Mount Isa City Council has endorsed the appointment of deputy mayor Phil Barwick as the new chair of the Australian Mining Cities Alliance.
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The Alliance brings together Mount Isa, Broken Hill, Kalgoorlie, Karratha and Moranbah to give a "collective voice" to Australian mining cities and had been led by Kalgoorlie mayor John Bowler for almost five years.
The ACMA board accepted Mr Bowler's resignation from the role on February 8 and under a rotation of roles, voted to appoint Mount Isa representative Phil Barwick as the new chair, pending approval by Mount Isa City Council.
That matter came to a vote at Council's February meeting on Wednesday and was passed 5-1 with Cr Kim Coghlan the only vote against (Cr Barwick left the room for the discussion).
Cr Coghlan said she could not find anything the Alliance had achieved.
Cr Fortune said the Alliance had lobbied the federal government on zonal tax allowances
Cr Mick Tully said Cr Barwick was a good fit for the role and he wished him well.
"It's important to have alliances with other mining towns so we can lobby the federal government on all matters such as tax, flights, air fares," Cr Tully said.
Cr Slade said mining cities need a strong voice to talk about the challenges they faced together.
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After the vote Cr Barwick returned to the room to report on the February 8 board meeting saying they had put together a "substantial advocacy plan" highlighting issues such as housing shortages, FBT tax treatments (the More than Mining program), increased social and health services, post mining planning, royalties investments, FIFO reduction, climate change impacts, mine automation, high cost airfares and road transport logistics.
Cr Barwick said the ACMA had adopted a three year strategic plan to lobby on these issues.
The Alliance was created in 2017 when the mayors of Mount Isa, Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Broken Hill came together back development and jobs growth in regional Australia.
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