What do Michelle Dyer (social scientist and stand-up comedian), Liz Downes (2020 Queensland Volunteer of the Year), Les Bandt (the man who invented the ute in 1933), and the Aquapella world music choir all have in common? 

Answer: they were all part of NQCC’s 50th anniversary celebration “Stories of the Wild North” held at the Drill Hall Studio on Friday the 23rd of August.

Mich was our MC and auctioneer extraordinaire, Liz read a poem that won an NQCC poetry competition back in the 1990s, the painting “Model T on the track” by Les Bandt was auctioned at the event, and Aquapella entertained us with songs from Arnhem Land, Torres Strait, New Zealand and Chile. 

Planning for the event began back in 2023 when we met to consider how we should celebrate our 50th anniversary this year. With the encouragement of story producer Kate Osborne, we decided to collect stories from people who had been involved in environmental activism in North Queensland over the past 50 years. Back then we also envisioned an event where we could showcase a number of the stories we had collected. 

We began collecting stories in April this year and it was wonderful to be able share some of these stories with the Townsville community at our “Stories of the Wild North” event on Friday the 23rd of August. More than 100 people attended the event held in the outdoor area of the Drill Hall Studio which was all lit up with party lights for the occasion.

As people gathered, we were entertained by the Pandura string quartet. Mich then welcomed everyone to the event and invited Wulgurukaba elder Troy Johnson to give the Welcome to Country. Troy reminded us of the strong links between the Wulgurukaba people and the land we were meeting on. Mich outlined how the evening would proceed and then NQCC Vice President Peter Hanley gave some context to the stories we were about to hear. 

In 1973, Moss Cass Minister of the Environment and Conservation in the Whitlam Government, announced funding for regional environment councils.  In 1974 a committee was formed in Townsville to establish the Townsville Regional Conservation Council which later became the North Queensland Conservation Council and there we all were 50 years later. 

Peter reminded us that for the first 15 years of NQCC’s history, Joh Bjelke Petersen and the National Party were in power in Queensland. Under Joh, protection of the environment was given a very low priority. The political climate of the Joh years was very different to that post-Joh.  

Peter told us the story from these times of the Ben Lomond uranium mine. In 1980, plans for a uranium mine at Ben Lomond were announced by the French mining company Minatome. Ben Lomond is less than 100km from Townsville and in the catchment of the Burdekin River. The Joh Bjelke Petersen Government with its “development at all costs” approach were very dismissive of any opposition to the proposed development. 

The Burdekin Anti Nuclear Group (BANG) formed in Charters Towers to oppose the development and held regular meetings attended by as many as 100 people. NQCC led the case against the mine in the Charters Towers Mining Warden’s Court. Michael Drew, our lawyer worked pro bono and all our expert witnesses volunteered their time. In contrast Minatome employed several lawyers and two barristers at a cost of thousands. And NQCC won – the first time that a mining application had been rejected in a Queensland Mining Warden Court! A video story featuring David Sewell, Lyn Martinez and Adrian Jeffreys was shown later in the program. 

Recalling the political climate of the Joh years, Alastair Birtles reminded us of the heavy-handed response from the police and other authorities to those who objected to proposed developments. Alastair, who was an NQCC member from our beginning, recounted the struggle of environmental activists to ensure that the Yabulu nickel refinery did not allow their highly toxic tailings to pollute the waters of the Great Barrier Reef.  

Also from the Joh years, Charlie McColl shared his experiences campaigning against the Magnetic Keys development on Magnetic Island. 

Another development initiated in the Joh era was the Port Hinchinbrook development. The campaign against Keith Williams mega-development continued post-Joh, and Ally Lankester shared her experiences of sitting in mangrove trees at Port Hinchinbrook to prevent Keith Williams’s bulldozers from knocking them down 

NQCC acknowledges the contribution of many coordinators over the years and on the evening we heard from Jim Tait who was coordinator in the early 90s. Jim remembered when the Goss Government came to power after 32 years of Country/National Party rule. Jim was shocked when the new Environment minister, Pat Comben, welcomed input on environmental matters from conservation practitioners in contrast to his National Party predecessors.  

There has always been a strong bond between the arts community and NQCC. Over the years we have had concerts, photography and art exhibitions and poetry competitions. In the 1990s, Alan Webb organised three poetry competitions and produced three poetry anthologies from the entries. As part of “Stories of the Wild North”, Liz Downes read her poem “Remembrance of Things Lost” which was the winning poem in the adult long poem section of the first poetry competition. We also celebrated Liz's 80th birthday on the night in traditional fashion - a song and a cake!

Towards the end of the evening’s program, the Aquapella choir conducted by Linda Davis performed the protest song from Chile “Todos Juntos” and Sophie Thompson led the audience in singing “Galilee Basin”, a protest song from the Stop Adani campaign (words by Peter Whalley-Thompson). 

The final event of the evening was the auction of paintings by Anna Mango and Les Bandt and a print by Ron McBurnie. The back story to Les Bandt’s painting “Model T on the track” was fascinating and ensured spirited bidding in the auction. Les Bandt had been the automobile designer for the Ford Motor company in Geelong for more than 40 years. In 1932 a Gippsland farmer suggested to Les that he design a vehicle that could take “the missus to church on a Sunday and pigs to market on the Monday”. Les Bandt set his mind to the task and came up with the utility – incorporating a timber frame and metal tray – a world design first. After retiring Les took up painting, and several of his paintings including the one auctioned found their way to Townsville. Mich’s auctioneering was very successful and raised over $900 for NQCC on the night!

Our NQCC 50th event was a great success on all counts and we acknowledge the generous financial support from the Townsville City Council in enabling us to stage the event. It was good to be able to welcome Townsville Mayor Troy Thompson to the event. 

Like all good gifts, our storytelling project keeps on giving. We are in the process of linking all the stories we have collected to the NQCC website so that everyone can have access. We will let NQCC supporters know when the stories are there - make sure you keep an eye for the notification. 

Did you attend our event? Please complete our (very brief) feedback survey!

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge:

Townsville City Council, for supporting the event with grant funding

Mayor Troy Thompson for his attendance and support

Kate Osbourne for capturing the stories of our past with such professionalism and making the project possible

Chris Pam for the idea behind it all and for bringing it together

Peter Hanley for sharing his passion for NQCC far and wide across Townsville

Mich Dyer for sharing her talents and making the event so magical

Aquapella for warming our hearts, as always

Our storytellers and other performers, for sharing so generously

Naomi Cassilles Southgate for single-handedly washing all of our wine glasses (with a smile!)

Tamara Inkster-Draper for greeting our guests warmly at the gate

All of our late night heroes who pitched in to make sure everything got home safely (Bev, Sandra, Gail, David, Kate, Mich and Peter)