Today on the Local Government News Roundup, the latest mayoral election results from around Victoria; a likely challenge to the Adelaide Lord Mayor election result; the sudden passing of a Council General Manager; Tasmanian council election results hailed for an outstanding gender balance outcome; and much more news from around the world of local government.
Listen to this episode here, and find the link for your podcast player here for any of the 173 episodes so far. Scroll down for the transcript for episode 173 with story links.
The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association,the national broadcast on all things local government; and by Technology One’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index – download the new report now to find out how your council shapes up.
Transcript (with story links):
Episode 173 LG News Roundup, 20th November 2022
Hello and welcome to the Local Government News Roundup. This is your update for the 20th November. I’m Chris Eddy.
Today, the latest mayoral election results from around Victoria; a likely challenge to the Adelaide Lord Mayor election result; the sudden passing of a Council General Manager; and Tasmanian council election results hailed for an outstanding gender balance outcome.
And much more ahead on the Local Government News Roundup, brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; and by Technology One’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index – new report out now.
First up today, the latest mayoral election results – these have all come in since our last edition on Wednesday.
At Bass Coast, Michael Whelan will continue as mayor after being elected unopposed for a second one year term. The council has a new deputy mayor in Rochelle Halstead, also for a one year term.
Wyndham City Council has a new mayor – first term councillor Susan McIntyre was elected to the position on Wednesday night. Mayor McIntyre will be supported by Jennie Barerra who was elected Deputy Mayor by her councillor colleagues.
There’s a new mayor at Murrindindi Shire also, with John Walsh elected to succeed Sue Carpenter in the role; and Karine Haslam was elected deputy mayor.
To Mornington Peninsula, where the new mayor is first term councillor and VLGA board member Steve Holland. Debra Mar, also in her first term on the Council, is the new deputy mayor at Mornington Peninsula.
Rosie Annear is the new mayor of Mount Alexander Shire, elected for a one year term; while Matthew Driscoll was elected as deputy mayor for the coming term. Both were elected to Council for the first time in 2020.
The leadership team at Baw Baw has done a swap with outgoing deputy mayor Annemarie McCabe becoming the mayor; and outgoing mayor Michael Leaney taking on the deputy mayoral role.
And a few councils have maintained status quo, re-electing incumbent mayors for another term.
They include Frankston, where Nathan Conroy becomes the first back-to-back mayor in 20 years, with Liam Hughes becoming the city’s youngest ever deputy mayor.
Robyn Gulline is mayor for a third consecutive term at Horsham Rural City; and the council has opted for the first time to have a deputy mayor – and Penny Flynn has been elected to that position.
And at Benalla Rural City, Bernie Hearn was this week returned as mayor for a second 12 month term. She will be supported by Justin King in the deputy mayoral position.
By my count, we have 19 mayoral elections to come, most of which will be decided this coming week. A handful will be held over until after next weekend’s state election.
You can keep up to date with results as they become available on the Local Government News Roundup website.
Now to other news:
Rural Councils Victoria has called for a dedicated rural Build Back Better fund, in the wake of the ongoing floods crisis across the state.
RCV Chair Cr Mary-Anne Brown said the next state government should establish a betterment fund to ensure roads and other assets are repaired or replaced to a standard that can withstand future natural disasters.
Cr Brown said repairs to the required standard in rural council areas will likely total billions of dollars; and that rural councils don’t have the rate base to afford adequate road repairs, even in normal times.
The City of Greater Bendigo has appointed a dedicated Commonwealth Games director to support delivery of the games in 2026.
After an external recruitment process, the Council’s Director of Corporate Performance, Andrew Cooney, has been seconded to the role to provide a dedicated resource for planning and liaison with the state.
Bendigo will be one of five host cities for the games in March 2026, along with Ballarat, Geelong, Gippsland and Shepparton.
The VEC will conduct two separate countback procedures to fill vacancies at Moira Shire Council. The countbacks to replace recently resigned councillors John Beitzel and Libro Mustica will be held on Tuesday 6th December, and Monday 12th December – both at 11am.
LGPro has announced that the recipient of the prestigious Sally Isaac Memorial Scholarship Fund Award for this year is Tanarly Hood, Youth Officer at Baw Baw Shire Council.
The annual award recognises women under 35 years who demonstrate achievement and commitment to improving community life in Victoria.
The City of Melbourne has now raised $14.5M for its $20M Make Room project, which will see a Council owned building in Little Bourke St converted to 50 studio apartments for people experiencing homelessness.
Two significant philanthropic grants have secured the fit out for the project’s in-house social enterprise and 10 rooms.
Mansfield Shire Council has expressed condolences after the passing of former councillor John Canavan this week.
Mr Canavan was elected to the Shire of Mansfield in 1979, and served for nine years until 1988. Vale John Canavan.
Coming Up: a likely challenge to the Adelaide Lord Mayor election result; the sudden passing of a Council General Manager; and Tasmanian council election results hailed for an outstanding gender balance outcome.
The term on everyone’s lips these days is ‘digital transformation’ – so, how does your council shape up?
TechnologyOne’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index measures SaaS migration in councils today. The report’s findings come from a survey of local government leaders across Australia and New Zealand in 2022. And it shows where digital transformation is sitting in the local government sector, where it is heading and identifies some of the sticking points that need to be overcome.
The report also outlines the characteristics of best-in-class councils, so you can learn from others in the sector and use their experience to transform your council into the best digitised version of itself – for you, your people and your community.
To find out what it means for your council, download your free copy of the report from the link in the show notes.
Now in today’s National Roundup:
Unsuccessful Adelaide Lord Mayoral candidate Rex Patrick is contesting the count, and is believed to be considering an appeal to the Court of Disputed Returns over alleged illegal voting behaviour.
A request from Mr Patrick for a recount was reportedly denied by the electoral commissioner.
If his appeal is successful, the election result would be voided, requiring a new election to be held.
Dr Jane Lomax-Smith was elected by a margin of 52 votes last weekend, and if the result stands, she will return to the Lord Mayoralty, an office she held previously from 1997 to 2000.
(Adelaide Advertiser, 20th November 2022, p. 73)
Extremely sad news in the local government community this week, with the sudden passing of Jeffrey Sowiak, the General Manager at Balranald Shire Council.
Mr Sowiak joined Balranald Shire in April this year, moving from Brewarrina Shire Council. He held senior local government positions in every state of Australia except South Australia.
Council Administrator Michael Colreavy said Jeff will be greatly missed for his personal warmth and passion for local government and community.
Parkes Shire Council has joined with LGNSW and the Country Mayor Association of NSW in declaring a Statewide Road Emergency this week.
Mayor Ken Keith said the shire, like others, had been hit by a seemingly relentless wave of flood events in the past 12 months – with 126 of the state’s 128 local government areas having had natural disaster declarations this year.
Cr Keith said Parkes was joining the call for an acceleration and increase in funding to fix local roads and country bridges; compensation for damage to the regional road network and funding to obtain plant machinery and skilled workers to expedite road repairs.
Mayor Keith said the shire was facing a task beyond the reasonable scope of any local government authority.
The Australian Local Government Women’s Association has tallied the numbers from the recent Tasmanian local government elections, and is hailing an outstanding result for gender equity.
ALGWA Tas President Dr Mary Duniam, who is also mayor of Waratah-Wynyard Council, released figures showing that 40 percent of elected councillors are women, despite accounting for only 29 percent of candidates.
Mayor Duniam said 15 female mayors were elected, equivalent to 51 percent, with an even better result for female deputy mayors, with 62 percent elected.
The City of Hobart has welcomed a federal government commitment of $20M to expand the Derwent Ferry Service.
CEO Kelly Grigsby said this week that the investment will see an expansion in Hobart’s commuter ferry service by constructing on-water terminals at new locations on the River Derwent.
The commitment supports an investment of $19M from the Tasmanian government towards an ongoing ferry service between Bellerive and the Hobart CBD.
In Queensland, the potential renaming of Mount Tabletop is a step closer, after Toowoomba Regional Council agreed to consult traditional custodians and registered Aboriginal Parties on the idea.
Mayor Paul Antonio said the consultation would be a first step before consultation occurs with the wider community.
The council will also work cooperatively with Lockyer Valley Regional Council with the aim of achieving a name that is acceptable to all stakeholders.
The City of Brisbane has been inducted into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Cities Program.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said Brisbane was the only Australian city, and one of just six worldwide, to be a certified member of the international program.
He said the city is Australia’s largest carbon neutral government organisation.
In NSW, a group of councils have joined forces in a new renewable electricity deal.
Shoalhaven, Kiama and Shellharbour Councils have secured an agreement to purchase renewable electricity from wind and solar farms in regional NSW.
Under the agreement, starting 1st January, renewable energy will be added to the grid on behalf of the councils, offsetting their energy use.
Two new regional solar farms will be constructed to provide power and local employment opportunities.
The Local Government News Roundup is brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government.
Once more in 2022, the VLGA will team with LGIU to bring you an insightful Global Executive Panel – bringing together leaders from Australia and the UK, this time to discuss the unique challenges being faced by rural and coastal shires.
Confirmed panellists include Malcolm Burr, the CEO of Western Isles Council in Scotland, and John Baker, CEO from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula Shire Council.
Make sure you don’t miss your chance to be part of the conversation. It’s happening online at 6.30pm on Thursday 1st December.
It’s free for VLGA and LGIU members, and a small fee applies for non-members.
You can find out more, including registration details, on the VLGA website – link in the show notes.
Now to today’s International Spotlight, highlighting some stories of interest from beyond our borders..
In South Africa, a municipal workers union has shut down a major freeway in protest at a lack of progress on addressing wage concerns.
News24.com says the dispute in the City of Joburg has been ongoing since an agreement to normalise wages was struck in 2016 but according to the union has been not properly applied some six years later.
The freeway blockade followed a refusal from the Johannesburg Mayor to meet with union members last week.
From England, news that four new mayoral authorities are set to be established, with discussions advanced in Suffolk, Cornwall, Norfolk and with authorities in the north east of England.
Localgov.co.uk reports that a mayoral model would see the direct election of the council leader and provide increased powers.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said the deals would see the proportion of people under directly-elected mayors in England rise to more than 50 percent.
And in the US, more than 3,400 state and local governments were subjected to ransomware attacks in the four years to 2021.
The Wall Street Journal has reported on data that shows local governments are prime targets for ransomware attackers because of the financial and personal information they hold.
A threat intelligence group for municipalities which compiled the data, said local governments are also easier targets than major companies.
While some governments opt to pay ransoms, for many that will no longer be an option. Laws have been passed in Florida and North Carolina banning agencies from paying ransoms with public money, with similar measures planned in New York, Texas and Pennsylvania.
That’s the latest from the Local Government News Roundup.
You can find more information at our website – lgnewsroundup.com – including our regularly updated list of Victorian mayoral election results and CEO appointment news.
The Local Government News Roundup returns with more on Wednesday, brought to you by the Victorian Local Governance Association, the national broadcaster on all things local government; and Technology One’s 2022 Local Government Digital Transformation Index – download your free copy now.
Until then, thanks for listening and bye for now.