Townsville Community

Festival Postponed Due to COVID-19

Today, Townsville City Council announced that NAFA (North Australia Festival of Arts) and Fringe Festival will be postponed until further notice due to COVID-19. This decision comes after The Federal Governments advice on non-essential gatherings during this time. Mayor Jenny Hill said, the real issue is we don’t know what things will look like tomorrow, let alone in four weeks, so to say when we can continue these events is still up in the air. Rather than cancelling the event altogether, Council has decided to postpone it, in hopes that as soon as numbers of infections reduce, and restrictions are taken away they can proceed with booking these events and artists and put them back on the city event calendar. “NAFA is a big part of our events calendar, which brought in 4.1 million last year as far as economic impact and we saw an increase of 8.6 percent increase in accommodation in hotels and other places. So, we are trying to bring back normality as much and as soon as possible, which is why we are postponing instead of cancelling it,” Cr. Jenny Hill explained.

If you are looking for things to do because of all the event postponements, Hill said we still have beautiful parks, beaches and walks you can go on as well as Magnetic Island which is still open. In the meantime, the mayor seemed hopeful that despite everything, and despite the restrictions, Townsville’s confirmed cases are still really low, and she urges us to stay calm as we are still operating pretty normally compared to other cities and states, and to enjoy things we still can do.

Council Prepared for Coronavirus

Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill talked today on Council’s pandemic plan and business continuity plan in response to COVID-19. Mayor Hill seemed positive that Townsville is still low risk compared to other surrounding cities, with only 2 confirmed cases out of a population of 200,000. She encouraged Townsville that the council has put in a pandemic plan, but not to panic, to be cautious. Right now the only things being talked about are how the virus will affect events coming up, such as ANZAC Day and Groovin the Moo, as well as how businesses and staff in the city will be affected. Mayor Hill said “Our role is to help protect our workforce and community and maintain essential services to the city.” Their IT team has already looked into who all could possibly work from home if needed. They are looking into how to better handle blue collared workers or orange shirt workers who still need to continue working, yet how to minimize the spread of the virus if one of these workers were to contract the virus. She said they will have more clarity on public events and whether or not they will be cancelled or postponed tomorrow, Tuesday, 17th of March. As of right now public events have a more likely chance of being cancelled starting in April and going until further notice, however private events should still be able to go on, since the people going are being filtered and monitored. With talk about cancelling events, it means hotels will have last minute gaps to fill until further notice, and with Townsville having some of the nicest winter weather, Mayor Hill talked about the idea of hosting all NRL leagues and games right here in Townsville saying that she believes we would have the capacity to host them, if that is something the league wants to look into as things further progress. Mayor Hill states, “I have every faith in our local health services, and we will continue to work in full cooperation with them,” and will keep the community updated on the impacted events as soon as possible to make sure we stay informed. 

Townsville Community Show Their Support for Papua New Guinea

Over 350 members of the local business community will gather Wednesday morning for a memorable breakfast experience at YWAM Medical Ships annual fundraiser, “Breakfast by the Sea”.

Guests will come together at YWAM’s Medical Ship, the MV YWAM PNG, to celebrate the remarkable stories of lives transformed while raising funds for the MV YWAM PNG’s upcoming outreach to Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Honoured guests in attendance include Queensland Premier, Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk, Federal Member for Herbert, Ms Cathy O’Toole, Labor Senator for Queensland, Senator Claire Moore, State Member for Townsville, Mr Scott Stewart, YWAM Medical Ships PNG Patron and former Prime Minister of PNG, Sir Rabbie Namaliu and Australian Patron, Honourable Mike Reynolds.

Queensland Premier, Ms Annastacia Palaszczuk, said that she was honoured to be attending the event.

“The MV YWAM PNG and her team of volunteers are delivering vital healthcare and training services to remote areas in PNG – our nearest international neighbour.

“I’m very proud to have the YWAM Medical Ship based out of North Queensland, it is a joy for me to celebrate and support the incredible outcomes that have been achieved alongside other members of the community.

“The generosity that has been extended to PNG via the medical ship from the Townsville community really is outstanding and quite unique, the event tomorrow should be another excellent extension of that support,” said Premier Palaszczuk.

The MV YWAM PNG has been in Townsville for the last three months undergoing further renovations before her return to PNG next week. The completed renovations include the construction of an improved patient waiting area outside the clinics, a medical re-stock room, a training space for local healthcare workers and the addition of an extended-range patrol tender.

Townsville schools have also been supporting the YWAM Medical Ship by collecting toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and glasses for the upcoming outreach. Over 4,800 items have been collected over the last three months.

YWAM Medical Ships’ Managing Director, Mr Ken Mulligan, said that he was grateful for Townsville’s strong support as their operations continue to grow and expand.

“We are so thankful for the way that our city has embraced YWAM Medical Ships over the years, first with the MV Pacific Link and now with the MV YWAM PNG, it really has been a wonderful journey.

“It is important to gather together and commemorate what has been achieved while considering what our part is to play as we move forward – that is what tomorrow is all about,” said Mr Mulligan.

The MV YWAM PNG and her team of volunteers will set sail for an eight-month deployment to the Southern Region and Huon Gulf on Wednesday.

Since the beginning of this year, over 80 volunteers from Townsville have participated in YWAM Medical Ships work in PNG, helping to deliver healthcare and training to over 30,000 patients in 171 villages.

Local supporters of YWAM Medical Ships work in PNG include Port of Townsville, 1300SMILES, Honeycombes Property Group, Puma Energy, Parkside Development Group, Network Communications, Australian Aid, Northern Management Group, Lancini Property Development, Townsville Bulletin, Townsville City Council, Medical Dental Solutions, Lions Recycle for Sight, Coutts Reddington, Pacific Marine Group, Universal Cranes, Rosshaven Marine, Wilson/Ryan/Grose Lawyers, PwC, 99.9 Live FM, NQ Cowboys, and Food Relief NQ.