Sitting on the Albert River in far north-western Queensland, about 30 kilometres inland from the Gulf of Carpentaria and 2,115 kilometres northwest of Brisbane, is one of Australia’s humming remote communities – Burketown.
But it’s a town that is vulnerable to extreme weather, including devastating flooding in 2023, which rendered the town’s airport runway unusable.
When it comes to resilience against the wet season, Burke Shire Mayor Ernie Camp doesn’t dampen the hard truths about the impact extreme weather can wreak on his community.
“After the catastrophic flooding event of 2023 and the subsequent heavy Wet Seasons every year since, all of which result in protracted isolation and negatively impact residents, businesses and services, it is clear that we need to invest in improving our infrastructure so it becomes more resilient and our residents and businesses are isolated for shorter periods of time,” Mayor Camp says.
At the centre of that resilience push is Burketown’s airport – the town’s only reliable connection to the rest of the country for much of the year. “The airport is a vital asset to our residents and businesses,” Mayor Camp explains. “Our only regular passenger service is via air, aeromedical services support our local health service with access to doctors, specialists and emergency evacuations, and being able to access larger centres for personal, health and business needs in a timely manner is important for community – and during the wet season, air is often the only accessible option for getting people, goods and services to and from Burketown.”
It’s not a one-off problem either, Mayor Camp explains. “Due to the Northern Wet season, every year there is flood response and recovery work that has to be undertaken in Burke Shire, and the wet season also narrows the window of opportunity to complete that work, so our works programme is condensed, busy and essential for our liveability, viability and sustainability.”
Enter Durack Civil – who with the support of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) – has spent the last year rebuilding the airport runway, with future-proofing at the forefront of its design, to help reconnect the town to the rest of the nation.
For Burke Shire Council CEO Zac Revere, the airport’s redevelopment is about far more than infrastructure. “The airport is one of the most essential pieces of transport infrastructure in the shire,” he says. “It really drives our economy, but it also does a whole lot more than that. It allows us to remain resilient, evacuate if we need to, and get the help we need during those many months of isolation.”
The Durack Civil upgrade means Burketown now heads into its next wet season with genuine security. “The work that’s occurring on the runway means absolutely everything to our community,” Revere says. “The support of QRA and Durack to get this over the line is so reassuring to our people. One of the things we’re most grateful for is not just having the works done, but having them done so efficiently and effectively, and within the very tight timeframe we had, in order to minimise the impact on our community.”
For Durack Civil Director James Durack, this job became more than a contract. “We’ve worked in this area for several years across a series of projects and to many of our team – it’s become home away from home,” he says. “So when it came to the runway reopening, we wanted to go big.
“So we’re celebrating the end of the airport reconstruction with a night of live music, food and community,” Durack said.
In a celebration fitting of this long-term partnership between town and contractor – Runway Under the Stars – lands on Saturday 10 October, when the runway itself becomes a stage for a free community concert featuring East Arnhem’s King Stingray (ARIA and National Indigenous Music Award winners), Sunshine Coast five-piece Dream Thieves (whose drummer, Jarryd Dewar, spends his weekdays as Durack’s Operations Manager), and Doomadgee’s own DMC Boys.
For Revere, the timing is exactly right. “Our community can rest assured that they won’t be left in the lurch, and we can head into the wet season with some security around the future,” he says. “This is the first step in a much bigger plan to drive Burketown towards what it should be: the best place in the Gulf to live, work and play.”
It’s a relationship years in the making. Durack Civil has delivered eleven projects for Burke Shire Council since 2020 – from flood-damaged culvert and creek crossing repairs to major reconstruction works on Floraville Road and Doomadgee East Road – imperative works that represent more than $160 million invested in the region’s recovery and resilience. The airport rebuild is reflective of the strength of that continued relationship, not the start of it.
The one-night-only event is just one of the ways that Durack Civil commits to remote regions like Burketown. The company also partners with the Jonathan Thurston Academy and an AFL development program called DREAMD Academy, founded by an AFLW star from the Sydney Swans, Lulu Pullar who also doubles as an Emergency Doctor in Alice Springs. These initiatives spearhead a long list of sponsorships that span local rodeos, footy teams and schools across the communities it works in. But it’s this event, more than any other, that Durack – in partnership with Burke Shire Council – sees as a genuine turning point for the town.
“The floods have impacted the psyche of our community,” Revere says. “To see our people come together and celebrate on an asset that secures their future is just such a beautiful opportunity. It’s a fun and family-friendly way that we can come together and celebrate a win knowing that the asset is complete, it is fit for purpose, and it’s available to us as we head into a wet season.”
Runway Under the Stars runs free from 3pm on Saturday 10 October at Burketown Airport. For more information, visit durackcivil.com.au.
Rex is proud to support Runway Under the Stars, recognising the vital role of aviation in connecting regional communities across Australia.
To read about the best things to see and do in Burketown and its surrounds during your stay for Runway Under the Stars, click here.
Rex flies to Burketown. Head to the Rex website or check out the route map below for more details.
