Sadly on Tuesday night, the much loved Mayor of Port Augusta, Joy Baluch lost her long battle with cancer. The City Council will be flying its flags at half mast in respect of their leader of almost thirty years. 

Mayor Baluch was the solar warrior who strived to clean up Port Augusta’s power supply, attempting to put a stop to coal fired stations and replace them with solar thermal energy stations. Her crusade started for personal reasons with her husband passing away sixteen years ago from lung cancer. He worked in coal fired stations which she believed contributed to his illness. She said in an interview with the ABC last November, “Health was really being damaged as a result of the fly ash that was being poured out over Port Augusta. There would not have been a family then (in the early 70s) that was not touched” by health problems related to the local coal plant.

“The health of the people in Port Augusta has been affected by this coal-fired power station for the last 40 years and statistics prove this… We need to see solar thermal energy developed in South Australia and for us to become world leaders in this renewable energy. Certainly gas is not the answer,” said Mayor Baluch. In opposition to the plan to switch Port Augusta to gas, the Mayor responded with, “God is not going to send us a bill for solar energy, but the gas industry will.”

Many will continue to strive towards a renewable Port Augusta and keep Mayor Baluch’s dream alive. The switch will bring technology, create jobs, reduce emissions and improve health concerns in the whole region. The former Mayor believed in the switch – she said, “I did my best because I believe in this city, and we haven’t reached our pinnacle yet. The good things are still to come.”