2021 Mackay news: 75 of the best storytelling photos
From the tragic to the heartwarming and everything in between, here are 75 of the best photos in news this year.
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Words carried the big news throughout 2021 from the tragic to the heartwarming and everything in between.
But of course pictures had their own storytelling power.
Here are some of the best photographs from the year that was with links to the full story.
It had to be seen to be believed when a car veered across the Bruce Highway, past oncoming traffic and through a fence to land in a Mackay motel pool.
Nicholas Amos was back in the pub less than 48 hours after being shot in an alleged carjacking gone wrong.
What’s more endearing than beautiful pets? Witnessing them bring priceless joy to senior residents and Sunni the spaniel certainly does that.
A Vietnam War veteran and a passionate advocate for all those who have served, Mackay RSL sub-branch president Ken Higgins has proven no obstacle is too big to revive the town’s RSL Club.
With the Daily Mercury’s support through the Hub for our Heroes campaign, Mr Higgins has worked with ReNew Mackay and will find a home in the new waterfront development area.
One of Queensland’s top skate and wakeboarding festivals hit Mackay with athletes travelling from around the state to take part.
Victor and Andre Camilleri are the quintessential multi-generational Mackay sugar producing family but heavy November rainfalls and mill performance threatened to dampen Christmas this year.
Mackay’s Madison Jennings, 11, became an overnight hero after pulling her drowning cousin from the family pool. Listen to the incredible triple-0 call.
The victim of a vicious shark attack in the Whitsundays admitted he felt “it come up and grab onto my leg” after the beast savagely ripped chunks of his body.
Shirley Williams had many warm memories and some sage advice to share in approaching her 97th birthday in April. The Mackay community learned even more about the remarkable Mount Pleasant great grandmother when she died six months later.
It is fair to say a lot of people will spend their whole lives figuring out who they are, but for Ellie Davis, she found and fought for her identity as a female at just nine years old.
This single Walkerston mum went from feeling tired and struggling to keep up with her son to running half marathons. Read how here.
Grayson Little, who was only one when diagnosed with an extremely rare incurable genetic condition, lived out his dream when he was welcomed as a honorary junior firefighter.
Killed construction worker Brendan Moreland gifted his former supervisor an orchid before he died, serving as a beautiful reminder of a thoughtful and caring man taken far too soon.
About 55,000 kilograms of strawberries would have walked off Margaret Ballantyne’s farm when the season ended earlier this year.
Residents fed up with youth offenders “getting off with a slap of the hand” rallied to demand an overhaul of the justice system, not long after police probed the suspected fatal overdose of a 15 year old.
When a customer requested everything in the bottle-o, Jack Bennett thought nothing of it. Then he spotted the tyre iron.
Dust flew high as did the cowboys as competitors from across Australia hit the Bull Pit Bull Bash for the first ever rodeo at Midge Point.
Torres Strait Islander Patrick Thaiday has danced across the stages of Paris, but his love of dance started in a Mackay backyard.
A specially-built 17m catamaran unlocked the heydays of Mackay tourism by offering escapes to island secrets.
A Mackay university student created a transformative dance piece posing the question – what is art?
A failed petition had a group of Mackay residents asking if their safety rated highly enough as council denied their request for a new right-turn lane.
King George II banned kilts after the doomed Battle of Culloden but three centuries later they were back along Mackay’s Bluewater Quay.
A Mackay mum-of-six fighting Stage 3 breast cancer was “overwhelmed” with love as family, friends took part in a fun run raising vital funds for research.
There was plenty of action on the fields and pitches as the winter sports finals heated up. Check out more than 60 photos.
A Mackay school became the wild, wild west as students were kitted up in a poncho, cowboy hat and holstered bananas to create a comedy with an Oscar-winning cinematographer.
Mackay outdoor council employees fed up with being outvoted in the workplace held a strike to demand better pay and conditions.
Erakala residents called for a reduced speed limit on a dangerous stretch of rural road where a horror crash claimed a man’s life.
Roland Mooney woke up to a car alarm screaming in early hours as a vehicle was torched behind his Blacks Beach home.
Ladies and gents were dressed in their finest for what was considered one of the biggest events on the Mackay social calendar in 2021.
Days after being reduced to tears while walking through the wreckage of the Wests Leagues Club he had poured his heart and soul into for a decade, Kingsley Theiber was back smiling and laughing with patrons.
Holding a gold medal gives everyone goosebumps, and the junior swimmers at a Mackay pool were lucky enough to experience that when an Olympic champion visited.
A sunbather who was allegedly stabbed multiple times in a random attack as she lay on Blacks Beach screamed “I don’t want to die” as two tradies ran to her aid.
Iranian born but Australian proud, Dr Farima Abedi was excited about the future her family could build in the sugar city.
There was plenty of colour and fun in a weekend of musical theatre and drama at the 2021 Mackay Eisteddfod.
Meet little Ahrabella Aldave – she was the first baby born in Mackay for 2021.
Zombies and hunters of the undead swarmed Mackay’s CBD to raise funds and support for Autism Queensland.
A rainbow sea of interactive neon wire sculptures that change shape, a network of ropes awaiting inspiration to come to life and a flexible, interactive music installation transformed the Bluewater Trail in for DBCT Illuminate 2021.
Cider with bursts of citrus from finger limes and a Turkish delight liqueur cocktail with fairy floss provided the perfect precursor to a six-course meal from celebrity chef Matt Golinski at the St Lawrence Wetlands Weekend.
The Cairns community rallied around the family of loving husband, father and well-respected cricket coach. Steve Argoon, who died in a freak boating accident at Kinchant Dam.
After this Mackay mum of two “lost control” of her good food habits during Covid and on maternity leave, she decided to shake things up.
The driver linked to Nilly Mooney’s death has been called ‘morally reprehensible’ but the judge raised concerns about the penalty handed down.
Two Bowen men were on their way home from Moranbah when their Nissan dual-cab ute and a diesel tanker collided on the Peak Downs Highway.
The 18-year-old passenger, Ethan Dursnford, in the severely damaged ute died at the scene.
Mackay readers chose their cutest baby for 2021 and he was a farm baby through and through, trying to steer the tractor before he could walk.
The boys and girls from Mackay’s Queensland Fire and Emergency Service put down their hoses and slipped into their togs for a 60km swim raising money for Movember
A grandfather with a disability alleges he was treated inhumanely, encouraged to euthanise his dog and forced further away from medical care in Queensland’s worsening housing crisis.
A family that has fallen head over wheels for BMX racing says their only regret is that they had not joined the sport earlier.
Chunks of hail, some almost larger than your hand, fell down across the Mackay region during a brief but fierce storm.
India’s “cricket mania” is famous around the world – but Mackay finally got its sneak peek into the colourful frenzy.
The family of Tim Mulherin gave a heartfelt tribute to the man considered one of Mackay’s fiercest advocates 12 months after he lost his battle to cancer.
Mackay’s best tattooist specialises in traditional Japanese, horror and cult styles of tattoos, a surprising choice considering he confesses he was once “sh*t scared” as a child.
There was plenty of triumph and tragedy across the age groups in Mackay’s AFL grand finals.
With an estimated $80m price tag, Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said there was only “one real chance” to get an advanced, multimillion dollar sports precinct at the city fringe right.
Burnt student desks, 400 adults singing an Indigenous welcome-to-country and an almost impossible tale spanning two continents were the crescendo to a literature-inspired week.
Funky artwork, refurbished streets and festoon lighting are the elements making Mackay ready to embrace its urban bones and activate the CBD.
A police blitz uncovered what could have been a payday many times over for opportunistic criminals with valuables on display for all to see.
Pressure was building to lift the lid over alleged mismanagement of Queensland islands with MPs accusing the state government of encouraging landbanking.
Starting in crisp white and ending in a rainbow kaleidoscope, families and their fur babies were dusted in coloured clouds for Mackay Colour Run 2021.
Track and field athletes took to the Mackay Aquatic and Recreation Centre to compete in the first Summer Series event in the region.
Family and friends of those touched by cancer walked, ran and sprinted through the Mackay Botanic Gardens to raise funds for the Cancer Council.
The first Eungella Ancient Arts and Crafts Fayre was a royal success with Vikings and families alike descending on the rainforest town.
The smoke could be seen billowing kilometres away as firefighters battled to extinguish the roaring blaze threatening to consume neighbouring properties.
In a nailbiting grand final, North Mackay secured its third consecutive premiership.
Palm weaving, denutting and de-husking of fresh coconuts, kites, art and balloons. The Sarina Beach Coconut Festival was back in earnest in 2021 after Covid shut it down last year.
Ian Farrell hurt himself at work four years ago, but because he was a casual worker, he said he was “thrown to the dogs”.
See all the photos from the 2021 Anzac Day march, parade and services including school students, veterans and more.
Plus check out the gallery from Remembrance Day commemorations.
Matt Ivory was a fun-loving, kind hearted person who enjoyed a joke and relished making others laugh. He now inspires others to run for suicide awareness and prevention.
Cancer Council Queensland reflected on 60 years of helping Mackay residents live with cancer including some quirky toilet and flamingo-themed fundraisers.
Down by as much as 15 points in the last quarter, Mackay turned around the grand final match against Cairns to snatch a memorable premiership victory. Relive the glory here.
Uplifting tunes, traditional dances and costumes from all over the world, Mackay’s Global Grooves festival was the place to be.
“As a veteran myself … the suicide numbers of friends, colleagues, acquaintances are in double figures … I no longer count,” says Mackay GP Kerry Summerscales.
An Ooralea pensioner furious after a specialist appointment request blew out to 540 days, called on hospital administrators to be more upfront on real wait times.
Musical theatre actor Samantha Dodemaide has worn Dorothy’s coveted red sparkly shoes and now she wants Mackay students to know dreams really do come true.
Australia’s oldest surviving Victoria Cross recipient, who received the award for an extraordinary act of bravery in Vietnam, has a new fight on his hands.
Originally published as 2021 Mackay news: 75 of the best storytelling photos
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