A family friendly area
The Fraser Coast is an awesome blend of coastal and rural areas with a broad spectrum of industry and potential. The ‘Family Friendly Fraser Coast’ is our mantra and we are striving to provide a hospitable, pleasant and opportunity-filled environment for locals and visitors alike.
One of the aspects I’m most proud of about our area is our strength in economic development and innovation. To provide hope and a future for the next generation we need to be educating, training and supporting innovation as much as we can to ensure we keep, bring back and retain talent in our region.
Leading on technology
I served four years as a Councillor before running successfully for Mayor at the most recent election. I chose to become involved to give back to the community that has given my family so much. We are heading to a new era of technology and innovation and I firmly believed I was most qualified to lead the local government into this new era.
When I decided to run for Mayor I sold my accountancy firm to free up the time and energy I knew would be required to fulfil my role.
One of the best aspects of being a Councillor is having the ability to set the direction and implement the community’s wishes, and seeing the positive impact we can have on the region. One of the more challenging aspects is that it’s a 24/7 job and you can never please all of the people, all of the time.
I hope my presence will give hope to the region’s youth that they can have a future here and prosper without having to leave the region.
Outside of council hours I enjoy investigating small business development, as well as meeting new people and learning about the latest innovation and technologies.
Challenges and business goals
A key challenge facing our organisation at the moment is getting the business of Council in order. Currently there is a very bad culture within council operations and this needs to be solved before moving forward to creating policies and plans to better the region.
An innovative project Council is working on is our ‘Catalyst’ innovation hub, which we hope to have up and running in the near future. We have also recently had a massive solar farm approved to start and I have personally seen many developers coming back to town to discuss projects – I’m always open to new projects that will benefit our community. The doors are open for business on the Fraser Coast and if you can show that you will help improve our region then the answer will be ‘YES!’
A goal I’d like to achieve into the future is that I would like to see tourism numbers swell to one million in Hervey Bay and 200,000 into Maryborough and outlying areas. I also want to see agriculture become a heavy feature and focus of this Council and to see all 10 Councillors re-elected at the next election because of the great job we are doing as a team.
A prehistoric highlight
One highlight of my time in local government was the World famous Explore-a-aurus Exhibition that Council had open to the public in the Maryborough City Hall. It ran from December 2014 through to April 2015. Visitors to the region and many of the local school children enjoyed the chance to step into the shoes of a palaeontologist and get up close and personal with seven incredible animatronic dinosaurs including Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Muttaburrasaurus (Australia’s very own dinosaur!) and of course the most well known of our prehistoric pals, the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
