WHAT do you get when you bring every local government in Australia together with incredible human beings like Stan Grant and the Ukranian Ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko?
You get an amazing and busy few days of inspiration and learning at the National General Assembly, in Canberra.
From Sunday until Wednesday, council took part in regional Australian forums, workshops on housing, workforce and leadership in the public sector, and we got to experience new offerings from suppliers from all over the country.
Looking at our region through the big-picture lens, we were certainly on the lookout for options that will lead us to a more environmentally friendly and sustainable future, like electric fleet and work vehicles, and the innovative SEA electric truck. Right now, they’re cost-prohibitive for a rural council like ours, but might soon be the way of the future.
We also sought out other solar lighting options for public spaces, similar to what we are using along the Barry Stegall Park path.
We discovered solutions for our urban canopy, council chamber technology, and lots of things that weren’t even on the radar, such as locally branded Monopoly board games.
Stan Grant continued to inspire awe with his delivery, this time about global democracy.
It was profound and thought-provoking and he did it without a single note in front of him.
In my opinion, he is one of the greatest speakers we have in Australia, so if you ever get the chance to see him, I highly recommend it.
When Vasyl Myroshnychenko, the Ukranian Ambassador to Australia, showed a video produced by the mayors association in his country, there was not a dry eye in the house.
It certainly put things into perspective. Here we are complaining about trivial little issues, that may well be the centre of our universe, meanwhile a whole world away, Ukranian city mayors are walking around, armed, in flak jackets, discovering bodies of civilians that have been caught in the crossfire while their geographical neighbours continue to take over their homeland.
Perspective. Let’s talk about iceberg lettuce.
Perspective is just one of the incredible benefits to attending conferences such as the ALGA National General Assembly.
The productivity, inspiration and training is just a very valuable by-product.
