Killarney farmer remembered as ‘magnetic character’ after flooding death

Southern Queensland farmer Paul Stephenson, who was killed after being swept away in a flood while moving cattle to higher ground, has been remembered as a “magnetic character”.

The husband and father of three, aged 69, had been moving the livestock on his family’s Killarney property about 8.30pm on Wednesday when flash flooding washed both he and his ute away.

Four swift water rescue specialists, a rescue truck and multiple fire crews launched a search of the area, about 120 kilometres south-west of Brisbane near the Condamine River, and found Mr Stephenson after midnight about 100 metres downstream.

“We lost our heart and head of our home — our Paul,” his wife, Colleen, said in a statement released on Thursday.