QER’s main purpose in life is to make sure Australians continue to have access to reliable, affordable transport fuel into the future. There is understandably a lot of buzz about how energy will transform into the future with the development and implementation of many new and emerging technologies.

Ever wonder what it must have been like to live in the Gladstone Region before the arrival of Europeans? I recently participated in an indigenous history tour of the Mt Larcom area which provided an amazing glimpse into local indigenous history and culture.

QER once again participated in Gladstone Ecofest this year. It’s a great opportunity for local residents, community groups and industry to come together to celebrate and focus on protecting the beautiful natural environment in which we are privileged to live.

QER Gladstone featured in an episode of “Our Town” on Channel 7-2. The episode shows a number of industry and community groups, including QER, Rio Tinto, GPC and the Boyne-Tannum Hookup. It also showcases the Gladstone lifestyle which, I’ve got to say, looks fantastic.

We often hear about rehabilitation in the media: criminals leaving their wicked ways behind them; TV stars rebuilding their lives after addiction; or sports stars coming back from injury. In the mining and resources sector, rehabilitation is about restoring a healthy ecosystem after mining.

If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that QER has comprehensively demonstrated using our Paraho technology to sustainably produce high quality Australian made fuel from the kerogen ore located near Gladstone. The proposed program will investigate the processing properties and requirements of the other deposits around Central Queensland.

I recently attended the launch of Dr Kerry Blackman and Dr Lysbeth Ford’s book Colonisation …Through Black Eyes at the Gladstone Entertainment Centre. Dr Blackman is a well-known local aboriginal leader and decendant of the First Nation Meerooni-Gurang and Gooreng Gooreng peoples.

Imagine a stranger comes to your door. “Good evening” he says. “I’m from the government. We are going to be resuming your home for important government purposes. Fortunately, we will provide you with alternative accommodation in another town. We hope you enjoy your new home.”

Did you know that wombats grin? According to Jackie French – who spent years studying the mysterious creatures’ individual wombats have different personalities…some are grumpy, some are placid, others cheeky and playful.

Some people have asked me how QER’s project is affected by the current crisis. As you might know, the global oil price has halved in a month. With over three billion people locked down across the world, demand has fallen from over 100 million barrels of oil per day down to about 80 million.

It’s been an amazing, and in some ways scary, couple of weeks. A pandemic has been declared; the stock market’s crashed; the oil price has tanked; borders are closed; sporting and community events halted; even Anzac Day effectively cancelled for the first time since the Second World War.

This week I was invited to help out at the “Pit to Port” event for school students, run by Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA). There were about 60 Gladstone students from the local High schools learning about supply chain logistics with help from local industry representatives.

Last weekend my wife and I along with some good friends attended an awareness and fundraising gala for the “Restore More” organization, held at the Gladstone Entertainment Centre. “Restore More” helps educate sufferers of breast cancer about diagnosis and treatment options.

My first part time job as a teenager in Gladstone was a milk delivery run. This meant starting work at 3am in the morning, heading to the old PCD milk factory to load up with milk and dairy products and heading off to deliver around the suburbs of Gladstone.

The bushfires which have engulfed large parts of the country have made for a tragic start to the decade for many Australian communities, but as we have seen so often in the tough times, the best qualities of Australians have been on display.

As happens this time of year, the various TV channels are bringing out their “Year that Was” specials: who had a baby; who died; who got married; who got divorced; who went to war with whom; who got elected; who fell from grace…and on and on.

I was recently in touch with my American friends who were in the midst of celebrating Thanksgiving. In my humble opinion, Thanksgiving is one of the world’s best holidays. It reportedly dates back to November 1621, when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth Massachusetts to celebrate in gratitude for the harvest.

In recent weeks, we’ve witnessed the heartbreaking plight of so many Aussies as they struggle to come to terms with their losses in the bushfires. Many of those affected have toughed out a living on the land, grappling with droughts and fires and flood for years. Now, some have lost everything.

In the last “Fuel for Thought” I reflected on the amazing artistic talent that is a vibrant part of our community. I’ve since been thinking about the art and craft of our own team here at QER and the range of skills that never ceases to amaze me. Like maintaining the Storey Bridge, keeping our plant in good condition is an on-going labour of love.

Last column I talked about how Gladstone is a key player in producing the commodities which are the building blocks of our quality of life in the developed world. And one of the benefits our comfortable civilization gives us is the time and opportunity to express ourselves through the arts.