Tribute to Lismore Region Councillors
| About this Item |
Subjects | Local Government Elections; Lismore City Council; Richmond Valley Council; Tenterfield Shire Council; Kyogle Council |
Speakers | George Mr Thomas; Gaudry Mr Bryce |
Business | Private Members Statements |
Page: 8649
Mr THOMAS GEORGE (Lismore) [12.07 p.m.]: I am sure I speak on behalf of the electorate of Lismore, the people I represent, when I pay tribute to and thank the people who contested the local government elections in my electorate. There are four councils in the Lismore electorate. I pay tribute to those who nominated, whether or not they were successful, for giving their time. Members of this House know that at times contribution to the community as a local government representative or as a member of Parliament comes at a cost. I was proud of the quality of those who stood for the four councils in my electorate. I acknowledge the councillors who were defeated and/or retired at the election. I will start with the Lismore City Council, where Merv King was re-elected as mayor. The deputy mayor is John Chant. The other successful councillors on Lismore City Council were Graham Meineke, Jenny Dowell, Vanessa Ekins, Brian Henry, Barry Crimmins and Peter Graham, all new councillors, and John Hampton, Ros Irwin, Frank Swientek and David Tomlinson, who were re-elected. They were elected to Lismore City Council.
Resigning at the last election was Councillor Ken Gallen, who was first elected in 1983. Councillor Diana Roberts, who was elected in 1991, also resigned at the last election. I thank them for their contributions to local government and to their community. Reg Baxter was first elected in 1993, but was not re-elected in the recent elections. His contributions to Lismore City Council and the Lismore community through his support of not only council but also the sporting and real estate sections of the Lismore community are a credit to him. Brian Suffolk served for only one term, but made a considerable contribution to the Lismore City Council. John Crowther was first elected in 1974, was mayor from 1983 to 1984 and in 1992, and again from 1993 to 1995. Sadly, he was defeated in the Lismore City Council elections. I pay tribute to John for his contribution to the community.
The Richmond Valley Council mayor, Charlie Cox, was re-elected. The deputy mayor, Sandra Humphrys, was a previous councillor, as was Ray Jeffery, Robert Mustow, Norma Thomas, and Col Sullivan, a former mayor and Vice-President of the Shires Association. All were re-elected to the Richmond Valley Council. The new councillors are Peter McLennan and Norma Wise. I congratulate them all. Don Harvey, who was first elected to the Richmond River Shire Council in 1995, was not re-elected. Eileen Melling, who stood down this time, was first elected to the Casino Council in 1987 and to the Richmond Valley Council in 2000, where she served until retiring at the recent election. Frank McKey was elected at the March elections in 2000 but did not seek re-election. I thank the retiring councillors and Don, who was defeated, for the contributions they made to the councils they served and to their communities.
Tenterfield Shire Council consists of Alan Rolph, who is a new councillor; George Hardcastle; John Brown; John Macnish; Keith Pickstone, who was elected as mayor this time; Lucy Sullivan, who had 4½ years service as a former mayor and was re-elected; Nick De Stafani, a new candidate this time who was elected deputy mayor; Phillip Yates; Toby Smith; and Tom Peters. Gabriel Anne Leis, who served as a councillor for two terms and one year as deputy mayor, did not seek re-election to. Michael Ross Aquilini, who served one term, was defeated at the poll. Mark Yensch served one term but did not seek re-election. Kyogle councillors are Peter Lewis; David Liska; the new deputy mayor, Patsy Nagas; Bryan Hannigan; Jeff Marriott; Jim O'Neill; Ernie Bennett, who was re-elected as mayor; Ian Kirkpatrick and Lindsay Passfield. Retiring were Leslie Zahn, Sandra Davies and Ross Brown. They have all contributed to the good of the Kyogle council. I compliment them on their contributions.
Mr BRYCE GAUDRY (Newcastle—Parliamentary Secretary) [12.12 p.m.]: Local government, of course, is the government closest to the people. We would all be aware of the enormous task that is undertaken by councillors to bring together the governance of their local areas and deal with the difficulties that arise. Quite rightly, the honourable member for Lismore paid tribute to all his electorate councillors, whether retired, or re-elected or defeated at the last election, and complimented them on their input to the governance of the area.