QER & our teams in Gladstone and Brisbane had a busy October supporting the Royal Flying Doctor Service’s Oceans to Outback appeal.

I recently received a phone call from the Westowe Rural Fire Service on a Sunday afternoon notifying me of a bushfire adjacent to our site…….it occurred to me that here were a group of volunteers giving up their weekend and time to help protect life and property.

There’s a good quote in the latest John Wick movie: “How you do anything, is how you do everything”. It’s true of life and I think true of running a world class operation.

While QER is not a big organization, we are committed to meeting and exceeding the same high safety standards as any mine or industrial facility in Queensland.

One of the parts of my role that I most enjoy is working with the young people who are, or hope to soon be, taking on roles in the minerals and energy industries.

Most of us have now settled in for another year, with kids excited to be back among their school friends, and mums and dads excited to be back as work (of course we are!). Sadly for many Queensland families, life will never be the same after this summer.

Apparently, the practice of celebrating New Year on 1st January started around 46BC when Julius Caesar introduced the solar calendar. “January” was named after Janus – the god of gateways and new beginnings – who had one face that looked forward and the other that looked back.

A geologist mate told the story of how a taxi driver once asked him what he did for a job. He said he was a geologist and the driver responded: “I always thought that’d be fascinating – studying the ancient Egyptians and that”. Just for the record, of course that’s not what geologists do.

As you might know, QER has a Visitors Centre at our Yarwun Technology Demonstration facility. One of the parts of my job that I really enjoy is sharing QER’s story with the visitors from the Gladstone community and from all around Australia.