– Introduce yourself and why you have decided to stand for council.
I’m married with four children, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
My wife and I have lived in Euston for over 21 years. I’ve operated my own financial planning business over 30 years.
I have watched with interest what has been happening within our shire.
When our local doctor decided to retire and was not having any joy in selling his practice, I asked him if the council was helping in any way. “Nothing” was the reply. I then asked the council and their reply was it was not their concern really.
– Have you had any past experience in local government?
I have been heavily involved in the community since I arrived in the district. I was secretary of the aged care committee in Robinvale, committee member of the Robinvale football club, board member of the Euston club, and became a JP for NSW. I have been a councillor, deputy mayor and mayor of the shire. As indicated, I have had and always will have the community interests at heart.
– If elected, what issues do you hope to address and prioritise during your time at council?
A new council will have to learn all the ins and outs, the laws and bylaws of a council – that is why there is a compulsory two-day training session being be held for all councillors along with both Wentworth Shire and Broken Hill City councils at Wentworth in October.
Once the dust has settled and the new council has formed, arranging for an experienced GM to help the shire maintain the future growth is a very important function to be undertaken. I stress an EXPERIENCED general manager. For too many years we have had too many inexperienced ‘yes men’ in the position.
– In what ways would you like to improve the municipality?
Looking at ways to get a new doctor into the shire in consultation with Far West Health and any other body that can help.
We used to have council meetings at Kyalite, Clare and Euston every year. I would like to see that begin again. They were always informative and a great way to catch up with our residents outside of the Balranald town. We also had field trips looking at the state of the roads. These might be small things but it kept councillors up to date with what was going on within the shire.
