Mayoral Minute - July 2025

Published on 23 July 2025

Since the last meeting, everyone has been extremely busy. We’ve had NAIDOC events, and I had the opportunity to attend both the NAIDOC Elders’ Luncheon and the trivia night.

My gosh, they’ve really stepped up the degree of difficulty this year. So my advice to anyone wanting to go to the trivia event next year – you need to watch all of the sporting and entertainment awards throughout the year and take notes, as Councillor Crowther and I were well out of our depth.

The MITEZ Regional Resilience Workshop was held in Richmond. The agriculture happening in that area is impressive, and it was interesting that they had two of the largest commodity exporters in the room reporting that the chickpeas being grown for export across the corridor are among the best they have seen. This ties into the biofuels workshop that was online, looking at what feedstock is readily available in the area or could be appropriate to grow.

The regional reference group for CopperString met in Charters Towers on Monday, July 21. There was an active and lively discussion about how the money for community legacy projects would be distributed across the MITEZ corridor and the criteria that would be used to evaluate the projects.

Mount Isa does not have their community legacy infrastructure developed or approved as yet; however, we have a suite of projects that are shovel-ready and fit the criteria.

We were lucky enough to get a visit from the Attorney-General yesterday, July 22. We met with the head of the Liquor Accord, and she was here to attend the ID muster [Yarn Up] held at the Civic Centre.

The Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki will be here tomorrow, July 24, and he will be going on a tour of the copper smelter with the councillors.

The Commerce North West Industry Training Program held their graduation last week, and I would like to congratulate them, the businesses involved, and all the participants. Programs like these are essential to show young people the opportunities that are available within our community, and how they can help with their career progression.

The Nationally Determined Contributions Business Round Table with Minister Chris Bowen and the United Nations Conventions on Climate Change is on next Tuesday in Canberra.

This is a terrific opportunity to be the Local Government representative and showcase that while we are a mining and industrial town, we are taking steps to become a national leader while diversifying and transitioning our economy.

We have exciting projects, such as Green Gravity and the Dugald River Solar Project, and have taken steps within our own organisation to conduct an energy audit, switch to renewables and batteries, and have thus created value for our ratepayers.

The message we’ll be sending is that, with the development of CopperString imminent, we are open for business and investment, and being at the table with companies like Fortescue and Lendlease adds credibility to what we are trying to achieve.

We will also be able to talk to how our business sector is responding to the safeguard mechanism and what steps are being taken to reduce emissions and reach targets.

If we want international Super funds and the like to invest in our area, we need to showcase the technology being developed, and how we are striving to develop in a more sustainable fashion.

We also need young people to continue to study mining, engineering, and science. All are essential if we are going to work towards decarbonisation.

It’s also crucial to speak to how our smelter fits into the Future Made in Australia agenda, and is essential to maintaining sovereign capability.

Australia must be a country that adds value to our raw resources. The work the State Government is doing through the Department of Primary Industries in relation to biofuels for cars, heavy vehicles, and aviation is extremely exciting and will benefit our area in the future.

We have secured a meeting with the Prime Minister next week as part of our Keep Our Copper campaign, so we’ll be looking forward to that.

On the community front, Councillor Doyle and I met with the Dads Group. The Man With A Pram event will be held in conjunction with Park Run on September 6, to coincide with the Father’s Day weekend. We’ll be encouraging the community to get involved with that.

The Quamby Rodeo’s this weekend, and you’ll find me in my usual spot – behind the bar. That’s on the right side of the bar, not the wrong side.

There is no doubt that this is the best time of the year to be living in our great town. The Bell and Moir Rodeo Ball, hosted by Zonta, is next weekend, and that is a sellout event, followed by our world-famous Mount Isa Mines Rodeo the weekend after.

If you have time to volunteer behind the bar, or in any other capacity, I would encourage you to get onto their website and get involved.

Reach out to Zonta or one of the other community groups, or your local sporting organisation, and see if they need a hand – because remember, if you go along and volunteer for four hours, you get free entry into the rodeo.

It’s a great way to help your community and also be involved.