Our North West Queensland Advisory Committee

Susan grew up on her family’s cattle property, 70km south of Cloncurry.

She was educated by Correspondence School and Mt Isa School of the Air before boarding school in Brisbane.

Her first job was cooking for a stock camp and working at Expo ’88 in Brisbane before going to the University of Queensland to study accounting with the idea she would go back to the family station to handle the bookkeeping.

But circumstances changed and she ended up in Brisbane where she worked in different businesses as an Accountant before going in as Chief of Staff for Natural Resources and Mines Minister, Andrew Cripps.

Susan’s family had bought a chain of butcher shops in Brisbane and the Gold Coast and she ran them for 6 years before being elected to the Australian Senate for Queensland.

She has three teenaged kids and is now based in Townsville.

Susan was elected to the Senate in May, 2019 after securing the No.2 spot on Queensland’s Liberal National Party ticket. She is currently the chairman of the Federal Government’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport committee.

Tony came to Mount Isa in 1963, he is married to Sandra they have two children Susan and Paul. Tony was elected to the Mount Isa City Council in 1973. He served as Mayor of the City from 1985 to 1990.

In 1989 he was elected to the Queensland Parliament for the State Seat of Mount Isa and retired in 2006. During his period in State Parliament he served as Minister for Mines and Energy, Minister for State Development and Innovation, Minister for Police and Corrective Services and Speaker of the Parliament.

Following his retirement from State Parliament in 2006, in 2012 he again contested the election for the Mayor of Mount Isa and was re-elected. He retired from politics in 2016.

Tony is currently Chairman of the premier’s Ambassadors Council, Chairman of the Copper String Regional Reference Group and Chairman of the LifeFlight Regional Advisory Committee for the North West Region.

KAP State Leader and Member for Traeger, Robbie Katter, was born and raised in Charters Towers, North Queensland and has a strong empathy for rural and regional communities.

Robbie has lived and worked in the North West since 2001 where he owned and operated his own business in Mount Isa. He worked in the property valuation industry for 16 years, following studies at university, after a two year stint working in the mines.

Robbie served on the Mount Isa City Council as councillor for four years before being elected State Member for Mount Isa. In 2017, this electorate was expanded and renamed Traeger.

A keen sports enthusiast, Robbie is still involved in local sports and enjoyed playing high level rugby league in his younger days.

He has also been involved with local theatre, performing in local events when his schedule allows and is a qualified pilot, and often uses this skill to navigate his way across the vast Traeger electorate.

He is a great believer in the individual’s right to prosper and believes the government should preserve that right.

Robbie is proud to serve as the Member for Traeger and the opportunity it gives him to speak out for his electorate, and broader rural and regional Queensland, in the State Parliament.

John Wharton has been in the Northern cattle industry all his life, having owned cattle properties in the Richmond and Etheridge Shire. He was elected to the Richmond Shire Council in 1991 and went on to become Mayor in 1997. Being the Mayor for 20 years has placed him as the longest serving Mayor presently in Local Government in Queensland.

In June 2007 he was the recipient of a Member of the Order of Australia Award for his service to the community of North-West Queensland through Local Government, Regional Development, Natural Resource Management and Primary Industry Organizations. He also received the Centenary Medal in 2007 for distinguished service to Local Government.

He was appointed in January 2016, by Federal Minister Chris Pyne, to be the Interim Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Developing Northern Australia (DNA) and travelled extensively across the North, consulting with communities and businesses with regard to the establishment of the CRC. In February 2017, John was appointed as a board member to the CRC for DNA.

John manages and operates his own real estate business, Wharton & Co P/L, dealing in property and livestock. He also has an Agricultural consultancy business, with experience in a wide range of Agriculture in Northern Australia. These include Beef Cattle, Quarter horses, Cropping, Water Infrastructure, Goats, Camels, Pest Control and Land Management. He also has extensive knowledge of road construction and development costs with personal earthmoving experience and pricing knowledge from 26 years in Local Government.  

John is a passionate believer in Northern Australia and its future and is well known as a person who speaks up for what he believes in. He believes diversity is the key to economic success and common sense and practicality will always work.

I’m a young, proud aboriginal man from Mount Isa with two beautiful daughters Rikki and Peyton with my fiancé Michelle.

My family extends from the Pitta Pitta to the Kalkadoons. My parents have been Mount Isa residents for more than 50 years.

From becoming a head chef and running a restaurant at a young age, I have now moved onto a mining career within Mount Isa Mines. Over the past few years I’ve been working there as an underground operator. This employment has given me opportunities and opened pathways for me to attend the Queensland Indigenous Youth Leadership Program from a participant to a lead mentor, and now a Glencore representative. This has allowed me to not only promote the mines and Glencore, but to help overcome the stereotypes for young Aboriginal men, especially in Mount Isa.

I now sit on a variety of Boards including the Safety Council at Mount Isa Mines and NWQICSS.

Maryann Wipaki is the General Manager of Health, Safety, Environment and Community Relations for the Glencore Queensland Base Metals Business.  Glencore has over 17,000 employees and contractors in Australia and is a major employer in North Queensland.   Maryann was born and raised in North West Queensland and is proud to call Mount Isa home.  With over 25 years experience in the metalliferous mining industry and a portfolio that includes emergency and injury management, Maryann is pleased to be part of a committee that has the potential to improve essential emergency services and patient outcomes for those in need in our communities.

Greg is always in attendance at community sporting group and community organisation AGMs where he provides volunteer assistance with their financial affairs and audit requirements.

Greg was born in Cairns and attended Saint Augustines College and later secured a degree in Business Accounting in Toowoomba.

He worked at Mount Isa Mines for 43 years where his roles centred around accountancy along with a time in housing and accommodation.

Sport has always featured in his life and he played rugby league and hockey for Mount Isa. Sport administration played a huge role in his sporting career where he served as President and Treasurer for the Rugby League Referees Association and Treasurer for both the junior and senior rugby league. He also refereed the Foley Shield Games for north Queensland.

Greg is married to Pam who is also involved supporting a number of local community organisations.

Lee Pulman arrived in Mount Isa in May 1973. Married to Linda with 4 grown up children, all born in Mount Isa.

Lee has worked at Bell and Moir Toyota for 40 years- the last 34 in senior management roles. Lee and Linda purchased the business in July 2008.

A big believer and supporter of the local community and economy, Lee received a Paul Harris Fellowship award for services/sponsorship  of The Mount Isa Rodeo.