But a threat lingers over its future as the cost of living crunch deepens and visitor numbers slowly shrink.

The story begins with a group of Mount Isa Rotarians who decided to host a rodeo, even though they had never been to one before.

They wanted to celebrate Queensland’s centenary in 1959, so they built an oval at Spear Creek, and asked politician Bob Katter Senior over in Cloncurry if they could borrow some horses.

Mr Katter Snr, who chaired the Merry Muster, approved, the horses were walked across the Selwyn Range, and Mount Isa Mines willingly offered the start-up costs to get the event running.

Sixty-five years later the rodeo is anything but humble.

Rodeo organisers are expecting 25,000 people to attend the major event in two weeks, it has become incorporated, is led by a chief executive officer and a board of directors, most of whom do not live in the city, and is considered the biggest rodeo of the Southern Hemisphere.

Its organisers no longer consider it merely a rodeo, but an extended festival which brings in a high calibre of performers over the years which recently include Kasey Chambers, Jessica Mauboy, Jimmy Barnes, The Angels and Shannon Noll.

Festivities beyond the rodeo grounds during the week include a street festival, a bush poets breakfast, and the unique Mailman Express races named in honour of Aboriginal stockman Wally Mailman.

“Business of rodeo”

In recent years the rodeo committee has expanded on its name to include a prelude event, branded as the Road to Rodeo and in its initial year was held in Longreach.

Rodeo chairwoman Rowena McNally has heard all the criticisms.

A regular accusation was that Rotarians were pushed out by a corporation led by board members that did not have 4825 in their home address.

Ms McNally said changes needed to happen when the rodeo became incorporated in 2019 after being classed as a major event, and said board members were paying out of pocket for their own travel expenses to the outback city.

She said in a changing corporatised world the Rotary Club could no longer take on the insurance risk of a large-scale and dangerous event.

“It was a much more simple structure, and the legalities and legal insurance 25 years ago of running a rodeo were very, very different to what they are now,” Ms McNally said.

“And if you look at the Rotary activities across the state, no one’s doing this sort of thing.”

As the rodeo became defined as a major event it also had to meet targets such as attendance numbers, and its leadership knew after the pandemic a corporation could not rely on a singular event to operate.

“What’s the business of rodeo?” Ms McNally asked.

“Like any business you need people who’ve got financial skills … you need people who’ve got good corporate and media understanding, you need people who’ve got … the legal risk, like any board of directors.”

The postcode of directors did not matter to the chairwoman but it was important that they had a connection to Mount Isa.

And as far as organisers were concerned Rotarians are still a significant part of the rodeo organisation and volunteer base.

On social media there have been a flurry of complaints whenever the rodeo has had to make changes — but it all amounts to concerns the rodeo board no longer represents the interests of Mount Isa.

Not the least is the price of tickets: A four-day adult festival pass costs $260, while a ticket for a feature night is $99, with prices increasing up to $499 for platinum levels.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for some locals, given the Cloncurry Merry Muster held 120km east the week before is a free event.

“Out in the middle of nowhere”

Boxing troupe owner Fred Brophy has pitched his fighting tent at Mount Isa Rodeo for about 40 years.

He was “100 per cent behind” supporting the biggest rodeo in Australia, with highly professional riders coming from as far as the United States and Argentina to compete, and he believed the ticket price was good value for money because of the quality.

“And it’s out in the middle of nowhere,” Brophy said.

“A lot of people that just go out there just go to rodeo, it’s a long way to go from Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide or whatever.”

But Mr Brophy said atmosphere changed when the rodeo was moved from Kalkadoon Park on the outskirts of town, to the more centrally located Buchanan Park in 2007.

“What they sort of didn’t think about was the Aboriginal people,” Brophy said.

“When it was out at Kalkadoon, all the Aboriginals came from all around Australia, from the desert and everything from all over the border, and they had their own little tribes and they camped out in the bush.

“They had their dogs and a little fire, and every day they’d go to the rodeo and spend everything there, they didn’t have to catch a bus out there or a taxi or anything like that they had somewhere to stop.

“Now when they come into town they’ve got nowhere to stop.”

Benefit and detriment

Historian Kim-Maree Burton has for years fumed at how the rodeo had changed, believing a disconnection between the rodeo’s organisers and its community began as far back as the mid-90s.

She recently wrote a book tapping into the rodeo’s nostalgia titled Dust, Guts, Spurs, and she claimed its origins went back to that group of Rotarians who decided they should hold a rodeo like the Merry Muster, which began five years previous, to celebrate the state’s centenary.

“None of those Rotarians could ride a horse,” she said.

“They put up an arena at the oval at Spear Creek, chartered a flight and went to Cloncurry and saw their first rodeo.

“And that’s why Kalkadoon arena was so large, they didn’t know, which worked to our benefit and detriment, but it was our rodeo grounds.”

She said the rodeo continued, the grounds were soon renamed to Kalkadoon to recognise the local people, and grew to become the “largest and richest” rodeo within its sixth year, largely due to Mount Isa Mines’ goodwill.

But from the ‘90s the goodwill of the community began to be taken for granted, she said.

A rodeo of riches

Mount Isa Mayor Peta MacRae said the rodeo directly adds $7 million to the Mount Isa economy, but that this also flowed across the region as competitors and tourists spent their money along the way.

Ms MacRae said prices of the rodeo and the Merry Muster were often compared, but she considered them to be two different styles of events.

She said the rodeo board may need to consider evaluating the rodeo and its pricing, even though she believed it to be cheaper than other events of the same calibre across Queensland.

“The question of price is a difficult one,” she said.

“Major events that were heavily attended throughout Queensland that were of a similar standard were more expensive.

“However, there is a feeling of uncertainty at this time in the community due to economic conditions and I think this is what is putting pressure on local events.”

The rodeo’s relocation was politically controversial considering the complex was funded by the state and federal governments, but was maintained by the ratepayer.

In 2008 the then-Premier Anna Bligh endorsed the rodeo by saying “it remained an event run by the community”.

In the same year the son of a prominent politician, a 31-year-old realtor named Robbie Katter, first stepped into politics by being elected as a local councillor.

The State MP, and KAP leader, recalled running as part of a campaign team critical of the Buchanan Park complex.

While unaware of any support his grandfather might have offered with the rodeo’s origins, he said the event was at a point where it was a major tourist event “for better or for worse”.

And it needed to decide what it had to market to.

Mr Katter never knew why the rodeo grounds was relocated considering the lease for Kalkadoon Park was favourable, in that the lease cost $1 a year with 24 years remaining on the contract, while it had access to power and water, freely supplied by Mount Isa Mines.

“And that old site is still vacant, and still not used, they gave that land back to a private company that owns it,” Mr Katter said.

“With the movement to Buchanan Park it became more of a commercial style Americanised rodeo, which was a spectacle.

“It has been a lot more successful in attracting tourists from out of town into town, but I think it’s slowly disattached itself from the community since then.”

Queen Quest’s significance

The Queen Quest has been a significant part of the rodeo since the early days, in which contestants, the majority being women, spend the year fundraising money for their chosen charity as they compete against each other for the honour of offering buckles to the winning cowboys.

The winner is traditionally crowned at a gala ball a week before the rodeo, which was cancelled this year because there would have been a shortfall of up to $70,000 because of the shortage of ticket sales.

In 2019 rodeo ambassador Tony ‘Tonka’ Toholke was the second man to be a Queen Quest contestant and raised $100,000 for men’s mental health, which was 20 years after business identity Brett Peterson broke the mould.

Mr Toholke said it had been a struggle getting enough candidates in the past two years, as it involved a rigorous 10-month campaign that required a strong support network to fundraise.

“You’ve really got to be committed to that and it does take up a lot of time,” he said.

“It’s not just Mount Isa that benefits from the Community Quest, it’s the district, by helping out Boulia Camel Races, Julia Creek Dirt N Dust festival, Saxby, Yelvertoft (rodeos).

“All those events have relied previously on entrants to go and support them and raise money.”

Hanging your hat on it

Rural outfitter Hannah Hacon said the Mount Isa Rodeo week was a busy time for her business, so much so that she would bring in the staff out from her cattle station to help out.

Worn Out West received an influx of capital over the rodeo week, as people stocked up on their rodeo clothing, hats, and boots, and in last year’s rodeo it profited more than in previous years.

Ms Hacon was uncertain whether this growth would continue because of increasing costs of power, insurance, and rates within the city.

Over the years she observed not as many were coming in from the stations for the rodeo, but that was likely because bosses did not want to let their ringers attend all the local rodeos and campdrafts held every weekend from May.

Most of her rodeo week customers were interstate tourists.

“Ticket prices are definitely a topic that gets brought up a lot within my customer base, but I think this is a fixable issue,” Ms Hacon said.

“Like all of us in business, we have to pivot to address challenges and to meet the expectations of our clients.

“I think the rodeo committee will probably do this.”

“We love it”

Tourism and Events Queensland’s chief executive Patricia O’Callaghan, who grew up in Mount Isa and previously led Townsville Enterprise, said the rodeo was classed a major event because of its significance to the local economy and because of how many people it attracted to the city.

“Over the years the Mount Isa Rodeo has achieved these things in spades,” she said.

“Having grown up in the region, I have cherished memories of each event, and I know how significant it is for the locals.”

She said events across Australia have suffered from cost pressures, but recognised the rodeo had introduced a discounted locals-only ticket price, while the Sunday event would be a Family Day with free entry for children under 17.

“I look forward to celebrating the Rodeo’s 65th event this year and many more in the future,” she said.

Tourism and Events Qld predicted a conservative figure of “more than 17,000” attendees, while the rodeo organisers expected 8000 more.

The event was “virtual” in 2020 in the height of the pandemic, and in years since it was held during domestic and international border closures.

In 2022 it had 29,283 attendees despite a ban on overseas travel, in 2023 there was a slight drop to 29,101.

CEO Natalie Flecker has two more weeks to put together the biggest rodeo in the southern hemisphere, where 25,000 people are projected to congregate, and its an event she has worked on annually for a decade.

“We do this because we love it, we’re passionate about it,” she said.

“We want it to be the best event it can be for Mount Isa and the community of Mount Isa.

“The board is certainly not here for their self-interest.

“We love it and we’re here because we want to do the best job that we can.”