A 90-year-old man has been left with a broken back after an incident in a North Queensland shopping centre car park.

Kevin Whelan was pulled out of his car from behind and kicked to the ground at the Townsville centre last Saturday evening.

"If I had a bloody gun I'd shoot the bastard," Whelan said.

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He was left with a broken back in two places.

"It bloody hurt hey. Christ it hurt," he told 9News.

"I couldn't get up honestly, I could not get up."

Police are speaking with a 64-year-old man in relation to the attack.

No charges have been laid.

"It's really wrong, that you've got to worry whether to go to your car if you're going to get attacked," Whelan's daughter Joanne Hutana said.

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Whelan has lived Queensland's north for 30 years, but says he barely recognises the city he once loved so much.

"I wouldn't even walk out to the mailbox at night now. No way mate," he said.