A LOCAL NEWSPAPER STORY: INGHAM PLANTER TO HINCHINBROOK LIFE

Premier David Crisafulli with his family and the Hinchinbrook Life team, celebrating at the Herbert River RSL a few weeks after the Hinchinbrook Life newspaper launch in 2024. Photo credit: Christina Spencer

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BY Dr Bianka Vidonja Balanzategui

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When 116 years of continuous publication came to an end with the closure of the local newspaper the Herbert River Express in 2020, the community lost not only a newspaper, but an enduring link to its past.

The district's newspaper story began with the Ingham Planter in 1894, produced by the Ingham Printing Press. The printing plant was brought to Ingham from Ravenswood by M.P. Fitzgerald and housed in a shop in the main street, near the present-day Lee's Hotel. Among those associated with the paper was Harald J. Hoffensetz.

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Some years later, Halifax's The Northern Age provided short-lived competition. Around the same time, one of the district's first planters, Onslow Waller, became owner and editor of the Ingham Planter. It was during this period that Alfred C. Cockrell, whose father was a cordial manufacturer in East Ingham, began work as an office boy. Following Waller's death, Walter's wife appointed Cockrell as managing foreman.

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In 1900, less than a year later, the Ingham Planter and The Northern Age amalgamated to form the Northern Planter, with Captain Alfred Henry as editor. Henry was an entrepreneur who also bred horses for the British Army in India. When ownership of the paper later changed hands, Hoffensetz resigned to establish his own newspaper.

The first edition of the Herbert River Express, founded by brothers-in-law Cockrell and Hoffensetz, was published in February 1904. Initially a 12-page weekly publication, served the entire Herbert River Valley while also carrying international news.

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The Northern Planter continued in opposition until 1906, when it was absorbed into the Herbert River Express. Hoffensetz managed the general printing business while Cockrell became editor. In 1915, Cockrell acquired full ownership of the newspaper, with Hoffensetz continuing to operate the printing and stationery business. During the war years, shortages of machinery parts and newsprint forced the paper to adapt, at one stage printing on brown paper and displaying copies in the shopfront window for passers-by to read.

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In 1968, the Cockrell family repurchased the printing business from the Hoffensetz family, operating it alongside the Herbert River Express as United Press until the newspaper was sold to North Queensland Newspaper Company Limited, a branch of News Limited, in 1986, ending 82 years of family ownership.

One of the paper's most respected editors was Robert L. Shepherd, who took the role in 1954 and remained editor for 35 years. Following News Limited's purchase, he stayed on as Managing Editor, overseeing the transition from traditional hot-metal printing to high-speed web offset presses and computer technology, which transformed both production and the newspaper's appearance. Tragically, Bob died in March 1989, just three years after the sale, aged only 60.

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In its later years, the Herbert River Express maintained its focus on local news while transitioning from local printing to tabloid production in Townsville, reducing publication to a weekly edition with an online presence. Its final edition was published in 2020, bringing 116 years of continuous publication to an end, the last edition of the Herbert River Express was filed away as an historical artefact.

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However, that was to be but an interruption in the story of the ‘local newspaper’. In 2022 the Wet Tropic Times launched and ran for 3 years, operating from a shopfront in Lannercost Street. In the final print edition of that paper in June 2025, the editor wrote words Bob Shepherd would likely have endorsed: "In an age dominated by fast news and global headlines, the humble local newspaper remains a powerful platform for everyday people to be heard. It's where stories of resilience, celebration, concern, and change take root—told not by distant commentators, but by the people living them."

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In November 2024, Hinchinbrook Life was launched at the initiative of Hinchinbrook Shire Council, with the support of local business owners and regional officials. The newspaper is published by the Life Publishing Group, which operates multiple thriving regional newspapers across Queensland.

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Shepherds' sentiment continues today. As Hinchinbrook Life Editor-in-Chief Rachael Smith says, "Since we expanded to publishing weekly newspapers six years ago our central goal has been to give regional communities back their free voice in print. We believe in the power of positive news and the connection a newspaper brings to the communities we serve. It’s an honour to continue such an incredible tradition, we are privileged to play our part in preserving history as it happens.”