THE Maranoa Regional Council has expanded on its decision to not sponsor the 2016 Surat Basin Energy and Mining Expo.

Council made the decision to stop their sponsorship of the annual event, which they had done for five years, at a general meeting earlier this month.

Councillor Cameron O’Neil said the decision did not suggest any changing commitment to the CSG industry in the region by MRC.

“We’ve supported this event for five years but there comes a time when we need to see what other areas or events we can invest in,” Cr O’Neil said.

“We have greatly appreciated the chance to sponsor the event for as long as we have.

“The motivation [behind the decision] is we have got two prominent industries here in the Maranoa – resource and agriculture – and we can’t do it all.”

The official report, written by Ryan Gittins, recommended the council reject the proposal to sponsor and attend the event based on “changing industry dynamics”.

But Cr O’Neil said the council remained committed to the resource sector in the Maranoa.

“Council still strongly supports the CSG industry out here,” he said.

“We’ve got limited resources and given our strong involvement with the event in the past we made the decision to not accept the proposal.”

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