Cape York Weekly FREE – #040 | Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Editor: Matt Nicholls 0477 450 558 | editor@capeyorkweekly.com.au
Minister shows no respect for Weipa residents
Miles off the mark By MATT NICHOLLS
QUEENSLAND Deputy Premier Steven Miles has shown scant regard for the residents of Weipa, completely ignoring questions regarding normalisation. Mr Miles, who is also the Local Government Minister, didn’t even bother to address the questions put to him by Cape York Weekly. As Weipa suffers from a lack of future planning from Rio Tinto, with a major shortage of housing, child care and other infrastructure, the one man who has influence in Brisbane is simply ignoring the problem. Normalising Weipa into a local government area has been a topic of conversation for two decades. Cape York Weekly can reveal that an independent report from 14 years ago, commissioned by the state government, recommended that Weipa’s local governance issues be rectified immediately. Yet nothing has happened. “There should be no unincorporated areas in Queensland,” said the 2007 report submitted by the Local Government Reform Commission. In regards to Weipa, the report stated: “This should be achieved through state government progressing negotiations with Rio Tinto regarding the normalisation of Weipa Town”. On Wednesday last week, a number of questions were put to the office of Mr Miles, including an invitation for the Deputy Premier to pick up the phone and be interviewed. Continued – Page 2
MORE PICTURE S INSIDE O N PAGE 7
KIDS HAVE A BLAST AT UNDER-8s DAY
Weipa and Napranum youngsters enjoyed the morning off school last Thursday for the annual Under-8s day. Held at Western Cape College, kids from both Weipa schools, the kindergartens and preschools revelled in the activities.
DROPPING BEATS NOT BALLS!
Every Friday night from 6:30pm @ The Alby!
Free to play with great prizes & giveaways MUSIC FROM THE 60’s 70’s 80’s 90s & TODAY