The past few weeks have been hectic as I was part of the Greater Whitsunday Regional delegation to present to the State Government in Brisbane, then attended the Local Government of Queensland Annual Conference in Gladstone before arriving back in region for the Tourism Whitsundays’ night of nights at the Proserpine Entertainment Centre.
I joined Isaac Mayor Anne Baker, Mackay Regional Council CEO Scott Owen and GW3 CEO Kylie Porter as part of the delegation to showcase our region’s vision to the state government and unlock investment opportunities to allow us to evolve and diversify.
I gave a speech at the showcase and spoke of the opportunities and strengths of our region especially the Abbott Point State Development Area which we hope will not only be home to Queensland’s first Space Station but also become a key hydrogen and energy hub, a lynch pin between the Isaac and Northern Queensland Renewable Energy Zones.
However, to attract further investment and capitalise on further opportunities the addition of simple services like power, water, gas, and sewerage will be the icing on the cake to secure development opportunities.
Put simply we do not have the financial capacity to do this alone and would be excited to collaborate with the Qld government to explore funding options to make it happen.
Add to this the news that Australia’s largest aquaculture company Tassal have committed more than $240 million to expand their prawn farm near Proserpine indicates we are entering an exciting period of growth and innovation in the Whitsundays.
At the LGAQ Conference I presented three motions on behalf of Council, and all were carried convincingly.
At the Whitsunday Tourism Awards our very own Whitsunday Coast Airport took out Gold and Shute Harbour Marine Terminal Silver in the Tourism Retail Hire and Services.
The good news kept coming with Council’s Director of Commercial Business Craig Turner being awarded the Bob Porter Award for Outstanding Contribution by an individual to tourism. Congratulations Craig, very well deserved.
The Proserpine Entertainment Centre was the venue for the awards and looked amazing. Thank you to Rick Hamilton and his team at Tourism Whitsundays for such an amazing event recognising our outstanding tourism stakeholders and operators.
Starting next week, we will roll out a series of Whitsunday Regional Council staff profiles to highlight the people behind the scenes at Council that help make our region a great place to live, work and play.
Contributed with thanks to Mayor Julie Hall.
