I’m really pleased to see grass-roots organisations getting support to carry out much-needed environmental work in our local bushland, waterways, parks and recreational areas. The Green Army has been very popular in FNQ, with multiple projects underway in the Cairns region, Mossman and Hope Vale carrying out yellow crazy ant surveying and baiting, weed control,…
The northernmost part of Australia – comprising the Torres Strait Islands and tip of Cape York – is a remarkable area with diverse and culturally-distinct communities, fascinating history, abundant marine resources, stunning azure waters and white sand beaches. In August, the Prime Minister and other senior ministers visited a number of communities as part of…
50th Wedding Anniversary Graham & Janet Goodall, 19th June 2015 Frederick & Valerie Mellick, 3rd July 2015 Edgar & Ute Haring, 11th August 2015 Ian & Lyle Cunningham, 21st August 2015 Rodney & Beverlee Tayler, 11th September 2015 60th Wedding Anniversary Donald & Violet Rutherberg, 2nd July 2015 Leslie & Gloria Pickering, 6th August…
Supporting the mental and physical health and wellbeing of our elderly residents is vital. In recent months there has been a lot of discussion around the lack of aged care beds in the Cairns region in particular. It is a complex issue and one that is often misrepresented by media headlines unfortunately. Nevertheless, reducing the…
Ice poses the highest risk of all illegal drugs to our community because of the violent, menacing and irrational way people behave under its influence. At a recent community forum with the Assistant Minister for Health, Senator Fiona Nash, we heard that while ice use is not yet widespread in our region, it’s increasing at…
Helped open the Cooktown Discovery Festival and launch of ‘48 Days- A Shared History' mural project, ably supported by my beautiful daughter Mackenzie, Cooktown Spoke at the 2015 Suicide & Self Harm Prevention Conference in recognition of the Dr Edward Koch Foundation’s 20 Years of activities, Cairns Launched the ‘Our North, Our Future’ White Paper…
I recently attended the graduation of 52 trainees from the Treaty Village Rangers Program at an event at Mabaduan Village on the South Fly coastline, just a few kilometres from Australia’s northernmost border. The program is a key element of the Building Resilience in Treaty Villages, Western Province PNG initiative driven by the Cairns-based Reef…
One of my favourite parts of my job is coming across people who are having a go, getting out and achieving things rather than sitting back and waiting for them to happen. I’ve encountered a few of these lately which I’d like to share with you. Firstly, we are all excited by the potential of…
Last year, the Government identified around 1.6 million premises in Australia which had either very poor or no broadband connectivity. These premises have been – and will continue to be – prioritised in the NBN rollout. In the Far North, many regional users will get broadband via a new satellite that will offer services from…
**Read my latest eNewsletter in full** Thanks for taking the time to read my Spring 2015 Newsletter. There’s always so much going on that doesn’t necessarily get covered in the media, so this newsletter is the best way for me to communicate with you, my constituents. I’m pleased to report that the Northern Australia Insurance…