RESIDENTS forced to pay up to $700 more for water rates this year have questioned why state government has not offered a helping hand.
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Last week Mount Isa City Council passed a budget that increased water rates by 12 per cent and required all ratepayers to pay an additional $440 levy to cover the cost of filtering toxic blue-green algae out of the water supply.
Mount Isa homeowner and expectant mother, Mary Wright, said this year’s rates increase would have a big impact on her family, which currently relies on a single income to pay the bills.
Mrs Wright said in 2011 she didn’t “bat an eyelid” about making a contribution to the federal Temporary Flood and Cyclone Reconstruction Levy to help fellow Queenslanders dealing with a disaster.
Now she says she can’t understand why the rest of the state was not pitching in to help the North West in its time of need.
“The Mount Isa community always jumps up and supports people and now when we need a little something back it seems very one-sided,” she said.
“When we paid the flood levy we didn’t even bat an eyelid – we knew it was helping people out.
“Now people really do need our help in 80 to 90 per cent of the state.”
Mrs Wright said her volunteer work at the Catholic Church exposed her to families which are close to losing their homes and livelihoods due to the wide-spread Queensland drought.
“I’ve spoken to people who have stations outside of town whose cattle are dying because they have nothing to feed them.
“That’s in our own town, not what’s going on between here and wherever.’’
Mrs Wright said rates in Mount Isa were double what she paid in Darwin, but was adamant the cost of living wouldn’t persuade her family to leave the city.
“We are the people investing in this town and we bought a house here when people were telling us it was a risky thing to do,” she said.
“We’re happy to pay the rates and if we need to pay more for water we understand that because we’re in a drought but what I’m more disappointed about it’s that the rest of the state hasn’t jumped up and down and said ‘These guys are suffering’.
“With so much richness coming from agriculture and mining that supports the state you’d think they’d want to invest back into those people giving so much.”
