The North West Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils has been around for a number of years but its strategic importance is getting a new push.
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Greg Hoffman, executive officer of the North West Queensland ROC said that at the start of 2018 the group wanted to increase its ability to agitate with the federal and state governments on behalf of the councils and their communities
“They recognised as other groups had done, they too needed someone to support them on a day to day basis and that’s the role I play,” Mr Hoffman said.
Mr Hoffman is driving the implementation of NWQ ROC’s strategic plan. “It’s important given the agendas can be so big tyou focus on what your priorities are to be clear where the value proposition is and the time and money spent on promoting the issues,” he said.
“This document has been developed with the councils through a number of workshops and at our next meeting in Karumba on August 7-8 look to sign it off and that will give us some clarity around where to (prioritise), for the next little while.”
A draft document seen by the North West Star had six major themes.
They were effective political and stakeholder engagement, supporting regional and economic development, developing infrastructure, transport networks and workforce capability, protecting the environment and adapting to climate change, provision of equitable health, medical and educational services, and affordable access to the telecommunications and broadband services.
Mr Hoffman said the ROC worked in tandem with local economic development groups such as MITEZ and Gulf Savannah and did not want to duplicate what those groups were doing.
“The other issue is regional infrastructure obviously roads and rail are at the heart of that,” he said. “And pests and weeds for example, they don’t respect council boundaries so we’ll be working as a group on that.”
Mr Hoffman said good health and education services were fundamental to attracting and retaining people in the region.
“Overlaying all of these things is good telecommunications and broadband services, and we cannot grow and sustain business without them,” he said.
Mr Hoffman said they would focus over the next 12 to 24 months on what were the particular issues they would follow up on.
Mr Hoffman said he was already aware of a state government audit on all of the government-owned corporations for fibre optic capacity in the North West.
This follows a call from Queensland Chief Entrepreneur Steve Baxter for people in Mount Isa to demand access to the fibre backhaul in his visit here in April.
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.
