Derby community member Wayne Neate recognised for flood effort

Shire of Derby West Kimberley Infrastructure Director Wayne Neate has been honoured with the inaugural President and Councillors Award for his tireless efforts during the once-in-a-century flood emergency which struck the Kimberley in early 2023. Mr Neate received the certificate at the Ordinary Council Meeting on November 28 as well as a plaque engraved on Kimberley colour-stone as a token of the Council’s appreciation. Derby West Kimberley Shire President Peter McCumstie presented the award, acknowledging Mr Neate’s critical role in leading the Shire’s response and recovery efforts. “Wayne’s dedication and leadership during this crisis made an enormous difference to the safety and wellbeing of our community. On behalf of a grateful Council, we thank him for his exceptional service,” he said. Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson also praised Mr Neate for his leadership and professionalism during the flooding. “From day one, Wayne was a constant source of information, intelligence and advice for DFES as they coordinated the response and then recovery efforts that followed,” Minister Dawson said in a letter to Mr Neate. “Wayne continued to play a crucial role in the State’s partnership with the Shire and his efforts were vital to supporting impacted communities through this historic disaster.” Mr Neate said the award came as a big surprise and thanked the rest of his team at the Shire of Derby West Kimberley. “I’d like to thank Grant Pipe in the early days, Minister Dawson, Minister Winton, our local member Divina D’Anna, all the other government departments, and last but not least, all of the Shire staff that helped out, from the recovery team to the works crew in Fitzroy and to every single one of my staff members,” he said. “In those early stages, it was all hands on deck and everyone said, ‘right, we’ve got to do this’ and away they went.” Mr Neate said receiving a letter from the Emergency Services Minister was “mind-blowing”. “I’ve been in local government my entire career, since 1992, and I honestly have never heard of a local government officer getting a letter like that and it was, in the simplest words, a ‘wow’ moment,” he said. One of the biggest challenges in the early days of the flood for Mr Neate was bringing everyone together to work towards a common goal. “I think that’s a really important cog in the wheel, once you’ve got that working and operational relationship established you can keep your fingers on the pulse of various areas and help out,” he said. “It was just an amazing thing that everyone came together and just worked for the one common goal of getting people back in their homes and building it all back better and stronger.”