ABOUT ME

Hello fellow voters of the Fraser Coast,

I have nominated as a candidate for the election because I believe I have the ability and experience to be an effective representative for us, the voters and ratepayers of the Fraser Coast Region.

My wife Dierdre and I first met at the Torquay Hotel in 1977 when I was playing fullback for the Hervey Bay Sea Hawks aussie rules club. We have two children and four grand children. After completing five years military service as a soldier musician, I moved to the bay to see why my parents had moved there from Melbourne. I was just one of the young ‘Mexicans’ who thought Hervey Bay was ready for an alternative form of ‘punting the pigskin’, and it’s great to see that the game is still strong in the Bay.

I was employed as a cupola furnace man at Walkers Engineeering Works from 1975 to 1979. I worked at the Hervey Bay High School for 6 years as a cleaner. Then did the usual construction jobs like builders and brickies’ laboring, gyprock fixing, then a couple of years with Queensland Rail as a crane and forklift operator. And from 1988 to 1995 I worked with Ergon Energy as an electrical storeman at the depot in Maryborough.

Deirdre and I then bought a sixteen hectare bush block at Talegalla near Bauple and I spent the next three years doing casual work and community work at Bauple, as well as building our three storey solar panel/polehouse and becomming interested in the habitat and wildlife where we lived. We had the place assessed for Land For Wildlife in 1999 and this was the turning point for my current focus. I became so motivated by the landscape I was living in that I applied for adult entry to the University of Queensland in 2000 and was given an external study place in the Bachelor of Applied Science programme, focussing on Protected Area Management and GIS (Geographical Information Systems).

I graduated in 2004, using the Fraser Coast Region as my framework for case studies and assignments. I was employed as the Regional Environment Coordinator for Wide Bay Burnett Conservation Council from 2003 to 2006. I have also been running my own Biodiversity Consultancy, REMC (Regional Ecosystems Mapping Consultancy), preparing property vegetation mapping reports and conservation planning reports in the region for both local government and private clients.

I have been the public face of conservation issues in the region as part of my media spokesperson role as regional environment coordinator and Water Policy Officer. I have decided to nominate as a candidate as I believe that we are about to enter into, post election, very ‘uncharted’ waters for service delivery and effective regional representation. We are moving into ‘regional goverment’ as opposed to ‘local goverment‘ and we will need councillors who have a very thorough understanding of the how the ‘region‘ operates within the social, economical, biological and political environment of the State of Queensland.

As a professional working in the regional environmental planning framework, I have a unique perspective on the ‘intricacies‘ of a council’s need to balance social, economical and environmental outcomes, which can benefit the region as a whole. Particularly in the current state political environment of very poor public consultation regarding very serious regional issues concerning resource use.

In a perfect world it would be good to have a fair geographical spread of councillor representation, say, two for Tiaro, two for Woocoo, three for Maryborough and three for Hervey Bay. Is this likely? who knows. I don’t intend campaigning on just representing those of us who reside in Tiaro shire, where I live, because I believe we need a regional perspective.

I PUT MYSELF FORWARD AS THE COUNCILLOR WHO IS BEST SUITED TO MANAGE A REGIONAL PORTFOLIO WHICH DEALS WITH ENVIRONMENT AND WATER.

Why? Because these are the issues I have the most experience with and these are the two issues which underpin our entire regional economic, social and envionmental lifestyle. These combined with ourselves are the greatest regional assets we have, and we will require a councillor who can make decisions about the use and management of these assets which will result in the greatest regional benefit to maintaining our current quality of life, and ensuring that our children and grandchildren have the same choice.