Mayor's Column - Longreach Leader 7 May 2021
This column first appeared in the Longreach Leader on Friday 7 May 2021.
Every fortnight, I seem to open this column by saying how busy things have been. Well this one’s going to take some beating, as I recap what has been an extremely eventful and consequential few weeks in the life of our region.
Firstly, a big thank you to the large crowds that gathered to commemorate ANZAC Day in our region. I’d like to acknowledge the RSL sub-branch and everyone who made the ANZAC day services possible in each of our communities. In Longreach we were joined by many tourists, and by hundreds of former Qantas staff who visited for the weekend for the ‘Red Tails to 100’ event. It was quite a contrast to the scaled back commemoration I participated in last year.
ANZAC Day capped a big week for us. We were proud to host the Board of Directors and Group Management Committee of Qantas in Longreach, and I had good discussions with CEO Alan Joyce about some of the challenges we face with our regional air services. We also played host to the boards of Tourism and Events Queensland and Outback Queensland Tourism in Longreach that week – it’s rare that these three important boards and their decision makers are in the same place at the same time, so we were honoured that they came to town to talk to us. Their visit follows on from the visit of the Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe and a successful industry round table in Longreach last month.
I also had the pleasure of opening the Longreach Showgrounds Multi-Purpose Shade Structure at the Netball Courts that weekend. We were joined for the opening by CEO of Netball Queensland Catherine Clark, and Australian Diamond and Queensland Firebird legend Demelza Fellowes, who ran coaching clinics on the day. The facility, made possible by the Queensland Government Active Community Infrastructure initiative, is a wonderful example of what can be achieved when government partners with communities. Council is proud to have partnered with The Longreach Netball Association and our Showground User Group in the preparation of the grant application, and we’re delighted to have achieved such a positive outcome for our community.
We followed up that action-packed week with our bi-annual Community Consultation Forums the following week. We enjoyed a positive round of meetings discussing community priorities in Yaraka, Isisford, Ilfracombe, and Longreach. If you missed the forums, don’t worry – you can reach out to us any time you want. My colleagues and I make our direct contact details available on the Council website, and we always encourage you to reach out to us directly if there’s anything you want to discuss.
This week we’re keeping the pace up by hosting the Premier and Ministers for a historic cabinet meeting in Longreach – something Council has been advocating for, for some time.
As host I was given the rare opportunity to deliver a briefing to cabinet meeting on regional issues. We discussed a range of subjects including the former Longreach Pastoral College facility, the skills and housing shortage we’re experiencing, and water security matters.
Among the many announcements made by the Premier during her visit, was $1.2M toward our project to replace the ageing weir on the Barcoo River at Isisford. This is a great outcome for the Isisford community and will improve their water security for decades to come.
The procession of high-powered decision makers through our region over the last few weeks is testament to Council’s ongoing advocacy on behalf of our community. It’s a role we take very seriously and we’re constantly working behind the scenes to put our region at the centre of policy and decision making where possible.
Until next time, you can find email and direct phone numbers and email addresses for me and each of my fellow Councillors on our website at longreach.qld.gov.au/elected-members. If you want to know anything at all, reach out to one of us - or contact Council directly on (07) 4658 4111 (24hrs), or email assist@longreach.qld.gov.au.