Mayor's Column - Longreach Leader 24 September 2021

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This column first appeared in the Longreach Leader on Friday 24 September 2021.

Hello again. Our big month of events continues, and I’d like to start this week by offering big congratulations to the Outback Watersports Club on another successful Outback Paddle Regatta. It was great to see the event back after being cancelled last year. What’s great about the paddle regatta is that it’s unique to Longreach and the Thomson River – it wouldn’t be the same anywhere else. It’s good that we don’t have to fake our waterhole like some other towns! Council was proud to support the event, but events like this don’t happen without people in the community putting their hand up, so thank you to everyone involved.

The Councillors and I had some professional development recently with a visit from the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) and their regular Elected Members Update. It’s always a valuable session, to bring Councillors up to date on the latest developments within the local government sector. We cover the latest legislative matters, statutory and governance issues, plus give feedback on our policy and advocacy agenda. The LGAQ are a vital partner to Queensland’s 77 councils.

I had the pleasure this week of attending the official opening of the new Longreach Fire Station in Emu Street. We were joined by Minister for Police and Corrective Services and Minister for Fire and Emergency Services, Mark Ryan, for what was a great occasion. The new facility is very impressive and will no doubt be welcomed by our dedicated auxiliaries and emergency service personnel. They do a fantastic job and we’re lucky to have them.

I had the pleasure earlier this week of officiating an Australian Citizenship Ceremony for our community’s newest citizens. It was a pleasure to welcome Sadeep and Aakriti Thapa as new Australians on what was officially Australian Citizenship Day. They’ve joined us from Nepal and work at the Pioneer Home in Longreach – it was a pleasure to meet them, and an honour to officiate their citizenship ceremony.

Don’t forget the Library is running a spring colouring in competition for kids aged from 4 up to 18 years. There are first and second prizes for each category – but entries close today – so head to the library to get your entries in.

Back on events, a big thank you and good luck to everyone involved in the Longreach Cup this weekend – rounding out our big month of events. I know we’ll be welcoming many visitors to town, but it’s also a really important event on the local calendar too. I know our whole community will get behind the event.

Lastly; a reminder to keep an eye out for rates notices, which have been issued. If you haven’t received yours yet, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. Don’t leave it too late, because you can get 10% off your rates when you pay before 12 October. As always, you can pay online, or talk to us about a payment plan – simply give our team a call to discuss.

Until next time, you can find email and direct phone numbers and email addresses for me and for 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.