Mayoral Minute: August 2024

Published on 04 September 2024

Following is Mayor Peta MacRae's Mayoral Minute, from Council's August Ordinary Meeting held on Wednesday, August 28, 2024:

Recently, The North West Weekly newspaper ran a story about the delay in the announcement of the $20 million funding from the Mount Isa Transition Fund.

While that funding was celebrated upon its announcement, it has become clear, through our Economic Development Plan, that it is not going to be nearly enough.

And with the holdup of the announcement, this has meant a holdup with projects – projects that may have already been started are on hold, so as to remain eligible for funding.

Despite not being in a marginal seat, what we need from the State Government is support like that received by Rio Tinto to keep 1000 jobs in Gladstone – tax dollars used to strike a deal that is commercial-in-confidence but has been confirmed to be well in excess of $300 million.

It makes our community feel very undervalued when only $20 million is allocated to help with the loss of 1200 jobs.

Let me reiterate – the support to Rio Tinto for a job in Gladstone is worth well north of $300,000 per job, while Mount Isa jobs are worth $16,660.

Thank you, Mount Isa, for your 100 years of service to the Queensland economy.

The National Bush Summit in Townsville on August 23 highlighted the importance of the bush to both levels of government.

The North West Minerals Province is touted as being the key to decarbonisation and will continue to be seen as a cash cow by both levels of government.

Currently the Federal Government makes $800 million per year from the Mount Isa area, and the Mount Isa Diversification and Transformation Investment Strategy outlines how returning just two-and-a-half years’ worth of that revenue could secure that continued flow to the Federal Government for the next 100 years.

Mount Isa City Council has been proactive in investing in this research and strategy to make this as easy as possible for government to understand and fund.

Investment is required by both government and industry, and even if 25% of the primary projects identified in the strategy come to fruition, Mount Isa has a bright and dynamic future.

Councillor John Tully is the Deputy Chair of our Local Disaster Management Committee and he recently attended a three-day training exercise with all relevant departments.

After the last disaster season, the review by the Inspector General of Emergency Management highlighted the need for a cross-border, coordinated approach to disaster management, and this prompted the review of procedures, documents, and training.

It was a recommendation that all District Disaster Management Groups that share a border with other states or territories conduct collaborative disaster management planning and exercising. As chair, I have also been involved in this exercise.

Last week, Council’s CEO Tim Rose and I attended the MITEZ meeting in Charters Towers. From a Council perspective, it was interesting to see what other councils along the corridor are advocating for.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the smaller councils are struggling with forward planning for the economic boom that is going to be delivered by having the extra jobs in town created by the build for the CopperString 2032 project, where populations could essentially double, while we are in the trenches fighting for funding to keep the jobs we currently have.