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What a fight By Ron Lane In what must be classed as one of Australia’s finest international wins in amateur boxing, local Impact boxer Ciara Storch has won the gold medal in the prestigious 2025 USA Open International in Pueblo, Colorado. Traveling with the Australian team and fighting under the guidance of her home coach and Boxing Australia’s Head Coach for this tour, Mark Evans, she faced a tough opponent from Canada, narrowly losing the first round 3-2 on the judge’s scorecards. However following a strong pep talk from Coach Mark Evans, which had her fired up, Ciara came back determined taking the second round and setting everything up for a decisive third. With everything on the line, Ciara delivered a world-class performance, dominating her opponent to win the final round (65kg division) unanimously, thus gaining for her the title -- USA Elite Women’s Champion. “This is a massive achievement, and to do it here in the USA makes it even more credible,” head coach Mark Evans said. “I am so proud of this kid and how far she’s come.” This gold medal adds to Ciara’s already impressive record: complementing the bronze she won at the World Championships, at the very same venue last November. It is obvious that from the report tabled by Coach Mark Evans, that, with teams currently competing across Switzerland, Belgium, Lithuania and the USA, “Exciting times lie ahead for Boxing Australia.” Continued page 34
Boxing Australia head coach Mark Evans and gold medal winning boxer Ciara Storch. (Supplied)
Crisis worsening Data released from Anglicare Southern Queensland’s (ASQ) 2025 Rental Affordability Snapshot this week confirms the stark reality of the region’s housing crisis, with nearly zero affordable and appropriate rental properties available on the Sunshine Coast for people on income support. Since 2010, Anglicare Australia and a network of state and regional partners have conducted the annual Rental Affordability Snapshot. The 2025 data was captured by ASQ on all rental properties available across the region over the weekend of
16-17 March. Of the 732 rental properties available in the Sunshine Coast, only 2 (0.3percent) were affordable and appropriate for households on income support, only 7 (0.1 percent) were affordable and appropriate for those on minimum wage, and across all household categories median rent on the Sunshine Coast for a couple on minimum wage with two children doesn’t fall below 44 per cent of household income. The study found a single adult on youth allowance on the Sunshine Coast would need to pay 134 per cent of their income in rent, and both a
single parent on minimum wage and a couple on an age pension would spend 55 per cent of their income on rent. ASQ reports on rental affordability in a region encompassing the lower third of Queensland, stretching from the Queensland–New South Wales border, north to Bundaberg, and west to the Northern Territory border. This year’s report shows regions across Southern Queensland in crisis with rents on par with Melbourne and Sydney. Across the 8,646 rental listings surveyed, only 0.5 per cent were affordable and appropriate for
those on income support. For those on minimum wage, there wasn’t much choice either, with the number of affordable rental properties sitting at 7.7 per cent. Anglicare Southern Queensland CEO Sue Cooke said it was disappointing to see no real improvement – in fact, deterioration – in the overall rental affordability data in the past 12 months. “The lack of safe, affordable and appropriate housing is not just a housing issue - it’s a community issue and it’s one that becomes a greater problem each year,” Ms Cooke said. Continued page 3
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