Weipa Town Authority chairman Michael Rowland with Minister Kristy McBain.
THE federal government Minister for Regional Development and Local Government says she enjoyed an “eye-opening” trip to Weipa and Mapoon last week.
Kristy McBain spent a whole day on the Western Cape and met with Rio Tinto, the Weipa Town Authority, WCCCA and Mapoon council in a whirlwind fly-in, fly-out trip.
“I loved it,” she told Cape York Weekly from Weipa Airport as she prepared for her flight back to Cairns.
“It’s a gorgeous part of the world.”
Already prepared in advance for Weipa’s unique local government structure, Ms McBain said she enjoyed hearing first-hand from WTA chair Michael Rowland and elected member Jaime Gane about the challenges facing the community.
“In my role as Minister I deal with a range of different local government entities, mostly in the Northern Territory,” she said.
“One of the commitments that I made to Michael was that I will look into some of the anomalies around grant funding and try to escalate change so that the WTA can access grants like a normal council, which will make a big difference.”
Napranum mayor Janita Motton, WCCCA executive officer Stefan La Roux, Minister Kristy McBain and Mapoon councillor Cameron Hudson at the Western Cape Communities Trust building.
