GKI Resort gets Significant Project Status

The redevelopment of Great Keppel Island (off Yeppoon - Rockhampton) has been given 'Significant Project Status'. The decision paves the way for a full Queensland Government assessment of the project.

'Significant Project Status' was given to the Port of Airlie project here in the Whitsundays.

Editors Note : It is believed that Wayne Kirkpatrick (ex Hamilton Island CEO) is involved in this project. The last time the Editor was on GKI was in July 2007, and the resort was abandoned several weeks later.

Image - One of the old residents on Great Keppel Island (taken by the editor 1999)
Map
Sourced from ABC News : Paul Robinson - Full Story

Grievous bodily harm in Airlie Beach, Sunday morning

Police are appealing for witnesses after a man punched a teenage boy in the face early Sunday morning breaking his jaw.

Around 00.30am two teenage boys were standing near the Rip Curl Surf Shop on Shute Harbour Road, Airlie Beach when an unknown man crossed the street and struck one of the boys in the face with a fist. The man then fled and was last seen heading down Shute Harbour Road towards Jubilee Pocket.

The 14-year-old victim received treatment at Proserpine Hospital and is to be airlifted to Townsville Base Hospital for surgery. His injuries are considered non life threatening.

The man is described as Caucasian, approximately 20 to 25-years-old, clean shaven with a medium build and short brown hair. He is approximately 188 to 198cms tall and possibly had a British or Irish accent.

Sourced from Australia.to News - Full Story

OzSail fined for stranding English divers

UPDATE: 11 January 2013: 

Apparently the owner of OzSail, Shannon Platt, is also the owner of this house featured on Channel 7 News, Thursday 3 January, 2013.

OzSail was the company that left two UK divers out on Bait Reef on 23 May 2008, an incident which is believed to have had a large influence in the drop in international visitors to the Whitsundays. 

Interest in News articles about the Whitsundays since the OzSail incident.

OzSail operates the boats:
Mandrake
Spank Me
The Avatar
The Matador

Editors Note: I now know where the 'neglect attitude' with the house originates from.



 Original Story: 22 August 2009


Local business, AP Vessells, trading as OzSail, have been ordered to pay almost $30,000 (around 15,000 UK Pounds) in fines for leaving two English tourists stranded on a Whitsundays Reef overnight.

The Proserpine Industrial Magistrates' Court yesterday fined AP Vessells, trading as OzSail for 'failing to ensure the safety of Allyson Dalton and Richard Neely'.

Dalton and Neely are two certified divers, and were amongst 20 passengers on the Pacific Star (pictured) which anchored at Bait Reef, near Hayman Island, on May 23, 2008.

A major search resulted in the succesful rescue of the couple, 19 hours after the alert was raised.

The Airlie Beach based company has been fined $25,000 (about 12,500 UK Pounds) and ordered to pay nearly $5,000 (about 2,500 UK Pounds) in costs, however no conviction was recorded. The owner, Shannon Platt, was apparently unavailable for comment.

On May 26 last year, the Adelaide Advertiser reported: 'Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Peter O'Reilly said the spectacular headlines, particularly in UK newspapers, could reaffirm Australia as the place for adventure tourism, which was a huge drawcard for the European market.'

Sourced from ABC News - Sigrid Brown - Full Story
Comments sourced from AdelaideNow / The Advertiser - Jessica Marszalek
Comments sourced from Brisbane Times - AAP

New Tourism QLD ads 'an abomination'

The Courier Mail says Australians have labelled them as "embarrassing" and an "abomination".
The New Zealand Herald says ". . . one wondering if state Premier Anna Bligh had 'lost her bananas'.
Locally, The Cairns Post says "Hey hey, we're not happy."

Image - The Monkees (the original ones) - thank you to www.monkees.com .
See the Editors Note below for some ironic info about The Monkees on this day 43 years ago.)

These are the comments about the new Tourism Queensland TV ads, starring 4 of "The Best Job in the World" contestants (the winner was Ben Southall). The four ads feature reworked lyrics of the theme to the old TV show, "The Monkees", where the line "Hey, hey we're The Monkees" has been changed to become "Hey, hey this is Queensland".

A poll of over 500 people in Cairns taken yesterday by the Cairns Post found over 3/4 of those polled gave the new ads "the thumbs down".

Tourism QLD's new TV ad campaign was launched in Cairns yesterday by Premier Anna Bligh and will begin screening nationally on Monday. The ads cost $500,000 to produce.

Not all comments we have seen about the ads are negative, and the few reponses for the positive side appear to be very enthusiastic.

View the new Tourism QLD TV ads here.

Story sourced from The Cairns Post and Courier Mail - Lee Taylor

Editors Note : On this day (28 August), in 1966, the Monkees are among a crowd of 45,000 who turn out to see the Beatles' penultimate live performance at Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium. The main reason for the Monkees' attendance is to get a taste of what their upcoming live concerts may be like. Ironically, the Monkees will never play a venue this large in their hometown.
Sourced from www.monkees.com

NZ media reports Serhani in NZ, but is he?

UPDATE 5.30am Fri 28 Aug 2009
We have been led to believe that Serhani has left Indonesia and could be in or near Brunei.
WIKIPEDIA: Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, Brunei is completely surrounded by the state of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Whitsundays Online

Many NZ media outlets are reporting today (and now 1000gmt Fri 28 Aug 2009 UK media) that 'The Fake Arab Prince', Abdelkarim Serhani, is in New Zealand, however we have been led to to believe he is still in Indonesia, or may have already moved on to a neighbouring country.

The advance "I'm coming to your town' announcement is a trick used often by Serhani to 'throw off' the authorities (and others) who wish to catch up with him. Usually it means he is heading in the opposite direction, and very soon, or has very recently done so.

In the past, Serhani said he was in Melbourne, when he was actually in Darwin. When he corresponded with this editor, he said he was in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, but we found him still in Indonesia, and then last Saturday we found him in or near Papua New Guinea.The Cairns Post / cairns.com.au confirmed Serhani was in or near PNG a few days ago.

There is also the possibility that Serhani did a 'test run' of the border between Indonesia and Malaysia in the past few days 'to test the waters'. As his passport was confiscated by QLD Police, and the French Department of Foreign Affairs also know of his antics, he has to attempt to cross a border illegally.

The timing of his correspondence with the Cairns Post / cairns.com.au usually means that he may attempt to cross into another country (probably Malaysia) today or tomorrow, or did in the past 48 hours.

The NZ media agencies reporting the story are:
Otago Daily Times, TVNZ, 3 NEWS, NZ Herald, Manawatu Standard, Sunday Star Times, The Press West Coast, The Nelson Mail, The Dominion Post and the Brisbane Times (AU).

Image from Cairns Post / Cairns.com.au

EDITORS NOTE : We are helping the Cairns Post and TVNZ with this story as well - if you would like to pass on any information to these media outlets, then we can pass it on for you anonymously, or we can put you in touch with them.

Version traduite (en français) de Abdelkarim Serhani.

Version Française
Traduction effectuée par Google
English Version



Abdelkarim Serhani - Le Fake arabes Prince - Tourisme Scammer
MISE A JOUR mercredi 26 août 2009
Cairns Post - Thomas Chamberlain: Texte complet

Accusé Conman aime la vie en cavale

Prince arabe FALSE et présumé escroc Abdelkarim Serhani, qui a fui l'Australie en liberté sous caution au cours d'une fraude 42,000 $ à Hamilton Island, vit la grande vie en arrière dans les stations d'outre-mer. - L'histoire complète
Note du rédacteur: Nous avons également reçu une information large de samedi (22 août) qui a été Serhani en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, cependant, nous ne le signalent pas que nous n'avons pas pu le confirmer.
Le ministère français des Affaires étrangères est maintenant suit également cette histoire, si Serhani aura beaucoup de mal tenter d'obtenir un passeport français à nouveau.

Whitsundays en ligne

Merci à nos informateurs en Indonésie, l'Australie et la Thaïlande, nous avons été informés que le faux prince arabe, Abdelkarim Serhani, est toujours en Indonésie, dans les environs de Bali.

Dans les deux derniers jours, il a tenté d'obtenir un formulaire de nouveau passeport au consulat français à Bali, et l'ambassade française à Jakarta. La police indonésienne a le sentiment qu'ils n'ont pas à s'intéresser à cette question car c'est une question de l'immigration, pas une question de justice.

Interpol ont demandé l'arrestation de M. Serhani par l'intermédiaire de l'une des organisations internationales de police qui sont affiliées avec Interpol, via un mandat de la police du Queensland (Australie).

Serhani tenté de convaincre cette editior (via e-mail, sous un pseudonyme, il ya presque une semaine) pour dire qu'il était un héros après avoir sauvé un enfant d'être percuté par un train: "Mohammed se promenait le long d'une ligne ferroviaire à Djeddah, en Arabie saoudite , et que l'histoire a été publiée par Al Jazeera TV. "

Nous n'avions pas utilisé cette histoire comme le représentant de l'Australie pour Al Jazeera n'a pas confirmé l'histoire, et l'email, tout en disposant d'une adresse e-mail en Belgique, est originaire d'Indonésie.

Dans la même correspondance, selon la même source que dans le mois passé, Serhani avait été au Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Sud. . . Nous croyons que cela soit aussi faux.

Si Interpol souhaite notre aide contribue à traquer M. Serhani, alors s'il vous plaît contactez-nous. Merci à tous nos informateurs pour l'envoi des mises à jour, et aussi à M. Serhani pour son faux "Hero Télégramme».

Comme vous pouvez le dire, nous faisons rapport sur une personne très, très perturbé.

Ex Hamilton Island local claims bullying at QAS

Update 7.15am Thur 27 Aug 2009
Daily Mercury - Sarah Crawford : Full Story
Image : News Ltd

QAS fine could have been better handled

QUEENSLAND Ambulance Service central region Assistant Commissioner Christopher Broomfield said an incident where trainee paramedic, Chris Roche, faced a fine for running a red light while taking a woman giving birth to hospital could have been handled better.

Chris said he was directed by an intensive care paramedic to go “Code 1” to the hospital because the “birth was imminent”. During the transfer, he ran a red light at the intersection of the Bruce Highway and Sam's Road. When he asked his manager to sort out the fine for him he was told he would have to deal with it.

Mr Broomfield said that initial response by management, “could have been done better”.

Daily Mercury - Sarah Crawford : Full Story



Updated 1.30pm Wed 26 Aug 2009
Sourced from ABC News - unknown author : Full Story

Ambulance service rejects bullying claims

Queensland's ambulance commissioner says bullying and harassment are not rife within the service.

The State Government has set up a panel to investigate complaints, amid concerns emergency service workers operate in a 'culture of fear' within the workplace.

Premier Anna Bligh told the says there is no place for bullying. She said to ABC News: "I would certainly encourage anybody who believes they've been bullied or harassed in the work place to make a formal complaint," .
Full Story


Original Story

Well respected ex Hammo resident, Security Officer and Manager of the elite 'Hammo ERT' (Hamilton Island's Emergency Response Team), Chris Roche, who left to join the Queensland Ambulance Service, has resigned from the QAS.

Chris was one of the most respected, caring, diplomatic and talented people on Hamilton Island for many, many years, but he has always dreamed (since a kid) of being a real paramedic with the Ambos, so when the opportunity to join the QAS arose a couple of years ago, Chris took up the opportunity, and many people on Hamilton Island (and past residents, guests and patients) were sorry to see Chris go.

Unfortunately, Chris (and four others in the QAS) have now had to leave the QAS due to alleged bullying. Chris' bullying commenced after he received a fine for going through a red light, while on an emergency dash to hospital, and he went over his boss' head to get the fine withdrawn.

Full story at the Daily Mercury - Sarah Crawford

Disclaimer : The editor, when living on Hamilton Island, ran into Chris, his wife Marilyn, and a very special baby, many, many times over 4 years, including sharing many flights; a medical evac; as a patient; and even as the recipient of a search at Sunset Waters in 2003. Chris is a honest, fair and caring gentleman, and his resignation from the QAS will be a big loss to them. However, maybe QAS' loss could be a Whitsundays Island's gain?

Tourism Whitsundays Massive Fraud

Whitsundays Online
Partially sourced from the Daily Mercury : Sarah Crawford - full story

This story started when this publication raised concerns about the operation of Tourism Whitsundays with the QLD Premier, Anna Bligh in May 2008, suggesting an investigation and audit of Tourism Whitsundays. Yesterday, the Financial Controller of Tourism Whitsundays was found guilty of stealing over $350,000 and was sentenced to 6 and a half years in prison.

Tourism Whitsundays Financial Controller, Susan Riley, was sentenced yesterday after pleading guilty to stealing $354,724.83 from her employer between January and September 2008, and will be eligible for parole in August, 2011.

Riley, who has a 10-year-old child, pleaded guilty to fraud. It was an ex-officio guilty plea which meant the case was fast-tracked to sentencing.

Justice Magill said after the fraud was discovered “a significant number of members chose not to renew their membership with the organisation”.

However Tourism Whitsundays membership numbers have been plummeting since 2004 (4 years before the fraud), when there were over 400 members - now there are only about half that number, representing less than 10% of businesses registered in the Whitsundays.

The CEO (Peter O'Reilly) and Board of Directors of Tourism Whitsundays created the conditions that allowed this massive fraud against the community, and they too should be held accountable.

Maybe It's Time to "Clean Out" Tourism Whitsundays and replace the board and management with an Administrator . . . the Whitsunday's Tourism industry is too important to the Whitsundays, Queensland, and Australia to be run by people with potential "conflicts of interest' and 'hidden agenda'. Where there is one bad egg . . . . .

Tourism Whitsundays should be run by State and/or Federal and Local Government appointed public servants who have no commercial ties here - that is probably the only way the majority will have any confidence in Tourism Whitsundays again.

Partially sourced from the Daily Mercury : Sarah Crawford - full story

Editors Note :
* So as we would not compromise the investigation, court proceedings and eventual conviction, we gave a promise to the QLD Premiers Department in June 2008 to not report certain facts of this story until after sentencing.
* The General Manager of the Whitsunday Times, our local paper, is also a Director of Tourism Whitsundays, however there has never been a disclaimer accompanying any TW story.

Ironic, Intentional or just Bad Layout?

Whitsundays Online

The Whitsunday Times reported this week (20 August 2009) about the 'hot topic' of the proposed new laws where 'Adult Shops' were allowed to operate.

One of the proposed zoning laws will not allow Adult Shops to operate within 200 metres of churches, schools, childcare centres, and other 'sensitive use' community facilities.

'The Hot Topic' about where Adult Shops could and could not be located, started last year in April when the Whitsunday Times reported that an Adult Shop had opened in Proserpine, 20 metres from St Catherine's Primary School.

Maybe we could also apply similar standards, ethics, and/or laws for newspapers in relation to the location of 'Adult Ads' in the vicinity of Church, Childcare, Community and School articles.

Ironically, On page 38 of the same edition of the Whitsunday Times, we have a great picture and story about the Cannonvale Public School students, and how they care and protect their 'adopted beach', Cannonvale Beach.

20mm to the left of the kiddies standing proudly in the picture are 7 'Adult Ads', informing us of Asian Dolls and Cover Girls, Busty and Bubbly Blondes, and a Super Sexy Model for hire.

Articles obtained from pages 3 and 38 of the Whitsundays Times, 20 August 2009.

Mayor 'Moscow' Brunker under investigation by CMC

Update 8.25am Monday 24 August 2009
ABC News - Murray Cornish

Mayor expects to be cleared over CMC probe
The Whitsunday Mayor Mike Brunker says the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) is being abused for political gain.
Full story at ABC News


Original Story
Sourced from News Ltd - Daryl Passmore : Full story.

Our local Mayor is being investigated by the CMC after complaints were made to the Police, and the QLD Minister for Local Government.

The investigation by the Crime and Misconduct Commission follows complaints made against Cr Mike Brunker by several people about:
Travel Expenses and Allowances,
Staff Appointments,
Links to Developers.

CMC Officers have requested Whitsunday Regional Council to hand over files as part of the inquiry.

Desley Boyle, State Minister for Local Government, confirmed to the Sunday Mail that the Department of Infrastructure and Planning had referred the matter to the CMC, and declined to comment any further.

A spokesman for the Australian Federal Police confirmed that they too had also received a complaint, but have decided that the matter is outside of their jurisdiction.

Documents obtained by The Sunday Mail show that Cr Brunker lobbied the State Government on behalf of a developer, Tony Price, who is a long-time friend and supporter of Cr Brunker. Mr Price is a director of Lagoon Gardens, which is developing a large subdivision at Proserpine.

Cr Brunker has declared an interest and left all council meetings where issues related to the firm have been discussed. But he lobbied to have some of the company's land rezoned in the regional planning scheme. Zoning on both properties was not changed by the Government.

Cr Brunker told the Sunday Mail that the complaints came from "serial pests" and "rumour-mongers". "I'm certainly welcoming the CMC to come in and clear it up once and for all," Cr Brunker said.

Whitsundays Online
Sourced from News LTD - Daryl Passmore : Full story.

Editors Note : Cr Brunker is very closely associated with 'Enterprise Whitsundays', and Tourism Whitsundays - one of Tourism Whitsundays Managers is still yet to stand trial for an alleged $200,000 + Fraud committed last year.

Sugar prices reach 28 year high

Whitsundays Online

The weakest monsoon in seven years in India (27% below average) has seen Sugar prices rise to their highest level since 1981, and likely to stay high in the months ahead.

Sugar cane production in India has fallen, as farmers over the years shifted to better-paying food crops. Production in the year ending in September is estimated to drop 40 percent to 14.8 million tons.

Sugar is currently trading at $555 a tonne (US$0.22/pound) with supplies from the world's largest grower Brazil, expected to remain under pressure as a lot of the gound is too wet to harvest and mill because of heavy rainfall in parts of the country.

The high prices for sugar are expected to continue through 2009 and early 2010.

Sourced from The Daily Star - Sohol Parvez
The Wall Street Journal - By Debiprasad Nayak and Arpan Mukherjee
Voice of America - Heda Bayron

AbdelKarim Serhani - The Fake Arab Prince - Tourism Scammer

UPDATED FRI 28 AUG 2009
Is Serhani really heading for NZ? - Click here


Original Story
NZ media reports Serhani in New Zealand


UPDATE Wednesday 26 August 2009
Cairns Post - Thomas Chamberlain : Full story

Accused conman loves life on the run

FALSE Arab prince and alleged conman Abdelkarim Serhani, who fled Australia while on bail over a $42,000 fraud at Hamilton Island, is back living the high life at resorts overseas. - full story
Editors note : We also received a tip off Saturday (22 Aug) that Serhani was in Papua New Guinea, however we did not report it as we were unable to confirm it.
The French Department of Foreign Affairs is now also following this story, so Serhani will have great difficulty trying to obtain a French passport again.

Whitsundays Online

Thanks to our informants in Indonesia, Australia and Thailand, we have been advised that the Fake Arab Prince, Abdelkarim Serhani, is still in Indonesia, in the vicinity of Bali.

In the past couple of days he has attempted to get a new passport form the French Consulate in Bali, and the French embassy in Jakarta. Indonesian Police feel that they do not have to take an interest in this matter as it is an immigration issue, not a justice issue.

Interpol have requested the arrest of Mr Serhani via any of the International Police organizations that are affiliated with Interpol, via a warrant from the Queensland Police (Australia).

Serhani attempted to convince this editior (via email, under an alias, almost a week ago) to say that he was a hero after saving a child from being hit by a train: "Mohammed was walking along a railway line in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, and that the story was published by Al Jazeera TV."

We did not run this story as the Australian Representative for Al Jazeera did not confirm the story, and the email, while with a Belgium email address, originated from Indonesia.

In the same correspondence, the source said that in the past month, Serhani had been to the Middle East and South Africa . . . we believe this to be also false.

If Interpol would like our assistance is helping track down Mr Serhani, then please contact us. Thank you to all our informants for sending in updates, and also to Mr Serhani for his fake "Hero Telegram'.

As you can tell, we are reporting on a very, very disturbed person.

Fake Prince Scammer makes video confession

This story is old and has been UPDATED - click here for the latest story published 7.00am Friday 28 Aug 2009

Whitsundays Online

Abdelkarim Serhani, the 'Fake Arab Prince', who allegedly conned Hamilton Island out of $42,000 of goods and services, has posted a video demanding the release of his alleged 'partner in crime', Japanese woman, Kimiko Miyazomo.

Serhani, a 26 year old French national, who fled Australia (without his passport) before his hearing at the Proserpine Magistrates' Court, (background), has offerred to do a "swap for Kimiko". He claims in the video that he will return to Australia and hand himself in, if Police here in Australia drop all charges against her.

As Whitsundays Online reported exclusively last month, Serhani fled Australia on a boat to a coastal village near Denpasar, where he then evaded Indonesian Customs. Before leaving the boat, he stole about $2,500 and an iPhone from the boat's captain.

Indonesian Police (with an Australian Federal Police rep.), 'staked out' Serhani's hotel in Bali just over a week ago, but he was again able to 'slip through the net'.

Interpol have been notified by Australian police about an arrest warrant for Serhani who has not appeared in court over the charges.

Some content sourced from Cairns.com.au, - Thomas Chamberlain

Shenanigans at Shute?

Updated 1100 Tuesday 25 August 2009
Sourced entirely from ABC News - Melissa Maddison - full story

Lobby group urges (Shute Harbour) Marina lease probe

Suzette Pelt from Save Our Foreshore says since the former lease expired in 1999, there have been extensions granted but without the proper consultation and scrutiny.

She says the current lease was due to expire yesterday, but understands an extension has already been granted.

Ms Pelt says the Premier needs to take a tough stand against what may be seen as unethical dealings.

A spokesman for the developer says a new lease has not been granted.

Updated 0700 Monday 10 Aug 2009

Whitsundays Online
Partially sourced fromThe Sunday Mail, Daryl Passmore - full story
Image - Laurie Mills lmills@dodo.com.au

Jeff Smith, the central Queensland regional services director for the Department of Natural Resources, was granted leave without pay to work for property development company Port Binnli in 2003.

This same state government official, who signed an approval to transfer 45ha of state land to Shute Harbour Marina Development in 1998, is now the Chief Executive of Port Binnli, which owns half of the Shute Harbour Marina Development.

One month before Mr Smith left the Department of Natural Resources in August 2003, the 45 hectare Shute Harbour lease was renewed for another seven years – and backdated to 1999. Mr Smith told the Sunday Mail yesterday that he did not recall being involved in the lease renewal.

Patricia Julien, from the Mackay Conservation Group said, "A Most Appropriate Use Study' for the best long-term use of this land, as required under the 1994 Lands Act, has never been completed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources."

Port Binnli joined the Shute Harbour project in March 2006.

Save Our Foreshore
Mackay Conservation Group
Port Binnli
Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Environment

Editors Note : Why is Mayor 'Moscow' Brunker so keen to have heavy industry in the Whitsundays, near Bowen? Is it because a Labor collegue's wife owns the land where the development is supposed to go? Chalco appears to have baulked on a Alumina refinery, and Gladstone has scored the liquid gas plant - what's next? Steel smelters?

Ben bashing - No. Exposing concerns - Yes.

There has been a lot of discussion around the world about the 'Best Job in the World' winner Ben Southall, and his lack of updates to his blog over his first month on his Telstra Next G internet and phone services.

We had been told by Tourism Queensland and Tourism Whitsundays that the main part of Ben's job will be to write a blog about his experiences in Queensland and Hamilton Island. Of course, you need a reliable internet connection to write a blog, and a reliable phone/internet connection to Twitter.

We had been assured in May this year by another Director of Tourism Whitsundays, John Nayler, in a testimonial that Ben would be getting the best and fastest wireless internet access Telstra had to offer on Telstra's marketing website at www.nowwearetalking.com.au/news/next-g-brings-breaking-news-of-hamilton-islands-caretaker-258 . The claims and the rest of the contents that were on this page were removed yesterday by Telstra.

However, within one month of starting his job as 'Island Caretaker', Ben was getting 'paid out' by the World's media for only updating his blog once every three days with headlines including:
How do you blow the 'Best Job in the World?' - Examiner
Blast for Ben Southall as his best job falls short - News Ltd
'Best Job in World' Winner Blowing It? - Fox News Chicago

Eventually, Tourism Queensland came out to defend Ben and blamed the 'poor phone or internet service' for Ben's lack of updating. Director/Chairperson of Tourism Whitsundays, Lyn Greggson, said in her regular column for the local paper last week; "And being locals, we all know there's not great internet reception out at Whitehaven Beach . . ."

Then last Saturday, Ben reveals in his Twitter that Telstra had finally fixed up his connection at home and the lack of blogs in his first month were due to his home on Hamilton Island being in a 'Telstra Black Spot'.

Unfortunately, after Telstra fixed Ben's connection, his neighbours internet speeds dropped to 100kbps/40kbps on the Telstra Next G Wireless internet connection - about 200 times slower than what Telstra Next G claims.

Poor Ben. He copped all that flak from the media, bloggers and tweeters around the world, because of bad planning and poor Telstra services. Why did our Tourism organizations let Ben 'take the fall' when it was Telstra's poor coverage "halfway up the Queensland coast and back"?

Maybe because one of Tourism Whitsundays directors, John Nayler, is in a marketing agreement with Telstra.

What a shame that a huge company like Telstra is happy to let Ben be criticized and harassed by the media and hundreds of thousands of people around the world, than 'fess up' that their coverage and services in the Whitsundays are poor.

Tourism QLD and Tourism Whitsundays should also accept the blame for poor planning. If Ben's main job is to Blog and Twitter, then he needs phone and internet services. If Ben's home was not in a Telstra Black Spot, he would have written more blogs. Whose job was it to ensure Ben had these essential services, or did our Tourism organizations just believe the hype?

Last week, Tourism Whitsundays Chairperson, Lyn Greggson, said: "The World's 'Board of Directors' has once again been on Ben Southall's case this week, with their latest criticism being not enough blogging." Ms Greggson however fails to tell us that Ben uses Telstra, or that Ben's house on Hamilton Island was in a Telstra Wireless Internet Black Spot.

Criticising the World's media and bloggers with an issue resulting from inefficient planning and a sponsors shortcomings, is not a good publicity move - what a great way of getting 'offside' with the media and putting $300 million of publicity in jeopardy.

The main priority of the 'Best Job in the World' campaign is for our tourism organizations to promote Ben and Queensland, not individuals, and not hidden agendas.

Disclaimer ; The editor is a part owner in a satellite communications company

Conflict of interest at Tourism Whitsundays / Telstra?

Whitsundays Online

In the past week, Director and Chairperson of Tourism Whitsundays, Lyn Greggson, (picture left) has claimed that the Telstra phone and internet services around the Whitsundays are poor and are the reason that the 'World's Best Job' winner was only sending blogs once every 3 days.

Yesterday, Ben Southall advised that his home on Hamilton Island was in a 'black spot', however Telstra had been there in the last day or 2 to fix it. (It looks like the work Telstra did for Ben has now severely affected his neighbours Telstra wireless connections - dropped to 100kbps/40kbps).

Queensland Tourism has also 'chipped in' to the debate saying that Telstra Wireless services around the Whitsundays had "poor mobile phone or internet access".



So why is another Director of Tourism Whitsundays, John Nayler, in a TV ad for Telstra, telling us almost the complete opposite to what Tourism Queensland and Tourism Whitsundays are claiming? Who is misleading us?

Was blaming Telstra a convenient excuse, or are the Telstra wireless services really that poor? I expect it is the latter. If that is the case, then doesn't the above ad and testimonial seem a bit ironic, and probably misleading?

Is this another case of a 'conflict of interest' within Tourism Whitsundays, or just another example of using excuses to make up for poor planning?

Surely Tourism Queensland and Tourism Whitsundays would have made sure that internet access was available from Ben's home before he moved in - blogging on the internet was supposed to be the most important part of his job . . . who advised/checked on behalf of TQ and TW that Ben's home had access to the Telstra wireless signal, or did they just believe the TV ad?


Map

Editors Note: Actually, Ben will probably get a better signal from the Optus tower on One Tree Hill (about 300m from Ben's home), or on Mt Rooper (Shute Harbour).
Disclaimer : The editor has a part interest in a satellite communications company.

Attention Hamilton Island Residents

Whitsundays Online

Update 10.00pm 1 Aug 2009 : A person in the vicinity of Ben's home who is on Telstra 3G has reported that they are getting 100kbps/40kbps - double the old dial up speeds and about 2/5 of the slowest ADSL service you can get. The speed test was done through Telstra's own speed test service.

Update 15:19 1 Aug 2009
Ben Southall just 'tweeted' the world to advise he was in a black spot, but Telstra have just rectified it.

The Chairperson of Tourism Whitsundays has 'kicked off the debate' that the Telstra 3G services on and around the Whitsundays are poor.

Telstra has been blamed by Tourism Whitsundays and Tourism Queensland, because of its "not great reception", and "poor mobile phone or internet access" for the lack of daily blog posts by Ben Southall, the winner of 'The World's Best Job'.

Ben's access to the internet is via Telstra Wireless 3G.

Telstra now provides only 3G wireless internet access on Hamilton Island as the ADSL service was pulled out around 2 years ago. Telstra have boasted about the super fast speeds and reliability you are getting over there (see the TV ad below starring another Director of Tourism Whitsundays).



Is this TV ad true? Are you getting super fast services, speeds and reliability?

Please send your comments (anonymous comments allowed) to us as we would like to hear your stories, especially as Race Week is coming up, with over 100 boats and a thousand people, with probably half of them on Telstra 3G Wireless.

History of Communications on Hamilton Island :
Communications on Hamilton Island has had a cheqeured history. When telecommunications were deregulated in Australia back in the 1990's, Telstra said it would have to have a monopoly of services on the island, otherwise the island's users (and/or the island) would have to pay more for service calls. (Gt Keppel, Lindeman and Hayman were some of the islands that remained with Telstra).

This encouraged HIE (Hamilton Island Enterprises) to look around for a telco to provide services on the island, and in 1998 they picked Nomad Telecommunications - they went bust in 2000.

Sirius Communications took over Nomad's duties and assets, and ran the telco services. In that time, Sirius installed ADSL services for the businesses and residents - they lost the contract in 2006.

In 2006, NEC took over the telco contract, and boasted in its press release that "Hamilton Island, in the Queensland Whitsundays, will undergo a dramatic technology overhaul following the announcement of a multi-million dollar deal that will see ICT solutions giant NEC transform the Island into the most technologically advanced resort in the country. The 10 year deal will see NEC provide Hamilton Island with a full suite of state-of-the-art telecommunications services and technologies with facilities like broadband, VoIP and Video on Demand, being a first ever for the popular holiday and conference destination - adding another dimension to the Whitsundays overwhelming appeal." In just 2 years, NEC were NBO'd*. (NEC was commonly known on the island as 'Never Ever Connected').

Telstra returned to Hamilton Island in 2008 - installed 3G wireless, and then decommissioned the ADSL service.

*NBO - Next Boat Out - a term used on the islands that you have to leave the island, if it was your intention to or not.

10.00pm 1 Aug 2009 A person in the vicinity of Ben's home has reported that they are getting 100kbps/40kbps on Telstra 3G wireless - double the old dial up speeds.

Disclaimer : The Editor has an interest in a satellite communications company. In 2002, for the NASA AstroBiology Conference, we installed a 11Mb wireless network around 90% of developed Hamilton Island, which made it the first island in the world where you could walk around with a laptop and be connected to the internet - this was 7 years ago. Due to concessionaire conflicts, we had to pull out our system in 2004.