Dan Ballard – Independent candidate for Mount Isa City Council

About Dan Ballard

Dan Ballard lives in Mount Isa with his wife Lacey and their two children, Lilly, and Tommy.

Their family has a long association with regional Queensland.

Dan was born and raised in Mount Isa. His father Keith grew up in Longreach. Keith is 71 this year and is Australia’s oldest jockey.

Dan’s mum Denise was born in Winton and was raised on properties around the Julia Creek, Kynuna and McKinlay areas.

Her parents were drovers, and she was riding horses before she could walk. Denise was one of the first female jockeys allowed to compete against male riders.

Dan and his parents have spent many hours travelling thousands of kilometres to regional race meetings in Denise’s horse truck.

Horse riding is in Dan’s blood, and he still works as a jockey part time. He grew up riding Pony Club in Mount Isa and now his eight-year-old daughter Lilly is doing the same. Tommy, who turned one in September, can’t quite reach the stirrups.

Dan and Lacey have been married for 10 years. Lacey was brought up on a cattle property near Mount Garnett in Far North Queensland. The couple met through mutual friends and bonded over a lot of shared interests.

“My family’s long history in regional Queensland has given me a passion of the bush and a desire to see rural communities thrive by leveraging opportunities to innovate and using our isolation to our advantage,” Dan said.

Dan works as the Mount Isa branch manager for RCT.

RCT is a technology company that specialises in automation, safety, and control systems for mining machinery.

Asked why he was running for council, Dan said the time was right for him to give back to the community that had been so good to him.

“Mount Isa has provided me with so many opportunities over the years, both personal and professional, and I want those same opportunities to exist when my children get older,” Dan said.