“I wish to give praise to our local commercial radio station River 949FM for its commitment of the community during these stressful events.”
The local member for the flood affected regions of Ipswich and Somerset, Shayne Neumann MP rose in federal parliament this week to praise his local radio station for supporting residents during the Queensland floods in 2011 and 2013.
“We’re very lucky to have a unique broadcasting philosophy and community commitment by River 949… To the credit of River 94.9 it commands the majority of the demographic across south-east Queensland outside Brisbane. I thank them for what they have done each and every day during the recent floods.”
Neumann, the Member for the electorate of Blair in Queensland, briefly outlined River 949’s history, from its beginnings as 4IP, through the Colour radio period, then to it’s rebirth as Star FM and most recently River 949. The station now has a clear signal across the electorate.
He praised the station’s live and local voice. “Reliance on radio as a form of communication has always been vital” across the vast expanse of regional Australia, said Neumann.
“These regional commercial radio stations work to reflect local interest… radio in regional areas remains a vital source of information for Queenslanders.
“River 949 is owned by Grant Broadcasting, the Cameron family… their commitment to localism in all their stations is to be commended… River 949 staff worked around the clock to get information out to listeners during the floods.”
78,000 people visited the River 949 website during the disasters and a further 37,000 people hit the River Facebook page and shared it with 442,000 friends.
Neumann told parliament he saw people at the local evacuation centres huddled around radios listening to River’s reports. He thanked all the staff of the station for what they have done for their community.
“I pay tribute to a number of people particularly on behalf of the people of Blair: my friend David Greenwood, General Manager of River 94.9; Keith Evan, an engineer who worked around the clock in 2011 in most hazardous conditions and in recent events as well; David Greensmith, breakfast presenter; Aaron Stevens, program director; Daniel Thomas, music director; Tania Scherf, journalist and news presenter; Graham Snow—commonly known as ‘Snowy’ to everyone—journalist and news presenter; and my friend Ashleigh Mac, afternoon presenter. On behalf of the people of Blair I thank them for the work they have done. I thank the whole of the staff particularly.”
Watch his speech below.