Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson: ‘We won’t let nuke waste debate tarnish our town’

A proud Kimba Mayor Dean Johnson has pleaded with the rest of the state to “judge us and value us for what we are” – not for the small town’s ‘dumpy’ reputation.

Kimba is can-do central … ours is a community that gets things done. We don’t wait for a hand-up or a handout. It’s not our way.

We look after each other. There are only 1200 or so of us. While everyone pretty well knows everyone, we don’t always agree on everything.

Far from it … we are independently minded folk.

Such is the case with the imminent National Radioactive Waste Management Facility. A majority of us support its construction 25km west of town. Not all, though.

Understandably, some who don’t support it worry it will somehow define Kimba in a bad or hurtful way. It shouldn’t.

The facility will securely house low-level radioactive waste, much of it from the production of nuclear medicine, that lies in hospitals and the like throughout the nation’s cities and towns.

Already, misinformation by some outside Kimba, including Peter Goers on these pages last Sunday, creates inaccurate perceptions of Kimba, its decision to support the radioactive waste facility and the reality of what will be achieved for the entire nation in support of nuclear medicine upon which so many of us rely.

Kimba Town Council Mayor Dean Johnson. Picture: Robert Lang

Council will develop and adopt a branding strategy to try to convey accurately and honestly the essence of Kimba … who we are, what we are, what we offer, what makes us tick and all the reasons we warrant respect and interest from outside Kimba. Like any community that cares, we care about what others think of us. We want them to have the facts … all the facts.

Peter claimed Kimba wanted the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility but didn’t want to be known for it … that we “want to put lipstick on a pig”. Nothing could be further from the truth. An essential element of our branding strategy will be the facility. It soon will be another way our community contributes to the state and nation.

It is, though, but one of our many contributions, qualities and attributes. So, let’s look at Kimba … all of it.

Our town was established in 1915 and is today one of the major wheat-growing areas of South Australia and a gateway to the stunning Gawler Ranges National Park. Kimba is a quintessential country town, indeed, one of the most celebrated country towns.

The Viterra Silos at Kimba, which were painted by artist Cam Scale. Picture: Kimba Council

A 2018 Queensland University study accorded it “Australia’s Friendliest Community and Best Remote Area to Live”. It is South Australia’s reigning Agricultural Town of the Year and current KESAB Sustainable Community/Tidy Town of the Year. There are a host of other national and state awards for environmental and water management projects, art and tourism.

Like many regional communities, we’re battling to find a resident general practitioner. We’re leaving no stone unturned. We’ve invested $1m to upgrade our medical centre, we will provide free housing and we even produced a GP recruitment video that tells you a lot about us. You’ll find it on You Tube … just search “that’s our Kimba” or visit council’s website.

Kimba’s engaged and informed community holds the record for SA’s highest voter turn out in a council election – 81.02 per cent in 2018. The state average was 32.66 per cent.

Our location, halfway between Sydney and Perth on National Highway One, makes Kimba an enjoyable stopover for travellers, so much so that in 2021 our recreation reserve won the third of three consecutive Grey Nomad Gold Awards for Best Grey Nomad Council Free-stay. We are the inaugural Grey Nomad Awards Hall of Fame inductee.

In Kimba, we go out of our way to look after each other. The Kimba Our Town project won funding for the next 10 years as part of the Fay Fuller Foundation and the Australian Centre for Social Innovation‘s Our Town Project, a 10-year, place-based mental health initiative for mental health and wellbeing challenges.

We are small. We strive to punch above our weight. All we ask is that you judge us and value us for what we are, what we do and what we offer.