IPWEAQ meets in Mackay
Advocating ‘jumping into life rather than standing on the edge watching’, motivational speaker Heather Swan left no one in any doubt, at the recent Annual Conference of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia Queensland (IPWEAQ), that she knew exactly what she was talking about. Setting her goal to be the first woman to base jump from K2, one of the highest Mountains in the world, Heather outlined the amazing journey she took in her endeavours to achieve this goal.
Emphasising that “the destination is never more important than the actual journey”, Heather explained the highs and lows of her own journey. First she needed to learn to bungy jump and vastly improve her fitness (which included reducing her body fat from 35 per cent to 14 per cent). She then moved on to parachuting and finally base jumping (leaping from a cliff with a parachute).
After mastering all this, it was over to the mountain climbing, carrying all the necessary equipment for this as well as the base jumping gear. After two attempts to reach the summit, it was finally bad weather and risk of avalanches that stopped the jump. However, in spite of the cost, risks and time, Heather Swan is now planning her a third attempt.
She said that the key to anything we strive for is to take full responsibility for what we are doing, to completely own the goal and commit fully to it.
“‘I want’ is an impassioned approach, whereas ‘I will’ is being empowered,” she said. Some 230 delegates attended the three day conference that backed onto IPWEAQ’s two day Works Officers conference.
“The feedback from the conference was excellent, with some of the highlights being presentations by Jim Soorley, former Lord Mayor of Brisbane City Council, and of course motivational speaker, Heather Swan,” said IPWEAQ Executive Director, Suzanna Barnes-Gillard. “We were also fortunate to have Dwayne Kalynchuk, the current President of the American Public Works Association (APWA). In his keynote address, Dwayne shared some of his Canadian experiences, which were remarkably akin to the challenges faced in Local Government in Australia.”
Technical papers presented covered the range of engineering and works related issues facing Local Government.
Gary Murphy, Manager Civil Operations at Livingstone Shire Council, and an IPWEAQ Board member, won the Geoff Wilmoth Award for the best paper presentation – ‘Capricorn Coast Integrated Development Proposal’. Gary’s Award allows him to present his paper at the INGENIUM Conference in New Zealand in 2004.
The 2003 Excellence Awards Dinner was another highlight of the IPWEAQ Conference with presentations being made to the following.
Category: Projects over $1m.
Winner: Cooloola Shire Council
– Gold City Centre, Gympie
Category: Projects over $1m.
Highly Commended: Gladstone City Council
– Effluent Reuse Scheme
Category: Projects over $1m.
Highly Commended: Dalby Town Council
– CBD Revitalisation Project
Category: Projects under $100 000
Winner: Laidley Shire Council
– Laidley Wastewater Treatment Plant
Category: Innovation
Winner: Beaudesert Shire Council
– Water Saving Innovation
Special Commendation: Tiaro Shire Council
– Local Government Team
Special Commendation: Brisbane City, Caboolture, Caloundra and Maroochy Shire Councils and Noosa Council
– Asset Design and As Constructed Data Routines.
