Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Ageing and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the recent local government elections that were held in New South Wales, including across my electorate. I believe that local government is the form of government that is actually closest to the people. I would like to congratulate the many people who put their hands up for the council elections and those who were successful. I have 10 councils in my electorate, many of which have new faces. There will be two or three new mayors in that area.

I would like to remind those people who have taken on a role in local government that it is a role of great responsibility. You can influence the welfare and the direction of your town in a very real way. The role of a local government councillor is not one of a critic of council staff; it is certainly not one to bring every little problem in the area to a council meeting. It is one to show direction, to generate policy and to give the community a sense of purpose. Indeed, one of the great privileges of my life before coming to this place was to be elected Mayor of Gwydir Shire Council. That council covers an area of 10,000 square kilometres, with 6,000 people in six towns and villages. It was my time with local government that encouraged me to seek preselection to come to this place.

You can make a difference. The people of Gwydir shire, including the staff of Gwydir Shire Council, certainly taught me a lot about public life and how, when everyone is motivated, working for a common cause and doing things for the best interests of the community, great things can happen. Indeed, I take only a small piece of responsibility for the fact that, a year after the formation of the Gwydir Shire Council, of which I was mayor, we were awarded the Bluett Award for the most successful council in New South Wales.

I would encourage all those new councillors in my electorate to take their jobs seriously and I wish them all well in their future endeavours.