In early July, North Queensland Sports CEO Stephen Farrell hailed the Glencore Great Western Games a success. The games brought together 30 sports over two weekends from Mount Isa to Charters Towers along with Games ambassador swimming legend Jon Sieben. “We had our very first Cross Fit competitiion on record while the oldest athlete, 79 years, competed in the trail run receiving a bronze medal”, Mr Farrell said. The next Great Western Games will be in 2019.
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Thousands packed the dunes of the Simpson Desert for the fifth annual Birdsville Big Red Bash. Missy Higgins opened proceedings saying the stunning location was the most remote place she had evewr performed. The final day was a seven hour celebration of Lee Kernaghan’s legendary 25 year career.
More than 80 people attended the sod turning ceremony of the Northern Gas Pipeline from Tennant Creek to Mount Isa at a ceremony in Tennant Creek in July. Member for Mount Isa Robbie Katter, deputy mayor Phil Barwick and Indigenous leaders joined locals and the NT premier for the ceremony at Phillip Creek 40km from Tennant Creek where the western end compressor station will be built.
Also in July the long awaited blueprint to drive resource development and new industry in the North West Minerals Province was released. State Development Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the document would stimulate exploration investment and identifying new job-creating projects. The government said that in a sign of confidence one of the world’s biggest zinc players Teck Australia will seek out new prospects after winning exploration rights to land near Cloncurry.
At the end of the month the ALP announced its candidate for the new seat of Traeger to run against Robbie Katter. Mount Isa’s Danielle Slade had a mining background and said it was an advantage she was a newcomer to politics. “I’m not looking for a job, I’m looking for a future,” she said.
Tragic news emerged from Gregory in July when a woman and two children were killed when their car overturned and caught fire on the Wills Development Rd towards Burketown. A seven-year-old girl somehow survived the accident 40km from Gregory.
At the start of August the Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo announced it was going cashless.The Rodeo was introducing the AWOP (Another Way Of Paying) system to allow rodeogoers to pay for food, drink and merchandise by wearing a wristband pre-loaded with funds. Three kiosks would be placed around Buchanan Park to top up funds. The Rodeo said it brought it in line with other major events like the Gympie Muster and the Woodford Folk Festival.
On August 2, Cloncurry man Brent Acton was killed in a helicopter account north of town. Mr Acton was piloting a Robinson R22 for the Cloncurry Mustering Company when it crashed on Lanark Station. He was the only person aboard. Mr Acton was married with two children.
Moz Miller was named 2017 Mount Isa Rotary Rodeo Queen while Alison Gibbs was named Charity Queen while the other two entrants Caitlynd Gardner and Samantha Eaton were also feted for their fundraising efforts. The announcement was made at the Rodeo Ball at a packed out Buchanan Park exhibition centre.
Mount Isa Mines announced that its George Fisher mine would go pink for a cause for a cancer fundraising gala in September. Hosted by television celebrity and cancer survivor Kerri-Anne Kennerley “Zinc Goes Pink” would raise money for North West Queensland Breast Cancer Support Group. As a result the next Case Grande Ball has been postponed until May 2018.
Pop star Jessica Mauboy charmed the North West in her free live concert that captivated at least 6000 Mount Isans and tourists at the Isa Street Festival in Rodeo Week. People claimed every vantage point on the closed streets of the CBD with the stage set up at the corner of Rodeo Dr and Camooweal St and Mauboy’s huge following lapped it all up with the Darwin-born singer having strong ancestral connections to the Isa. The concert was a fitting end to a great night in Mount Isa. The decision to end the Friday night Mardi Gras at Buchanan Park was widely criticised but the new Wednesday night street parade was a great success.
August was a big month for free concerts in Mount Isa with Troy Cassar-Daley following Jessica Mauboy a week later. Cassar-Daley headlined a concert at Buchanan Park organised by Mount Isa Police against domestic violence. The country and western legend was joined on stage by the Mount Isa Community Ensemble (MICE) and local emergency services band The Hoax were the warm up act.
The Gulf Country Frontier Days Festival lit up Burketown in August. The festival was initially scheduled to be held in Doomadgee but had to be moved to Burketown at late notice. There were spectacular performances from Indigenous dance groups from around the world as well as Australia’s first ever Indigenous rodeo with plans to make it an annual event.
Issues with banks plagued small towns in 2017 with the ANZ announcing it was closing its Hughenden branch. A few weeks later McKinlay Shire Council had to act quickly to ensure Suncorp did not do the same with its Julia Creek branch. Initially scheduled to close in November the branch will now remain open for another 12 months.
At the end of August Bunnings announced plans for a new store in Mount Isa. The new warehouse will replace the old council works depot and storage yards at 89 West St if the development application is approved. The construction would employ 120 people with the store to employ another 70 people.
There was wedding bells for Robbie Katter and Daisy Hatfield at the start of September. The member for Mount Isa married the former ABC journalist in Brisbane in front of 170 guests at Stuartholme Chapel where Daisy went to school. The likely impending state election has delayed their honeymoon to southern Africa until next year.
In response to criticism over the high cost of air fares, Qantas announced it would introduce a discounted fares scheme for residents in Mount Isa and Cloncurry. From November 2017, Qantas will offer a variable discount of up to 30% for residents to travel between Mount Isa and Cloncurry and Brisbane and Townsville. Qantas Domestic CEO Andrew David said the economics of air travel to remote communities like Mount Isa and Cloncurry can be severely impacted by their remoteness, levels of demand and high operating costs.
In mid September Jemena turned the first sod on the Mount Isa end of their Northern Gas Pipeline to Tennant Creek. At the new Compressor Station just south of the Diamantina Power Station state development minister Dr Anthony Lynham said the project was already generating jobs and business opportunities in the North-West. “This pipeline project (has) more than 200 Queenslanders employed by Jemena to date, and 26 contracts awarded to companies in Queensland, with half of these contracts in the Mount Isa region,” Dr Lynham said.
Cloncurry enjoyed a big event in September for the C150 birthday celebrations. The Mayor’s gala luncheon got a week of celebration off to a great start and later that evening there were over 70 exhibits in a street parade that took well over an hour to do the circuit of town. Festivities went on later in the week with a gala ball attended by federal treasurer Scott Morriosn, a campdraft and the Dajarra Rodeo.
An explosion and fire at Mount Isa Mines on September 18 was not suspicious, said Mount Isa Police. The fire at the switch yards was caused by a malfunctioning transformer exploding, creating large flames and thick plumes of black smoke, visible across town. The transformer was at Pendine St substation, predominantly used to power above ground mining operations. Firefighters used continual cooling and a foam suppressant to dowse the fire after five and a half hours.
At the end of the month 91-year-old Bob Keoghan wanted to know why the town clock was silenced. Erected in 2012 when the old clock was taken down, the new clock was erected with a donation of $14,000 Mr Keoghan gave to council to maintain it. Mayor Joyce McCulloch said the chimes were stopped after hotel guests complained about the noise. Mr Keoghan called on people to lobby council to have the chimes restored.
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.
