Regionally-based lawyer Julie Briggs has been appointed as the Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) Policy Adviser.
CMA chairman and Temora Shire Mayor Rick Firman OAM said the Executive Board had appointed Mrs Briggs in response to the growing demand.
He said the body’s rural and regional advocacy was being increasingly sought after for Government inquiries and reviews.
“CMA has engaged Julie Briggs through her firm JBMS Consulting Pty Ltd (JBMS) to provide policy advisor services. The firm is a regionally-based management consultancy located in Wagga Wagga,” he said.
“Julie Briggs is a lawyer by profession and has over 30 years of experience with Local Government matters.
“I am excited to join the CMA in the new Policy Advisor role. The CMA is a strong and consequential voice for rural, remote and regional communities across NSW and the work they do is vitally important,” Julie said.
“I am really looking forward to using the skills and knowledge I have developed in my many years as CEO of the Riverina Eastern Regional Organisation of Councils (REROC) to assist the CMA to achieve its representative agenda.”
“As Chairman of REROC, I worked closely with Julie. When it comes to writing representative, data-driven submissions, she is the best I have encountered,” Mayor Firman said.
“The increasing workload of the CMA is something we are proud of,” he said.
“We are bipartisan and have maintained a positive working relationship with NSW and Australian Governments. So, when they seek our input through an invitation to submit to an inquiry, it is welcome, however we must have the resources to gather insights from our members and articulate them in an authoritative document.
“When the CMA contributes a submission to a Government inquiry, there’s a lot of work involved. Our Secretariat Mr. Gary Fry was spread too thin, when he also managed the CMA and organised its functions in 2024. Documents created last year can be found on our website: Publications – The Country Mayors Association of NSW Inc. Our submission to the NSW Government Inquiry into Historical development consents [Zombie DA’s] was a good example of country NSW insights we provide Government, through gathering grassroots examples from rural and regional Mayors. We eagerly await an outcome from that inquiry. Julie will build upon that and free up the Secretariat to focus on core responsibilities.”
