It was a great to start to this year’s Ekka with the 28th ALPA Young Auctioneers Competition.
There were 10 competitors from across the state representing Elders ChartersTowers and Roma; GDL Blackall, Dalby, Miles and Roma; Landmark Mareeba; Ray White Rural Roma; Savage Barker & Backhouse Rockhampton and TopX Roma.
Each competitor was selected at an ALPA auctioneers school held in Rockhampton earlier in the year.
Nick Shorten of GDL in Roma was declared the 2017 ALPA Queensland Young Auctioneers Competition winner, taking home the Queensland Country Life Shield, the Don Steele AM Cup and several other prizes.
Runner up was Andrew Carcary of GDL in Blackall. Both Nick and Andrew will represent Queensland at the 2018 ALPA National Young Auctioneers Competition at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
The night before the competition, a record 225 competitor’s friends, family and industry members attended the annual ALPA Queensland Young Auctioneers Competition Dinner.
The dinner is a celebration of the young auctioneers and the agency industry.
A highlight of the night was the charity auction, conducted by last year’s ALPA Queensland Young Auctioneers Competition winner Jake Smith of Landmark in Roma. A total of $15,330 was raised at the auction.
The funds will be donated to the John Logan Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that offers financial support to people diagnosed with cancer.
Thanks to Anita Lethbridge for your assistance.
Water metering review must deliver improvements not more red tape
The Queensland Government's rural water metering review must preserve secure water access rights while not imposing unnecessary new red tape on water users, AgForce said this week..
AgForce water spokesman Kim Bremner said access to water was vitally important for the lives and livelihoods of Queensland's broadacre primary producers.
"AgForce supports the protection of water users' rights to access their fair share of available water, as security and reliability are vital for business certainty," he said.
"We oppose any illegal take of water as it often results in negative impacts on other water users and the environment, and AgForce will assist any national inquiry as well as the independent review of rural water metering announced by the Queensland Government today."
Mr Bremner said the Queensland Government's water planning and management system was structured to deliver sustainable use of available water resources.
"Currently, metered water authorisation holders must own and maintain meters compliant with government standards and have them independently validated on a regular basis," he said.
"They must supply up to two meter readings to the Department of Natural Resources and Mines each year and even provide additional readings where water supplies might be limiting.
"AgForce has a long-standing policy position supporting the metering of water allocations, which can also enable beneficial trading of water."
Mr Bremner said there were some water uses that do not need to be metered, such as for livestock and home use, or where no water was being taken under an entitlement.
"AgForce strongly supports landowners having unmetered access to water for livestock and domestic use as it is a basic right with built-in limits on consumption that are aligned with the productive capability of the land," he said.
"It is estimated that cattle and sheep in Queensland only drink about 0.2 per cent of the rainfall that runs off the land.
"That's why it's important that any independent review of rural water metering is proportionate and delivers improvements to the system, if they are needed, rather than just impose unnecessary costs or red tape on primary producers."
