NQLIRA in the beginning

17 April 2019

In early 2019 a monsoon trough over North and North West Queensland delivered 12 days of continuous, heavy rain. It created a body of water more than 15,000 square kilometres, over 700 kilometres in length and travelling at speed. Much of that water flowed in and around Karumba causing a massive silt issue in the Norman River. The North Queensland Livestock Industry Recovery Agency (NQLIRA) was announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on 1 March 2019 to assist with the recovery and reconstruction efforts. Shane Stone was appointed Chairman & CEO of the Agency. The Agency hit the ground running meeting with local stakeholders. The Karumba Port lies at the shallow mouth of the Norman River in the Gulf of Carpentaria, where regular dredging is required to provide reliable shipping access. The Livestock Export and Loading Facility shipped between 5000 to 15,000 cattle per year in the 5 years before the cessation of regular port dredging in 2016. As many as 60,000 cattle were shipped from the port in 1997. Karumba Livestock Exports has a pre-export quarantine facility situated right at the port. It is the only port in Australia where cattle can be brought to the yards, treated and then walked straight onto a ship, eliminating double handling. Shane Stone pictured with Violy Kaus, owner of the facility and Geoff Wormell consultant.



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