Mayoral Minutes

One of the great ancillary benefits I receive in my role as Mayor is the shared feeling of excitement during a citizenship ceremony. I don’t actually have the power, as such, to bestow citizenship on a new citizen but I conduct the final piece of the ceremony on behalf of the Australian Government. The hairs stand up on the back of my neck as I go through the final steps to declare a resident officially an Aussie. The smiles of our newest citizens are so wide you need a wide-angle camera to capture the moment while the tears and the laughter often flow in equal amounts.
This Saturday we will be conducting a citizenship ceremony for 19 new residents as part of the line-up of celebrations on Australia Day. I encourage all residents to come along on Saturday for a full morning of activities starting from 7.30am. Five major awards will be given out and a national medal will also be awarded. Our Ambassador is Larry Corowa. I well remember Larry from the late 70s, as one of my good friends was a dedicated Balmain fan and he would remind us every Monday just how good he was. In a sign of the changing times, his nickname was one that I am sure could not be used today. He was called the ‘Black Flash’, as he was considered to be the fastest player in world Rugby League and he is Aboriginal. I look forward to meeting Larry and hearing about his time at the top of the Rugby League world. Read More...

As the holiday season winds up and industry gets back into full-swing, it is a good time to start thinking about what lies ahead for Dubbo in 2013. In recent columns I have made mention of a few of the highlights of 2012 and it is amazing to see what can be achieved in just a year. I am sure 2013 will be no different. Read More...

Having attended the Test match at the SCG last week, I think I had the chance to catch up with half of Dubbo – both current and former residents. As big a cricket fan as I am, it still seemed like the social side of the occasion was of more significance than the actual cricket being played. Of course, the occasion was of special significance with Mr Cricket playing the last of his 79 Test matches. One item will stick with me forever. Michael Hussey is incredibly well-respected by anyone that has even a passing interest in the game. Very few people have the chance to meet an Australian Test player, so opinions are formed from small actions and snippets – but it is amazing how accurate those opinions can be. On Sunday, the entire crowd was willing Michael Clarke to change the batting order to let Hussey open the and have a chance at a last century and possibly hit the winning runs. Hussey said no. This was a Test match. That is bigger than the individual. When Cowan and Clarke were seemingly cruising to victory, the crowd was chanting for Hussey to come to the crease. For an Australian crowd to be chanting for an Australian wicket seems unusual and Hussey himself was quoted as saying that he was embarrassed by this chant. When Hussey finally came to the crease, there was still some work to do and he guided Australia home. At the death, with the entire crowd desperate for Hussey to hit the winning runs, the stage was set for the crowd to erupt. With one run left to score, Johnson only had to block three balls and Hussey had the next over all to himself. The crowd cheered as Johnson blocked the first. When Johnson edged the second ball into a gap, Hussey ran down the pitch and called Johnson through. It was a typical selfless act by the ultimate team player and one that very few other people would have performed. This is the sort of person that Hussey was and the people of Australia respected him for a reason. Read More...

Laws. What a pain. The old joke is that a camel is a horse designed by a committee and surely the same is true of laws. Laws are brought into society by ‘lawmakers’. My impression is that this is just a huge committee of politicians.
Some of the laws that exist are just plain silly. I am sure we have all heard of some of the stupid laws that exist around the world: children may not purchase cigarettes but are allowed to smoke them (Australia); it is illegal to leave keys in unattended vehicles (Australia); it is illegal to flag down a taxi if you have the plague (London); it is illegal to drive a vehicle while blindfolded (Alabama); it is illegal to change a light bulb unless you are a licensed electrician (Victoria); it is illegal to chew gum (Singapore); it is illegal to skateboard in a police station (Miami). I accept that some of these laws may be urban myths or very old, but you can just see the logic of lawmakers who are trying to address a specific issue that occurred in their area. Read More...

I need all 40,491 residents to do me a favour over the holiday break. I have spoken before about the incredibly important role we all play as ambassadors for the City. I am hearing excellent feedback on this front and many people have taken up my challenge of appealing to the visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market. I need some additional help now. I have attended several functions at the Golf Club in the past week and I believe it to be one Dubbo's hidden jewels. We have a magnificent 27-hole golf course (even a Sydney course rarely boasts 27 holes) and it is kept in superb condition. Every time I speak with a golfer who visits Dubbo, they are amazed by the quality of the course. The challenge for our residents over the holiday break is to tell as many of their friends as possible about our wonderful golf course and ask them to sample it. That also means they will need to visit Dubbo and give our local economy a boost. I am sure your friends and relatives will be impressed with what they see here. Read More...

“I want to enjoy my beer in the garden but the WiFi doesn’t work out there!” This is an example of a classic ‘first-world problem’ that people who live in very lucky countries hear. The Matthew Good Band first coined the term in their 1995 song ‘Omissions of the Omen’ but it hasn’t really started to become a popular term until recently. Read More...