Weipa is situated on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula, at the heart of a sprawling, 400,000-hectare bauxite mining lease.
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The town is unique: It was set up under its own act of parliament that was written in the 1950s, effectively giving the powers of a local government authority to a mining company, Rio Tinto.
For more than 50 years, the town of Weipa has had its sewerage, airport, infrastructure, roads and childcare supplied by that company.
But the community is getting bigger. Some say the town that overlooks the Gulf of Carpentaria has outgrown the legislative instrument under which it was created.
Discussions have been underway about normalising the town for years. However, those in charge say they are getting closer to breaking away from the company and determining their own future.
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15 июн 2021
