The State Emergency Service (SES) played a crucial role in the flood recovery across Hinchinbrook, leading rescue and evacuation efforts in Ingham, Halifax, and Lucinda. Working with Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES), they helped residents in submerged homes, managed storm damage, and supported vulnerable individuals with food and medical aid. SES used aerial resources, including Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, to assess damage. Area Controller John Forde praised the swift reco
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Following the devastating flooding that hit the Hinchinbrook Shire, the Hinchinbrook Shire Council are now in the recovery stage of a natural disaster. Deputy Mayor Mary Brown is chair of the recovery group and she said that there are four subgroups - Human and Social, Economic Development, Infrastructure and Environment. “We've been working in the background for quite some time and that's how we established the community recovery here locally,” explained Deputy Mayor Mary Brown. “We have a p
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One of the state’s most infamous celebrations of Italian culture will grace the Hinchinbrook Shire once again when the Australian Italian Festival returns on the 7th and 8th of June 2025. Over the decades, the festival has attracted waves of support and interest across the nation and beyond, and a particular State Library of Queensland interview conducted in 2013 further cemented the festival’s deserving place in the state’s history. 2013 President of the Australian Italian Festival Commi
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The Australia Day Pool Party at the Hinchinbrook Aquatic Centre on Sunday 26 January 2025, was a fantastic community celebration, bringing together families and friends for a day filled with fun, laughter, and Aussie spirit! A True Blue Aussie Celebration The festivities kicked off at 9.30am with a lamington style cake-cutting, setting the tone for a day of enjoyment. By 10am, DJ Wayne Newton was spinning all the Aussie classics, keeping the energy high and the good vibes flowing until 3pm—cre
Read the full storyThe Hinchinbrook electorate has just experienced one of the toughest periods in recent history. The 2025 flood and monsoonal event devastated our region, cutting off entire communities, flooding and destroying homes and businesses, and leaving behind a massive clean-up effort.
But if there's one thing I know about the people of Hinchinbrook, it’s that we will get through this together and rebuild better than we were before.
On Saturday, access was finally restored into the Lower Herbert, allowing us to see firsthand the destruction left behind. It was a privilege to take Premier David Crisafulli into some of the hardest-hit areas. Seeing the devastation up close only reinforced the urgent need to ensure that our community receives the support it deserves.
We also met with Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to tour some local businesses in Ingham and discuss the next phase of the recovery process. Clearing the debris and restoring power is only the first stage, we now start to move on to the betterment projects to rebuild our region to be stronger and more resilient than before.
This week, I’ve had to leave Ingham to attend the first parliamentary sitting week of the year. I will be using my time this week to meet with key Ministers to ensure that the plan for Hinchinbrook’s recovery is thorough and extensive. We need urgent action on things such as roads and flood mitigation projects, particularly the Bruce Highway.
We need to address the housing shortage and the loss we are going to see in the primary production and small business spaces. Importantly as well, many of our local sporting clubs and community groups have lost everything, and we need to ensure they have all the help they can get to start running again.
We can’t flood-proof the Bruce Highway or our beautiful communities here in Hinchinbrook, but we can certainly minimise the impact of major flooding events through smart planning, investment and comprehensive recovery strategies.
The road to recovery will be long, but together we will navigate our way. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.
Nick Dametto MP
Member for Hinchinbrook
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