Michael John Lowcock (born 4 December 1948) is an Australian priest. Based in

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...

where he has been the parish priest at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church since 1992, Lowcock is best known for his community work in

North West Queensland The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...

, particularly among First Nations people.

Life and career

Lowcock grew up in

Bowen, Queensland Bowen is a coastal town and locality in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Bowen had a population of 10,377 people. The locality contains two other towns: * Heronvale () * Merinda (). The Abbot Point coal s ...

and attended boarding school in

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...

. Lowcock studied at the Pius XII Provincial Seminary in Brisbane prior to being ordained on 10 August 1973 at St Mary's Catholic School in Bowen where he had obtained his primary education. After spending time in

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, Ingham and

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

, Bishop Ray Benjamin decided to transfer Lowcock to a new parish. Relocating to Mount Isa in 1992, Lowcock has been active in the community which has included being the local police chaplain . He is also credited with establishing a number of local services including a youth hub, local support groups for

Murri people Murri may refer to: People *Augusto Murri (1841-1932), Italian physician *Romolo Murri (1870-1944), Italian politician and ecclesiastic *Serafino Murri (b. 1966), Italian film critic, screenwriter, and film director Culture *Murri people, Aborigi ...

and the Jangawala Kitchen which provides meals to the homeless and to those in custody at the local police watchhouse. Lowcock also established North West Queensland Indigenous Catholic Services Limited, which provides assistance to the disadvantaged, in particular local Aboriginal families. An advocate of

multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

, Lowcock is also known for organising an annual multicultural festival in Mount Isa and for setting up a prayer room at the Catholic church to be used by local Muslims. A proposal was put forward by Lowcock in 2019 of a low-custody facility being established in North West Queensland to negate the expensive need of transporting prisoners to facilities on the east coast only for them to be transported back to Mount Isa for court appearances. Lowcock's proposal was supported by state MP for Traeger

Robbie Katter Robert Carl Ignatius Katter (born 3 March 1977) is an Australian politician. He serves as the member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Traeger, having previously represented Mount Isa from 2012 to 2017. He is the leader of Katter's ...

. In 2021, Lowcock expressed his opposition to a local hotel's plans to open a new bottle shop in an old

Blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

store. Amid the crime crisis facing the Northern Territory town of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

in early 2023, Lowcock criticised the introduction of alcohol restrictions in the town as he believed the measures were encouraging people to travel elsewhere, including across the border into Queensland, to access alcohol. Apart from his role in Mount Isa, Lowcock was appointed the diocesan administrator of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville The Roman Catholic Diocese of Townsville is a suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Archdiocese of Brisbane, erected in 1930, covering North Queensland, Australia. It was excised from the Diocese of Rockhampton, which had previously covered all ...

following the death of Bishop Michael Putney in 2014. Lowcock remained in the role until the ordination of Bishop Tim Harris in 2017.

Honours

In 2001, Lowcock received the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in recognition of his distinguished service to the community. Lowcock received a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the

2004 Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours 2004 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2004 for the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Cook IslandsCook Islands list: and elsewhere to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of 2004. The recipients of honours are d ...

in recognition of his service to North West Queensland through his role in the Catholic Church. In 2020, Lowcock was named as a

Queensland Great Queensland Day is officially celebrated on 6 June as the birthday of the Australian state of Queensland. History Moves towards statehood began with a public meeting in 1851 to consider separation of Queensland from the Colony of New South Wa ...

. Lowcock was nominated to be the Queensland's

Senior Australian of the Year The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Governmentowned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territo ...

in 2023 but lost to child protection campaigner Claude Harvey. Harvey in turn was nominated for Senior Australian of the Year but lost to human rights campaigner

Tom Calma Thomas Edwin Calma, (born 1953), is an Aboriginal Australian human rights and social justice campaigner. He is the sixth chancellor of the University of Canberra, a post held since January 2014, after two years as deputy chancellor. Calma is th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowcock, Mick Living people 1948 births Queensland Greats Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 20th-century Australian Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Australian Roman Catholic priests People from Bowen, Queensland Australian humanitarians Australian social workers