Far North Queensland pubs help raise $300,000 for West Queensland flood victims

In a statewide ‘Beer for a Bushie’ fundraising campaign Far North pubs were quick to help fellow Queenslanders devastated by their worst flood event in 50 years

Great Northern General Manager Ian Giles donated 500 kegs to the statewide fundraiser. Picture: Supplied

Far North Queenslanders sank schooners for a cause recently, with pubs across the region raising thousands for the state’s flood-devastated west.

Fifteen Far North pubs signed up to The Great Shout, a statewide funding event which has raised about $300,000 for agricultural charity Rural Aid.

Great Northern Brewing Company donated 500 kegs of their centrepiece Super Crisp lager to 200 Queensland venues between May 2-5, with a portion of all Super Crisp sales over the weekend contributing to The Great Shout fundraiser.

Great Northern Brewery. Picture: Supplied

The money raised during the campaign will be used to support West Queensland farmers and graziers, who were ravaged by their worst flooding event in 50 years in March 2025.

Rural Aid said the funds would be spent on hay deliveries for livestock, direct financial relief for impacted farmers and ongoing mental health support for the devastated community.

Great Northern general manager Ian Giles said venue owners in Far North Queensland were “very quick” to sign up to the major fundraising event.

“The people from up here are always more than willing to help fellow Queenslanders when things are tough,” Mr Giles said.

“It’s great to have a number of local pubs committing to help farmers through a very trying time.”

Great Northern General Manager Ian Giles. Picture: Supplied

Cairns hotel company Sun Tourism operations manager Michael Hasler was delighted to sign up five of his Queensland venues to the cause, including The Rattle and Hum and The Crown Hotel in Cairns.

“We raised around $1200 per venue, so we donated $6000 overall to Rural Aid,” Mr Hasler said.

“It was a busy weekend across all our Far North venues, it was a huge success.

“Being in this region we’ve seen the damage that flooding can do first-hand, so for us it was a no-brainer to help out our fellow Queenslanders in the west.”

Originally published as Far North Queensland pubs help raise $300,000 for West Queensland flood victims