A regular feature this month profiling two Councillors fromtWestern Australia
Councillor Iris Prouse, Shire of Derby West Kimberley, WA
Q. How long have you been on Council?
Five years. I am now into my second term and was re-elected for another four years in May 2003.
Q. Tell us about yourself and your community.
I am an Indigenous person born and bred in the Kimberley. My husband and I have raised five children and now enjoy the company of nine grandchildren. I have always been community minded and have been involved in many local committees, through the local school, my children’s activities and various sporting groups in the town of Derby. Once my children were grown, I became more involved in community issues and through my life experience, my extensive family networks and my work involvement, I felt I had a lot to offer my community.
Derby is one of the oldest towns in the Kimberley region and has a population of about 5,000. There are three major language groups and a number of Indigenous communities make up the population of the town. Derby was built on the cattle industry and exported prime beef to other parts of Australia and the world. Derby then settled down to becoming a very Government focused town and developed the reputation of being the central and major town in the Kimberley. In the latter years, this focus has shifted and Derby now thrives more on mining and tourism.
Q. What are your Council’s demographics? Is the population changing?
The Shire of Derby West Kimberley comprises two major towns , Derby and Fitzroy Crossing, and the small township of Camballin. It occupies an area of 102,706 square kilometres and is one of four Local Governments in the Kimberley region. The town of Derby is set on a peninsula and surrounded by tidal marshland. It is located on the King Sound, near the mouth of the Fitzroy River.
Fitzroy Crossing is located on the banks of the Fitzroy River and sits in a valley that provides some of the best pastoral country in Australia. Other interests for the town are mining and tourism. The population is predominantly Indigenous and Fitzroy Crossing is surrounded by a number of major Indigenous communities. The total population of the Shire of Derby West Kimberley in June 2000 was 7,883, which was an increase of 1.5 per cent over previous years. With the increase of mining, a lot of fly-in-fly-out workers provide a big part of the workforce. The down sizing of Government agencies and increase of contract work attracts short term residents. Education is also a major player in the retention of our young people and most of our children are forced to attend schools, colleges and university further south of Derby. However, Derby and Fitzroy Crossing are the sort of towns that will always attract people back, time and time again, for short term visits or investing in property and finally settling permanently.
Q. What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in Local Government?
Dealing with legislative change being imposed on Local Government. Small Councils like ours are forced to take on change and do so with limited resources, limited staff and the constant need to juggle existing funds. The role of Council is also changing. It is more than the traditional rates, rubbish and roads. It is about engaging in community issues such as tourism, economic development, social issues and providing transparency at all times.
Q. What are the most important issues to you?
Developing partnerships with mining and industry to engage in local employment and create more jobs within our Shire. Looking at new and innovative ways of ensuring long term economic survival to encourage more businesses and industry to invest in our Shire. Being open and accountable to the community.
Q. What role does the Shire of Derby West Kimberley play in Indigenous issues?
This Shire was the first in the Kimberley Region to deliver environmental health services to Indigenous communities. It provides a staff of three dedicated people to visit our Indigenous communities to look at issues like housing, water, sewage, waste management, vector control and others. I am also one of two Councillors who have an Indigenous portfolio and sit on various committees involving Indigenous issues.
Council has recently formed a working party to look at ways of dealing with Native Title issues and to maintain an open dialogue with the Kimberley Land Council and Native Title claimants.
Q. Does Council actively promote tourism?
This Council is very committed to promoting tourism. The town of Derby boasts a very well run Visitors Centre that is a non-profit organisation with Council representation on its management committee. The Centre runs an annual event known as ‘High Tide Day’ when visitors can witness the huge 11 metre tide that Derby is famous for. Council also funds and supports the annual Boab Festival, which is the oldest festival in Western Australia and a major tourist attraction.
Road signage has recently been replaced to reflect our magnificent gorges and actively promote the ever growing eco-tourism that is taking hold in the Kimberley. There are a number of tourist information bays that are positioned along the highway to promote our tourist attractions. In Fitzroy Crossing, Council runs the Tourist Bureau where a range of tours and accommodation can be booked.
Q. What are the key aspects to being a good Councillor?
Honesty and integrity, open mindedness, good communication skills and being willing to take on board community issues that challenge one’s role in Local Government.
Q. How do you see the future of Local Government in WA?
Expanding. I see Local Government as the first tier of Government, not the last. It is the link between the community, State and Federal Government, and represents the voice of the people. Local Government provides continuity and is best placed to coordinate or implement change at the grass roots level
Mayor Linton Reynolds, City of Armadale, WA
Q. How long have you been on Council?
I was first elected in May 1989, having previously been involved with local school and sporting groups. My colleagues elected me as Mayor in May 2001.
Q. Tell us about yourself and your community.
I grew up nearby at Mundijong. Following a period in the eastern states and overseas with the Army, I returned to WA in 1974 with my wife Carol who I met and married in Townsville. We have a daughter who teaches at a local school and a son who works as a town planner for the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
Our community is an eclectic one, having originally been a number of small towns on the outskirts of the Perth metropolitan area that have, in the past 30 years, grown together as part of the urban fringe. Our boundaries include much of Perth’s water catchment area and some of the fragile wetlands on the coastal plain.
Our area provides the full range of residential options – from larger, high value residential properties nestled in the foothills and valleys, to more affordable neighbourhoods west of the scarp line. Much of our previously productive agricultural land has been converted into regional parklands or suburbs. Most of our working population commutes to the Perth CBD or the large Welshpool/Kewdale industrial area.
Q. What are your Council’s demographics? Is the population changing?
Although our community is now better balanced than previously, it is still younger than the State and national averages. Household disposable income varies widely, but on balance it is close to the State average. Like most communities, the dominant change to our demographics is the aging of our population and its changed expectations. Sporting bodies that were strong are now struggling to support themselves; there is an escalating demand for less structured activities and for services more relevant to retirees.
Q. What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in Local Government?
We are in the final throes of paying off huge loans raised by our predecessors in the 1970s and 80s. Consequently, we have been quite limited in the facilities we could offer during this ‘pay back’ period by comparison with some of our neighbours, who have strong retail and industrial rate bases. Managing expectations to match our budgetary limitations will remain a challenge. Along the way, we have needed to maintain rate increases above CPI and this has inevitably drawn criticism.
As a collection of older, small scale subdivisions, it has been difficult for developers to assemble the land parcels needed for profitable residential developments when there are greenfield opportunities nearby. Consequently, Armadale has been somewhat overlooked during the last 20 years by new residents and businesses. Recently, the State Government joined us to establish a redevelopment authority, which is tasked with developing selected parcels of land in a way that meets social, environmental and commercial targets.
My greatest personal challenge has come during my involvement in three panels of inquiry into other Councils that were thought to require close scrutiny. You learn a lot about yourself when you are asked to inquire into and judge others.
Q. What are some important issues to you?
Armadale sits astride three major highways that link the Perth metro area to its agricultural hinterland. The management of road freight, the associated road network and their impact on the surrounding urban cells has been a major issue over the past 10 years.
Most Perth dwellers want to live by the beach. This means that we need to establish a point of difference that will offset the 20 km drive to the beach. Cheap residential land is available in our municipality 20 to 30 kilometres from the Perth CBD, while blocks in many new suburbs near the beach are double the distance from town at double the price.
Armadale is like a ‘best kept secret’. Few know about it, and fewer of the locals talk about it, therefore others have formed the view that it can’t be of value. There is a need to change the views of our community held by others, but also by some of our own.
With Kelmscott established as a military outpost for the Swan River Settlement in 1830, we have a lot of history to capture. Traditionally a timber and farming area supplying Perth, the district was populated by working people rather than landed gentry and little of the built form has survived. What has, now needs to be preserved before it is too late. Many who remember the district’s history are leaving us faster than we can capture those memories.
Q. What are the key aspects to being a good Councillor?
Patience. Even with all the other skills in your repertoire, you will still find that it often takes longer than you would like to achieve many of your targets.
Listening skills are essential, combined with an ability to communicate formally and informally with people of all ages and from all sectors of the community. This often means being available at times that are inconvenient to yourself or your family.
Be true to yourself. While you listen to the community and your colleagues, and accept information from other sources, ultimately your decision must be based on your own set of values and what you believe to be right.
Q. How do you see the future of Local Government in Western Australia?
I think a period of boundary reform is inevitable. I hope it will include the opportunity for a model that retains existing electoral structures or similar, but with greater use of joint facilities and resources. That will pose a significant challenge to remote Councils with small populations, who depend on their construction gangs to keep their townships populated.
While the concept of larger regional Councils and a Federal Government model might work in more closely settled States, I don’t believe it will work in WA. That is not to say that there is no scope at all for amalgamations, but they need full community consultation and a realistic assessment of the benefits and disadvantages.