This week’s wrap comes to you from Rockhampton, where myself, LGAQ President Mark Jamieson, Head of Advocacy Alison Smith and Intergovernmental Relations Manager Shayne Sutton have been attending what is not just a major event for Rockhampton, but also for Queensland - and indeed the country - Beef Week.
And while the international guests were hampered this year by COVID-19, Beef Week has still attracted a record crowd.
This event is a major one for you, our members, and your local communities.
It is also an event that captures the attention and attendance of a large cohort of State and Federal ministers, assistant ministers and shadow ministers.
So it was a case of taking the mountain to Mohammed as we held invaluable discussions with dignitaries, decision-makers and, of course, our member Mayors and councillors.
There were lots of yarns held across the top rail.
Fortunately, we were able to host Queensland's newest Mayor, the Mayor of Rockhampton Regional Council Tony Williams, at a number of events.
We also had the privilege of attending the launch of a major campaign for road funding, Queensland Beef Corridors.
This campaign is a collaboration between the Mayors of seven councils - Gladstone, Isaac, Banana, Central Highlands, Woorabinda, Barcaldine and Blackall-Tambo - to get action to upgrade vital links across the beef corridor that stretches across their regions.
Beef Week provided the perfect event to launch the campaign with many State and Federal decision-makers in attendance.
You can read more about the campaign here: https://www.qldbeefcorridors.com/
Beef Week really drives home the importance of the cattle industry to the Queensland and national economies and the broader society more generally.
Major win for North Queensland communities
The LGAQ and our North Queensland Mayors had another great win this week, with the announcement on Tuesday of the Federal Government’s Northern Reinsurance Pool.
The need for a reinsurance pool to bring down the prohibitive cost of insurance for North Queensland communities was a key element of the LGAQ’s Federal Budget submission, included to support North Queensland Mayors including Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill and Whitsunday Mayor Andrew Willcox in their bid to secure Commonwealth intervention on behalf of their communities.
Mayor Hill appeared before the Senate Select Committee on the effectiveness of the Australian Government’s Northern Australia agenda in March to further highlight the plight of North Queensland residents.
Thank you again to the Coalition MPs and Senators who have also been advocating for the reinsurance pool alongside Mayors and the LGAQ, including Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing Michael Sukkar, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt, as well as backbenchers George Christensen, Warren Entsch, Matt Canavan, Susan McDonald and Phillip Thompson.
Thank you also to the LGAQ’s Advocacy team for its work in this space, in particular our Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Manager Shayne Sutton and IGR lead Nathan Ruhle.