Print this pageMackay Community Cabinet Meeting
On Sunday afternoon, 29 June 2008, the Australian Government held its fourth Community Cabinet Meeting in Mackay, North Queensland. The Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers met over 300 community members at Mackay North State High School. A broad range of issues were discussed and individual matters were raised with Ministers. It was the first time a Federal Cabinet has ever been to the Mackay region, and the Prime Minister promised it would not be another 107 years before the Cabinet returned.
Before the meeting started, the award-winning Mackay North State School Band entertained the assembling crowd for over an hour, with musicians getting in valuable practice as they prepare to perform at the Beijing Olympics later this year. Attendees also enjoyed the excellent refreshments supplied by the school’s Parents and Citizens Association. Local Year 11 student, Ellie Madam, later gave a very accomplished rendition of the Australian National Anthem accompanied by the band.
Linda Boyle, Principal of Mackay North State High School, welcomed the Cabinet to the school and introduced Ms Melanie Kemp, a representative of the Yuibera people, to welcome the Cabinet Ministers to the traditional lands of the Birra Gubba Nation on which Mackay is situated.
After being introduced by the Federal Member for Dawson, James Bidgood MP, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd noted the danger of politicians being ‘locked up’ in Canberra without the chance to hear what is happening on the ground in local communities. He outlined that Community Cabinet meetings are a valuable opportunity for everyone and anyone in a community to put forward a range of fresh ideas on local and national issues.
Mr Rudd pointed out that over 2200 people have attended the four Community Cabinet meetings held to date, with over 292 one-on-one meetings with Ministers being organised. Further, the vast majority of specific matters that had been raised at Community Cabinet meetings by members of the public had been subsequently addressed by the Government.
In the lively public forum that followed, the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers answered a broad array of questions from the floor that touched on local, national and international challenges such as rising grocery and petrol prices, housing affordability, the quality of education, climate change, and disability services. Attendees also questioned the Ministers on important local industries, such as sugar and coal. Six year old Claudia Slater provided a lighter side to the forum when she presented the Prime Minister with a picture she had drawn of a whale.
Following the forum, Ministers moved to various school rooms for 85 one-on-one meetings, the largest number of one-on-one meetings held at a Community Cabinet so far. The meetings provided individuals with an opportunity to discuss particular matters of concern directly with Cabinet Ministers.
The next Community Cabinet Meeting was held at Yirrkala Community Education Centre, Yirrkala, in north-east Arnhem Land on Wednesday 23 June 2008.
Photos on this page provided by AUSPIC