Mount Isa City Council mayor Joyce McCulloch has attacked the late notice of Friday’s FIFO hearings in Mount Isa saying it showed a “lack of respect”.
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Cr McCulloch said she read in the North West Star that Cloncurry Mayor Greg Campbell knew about the hearings on Monday but she wasn’t notified until Tuesday, just three days out from the proposed hearing.
Cr McCulloch said she got a text as she was walking into the Welcoming Babies event at 10am Tuesday and the council then had until midday Wednesday to prepare a submission to the meeting.
“We are busy people too and it is disrespecful to treat the region in such a manner,” Cr McCulloch said.
Cr McCulloch said she was forced to cancel her plans to go to Darwin on Friday and meet tourism leaders and the national tourism awards and also meet the Northern Australia Development Office.
The Mayor also noted that the committee had initially intended not to come to Mount Isa claiming they had no local submissions, a claim later denied by Cr McCulloch and Cloncurry Mayor Greg Campbell.
Council CEO Michael Kitzelmann walked councillors at Wednesday’s council meeting through what he described as “concerns” in the proposed legislation.
Mr Kitzelmann said provision stopping 100% FIFO could easily be overcome by having one staff in the regional area no matter how big the workforce.
He said the provision should be closer to 50% so that if a workforce was 2000, at least 1000 would be locally based not a minimum of one as proposed under the current legislation.
He also said the reverse onus of proof was a burden on companies so that if a local said they they were discriminated against or sacked on FIFO grounds, the burden of proof would fall on the company, which he said, goes against our legal tradition.
Cr McCulloch also told the meeting she was unhappy with the state government over the fact that the police minister was in Mount Isa on Wednesday for several events and council was not informed.
“He slipped in without notifying the local government,” she said.
A meeting was hastily arranged with councillors later Wednesday afternoon.
The FIFO hearing will be held from 1pm to 4.30pm on Friday at the Red Earth Hotel.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the public hearing as observers.
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.
