Building a Place to Call Home

With Isaac Regional Council

There is a steady shift happening across Isaac at the moment. It is not loud, but it’s real. You can feel it in community halls, in classrooms, on building sites, in cattle yards, and in the way people are talking about the future here. We are a region backing itself.

This past year hasn’t just been about delivering projects, it’s been about shaping the elements that make us liveable. Because a strong community isn’t measured by how much coal we produce, how many cattle we run or how many workers we host. It’s measured by whether people can build a life here. Can you find a home? Can you access childcare and medical services? Can you study, change careers, work locally, give back, and feel like you belong? This is what people consider when making the choice to live in Isaac. These are the things that hold a regional community together and allow us to grow.

As the biggest mining region in Queensland, issues around housing affordability and availability are not new to us. In 2012 Council established the Isaac Affordable Housing Trust (IAHT), a controlled entity of Council run by a volunteer board to underpin service workers in our communities. Over the last year IAHT has been delivering affordable housing solutions in a big way.

With $16.65 million of State funding, IAHT has delivered 30 new affordable units in Moranbah. They now manage 38 properties across the region, providing homes for nurses, teachers, early career tradies, childcare workers and hospitality workers, people who keep our towns moving. On the 4th of November we announced the biggest project in the Trust’s history with a $15 million partnership with the Queensland Government to deliver a 23-unit development in Clermont. Half of those will be designed specifically for seniors living. We want to give housing options for every stage in life and free up bigger housing for incoming families. What is the next cab off the rank for IAHT? More affordable housing in Dysart.

Access to education has long shaped whether people stay or go. This year, the first Isaac Country Universities Centre opened in Moranbah. Even in its first few months, 42 students have enrolled and are studying locally. Most of them are women. Many are young. Nearly one-third are training to become teachers. That means we can support residents to study and stay connected to their families and support networks.

A second study hub is on track for Clermont in early 2026. We are looking for local companies and businesses to partner with Isaac Country University Centres and back the people who are backing them.

Childcare plays a huge role in whether families make the decision to live in the regions. If we lose childcare, we lose our ability to attract and retain people. With this in mind, IRC has committed $400,000 over four years to the Childcare Leadership Alliance to strengthen and support childcare across Isaac, assisting centres to recruit and retain staff and plan sustainably as regulatory requirements increase. The Moranbah Early Learning Centre is another Council-controlled entity and we are working with that business on a $2.2 million upgrade to increase the quality and capacity of the Centre and continue to provide before and after-school care. When quality childcare is in place, families stay. Workforces stay. Communities grow.

We are also investing in the places where people gather. The Nebo Showgrounds upgrade, a $2.8 million project, will deliver safer access and improved facilities for one of the most iconic regional events in Queensland. Earlier in the year we officially opened the upgrades and rebranding for Isaac Events Centre. A place with fifty years of memories has stepped into its next chapter, ready to host conferences, weddings, training, award nights and big moments still to come.

While the royalties debate rages between mining companies and the State Government, our issue is that we’ve lost the Resource Communities Infrastructure Fund under the new government, the mechanism to bring royalties back to the regions, wearing the impacts and generating the wealth for the state and nation. So many of our key projects were funded from this.

If we had the ability to access coal royalties, we would be funding our roads. Isaac has 4,500 km of sealed and unsealed roads. We spend 44 per cent of our capital budget annually on trying to keep up with our road network. With the emergence of the renewable sector along with our traditional industries, Bowen Basin drives enormous value for Queensland. We need more renewables and royalty investment in our roads to support traditional industries of today and unlock our potential for the future.

While we continue to push for issues in the Clarke Creek area to be resolved and celebrate the first of early works projects for the Queensland Beef Corridors program, we are lobbying for overtaking lanes on Peak Downs Highway and for royalty investment in Saraji Road, Dysart to Middlemount Road, Peak Downs Mine Road, Peak Downs Highway Nebo to Clermont and other critical corridors. Construction is underway on the $21 million Phillips Creek Bridge replacement, improving safety along one of our busiest freight routes, but there is so much more to do.

One of the last projects we used the previous government’s coal royalty fund for is to establish the Isaac Resources Excellence Precinct. We cannot sit around waiting for governments to reach in and generate economic resilience. Work has begun on the $41.7 million IREP in partnership with the Resources Centre of Excellence. It’s to support skills training, innovation, land rehabilitation and bring new businesses to Isaac. It will help ensure this region remains at the forefront of industries of today and of the future.

Our young people have also stepped up to help us understand what is important and what they want for their future. The first Isaac Youth Summit brought young students together from all across the region. From that, the Isaac Youth Action Group was formed. They are now leading road safety and mental health projects shaped by their own lived experience. Young people aren’t just being asked for their opinion. They are giving us the solutions they know will make a difference.

Across all of this work sits one simple belief: strong regions are built from within. When we back housing, education, childcare, gathering places, economic diversification, youth leadership and local decision-making, we are not just building economic value, we are building a region we can call home.

I’m extremely proud of what we do in Isaac and who that makes us. We are backing our people and our communities. What we need is buy in from local partners, companies and governments to actively back us. Because when Isaac does well, the broader region, state and nation will do well. And we will continue to build on these great communities we call home.

‍