Graham Thomas "Butch" Lenton (1956 – 1 October 2017) was an Australian councillor and community advocate.Bond, Nicole; Tatham, Harriet; Varley, Russell (9 October 2018
Mayor Butch Lenton remembered by Winton community
''ABC News''. Retrieved 27 August 2018. As mayor of the

Shire of Winton The Shire of Winton is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Central West Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1887. Its administrative centre is located in the tow ...

, he was known for his support and promotion of various

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

and

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

projects in

Central West Queensland Central West Queensland (abbreviated CWQ) is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers 396,650.2 km2. The region lies to the north of South West Queensland and south of the Gulf Country. It has a population of appr ...

, particularly in the town of Winton.Walsh, Alison (1 April 2014
Way Out West
''news.com.au''. Retrieved 27 August 2018. He was posthumously named as one of the

Queensland Greats The Queensland Greats Awards recognise outstanding Queenslanders for their years of dedication and contribution to the development of the state and their role in strengthening and shaping the community in Queensland, Australia. The awards are p ...

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Annastacia Palaszczuk Annastacia Palaszczuk ( , born 25 July 1969) is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 unt ...

in a ceremony at the

Queensland Art Gallery The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away. The Queensland Art Galle ...

on 8 June 2018.

Politics

Born in Winton in 1956, Lenton was elected as a councillor to Winton Shire Council in 1997, becoming deputy mayor in 2004 and then mayor in 2012. He narrowly missed out on becoming mayor in 2008 after gaining the same number of votes as his opponent Ed Warren. The tie was resolved by the drawing of one of their names from a

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

, as legally required. The incident prompted the Queensland Opposition to demand an end to such " chook raffle" selection of mayors due to the importance of the position. Community leaders have described how Lenton had a vision of Winton being an iconic tourist town and how he had been instrumental in instigating or promoting numerous

tourist attractions A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beau ...

and large scale community events in and around Winton.Cripps, Sally (2 October 2017
Winton mayor remembered as a visionary
''

Queensland Country Life ''Queensland Country Life'' is a newspaper published in Queensland, Australia, since 1935. It focuses on rural news. History The ''Queensland Country Life'' newspaper is the second of that name. The Queensland Country Life (1900–10), first n ...

''. Retrieved 27 August 2018. Lenton is credited with securing the necessary funding to ensure the Waltzing Matilda Centre was quickly rebuilt after the original building was completely destroyed by fire in 2015. At the time of the fire, Lenton described the event as a "kick in the guts" but was keen to "tough it out". Lenton said the restoration of the tourist attraction had given the whole town a lift and hoped the new building would attract more tourists back to Winton. The new Waltzing Matilda Centre was opened by Australian Governor-General

Peter Cosgrove General (Australia), General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, (born 28 July 1947) is an Australian retired senior Australian Army, Army officer who served as the 26th governor-general of Australia, in office from 2014 to 2019. A graduate of the Royal ...

in April 2018, almost seven months after Lenton's death in October 2017. Winton mayor Gavin Baskett described the new centre as a tribute to Lenton's vision.

Geothermal energy Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the crust (geology), crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for m ...

was introduced to Winton by Lenton who advocated for the construction of a $3.5 million geothermal plant in the town, believing it would assist the

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

of small communities with significant savings to energy consumption. Following his death, Winton Chief Executive Officer Alan Rayment said the power plant would serve as a legacy for Lenton. Believing it could bring a beneficial boost for the local economy, Lenton was a big supporter of the local film industry and spearheading events such as Winton's Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival and promoting the area as an ideal filming location. Lenton described the annual festival as a crucial element for the economic and cultural survival of outback Australian heritage. In 2016, Lenton revealed that Winton Shire Council had purchased a former motor garage to transform it into a film studio to be used by movie producers who shoot films locally. Winton's inaugural Way Out West

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

, which was held seven months after his death, was instigated by Lenton. Singer

Russell Morris Russell Norman Morris (born 31 July 1948) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who had five Australian Top 10 singles during the late 1960s and early 1970s. On 1 July 2008, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) reco ...

dedicated his song "

Wings of an Eagle "Wings of an Eagle" is a song written and recorded by Australian singer Russell Morris, produced by Peter Dawkins. It was released in November 1972 and peaked at number 9 on the Australian Go-Set chart in January 1973, becoming Morris' sixth top t ...

" to Lenton at the festival. Lenton was also heavily involved in rugby league, and was a life member of the Central West Rugby League Club and the

Queensland Rugby League Central Division The Central Division of the Queensland Rugby League is responsible for the promotion, administration, and facilitation of rugby league throughout most of regional Queensland. Regions of Queensland, Regional areas include Darling Downs, the Darli ...

. He served two terms as president of the Central West Rugby League Club, his first term commencing in 1990 with his second term commencing in 2011.

Death

Lenton died on 1 October 2017 in Winton, aged 61, having been diagnosed with cancer two years prior. He was survived by his wife, Ros, and their daughter, Carly Cox. Upon learning of Lenton's death, Queensland Premier

asked her cabinet ministers to endorse a condolence motion to Lenton's family and to the people of Central West Queensland. Among those who paid tribute to Lenton was actor and patron of Winton's Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival,

Roy Billing Roy Harwood Billing (born 1947) is a New Zealand television actor, now based on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. He was brought up in Ruawai, Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. Billing spent almost three decades living and working in Austral ...

. An array of dignitaries attended Lenton's funeral including Fiona Nash,

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 ...

David Littleproud David Kelly Littleproud (born 4 September 1976) is an Australian politician who has been the leader of the National Party since May 2022. He has represented the regional Queensland seat of Maranoa since the 2016 federal election and was a cab ...

and Mark Furner.

Honours

In a statement, Palaszczuk announced that the road to the Age of Dinosaurs attraction near Winton would be renamed from Dinosaur Drive to Butch Lenton Way in Lenton's honour. The road was officially renamed by Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey in July 2018. Following Lenton's death, it was also announced that Peak Services had created the Butch Lenton Memorial Bush Council Innovation Award, consisting of an annual $10,000

bursary A bursary is a monetary award made by any educational institution or funding authority to individuals or groups. It is usually awarded to enable a student to attend school, university or college when they might not be able to, otherwise. Some awar ...

for a local council that had displayed innovation and drive. In June 2018, Lenton was posthumously named as a Queensland Great. An extinct species of

anhanguerid Anhangueridae (alternatively called Ornithocheiridae, meaning "bird hands") is a group of pterosaurs within the suborder Pterodactyloidea. These pterosaurs were among the last to possess teeth. Members that belong to this group lived from the ...

pterosaur Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...

, '' Ferrodraco lentoni'' or Lenton's iron dragon, was named after him in 2019.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenton, Butch 1956 births 2017 deaths Queensland Greats Shire of Winton Mayors of places in Queensland Deaths from cancer in Queensland