This is the vision emanating from the Electorate of Cook in response to The Queensland Plan – A 30-year vision for Queensland.

Member for Cook David Kempton initiated a comprehensive survey and intensive workshop to complement the plan and reflect the uniqueness of Cook.

“I wanted to achieve a rich response from my electorate to The Queensland Plan and was humbled to receive recognition for my efforts on behalf of the electorate and of the inclusive attitude of our government,” he said.

The ground-breaking workshop, held in Weipa last week, has been hailed by the 40 participants from every corner of the electorate as a resounding success, with a visionary blueprint for the Cook electorate now on its way to the State Government.
Over the past month, a survey was circulated widely throughout the electorate with 544 responses received. The survey sought input around personal values, people’s experiences of the electorate and their desires for the future.

Family, honesty, concern for future generations and community involvement were revealed as among the top personal values of the people of Cook. Their current experience includes bureaucracy, lack of co-operation and short-term focus, however the electorate also sees the emergence of community engagement and environmental awareness. For the future, the community is seeking accountability, community ownership, being heard and financial stability.

Over the course of the two-day workshop, designed and facilitated by Dynamic Exchange, the group - including elected representatives, industry leaders and a diverse range of constituents - identified the electorate’s top five values and what is working well in Cook, as well as created a wish list and vision statement for the electorate.

These values, a blueprint for the future of Cook, included:

• Being heard;
• Financial security;
• Accountability;
• Community ownership; and
• Community engagement.

The workshop concluded with the development of a clear direction and specific objectives for the Cook electorate, as well as a final visionary statement: “The Cook electorate is our family and our future”.

Cairns Regional Council Division 10 councillor Julia Leu said the workshop provided an amazing opportunity for diverse representation from every corner of the Cook electorate, and she was particularly impressed with the extent of involvement from the private enterprise sector.

“The networking opportunities were excellent, the facilitators were first class and everyone was extremely impressed with the process, the outcomes and the way the whole workshop was organised,” she said.

“There’s enormous potential for us to all work together now on the very important issues we face in the Cook electorate, which are specific and unique to our part of Australia.

“It was an incredible opportunity to represent the Douglas region, particularly with the reestablishment of the Douglas Shire Council commencing on January 1 next year.

“This will place us fully in Cook, which means our focus can now shift strongly to working more closely with our neighbours in the Cook electorate.

“There was such a high level of energy from people at the workshop to ensure there would be some long-lasting benefits and achievable outcomes coming out of this unique gathering, so there’s a lot of potential and hope to build on what we started in Weipa.”

The workshop also provided an invaluable opportunity for networking between community, industry and government sectors, with many representatives creating relationships previously not available to them.

Over 40 aspirations were identified and aligned to the six themes of The Queensland Plan, with five priority goals emerging, including security of tenure, strengthening local government, businesses for all communities, partnerships and joint ventures and delivery of infrastructure and services.

A communication protocol was also developed, delivering a very clear message to government that the Cook electorate seeks a more inclusive process of engagement.

Workshop sponsors included Bernard Power, Ian Copeland, Swiss Farms, Remote Building Solutions, Rio Tinto Alcan Weipa, MiHaven, Port Bajool, Island and Cape, Sea Swift and Western Cape Chamber of Commerce.

A full report has been compiled and will be released shortly.