From the Mayor's Desk - 30 March 2021

Like the recent rain, life in regional Australia brings opportunities – and challenges

Much like the rainfall that drenched parts of our region last Monday and Tuesday, life in regional Australia can bring opportunities – and challenges.

The downfall across much of our catchment area last week brought the extremely welcome news on Wednesday night that Coolmunda Dam had surpassed 100% capacity. With water still flowing into the dams that service our region, I’m pleased to say that Coolmunda remains above 100%, while levels at Glenlyon and Pindari both currently sit at about 48%.

In some parts of the region, we are now in the recovery phase, with Council staff out on the ground beginning clean-ups and road repairs. We are also working with landholders in the Texas area and upstream to advocate for improved communication of flood warning. Elsewhere in the region, communities are yet to feel the full effect as flood waters continue to travel west.

Our region’s water restrictions are guided by Council’s Drought Management Plan – the new water levels will now be taken into consideration and I will update residents in the coming weeks, as changes to current restrictions are likely on the horizon.

Last Monday, I was invited to the very first event in Inglewood to be co-ordinated by the Goondiwindi Chamber of Commerce following the decision to extend their services to Inglewood businesses earlier this month. We heard a presentation by speakers from Acciona about the upcoming MacIntyre Wind Farm, which, once completed, will make our region home to one of the largest wind farms in the southern hemisphere. There will be many opportunities for local businesses during its construction – I strongly urge all those who service the Goondiwindi region to register with Council’s newly launched Business Capability Database, which will help major national projects such as the wind farm and Inland Rail to find local suppliers and services where available. Register online here:  

https://www.grc.qld.gov.au/business/resources/business-capability-database

From Inglewood to Canberra now, where I attended the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) conference with Councillor Susie Kelly last week. As we proudly claim to be ‘Regional Australia at its Best,’ Council very much looks forward to future collaborations with the RAI and other local government areas to attract more people to jobs in regional Australia. Evidence suggests that more people than ever were relocating to rural areas in the last twelve months - so now is absolutely the time to promote the opportunities of the Goondiwindi region and bring new workers, skills and jobs to our doorstep. 

Attracting more people to our region will provide tremendous opportunities for economic growth and liveability, but it can also present challenges – housing supply being one example. While in Canberra, I had the chance to meet with several Federal Ministers and advocate for a number of issues facing our region. I spoke with Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack about Inland Rail and briefly assessed the rail interface project that Council and other local stakeholders have been working on. I was also able to advocate for our region’s National Highways to the Assistant Minister for Road Safety, Scott Buchholz, in addition to speaking with the Minister for Resources and Water, Keith Pitt, about the progress of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority office in Goondiwindi, launched in 2018.

Finally, to end with some more positive news: an exciting development approval was passed for six new residential bocks in Texas. The applicant cited the potential they saw in Texas as key to their attraction to the project, and I’m pleased to report that this Council’s proudly pro-development approach was also quoted as directly encouraging the application.