Cue Parliament votes in favour of push for safe prospecting legislation and mandatory tracking devices

Councils in the Murchison and Gascoyne are calling for legislative change to make prospecting safer after the deaths of a father and son near Meekatharra in March. At the recent sitting of Cue Parliament on April 19 — a biannual meeting of local shires — it was decided to collectively urge the State Government to introduce tighter restrictions on prospecting in order to save lives and emergency services resources. Yalgoo Shire president Raul Valenzuela compared prospecting to boating. “You hop in a boat and you need a licence, registration and the proper tracking device,” he said. “We need this kind of policy in the region. People think they know the area but they don’t. They go missing and we have to send all resources.” Mr Valenzuela said the State Government needed to “come out of their bubble in Perth. I need people coming here and looking at what is happening”. Individuals need a licence to carry out prospecting, but Mr Valenzuela wants to see tighter restrictions and better enforcement. The push is to ensure the safety measures in place, match the risks associated with prospecting, and was voted in 11 to 1. Shire of Meekatharra president Harvey Nichols said he voted against the motion because there was already prospecting licensing in place. In March, the bodies of father and son prospectors Ray and James Dempsey were found after a three-day search in the outback south of Meekatharra. In May 2023, a man in his 70s who went missing while prospecting with friends was miraculously found alive after four days lost in remote bushland. The massive land and air search was launched for Brian Brady between Cue and Mt Magnet when he failed to return from a Saturday afternoon walk. In 2021, 83-year-old Trevor McDonald went missing while prospecting south of Meekatharra and his body has never been found. Then in one of the State’s most baffling cases, husband and wife Ray and Jennie Kehlet, who were prospecting with friend and colleague Graham Milne near Sandstone, disappeared in 2015. Mr Kehlet’s body was found in a mineshaft weeks later, with the Coroner concluding he had been murdered. Mrs Kehlet’s body has never been found. Mr Valenzuela said the Shire would receive missing persons reports at least three to four times a year. “Even in the last three years, I can’t believe how many resources they’re using. People have accidents, injuries, falling down shafts — then we have two pass away,” he said.