June 10, 2025 • 30 mins
It’s about Mount Isa and a missing... waterslide.
Out every Wednesday over four weeks.
This episode, an introduction to one of the most remote and fascinating Australian towns.
Is it a town built around a mine or a mine built near a town?
Don't worry the locals like Cogho, Shae, Rob Katter (son of Bob!) will let you know.
Hosted by comedians Dave O’Neil and Brad Oakes, who uncovered this story while touring in remote Queensland.
It’s a story that starts in remote Mount Isa and ends up in international waters, from Turkey to the Suez Canal to Townsville, with an incident involving - wait for it - a pirate attack!
Slippery Slope starts in one of the most unique places in Australia, Mount Isa.
A town built around a mine in the middle of Queensland, a land that has been sought after for its minerals from its original indigenous owners all the way to 2025 where a Swiss commodity trading company is in charge of the mine.
But the story is about people, the people of Mount Isa.
Learn more about Slippery Slope here.
Looking for a comedian for your next event?
Contact: hi@nearly.com.au
Slippery Slope is written and hosted by Dave O'Neil and Brad Oakes.
Original music by Itinerant Production
Editing by Courtney Carthy
Published by Nearly Media
Thank you to all the guests involved in the making of Slippery Slope.
Support on Lenny.fm: https://www.lenny.fm/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, it's me Dave O'Neil. Clean's not here for this bit,
but that's okay because it was actually me that made
this new true crime well sort off podcast with Brad Oaks. Yes,
Brad gets mentioned a fair bit on somehow related. It's
called a Slippery Slope. You can listen here or search
for in your podcast app. It's a story of jealousy,
aspiration and international relations taking place mostly in Queensland's remote
north central town of Mount Isa. Got two of your
(00:22):
favorite things and selling for Slippery Slope Episode one. Hopefully
Glen will be listening and you can correct Brad on
all his factual errors like he likes to do to us.
Here we go Mount iSER, one of the most remote
places in Australia, nay the world, smack bang in the
middle of Queensland. They had it all pubs, cowboys, rodeo,
(00:46):
twenty four hour machas, a massive mind. But something was missing.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
She said, I got to say they don't have real problems.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
You got problems, And he said, what the fuck is
that some of us screaming wizzard, crocodile, lizard, crocodile.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
And a water slide just made sense.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It was made in Turkey and we got a lot
of flak off that too.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
There was a bit of an issue in the sus Canal, Like.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I thought everyone was having a crack.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
They're delaying and on purpose and they're just trying to
get it in after the election.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Oh okay, of course this has happened to us in
Mount isa What else would happen?
Speaker 6 (01:24):
Slippery Slope a true crime podcast about Mount iSER and
the Missing Water Slide with Dave O'Neill and Brad Oaks.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Well, Hello and welcome to a podcast. I'm Dave O'Neil.
Speaker 7 (01:43):
Hi, I'm Brad Oaks.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Now, Brad, tell everyone how we came across the story
of Mount isa and the Missing water Slide.
Speaker 8 (01:52):
Well, last year we were touring in northern Queensland. We
were in cans and then we flew to Mount Isaac.
We were picked up by a challenging person from the.
Speaker 7 (02:05):
Mount Isaac Council, Erica Erica.
Speaker 8 (02:08):
She drove us around, she showed us some very interesting
sites and then told us this wonderful tale.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Now you'd been to man iSER before, No, I'd never
been there. Yeah, and what was your first impression?
Speaker 8 (02:25):
Is it in Australia? Yeah, it's it's a long while.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It's very isolated for people that don't know. It's in
the middle of Queensland. It's a huge mining town.
Speaker 8 (02:35):
It's actually in Queensland, but it's closer to Darwin, yeah
than it is to Brisbane. Yeah, it's state capitol.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
I've been there a few times. I hosted the one
hundred year celebration and I've been I've I've done again.
Julia Creek, I always really liked Mount iSER because very
much a working town as opposed to a five town.
Most people live there and most people work in the
mine or on the surrounding industries in the mines.
Speaker 8 (02:58):
Well, I know, I think when I look at you,
I think Western Queensland. Yes, you're like a stockman.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So we heard of this story and we thought that
is a great story, and so return to Mount Eyes
that interviewed people. We're going to cover the whole story
over this podcast.
Speaker 8 (03:14):
I just point out to them we didn't turn to
each other, and this is a great story. It was
a couple of weeks later after we got back said
I'm just fascinated by that story.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You went me too, And we both been into rooms
in Mount Eyes and individually googled and could find nothing
about it. There was nothing about this water slide, so
we thought this is a great story. Well, I mean
it's interesting people that live there have an opinion on
Mount Isser obviously. Let's hear from Kim Coglan. She's the
sister now, she's been on council forever. Kim, what's your
(03:46):
what's your description of Mount iSER?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Hard? Rugged?
Speaker 7 (03:51):
Hot?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, that's a very quick summation, but that kind of
does summ it up.
Speaker 7 (03:55):
It is.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
I think it is a hard place to live, Brad.
Speaker 8 (03:58):
In terms of hard, it was thirty one degrees when
we were in Cans.
Speaker 7 (04:03):
The day before. Yeah, but that's humid heat.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (04:06):
And then when we landed at eight thirty in the
morning in Mount Isaac, it was already thirty one degrees.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
Yeah, that's more like pizza oven heat.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, it was like a pizza oven, and it got
hotder and hotter. Daniel Slade's also she was on the council.
She was a mayor. I met her when I hosted
one hundred years celebration. She's not a counselor anymore. Growing
up in maun isa.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
It was never my intention to stay here. It grows
on you without you realizing. When I was left school,
I was out of here, there's no doubt about it.
And I met people who not just become friends, but
have become lifelong friends, and people who would you know,
bury a body for you. Basically, you know these people
we've grown up together. And I can't explain that sort
(04:48):
of feeling of community that man Isa has. And maybe
it's because we're so isolated of course this area.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And I didn't know this until I went there. Rob
Catter is the local member for the eight Parliament. Now
that's Bob Catter's son. Do you know he had a son.
Speaker 7 (05:03):
I knew he had a son.
Speaker 8 (05:05):
I love the fact that the differential is just well,
Bob Catter, who's a very colorful Australian federal politicians.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Being there forever to in Parliament, he.
Speaker 8 (05:14):
Has been around and is a very strong advocate for
Northern Queensland. To differentiate between his colorful personality his son
is Rob rather than Bob.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, it's so funny and it's just one letter, the
difference between Rob and Bob.
Speaker 7 (05:32):
Yeah, it just clears it up straight away.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
The people that don't know who Bob Catter is. This
is his famous quote on the news when they're I
think I talk about gay marriage, weren't they?
Speaker 7 (05:41):
It was it's about the referendum.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah, and just hear how it takes a turn. It's
only twenty seconds. But this will this will sum up
Bob Catter. People are entitled to the sexual proclimities.
Speaker 6 (05:53):
Yeah, I mean, let there be a thousand blossoms blooms.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
So but I ain't spending any time warrant because in
the meantime, every three months a person is torn to
pieces by a crocodile.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And North Queensland there we go torn to pieces by
a crocodile.
Speaker 8 (06:11):
Do yourself a favor too, if you want to google that,
just type in Bobcatter crocodiles and you will see it's
a twenty second clip.
Speaker 7 (06:21):
His face change halfway through that.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It's unbelievable and that has become famous around the world.
But that's not Rob Catter.
Speaker 7 (06:28):
No, Rob's a lot more to day.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Rob Catter actually lives in maun Isa. He's got an officer,
he's got a house that he's got a family there.
Speaker 8 (06:35):
He's the member for that area, yes, and which must
be a very big state of electionship.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
He's got a plane that he flies around. Yeah, which
he famlessly didn't put the landing thing down and skid
it on the tarmac. I do that all the time
in your plane. Let's hear from Rob catter Man.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Isser is a diamond in the rough.
Speaker 9 (06:56):
It's very hard to see it's beauty and its value
and character on the surface, but it doesn't when you
open it up and get inside.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's just it's great and gets oldier. It's hard to leave.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He sounds to be like a little bit. There is
a real phenomena where people come brand and they just stay.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Did you have any desire to stay?
Speaker 8 (07:17):
No, it was it was a bit too hot for me,
given that we did a gig there that I pretty
much shot my bolt there. You know, a lot of
the people from the region were there. So after that
it's pretty much I'll just be picking up papers for
something to do.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, there's no gigs there, basically is what you're saying.
Speaker 8 (07:38):
But I could see, like you remember how the sunsets
were absolutely beautiful, beautiful and striking. It had that kind
of thing too, which I think it might be proximate
to a desert, and so it has that nighttime that's stillness,
which is you know, really kind of commensurate with the
Australian outback.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is a desert, isn't it. Would
you pop the desert?
Speaker 7 (08:02):
Really? Sure?
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's the desert. Let's hear a bit more from Rob
Cata talking about how it's very hard to leave the place.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
For me, I'm a good working example.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
I came out with a two or three year plan
twenty one years ago, thinking yeah, just make some money,
and then you start to go, well, what am I.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Going to improve if I go back to the coast?
If I go back, what am I going to improve?
Speaker 9 (08:21):
Because I've got a good friendship base here, We've got
a good house, I've got a job, we got enough
money to holiday at the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I think a lot of people have that set in
the head.
Speaker 9 (08:30):
Like I've got to get back to NUSA, I've got
to get back to Brisbane and Gold Coast. And then
you start to say, well, why, you know, what was
better in your life there? And it's inch It's really
interesting the amount of people that move away and I
don't want to say with their tail between their legs,
but it's usually sort of in a good way. They
come out and say, you know what, I just, I
just I couldn't replicate the same friendships and community that
(08:52):
I had here.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Think about man Eyes. That no one's mentioned yet is
the mine. It is quite remarkable to go to a
mining town with mine is right there in the middle
of the town, right there.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
Yeah. I've been a cup early and the mine's outside.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah, that's a pit too.
Speaker 7 (09:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (09:09):
And you know, of course, growing up in Victoria there's
the open Cup mine in the Gippsland region around.
Speaker 7 (09:16):
More Lawn and that's out of town.
Speaker 8 (09:19):
But this is really strike here. It's just in fact,
the town I believe, is divided into mind side and
town side.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yes, yeah, mind side used to be a bit posh,
I believe back because of course it would be posh
because if you on the mind side, do you go,
I'll just grab some rubies from my mind.
Speaker 8 (09:39):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
It's interesting because when I first went there, I could
not believe I could look at the motel. I heard
a horn blasting and it was the mine. I looked
at the motel window and there it was right there.
Speaker 7 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So first impressions are really interesting. With Mount iSER. Let's
see from Corgo again, the counselor talking about someone's first impression.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Tell this story. I felt like, I'm into Mount Isa,
never been to in his life. He went to town.
He's rugby league club. He was drinking there all afternoon
and I had to take him. He was staying at
the Berkley Hotel, so I was taking him to the
Berkeley Hotel and I was going across the Big Bridge
and at night, when the mines is lit up, it
looks like a shipliner. And I remember we were going
(10:18):
across the Big Bridge and he was talking and next
minute he looked and he said, what the.
Speaker 7 (10:23):
Fuck is that?
Speaker 3 (10:24):
And I said, what are you talking about? Because I
didn't know what he was going on about. And he
was in the car horrified, and I said, what are
you He said, what's that? And I said it's the
mine and he was absolutely astounded. He said, but it's
right there, and I said, yeah, so we we don't
(10:47):
know anything different. But for people coming into Mount Isa,
I mean, you drive down the Berkeley Highway and you know,
you go up Railway Avenue and there's this mine, like
the whole mine is there, Like it's just it's unheard
of because all other places in Australia, the mine's there,
but the town's away. But you go back to when
(11:07):
it was discovered. I mean you had to be right
near the mine, so you used to have mind side
and town side.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
The mine was first and then Mount Isa. Do you
know how they how was discovered? How Man Isa came
to be.
Speaker 8 (11:21):
I'm strongly paraphrasing here, so you know, feel free to
correct me. But my understanding was that there was some
prospectors just moving through the area.
Speaker 7 (11:29):
One of them horses that's something in its foot, yeah, hoof.
Speaker 8 (11:35):
And they turned it over and it was a big
lump of insert precious metal right here, which begs the
question because we talk about how the town to be
called Mount Eliza, but I think I should have been
named after that horse.
Speaker 7 (11:49):
Yeah, you know, like Malli, Mount Trigger, Mount Nolley.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Because of course, the indigenous people were there first, of course,
and they're part of Mount Eyes were of course, and
it used to be it was known for sort of thing.
Speaker 7 (12:00):
I believe it was known as a training area. It
was well known for the quality.
Speaker 8 (12:05):
Of the stone axes that were made in the region, right,
which again would point towards them using really good minerals
the materials.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, yeah, that they're now mine minerals. Coogo seems to
know what she's talking about when it comes with the
history of Mount Isa.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
So the story goes, the horse got a rock thing
in his hoof and he saw it. A lot of
them were prospectors at the time, and from there like
all the prospectors come out, but John Campbell Miles laid
claim to it first. And there's a long, long history
of miners coming here. So I just know that my
(12:43):
great grandfather was the pioneer that discovered, like was with
John Miles. Then my father was a shift boss in
the mines, and then like I worked in the mines.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
The mine has had several owners over the years. Well,
the vibe I get the current owners is not a relationship,
I believe.
Speaker 8 (13:01):
No, I believe it started out as Mount Eyes are mining. Yes,
and for years you would see that in the stocks pages.
Speaker 7 (13:10):
Yes, you know m I am was synonymous. You know,
it was up there with b HP.
Speaker 8 (13:15):
It's one of the most productive mining areas in the
world in terms of its size, and it's now fallen
into the hands of what did they say, bean counters
encounters economers.
Speaker 7 (13:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I actually put the question to Rob Catter let's have
a listen.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I'd say really bad.
Speaker 9 (13:34):
It was off the charts good when I sort of
first moved here and it was Mount Eyes and mines.
They used to have a Christmas party. I'm told before
my time they had a Christmas party.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Every kid in.
Speaker 9 (13:44):
Town, every kid in town, regardless where their parents worked
at the mine's not got a Christmas present. And the
friends of mine, like who my age were parted that
they said made They weren't little presents, like they went
like a decent bloody toy. And you know, they did
up sports fields and you know, helped people into housing
and helped develop housing suburbs and really invested in creating
(14:08):
a good livable city and keeping fi FO out and
making a permanent workforce. And you know, Extrata came in,
which was the precursor to Glencore, and it's just completely different.
There's a lot of animosity towards the mine now, I'd
say because they do it. They're just commercially focused and
that same community focus.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
They're not mining them. The money people aren't there from.
Speaker 9 (14:32):
The global commodity traders, where one of one hundred and
fifty or more minds are in the world where respecting
the it's Beecadust Tom and they work off commodity prices
and high out. They'd require higher returns and a lot
of other mining companies do around the place, so they'll
shut something down before someone else would.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
And they're not miners, they're economists.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Oh, they're bankers.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, and like it's yeah, so I think that's where
that's where the trouble is. We need a mine company
to buy out maunt Ey's minds.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Hello, so I'm bringing you early.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
I've realized we've got Troy rolling from the Northwest Weekly.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Hell are Troy? I'm not too bad. Tell us what's
your relationship with Mount Isaac? You there when you were
a younger man, is it right?
Speaker 10 (15:21):
Ah, Yeah, that's right. I started my journalism cadet ship
in Mount Isao maybe ten to fifteen years ago, and
then I went off and did other things in media,
and then a friend of mine started the newspaper up
here again last year, and so yeah, here I am.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Troy showed me around Mount Isaac When he said he
went off and did other things, brava. He worked for
a very famous politician. But we're not going to interview
him about that.
Speaker 7 (15:43):
Right, did you ever think you'd go back there? I
don't know.
Speaker 10 (15:46):
It's one of those places where people always say they
come back. It's like a boomerang sort of town. People
keep coming back, so when you actually walk down the
street and people remember you, they're not always surprised to
see that you've come back.
Speaker 8 (15:58):
To be honest, it's like a town where people go, oh,
you've been away?
Speaker 7 (16:03):
Did five to seven.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
When I was talking to you. The relationship between Mount
i and the mine is really interesting because they're kind
of proud of the mine, aren't they.
Speaker 10 (16:10):
Oh yeah, this place is very very pro mining, so
because it's basically a gigantic mine with a town wrapped
around it in the middle of nowhere. So I mean
the mine was here before the town as well. So
if you'd be anti mining in Mount Isy would be
very lonely.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And now tell us about is part of the mind
shutting down? Soon?
Speaker 10 (16:31):
It is? Yeah, So later this year they'll have the
underground section, which is actually there's like hundreds of kilometers
of underground mine there that they extract copper from, and well,
that whole section is closing down. So it's somewhere between
six hundred and twelve hundred jobs, which is about ten
percent of the entire workforce in Mount iSER.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, and what's the vibe about that? That's obviously a
bad thing.
Speaker 10 (16:53):
Oh yeah, yeah, I mean it's obviously people don't like
seeing the mines closed as obviously people that think it
should stay open. There's other people that say, that's what
a mind does, it runs out of stuff. There's other
things on the horizon though. There's always minds being proposed
out here as well, so it's not just the one
manners of mine. There's quite a lot of mining production
(17:15):
all around the area.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
To be honest, has it run out of stuff or
is it an economic decision?
Speaker 10 (17:20):
Depends what you ask. If you ask the company Glencore,
they'll tell you that they've basically just depleted the resource.
So they just it's just not economical for them to
get it out anymore. They're just closing it. Well, they're
going to restart and open cut mine over the top
of it in the next few years.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Well, that'll create more jobs, won't it.
Speaker 7 (17:38):
It will.
Speaker 10 (17:39):
Yeah, they're not as many jobs as what is currently
in the underground section, but it will create new jobs.
The thing is that mine hasn't been fully sort of
signed off on yet they haven't made a final investment decision,
so just have to wait and see.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
And there's a resistance to five to zo there as well,
do isn't there that? Is there a concern that these
jobs will be allocated to locals or yeah?
Speaker 10 (18:03):
Well that's always the big battle out here in any
mining town, is that. Yeah, you get the guys that
fly in and fly out, and they live in camps
or they live on accommodation, and you know, they don't
spend outside from sort of buying beer and playing the pokey's,
they don't really commit to the town very much.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
I think it was you telling me, was it Glenko
who changed the shift time so it went from eight
hours to a different twelve hour shift?
Speaker 7 (18:29):
Was that right?
Speaker 10 (18:29):
It was the previous company that owned the mine before Glencore,
so extrata they extended from eight to twelve hour shifts.
And if you listen to longtime locals, y'or two, it
really did take a lot of the heart out of
a lot of the community organizations, particularly because you know,
I don't know if you guys have ever worked a
twelve hour shift, but you're pretty buggered by the end
(18:52):
of it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, Troy, you're
asking two comedians if they've ever worked a twelve hour shift.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
Answers know we did drive them Durham back.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You're right, once you finish a twelve hour shift in
the physical job, you can't go to tennis or soccer
practice your knack.
Speaker 8 (19:09):
It is that three ships down to two? Or is
that two shifts and closing down?
Speaker 10 (19:14):
It's two ships now.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
But of course, with the history of the mind when
we were up there, Erika showed us the underground hospital,
which was a feature in World War Two. The miners
built that, didn't they.
Speaker 10 (19:25):
My understanding is that Northern Australia was pretty undeveloped back then.
The war was used to try and build highways, and
they built airstrips and in case the Japanese invaded, So
I think out here was obviously going to be a
place that soldiers were going to fall back to if
the Japanese ever did come down, and so they needed
a hospital to be able to put injured soldiers in
(19:46):
and all the rest of us. There's like a bunch
of tunnels built into the side of a mountain out
here that that was a hospital.
Speaker 8 (19:51):
We visited that amazing looking at their history, it would
have been a nice, big, fat, juicy target for the
Japanese army because there was in fact, after the bombing
of Darwin. I think that was an influence where they said, well,
we have to have a hospital, it's safe.
Speaker 7 (20:09):
And on top of that, there.
Speaker 8 (20:11):
Was the Brisbane line, which was basically, we will defend
everything from Brisbane back, so that, you know, the people
might have actually felt like they were being isolated there.
Speaker 10 (20:22):
There were a lot of American soldiers in man Isa
during the war too, and they used to get into
fights with the miners and go down to the riverbank
and sort it all out.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
You live in Mount Isaa, you work there. Talking about
the lack of things for young people to do, is
that an issue you wreck.
Speaker 10 (20:38):
Well, we're in the middle of nowhere. So if you
don't like what Manasa has to offer, you don't have
much else to choose from. I guess it just depends
what you like to do. Because we've got Lake Mundara,
which is, without sounding like a tourist pamphlet, there's you know,
Lake Mundaru is a pretty big it's the water source,
but they've turned into a big, nice lake where people
go fishing and boating and stuff, and it's a pretty
(21:01):
multicultural place as well, as much as people probably don't realize.
So there's a lot of good restaurants and stuff as well.
So I don't mind it, but I guess it just depends.
You know, if you're wanting to go and see metallic
or on the weekend or something, you're not going to
be doing that from Mount Isa.
Speaker 7 (21:16):
What an appropriate thing in mining town.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
In Mount Isa? He Troy, thanks for talking to us.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
No problem.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well, apart from all the issues with the mind, so
that part of the mind's closing down. There is this
whole problem with the young people and a lack of
things for the kids to do.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Brad, there is, but the relationships are strong. I think
Danielle was talking before. I think she said something like
people have got your back. People would bury your body
for you basically. Okay, so not a good idea in
a mining town. Yeah, probably a better way to get
rid of it. It kind of speaks to firm friends.
(21:55):
And Rob Catter said the same, how close these people
are and so even if you don't have kids, you're
concerned about the issues for their children.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, but there is I mean there's lots of sporting clubs.
There is a lack of the things for the kids through.
Let's hear from Rob Catder.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Oh well, you know it was really nice.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Once a politician in Brisbane, a lady had come up
to me and said, Robert, we just want to say
to you. I spent a few days out in the
committee here and Mount Easa getting across some of the
issues here. And she said, you know, I get a
lot of people from my office in Brisbane. She said,
I got to say they don't have real problems.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You got problems.
Speaker 9 (22:32):
If you wanted to take education, health, population decline, industry
risk and industry growth and just about every metric we
could say, we've got the alcoholism, social disruption, crime, you
could put in a real negative slant on it.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
But kriky, we still love being here.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Oh look, this is look. And I'll speak very bluntly
with you. You know, people say, oh, there's nothing to do,
rah rah, Well hang on a minute, Like we shouldn't
have to put on something for you to do. You
can still like we've got a skate park here, we've
got a pump track, We've got like thirteen parks or something,
and nearly all of them have got play equipment in it.
(23:18):
Or how about you just go get your mate and
get on a bike and ride around for a little bit,
you know, not break into houses or anything, but you know,
just ride around on your bikes. And my son especially
was never without a ball in his hand. He'd kick
a ball around or him and his mates would go,
you know and do their stuff. So I still think
there's a lot to do in Mount isab Igo.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, well, it mean she makes a good point. I
mean we didn't have much. I mean we were in Melbourne,
but we didn't have that much growing up as kids
to entertain ourselves, did we know?
Speaker 8 (23:45):
And in fact you talk about just a digress, you're
talking about it having a ball in your hand. Now,
I believe in your street there was somebody who moved out.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Oh sure, we're talking about Johnny Firthy who plays for
the NBA. Now, the kid that I've practically raised, he
lives across the road and he used to play basketball
the time with the school at the local clubs and
then he got signed up for the NBA.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
It's the same in Central Australia. And I was talking
to a football or Rubert buttheris ex Collingwood player who
went up and did some developmental work in the central
part of the Northern Cheritory. And I said to him,
do you think that Indigenous people are better at football?
And he said he felt that this is his opinion.
He felt that it was because they have a ball
(24:30):
in their hand from the moment they can walk, really,
they have a footy or they're having a game of footy,
and so.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
That because it's cheap entertainment, it is.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
And he said, there'll be eighty kids playing, forty on
each side playing footy. I'm just really intrigued by how
important a ball is. He said that by the time
you get to teenage years, you've seen every bounce to
that ball. And that's what makes you ten thousand hour experts.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why the theory that you need
ten thousand hours of practicing your chosen field, like us
in standup comedy. Ten thousand hours.
Speaker 7 (25:03):
And I bounced a lot of balls done.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
So you've got all the sporting clubs up there. You've
got the forty, the cricket, they've got tennis in Mount Eyeser,
all sorts of sports. Body bearing, yeah, the body bearing,
the soccer cop.
Speaker 7 (25:16):
The body Finding club.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
They've got a great pool up there, but this you
would hope, Okay, a big swim center outdoors and the
outdoor swim center there right near the mine. Actually it's
right next to the mine. But the thing is the
example we're about to play illustrates how bored the kids
are a mount eyes are. Oh, let's shay. She runs
(25:39):
the pool there, she runs the swim center. Let her
tell the story.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
A couple of years ago we had some crocodiles in
the pool as well. Her little turtle last year also,
not that the turtle was too bad, but the crocodiles
were a bit more of a feat to get out.
Someone had been trapping them out at the lake and
brought them in overnight and threw them over the fence,
and they've gone into the water. I opened the pool
as normal. It was pitch black, spotlights on. I did
(26:05):
my walk around and check. But the crocodiles were obviously
in the corners in the shadow early in the morning,
just dormant. And then as the water started churning up.
We had an aquaerobics class on. There was music pumping
and everything was going. They started to move around and
we don't know whether they wanted to join in or
just escape the place fast. They looked pretty nervous and
(26:28):
pretty scared at first. To be honest, I don't know
who was more scared. A couple of people in the
class started screaming and running and didn't really know what
was going on at first until some of them were
screaming lizard, crocodile, lizard, crocodile. And yeah, it went from there.
So we could scoop some out with the buckets. They
were only little babies. Some of them were a little
bit faster, and we had to get one of the
(26:51):
ladies we know quite well from the class. Actually, her
husband came down. He's a big fishing fella, and he
brought cast nets and that's how we got them.
Speaker 8 (27:00):
Okay, So I just want to point out, like Shay
and I can imagine that's that's a problem. But I've
seen a lizard and I've seen a crocodile, and we're
talking a difference in meters.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, you know, I think there were baby crocodiles, but
they're still scary.
Speaker 7 (27:17):
I know they they were very different. I believe that
they probably were similar about twenty million billion years ago. Yes,
but they branched out.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Well, it's kind of like saying Wallaby kangaroo. Wellby kangaroo,
isn't it? Is it?
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Now?
Speaker 8 (27:33):
I felt like it's Molly saying Wallaby horse wall Okay,
that's probably what Bob Catta was talking about. Yes, I
mean being ripped apart over a series of days.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
In the swimming pool in Mount Isa. Well, anyway, that's
the thing about Man Isa. We're getting to the water
slide now because the kids are say bored, they're putting
crocodiles in the pool. Even though she didn't say they
were kids in that quote, but she told me later
they were kids, did it. Let's cross the Danny Old Slide,
the former mayor and because there used to be a
bread I don't know if you know that there used
(28:05):
to be a water slide in Mount iSER.
Speaker 7 (28:08):
No, I did not know that.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
For a while.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
When I was a kid here we had a water slide.
Is that quite a ride on my bike, to be honest.
But I would ride out there, do the water slide
and have the time of my life. And of course
it was a private entity and it went broke, all
closed down. And the one thing that I realized as
a resident let alone. The mayor is we need more
fun things for kids to do, especially the older kids.
(28:33):
You know, we're talking you for crime and lots of
things happening. You need to keep these kids engaged, lots
of fun things to do. A water slide just made sense,
you know.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
There we have it. Someone suggested a water slide for
Mount iSER. So we get to the start of the
story bra.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
All right, and so they didn't have that water slide.
The another ones we had with kids, we just had
slipping side. They had a big bit of plastic.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
A dad would put ten pegs in the plastic and
also be near the road. We used to do one
on the Naturetrerip and you could often go into the
driveway or the road.
Speaker 8 (29:02):
And you can put a little bit of deg urgence
on it and if you slid onto that cooch grass
there was next to your's skim for this.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
So we've come to the end of the first episode.
So Mount Isa they're going to get a water slide. Well,
it's been proposed, but there's quite a few hurdles to
cover and the incident occurs.
Speaker 7 (29:23):
Yeah, you don't just go and buy one at Clark Rubber.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
No, you don't it's a whole thing good intentions. Look
listen to next week because something goes wrong.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Queensland Government had gone to all the mines in Queensland
and said we want some money from you. Special meeting
of man Isser City Council. It was my idea for
the water slide, but it's not big enough.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Slippery Slope a true crime podcast about Mount iSER and
the missing water slide with Dave O'Neill and Breno.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Slippery Slope is written and hosted by Dave O'Neil and Bradoaks.
Original music created by Itinerant Productions. Check out their website.
There's some great stuff there. Ww dot Itinerantproduction dot com.
Editing by Courtney Carthy, published by Neely Media. Thank you
to all the guests involved in the making of Slippery
Slope in this episode, Kim Coglan, Daniel Say, Troy Railing,
(30:23):
Robcatter and Shae Donovan at the pool. Find more information
in the episode notes or at nearly dot com dot au.
And thanks to the people of man iSER
Hello, it's me Dave O'Neil. Clean's not here for this bit,
but that's okay because it was actually me that made
this new true crime well sort off podcast with Brad Oaks. Yes,
Brad gets mentioned a fair bit on somehow related. It's
called a Slippery Slope. You can listen here or search
for in your podcast app. It's a story of jealousy,
aspiration and international relations taking place mostly in Queensland's remote
north central town of Mount Isa. Got two of your
(00:22):
favorite things and selling for Slippery Slope Episode one. Hopefully
Glen will be listening and you can correct Brad on
all his factual errors like he likes to do to us.
Here we go Mount iSER, one of the most remote
places in Australia, nay the world, smack bang in the
middle of Queensland. They had it all pubs, cowboys, rodeo,
(00:46):
twenty four hour machas, a massive mind. But something was missing.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
She said, I got to say they don't have real problems.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
You got problems, And he said, what the fuck is
that some of us screaming wizzard, crocodile, lizard, crocodile.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
And a water slide just made sense.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
It was made in Turkey and we got a lot
of flak off that too.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
There was a bit of an issue in the sus Canal, Like.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I thought everyone was having a crack.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
They're delaying and on purpose and they're just trying to
get it in after the election.
Speaker 5 (01:18):
Oh okay, of course this has happened to us in
Mount isa What else would happen?
Speaker 6 (01:24):
Slippery Slope a true crime podcast about Mount iSER and
the Missing Water Slide with Dave O'Neill and Brad Oaks.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Well, Hello and welcome to a podcast. I'm Dave O'Neil.
Speaker 7 (01:43):
Hi, I'm Brad Oaks.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Now, Brad, tell everyone how we came across the story
of Mount isa and the Missing water Slide.
Speaker 8 (01:52):
Well, last year we were touring in northern Queensland. We
were in cans and then we flew to Mount Isaac.
We were picked up by a challenging person from the.
Speaker 7 (02:05):
Mount Isaac Council, Erica Erica.
Speaker 8 (02:08):
She drove us around, she showed us some very interesting
sites and then told us this wonderful tale.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Now you'd been to man iSER before, No, I'd never
been there. Yeah, and what was your first impression?
Speaker 8 (02:25):
Is it in Australia? Yeah, it's it's a long while.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It's very isolated for people that don't know. It's in
the middle of Queensland. It's a huge mining town.
Speaker 8 (02:35):
It's actually in Queensland, but it's closer to Darwin, yeah
than it is to Brisbane. Yeah, it's state capitol.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
I've been there a few times. I hosted the one
hundred year celebration and I've been I've I've done again.
Julia Creek, I always really liked Mount iSER because very
much a working town as opposed to a five town.
Most people live there and most people work in the
mine or on the surrounding industries in the mines.
Speaker 8 (02:58):
Well, I know, I think when I look at you,
I think Western Queensland. Yes, you're like a stockman.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
So we heard of this story and we thought that
is a great story, and so return to Mount Eyes
that interviewed people. We're going to cover the whole story
over this podcast.
Speaker 8 (03:14):
I just point out to them we didn't turn to
each other, and this is a great story. It was
a couple of weeks later after we got back said
I'm just fascinated by that story.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You went me too, And we both been into rooms
in Mount Eyes and individually googled and could find nothing
about it. There was nothing about this water slide, so
we thought this is a great story. Well, I mean
it's interesting people that live there have an opinion on
Mount Isser obviously. Let's hear from Kim Coglan. She's the
sister now, she's been on council forever. Kim, what's your
(03:46):
what's your description of Mount iSER?
Speaker 3 (03:48):
Hard? Rugged?
Speaker 7 (03:51):
Hot?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Yeah, that's a very quick summation, but that kind of
does summ it up.
Speaker 7 (03:55):
It is.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
I think it is a hard place to live, Brad.
Speaker 8 (03:58):
In terms of hard, it was thirty one degrees when
we were in Cans.
Speaker 7 (04:03):
The day before. Yeah, but that's humid heat.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (04:06):
And then when we landed at eight thirty in the
morning in Mount Isaac, it was already thirty one degrees.
Speaker 7 (04:12):
Yeah, that's more like pizza oven heat.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
Yeah, it was like a pizza oven, and it got
hotder and hotter. Daniel Slade's also she was on the council.
She was a mayor. I met her when I hosted
one hundred years celebration. She's not a counselor anymore. Growing
up in maun isa.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
It was never my intention to stay here. It grows
on you without you realizing. When I was left school,
I was out of here, there's no doubt about it.
And I met people who not just become friends, but
have become lifelong friends, and people who would you know,
bury a body for you. Basically, you know these people
we've grown up together. And I can't explain that sort
(04:48):
of feeling of community that man Isa has. And maybe
it's because we're so isolated of course this area.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
And I didn't know this until I went there. Rob
Catter is the local member for the eight Parliament. Now
that's Bob Catter's son. Do you know he had a son.
Speaker 7 (05:03):
I knew he had a son.
Speaker 8 (05:05):
I love the fact that the differential is just well,
Bob Catter, who's a very colorful Australian federal politicians.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Being there forever to in Parliament, he.
Speaker 8 (05:14):
Has been around and is a very strong advocate for
Northern Queensland. To differentiate between his colorful personality his son
is Rob rather than Bob.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
Yeah, it's so funny and it's just one letter, the
difference between Rob and Bob.
Speaker 7 (05:32):
Yeah, it just clears it up straight away.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
The people that don't know who Bob Catter is. This
is his famous quote on the news when they're I
think I talk about gay marriage, weren't they?
Speaker 7 (05:41):
It was it's about the referendum.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah, and just hear how it takes a turn. It's
only twenty seconds. But this will this will sum up
Bob Catter. People are entitled to the sexual proclimities.
Speaker 6 (05:53):
Yeah, I mean, let there be a thousand blossoms blooms.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
So but I ain't spending any time warrant because in
the meantime, every three months a person is torn to
pieces by a crocodile.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And North Queensland there we go torn to pieces by
a crocodile.
Speaker 8 (06:11):
Do yourself a favor too, if you want to google that,
just type in Bobcatter crocodiles and you will see it's
a twenty second clip.
Speaker 7 (06:21):
His face change halfway through that.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
It's unbelievable and that has become famous around the world.
But that's not Rob Catter.
Speaker 7 (06:28):
No, Rob's a lot more to day.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Rob Catter actually lives in maun Isa. He's got an officer,
he's got a house that he's got a family there.
Speaker 8 (06:35):
He's the member for that area, yes, and which must
be a very big state of electionship.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
He's got a plane that he flies around. Yeah, which
he famlessly didn't put the landing thing down and skid
it on the tarmac. I do that all the time
in your plane. Let's hear from Rob catter Man.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Isser is a diamond in the rough.
Speaker 9 (06:56):
It's very hard to see it's beauty and its value
and character on the surface, but it doesn't when you
open it up and get inside.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It's just it's great and gets oldier. It's hard to leave.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
He sounds to be like a little bit. There is
a real phenomena where people come brand and they just stay.
Speaker 7 (07:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Did you have any desire to stay?
Speaker 8 (07:17):
No, it was it was a bit too hot for me,
given that we did a gig there that I pretty
much shot my bolt there. You know, a lot of
the people from the region were there. So after that
it's pretty much I'll just be picking up papers for
something to do.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Yeah, there's no gigs there, basically is what you're saying.
Speaker 8 (07:38):
But I could see, like you remember how the sunsets
were absolutely beautiful, beautiful and striking. It had that kind
of thing too, which I think it might be proximate
to a desert, and so it has that nighttime that's stillness,
which is you know, really kind of commensurate with the
Australian outback.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is a desert, isn't it. Would
you pop the desert?
Speaker 7 (08:02):
Really? Sure?
Speaker 1 (08:02):
It's the desert. Let's hear a bit more from Rob
Cata talking about how it's very hard to leave the place.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
For me, I'm a good working example.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
I came out with a two or three year plan
twenty one years ago, thinking yeah, just make some money,
and then you start to go, well, what am I.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Going to improve if I go back to the coast?
If I go back, what am I going to improve?
Speaker 9 (08:21):
Because I've got a good friendship base here, We've got
a good house, I've got a job, we got enough
money to holiday at the end of the year.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I think a lot of people have that set in
the head.
Speaker 9 (08:30):
Like I've got to get back to NUSA, I've got
to get back to Brisbane and Gold Coast. And then
you start to say, well, why, you know, what was
better in your life there? And it's inch It's really
interesting the amount of people that move away and I
don't want to say with their tail between their legs,
but it's usually sort of in a good way. They
come out and say, you know what, I just, I
just I couldn't replicate the same friendships and community that
(08:52):
I had here.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
Think about man Eyes. That no one's mentioned yet is
the mine. It is quite remarkable to go to a
mining town with mine is right there in the middle
of the town, right there.
Speaker 7 (09:03):
Yeah. I've been a cup early and the mine's outside.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
Yeah, that's a pit too.
Speaker 7 (09:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (09:09):
And you know, of course, growing up in Victoria there's
the open Cup mine in the Gippsland region around.
Speaker 7 (09:16):
More Lawn and that's out of town.
Speaker 8 (09:19):
But this is really strike here. It's just in fact,
the town I believe, is divided into mind side and
town side.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yes, yeah, mind side used to be a bit posh,
I believe back because of course it would be posh
because if you on the mind side, do you go,
I'll just grab some rubies from my mind.
Speaker 8 (09:39):
Well.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
It's interesting because when I first went there, I could
not believe I could look at the motel. I heard
a horn blasting and it was the mine. I looked
at the motel window and there it was right there.
Speaker 7 (09:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
So first impressions are really interesting. With Mount iSER. Let's
see from Corgo again, the counselor talking about someone's first impression.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Tell this story. I felt like, I'm into Mount Isa,
never been to in his life. He went to town.
He's rugby league club. He was drinking there all afternoon
and I had to take him. He was staying at
the Berkley Hotel, so I was taking him to the
Berkeley Hotel and I was going across the Big Bridge
and at night, when the mines is lit up, it
looks like a shipliner. And I remember we were going
(10:18):
across the Big Bridge and he was talking and next
minute he looked and he said, what the.
Speaker 7 (10:23):
Fuck is that?
Speaker 3 (10:24):
And I said, what are you talking about? Because I
didn't know what he was going on about. And he
was in the car horrified, and I said, what are
you He said, what's that? And I said it's the
mine and he was absolutely astounded. He said, but it's
right there, and I said, yeah, so we we don't
(10:47):
know anything different. But for people coming into Mount Isa,
I mean, you drive down the Berkeley Highway and you know,
you go up Railway Avenue and there's this mine, like
the whole mine is there, Like it's just it's unheard
of because all other places in Australia, the mine's there,
but the town's away. But you go back to when
(11:07):
it was discovered. I mean you had to be right
near the mine, so you used to have mind side
and town side.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
The mine was first and then Mount Isa. Do you
know how they how was discovered? How Man Isa came
to be.
Speaker 8 (11:21):
I'm strongly paraphrasing here, so you know, feel free to
correct me. But my understanding was that there was some
prospectors just moving through the area.
Speaker 7 (11:29):
One of them horses that's something in its foot, yeah, hoof.
Speaker 8 (11:35):
And they turned it over and it was a big
lump of insert precious metal right here, which begs the
question because we talk about how the town to be
called Mount Eliza, but I think I should have been
named after that horse.
Speaker 7 (11:49):
Yeah, you know, like Malli, Mount Trigger, Mount Nolley.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Because of course, the indigenous people were there first, of course,
and they're part of Mount Eyes were of course, and
it used to be it was known for sort of thing.
Speaker 7 (12:00):
I believe it was known as a training area. It
was well known for the quality.
Speaker 8 (12:05):
Of the stone axes that were made in the region, right,
which again would point towards them using really good minerals
the materials.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, yeah, that they're now mine minerals. Coogo seems to
know what she's talking about when it comes with the
history of Mount Isa.
Speaker 3 (12:20):
So the story goes, the horse got a rock thing
in his hoof and he saw it. A lot of
them were prospectors at the time, and from there like
all the prospectors come out, but John Campbell Miles laid
claim to it first. And there's a long, long history
of miners coming here. So I just know that my
(12:43):
great grandfather was the pioneer that discovered, like was with
John Miles. Then my father was a shift boss in
the mines, and then like I worked in the mines.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
The mine has had several owners over the years. Well,
the vibe I get the current owners is not a relationship,
I believe.
Speaker 8 (13:01):
No, I believe it started out as Mount Eyes are mining. Yes,
and for years you would see that in the stocks pages.
Speaker 7 (13:10):
Yes, you know m I am was synonymous. You know,
it was up there with b HP.
Speaker 8 (13:15):
It's one of the most productive mining areas in the
world in terms of its size, and it's now fallen
into the hands of what did they say, bean counters
encounters economers.
Speaker 7 (13:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
I actually put the question to Rob Catter let's have
a listen.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I'd say really bad.
Speaker 9 (13:34):
It was off the charts good when I sort of
first moved here and it was Mount Eyes and mines.
They used to have a Christmas party. I'm told before
my time they had a Christmas party.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Every kid in.
Speaker 9 (13:44):
Town, every kid in town, regardless where their parents worked
at the mine's not got a Christmas present. And the
friends of mine, like who my age were parted that
they said made They weren't little presents, like they went
like a decent bloody toy. And you know, they did
up sports fields and you know, helped people into housing
and helped develop housing suburbs and really invested in creating
(14:08):
a good livable city and keeping fi FO out and
making a permanent workforce. And you know, Extrata came in,
which was the precursor to Glencore, and it's just completely different.
There's a lot of animosity towards the mine now, I'd
say because they do it. They're just commercially focused and
that same community focus.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
They're not mining them. The money people aren't there from.
Speaker 9 (14:32):
The global commodity traders, where one of one hundred and
fifty or more minds are in the world where respecting
the it's Beecadust Tom and they work off commodity prices
and high out. They'd require higher returns and a lot
of other mining companies do around the place, so they'll
shut something down before someone else would.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
And they're not miners, they're economists.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Oh, they're bankers.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Yeah, and like it's yeah, so I think that's where
that's where the trouble is. We need a mine company
to buy out maunt Ey's minds.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Hello, so I'm bringing you early.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
I've realized we've got Troy rolling from the Northwest Weekly.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Hell are Troy? I'm not too bad. Tell us what's
your relationship with Mount Isaac? You there when you were
a younger man, is it right?
Speaker 10 (15:21):
Ah, Yeah, that's right. I started my journalism cadet ship
in Mount Isao maybe ten to fifteen years ago, and
then I went off and did other things in media,
and then a friend of mine started the newspaper up
here again last year, and so yeah, here I am.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Troy showed me around Mount Isaac When he said he
went off and did other things, brava. He worked for
a very famous politician. But we're not going to interview
him about that.
Speaker 7 (15:43):
Right, did you ever think you'd go back there? I
don't know.
Speaker 10 (15:46):
It's one of those places where people always say they
come back. It's like a boomerang sort of town. People
keep coming back, so when you actually walk down the
street and people remember you, they're not always surprised to
see that you've come back.
Speaker 8 (15:58):
To be honest, it's like a town where people go, oh,
you've been away?
Speaker 7 (16:03):
Did five to seven.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
When I was talking to you. The relationship between Mount
i and the mine is really interesting because they're kind
of proud of the mine, aren't they.
Speaker 10 (16:10):
Oh yeah, this place is very very pro mining, so
because it's basically a gigantic mine with a town wrapped
around it in the middle of nowhere. So I mean
the mine was here before the town as well. So
if you'd be anti mining in Mount Isy would be
very lonely.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And now tell us about is part of the mind
shutting down? Soon?
Speaker 10 (16:31):
It is? Yeah, So later this year they'll have the
underground section, which is actually there's like hundreds of kilometers
of underground mine there that they extract copper from, and well,
that whole section is closing down. So it's somewhere between
six hundred and twelve hundred jobs, which is about ten
percent of the entire workforce in Mount iSER.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, and what's the vibe about that? That's obviously a
bad thing.
Speaker 10 (16:53):
Oh yeah, yeah, I mean it's obviously people don't like
seeing the mines closed as obviously people that think it
should stay open. There's other people that say, that's what
a mind does, it runs out of stuff. There's other
things on the horizon though. There's always minds being proposed
out here as well, so it's not just the one
manners of mine. There's quite a lot of mining production
(17:15):
all around the area.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
To be honest, has it run out of stuff or
is it an economic decision?
Speaker 10 (17:20):
Depends what you ask. If you ask the company Glencore,
they'll tell you that they've basically just depleted the resource.
So they just it's just not economical for them to
get it out anymore. They're just closing it. Well, they're
going to restart and open cut mine over the top
of it in the next few years.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Well, that'll create more jobs, won't it.
Speaker 7 (17:38):
It will.
Speaker 10 (17:39):
Yeah, they're not as many jobs as what is currently
in the underground section, but it will create new jobs.
The thing is that mine hasn't been fully sort of
signed off on yet they haven't made a final investment decision,
so just have to wait and see.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
And there's a resistance to five to zo there as well,
do isn't there that? Is there a concern that these
jobs will be allocated to locals or yeah?
Speaker 10 (18:03):
Well that's always the big battle out here in any
mining town, is that. Yeah, you get the guys that
fly in and fly out, and they live in camps
or they live on accommodation, and you know, they don't
spend outside from sort of buying beer and playing the pokey's,
they don't really commit to the town very much.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
I think it was you telling me, was it Glenko
who changed the shift time so it went from eight
hours to a different twelve hour shift?
Speaker 7 (18:29):
Was that right?
Speaker 10 (18:29):
It was the previous company that owned the mine before Glencore,
so extrata they extended from eight to twelve hour shifts.
And if you listen to longtime locals, y'or two, it
really did take a lot of the heart out of
a lot of the community organizations, particularly because you know,
I don't know if you guys have ever worked a
twelve hour shift, but you're pretty buggered by the end
(18:52):
of it.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, Troy, you're
asking two comedians if they've ever worked a twelve hour shift.
Speaker 8 (18:58):
Answers know we did drive them Durham back.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
You're right, once you finish a twelve hour shift in
the physical job, you can't go to tennis or soccer
practice your knack.
Speaker 8 (19:09):
It is that three ships down to two? Or is
that two shifts and closing down?
Speaker 10 (19:14):
It's two ships now.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
But of course, with the history of the mind when
we were up there, Erika showed us the underground hospital,
which was a feature in World War Two. The miners
built that, didn't they.
Speaker 10 (19:25):
My understanding is that Northern Australia was pretty undeveloped back then.
The war was used to try and build highways, and
they built airstrips and in case the Japanese invaded, So
I think out here was obviously going to be a
place that soldiers were going to fall back to if
the Japanese ever did come down, and so they needed
a hospital to be able to put injured soldiers in
(19:46):
and all the rest of us. There's like a bunch
of tunnels built into the side of a mountain out
here that that was a hospital.
Speaker 8 (19:51):
We visited that amazing looking at their history, it would
have been a nice, big, fat, juicy target for the
Japanese army because there was in fact, after the bombing
of Darwin. I think that was an influence where they said, well,
we have to have a hospital, it's safe.
Speaker 7 (20:09):
And on top of that, there.
Speaker 8 (20:11):
Was the Brisbane line, which was basically, we will defend
everything from Brisbane back, so that, you know, the people
might have actually felt like they were being isolated there.
Speaker 10 (20:22):
There were a lot of American soldiers in man Isa
during the war too, and they used to get into
fights with the miners and go down to the riverbank
and sort it all out.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
You live in Mount Isaa, you work there. Talking about
the lack of things for young people to do, is
that an issue you wreck.
Speaker 10 (20:38):
Well, we're in the middle of nowhere. So if you
don't like what Manasa has to offer, you don't have
much else to choose from. I guess it just depends
what you like to do. Because we've got Lake Mundara,
which is, without sounding like a tourist pamphlet, there's you know,
Lake Mundaru is a pretty big it's the water source,
but they've turned into a big, nice lake where people
go fishing and boating and stuff, and it's a pretty
(21:01):
multicultural place as well, as much as people probably don't realize.
So there's a lot of good restaurants and stuff as well.
So I don't mind it, but I guess it just depends.
You know, if you're wanting to go and see metallic
or on the weekend or something, you're not going to
be doing that from Mount Isa.
Speaker 7 (21:16):
What an appropriate thing in mining town.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
In Mount Isa? He Troy, thanks for talking to us.
Speaker 10 (21:22):
No problem.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well, apart from all the issues with the mind, so
that part of the mind's closing down. There is this
whole problem with the young people and a lack of
things for the kids to do.
Speaker 8 (21:33):
Brad, there is, but the relationships are strong. I think
Danielle was talking before. I think she said something like
people have got your back. People would bury your body
for you basically. Okay, so not a good idea in
a mining town. Yeah, probably a better way to get
rid of it. It kind of speaks to firm friends.
(21:55):
And Rob Catter said the same, how close these people
are and so even if you don't have kids, you're
concerned about the issues for their children.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Yeah, but there is I mean there's lots of sporting clubs.
There is a lack of the things for the kids through.
Let's hear from Rob Catder.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
Oh well, you know it was really nice.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Once a politician in Brisbane, a lady had come up
to me and said, Robert, we just want to say
to you. I spent a few days out in the
committee here and Mount Easa getting across some of the
issues here. And she said, you know, I get a
lot of people from my office in Brisbane. She said,
I got to say they don't have real problems.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
You got problems.
Speaker 9 (22:32):
If you wanted to take education, health, population decline, industry
risk and industry growth and just about every metric we
could say, we've got the alcoholism, social disruption, crime, you
could put in a real negative slant on it.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
But kriky, we still love being here.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
Oh look, this is look. And I'll speak very bluntly
with you. You know, people say, oh, there's nothing to do,
rah rah, Well hang on a minute, Like we shouldn't
have to put on something for you to do. You
can still like we've got a skate park here, we've
got a pump track, We've got like thirteen parks or something,
and nearly all of them have got play equipment in it.
(23:18):
Or how about you just go get your mate and
get on a bike and ride around for a little bit,
you know, not break into houses or anything, but you know,
just ride around on your bikes. And my son especially
was never without a ball in his hand. He'd kick
a ball around or him and his mates would go,
you know and do their stuff. So I still think
there's a lot to do in Mount isab Igo.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah, well, it mean she makes a good point. I
mean we didn't have much. I mean we were in Melbourne,
but we didn't have that much growing up as kids
to entertain ourselves, did we know?
Speaker 8 (23:45):
And in fact you talk about just a digress, you're
talking about it having a ball in your hand. Now,
I believe in your street there was somebody who moved out.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Oh sure, we're talking about Johnny Firthy who plays for
the NBA. Now, the kid that I've practically raised, he
lives across the road and he used to play basketball
the time with the school at the local clubs and
then he got signed up for the NBA.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
It's the same in Central Australia. And I was talking
to a football or Rubert buttheris ex Collingwood player who
went up and did some developmental work in the central
part of the Northern Cheritory. And I said to him,
do you think that Indigenous people are better at football?
And he said he felt that this is his opinion.
He felt that it was because they have a ball
(24:30):
in their hand from the moment they can walk, really,
they have a footy or they're having a game of footy,
and so.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
That because it's cheap entertainment, it is.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
And he said, there'll be eighty kids playing, forty on
each side playing footy. I'm just really intrigued by how
important a ball is. He said that by the time
you get to teenage years, you've seen every bounce to
that ball. And that's what makes you ten thousand hour experts.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's why the theory that you need
ten thousand hours of practicing your chosen field, like us
in standup comedy. Ten thousand hours.
Speaker 7 (25:03):
And I bounced a lot of balls done.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
So you've got all the sporting clubs up there. You've
got the forty, the cricket, they've got tennis in Mount Eyeser,
all sorts of sports. Body bearing, yeah, the body bearing,
the soccer cop.
Speaker 7 (25:16):
The body Finding club.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
They've got a great pool up there, but this you
would hope, Okay, a big swim center outdoors and the
outdoor swim center there right near the mine. Actually it's
right next to the mine. But the thing is the
example we're about to play illustrates how bored the kids
are a mount eyes are. Oh, let's shay. She runs
(25:39):
the pool there, she runs the swim center. Let her
tell the story.
Speaker 5 (25:42):
A couple of years ago we had some crocodiles in
the pool as well. Her little turtle last year also,
not that the turtle was too bad, but the crocodiles
were a bit more of a feat to get out.
Someone had been trapping them out at the lake and
brought them in overnight and threw them over the fence,
and they've gone into the water. I opened the pool
as normal. It was pitch black, spotlights on. I did
(26:05):
my walk around and check. But the crocodiles were obviously
in the corners in the shadow early in the morning,
just dormant. And then as the water started churning up.
We had an aquaerobics class on. There was music pumping
and everything was going. They started to move around and
we don't know whether they wanted to join in or
just escape the place fast. They looked pretty nervous and
(26:28):
pretty scared at first. To be honest, I don't know
who was more scared. A couple of people in the
class started screaming and running and didn't really know what
was going on at first until some of them were
screaming lizard, crocodile, lizard, crocodile. And yeah, it went from there.
So we could scoop some out with the buckets. They
were only little babies. Some of them were a little
bit faster, and we had to get one of the
(26:51):
ladies we know quite well from the class. Actually, her
husband came down. He's a big fishing fella, and he
brought cast nets and that's how we got them.
Speaker 8 (27:00):
Okay, So I just want to point out, like Shay
and I can imagine that's that's a problem. But I've
seen a lizard and I've seen a crocodile, and we're
talking a difference in meters.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, you know, I think there were baby crocodiles, but
they're still scary.
Speaker 7 (27:17):
I know they they were very different. I believe that
they probably were similar about twenty million billion years ago. Yes,
but they branched out.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
Well, it's kind of like saying Wallaby kangaroo. Wellby kangaroo,
isn't it? Is it?
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Now?
Speaker 8 (27:33):
I felt like it's Molly saying Wallaby horse wall Okay,
that's probably what Bob Catta was talking about. Yes, I
mean being ripped apart over a series of days.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
In the swimming pool in Mount Isa. Well, anyway, that's
the thing about Man Isa. We're getting to the water
slide now because the kids are say bored, they're putting
crocodiles in the pool. Even though she didn't say they
were kids in that quote, but she told me later
they were kids, did it. Let's cross the Danny Old Slide,
the former mayor and because there used to be a
bread I don't know if you know that there used
(28:05):
to be a water slide in Mount iSER.
Speaker 7 (28:08):
No, I did not know that.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
For a while.
Speaker 4 (28:12):
When I was a kid here we had a water slide.
Is that quite a ride on my bike, to be honest.
But I would ride out there, do the water slide
and have the time of my life. And of course
it was a private entity and it went broke, all
closed down. And the one thing that I realized as
a resident let alone. The mayor is we need more
fun things for kids to do, especially the older kids.
(28:33):
You know, we're talking you for crime and lots of
things happening. You need to keep these kids engaged, lots
of fun things to do. A water slide just made sense,
you know.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
There we have it. Someone suggested a water slide for
Mount iSER. So we get to the start of the
story bra.
Speaker 8 (28:49):
All right, and so they didn't have that water slide.
The another ones we had with kids, we just had
slipping side. They had a big bit of plastic.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
A dad would put ten pegs in the plastic and
also be near the road. We used to do one
on the Naturetrerip and you could often go into the
driveway or the road.
Speaker 8 (29:02):
And you can put a little bit of deg urgence
on it and if you slid onto that cooch grass
there was next to your's skim for this.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
So we've come to the end of the first episode.
So Mount Isa they're going to get a water slide. Well,
it's been proposed, but there's quite a few hurdles to
cover and the incident occurs.
Speaker 7 (29:23):
Yeah, you don't just go and buy one at Clark Rubber.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
No, you don't it's a whole thing good intentions. Look
listen to next week because something goes wrong.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
Queensland Government had gone to all the mines in Queensland
and said we want some money from you. Special meeting
of man Isser City Council. It was my idea for
the water slide, but it's not big enough.
Speaker 6 (29:47):
Slippery Slope a true crime podcast about Mount iSER and
the missing water slide with Dave O'Neill and Breno.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
Slippery Slope is written and hosted by Dave O'Neil and Bradoaks.
Original music created by Itinerant Productions. Check out their website.
There's some great stuff there. Ww dot Itinerantproduction dot com.
Editing by Courtney Carthy, published by Neely Media. Thank you
to all the guests involved in the making of Slippery
Slope in this episode, Kim Coglan, Daniel Say, Troy Railing,
(30:23):
Robcatter and Shae Donovan at the pool. Find more information
in the episode notes or at nearly dot com dot au.
And thanks to the people of man iSER
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