New Weipa Town Authority boss Tobias Rissman says he is excited to be in a role that will play a part in the “inevitable” normalisation of the western Cape York township. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
The new chief executive officer of Weipa Town Authority (WTA) says he has been blown away by the warm welcome offered to his family by the western Cape York community.
Township superintendent Tobias Rissman is now five weeks into the job after relocating from Groote Eylandt with his wife, Ellen, and 16-month-old son, Gordon, and told Cape York Weekly Weipa’s community spirit had been his biggest highlight to date.
“Like any new job and new company, it’s a lot to get your head around at the start, but it’s a very welcoming town; I’d say that’d be the biggest highlight for us so far,” he said.
With a diverse career in mining, including water infrastructure project management and heavy mobile equipment delivery, Mr Rissman said the unique nature of Weipa and WTA operations under Rio Tinto, and what he described as the “sort of inevitable” normalisation of the township were major drawcards in applying for the role.
“Why I took the role is because it’s a very diverse role, which I am looking forward to,” he said.
“It covers community events, the [Weipa Aquatic and Sports Precinct], the finance and corporate services, and town planning, and that super diverse role really appeals to me.
“I think, eventually, a path to normalisation will definitely be on the cards – it’s sort of inevitable.
“There’s a piece of work that has to be done from Rio’s side to be able to get to that initial stage.”
With the wet season approaching and school holidays now here, Mr Rissman said his initial priorities involved ensuring Weipa’s youth were engaged over the coming months.
“The current priorities for the community are to be getting the youth centre up and running, and the one on the cards at the moment, the first one, is probably just the December school holiday program for the kids, to make sure that they’re engaged on the school holidays.”
A fan of the outdoors, Mr Rissman said the similarities between Groote Eylandt his family’s new home had softened the transition, adding his first foray into Weipa’s fishing had been less than successful.
“Weipa’s similarities to Groote, the outdoor lifestyle and being on the water, that’s pretty much why we moved here,” he explained.
“My first [fishing] session, I went to Andoom Creek, and then after I did that, every other local said ‘you shouldn’t have gone there for your first session’, so that wasn’t a big success.
“I haven’t been out too many times since, but hopefully that’s coming up.”
