Council: Whitsunday Regional Council
Acting Mayor: Mike Brunker
Population: The estimated population of Whitsunday Regional Council was 35, 927 in 2020.
The housing crisis affecting the Whitsunday Region is the worst Acting Mayor Mike Brunker has seen in his lifetime.
Just 18 months ago, he recalls there being 1500 vacant properties in the Bowen area alone.
Fast forward to today and the situation is completely reversed with more renters than houses available to rent. Some families are living in motel rooms, while others have been forced into caravan parks.
“Three people are coming into my shop every week and saying, ‘I’ve just been given six weeks’ notice and I’ve got to move out’…
This is a rental crisis the like of which we’ve never seen before,” Cr Brunker said.
He raised the call for a National Housing Summit at the LGAQ Annual Conference in October 2021, winning the unanimous support of councils across Queensland.
The pressure is now on the State and Federal governments to commit to the summit so all three levels of government can come together and start finding solutions.
“We need a national summit and every Shire and every council has got to support it, and we’ve got to get down to Canberra and tell them how it is… otherwise it’s going to be a disaster.”
Every Queensland community contributes to the economic fabric of this nation. Every Queensland community deserves to be a liveable one. This Federal Election, councils have a set of priorities that will create more than 8000 jobs and generate $1.5 billion in economic activity for Queenslanders.
