Members of the Western Queensland Alliance of Councils have pledged to donate funds to south east councils who were devastated by recent floods, after discussions on disaster recovery at the WQAC assembly last week.
The movement was led by Blackall-Tambo Mayor Andrew Martin who pledged to donate $5000 from his council, calling on the other Western shires to do the same.
Mr Martin said that it was the least the Western communities could do, considering the help that they had received during times of drought and flood out west.
"I was thinking collectively I suppose, in that all of us have been the recipients of the most heartfelt generosity over the north-west monsoon, the drought in the central west, the issues in Mitchell and St George as well, with floods and drought.
"I heard that there's 22 councils in the south east that are in trouble, and there's 22 councils here, all of whom have been the recipient of their help and generosity at some point in time, and it's 2022.
"So that's 22 for 22, in 2022. I thought here we go, and I opened the bidding at $5000, so that should raise at least $100,000 or more.
"I haven't heard a no yet, and I know all of these shires will go home, most of us are meeting next week for our regular council meetings, and we're all going to discuss this.
"We'll put it all in one pile and donate it to wherever our directors decide that we want it to go."
Many of the councils have also sent SES personnel to assist in the flood recovery, with some planning to send trucks into the south east after CEO of the Local Government Association of Queensland Alison Smith put the call out during her presentation on disaster recovery and resilience.
Mayor Martin said he and his family had personally been offered assistance in times of need, sparking his desire to give back.
"When the COVID thing first started and it looked like we might not be able to send our kids to boarding school because they were closing the boarding house, I had calls from a heap of people that I'd never even met or heard of, offering my children a bed in Brisbane," he said.
"That's the sort of generosity that we've received.
"And that resilience talk, it doesn't take much for me to get emotional but it got me thinking, we've really got to help these people."
Mayor of Murweh Shire Council Shaun 'Zoro' Radnedge said that he agreed with Mayor Martin's call for action and that he planned to discuss the donation with his council this week.
"It's our turn to help our city cousins," he said.
"100 per cent, we need to give back because Charleville has received so much in times when we needed help to get back on our feet, and now it's our turn to help those people in need."
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