COOK Shire Mayor Peter Scott used a recent national development conference to highlight infrastructure and service priorities for Cape York Peninsula.
Cr Scott attended the Developing Northern Australia Conference in Darwin last month, which continued the discussions started last year following the release of the Australian Government’s White Paper on Developing Northern Australia.
Underpinned by the Top Actions Summary identified in the White Paper, the conference explored how industry, business and government moved to embrace opportunities for sustainable growth over the next decade.
Cr Scott said there was a good mix of both politicians and industry leaders at the conference from all across northern Australia.
“I was there representing Cook Shire Council as a major stakeholder in the Cape and northern Australia as well as both Regional Development Australia (RDA) Far North Queensland and Torres Strait and the Far North Queensland Regional Organisation of Councils (FNQROC),” Cr Scott said.
“RDA and FNQROC have regional priorities which align to Council’s, including water security for Lakeland, transport infrastructure, disaster funding, electricity issues for regional areas, land tenure and more.
“Another big message was the increasing opportunities with China, from tourism, to export and service provision.
“I also strongly pushed the roads network issues, our beef roads, the Weipa wharf and the Peninsula Developmental Road upgrade.”
