STEPHANIE THOMPSON
THE Murray River Queen is a step closer to calling Loxton home, after the river front near the Lions Park was declared the vessel’s preferred mooring location.
Donna Neale, who is in the process of purchasing the Murray River Queen, met with the District Council of Loxton Waikerie on Friday to discuss potential mooring sites.
Council agreed in-principle to the Lions Park site, near the Tree of Knowledge, and Ms Neale said the area had a number of positives.
“The position is amazing and the outlook is gorgeous,” she said. “Car parking is great and there are lots there.
“I believe utilising the lawn area will be amazing, whether it be outdoor dining or maybe do things on Saturday afternoons on the lawn where parents can have a drink and kids can play.”
Ms Neale said she hoped to make the vessel a “destination”.
“It is only one kilometre to town,” she said.
“With the caravan park being close by, that will be a benefit there for people who want to come and grab a coffee or some lunch.”
The Murray River Queen resumed trading in Renmark recently, with Kings on Queen Café, operated by locals Peter and Lyn Kent, who also own and run Salt and Pepper Catering.
However, Ms Neale said the plan was still “without a doubt” to relocate the boat to Loxton.
“It is open in Renmark at the moment because I do need to earn some income to pay the bills and it worked well with Salt and Pepper Catering (because) they were looking for a premises in Renmark,” she said.
“We haven’t discussed whether or not they will be following (to Loxton). We are playing it by ear really.”
While dependent on State Government planning approvals, Ms Neale said she hoped the Murray River Queen would be in Loxton by Christmas.
Loxton Waikerie council CEO David Beaton said the relocation of the vessel and its preferred location had the full support of councillors.
“Council is really positive about the chance of having it come to Loxton,” he said.
“We lack a lot of tourism product and this would add some diversity into the community.
“I think the council thinks that it’s really exciting and looks forward to it coming to fruition.
“Hopefully the State Government processes can be done at a reasonable rate.”

Once bitten, twice shy as wary council takes precautions
SAFEGUARDS will be put in place to prevent Murray River Queen history from repeating itself in Loxton after a potential mooring location was agreed to on Friday.
Prospective owner Donna Neale met with Loxton Waikerie council on Friday to discuss the vessel’s potential relocation from Renmark to Loxton.
In September 2019, crippling debt saw a liquidator appointed – by an order of the Federal Court of Australia – to see the Murray River Queen Riverland Pty Ltd business wound up.
According to an Advertiser report at the time, the business had debts of over $430,000 in unpaid taxes and superannuation.
Council CEO David Beaton said in addition to planning approvals, further considerations were also needed.
“We will need something that contains – given the history of it – something that looks after the council’s and the community’s position if something was to happen,” he said.
Ms Neale said she had already considered other options.
“Worst-case scenario, if something does happen to go wrong – not that it is going to – I have a plan B of where I can move the boat,” she said.
Speaking to the Murray Pioneer in 2019, former owner Matthew Major said relocating the Murray River Queen from Waikerie to Renmark in 2017 was a “monumental task” and the vessel’s repair bill was in excess of $850,000.
The MRQ was built at Hindmarsh Island, near Goolwa, between 1972 and 1974 and is steeped in the traditions of the hundreds of paddle steamers that hauled freight and passengers up and down the Murray River between the 1850s and 1930s.
In 2012, the Majors purchased the MRQ and for three years operated it as a backpacker hostel in Waikerie. In 2015, the couple decided to renovate the boat and relocate it to the “tourism mecca” of Renmark.
After a four-day journey from Waikerie – towed by the ps Oscar W paddle boat – the vessel arrived in Renmark on Tuesday, August 15, 2017.