The newly minted envoy for Northern Australia started her first day on the job with a conference in Mount Isa.
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Senator Susan McDonald, who was born in Cloncurry and educated in Mount Isa, got the new role following a Nationals ministerial reshuffle on Sunday and was off and running with a speech at the MITEZ economic forum in Mount Isa on Monday and she said it was "fantastic to be in my (near) home town."
Senator McDonald said she wanted to see Northern Australia unleash to its full potential and was proud of the fact North West Queensland was built on the "perfect marriage between mining and agriculture."
"We know we can do this successfully, we are proud of our world-leading mines and our cattle stations," Senator McDonald said.
However Senator McDonald said that the north's smaller population meant it sometimes struggled to get a seat at the table to discuss its future.
She said the north would prosper if issues like water security can be resolved with critical minerals in abundance that were crucial to the world economy but would take the coordinated efforts of state, local and federal governments working together.
"This is bigger than politics, there's not enough of us to be playing politics," she said.
"This is genuinely building of the nation."
Senator McDonald said they would build on the work of Northern Australia White Paper and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund and be a strong voice in Canberra to get funding for the same standard of roads, rail, healthcare and internet connectivity enjoyed by southern Australians.
She also supported the expansion of telehealth, tax rebate zones for the regions, aged care closer to home, and the decentralisation of government departments to regional Queensland.
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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.
