COLLECTED BY
Organization:National Library of Australia Crawls
Crawls performed by Internet Archive on behalf of the National Library of Australia. This data is currently not publicly accessible.
Collection:NLA 2020 Domain Crawl
Crawls performed by the Internet Archive in 2020 on behalf of the National Library of Australia.
TIMESTAMPS
The McKay Patrol (based in Cloncurry) stems from the original North West Patrol of the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) first set up in Cloncurry in 1915 and the Federal Methodist Inland Mission Patrol (FMIM), which commenced in 1928 at its Gulf Mission Base in Camooweal. The AIM served in Cloncurry from 1915 until 1931 and then in Mt Isa from 1947 until 1960. FMIM was based at Camooweal from 1928 until 1947 then in Camooweal/Boulia until 1956. During the similar period FMIM had a Patrol Padre based in Cloncurry from 1927 - 1960. FMIM also had a Patrol Padre based in Mt Isa during the period 1929 until 1955, which also served the Camooweal/Mt Isa areas from 1956.
At the Union of the Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches in 1977, the various Inland Mission agencies of those three churches became Frontier Services. The Queensland Synod, however, elected to keep the North West Patrol as a ministry of the Synod rather than a Frontier Services Patrol. This decision was made due to nature of the Patrol having a proportionally large geographical area, an unusually large number of communities within its bounds and an established support network through the North Queensland Presbytery.Rev Dennis Robinson, who was the Methodist Inland Mission minister from 1974 to 1980, came when the areas of Julia Creek, Cloncurry and Camooweal were joined as one patrol. It was obvious to him and to the congregation of Cloncurry that the large geographical area made a road Patrol not only impossible, but exceedingly dangerous. Through many fundraising efforts, the Cloncurry congregation purchased an aircraft and in 1976, the North West Patrol changed from a road patrol to an aerial patrol. In 1986, realising that the aircraft was inadequate for the job, the Cloncurry congregation undertook further fund-raising and purchased the current aircraft. By this time, the North West Patrol was well established as an aerial Patrol. And while it has continued that way ever since some 30,000kms is still travelled by road to properties that do not have serviceable airstrips.
Early in the 90's the name of the Patrol was changed from the North West Patrol to the McKay Patrol in honour of Revd. Fred McKay who was appointed by the Revd. John Flynn as the first Patrol Padre after the establishment of the Aerial Medical Service (eventually the RFDS) in this area. In 1993, the last minister assigned to purely look after Cloncurry left and the McKay Patrol and Cloncurry UCA effectively became one service.