MOUNT Isas crime rate was raised as a 1995 election issue by Liberal party leader Santo Santoro saying the city needed additional policing resources. Mount Isa police established a committee of community representatives to help police identify problem areas and better deal with crime in the area.
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Mount Isa City Council made an unexpected decision to remove the fountain from in front of the Civic Centre. The plan was to turn the area into a garden.
CRAs Century zinc deposit was in the news in 1995. Though the mine did not start producing ore until 1997, the national Native Title Tribunal had to make a judgement on a land claim, and rejected it. Later in the year Century Zinc Ltd announced Mount Isa contractors would be used to provide services at the mine site.
The news was not so good for Mount Isa Mines, which was in the industrial wars for much of 1995. Early in the year 1100 tradespeople went on strike to support a winder driver who was sacked. Then AWU members went out after losing their annual airfares for employees. A May meeting of 2000 workers rejected the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement and began rolling stoppages. Employees were told to boycott some local businesses and 120 employees were stood down due to a lack of work. The dispute dragged on for 12 weeks before workers endorsed a draft log of claims to the company who agreed to redraft the EBA.
Stage one of the Riversleigh Fossils Interpretative Centre was opened in 1995 and there was a meeting held to discuss opening the Underground Mine as a tourist attraction.
The year 1996 opened with the story of a hero nine-month-old pup. Police held fears for the safety of two men Mount Isa men who went missing during a pig shooting trip to Martins Waterhole near Taldora Station homestead. The men survived on tadpoles until the dog found them six days later camped by a waterhole.
That year too Rotary announced it was handing over control of the Frank Aston Underground Museum to the Museum of North West Queensland.
In the Queens Birthday honours, Mount Isas police superintendent Danny Black was awarded an Australian Police Service Medal for distinguished police service.
Tyler Cottam was crowned 1996 XXXX Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo queen while Camooweals Regina Downes was charity queen.
Big falls of rain greeted the start of 1997 pushing the level of Lake Moondarra up towards 100%. Water rushed down the spillway for the first time in seven years. A total of 485mm was recorded to March 3, and north-west Queensland was declared a natural disaster area.
Mount Isa was declared a quarantine area after papaya fruit flies were found in the region. The Department of Primary Industries raised the alarm after finding them in a trap in the city.
Mount Isa businessman and Australian Transport and Energy Corridor Pty Ltd Mount Isa area co-ordinator Albert Hakfoort discussed plans for a privately funded $10 billion Melbourne to Darwin railway project via Mount Isa.
Mount Isa Mines employees expressed dissatisfaction with their employers plans to conduct random drug and alcohol testing on the lease.
Inaugural Super League champions Brisbane Broncos caused much excitement in the region when top players Allan Langer, John Plath, Michael Hancock, Gorden Tallis and Andrew Gee paid a visit.
1997 was also the year the multi-purpose recreation centre opened as did a low-security prison at the Kalkadoon Aboriginal Sobriety House (KASH) though the Concordia Club closed its doors.
The plans for Mount Isas 75th birthday in 1998 saw the return of Noomadjoo the story-telling monster originally built by the Restored Car Club 26 years earlier for the Campbell Miles festival. The name was based on an Aboriginal legend of a monster that lived in a cave near Lake Moondarra. Founders Day was held at McCoy park on February 23.
Direct flights between Mount Isa and Darwin were scrapped after National Jet ended its run servicing McArthur River Mines following a lack of commercial support and consultation between the carrier and the mines.
Cloncurry Deputy Mayor Alan Ticehurst was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the 1998 Australia Day honours for 32 years of local government service.
Crocodiles hampered recovery efforts to find the bodies of two Sydney men killed in a light plane crash near Burketown with an underwater dive instructor saying police divers were putting their own lives at risk to search for the men in the murky Leichhardt river.
Catherine Ford was named Miss Moondarra at the March Moondarra Madness. The prize from Oasis Wedding World would come in handy for Ms Ford who was getting married in three weeks time.
The arrival of gas in Mount Isa was confirmed when the 35 MW Mica Creek Power Station was converted from a coal to a gas-fired station. Queensland Premier Rob Borbidge opened the 840km Ballera-Mount Isa pipeline on April 29, 1998. A week later Transport Minister Vaughan Johnson opened a $3.9m QR rail container terminal in Cloncurry.
West St traders voiced their concern at proposals to remove parking meters which they said were a necessary evil. Curtain Country proprietor Allison Hegh said the street would be full of cars by 9am. Mayor Ron McCullough said they were trialling no parking meters for three months. However after a public meeting, council abandoned the plan.
Tony McGrady was re-elected in the June state 1998 election with 61% of the vote, down from 68%. It wasnt immediately clear which party won the election but Labor took government with the help of independents.
On October 5 Bob Katter also retained his federal seat of Kennedy despite a 13% swing against him. The National Party member admitted he was worried about the introduction of the GST, saying he would cross the floor if there was no compensation.
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