{"id":363023,"date":"2025-07-25T20:40:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T10:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=363023"},"modified":"2025-07-25T20:42:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T10:42:20","slug":"council-splits-over-comedy-clinics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/25\/council-splits-over-comedy-clinics\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Splits Over Comedy Clinics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Mark McConville … bringing clinics and a comedy night to the South Burnett in August (Photo: Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 25, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Burnett councillors narrowly voted in favour of supporting Laughter Clinics and a Winter Warmers comedy night to be hosted next month by the South Burnett Suicide Prevention Working Group.<\/p>\n

Councillors voted 4-3 at their July meeting to provide $3000 and hall hire for the event.<\/p>\n

The motion was moved by Cr Danita Potter and seconded by Cr Linda Little.<\/p>\n

Cr Potter said the opportunity to hold the events had come about “quite quickly”.<\/p>\n

“We have the chance to get Mark McConville up who does laughter clinics and comedy roadshows,” Cr Potter said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I think this is something that would be really beneficial to our community.”<\/p>\n

The money would come out of this year’s Council’s Community Grants Program.<\/p>\n

Cr Potter said Laughter Clinics, for about 20 people, would be held at Murgon, Proston, Nanango and two in Kingaroy (one for the community and one for professionals in the sector).<\/p>\n

There would also be a big Winter Warmers Comedy Night show at the Kingaroy Town Hall on August 13.<\/p>\n

Cr Heit said she could not support the motion because it was paying for a professional comedian and keynote speaker from the Gold Coast to visit the area.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said Council’s Community Grants program was for local community groups and it was highly competitive, with many applicants in Rounds 1 & 2 last year either disallowed or only partially funded.<\/p>\n

Cr Heit suggested the South Burnett Suicide Prevention Working Group apply for a Community Grant in the next round and reschedule the dates. The full application could then be assessed on its merits against other applications.<\/p>\n

“I have to say I tend to be more supportive of supporting our local community groups rather than supporting a visiting professional for $3000 for two days,” Cr Heit said.<\/p>\n

“I can’t support this application in good conscience when we have knocked back so many of our own local community groups.\u00a0 I believe a full application should go through the right channels and be assessed against every other community grant application.”<\/p>\n

Mayor Kathy Duff supported the event, saying she had attended a very “impactful” comedy session at Murgon Town Hall in the past which had packed the hall.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

And Cr Linda Little said humour was the only thing which had helped her family get through a very difficult time.<\/p>\n

Mayor Duff, Cr Little, Cr Potter and Cr Deb Dennien voted in favour of the motion.<\/p>\n

Deputy Mayor Jane Erkens, Cr Heath Sander and Cr Heit voted against it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Burnett councillors narrowly voted in favour of supporting Laughter Clinics and a Winter Warmers comedy night to be hosted next month by the South Burnett Suicide Prevention Working Group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":363026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,3],"tags":[1131],"yoast_head":"\nCouncil Splits Over Comedy Clinics - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South Burnett councillors narrowly voted in favour of supporting Laughter Clinics and a Winter Warmers comedy night to be hosted next month by the South Burnett Suicide Prevention Working Group.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2025\/07\/25\/council-splits-over-comedy-clinics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Council Splits Over Comedy Clinics - 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