Mayor Nev Ferrier has spent his life on the land.
Born on a farm and raised in the Central Queensland, Nev is still working the land, tending cattle, and growing produce, as well as being Mayor of Banana Shire, a sprawling 28,000-square-kilometre shire covering 12 towns, with a population of 15,000.
“The Banana Shire is home to three coal mines, a coal-fired power station, a gold mine, a nitrate plant, a meat works, plus thousands of farms,” said Nev.
“We are very lucky we have different industries in the shire.”
The diverse industries in the shire means rates can be subsidised by industry.
“We are very lucky to have the coal mines and power stations operating here as they help pay a big percentage of the rates for the shire. It keeps the rates lower than what they probably would have been otherwise,” Nev added.
Nev became a councillor of Banana Shire back in 2004 after spending 30 years running his own transport company.
He sold the business and bought a pub in Dululu and became the local publican.
“Being a publican is a bit like being a counsellor, you hear everyone’s troubles,” said Nev.
The constant complaints prompted Nev to enter local politics.
“Everybody was coming in and whinging about everything to me, but mainly about the roads, which pushed me to stand for council. I wanted to fix the roads.”
From building better roads, to negotiating with new renewable industries and liaising with key government figureheads, Nev has never been busier, but he can still manage some downtime when he gets the chance.
“I have got a small family farm still, so I like to muck around with cattle and just sit on the tractor; ploughing and smelling fresh soil turnover is a wonderful thing. You can just sit there for hours and think about things it’s just like driving a truck, you’re there but your mind is always thinking. You’re by yourself, it’s that peaceful spot,” said Nev.
The glorious Dawson River is Nev’s favourite spot in the Banana Shire which runs through Taroom, Theodore and Moura and is the lifeblood of irrigation along the river.
“It’s a magic river, heaps of free camping all the way along it, you can sit down, have a think and watch the water go past,” said Nev.
Banana Shire is set for a huge growth phase with many new renewable projects in the pipeline and two that council hopes to be operating by the end of 2022. “Renewables is going to be a big thing up here. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s coming and the State and Federal Governments want it. We are in a good position to take on renewables as the existing coal fired power station has the wire network already set up,” said Nev.
The Banana Shire is already home to two innovative companies, Novum Tyre Recycling Plant and the Solar Recovery Corp, both opening their first facility in Australia, in Biloela in the past 12 months.
The key challenges facing Nev and the Banana Shire Council is the rising costs of council’s oncosts and waste facilities in the shire.
“Inflation and waste will be one of our biggest challenges, we will be spending millions of dollars on waste, so we have to get that right,” said Nev.
For Nev, the best part of being a councillor is when funding comes through for projects that council would never be able to afford.
“This can be anything from a new sewage plant or money for roads, flood damage, anything like that,” said Nev.
“You put in for it, you wait and wait and when the funding comes through, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Nev.
The worst part for Nev is when he can’t help everybody.
“There’s so much to do and we just don’t have enough money to go around,” added Nev.
The future looks bright for Mayor Nev and the Banana Shire with Council being debt free, a first in Nev’s 18 years of service for council.
“We are debt free now, and we want to keep it that way. Renewables are coming here, and these companies will bring more business, more jobs, and more opportunities here. It’s an exciting time to be in the Banana Shire.”
