Mount Isa City Council Mayor Tony McGrady revealed his plan to The North West Star ahead of a meeting with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the Northern Queensland Economic Summit in Cairns this week.

A former Police and Corrective Services Minister for Labor, Cr McGrady believes Mount Isa needs projects that will bring new jobs to the region following the downturn in the resources sector. 

Many offenders from the North West and Gulf regions are currently housed at Townsville Correctional Facility, which has a capacity of 503.

But to assist with rehabilitation, especially for indigenous inmates, Cr McGrady said it was important to have the right support network close at hand.

 “For low to medium offenders they could come to prison here and they would be closer to family, so they would get visits, as opposed to Stewart’s Creek (Townsville), where they sometimes don’t see family for months and months,” he said.

“It (opening a prison) would be a job creation activity when you look at all the services that need to be performed.

“At the same time, we could utilise the leadership of the indigenous elders to cooperate with the department.

“They (elders) could go in and get the message across that there is a better life outside compared to what’s inside.” 

Cr McGrady expects some opposition to the idea but said it needed to be discussed publicly.

“I know there will be people objecting to it and they’re entitled to their point of view,” he said. 

“But as mayor of the city, I see it as my duty to look at alternative forms of employment.

“We’ve got to look at an alternative industry, but an industry that suits our situation here.”

Cr McGrady has already discussed the project with the Regional Development Committee –  a Federal Government body that assists in providing funding for infrastructure. He said the talks were positive.  

“Whilst they do not comment on the various proposals, there appeared to be a lot of interest by the board on the proposal,” Cr McGrady said.