Qld

Designed to support local councils and their communities in delivering live music micro-festivals, the Live and Local Strategic Initiative will bring together musicians from across the Toowoomba Region for a series of workshops and performances from May until the end of 2021.

“With the nation watching as we countdown to the Cooktown & Cape York Expo, our new Youth Councillors will get to see and experience the very best of, what Cook Shire has to offer. It will set a benchmark for them and inspire them to continue to work together to share, celebrate and grow our community,” said Mayor Peter Scott. “This really is a very special time for them and for our community and we are delighted to have them on board.”

Cape York residents are being encouraged to help clean up the Peninsula’s beaches this year as Tangaroa Blue celebrates 10 years working in the region. Since 2011, the Tangaroa Blue Foundation has run annual beach clean-ups, with the first ever held at Chilli Beach, north of Lockhart River.

Weipa's air force base will play host to soldiers from Australia and the United States in a couple of months as Defence prepares for a major training exercise ... RAAF Base Scherger has been locked in to play a role and Weipa residents should expect to see some aerial activity around the site in July ... Last year’s Defence strategic update said Australia might now have fewer than 10 years to prepare for a major conflict.

Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Keith Pitt, said the Bill means the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) will now be extended for a further five years to 2026. “The NAIF has already committed $2.9 billion to projects across the north that will support around 9,000 jobs. Our changes will increase its ability to back even more projects."

The annual Burrandowan Picnic Races have been a highlight on the South Burnett region calendar for 99 years, and the 2021 event augurs well for an historic centenary in 2022.

We are turning our museum over to you. Bribie - your stories, our stories is a place to share, learn and laugh about all that we know and love about this place.

Mark Berg has fished all over the world and been to most parts of Australia – including Cape York – but he’d somehow skipped Weipa. His life changed last week when he returned from a fishing trip with Far North Fishing as part of his television series, Mark Berg’s Fishing Addiction ... “It’s got to be the best place in Australia for fishing offshore with light tackle ... if not the world.

Weipa residents will enjoy a public holiday on Friday, September 3 after the date was able to be changed to accommodate the Weipa Fishing Classic. The annual event will be held from September 3 to 5, with the expectation that the fishing days will be Friday and Saturday in a small change to the format.

Cape York’s tourism season has officially begun after the Peninsula Developmental Road was opened to travellers at 4pm on Friday. Businesses all over the Cape, from Laura to Weipa, Portland Roads to Bramwell Station and the Archer River to Punsand Bay are expecting 2021 to be the busiest season on record.

Weipa's first CT scanner is just weeks away from being turned on as the Cape’s biggest hospital undergoes major renovations. The hospital also has a new pharmacy and renal dialysis unit as part of an $8 million funding commitment from the state government.

Member for Cook Cynthia Lui said the relocation and upgrading of the pharmacy and renal dialysis unit was completed last month.

More than 60 leaders from Queensland’s 17 Indigenous councils gathered in Cairns last week to discuss common issues affecting their communities, such as housing and inadequate service delivery. The Indigenous Leaders Forum heard from speakers including Minister for Housing Leeanne Enoch and Assistant Local Government Minister Nikki Boyd over the two days.

A major fuel rupture on a Sea Swift vessel will cause freight chaos in Cape York and the Torres Strait over the coming weeks. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has suspended MV Trinity Bay, the main barge for Weipa, pending a full investigation into the cause of the diesel spill, which leaked into the living quarters on the vessel.

Our First Nations heritage met our digital world head-on today (April 29), with the launch of a brand new virtual reality experience and app, which will transport users to a day before European settlement at Bankfoot House. The unique immersive and interactive experiences were launched today at the Bankfoot House Heritage Precinct, during Sunshine Coast Council’s 2021 Heritage Symposium.

Brigadier Mark Ascough was awarded his border protection medal while posted in Weipa and was chuffed to see young Private Edward Nelson Sigai awarded his. Brigadier Ascough was the guest of honour at Napranum’s Anzac Day service and reflected fondly on his time at Weipa and the Western Cape.

Private Edward Nelson Sigai said he felt “pretty proud” to be awarded the Australian Operational Service Medal for Border Protection in front of his community on Anzac Day. The 23-year-old is a Napranum local and went to school at Western Cape College ... The quietly spoken soldier said he hoped he could inspire others in the community to join the Defence Force and serve their community and country.

Any momentum Weipa had last year to normalise the community appears to have evaporated as new Rio Tinto GM Michelle Elvy dismissed the matter last week. Speaking at Rio Tinto Weipa’s first community forum of 2021, Ms Elvy deflected the only question regarding normalisation.