Mayor's Column: Longreach Leader 20-11-2020

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Mayor Tony Rayner

A major milestone this week as our region celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of Qantas. It was an honour to mark this occasion at the Qantas Founders Museum, which itself was founded by dedicated locals who wanted to preserve the ethos of the founders of Qantas. The story of the airline, and that of the museum, demonstrates what we all know. That western Queensland – this one, small, place on earth – helps to shape confident, resilient and resourceful people, who can more than match the best in the world; in whatever they do.

As mentioned in my last column, the CEO and I were in Canberra last week to meet with several cabinet ministers. We had positive meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister and the various Ministers highlighting regional matters to government including our weirs and water security projects, tourism infrastructure, roads and transport as well as discussing Covid and regional economic recovery more generally.

It was straight back to work this week though as we had a Council Meeting in Longreach on Thursday. As always, our Council meetings are open to the public, and if you’re interested in how decisions get made I recommend you come and see us at work in the chamber. If that’s not feasible, we proudly publish our public agendas in full – we have for many years – as well as our minutes. 

Many in the community will remember the dire situation Ilfracombe was faced with in 2015, where the community came within weeks of running out of water entirely. Ever since, there’s been a sharp focus on water security in our region, and rightly so. I was therefore very pleased to be joined this week by David Littleproud for the opening of Council’s new Ilfracombe desalination/reverse osmosis plant. The plant treats water from the new bore we installed, and thanks to the new bore and the plant, today Ilfracombe has been made virtually drought-proof.

Never again will residents in Ilfracombe have to wonder where to turn for water. It’s a proud achievement for Council, but it’s an equally proud one for the community. They’ve stuck with us as we’ve negotiated the many technical and logistical challenges to get to where we are today. I’m very grateful to them for their faith in us and their patience through it all.

Council was proud to partner with Longreach Regional Enterprise this week to deliver a second Outback Business Forum, following the success of the first event in March this year. Each Outback Business Forum features an industry-leading guest presenter sharing best practice knowledge and skills, plus a local guest sharing regional insights. It’s also an opportunity for businesses to get together informally to share knowledge and support.

We managed to secure a really insightful keynote speaker in Tim McGavin. Through his company, Laguna Bay, Tim oversees more than $1 billion of managed agricultural assets on behalf of institutional investors. He spoke about his journey from Barcaldine to the boardroom - from humble beginnings in the central west to investing worldwide.

It was fascinating to hear about Tim’s experiences in product development and commercialisation within a wide range of sectors including beef, dairy, sheep, almonds, olives, vineyards, nurseries, and more. Local guest, John Hawkes, brought the house down with his stories about writing songs for Lee Kernaghan, running properties in Yaraka, operating a successful restaurant, and entertaining visitors. Hawkesy has a wealth of experience working and doing business in our region and he certainly had plenty of stories and insights to share. 

A big thank you to Tim and to Hawkesy for agreeing to take part and to Council’s CEO, Mitchell Murphy, for being an adroit Master of Ceremonies. Keep an eye out for the next Outback Business Forum in the new year, and be sure to follow Longreach Regional Enterprise for updates. 

Until next time, please don’t hesitate to contact Council directly on (07) 4658 4111 (24hrs), or email assist@longreach.qld.gov.au.  You can also find email and phone numbers for each of my fellow Councillors and I on our website at longreach.qld.gov.au/elected-members.