Ricki Bruhn is CEO of Winton Shire Council, in Queensland’s central west outback. It is the birthplace of Qantas and Waltzing Matilda and is also known for opals, dinosaurs, livestock and landscape.

Winter is usually the start of our tourist season, when grey nomads from the southern states pass through on their way north. Instead it’s so quiet and strange not seeing all the caravans out on the roads.

Our region was recovering from seven years of drought, then monsoonal floods that devastated our graziers, when this pandemic hit. It’s difficult seeing services like our pool, Waltzing Matilda Centre, playgrounds, sports facilities and Visitor Information Centre close. The stay-home directive was also hard because Winton people look forward to getting out in town and socialising with neighbours.

We’ve used social media and our neighbourhood centre to promote information, workshops and activities to help keep people connected, including online cooking classes with Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food, a town sunflower growing competition, videos from our mayor, streamed library storytime, virtual yoga and business webinars.

We got our community radio station back on air after a hiatus to deliver important community messages. On Anzac Day, we created a live simulcast on community radio and Facebook so people could experience the Dawn Service from their homes.

It’s good to see restrictions easing across Australia, but the impact of COVID-19 will last a while. So many events have been cancelled. Our Waltzing Matilda Centre alone has lost $400,000 in the past three months. Caravan parks and hotels are missing this tourist season, and because things slow down here from October, they’re probably 12 months away from seeing meaningful activity.

It’s tough, but small country towns grow to be resilient because they’re always dealing with challenges. I’m confident we’ll bounce back.

Ricki Bruhn
Chief Executive Officer
Winton Shire Council