Mr Morrison said it was a great pleasure to be able to visit, and congratulated the town on its anniversary.

“It’s a great thrill to be here with Greg and the whole broader Cloncurry family.”

“I feel like I can have a slight connection to that broader Cloncurry family. Because this wonderful town which started 150 years ago, 100 years ago one of my uncles, another William Gilmore, bought the Greenwoods Station and his son and his grandson went on to run that property, as they also ran Longford Station,” Mr Morrison said.

Mr Morrison said it was tremendous to see people come from all over Australia.

“There are people here tonight who have come from Bundaberg, they’ve come from Canberra, they’ve come from all over the country.”

“The tentacles of Cloncurry have reached right around Australia, and I think it’s wonderful for a community to come together like they have over the last week, and celebrate it,” he said.

Mr Morrison congratulated Cloncurry Mayor Greg Campbell and his entire team, who organised the ball and the full C150 anniversary schedule.

“It's important that communities celebrate their history. It’s important that we acknowledge incredible sacrifices that people have made for the last 150 years in Cloncurry, and for a much longer time to make our great nation.”

“Thank you all for the opportunity to come and speak to you. I’m sure my Uncle Bill and Aunty Robin would have been thrilled to be here, and to see the community coming together like it has.”

“You have got a lot to celebrate here in Cloncurry; you’ve got some great leadership, you’ve got a terrific future, and you’ve got so many achievements to celebrate.”

“I hope to get up here another time, maybe with Bob next time, or Robbie, and maybe share some stories with them. Thank you for all the stories you’ve shared with me while I’ve been up here, and I look forward to seeing you all again."

Mr Morrison also made a stop in Mount Isa while he was in the North West, visiting Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines on Wednesday, September 20.

While there, Mr Morrison said fixing the crippling domestic gas shortage was a top priority for the Federal Government.

“It is exactly these economic concerns for places like here (in Mount Isa), that we have had to put in place a gas security mechanism that enables us to protect these interests,” he said.

“When you look around this place, it is wall-to-wall national interest.”

Chief Operating Officer of Copper Assets Australia, Mike Westerman, said in addition to touring the operations they had the opportunity to discuss the importance of securing long-term, reliable and affordable baseload energy for their heavy industry assets in North Queensland.

“We’ve made significant progress towards securing long-term gas supply for our Mount Isa mine and smelter and we also acknowledge the support of the Queensland and Federal governments in moving these discussions forward,” Mr Westerman said.

“Disappointingly we have not made the same progress at our Townsville copper refinery in relation to gas supply, despite ongoing negotiations over the past 18 months.

“Townsville and Moranbah are not connected to the east coast gas pipeline network and we currently source gas for our Townsville copper refinery from the stand alone North Queensland Gas Pipeline.

“We remain hopeful of securing a long term gas supply agreement so that our copper refinery at Townsville remains a key part of North Queensland’s industrial supply chain,” he said.