TOP NEWS

WE STAND TO REMEMBER Community Gathers To Commemorate ANZAC Day

This year's ANZAC Day saw hundreds turn out to remember the efforts of Australia and New Zealand's great service men and women. Veterans, schools, clubs and businesses poured into the streets to march in grand parades, and packed in close to attend services held across the Hinchinbrook Shire. Beautiful wreaths were lain and the bugles mournful tones echoed across respectful silences as flags were lowered to half mast. A gunfire breakfast, coffee and traditional ANZAC biscuits kept everyone going

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Catching Up With Allan

Allan Colquhoun grew up in Sydney, but his life has taken him far beyond the city limits. In his youth, he worked with a station owner named Bob, whose property combined dairy and sheep farming with a focus on Jersey bulls and cows. One vivid memory that’s stayed with him is of Bob chasing down a bull meant for butchering on his stock horse —a beast that, to Allan’s amazement, climbed over the holding fence one hoof at a time to escape. Allan spent most of his working life as a coastal travelle

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Chamber Coffee April Connect Update

Hinchinbrook Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Tourism held their monthly Coffee Connect last week, being hosted by local business Wild Local. There was a very strong attendance at this event, with Federal Member for Kennedy Bob Katter and KAP Senate candidate, Robbie Lyon. Rebecca and Dom Zaghini provided a delicious light snacks and gave the audience an overview of their business journey from inception to their current location, the diverse range of products they provide and some insight into t

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Ingham's Kennel Club Barks Up The Showgrounds

Over the weekend, the Ingham Kennel Club hosted six rounds of dog shows, featuring judges from across Australia who rotated to ensure fair and balanced competition. Dogs were entered into one of seven group categories, with the Toy Group attracting the largest number of entries. Sunday's shows saw the Italian Greyhound emerge as a standout, making up 20 of the 170 total entries across the weekend. Unique and rarely seen breeds like the Xoloitzcuintli and Briard added excitement to the event, of

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Forrest Beach Hero Lisa Scobie

February 25, 2025

Thrown into the deep end, Lisa Scobie, Forrest Beach Takeaway Owner, did not expect to be running Forrest Beach Disaster Management Group during a disaster.

Lisa contacted Forrest Beach Area Warden Gary Berkley to find out that he was not in the area and unavailable to assist Forrest Beach, so she stepped in to help the local community at a time when she was needed most.

On Sunday 2 February Lisa had taken initiative to door knock Wattle Street, to ensure people's safety for the next 24 hours, and on Monday she contacted Helen Stanton from Forrest Beach Surf Life Saving and she said that’s when things really started happening.

Lisa didn’t know she would be called upon to become the area warden, but she stepped up to the task.

The Forrest Beach Takeaway was set up as the Forrest Beach Disaster Hub and Lisa knew that, with communications were down, the shop would be a good way to centralise things.

With thanks to Jason from Blue Spark Electrical, the takeaway shop was able to regain communications thanks to his Starlink internet modem, and with a generator in place, they had power too.

After the first evening, Lisa said things just fell into place and the whole week ran itself.

“We had identified some key people. Helen Stanton was in charge of our comms. We had our medical people doing necessary checks and referrals and people that we already knew were unwell, and they worked in conjunction with Jo," she explained.

"We had the Surf Life Savers doing the welfare checks in conjunction with the firies. And we went and had a look at the school to make sure we had a helicopter landing zone,” said Lisa.

Lisa and the Disaster Management Group set up a barbecue outside of the takeaway shop, for people in need of hot food. After a few days of this, the strip of shops at Forrest Beach was named the Recovery Hub and the name stuck.

Power was restored for the majority of Forrest Beach on the Friday evening, with some getting power on Saturday afternoon, and after this things slowly got back to normal, Lisa also had her takeaway shop open for normal business on Sunday.

Lisa Scobie, Forrest Beach Takeaway Owner stepped-up during the floods to be the Forrest Beach Area Warden

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Hinchinbrook Shire To Gain 27 New Social & Affordable Homes
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Carmela & Giuseppe Celebrate 60 Years of Love and Family in Ingham
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Making Way For EKKA Amanda Way Triumphs in Sub-Chamber Finals
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Making Mum Feel Special On Mother's Day Unique Ways to Show Your Love
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Event Guide | 29th April
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