Regions—building thriving communities

Growing regional economies

Rob Watkins, an innovative second generation farmer from the Atherton Tablelands, is the architect behind Mt Uncle’s Green Banana Flour.

Made using green Australian lady finger bananas, this gluten free flour is naturally high in resistance starch and minerals. Banana flour has a mild, nutty taste and can be used as an alternative to other flours in most recipes.  

Production of the banana flour took off when Rob moved development from his family’s 300-hectare property west of Cairns to a new pharmaceutical food-grade factory.

This 2010 Young Farmer of the Year is also the bright mind behind the award winning Banana Blankey—a polypropylene material carton insert for packing bananas—and a banana harvester that eliminates 80 per cent of the labour-intensive activities in bunch picking.

Entrepreneurs like Rob Watkins help Queensland’s regional economies to grow stronger and more diverse.

Lifesavers of the air

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) was established by the Reverend John Flynn, whose dream to provide medical care to rural and remote Australians was first realised with an aeromedical flight between Cloncurry and Julia Creek (Queensland) in May 1928.

Today, the RFDS operates across Australia with a fleet of 60 aircraft and 21 regional Bases, providing a 24/7 aeromedical retrieval service, an extensive range of primary health care clinics, dental health, indigenous health, mental health and tele-health initiatives, to those either living, working, or traveling across remote Australia.

In Queensland, it delivers health care to over 90,000 people each year (290,000 Australia-wide), including over 11,000 aeromedical retrievals and patient transfers, 5000 medical clinics and 14,000 remote telemedicine consults; flying in excess of 7.8 million kilometres. Its inspirational staff continue to fulfil the Service’s mission each day delivering the ‘finest care to the furthest corner’.

Improving practices

Queenslanders are renowned for their resilience and ability to get back up no matter what Mother Nature throws our way. Set up in the wake of the 2011 summer of natural disasters, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority works to reconnect, rebuild and improve Queensland’s communities and economy.

The Authority has developed an Australian first GPS system for early and accurate information collection. The Damage Assessment and Reconstruction Monitoring system (DARMsys™) collects real time data from assessors traveling street-by-street and house-by-house through flood and cyclone-affected communities. Using hand held monitoring devices, information is sent via wi-fi to provide map-based damage data to identify where the greatest needs exist. The Authority is a leading example of Queenslanders working collaboratively to build their communities and translate innovative ideas into action.