A record preliminary amount of $205,902 had been raised on Sunday morning, with other funds still to be finalised after more than 800 people took part in the weekend event.

“That amount is double our target for this year and a few thousand more than our highest amount previously raised,” Limestone Coast Relay For Life chairman Tim Cord-Udy said.

“It’s an amazing achievement by the 69 teams that took part, many of which raised in excess of $10,000, spending hours of their time to fight for a cancer-free future.”

Mr Cord-Udy said the entire community should celebrate the achievement.

“Every business that supported the cause, donated goods, every person who donated money, no matter how big or small should be congratulated,” he said.

The 2010 Limestone Coast Relay For Life also broke attendance records, with 180 cancer survivors and carers taking part in the opening ceremony, completing the first lap of the oval.

Community radio station 5GTR FM was also at the site, broadcasting live from the Blue Lake Sport Park.

“5GTR was our 70th team and kept us entertained and active over the full 20 hours of the Relay For Life, making the walk much easier,” Mr Cord-Udy said.

“Cancer is a long journey for so many people in our community — Relay For Life is about showing that if we stand together we can help each other, no matter how tough the task seems.”

Money raised will help the Cancer Council SA with support services, such as phone counseling, education services and accommodation, as well as research.

“This is the largest contribution made towards the Cancer Council SA via the Relay For Life from regional South Australia,” Mr Cord-Udy said.

“Everyone who took part in the event from the walkers, to the volunteers, our entertainers and visitors,  thank you so much for helping us fight back against cancer — together we can do it.”

Collingwood’s Tarkyn Lockyer. Photo courtesy of Gavin Male Design

DEPENDING on who you talk to, Saturday’s crowd at the Port Adelaide v Collingwood NAB Challenge match at Malseed Park was somewhere between 3500 and 6000 people.

Sunday’s major metropolitan newspapers in Adelaide and Melbourne both gave different figures, whilst the AFL yesterday listed 3500 as an approximate figure.

Whilst no official figures were released, the most popular ‘guestimate’ was around the 5000 mark, who – depending on which club they supported – enjoyed a Collingwood victory to the tune of 81 points.

With food and drink stalls dotted around the ground reportedly during a roaring trade throughout the afternoon, patrons enjoyed the match and the atmosphere, as well as the searing sun which took its on toll on some people, who suffered dizzy spells.

Malseed Park was presented to the Collingwood and Port Adelaide players – and visiting AFL officials – in pristine condition and vindicated the enforced absence of cricket on the ground over the last six weeks.

A curtain raiser game between the South East Academy and Glenelg Under 16s showcased the abundance of junior talent within the region, whilst at half time two Auskick games and a long bomb kicking competition also helped to keep the large crowd entertained.

The man, aged 52 and from the eastern suburb of Langwarrin, died around noon on Saturday while diving with a friend, also from Victoria, who tried to save him when he got into trouble.

Police divers retrieved his body on Sunday afternoon and investigators are still awaiting post mortem results to assist in determining the cause of death.

The incident is believed to have happened at about 32 meters below the surface in the complex cave system, possibly due to the diver’s equipment malfunctioning.

The possibility of an underlying medical condition being a factor in the death has not been ruled out.
Paramedic David Adkins said the dead man’s diving partner had noticed his friend’s distress and attempted to assist.

Mr Adkins said a brief struggle was believed to have occurred, with the deceased pulling off his mask and mouth piece and trying to access his partner’s.

“The other diver said his friend became quite aggressive, grasping at his mask and equipment,” Mr Adkins said.

“He became far too aggressive to ‘buddy breathe’ and in the end it became a matter of the other diver heading for the surface or we would have been looking for two bodies.”

The surviving diver notified emergency services and was treated for shock by paramedics at the scene before talking to police, who were notified around 12.15pm.

Circumstances are still under investigation, leading to police releasing few details, however the South Australia Police Underwater Recovery Unit members from Adelaide dived to depths of 50 metres yesterday to retrieve equipment from the sinkhole.

Cave Divers Association of Australia president Steve Trewavas said the national organisation leased the site from the landowner in the area.

He said both divers involved in the incident were cave level members of the association, with mid-level accreditation.
Kilsby Cave is classed as a sinkhole dive, theoretically being the easiest level, which Mr Trewavas said left fellow divers shocked at the tragedy.

“We use the sinkhole for beginner dives as it is easily accessed and has an open cabin area and we conduct about 1000 dives a year there,” Mr Trewavas said.

The past 40 years has seen the sinkhole become a popular diving location, given its clear water and the fact divers are able to descend up to 40 meters below the surface.

Over the period there have been few incidents reported involving death or injury, according to Mr Trewavas, with the last fatality in the region being in 1984 at Piccaninnie Ponds.

A report on the latest incident will be prepared for the Coroner.

Panax successfully applied for $7 million under round one of the Federal Government’s $50 million Geothermal Drilling Program.

Visiting the site, Mr Ferguson said South Australia offers great opportunity to develop geothermal energy technology.

“The Panax project is a pioneer in the exploitation of hot sedimentary aquifers in Australia,” he said.

“It will also test the potential of the Limestone Coast for geothermal development.

“There is potentially a resource of up to 1500MW available in this region, which importantly, is located close to existing electricity grid connections.

“Preliminary analysis by Geoscience Australia suggests that extraction of one percent of the energy from Australian geothermal sources could yield 190 million petajoules of energy. This is 26,000 times our primary power usage of 2005.

“Geothermal energy is particularly important because of its potential to supply base-load electricity to the Australian grid from a zero-carbon renewable source.

“In doing so, it meets our objectives to increase energy security by diversifying energy sources, reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions and to supply 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity by 2020 from renewable sources.”

The geothermal drilling program, with funding of $50 million, is part of the government’s $4.5 billion “Clean Energy Initiative”.

Council planning and development director Leith McEvoy said the approval was given for a 42-bed new facility at the Yahl site.

He said the current facility would be demolished and an entire new building would be built.

“It will be a state-of-the-art facility in terms of design and features,” he said.

Mr McEvoy said the plan was altered to incorporate improved energy features and designs following a request by council’s Development Assessment Panel.

He expected work to begin on the site shortly.

Heywood, which is bristling with confidence after signing three former AFL players in Brad Fuller, Courtney Johns and Mal Michael, wanted to maximise their marketing potential by playing at home in Round 1 on April 10.

West Gambier rejected a formal submission from Heywood last week so the Lions went to the WBFL instead with a second request.

But the WBFL yesterday decided against moving the game, which would have exposed further logisitcal problems with the roster further into the season.

“We gave Heywood a fair hearing, but in the interests of all member clubs, decided not to fiddle with the roster,” WBFL chief executive officer David Heard said.

Employed in the health sector, Tara McCracken said she was pleased to see negotiation towards a general partnership on health funding, but doubted if the proposal would shorten waiting times for patients.

“There are some positive aspects to the proposal and although more funding could potentially have an impact on long waiting times for surgery or in emergency wards, other factors also influence on long waiting times such as the triage system in emergency departments, which determines how urgently patients should be treated,” she said.

“Centralised service provision makes sense, but we will have to wait and see what the impact will be locally.”

Premier Mike Rann has welcomed the offer from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to reform health funding with states and territories, saying it should result in an increase in money for South Australia’s hospitals and health services.

Branding it as the biggest shake-up since Medicare in the 1980s, Mr Rudd said he wanted to sideline the states and move to a national health system run at a local level by snatching back 30pc of the states’ GST revenue and channel it into health through federal coffers.

The details of the proposal to fund 60pc of all public hospital services will be negotiated through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) process next month.

Mr Rann said he would press for a stronger partnership at the COAG on emergency departments to include adopting standards that ensure patients are treated, discharged, or admitted to a bed within four hours.

However, local residents showed less optimism than the Premier when speaking to The Border Watch.

Ken Burton questioned both Mr Rann’s optimism in gaining increased funding for the state’s hospitals and reducing waiting times in emergency departments.

“The states get funding on different levels, leaving some states with less funding; it’s going to be a matter of whether their hearts are in the right place,” he said.

“Also, I can’t see how more funding will change waiting times in the Mount Gambier Hospital’s emergency department. And will it bring more doctors to country areas?”

Scott Bennett agreed.

“Is the most funding going to go to the most populous states and are they going to equalise the pay of hospital staff in all states?” he said.

Mr Bennett said he doubted if it was a good idea for the Mount Gambier Hospital to be controlled from Canberra.

“We already have no local input in our hospital because it is controlled from Adelaide; I don’t think it we will be better off if the hospital is controlled by one level of government,” he said.

Better HARTS project officer Jo Duigan visited schools in Keith, Millicent and Mount Gambier throughout the week, and believes that up to 90pc of bikes and safety gear examined did not meet satisfactory safety standards.

“It’s a bit of an eye opener,” Ms Duigan said, pointing out that incorrect helmet fitment, loose components and flat tyres were common problems.

In a bid to educate children and parents about the correct requirements for their bikes, Better HARTS held several bike education sessions in schools across the region, showing children the correct adjustments for their bikes, and notifying parents about necessary repairs.

The concerns didn’t overshadow the main point of the week, which was to educate bike owners and encourage them to lead an active lifestyle.

Ms Duigan was pleased to see big numbers at every stop she made.

“At Keith they normally only have a handful of bikes in the bike shed; they had 60 on the day I went there,” she said.

“I think parents and kids are starting to think about getting on their bikes more and more.”

• Picture: Showing the high standard of their bicycles: Mount Gambier North Primary students Sammy Haggar, Jessica Stone, Breeanna Braithwaite and Emily Disselbach enjoyed yesterday’s Better HARTS bicycle education sessions.

The delegates from across South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales gathered in marquees outside the Civic Centre and the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre for the 19th annual tri-state aged care conference, which was held from Sunday to Tuesday.

Mount Gambier tourism manager Mae Steele said it had delivered a boost to businesses beyond the accommodation and food industries.

“They brought new dollars into town, spending on takeaway coffees, taxis, petrol,” she said.

“It doesn’t matter what sort of event is held, those who travel here to attend spend money on various things and give the city an economic boost.”

Ms Steele said the next big event to attract about the same number of visitors was planned for a roads and works conference in August.

“That will be good for business again, especially because it will be during a quiet time of the year,” she said.

The announcement was made official in Penola yesterday morning and the team will now be known as the Castec Rural Pioneers.

It has been another busy off-season for the club on and off the court, highlighted by the additions of new coach Andrew Summerville, former Adelaide 36er Matt Sutton and American import Andy Tipton.

It also parted ways with American forward Kevin Smith two weeks ago due to a lack of finances and has introduced a new board, headed by president and life member Dave Bowden.

Chris Castine, director of Wennerbom and Hoole, Casgas and Castec Rural Supplies, said the company was excited to be associated with Mount Gambier’s only national sporting team.

“We see the Pioneers as a major sporting group in the South East and we’re happy to be the major sponsor in 2010 and show our commitment to the local community,” he said.

“Our company has always supported the local rural industry and put money back into the community.”

Castine said he and his staff enjoy basketball at all levels, which helped make the decision easier for the company that has stores in Mount Gambier, Penola and Naracoorte.

“We’ve all pretty much played basketball most of our lives and we follow basketball,” he said.

“We see this as a great opportunity to support the Pioneers with their school visits and work in the community.

“Castec is pleased to support the team when they make these visits across the South East.”

On the court, the Pioneers head into the new season looking to regain respectability after a difficult two years that saw the side struggle against most teams.

But with coach Summerville working hard to put his own mark on the team, player confidence is rising and while no one is promising a championship, a return to the playoffs is a realistic goal.

One player who is looking forward to the start of the season in two weeks is American forward Andy Tipton.
Tipton, the 203cm power forward from Maryville Tennessee, has been with the team for five weeks and has adjusted well to life in Mount Gambier.

“Mount Gambier is pretty much like my home town,” he said.

“My home town has 30,000 people, so it’s easy to get adjusted too. It’s not like I was coming from a major city.”

Tipton, who worked with Summerville when he played college basketball for Chuck Benson at Carson Newman, said the decision to continue his career in Australia was an easy one.

“It was real easy,” he said.

“It was another chance to play ball and the first time I had played overseas, so it was a good opportunity.“
Tipton did take some time to adjust to the Australian game, but is now more comfortable with his teammates.

“It’s a lot different — the guys here play real physical,” he said.

“All the guys are great guys and the team is coming together.”

The Pioneers open their season with a tough road double against Frankston and Ballarat and then hit the Icehouse court for the first time on March 19 against the Hobart Chargers.