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PAGE 2
S O U T H W E S T Q U E E N S L A N D ' S I N D E P E N D E N T W E E K LY N E W S PA P E R
Panic stations as castle takes wing
QUILPIE
F RIGHTENED parents scrambled
to find their children when an
uprooted jumping castle flew about
60 metres over the roof of a shed
during Australia day celebrations.
A strong gust of wind picked up one
of three inflatable castles owned
by Quilpie shire council, carrying
it over the main show pavilion at
Bulloo park racecourse and bundled
it into the council depot next door
about 9pm on Friday night.
Brendan Horsten, father of two
children aged eight and seven, said
pandemonium erupted among the
crowd of 100. “It was like a mov-
ie. Everyone went everywhere,” he
said. “It took you a couple of sec-
onds to realise. As soon as we did,
people just bolted to check on all
their kids.”
No children were on the inflatable
at the time and no one was injured.
Brendo said he’d just finished work-
ing at the bar when he heard people
scream. “I caught a glimpse of it and
then ran around the back between
the pavilion and the toilets to see.
I just wanted to see my kids were
OK,” he said. “It actually hit our car,
bounced over it and broke the back
fin.”
Mayor Stuart Mackenzie said all
three castles had been pegged down
and were in the process of being de-
flated because the wind was picking
up when the six-metre castle took
off. “It went right over the roof and
that roof would have to be five or six
metres high,” he said. “It landed in
the council depot yard so probably
would have to be about 60 metres
or something. It was actually really
scary. It was amazing really. You can
sort of imagine them flying across
the ground but not up in the air.”
The jumping castle was punc-
tured landing on a barbed-wire
fence behind the pavilion. Stuart
said an ambulance was immedi-
ately called and police officers were
already there running the blue light
disco. “They just checked it all and
made sure everyone was alright,”
he said. “Thank goodness everyone
was okay. The real lesson I suppose
is you don’t think it’s going to hap-
pen but there is a chance it will.
Council will definitely have to check
the pegs and make sure it can’t hap-
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PAGE 3
Cunnamulla’s Sylvia Roberts and Jess Crick cop a feel of tantalisingly trim sheila Cheryl Bomford.
Bollon’s Akayla West, Imogen Cashman-Steer, Finn Cashman-Steer and Sienna Love show their
true colours. Zorro Radnedge and Stick Newby dig deep in the Charleville RSL pie-eating contest.
pen again.” The council bought the
castles about 18 months ago and
lends them to community groups.
In 2012, the show society infuriat-
ed visiting carnies by undercutting
their inflatable attractions with a $5
all-day pass to the council castles.
Friday night’s drama recalled an
episode from the ABC’s We Can Be
Shades
of Straya
PAGES 4-5
Heroes: Finding the Australian of
the Year mockumentary. Actor Chris
Lilley played a former policeman
turned motivational speaker Phil
Olivetti who rescued nine children
from an unsecured jumping castle.
It then carried him into powerlines
and became entangled, stranding
him for three days.
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PAGE 16
THURSDAY 30 JANUARY 2014
Council calls in
debt collectors
CUNNAMULLA
C ONFRONTED by growing pile
of unpaid rates, Paroo shire
council has called for the debt col-
lectors. Mayor Lindsay Godfrey said
arrears reached about $380,000 at
the end of December, about double
the usual level. Unpaid urban rates
comprised about 62% while rural
rates accounted for about 36% of
the total.
He said while landholders were
being squeezed by the drought,
council was surprised that most of
the debt derived from town. “We’re
not sure why that’s the case,” he
said. “It doesn’t make sense for
anybody not to pay their rates as
they lose the 10% discount and are
charged 10% interest once it goes
over a year. There hasn’t been a big
change in the fundamentals in Cun-
namulla. The big income earners
are on council but there’s no down-
sizing there. The welfare, health
and education sectors are running
along as they’ve always been. The
only change is the rural sector is not
spending as much and I wouldn’t
think that would have a big impact
on Cunnamulla.”
He said there was no apparent
pattern either, both large and small
ratepayers were involved. In Decem-
ber the council sent letters to rate-
payers in arrears warning of legal
action and urging them to discuss
payments plans if they were having
problems. Lindsay said there was
little response so council engaged a
debt collection agency. He pointed
out the next round of rates notices
would be issued next month.
“We were the only shire that didn’t
put up rates last year and they only
went up by CPI the year before,” he
said. “Most of Cunnamulla pay only
minimum rates anyway. I think the
money is going somewhere else.”
The scenario is reminiscent of the
one confronting the council in 2008
when the owners of 77 properties
‘It was like a movie. in the shire owed $337,000 in un-
paid rates. Legal action was leveled
People just bolted against 18 properties and six were
auctioned in forced sales, which
to check on all their clawed back $58,000 in arrears. The
big-ticket item was the old Tatt’s
kids.’ hotel building in Stockyard street,
snapped up by Eulo entrepreneur
Jake Berghofer for $39,500.
Phone 4655 1359