Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Tuesday, election packs were sent to the people of Geelong as part of the City of Greater Geelong Council elections. Can I start by wishing all the candidates in the council elections all the very best. I think running for public office at the best of times is a difficult task, but I have always felt managing the City of Greater Geelong is a particularly difficult task. Effectively, those people are being asked to fulfil a full-time position yet they are only paid a part-time allowance. I take my hat off to all those who are willing to have a crack at the council elections. What a council election does, as every election does, is afford an opportunity for all of those within the Geelong community to debate the big issues which are affecting our city. Can I say at the outset I think it is very important that the debate actually occurs, that we do have a discussion about the things which really matter to the people of Geelong.

To that end, I would like to make my contribution to that debate here by talking about what I think is easily the biggest issue for the people of Geelong right now—that is, economic development. Australia’s economy has been in transition. The proportion of the labour force employed in manufacturing, say, in the seventies was about twice what it is now. We have seen no greater shift in that regard than the one that has occurred in Geelong. That has been exemplified recently by the decisions taken by the Ford Motor Company. Over the last 15 months, we have seen decisions resulting in 1,000 jobs being shed from the 1,900 strong workforce at Ford—and that will be completed in the next two years. No doubt those decisions have been accelerated by the current global financial crisis.

Just as state and federal governments need to do, the council must respond to the events of the last couple of months and put in place a package which will help get the people of Geelong through the current economic crisis. At a council level, I think the structure around economic development is sound. There is a councillor who holds an economic development portfolio and indeed that has been Councillor Peter McMullin. He has done a wonderful job in that capacity with a number of initiatives. As he is not recontesting this election, I certainly wish him all the best for the future.

In relation to the structure of the paid staff who underpin the council, I would make the following observation. The coordinator of economic development within the council, who is the most senior council officer solely responsible for economic development, reports to the manager of planning strategy and economic development, who in turn reports to the general manager of development sustainability, who in turn reports to the chief executive officer, who in turn reports to the council. Having so many layers between the key economic development adviser and the council means that the advice is diluted by the time it reaches council. It means that the ability to place pre-eminence on economic development, which at this moment in time is absolutely critical, is, in my view, being lost due to the current structure of the council. I think it would be far better if there were a dedicated economic development officer, who existed at a general manager level within the City of Greater Geelong, reporting directly to the CEO and having direct access to the council. In that way, you would have a much firmer basis of advice for the council.

Both state and Commonwealth governments are acting fast at the moment in putting forward economic stimulus packages for our state and our nation to get us through this economic crisis. The council has to do that as well. In order to be able to act nimbly, swiftly and decisively on this, you have to have the appropriate staff structure underpinning the council to allow that to occur. I think this election affords a wonderful opportunity to discuss issues of that kind. For the new councillors elected there is a real opportunity for them to review the structure of the staff so that they can see whether economic development within the staff structure can be given a higher priority. I will finish the way I started by wishing members of the new council the best of luck. It will come into being at a very difficult time for Geelong, but it is also a time of great opportunity for its members to make a difference for their community.

Question agreed to.