Fraser Coast council launches $22,700 podcast

The Fraser Coast Regional Council’s decision to launch its own podcast about a flood event that occurred three years ago has drawn some criticism. Let us know what you think by voting in the poll:

The Fraser Coast Regional Council will spend an as yet undisclosed amount of money on its own podcast, with one of the first 11-part series focusing on Mayor George Seymour’s recollections of the 2022 floods.

The Fraser Coast Regional Council has spent $22,000 producing a podcast about the 2022 floods.

A statement released by the council the day after the podcast was launched said the first 11-part series was funded by state and federal governments’ Disaster Recovery funding.

“The What’s Your Story podcast series was delivered under Councils Better Together Community Recovery Program, which was jointly and fully funded by the Australian and Queensland governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement at a cost of $22,727 excluding GST,” a council spokesman said.

While this initial council podcast has captured stories from the 2022 floods, future, annual “limited series” podcasts would explore specific themes and communities such as LGBTQIA+ voices and young children, the council said.

Readers and Facebook followers were not overly impressed, some labelling it a “wokefest” and a “Vanity project” while others questioned the spending when they were not warned by the council in time about the devastating flash flooding of March 9 (see comments below).

Heart-wrenching stories of resilience, loss, heroism, and selfless acts from the 2022 Maryborough floods will be shared in the podcast series. Mayor George Seymour’s story is featured on Episode 7.

Mayor George Seymour said everyone was impacted in some way by the 2022 floods,”and these powerful podcasts give raw insight into what it was really like – from the heartbreak and chaos to the strength and recovery of our community”.

“Maryborough was hit hard by major flooding in early 2022, caused by intense rainfall from ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth and later a separate severe weather event in February.

“The Mary River peaked twice within a month – first in January, reaching around 10m and then again in late February, peaking at 10.3m, giving the region the worst floods they had seen in over a decade.”

Each episode will run for 20-40 minutes and share “deeply personal perspectives, highlighting the impact of the floods and the resilience of those affected”.

“Interviewees include local residents, Red Cross volunteers, business owners, a conservationist, and council staff who worked on the frontline,” Mr Seymour said.

Heart-wrenching stories of resilience, loss, heroism, and selfless acts from the 2022 Maryborough floods will be shared in the podcast series. Episode 4 features long-time Maryborough local Don Schmidt, who has lived in the region since 1955, and shares his memories of both the 1950’s flood and the 2022 disaster.

“My story features in Episode 7, where I reflect on my own experience during the disaster and my role in keeping the community informed with vital updates such as road closures and safety information.

“It was an incredibly challenging time. As we’ve seen again with the recent Hervey Bay flooding, council is committed to keeping our community safe and informed in times of disaster.

“Episode 4 features long-time Maryborough local Don Schmidt, who has lived in the region since 1955, and shares his memories of both the 1950’s flood and the 2022 disaster.

“These reflections are incredibly valuable – they not only help us learn from the disaster to better prepare for the future, but they also honour the strength of our community, and we sincerely thank everyone who generously shared their stories.”

The podcast is available on Spotify.

Extended versions of each episode can be viewed on iPads at The Story Bank in Maryborough.

“Council plans to grow its Bank of Stories by releasing a new limited-series podcast each year, with future seasons exploring specific themes and communities such as LGBTQIA+ voices, young children, and more,” the statement said.

“This podcast project is jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland Governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

“Tune in to inspiring local voices on What’s Your Story?, available now on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/51WSnqu7Lt1pU1VKRaUdrS

For more information, visit: https://storybank.ourfrasercoast.com.au/

The council was asked to share the cost of the project but had not done so at time of publication.

What our readers and followers said

Steve commented on the website under the story:

“Another “woke fest” that will achieve zero at the rate payers expense. Pay for the 100 million dollar castle you have burdened us with so the staff have a place of luxury to gaze out through the windows at the kingdom. Yet another complete waste of money on a feel good mission.”

The Masked Lapwing commented:

An undisclosed amount spent on a vanity project for the Mayor, but no money in the budget to properly maintain the roads or deal with coastal erosion.

A subscriber called “so...” said:

“Well, there was zero information on March 9 this year. Internet went down so could not access that. There were no phone updates until the house had water pouring through. I was up and about at 04:00 am and saw the storm coming, but no warnings then. It hit really badly at 06:30 am and water started entering then. I checked later. The first warning from Council was at 07:20 or so. Too late! Everything flooded! Luckily, we were able to start mopping up while it was entering. But only because I get up before dawn.

Since then, Council has started giving out warnings left right and centre for everything.”