Ningy Ningy Gateway Bridge Opening July 2010

In my opinion the new redcliffe - Sandgate bridge - should be named in respect of the traditional landowners.
The bridge is the gateway to the  Ningy Ningy area.
No disrespect intended to Mr Ted Smout.  A plaque and a monument to honor him, at Anzac park, perhaps.

I lived in Redcliffe for 8 years and was not impressed that the area has no information and naming of traditional sites.    When I travel back to my home town, there are signs welcoming you to the Gamillaroi area.   It would be nice to see Morton Bay council catch on to this - it can help a bit with the reconciliation and education of people that live and visit the area.

Tea tree talked about in Parliament, for its effectiveness to control spread of viruses.

In the Aromatherapy world Tea tree oil is well known for its antimicrobial properties.

 In 1923 an Australian government scientist, Dr. A. R. Penfold, conducted a study of tea tree Essential Oil and discovered it to be 12 times more potent as an antiseptic bactericide than carbolic acid (the standard at the time).

Legislative assembly 1 Dec 2005

Subjects:Health; Alternative Medicine; Diseases: Avian Influenza; Animals; Diseases: Bird Flu; Diseases Speakers: Mr Andrew Stoner 

AVIAN INFLUENZA AND TEA TREE OIL                                                       Page: 20570

Mr ANDREW STONER (Oxley—Leader of The Nationals) [6.11 p.m.]: Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a matter of great concern to all nations, including Australia. I can advise the House of an exciting proposal emanating from my electorate on the mid North Coast of New South Wales in relation to bird flu. It involves the use of tea tree oil—a proven, safe, effective and environmentally friendly microbial agent—to control the spread of viruses and possibly the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus HPAI. This proposal has come to me from the Australian tea tree oil industry, which uses a native Australian plant, Melaleuca alternifolia, to produce tea tree oil that is widely used as a topical antiseptic. It could also prove to be a useful tool for other infectious situations, including the control of bird flu.


Important clues for this application have come from research centred on the Department of Microbiology at the University of Western Australia. According to Professor Tom Riley, tea tree oil has been shown to be an antiviral agent, but until now only a limited range of viruses have been tested. If further tests show that tea tree oil can control the bird flu virus away from the test tube, it could become an important control agent for this worrying infection. Professor Riley has suggested that tea tree oil is likely to be of great benefit as a preventive measure on poultry farms and in airconditioning systems as it kills viruses such as HPAI without the need for harmful chemicals. The Australia Tea Tree Industry Association supports this proposal. In a letter dated 24 November this year the association stated:


Many Australian families, including farmers, farm workers and product manufacturing workers residing between Sydney and the Atherton Tablelands in far North Queensland are reliant on the antimicrobial efficacy of TTO being scientifically demonstrated and explained in order to achieve the full world wide potential of Australia TTO.


Our industry members do not have the reserves to raise the $2,000,000 (in the short to medium term) to fund this R & D to demonstrate TTO's potential as a control agent for the highly pathogenic avian influenza.


The flow on benefit to the Australian Tea Tree Industry from success of the proposed R&D will be significant. However, we believe it will be of less significance in comparison to the benefit that could flow to the Australian poultry industry, human health, the environment (assuming that TTO replaces chemicals as a decontaminating agent), Australia's export food and agricultural industries (boosting the substance of Australia's image of being a clean green country) and medicine in general because of increasing antibiotic resistance to drugs.


An approach has been made to the Federal Government by Mr Claude Cassegrain of Sancrox for funding to allow further research into the efficacy of tea tree oil against bird flu. The Hon. Melinda Pavey and I support this request, and have sought to arrange a meeting between Dr Roslyn Prinsley, General Manager, New Industries Australian Government, of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation [RIRDC], which is aware of the research so far; Professor Riley from the University of Western Australia; and representatives of the Federal Government.


In so doing, I ask the State Government also to support this push as this research would be invaluable to the chicken meat industry in New South Wales in the event of a pandemic and to establish this State, and indeed this nation, as a secure country for poultry, in addition to the potential for the entire mid North Coast and North Coast tea tree industry, not to mention the substantial health benefits that would flow to this State. Therefore I seek a response from the Minister for Health, the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister for Regional Development as to what assistance their departments can provide to ensure that this proposal, which has enormous potential benefit to our State and nation, gets the support it deserves.