The year 1975 started with Mount Isa dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy which destroyed Darwin on Christmas Day, 1974. Evacuees from the Territory were keeping Mount Isas car queues to capacity with people who had lost everything waiting patiently in the Mount Isa Mines holding yards for rail wagons to load them and 200 vehicles to Townsville.
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The newly opened Mount Isa Civic Centre was quickly gaining a bad reputation for violence after the Saturday night disco with bullying, bashing and rioting occurring when a 500-strong crowd was asked to go home at the end of the night.
On May 19, 1975 a stolen cattle truck driven by a drunken man caused mayhem when it crashed into a power pole near the hospital blacking out half the city. With the hospitals lifts out of order a 45-year-old patient collapsed and died of a heart attack when he tried to walk three flights of stairs.
Later that year the city elected a new council with Edna Medley becoming the citys first female deputy mayor and Franz Born becoming mayor. Mayor Borns first civic duty was to help Premier Bjelke-Petersen open the new $5 million Kmart Plaza on November 4.
The tumultuous events of the Whitlam government did not really affect the Kennedy electorate with Bob Katter Snr being re-elected for the fourth successive time in December 1975.
The 1976 summer brought the usual monsoon season to the north-west with Burketown particularly affected when 500mm of rain was dumped on the region in a week. At the time authorities were building Lake Julius and with only a skeleton wall in place it was reaching its storage capacity of 123,000 litres amid fears it might burst its banks. In March talks between federal and state representatives broke down over who would pay $30m for the dam.
Mount Isa had its moment in the political sun in early 1976 barely a month after the Dismissal election when new Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and the man he deposed Gough Whitlam were seen smiling and joking together at the airport. Their plane was refueling in the Isa as they headed to Kuala Lumpur for the funeral of Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Abdul Ruzuk.
The number of women on Mount Isa City Council increased to three on March 29, 1976 when deputy mayor Edna Medley was joined by Pat Conroy and Maire Koski in council.
The Frank Aston Museum opened its doors to the public on July 19, with the official opening performed by Astons number one fan, recently knighted chairman of Mount Isa Mines Sir James Foots. The museum under Rotary Hill held a historical record of Mount Isas past as well as an accurate insight into the North Wests future.
1976 also saw the introduction of greyhound racing to Buchanan Park.
In July 1977 Mount Isa residents turned out in droves for the first Campbell Miles Wheels of Progress Festival. Transport Minister Max Hodges officially opened the festival at Centennial Park which featured more than a million dollars worth of machinery and equipment.
That years rodeo was almost threatened by vandalism to the Kruttschnitt grounds with hooligans smashing electrical equipment and damaging childrens amusements stalls. But the show did go on with a record $35,000 to bronc riders on offer. The MIM saddle trophy went to Les Ball with 22-year-old Healy Primary School teacher Judy Compton named 1977 Rotary Rodeo Queen.
In September Wanderers beat Black Stars 21-10 to win the treble of A-grade, reserve and junior grades. There were bigger cheers still when Mount Isa beat Innisfail 18-16 in Townsville to take home the Foley Shield.
Mount Isa Nationals MP Angelo Bartoni was re-elected to state parliament despite claims of fraudulent ballots by Labor candidate Alex Pavusa.
There was controversy on January 3, 1978 when the first Aboriginal federal Senator Neville Bonner was refused service in Mount Isas Boyd Hotel with staff telling him were not allowed to serve dark people here. Hotel owner Marshall Boyd denied the claim and refused to apologise.
On January 29, two boys James Chapman and Barry Derek were drowned in the floodwaters of Suliman Creek near Dajarra as they tried to save a struggling girl from the water. The girl survived.
Operations at Queensland Phosphate Ltds Phosphate Hill near Duchess stopped in June when Acting Prime Minister Doug Anthony told 200 miners that parent company BH South did not want to continue mining due to massive freight charges and low phosphate quality.
The Speer Creek murders horrified Mount Isa in October 1978.
Stan Harris was walking his greyhounds when he found the bodies of three travellers - Karen Edwards, Gordon Twaddle and Timothy Thomson near a bush track at Spear Creek. A post mortem examination found that all three victims died from a gunshot wound to the head fired from a .22 calibre rifle but the murderer was never found.
The council opened Norm Smith Park on Daphne St in July, 1978 and Mount Isas 270m-high new lead smelter blew its first red-dyed smoke on November 16.
Mount Isa man Dave Little was named Australian Inventor of the Year on December 7 for his solar heater design.
In 1979 the nursing wing of the Laura Johnson home opened. For then 80-year-old Laura Johnson it was the realisation of a dream after fighting long battles with councils, politicians and even the prime minister to secure aged care facilities for the pioneers of the North West. Arriving in town in 1939 with husband Alan she joined many community organisations and led the Pensioners League since the end of the Second World War. She died a month later on August 10 after a fall.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
