8th August, 2024.
The date of 14 September will mark the end of my time as a councillor on Wollondilly Shire Council—a time that I have enjoyed, but a time during which I have also been frustrated, to be honest. Since 2004 I have represented the community of North Ward and the wider Wollondilly area as deputy mayor and mayor, along with a very eclectic group of people who also call Wollondilly home. There are too many staff, councillors and community members to mention all in one single speech that covers 20 years—so much so that this speech will comprise just a few memories of mine from 2004 until 2016. I will wait to comment on those councillors who retire or are not elected after the election. Even if those councillors have not given me respect over years, their position and their community support deserves respect.
I hope that, on reflection, some of the councillors with whom I currently work think about their actions and change the way they act towards their colleagues in future. The best way to speak about some of my many campaigns on council is to focus on who was with me at the time and how, together, our band of independent‑thinking heroes that I have been able to call my friends have taken the voice of the small communities in Wollondilly all the way to the halls of Canberra, and Macquarie Street in Sydney. In 2004 the world was a different place. The growth would come later to Wollondilly. But our concerns about our infrastructure needs started with battles, together with Peta Seaton, for a maternity ward at Camden Hospital. While we lost that campaign, I formed many relationships.
I started to speak to farmers and community members like Will D'Arcy, Caroline Graham and Julie Sheppard about their concerns around a new thing called fracking. The movement against coal seam gas [CSG] would lead to a battle for our land and rights in Wollondilly. I went down the river with Rivers SOS and saw the flames that were lit by bubbles on the water's surface that had risen from the mines far below. As mayor, I needed to defend the area from other things too. A joke song,Picton Girls, was released by Merrick and Rosso, which, while light hearted, said some terrible things about our community. I was not afraid to take up my concerns with them both, and their apology to the community was worth the effort.
During the election in 2008 I first met with a young man who would later become a friend, Benn Banasik. Together with Jai Rowell in Campbelltown and the new leader of the Opposition at the time, Barry O'Farrell, we fought against the gas-fired power plant at Leafs Gully in Appin and the connected CSG projects that would have spread through my community. Wollondilly is home to our drinking water. Together, we stopped that plant. Benn was a bit of a radical at the time. He was unpredictable. Knowing him now, it is funny to look back on him saying that he would like to handcuff himself to me and the fence at Bargo tip to stop it from being closed. Another friend of mine, Shane Read—whom we sadly lost too early—was happy to step in. He was even keen to provide the handcuffs. I am not sure where he would have got them from, but I will not go there. Shane is probably looking down on us, smiling from the pearly gates, waiting for Benn and me to join him—with his handcuffs.
There were sad moments too. The deaths on Picton Road were terrible. We were fortunate to have State and Federal elections at the time. I worked with my friend and the then member for Wollondilly, Phil Costa, to get funding commitments. Through Benn and Jai we managed to speak to Barry O'Farrell to get that extra commitment. Back and forth it went for many months, and more funding was promised to fix the road. The final amount of funding came when we had a visit from the then Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott. Benn did not tell the old mayor, Col Mitchell, that Tony would turn up in lycra. The photos of the line-up of Liberals, with Tony in lycra, looked ridiculous, but it was a good show in the end—and, at the end of the day, we won.
We also worked together to find some funny ways to win. Benn and I helped get a slight upgrade to the Pheasants Nest shed. The upgrade was actually a whole new shed built over the top of the old one, saving the need for a development application at the time. They were different times. While we had those wins, not everything was easy. The placement of the Outer Sydney Orbital is still uncertain, which has concerned residents. Likewise, the Maldon-Dombarton corridor, which I have protected, sits incomplete—a lost opportunity. However, I did win the pumpkin growing competition—little wins, I suppose. A more lasting win was in the infrastructure upgrades to fields, halls and walkways during my time on council. It would be wrong to take credit for them all on my own as many voices were needed to bring them about. One of my fondest memories was of Livvi's Place. My friend Sandra Harlor, who is often overlooked for all the good she does in the community—I think she is the real mayor of Warragamba—created the inclusive park.