Calls for memorial to 151 fallen miners go unheard

Claire Malyon was holidaying in the United States 50 years ago when she had a feeling something was wrong.

"I just thought, 'I've got to call home,'" Ms Malyon said.

"I called our friend, and she said, 'I don't know how to tell you this, but Peter is deceased.'"

Thousands of kilometres away, Ms Malyon's 24-year-old brother, Peter Sturmfels, had been killed underground at Mount Isa's copper mine, as he drilled holes into the rock face.

His other sister, Bev McKay, who was living in Toowoomba at the time, heard the news while driving into town.

"Mum sent me a telegram to say he'd been hurt," she said.

"Then I heard on the radio he'd passed away."

Mr Sturmfels is one of 151 miners killed at the Mount Isa mine since it opened in the 1930s.

But half a century after his death, his family is still waiting for all those lost lives to be formally recognised.

Despite repeated calls for a memorial honouring the men who helped build the outback city, no government has committed to funding a permanent monument.

Since the idea was first raised in the 1970s, the mine has changed owners three times.

Shelved plans

Detailed plans and concept designs for a memorial precinct at a cost of $300,000, funded by Mount Isa City Council, were finished in 2023.

Former Mount Isa resident Steve Trevor lost his brother, Tony, in a mining incident in 1995.

He said the plans were collecting dust.

"I watched my parents go through that loss, my sister, myself, my family, my kids," he said.

"I always had it in the back of my mind that we could do something.

"We have costed plans, designs and a location; the project remains shovel-ready."

The proposed site near the former underground museum would include memorial panels, reflection spaces, landscaped gathering areas and views overlooking the mine.

Mr Trevor said the project was estimated at $2.7 million when plans were completed, but he expected that figure to be higher now due to rising construction costs.

Other mining centres have honoured the sacrifice made by local workers.

The Moura Miners Memorial opened in 2018, remembering 50 men who had died while working in the region's coal industry.

The Charters Towers Miners' Memorial Walk honours those who lost their lives in mines, mills and quarries during the town's gold rush era.

'Safety first, but after production'

More than 80 per cent of the 151 deaths occurred between 1930 and 1980, with nine people killed in 1966 alone.

A 2012 Queensland mine safety report found about one-third of deaths at Mount Isa involved workers being struck by or caught in machinery, while about three-quarters occurred underground.

Karumba's John Moran, now 91, began his 40-year career at the mine in 1951.

He said attitudes towards safety changed significantly during his time.

"Mining in those days was risky, it was dangerous. There were no sort of safety precautions taken,"

he said.

"People just thought that was a way of life. They used to say safety first, but after production."

As technology improved and mandatory inquiries were conducted after each death, safety standards across Queensland slowly evolved.

Mount Isa Mines recorded its most recent fatality in 2014.

Mr Moran said he hoped to see a monument built before he died.

"People want to go somewhere and see a memorial, and it's not there,"

he said.

"I'm nearly 91 now, and I've been pushing for this for 30-odd years. I'm hoping that it will come before I leave this earth."

'A short, little life'

Decades after the first proposal was raised, families say they are no closer to seeing their loved ones recognised.

Traeger MP Robbie Katter said funding a permanent monument should be straightforward.

"It's significant enough. Mount Isa Mines was declared one of the most important businesses in Queensland, but that was only achieved through dangerous work," he said.

"It's only fair the state should pay respect to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice."

As Mr Sturmfels's sisters prepare to mark 50 years since their brother's death, they wanted people to remember him as more than a number, but as a brother whose future was cut short.

"He wanted to get married and decided to go for the big money in Mount Isa Mines, even though our eldest brother didn't want him to," Ms Malyon said.

"I want to say to him … you're a beautiful brother. I'm sure you would have turned into a beautiful father, and I'm sure he would have had beautiful children and a happy life."

The Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Dale Last, said in a statement that the Mount Isa City Council could apply to have the proposed memorial funded through the Works for Queensland Program.

ABC Rural Weekday News

ABC Rural Weekly News

Email address