Win for local councils rebuilding after disasters

FEDERAL Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch has welcomed the Queensland Government’s acceptance of the Australian Government’s interim solution to the ‘day labour’ issue. “This has been an ongoing issue which has disadvantaged communities in Leichhardt for all too long,” Mr Entsch said. “It’s great news that the Queensland Government has agreed to our interim solution,…

A bright future looking North

**Read the full report here: Our North, Our Future: White Paper on Developing Northern Australia** NOW that the vision for developing the north has been cemented in the Government’s White Paper on Northern Australia, it’s time for every stakeholder to roll up their sleeves and help make it happen, says Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch. Mr Entsch…

Faster NBN rollout kicks off in Leichhardt

WORK has started to deliver the NBN to around 40,000 premises in Leichhardt, under a revised rollout approach that will save months in construction time and nationally, will see the project completed years sooner and at less cost. Across Australia 436,000 premises are due to start NBN construction in coming months. The NBN will use…

Federal funding gives Coen its first war memorial

FEDERAL Government funding has enabled the Cook Shire Council to install Coen’s first community war memorial. Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch said around $4,300 in funding was provided through the Australian Government’s Saluting Their Service Commemorative Grants Programme to install the memorial and purchase a portable flagpole. “I congratulate the Cook Shire Council on their…

Local artist gets pride of place in Canberra

A MAJOR work by an accomplished Aurukun artist has been hung in Parliament House, bringing the vibrant colours and landscapes of the Western Cape to Australia’s capital. The painting, Bush Fire at Ngak-Pungarichan (2013) by Mavis Ngallametta, was purchased by the Parliament House Art Collection late last year. On Wednesday (3 June), it was officially…

Cooktown heritage praised in Canberra

LEICHHARDT MP Warren Entsch has recognised the efforts of the Cooktown Re-enactment Association in Parliament ahead of yet another exciting Cooktown Discovery Festival this weekend. Mr Entsch outlined the history of Cook’s voyage north with his crew on the HMB Endeavour and the subsequent foundering on the Great Barrier Reef late in the evening of…

Don’t be shy on bowel cancer screening

FEDERAL Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch has told parliament that bowel cancer screening needs to become a “sexier” issue if we’re to reduce the rate of the disease in Australia. Mr Entsch’s comments come at the beginning of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. He says the disease is the second most common type of newly diagnosed…

Federal grant to help record Bama stories

THE ancient stories and traditions of the Eastern Kuku Yalanji will be preserved for future generations thanks to an $11,000 federal grant awarded to the Jabalbina Yalanji Aboriginal Corporation. Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch said the project – Eastern Kuku Yalanji Bama Bloomfield Track Cultural Heritage Stories – received the funding through the Australian…

Green Army on hand to drive local disaster clean-up

FEDERAL Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch is encouraging organisations in the Far North to apply for Federal Government funding to help clean-up and rehabilitate the environment. It comes after flooding and severe weather events earlier this year affected a number of local government areas in Leichhardt – Aurukun, Cook, Douglas, Hope Vale, Lockhart River, Mapoon,…