Mount Isa mayoral candidates speak at election forum

The mayoral candidates forum at Ibis Styles organised by Commerce North West attracted over 100 people but some were unhappy that questions weren’t allowed from the floor.

“We should be taking question from the floor, a lot of people think this has become a farce,” David Nunnery said.

However acting CNW president Richard Harvey said they had asked for questions to be sent in two weeks ago and as it stood the forum would take 150 to 180 minutes.

The five candidates were invited to give an opening statement in ballot order (David Fletcher, Kim-Maree Burton, Chris Boshof, Joyce McCulloch and Kim Coghlan) before they were all invited to answer 15 questions which were collated from members of the public, the media and Commerce North West.

Mr Fletcher wanted to get “back to basics.

“We want to listen, engage and be your voice,” he said.

Ms Burton said the mayor shouldn’t be a popularity contest and the mayor needed to be able to represent the city on a national and international stage.

“We have to make council more open and transparent,” she said.

Mr Boshoff said he was running on five campaign themes: water, community, infrastructure, business and tourism.

“We’ve got to make the most of Mount Isa with a big community vision,” he said.

Joyce McCulloch said she had been on council for four years and was a successful businesswoman making her well-place to help deliver prosperity to the north-west as Mount Isa mayor.

“We need a safer, healthier city with more infrastructure and investment,” she said.

Kim Coghlan also pointed to her four years on council saying she had achieved a lot in her portfolio of sport and beautification including the installation of CCTV.

“I’ve done my apprenticeship, now I’m ready for mayor,” she said,

The first two questions asked what professional positions they had held in the last five years, why they had run for mayor and what skillsets they had.

Mr Fletcher, who heads team Locals United, said he had worked with a number of infrastructure-related bodies in that time.

“The opportunity came up to run with a good team of people,” he said.

Ms Burton said she was approached about running before Christmas and believed her skills in marketing and communication would help her succeed. She also said she introduced Jump Rope for Heart to Australia in the 1980s.

Mr Boshoff said his skills were in project management, coordination.risk management and planning.

Ms McCulloch said her background was in business, retail, hospitality and events while Ms Coghlan said she had worked at the mines, studied nursing and worked at the maternity hospital for 10 years and later was involved in real estate.

On spending priorities, Ms McCulloch said the budget was tight and they needed to be careful with spending when the city relied on a small amount of ratepayers. She also called for an economic development officer whom she said would pay for itself many times over.

Ms Coghlan said they needed a “crystal ball” to forecast spending but acknowledged ratepayers were doing it tough and council needed to look at spending versus cost and examine the budget line by line.

The candidates from outside council said they would need to be elected first before looking at what the priorities could be.

All the candidates supported council buying locally but not at the expense of ratepayers getting ripped off.

Ms Burton said the whole community had to be proactive and buy local instead of just shopping online.

There was cautious support for the correctional facility but Mr Boshoff said he’d prefer to see money spend on prevention rather than cure.

Ms McCulloch and Ms Coghlan both said more community consultation was needed.

On water, Mr Boshoff surprisingly did not bring up his plan to dam the river but said leakage was costing the council millions. He also wanted to incorporate the Mount Isa Water Board within council. Ms McCullogh said ratepayers were paying for water and needed more flexibility about when they could use it. Mr Fletcher said the infrastructure was old and needed replacing.

On supporting the chamber of commerce, Ms Burton launched a vigorous attack on the chamber saying it had abandoned small business and its buy local campaign was too expensive for local businesses. Ms Coghlan wanted to seeing closer working with the chamber and council should have a representative on the committee. Mr Fletcher said he wanted council to become a “dating service” between MIETV and the chamber.

On the untapped potential of tourism, Ms Coghlan denied it was untapped saying Outback at Isa and the Overlander’s Way committee did a good job bring tourists to town. Ms Burton said the town needed to lift its game on providing customer service to tourists. Ms McCulloch said the council needed to work closely with the tourist board and the chamber but parking was an issue in town. Ms Burton asked why she didn’t do anything about parking in four years in council but Ms McCulloch said they were addressing the problem. Mr Fletcher said they needed to promote the “world-class” drive between Mount Isa and Cloncurry.

On sustainability, Mr Fletcher praised the innovative work Myuma (near Camooweal) are doing with spinifex fibres and more could be done with innovation and automation. Ms Burton said they needed to “lengthen the apron strings” between council and MIM while Mr Boshoff called for a recycling facility. Ms Coghlan said mining was still vital for town and without the mines, the town would die. She wanted to see a mining training centre here.

On Buchanan Park, Ms Coghlan said there had been a lot of work to improve the facility and the teams were working together but more needed to be done. 

On indigenous health Ms Coghlan said this was a national problem requiring coordination with government and non-government bodies.

None of the candidates were enthusiastic about a motorsports and driver training complex unless there was no cost to council.

The final question was about liveability with Mr Fletcher saying it was all about the economy. Mr Boshoff wanted more water infrastructure while Ms McCullogh wanted more family-friendly features, a more greener city and becoming a leader in innovation.