Penrith and Fujieda
- 20years -

2004
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS
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Perth and Kagoshima
- 30years -

Cathy Freeman's Home Town
Exchange Links Grow with Song of Friendship

Its ties with Matsuura city in Nagasaki prefecture began with the coal trade and, through the support of many people, both communities have become further interlinked with each other.

Mackay is situated on the eastern coast of Queensland, between Brisbane and Cairns. The city has a population of approximately 75,000. Mackay has developed as a ‘Sugar City' since 1860, and boasts the largest acreage for sugar production in Australia. The majority of coal from the Bowen coalfield, which boasts some of highest coal yields in the world, is shipped from the harbour in South Mackay. It is a spectacular sight to watch the belt conveyors carry the coal several kilometers to export ships moored off shore. The ebb and flow of tides in that area are particularly great, and at low tide the shore stretches out forever.

A fire power plant in Matsuura city in the northern part of Nagasaki prefecture uses coal from Mackay for fuel. Through this trade agreement, a sister city relationship was formed in 1989. The ships that carry fuel between each cities' port act as an important link by transporting children's work and other items.

The networks formed between people of each city also remain strong. Ryoko Hashimoto, a worker at Matsuura City Council, was sent to work at Mackay City Council for 9 months, proving invaluable in her role as a liason for exchange programs. Executive Manager of Community and Customer Services Mark Leyland is head of the sister city committee so they were enable to communicate greatly between the cities. At present, the sister cities have undertaken various exchange programs, including the sending of four young people to Matsuura City Council to work as international liaisons.

Supported by these strong personal networks, ties between the two cities have strengthened further as various exchange programs between citizens and young people grow. In 1998, Matsuura City Council answered the wish of a Japanese teacher in Mackay to teach kendo to students, donating second-hand kendo equipment such as protectors and hakama (traditional men's clothing). The equiptment was sent on the coal freight ship to Mackay.

The friendship song ‘G'day Mackay' sums up the extent of these exchange links. This song incorporates the Japanese lyrics ‘G'day Mackay ? Sayonara Matsuura', and was written by the 4-man country band Hullaballoo working mainly in Mackay. This song was performed for the first time at the Yamato-Kanmuri Festival in 1995. The people of Matsuura were very pleased with such a stylish present. One rhythm dance club in the city choreographed this song and incorporated this routine into their lessons. This new routine was so popular that children performed the dance around the Australian and Mackay flags at their sports festival, and were met with great applause.

As we can see through the example of Mackay and Matsuura, the basis for international relations are certainly links between individuals. As feelings of appreciation and good wishes between people grows, ties of friendship and goodwill grow too, which ultimately deepens the relationship between Australia and Japan. The role of ‘global relations at grassroots levels' is very important to the development and strengthening of Japan-Australia relations.

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