Mayoral Minutes

My favourite expression at the moment with my kids, who I think live an incredibly privileged life, is ‘that sounds like a first-world problem’. I am sure you know the sort of thing I mean; problems that many people in the world would dream of having. “I can’t believe I can’t sit near the window on my flight to Paris” or “It is so annoying when data speeds drop from LTE to 3G when I get in a lift to my 30th floor motel room” or “It is so inconvenient when I have to use my sprinklers in two segments because my fresh potable water does not have enough pressure to drive all 20 sprinklers at once”. You get the idea; there are people in the world who dream of potable water, mobile phone reception and flying on planes. We get to the stage where we are accustomed to a certain level of lifestyle and amenity, and anything less seems intolerable. Read More...

I remember the day well. It was 24 January this year when I received a somewhat random phone call. Meagan from triple j introduced herself as a Content Director and asked if I would be interested in a One Night Stand in Dubbo in April. I quickly explained that I had a wife and kids – I am joking of course. I admitted I had no idea what she was talking about, so she explained the annual music event that she thought Dubbo might be interested in bidding for. What was immediately apparent to me was the potential exposure that Dubbo could benefit from by hosting an event run by a radio station with 1.5 million listeners. It had me very excited and I was convinced that we simply had to have this for Dubbo. Read More...

I was at the cricket earlier this year and caught up with some old Dubbo school friends. I asked one friend, who I hadn’t seen for some time, about his eldest brother. He had been killed in a car accident when we were in Year 8. Although the accident happened about 30 years ago, within 30 seconds my friend had tears in his eyes as he relived the painful memories. I thought I had made a mistake even asking about it, but he assured me it was therapeutic to talk about it. A day hasn’t gone past when he doesn’t think about his brother and, to this day, his parents still can’t talk to the driver.  Read More...

Several years ago I took my mother to visit my brother in Boston. As we passed through one of the many airport security checks, a very large security guard confronted my mother and instructed her (in a way only a security guard can ‘instruct’) to remove her shoes before she passed through the screening. Read More...

Thank you to the residents of Dubbo who turned up in large numbers at our first Community Leaders Breakfast for 2013. I and my fellow Councillors, together with senior Council staff, and our State and Federal Members Troy Grant and Mark Coulton were on-hand to answer questions from residents. It was pleasing to be able to address various questions from our residents and take on-board a variety of ideas that people presented. The number of people that attended on the day will ensure the three levels of government continue with this unique concept.
As I have said many times during my term as Mayor, I want to continue to improve communications within and external to Council. This communication needs to extend through all components of Council. To continue on this theme of communication, Council is hosting an information session in relation to the roundabout construction on the corner of Brisbane and Talbragar Streets tomorrow night at 5.30pm (at the Council offices) to explain the exact processes that will take place from 4 March to the end of September. The final product will see better traffic flow and some initial beautification works. There has been constant communication with businesses and stakeholders in the vicinity of this work but we are keen to ensure that everyone hears a consistent message and address any queries you have. If you are interested in this project, I encourage you to attend. Read More...