Representative of the plight of pubs everywhere, the stoic Betoota Hotel in outback Queensland has failed in its bid to get works done through council to allow patrons access to a local watering hole.
The Betoota – a famously outback pub in a Queensland town that famously has no residents – is a lone pitstop in red earth country 167 kilometres beyond Birdsville. Over many years it has accommodated a myriad of travellers and served as both the region’s customs house and lodging for prisoners.
A once lively stop in pilgrimages through the area the town faded as its residents moved or passed on, and succumbing to its isolation the hotel closed the doors in 1997, seemingly forever.
Along came Robert ‘Robbo’ Haken, who it’s said will “give you the shirt off his back and a fair go to anyone who crosses his path” and is “always ready with a yarn and a handshake”, who bought the dilapidated watering hole in 2017.
After several years rekindling the remote property Haken first reopened the pub in January 2020, but that didn’t last long, with the pandemic hitting in March.
Early 2022 the Betoota overcame its hurdles and opened again, beginning its story of reinvigorating a ghost town.
Beyond the tyranny of distance the business has faced major challenges including floods and cancelled bookings, atop the burden of rising fuel costs.
Hoping to give travellers another reason to stop Haken requested the local Diamantina Shire Council relocate a fence that stands between the pub and another local attraction, Teeta Waterhole, so that visitors can explore the natural feature.
Moving the roughly 600 metres of barbed wire fence would require surveys, environmental assessments and cultural heritage clearances, and construction of another longer fence.
It was estimated the move would cost Council more than $73k, and at a meeting last month councillors voted 4–0 against the move.
While council says it supports local tourism it must also consider things such as environmental concerns, with unsupervised tourists potentially causing problems.
And the fact that the Waterhole is on private property, supplying drinking water to Mt Leonard homestead, meaning access is not assured anyway.
DSC notes it values the “important role” the pub plays in drawing visitors to the Diamantina, but Mayor Francis Murray says that after careful consideration, factoring in their responsibility to balance opportunities and obligations they decided the “most appropriate course of action” was to simply leave the fence where it is.
In keeping with the speed of the outback town, Council revealed the discussions, assessment and voting had taken place without any formal application by the hotel and parties had simply talked.
