What a Load of Rubbish

LONGREACH residents and local community groups are fighting a battle against a constant flood of rubbish that litters the banks of the popular Thomson River.
Locals and groups blame their fellow townspeople, who they believe “just don’t care” about their environment.
Local butcher and keen angler Russell Milota is furious about the state of the river and bewildered by the attitude of people who throw their rubbish on the ground.
“Without a doubt it is the locals who are rubbishing the banks of the river,” Mr Milota said.
“You can’t tell me it is the tourists who are creating the mess, when we haven’t seen a tourist for weeks and there is fresh rubbish along the banks.
“We live next to a beautiful river and it is a bloody disgrace how they treat it.” Mr Milota describes himself as “not a greenie” and spends at least 10 minutes every fishing trip picking up rubbish.
“Clean Up Australia Day is coming up, but it is only one day a year,” he said.
“Something needs to be done all year round.
“It seems no one wants to get involved with the issue and the buck keeps getting passed.”
However, Mr Milota concedes that there is no easy answer to this messy situation.
Elizabeth Adam from the Longreach Progress Association agrees with Mr Milota and believes attitudes need to change.
“The rubbish is not good for the tourists and not good for the town,” Ms Adam said. “People need to wake up to themselves, they are throwing rubbish into their drinking water.
“This rubbish does a lot of damage, especially the fishing bits and pieces that get caught up in birds.”
Ms Adam hopes that Clean Up Australia Day will highlight the state of the river.
“We need to educate people and make the focal point of that day the river,” she said.
Despite the riverbank being part of the Longreach Shire Council’s common, council CEO Fred de Waard sees the solution with local attitudes.
“There are public penalties for littering, however without the resources of a council patrol, we have to rely on people to do the right thing,” Mr de Waard said.
“It is disheartening to see people continue to dispose of their rubbish, however it is not an unusual issue and there is no easy answer.
“The best we can do is to educate people and hope to change their basic attitude, and that is a hard thing to do.”