Round 2 For Would-Be Mayors

February 26, 2016

South Burnett residents had their first chance to size up the candidates running for Division 1 (Nanango) and Division 2 (Blackbutt) at a Candidates Forum held at Taras Hall in Nanango on Thursday night.

They also got to hear from the five people vying to be Mayor, who were also invited to speak

The forum was organised by the Nanango Tourism and Development Association (NaTDA) and moderated by Cr Barry Green.

NaTDA president Gloria Kirkness welcomed the standing-room-only audience of 120 people, and Cr Green explained there would be two different formats for Councillor and Mayoral candidates.

The nine people running for Division 1 and 2 would each be given three minutes to talk about themselves, then asked to respond to three questions:

• Why do you want to be a Councillor?

• What are the positives about living in the South Burnett?

• Are there any negatives and how could these be reversed?

After all nine candidates had spoken, the five Mayoral candidates were then introduced with a brief biography prepared by Cr Green, then given five minutes to talk about themselves before being asked to respond to five questions:

• Do you support quarterly, half-yearly or yearly rate notices, bearing in mind the administration costs to the Council to issue quarterly notices are $200,000 per year?

• Do you agree with the current Council’s private hospital decision? If not, why not?

• Are you in favour of an open and accountable Council? If so, what do you mean by “Open and Accountable”?

• Do you think tourism is commercially important and if so, how do you believe you could boost tourism in the South Burnett?

• What is your opinion of the Road Levy? Do you think it should be abolished? If so, how do you propose to make up the $3.2 million black hole in Council’s road maintenance program?

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The evening began with candidates for Division 1, then Division 2, being called from the audience to speak.

Candidates were called to the podium in the same order they will appear on the March 19 ballot papers.

They were followed by Mayoral candidates, again in ballot paper order.

But in the Mayoral session, candidates were sent to a separate rear room to wait their turn so no individual candidate could hear the answers given by any other candidate.

Cr Green explained this was to ensure their answers were as honest as possible.

To help ensure the interest of the audience was kept high, Cr Green also varied the question order from one Mayoral candidate to the next.

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Amongst the divisional candidates, there was – perhaps unsurprisingly – universal agreement that each one believed they should be the first choice of voters, and equal agreement the South Burnett is a great place to live.

But there was a surprising amount of agreement about the drawbacks that needed to be tackled, too.

The need for more businesses, a better local economy and more employment were common concerns.

So was the need for better health services, public transport options and more growth in tourism.

Some candidates opposed the Road Levy while some believed it probably needed to be kept until Federal and State funding could be restored.

Some thought rates were too high; some thought “brand name” recognition of the region was too low; and a few thought that improving Council operations was something that deserved to be looked at.

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southburnett.com.au recorded each section so readers can hear the candidates in their own words. The links, below, are in the order that they were presented on the night. Just click on each name …

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The Mayoral candidates were a major item of interest on the night and – in particular – their answers to the set questions.

Some of the main points raised by each Mayoral candidate were as follows (listen to the full speeches, below):

• Cr Damien Tessmann thought a return half-yearly rates would be a good idea; and said he had voted against Council taking over the operation of the private hospital because he did not want ratepayers to bear any costs. He thought Council could improve its openness and accountability by improving its consultation processes; felt tourism could be enhanced by taking advantage of modern technology; and thought the road levy would need to stay in place until the Federal and State Governments can be persuaded to restore the funding they’ve stripped out of the South Burnett.

• Cr Keith Campbell thought Councils were already the most regulated and audited government organisations in existence, and felt calls for more openness and accountability were made by people who didn’t attend Council meetings or read the minutes and reports Council generated. But he believed tourism was an important economic driver and thought there were several areas where the region’s current efforts could be improved. He believed the Road Levy would need to stay in place, and said the $7 million Council spent on the region’s 3500km road network each year still wasn’t enough to do the job well. He also favoured a return to half-yearly rates, and supported the private hospital on the proviso it could be run at no cost to ratepayers.

• Sheena Lindholm thought openness and accountability could be improved by making the Council’s financial records less obscure and by consulting more widely on Council projects before work began. She also thought the Road Levy would need to stay until proper financing was restored, but had no opinion on rate notices, simply noting a survey last year showed roughly half of residents would prefer half-yearly notices and the rest quarterly or annual, so it was a matter Council should consult with residents about. She thought Wellcamp Airport near Toowoomba represented a major opportunity not only for local agricultural producers but also for regional tourism operators. And she said the public hospital was clearly important to attract new residents to relocate to the region, so she thought it should be kept open, but that Council should continue to seek an operator to take it over.

• Michael Brown said he was opposed to the Road Levy and wanted it gone, but was vague about how he would find the $3.2 million to replace it, saying he believed it could be done through efficiency and “tightening reins” without specifying which services, if any, he would axe. As far as rate notice frequency went, he said it was clear different ratepayers preferred time periods and he didn’t think frequency mattered. He said he did not agree with Council operating the private hospital but made it clear that if he were elected Mayor, he would resign from his Glendon Street medical practice to avoid a conflict of interest. He thought tourism was very important, and thought openness and accountability could be improved by better communication with the community.

• Grant Newson said he was amazed that quarterly rates were adding $200 to every rate notice and thought $800 a year was a ridiculous amount that he would look into if elected. He said no one wanted to see the private hospital close but he was opposed to the Council running a private enterprise business and thought it should lease or sell the hospital building instead. Regarding openness and accountability, Mr Newson said he wanted to add “transparency” to the list because he found the SBRC’s website difficult to navigate and had to wait up to six months to have RTI requests answered. He thought tourism was “massively important”, but regretted tourists often couldn’t find a place to park or a clean toilet. Re the Road Levy, Mr Newson said it was a “$32 million black hole” but admitted that while he would try to have it removed, that would depend on having the majority of other councillors agree to that.

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southburnett.com.au recorded each section so readers can hear the candidates in their own words. The links, below, are in the order that they were presented on the night. Just click on each name …

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• Related article: Would-Be Mayors Go Head-To-Head

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