Date announced for Queensland state election
Published January 25, 2012 | 
Queensland’s Premier, Anna Bligh, has announced the state election will be held on March 24.
The Premier said she originally planned for an early March election, but reconsidered after the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry requested more public hearings and an extension of the deadline for its final report until March 16.
Local government elections had been scheduled for March 31, and will now have to be postponed to accommodate the state election.
Ms Bligh said Queenslanders have a right to read the final report on the 2010-2011 floods before voting in either state or local elections.
“I’m not afraid of that truth, and I believe every flood victime deserves that truth,” she said.
The final report date has been put back so the Floods Commission can investigate new allegations that Wivenhoe Dam in the state capital, Brisbane, was not managed properly in the lead up to last year’s disaster.
RSPCA Montville Gourmet Food & Wine night
Published January 25, 2012 | Join RSPCA Qld’s CEO Mark Townend for an evening of great food and fine wine atop the Blackall Range at the legendary Poets Cafe.
Featuring entertainment, raffles, lucky door prizes & a quiz, the night promises to be both informative and entertaining.
Tickets are $65 each or $120 for two. Places are limited so to avoid disappointment please book today.
When: Friday 17th February 2012
Time: 6:15pm for a 6:30pm start
Where: Poets Cafe – Main St Montville
More information from rspcaqld.org.au
Posted in Sunshine Coast | 
February 2012, Montville, RSPCA fundraising, Sunshine Coast | 
Leave a commentOlder Australians are spending less
Published January 25, 2012 | A survey out this week has shown that nearly half (47 per cent) of people aged over 55 are spending less in major retailers and shopping centres than they did a year ago.
The survey, by Essential Media Communications, found that only 24 per cent of older people said they were satisfied with prices while 45 per cent were unhappy with the level of customer service.
The largest money-drain was gas and electricity, with 70 per cent saying they spent more than 12 months ago. Food and groceries were also expensive, with 60 per cent spending more than they did last year.
People aged 18-34 were more likely to save this year than any other age bracket with 41 per cent saving more. In contrast, 40 per cent of over 55s are saving less and 19 per cent said they intended saving more.
Courtesy: National Seniors ‘Connect’. National Seniors Australia is a non-profit organisation that gives voice to issues that affect older Australians. Go to www.nationalseniors.com.au.
2012 – Year of the Yang Water Dragon
Published January 25, 2012 | 
What kind of year will 2012 be? From a Feng Shui standpoint 2012, the year of the Yang Water Dragon, brings many possibilities for good fortune.
Most people know that water covers 2/3 of our planet & comprises 95% of our bodies; we simply cannot live without it. In Chinese element theory, water produces wood, which signifies growth and is the natural element of the dragon. Associated with thunder, lightning and arousal, the Water Dragon personifies creativity at its best.
Water Dragons occur every 60 years, so we have had Yang Water Dragons in 1952, 1892, 1832, etc. In 2012 the Yang Water Dragon Year started on January 23 and ends on February 9, 2013.
The incoming year of the dragon will be “full of energy” and the spirit of the dragon will make everything seem “larger than life”, say Chinese astrologists. The year, they warn cryptically, will be an over-ambitious and daring one but also bring good fortune and happiness. Successes and failures will be magnified. Disasters and fortunes will occur on a larger magnitude with many surprises and violent acts of nature.
Dragon years are traditionally filled with pageantry, festivals and elaborate celebrations. These years hold potential extravagance, grandiose ambitions and futuristic enterprises which soar to the forefront with drama. The essence of Dragon years is ‘ unpredictability’, and the average Dragon year can be exhausting, bringing both spectacular victories and some memorable defeats.
For Chinese New Year celebrations, it is customary for Chinese families to have living blooms in the house, which symbolise rebirth and new growth. The Chinese believe that without flowers, there would be no formation of any fruits, which, in turn, would negatively impact a family’s fortune. Therefore, it’s critical to incorporate flowers into their Chinese New Year decorations.
The most prominent colours of the Chinese New Year are red and gold, red symbolising happiness and gold for wealth.
Seven facts about climate change and hunger
Published January 25, 2012 | When it comes to protecting the world’s poorest inhabitants from the erratic weather and natural disasters that many scientists expect in coming years, hunger is a key part of the discussion. Here are seven facts that explain why.
1. By 2050, climate change is expected to increase the risk of hunger by 10-20 percent compared to a no-climate change scenario.
2. By 2050 we can expect 24 million more malnourished children as a result of climate change. Almost half of this increase, 10 million children, will be in sub-Saharan Africa.
3. Between 1980 and 2006 the number of climate-related disasters has quadrupled.
4. The number of people affected by climate-related disasters is expected to reach 375 million per year by 2015.
5. In 2010, climate-related extreme events and disasters affected some 300 million people, most often in countries which have little capacity to cope.
6. With climate change, two thirds of the arable land in Africa could be lost by 2025, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
7. By 2030, climate change could push food prices up by 50-90 percent more than they would otherwise be expected to rise, according to a recent report by Oxfam.
If you would like to make a difference and have some fun at the same time, play the online free rice game at freerice.com. Every time you answer a question correctly 10 grains of rice will be donated to hungry people through the World Food Program.
Finding lost superannuation
Published January 25, 2012 | The Australian Taxation Office SuperSeeker tool at www.ato.gov.au/individuals/ can help you find any lost or unclaimed superannuation. SuperSeeker can also help you to lodge a request to have any funds that you do find transferred into another super account.
To conduct a search you will need to provide full names, date of birth and your Tax File Number (TFN).
Using SuperSeeker on the phone is also quick and easy. Phone the self-help line on 13 28 65, Fast Key Code 1 then 2.
You are not obliged to transfer your lost super, but you should consider contacting the fund that reported you as a lost member to update your contact information and remove your details from the lost super register.
Where unclaimed super or other super amounts are found, you can follow the links to the claim forms provided by SuperSeeker to make a claim. Alternatively, you may phone 13 10 20 for more information about these accounts.
The lost members register (LMR) holds lost member records from all regulated super funds in Australia, other than self-managed super funds. Super funds are required to provide updated information by 30 April and 31 October each year.
Mental health of older Australians is being ignored
Published January 25, 2012 | The mental health of older Australians is being ignored despite key mental health issues such as men over 85 having the highest age-specific suicide rate and the elderly having a prescription rate for anxiety, insomnia and sedative drugs at 500% of the general population, according to a statement released by The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age.
The statement, ‘Priority must be given to investment that improves the mental health of older Australians’, is calling for the government to include older people in all mental health planning to improve their quality of care, remove discrimination and obtain better understanding of the mental health needs of older Australians. “It is vital these issues be considered in the Commonwealth Government’s Ten Year Roadmap for Mental Health Reform and response to the Productivity Commission Report into Aged Care,” said Dr Roderick McKay, Chair of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Psychiatry of Old Age.
“Untreated mental illness robs older Australians of their quality of life, physical health and independence at significant cost to individuals, family and community. While there are effective mental health treatments for older people, limited resources deny them equitable access,” said Dr McKay.
“In the next 20 years, the number of Australians over 65 will double, yet the mental health care of older people has been largely ignored in the mental health reform agenda,” said Dr McKay.
“To improve the quality of mental health care for older people we require national benchmarks in mental health services for older people, and national principles for providing coordinated care across different services for older Australians with mental illness. Basic mental health training for people working with older Australian is also essential,” said Dr McKay.
“To remove discrimination against older people with mental disorders we require community and residential aged care services that are inclusive of the needs of people with mental illness, we need removal of all barriers to older Australians in residential aged care accessing the same mental health services as the rest of the community and removal of all exclusions from access to mental health services on the basis of having dementia,” said Dr McKay.
“To obtain a better understanding of the mental health needs of older Australians we must undertake a survey of the mental health and wellbeing of older Australians which will identify all older people, fund research on effective mental health interventions in older people and fund mental health promotion activities,” said Dr McKay.
ACFT scams survey 2012
Published January 25, 2012 | The Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce (ACFT) would like to know about any scams that you have received and how you have responded to them. Gathering this information will help to improve the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of scam offenders.
Take a minute to fill in the 2012 ACFT scams survey at www.survey.aic.gov.au/survey/AustralasianConsumerFraudTaskforceOnlineSurvey2012.
You can also visit the Australian Institute of Criminology website www.aic.gov.au.
The survey will run until 31 March 2012 and should only take a few minutes to complete. Your participation is entirely voluntary but please only complete the survey once.
Volunteer while you travel
Published December 28, 2011 | Green Nomads is a casual environmental volunteering program targeting Australia’s large transient population, in particular the Grey Nomads.
By joining the program travellers are able to access numerous volunteering opportunities with local community natural resource management (NRM) groups throughout Queensland to undertake activities, including community education and manual labour based activities such as tree planting, while they travel around our beautiful state.
Joining the program involves paying an annual subscription, which gives volunteers access to a ‘member only’ section of the website (www.greennomads.com.au), where they can browse and register to attend volunteering events that fit in with their travel itineraries.
To sign up and become a Green Nomad you can fill in the online application form. In the members only section of the website you can keep in touch with fellow Green Nomads via private messaging, share conversations and pictures on the community’s forum and photo gallery and keep track of your friends’ latest location via a map.
Green Nomads is an initiative of Queensland Water and Land Carers (QWaLC), a non profit peak body, representing community National Resource Management volunteers in Queensland. Go to www.greennomads.com.au for more details.
Older workers prefer to ease into retirement
Published December 28, 2011 | WORKING 40-plus hours a week until the proverbial gold watch on retirement day is a dwindling ambition for older workers in Australia, with more than four in 10 planning to move to part-time work before calling it quits.
But for 13 per cent of workers aged over 45, life without a job is inconceivable — they plan to work until they drop.
An Australian Bureau of Statistics report also finds a discrepancy between older workers’ perceptions of how they will pay for their retirement and how retirements are currently funded. Just over half of Australia’s workers aged 45 and over who intend to retire say superannuation will be their main source of post-retirement income, with a further 26 per cent saying it will be a government pension.
But just 17 per cent of existing retirees say super is their main income source, with 66 per cent reporting it is the pension that pays the bills.
The ABS report Retirement and Retirement Intentions comes amid a growing debate on how to keep more people in the workforce as a means of alleviating pressure on the economy created by an ageing population. Employment Participation Minister Kate Ellis has told a Melbourne conference the government remained committed to helping older workers stay in jobs as long as they wanted.
“Older Australians, with their skills built over a lifetime, make a massive contribution to our economy and our community, Ms Ellis said.
“We want to clear the way for older Australians to be able to stay in the workforce if they want to, and this means tackling issues such as age discrimination or looking at how workplaces, equipment and jobs can be modified to better suit older Australians.”
She released a report from the government’s consultative forum on mature age participation in the workforce, which has found age discrimination ranked second only to injury or disability as a barrier to older people finding or keeping their jobs.
The ABS report found more than a million people plan to ease into retirement through part-time work, and 653,800 never intend to retire.
“About 41 per cent (of full-time workers over 45) intended to retire from full-time work and then work part-time before retiring from the labour force,” the report says.
“Of these, 65 per cent planned to continue on with their current employer (and) 20 per cent intended to change their employer. The remainder did not know.
Source: The Australian
If you would like to find out more about employment for older workers go to www.olderworkers.com.au