<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A regional </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/queensland" rel="" target="" title="Queensland"><span>Queensland</span></a><span> community is calling for a lifeline with its only childcare centre set to close at the end of the year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Young families in Quilpie are calling for an experienced operator to step in to prevent essential workers from leaving the region after the centre abruptly decided to close its doors on December 31.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The regional town, located 1000 kilometres west of Brisbane, has a population just shy of 1000 people.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/christmas-day-2025-weather-forecast-bureau-of-meteorology-australia/df4ba481-c3f4-4621-8ac0-7e8132c32e5a" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Official Christmas Day forecast revealed</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mother-of-four and the local hospital's director of nursing Jenna Nunn is among those who are stranded with no daycare options.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've got a one-year-old, so I'm returning to work in January," Nunn said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is so heartbreaking, it is just mind boggling that they've pulled out, what do we do now?"</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-communitys-only-childcare-centre-set-to-close/702688eb-c9ae-4402-9633-bdca6800125b" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Council and the community were caught off guard when privately-owned operator Mulga Mates only notified them this month. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They were just highlighting that they were having staff retention issues," Quilpie Shire Council mayor Ben Hall said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It isn't a council-run facility, so we are at arm's length from it, so it came as a surprise to us."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/livesavers-hold-silent-vigil-bondi-terror-attack-victims/481a1f46-2a6f-4c34-952b-f580a7781fcf"><strong><span>Lifesavers hold silent vigil at Bondi Beach to honour victims of terror attack</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The announcement has sparked fears the closure could trigger an exodus of essential workers from the regional town, a situation which Nunn said would be "catastrophic".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was talking to one mum the other day, had to go back to work for three months and now she's had to stop working because there's no daycare options," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hall estimates that 42 per cent of the community's workforce is made up of working women.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If we take 42 per cent of those people out of our workforce, it's going to be devastating," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Mums in the community want a city lifeline if a new provider can't be sourced.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Department of Education will explore introducing a state-delivered kindergarten program.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The process to find a new childcare provider to take over the existing licence is underway.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There have been a few providers contacted, to date we have no takers," Hall said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We anticipate this may take upwards of 90 days to actually get resolved."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The small community is now sending out an urgent SOS.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm begging someone to please come forward and help us out," Nunn said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Please reach out to the council, we will roll out the red carpet to help in any way we can," Hall said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: 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