NQ mayors who travelled ‘hundreds of kms’ feel disillusioned by Bush Summit

Four mayors from North Queensland say they travelled ‘hundreds of kms’ for Bush Summit only to have no ‘meaningful’ announcements for their areas and ‘no opportunity’ to speak.

Richmond QLD mayor John Wharton, says the likes of Glencore mining and other companies will affect the artesian bore water in the shire.

Four Mayors who travelled hundreds of kilometres to attend the Bush Summit have been left disillusioned and believe there was no meaningful funding announcements to solve problems in their remote north-western communities.

While the Federal and State Governments heralded the significance of renewable energy and critical mineral supply, the mayors of areas that contain these resources said there was a disparity between claims of their areas’ importance and the funding needed to support them.

While the $5bn CopperString project updates were given at the Summit and would be significant to Mount Isa, McKinlay, Richmond and Flinders, the mayors said this was information their communities already knew.

Flinders Shire Mayor Kate Peddle

Flinders Shire Mayor Kate Peddle said she felt “honey potted” as the only new announcement made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was the $100m diverted in the Townsville City Deal to complete the Reef HQ aquarium.

Her community of Hughenden plays a signficant roles in wind generation in North Queensland.

“I think it is a bit of a slap in the face if we’ve come all this way,” Mrs Peddle said.

“Both the Prime Minister and our opposition leader have both left town, and we’re still here, hoping to try and get something for our regions with no one to talk to.

“I feel like it’s a little bit of an insult at times, that you’re platformed at this huge investment from the media, you’re the greatest person ever…and no opportunity to speak to them.”

McKinlay Mayor, Janene Fegan in Julia Creek.

McKinlay Shire mayor Janene Fegan said she loved Townsville as an important part of the region, and believed the discussions were informative.

Her shire plays a significant part of vanadium development as seven deposits of the rare earths are contained exclusively in the area, and said while relationships with the miners were entering the “honeymoon” phase, there was yet no government funding to acknowledge their importance.

“But it’s coming,” Ms Fegan said.

“I’m an optimist, not a pessimist, so we will keep pushing, and we’ll get it.”

Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae

Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae said there was no acknowledgment of her own mining city’s

challenges, which is facing the loss of 1200 mining jobs when Glencore shuts its

copper mines and concentrator next year.

“We got $20m for those 1200 jobs we’re losing and those projects haven’t even been announced yet,” Ms MacRae said.

“It’s halfway between the announcement and the closure, and nothing has started because we’re waiting to see where that $20m is being allocated.

“The North West Minerals Province is not going to have the staff that it needs to realise its potential, until we keep those workers there.

“And that $5bn (for CopperString) is not going to be a really great investment unless you spend another couple of billion to make those projects come online and keep workforce in the bush.”

Richmond QLD mayor John Wharton.

Richmond Mayor John Wharton said he would have liked the opportunity to speak and address issues, such as the significance of road and bridge funding which he said was being neglected by governments.

He was disappointed the politicians left before the network drinks were held, because it was the mayors’ best opportunity to speak directly with them.

“Every council on the corridor was hoping there might be a Federal or State announcement but there really wasn’t,” Mr Wharton said.

“And we’re not really being critical of the funding for the Reef HQ, fine, but this is not about the reef, this is Bush Summit.

“We thought it would be about the bush, but it wasn’t about the bush, it was actually politicians getting up and promoting themselves, not giving us anything,” Mr Wharton said.

“We’re disappointed because there’s things that we’re waiting on, we’re waiting on our flood damage to get announced, and flood damage is a federal and state thing.

“We’ve travelled a lot of miles to come here.”

Originally published as NQ mayors who travelled ‘hundreds of kms’ feel disillusioned by Bush Summit