Our third and final day began with the introduction of four fine young leaders in our state:
- Elizabeth Shaw, 2009 WA Young Citizen of the Year
- Tim Goodwin, National Indigenous Youth Movement Member
- Albert Jacob JP MLA, Member for Ocean Reef
- Cr Lisa Schofield, City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder
These four were articulate and dynamic with much to say about letting young people in our communities have a voice. They all advocated Youth Advisory Councils as an effective way for young people to begin engaging with councils.
Although one or more said that councils need to look at new and innovative ways in which local government can engage with their community, they didn't really offer any suggestions.
Cr Lisa Schofield suggested more incentives for young people to join local government, but again, wasn't specific in saying what incentives are needed.
I believe that the Shire of Kent is trying to make the job of being a councillor more accessible to young people. We are looking at purchasing laptops for councillors to access all our council emails and paperwork such as agendas. We have also increased our remuneration package. If you are at all interested in joining council, please contact me to discuss this further. It can be very rewarding and enables you to make a difference in your community.
Lisa also mentioned that our community needs educating about local government, but she didn't offer up any ideas about how this is to be achieved. I'm hoping that my blog goes someway into assisting our community with learning about the current issues affecting local government and the community.
Following our young leaders, we were inspired by the amazing story of young film maker Khao Do as he delivered a fascinating talk about his life. Arriving in Australia as a two year old refugee, travelling in a tiny, overloaded fishing boat, Khao went on to become an award winning film maker and was named 2005 Young Australian of the Year.
I didn't take any notes during Khao's presentation as I was totally absorbed in his story. What an amazing young man who faced incredible stumbling blocks along the way to success. He is an ardent footy fan and spent his school years desperately trying to make it big in the senior team, despite being, "too small, not the right ethnic type and not very good at football". He finally ran out with the team one day and kicked their first goal in a game which they eventually won.
Khao stressed that his personal mantra is to "always look at what you have and not what you lack". An excellent way of looking at local government in this particular political climate!!
Showing posts with label Local Government Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Local Government Week. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Local Government Week, Day Two
Today our first session was all about the economic recovery, a financial health update.
Dr Chris Caton isn't your average boring old economist. He's clever, funny and very interesting. He gave a concise and visually interesting outlook on global economics, trends and forecasts.
Chris states that Australia is in recession. Apparently, there's no official definition for 'Recession'. The unofficially accepted condition is when the GDP is down for two successive months. This hasn't actually happened in Australia, so the powers that be can say, 'we are not in recession'.
However, Dr Caton believes that the unemployment rate is a good indicator, and, Australia's unemployment rate has risen to the level where we are now in the grip of a recession. Certainly not as severe as we have previously experienced, but a recession, none the less.
All in all, Australia is looking pretty good. Our recovery appears to be slower than other countries, but this is due to the fact that Australia's fall wasn't as steep. Another interesting thing to note was that Australia's economic rises and falls are closely related to the US economy. Well, no real surprise there.
Dale Alcock followed with a reasonably interesting talk, but minus the facts and figures on the screen. If he'd taken a bit of time to throw together a few charts to support his comments or even photos, his point would have been just that much stronger.
He had a few daggers to throw at the Towns of Vincent and Cottesloe in regards to planning, both approvals and policies. Why didn't he have some photos to back all this up? I admire Dale immensely, but someone in his company needs to get him organised and into the 21st century when it comes to the tools of technology.
Unfortunately, after that, I developed a huge headache that looked like it might turn into a migraine and I had to leave part way through the next speaker's session on Constitutional recognition for local governments.
The evening was spent in a very productive way with a get together between the Shires of Kukerin/Dumbleyung, Lake Grace and Kent to discuss our options with regard to the new information we've gained from both the National's Leader, the Hon. Brendon Grylls and the Local Government Minister, the Hon. John Castrilli.
Each of our Shires is putting forward the preferred option of 'no' to amalgamation, which is one that our constituents have requested. We will indicate that our councils prefer the VROC model of reform.
However, as more information is coming to hand and the media are starting to take hold of the issue, it's appears that this may not be the acceptable option. Both Ministers have stated that they will not accept the status quo, with Mr Gryll's indicating the R4R carrot will be withdrawn for that particular choice. So much for 'a voluntary process'. I'm very disappointed in Mr Gryll's stance. I voted for the National Party with the idea that their platform was to protect rural interests.
Therefore, our shire representatives may need to look at different models such as a formalised ROC. To me, this looks like another level of government. Will a ROC work? I don't know. I'd like the chance to try a VROC first, but there doesn't seem to be any chances within this process since timelines are extremely short and extremely rigid.
I just hope that the decisions we make will be the best ones for our communities. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders right now.
Dr Chris Caton isn't your average boring old economist. He's clever, funny and very interesting. He gave a concise and visually interesting outlook on global economics, trends and forecasts.
Chris states that Australia is in recession. Apparently, there's no official definition for 'Recession'. The unofficially accepted condition is when the GDP is down for two successive months. This hasn't actually happened in Australia, so the powers that be can say, 'we are not in recession'.
However, Dr Caton believes that the unemployment rate is a good indicator, and, Australia's unemployment rate has risen to the level where we are now in the grip of a recession. Certainly not as severe as we have previously experienced, but a recession, none the less.
All in all, Australia is looking pretty good. Our recovery appears to be slower than other countries, but this is due to the fact that Australia's fall wasn't as steep. Another interesting thing to note was that Australia's economic rises and falls are closely related to the US economy. Well, no real surprise there.
Dale Alcock followed with a reasonably interesting talk, but minus the facts and figures on the screen. If he'd taken a bit of time to throw together a few charts to support his comments or even photos, his point would have been just that much stronger.
He had a few daggers to throw at the Towns of Vincent and Cottesloe in regards to planning, both approvals and policies. Why didn't he have some photos to back all this up? I admire Dale immensely, but someone in his company needs to get him organised and into the 21st century when it comes to the tools of technology.
Unfortunately, after that, I developed a huge headache that looked like it might turn into a migraine and I had to leave part way through the next speaker's session on Constitutional recognition for local governments.
The evening was spent in a very productive way with a get together between the Shires of Kukerin/Dumbleyung, Lake Grace and Kent to discuss our options with regard to the new information we've gained from both the National's Leader, the Hon. Brendon Grylls and the Local Government Minister, the Hon. John Castrilli.
Each of our Shires is putting forward the preferred option of 'no' to amalgamation, which is one that our constituents have requested. We will indicate that our councils prefer the VROC model of reform.
However, as more information is coming to hand and the media are starting to take hold of the issue, it's appears that this may not be the acceptable option. Both Ministers have stated that they will not accept the status quo, with Mr Gryll's indicating the R4R carrot will be withdrawn for that particular choice. So much for 'a voluntary process'. I'm very disappointed in Mr Gryll's stance. I voted for the National Party with the idea that their platform was to protect rural interests.
Therefore, our shire representatives may need to look at different models such as a formalised ROC. To me, this looks like another level of government. Will a ROC work? I don't know. I'd like the chance to try a VROC first, but there doesn't seem to be any chances within this process since timelines are extremely short and extremely rigid.
I just hope that the decisions we make will be the best ones for our communities. I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders right now.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Local Government Week, Day One
Today started with a bang. Frans Johansson, author of the Medici Effect, delivered a fast paced, loud and fascinating talk entitled 'Renaissance - The Medici Effect'.
This guy was incredibly dynamic, energetic, clever and funny. But it was what he had to say that made the most impact.
Frans talked about how teams and organizations can create an explosion of remarkable ideas at the intersection of different fields, cultures and industries. The main points from his talk were as follows:
-'Intersections' -Develop new ideas from combining ideas from various perspectives
-'Diversity drives innovation'.
-All new ideas are combinations of existing ideas eg. The Bikini + The Burqua = The Burqini
-Diverse Teams see things differently - therefore, make sure your teams are made up of very diverse minds and cultures
-The more ideas you have, the more likely you are to have a good idea. (Simple really, but not something we always do!)
A wonderful example was given about the challenge given to architect Mick Pearce. He was asked to build an attractive, functional tall building in Harare, Zimbabwe. But, the catch was, it was to have no air-conditioning! Now, Harare tends to get pretty hot in summer and temperatures can drop to single figures overnight.
Fortunately, Mick was a pretty broad thinker and he was able to achieve the seemingly unachievable by studying termites. Termites use a clever system of cooling and heating in their mounds that are built in the African plains. They direct breezes at the base of the mounds with cool, wet mud and channel these through the mound when needed. They build new vents and close old ones in order to regulate temperature precisely.
The company which hired him immediately saved $3.5m simply by not purchasing the air conditioning hardware. Temperature is a constant 22 degrees and the buildings use 10% less energy than those around it.
The two speakers who followed held little interest for me as their talk was all about City Revitalisation. Of the two, Evan Jones, National General Manager of Planning, Mulitplex Living, was very interesting and had some great examples of good and bad town planning.
After lunch, Brendon Grylls presented an update on Royalties for Regions. He also explained his support for Minister Castrilli's reform strategies. Brendon spoke eloquently and showed his passion for the survival of rural communities.
The President of the Shire of Roebourne presented a really interesting look at what it's like to have a community that is booming due to mining, but then has to cope with all the negatives that come from this including artificially elevated living costs, difficulties getting infrastructure on the ground and the fly in, fly out population problems.
The following speaker sent everyone to sleep. We all headed for the coffee when he finally finished! The sad thing was, he had a lot of interesting things to say, he was just unable to say them in an interesting way.
The afternoon finished with the man of the moment, the Minister for Local Government, Hon. John Castrilli MLA. He once again re-iterated his plans for the state. It seems he will not move beyond his single and only idea of amalgamation as the one size fits all solution for structural reform in Western Australia.
Following this, we had the CEO of the new entity of the City of Geraldton-Greenough. Since this was an extremely sensible amalgamation, I was prepared to turn off, but this young and dynamic guy was very interesting and had a lot to say about how WA is so Perth-Centric. Other states are not so Capital City oriented.
The next speaker was also very interesting and topical for me as he is the Chair for the South East Avon Voluntary Regional Organisation of Councils. This group has been successfully running for five years and follow a model of organisation which is based on a South Australian model. Section 42 of the Local Government Act (SA) allows for a local government to establish a subsidiary. The system uses a Body Corporate Charter. The Minister approves the application and the Charter. The group is lobbying State Government to change the Western Australian Local Government Act to allow for the same system.
A panel of the previous speakers then took questions from the audience. Confusingly, the Minister strongly dismissed the idea of VROC's as a suitable strategy for reform. He stated that he is looking at amalgamation and amalgamation only as a reform measure.
I wish he'd been around at the first session and listened to Frans Johansson. He may then realise that there are many ways in which a local government can achieve reform without having to amalgamate.
This guy was incredibly dynamic, energetic, clever and funny. But it was what he had to say that made the most impact.
Frans talked about how teams and organizations can create an explosion of remarkable ideas at the intersection of different fields, cultures and industries. The main points from his talk were as follows:
-'Intersections' -Develop new ideas from combining ideas from various perspectives
-'Diversity drives innovation'.
-All new ideas are combinations of existing ideas eg. The Bikini + The Burqua = The Burqini
-Diverse Teams see things differently - therefore, make sure your teams are made up of very diverse minds and cultures
-The more ideas you have, the more likely you are to have a good idea. (Simple really, but not something we always do!)
A wonderful example was given about the challenge given to architect Mick Pearce. He was asked to build an attractive, functional tall building in Harare, Zimbabwe. But, the catch was, it was to have no air-conditioning! Now, Harare tends to get pretty hot in summer and temperatures can drop to single figures overnight.
Fortunately, Mick was a pretty broad thinker and he was able to achieve the seemingly unachievable by studying termites. Termites use a clever system of cooling and heating in their mounds that are built in the African plains. They direct breezes at the base of the mounds with cool, wet mud and channel these through the mound when needed. They build new vents and close old ones in order to regulate temperature precisely.
The company which hired him immediately saved $3.5m simply by not purchasing the air conditioning hardware. Temperature is a constant 22 degrees and the buildings use 10% less energy than those around it.
The two speakers who followed held little interest for me as their talk was all about City Revitalisation. Of the two, Evan Jones, National General Manager of Planning, Mulitplex Living, was very interesting and had some great examples of good and bad town planning.
After lunch, Brendon Grylls presented an update on Royalties for Regions. He also explained his support for Minister Castrilli's reform strategies. Brendon spoke eloquently and showed his passion for the survival of rural communities.
The President of the Shire of Roebourne presented a really interesting look at what it's like to have a community that is booming due to mining, but then has to cope with all the negatives that come from this including artificially elevated living costs, difficulties getting infrastructure on the ground and the fly in, fly out population problems.
The following speaker sent everyone to sleep. We all headed for the coffee when he finally finished! The sad thing was, he had a lot of interesting things to say, he was just unable to say them in an interesting way.
The afternoon finished with the man of the moment, the Minister for Local Government, Hon. John Castrilli MLA. He once again re-iterated his plans for the state. It seems he will not move beyond his single and only idea of amalgamation as the one size fits all solution for structural reform in Western Australia.
Following this, we had the CEO of the new entity of the City of Geraldton-Greenough. Since this was an extremely sensible amalgamation, I was prepared to turn off, but this young and dynamic guy was very interesting and had a lot to say about how WA is so Perth-Centric. Other states are not so Capital City oriented.
The next speaker was also very interesting and topical for me as he is the Chair for the South East Avon Voluntary Regional Organisation of Councils. This group has been successfully running for five years and follow a model of organisation which is based on a South Australian model. Section 42 of the Local Government Act (SA) allows for a local government to establish a subsidiary. The system uses a Body Corporate Charter. The Minister approves the application and the Charter. The group is lobbying State Government to change the Western Australian Local Government Act to allow for the same system.
A panel of the previous speakers then took questions from the audience. Confusingly, the Minister strongly dismissed the idea of VROC's as a suitable strategy for reform. He stated that he is looking at amalgamation and amalgamation only as a reform measure.
I wish he'd been around at the first session and listened to Frans Johansson. He may then realise that there are many ways in which a local government can achieve reform without having to amalgamate.
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