Happy New Year for 2024. I hope you all had a terrific break with family and friends and are looking forward to a great year ahead.

Congratulations to ‘our’ Cameron and Jamie who had a beautiful baby boy a few weeks ago. Welcome to the world August.

Despite the arrival of our second cyclone, Kirrily, for this wet season we were mostly unscathed from the Cat 3 coming over the coast just North of Townsville. We dodged a bullet with that one. Power outages were widespread, but damage was minimal. The result has been the great rainfall that has continued to fall in Western Queensland. The farmers are very happy with happy cows, paddocks and full dams. Though some areas have experienced flooding, causing evacuations and cattle loss, over all the wet season rain has brought rejuvenation. The famous Blue Heeler and Walkabout Creek Pubs are both flooded in, and several roads are closed. I look forward to seeing the benefits of the rain on my next travels out west, I am sure the country will be looking great.

Isn’t it funny that the media mostly from the south, are reporting on the ‘Monsoon’ like it’s some exceptional weather event. We have a monsoon, wet season every year. It is so critical for the health of our environment.

It is reported that employees working from home have been put on notice with many employers expecting a “fulltime” return to working in the office in 2024. Studies are sighting that working in an office face to face team environment improved productivity, interactions, engagement and connections. Of course, working from home for some industries remains popular and some working from home provides a flexible working option that will likely continue.

Congratulations to Tracey Graham who, on Australia Day, was awarded the Public Service Medal for her outstanding service to the community of Pormpuraaw. We placed Tracey in her role many years ago and she has been a fantastic asset to them ever since. The CEO sent me an email to say how proud they were of Tracey and how her commitment over her ten-year tenure has contributed to making Pormpuraaw the wonderful community that it is today. Fantastic accolade Tracey, your achievements inspire us all.