THAT’S a wrap for our Year 12 cohort, who last week stepped out from the relative safety of the school grounds into what is now a seriously different world, at least technologically, from the one they walked into all those years ago.
Fortunately, they all seem to possess that perfect mix of optimism and naivety that lets young people stride confidently into the future, even when it feels pretty overwhelming to an old fart like me.
This week is all about clap-outs and formals as students finally get to let their hair down. But among all the glitz and glamour, our cover story on Beerwah State High graduate Annabell MacKinney-Clohesy is a genuine standout.
As Sonia Isaacs reports, Annabell arrived at her formal in a Bushmaster armoured vehicle as a tribute to her father, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010 when she was just two years old.
With the help of Victoria Cross recipient Dan Keighran – a close friend of her family – the vehicle was organised, and Annabell made her red-carpet entrance not just in style, but with a powerful statement.
The Bushmaster led a small convoy supported by the Australian Army, which also brought along a Hawkei light armoured vehicle and the battalion mascot “Blue” to accompany her.
“This is a really special way to honour the connection with my dad. I don’t think I’d have to say anything. I would just know he’s proud of me,” Annabell told us last week, also paying tribute to her stepdad, Damien.
Nice going Annabell and all the very best from GC&M News to you and your family for the future ahead.
Catch the full story on pages 4-5, along with all our formal photos for Beerwah SHS, Maleny State High and Glasshouse Christian College, in our education feature on p19-22.
Building boom
We also report this week on community reaction to a developer’s proposal to transform an Elimbah macadamia farm into a 2.6 billion dollar entertainment city, modestly titled Infinity Planet.
There is naturally some cynicism from locals and a closer look at the development application shows they are not hollow concerns.
The precinct, which contains theme park, retail, business and tourism elements, is projected to attract up to 36,000 vehicle movements a day.
That is a staggering increase in traffic for the Bruce Highway, which regular users know is a car park in peak hour and strains regularly at other times. The long discussed Bruce Highway Alternative would eventually sit to the west of the proposed site. However, its timeline does not match the rapid development being suggested for Elimbah.
In simple terms, the pace of growth is steep, and how will the pace of investment in infrastructure able to keep up.
That imbalance is at the heart of residents’ concerns about their lifestyle, their commute and whether the community is about to be overwhelmed before the basics are in place.