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PR OP ER T Y
GourMay off to a flying start at festival By Erle Levey GourMay 2026 got off to a flying start with the festival day in Imbil providing a day full of food and fun. Good crowds attended on Sunday with activities focussed on Imbil’s town centre. Highlights were cooking masterclasses with chefs Matt Golinski and Peter Wolfe, as well as the everpopular Ready, Steady, Cook competition in which participants need to create a dish from produce found in the town. “It was a really good day,’’ GourMay director Malcolm Oakley said. “The best we’ve had in the three years of the festival. “The food was highly sought. The art gallery had its busiest day, as did the stall-holders at the market.’’ Festival Day was shifted to the first weekend in May this year to get the month-long celebration of food in the Mary Valley off to a fantastic start. “Other producers are coming to us wanting to be part of the festival going forward,’’ Malcolm said. Slow Food Noosa had a strong presentation about the value of fresh, healthy, local and fair food. There was a special section in which budding young chefs were catered for. Continued page 2
GourMay Mary Valley 2026 Ready, Steady Cook winner Lesa Bell. (551148)
Red Bench a call By Margie Maccoll Every day Queensland Police respond to domestic and family violence (DFV) calls in Noosa and the Sunshine Coast but with police saying it was an issue they cannot solve alone, a Red Bench was unveiled in Coolum last Friday as a permanent visible call for a community response. Coolum Police acting officer in charge Senior Sergeant Joel Bryant contacted the Red Rose Foundation, Coolum Men’s Shed and Sunshine Coast Council about a year ago to initiate the placing of a Red Bench in Coolum. “Red Rose Foundation puts these Red Bench-
es across Australia. It’s a conversation starter about stopping the violence and ending domestic and family violence in our communities,” he said. “DFV contributes to a large workload for frontline police, a significant workload, in fact. That investment is worth the investment in so far as we continue to engage with victim survivors and keep them safe. Their safety is paramount. Further to that part of our role is to ensure offenders and perpetrators of DFV are held to the totality of their offending behaviours.” Police and Emergency Services Minister Dan Purdie said Queensland Police responded to
more than 200,000 calls for service in relation to DFV last year, and required the community to stand together to create environments where violence is challenged, respect is valued and harmful behaviours are not ignored. “There’s not one agency or department that could deal with this,” he said. “DFV exists in every community. DFV thrives in silence. The Red Bench gives permission to have uncomfortable conversations. It sends a message to victims that you are not alone, this community supports you.” Speaking at the Red Bench launch Sunshine
Coast councillor Taylor Bunnag said there was no bigger issue facing us right now as a collective than ending DFV because the impact it has on our society, the impact it has on individuals was enormous. “If you look at some of the work Centrecare did last year the statistics are shocking,” he said. The figures he revealed showed 14,618 hours of DV counselling support was provided, 7070 women received DV counselling or other assistance for DV programs, and 2399 women were supported in relation to a DV incident. Continued page 4
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