in Queensland.

“Lives will be saved and property losses will be reduced by this legislation. A key provision of the law requires all houses and units built before July 1, 1997 to have smoke alarms installed,” he said.

Mr Purcell said homes built after July 1, 1997 are already required to have smoke alarms installed.

“Since 1997 smoke alarm coverage has increased from 38.7 per cent of homes in 1996 to 84.2 per cent in 2005. This new law aims to lift smoke alarm coverage significantly,” he said.

“Smoke alarms are very important domestic safety devices. The risk of death from fire in a home is up to three times higher in homes without smoke alarms.

“In fact, here in Queensland over 78% of all home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms.”

Mr Purcell said that in Queensland since June 2004 19 people have died in house fires in homes that either did not have smoke alarms or had smoke alarms that did not work usually because batteries were removed or dead.

“These sort of tragic statistics show the serious risks presented by house fires and why we need to act to address this risk,” he said.

“If we can achieve 100% coverage of working smoke alarms in domestic residences, we could potentially save over 100 lives over 20 years and approximately $70 million in reduced property losses and injury costs.”

Mr Purcell said the legislation makes smoke alarms compulsory but leaves it to the householder to select what type of alarm to install.

“The minimum acceptable alarm will be a one-year battery alarm that meets the applicable Australian Standard. This type of alarm provides a reasonable level of protection provided that batteries are replaced regularly and the alarm is tested and cleaned in accordance with the alarm manufacturer’s instructions,” he said.

In rental properties, landlords will be required to install smoke alarms, replace them when needed, and test and clean them seven days before a new tenancy starts. It will be the responsibility of tenants to annually clean and test the smoke alarm and check the battery.

You certainly won’t miss seeing these ones

During the recent state election campaign the Beattie Government made a commitment to increase the visibility of marked police cars and the commitment is being met with the introduction of two prototypes at Kingaroy and Warwick.

Police Minister Judy Spence said the first two prototypes of the new high visibility marked cars are being put through their paces over the next three months in the NorthCoast and Southern Queensland police regions.

“The two general duties white marked police cars have more highly visible blue and white reflective decals with the added addition of either orange or yellow fluoro markings,” Ms Spence said.

Image courtesy of Queensland Police

“Highly visible policing has a proven deterrent factor on motorists, as it makes people slow down and obey the road rules.”

Ms Spence said the vehicles will undergo an evaluation process over the next three months, which will involve testing for durability, visibility and feedback from the public and police officers about their markings.

“Once the evaluation period is over, the results will be analysed and used as the basis on which the new markings will be rolled out across the police vehicle fleet statewide. This will occur over the next three years,” Ms Spence said.

The new markings are part of a $1.5 million commitment to increase the visibility of police cars on the road, and fund a further 10 bright red high performance police highway patrol cars.

Ms Spence said the new highway patrol cars - which will also be introduced over the next three years - will double the existing fleet of highway patrol cars.

“The very presence of police cars on the road reminds motorists to obey the road rules - and these highway patrol vehicles are fully equipped to conduct random breath tests,” Ms Spence said.

“These new vehicles will be an extra weapon in the bid by the Beattie Government to reduce the road toll.”