April 20, 2020
South Burnett Regional Council’s roads portfolio chair Cr Gavin Jones (Division 2) has added the title of Deputy Mayor to his resume.
Cr Jones was elected Deputy Mayor at the South Burnett Regional Council’s statutory post-election meeting on Monday, successful over nominations by Cr Kathy Duff (Division 5) and Cr Kirstie Schumacher (Division 4).
Cr Jones was elected 5-2 despite Cr Duff gaining the support of new Mayor Brett Otto.
Mayor Otto, who seconded Cr Duff’s nomination, said he believed Cr Duff was the person best suited to the role.
He had formed this opinion, he said, based on her 16 years’ experience in local government; her good connections with State and Federal Government representatives; and her outstanding past performance.
Cr Duff was appointed Deputy Mayor in 2016, serving under previous Mayor Keith Campbell.
She told the meeting said that by pure coincidence, almost every time Mayor Campbell had taken a holiday the region had been hit by a disaster.
These included the Swickers fire (November 2016), Cyclone Debbie (March 2017) and the Boxing Day storms (December 2017), and she served as Acting Mayor during all of them.
“Over the next four years – with COVID-19 – it is shaping up to be the most challenging time we will face in any one of our lifetimes,” Cr Duff said.
“I think that during this period of great uncertainty it is of the utmost importance for our region to have a strong leadership team in our own local government.”
Cr Duff said she had built strong relationships with the South Burnett’s three Federal members (Llew O’Brien, Ken O’Dowd and David Littleproud), State member Deb Frecklington and the Cherbourg community.
She also noted that agriculture was a key component of the region’s economy.
“I think it is very important that our rural communities feel well represented,” Cr Duff said, noting that she lives on a working rural property.
“I think that having a Mayor from the heart of Kingaroy and a rural Deputy Mayor is a really good balance,” Cr Duff said.
“I am absolutely dedicated, committed and passionate about the South Burnett and our future, and I hope that our fellow Councillors will honour me by supporting my nomination to continue the role as your Deputy Mayor.”
When Mayor Otto called for further nominations, Cr Danita Potter nominated Cr Jones, and this was seconded by Cr Roz Frohloff.
Cr Jones said that when a councillor was elected they were working “for the people that pay your wages and they want a return on their investment”.
“When I make decisions, I make decisions with a regional view,” he said.
“I think of the outcome for the whole region before I make my decisions.”
He said he was taking the position very seriously and had contacted past and current Mayors and Deputy Mayors to see “what needs to be done and what is expected” of a Deputy Mayor.
“I am well aware of the added responsibility and I am certainly willing to take that responsibility if given that chance,” he said.
He believed the position would open up a lot of opportunities.
“I’m not in this for self-gratification or self-promotion, it’s all about making this region a better place,” he said.
“I know 100 per cent that I am putting my hand up to try to be elected to the Deputy Mayor role for the right reason. There is nothing else behind my motivation to seek the role of Deputy Mayor other than to improve this region for the whole of the South Burnett.”
Cr Jones said he had been on Council for four years but he also had a lot of life experience, including running businesses, so he was not “the new kid on the block”.
“I am very proud of the work that I have done prior to getting into this Council and since I have been elected to Council,” he said.
Cr Kirstie Schumacher then nominated for the role, and was seconded by Cr Duff.
Cr Schumacher said she might be a newly elected Councillor, but she had formerly worked for six years in Council across the amalgamation transition period and also had a wide range of life experiences that she would bring to the task.
She was aware that at present the South Burnett had many social and economic problems, and she wanted to see these issues addressed.
After all nominations had been called, a vote was taken.
Cr Duff’s nomination was defeated 5-2; and Cr Jones was elected 5-2.
Cr Jones’ election made a vote on Cr Schumacher’s nomination unnecessary.
On the very first vote the new Mayor is rolled. 16 years counts for nothing. And a first term Councillor nominates herself at her very first meeting. So much for a united South Burnett, they’re all out for themselves!
Well, Well, our new council’s first decision has left me totally mystified. “Spud” Jones elected deputy Mayor. Lucky I’m not a betting man as I would have given 50 to 1 odds for “Spud” and 10 to 1 on for Kathy based on past performances. From what I had heard around the ridges, “Spud” would have been hard pressed on hold his job if the drover’s dog had stood against him.
Cr Duff’s reasoning for being the deputy makes complete sense! Cr Spud’s reasoning is completely hollow, just he wants the extra money! Very disappointing that Kathy didn’t get it as she has the experience, commitment and runs on the board to be an excellent deputy.
The north and western regions of the South Burnett will get nothing now.
The new voting block will run this council to Spud’s tune. Mayor Otto already backtracking on his commitments and won’t be able to get anything through unless Spud’s group wants it.
The South Burnett is doomed with this group!
As soon as 40 per cent of people in the South Burnett voted for Brett Otto this region was doomed. 60 per cent didn’t want him despite all his flamboyant promises. The rest of the council I feel have recognised this and felt they needed some one who would be able to stop this bloke’s ego from getting out of control.
Some people thought the South Burnett was doomed when the previous mayor only polled 30% at the 2016 election, 70% didn’t support his ideas. We all know how that worked out.
Why do you reckon that the sky is gonna fall in with 40% of the vote? Last term Keith only got 30% of the vote and the sky didn’t fall in. Actually, there was an improvement with council by a fair bit, so using your analogy I guess we will have to see a real big improvement all over again. I do hope so. Or is the deputy going to block and spoil any chance of improvement just on the mantra of ego control?
Cripes, this decision was totally unexpected. I wonder what happened to have this decision turn up as it did? I have read each of their own reasons at least 3 times and still cannot see where Jones could be any better than Duff for this job, a job which she has appeared to do very well indeed.
What little that I had to do with her was always with the greatest respect and I did not always agree with her views but she respected mine! And she was always a very gracious lady and a Christian lady at that. Her political connections would have got much benefit for this shire, especially in her end. Hope this will continue.
As for Jones, I am utterly flummoxed at why he would think that he would do a better job than Duff. His reasoning only leads me to think that an above comment could be right. Or is he ambitious and is lining up for the top job soon?
I would suspect that a people’s vote vs. in-house councillor vote would have been different, but we all know that does not happen.
Hey if anyone has a twinge of conscience there is always the recognised procedure of “notice of motion” that could be used to rectify!
Duff was always out and about and seemed to work very hard and long indeed. Perhaps she was visible because of the pink, but she seemed to turn up everywhere and that is a plus. I rarely saw Jones except on news addresses and council talkfests and then he was always full of self-praise.
Henschen of Div 6 lives in the far south end of that division, close to all the rest, and it now seems as a cabal has formed, maybe good mates etc.. Will the most part of Div 6 and all Div 5 suffer from this decision?
Gee, I hope not and Mr Henschen needs to explain, as one would have thought he would have at least supported his neighbouring councillor.
Wow, so many conspiracy theories! I will start by saying I was surprised at the results for the Deputy job, and I bet many others will be like me and have never read the job description for that position. The job of all members of Council though is to vote in the best interests of the region as a whole. Kathy had a very good CV,Spud made sense when he said he works for us, and we expect value for money. Hey, wave that flag!
It is nonsense to talk about where the Deputy should reside. Kathy lives at one end of Division 5, but walk down the streets of Murgon and try finding someone who does not acknowledge her representation. I was impressed with her line after the vote “I am going back looking to find jobs for the people in Murgon.”
Now we have some strange views being expressed about Cr Hook and again I have only met him on the phone a few times. In his Ironpot area there are about 305 electors. If Hook got 99% of those votes, say 300, he also then received 45% of the vote from the remainder of that division. I am sure he knows the way to Wondai.
I do know Hook was involved in the first ratepayer meetings over the poor state of the roads in the area. It is a tight-knit community who self provide/manage much of their own community assets. They manage and fund their own feral pest control program. So I conclude there will be support and guidance from capable people in his endeavors to concentrate on core council business. And by the way, Division 2 is his neighbour as well.
Can I just encourage all ratepayers to get involved and touch base with all Council members. Express your opinion to them.
I will express mine here: my concern is that council should not overdo their efforts to provide funding to the likes of CTC and SB Care. As wonderful as those organizations are, I do not believe we are financially able to support them at the expense of council’s other core business. Stick to the basics, do not increase council debt, be innovative and think outside the square to achieve the maximum from our limited resources.
Always was a feeling of 4 versus 2 (Ros & Kathy). Now I guess it is 5 versus 1.
There were a number of times in the last term where Kathy & Ros voted against some (in my opinion) not very wise council decisions which put them offside.
Putting that aside, if every person in public office worked as hard and honestly as Kathy Duff then the occupation of politician would be looked upon as the most trustworthy and respected. Unfortunately we know that it is not necessarily the case…
To Terry Gordon and Disgruntled: when Keith was voted in he had 12 previous years as a councillor and deputy mayor, so he had experience in regard to the goings-on internally. The new mayor has already backflipped on several issues within 24 hours of being sworn in and been rolled in the first vote to be put forward. Obviously the other councillors believe that Jones is the better person for the job, otherwise the count wouldn’t have been 5-2
I can’t speak for South Burnett Care but as far as CTC is concerned there is no expectation and even less a demand for Council funding. The Mayor during the election campaign has expressed very welcome support for community organisations like us and our work and that can take many non-monetary forms for mutual benefit! Getting rid of road blocks, red tape and duplication come to mind and we would welcome that very much.
Thank you Nina.We all appreciate it good work you do and your assurance that you are self funded is excellent.