Shire of Corrigin & Corrigin CRC Newsletter - Edition No.2 - 15 August 2016

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Lyn Baker
The CEO and I attended
t he annua l Local
Government Conference
from August 3rd to 5th . I
also attended a couple of
Council related meetings
on Tuesday 2nd.
The first of the meetings
was with the Chair of the
Regional Road Group,
Wheatbelt North, Main
Roads WA staff, WA
Loc a l Gov e r nmen t
Association staff and the CEO of Regional Development
Australia (Wheatbelt). I attended in my capacity as Chair of
the Regional Road Group, Wheatbelt South. This group is
working towards developing second tier freight routes
leading to the existing grain freight network – a “collector
network”. This involves the co-operation of all of the Local
Governments in the Wheatbelt – 42 of them – which have
all nominated the preferred roads which they believe, are
the “collector roads”. Regional Development Australia
(RDA) is intending to assist the development of this
network by applying for funds on behalf of all 42 Local
Governments.
Alongside this “collector network” project, Heavy Vehicle
Services (a division of Main Roads) is working towards
enabling access to the “final mile” – the local roads which
get produce to and from the farm gate - from the collector
network. In my view, and that of our Councillors, this is an
even greater need. It is commercially vital that farmers can
legally gain access to the road network in order to conduct
their business. This also holds true for other local
businesses – certainly one of our neighbouring CEOs
reported that every time the local supermarket receives its
grocery order, it is breaking the law. This is another issue
that Local Government is constantly battling on behalf of
its constituents.
The second meeting I attended on the Tuesday afternoon
was for Mayors and Presidents and it focussed on the “gift
provisions” which I mentioned in my last note. The
presenter at this meeting was a lawyer from McLeods
Solicitors, who provide advice to many Local Governments
in Western Australia. There was a similar presentation to
CEOs by another lawyer from another company. While the
advice from both was not entirely consistent, the thrust of it
was – Local Government Councillors and Senior Officers
cannot receive gifts of any kind from anyone. A senior staff
member of a nearby LG is getting married soon – she will
not be legally able to receive gifts valued at over $200
from anyone who is not her close relative. Those gifts of
less than $200 will need to be declared, along with the
name and address of the giver. Similarly, another senior
member of staff, who is not in a de-facto relationship with
her partner, cannot receive a gift of over $200 from him – I
hope he doesn’t propose to her, or she might be a bit put
out by the ring that he is permitted to buy for her!
These gift provisions are quite ridiculous, when it comes
down to this level – perhaps the situation will only be
resolved when someone ends up in court. One of the
problems is that there are 2 or 3 bits of relevant legislation
which have differing definitions, and requirements.
Once again the Conference brought together some
amazing guest speakers:
Tanya Dupagne from Camp Kulin spoke about her
experience of working with children all over the world.
Rachael Robertson, at the age of 35, lead a team of 18
people who spent 12 months in Antarctica maintaining the
station there – with absolutely no previous experience of
leadership, or even ice! She spoke of leadership, respect
and problem-solving.
Michael Crossland was diagnosed with cancer at 11
months and is now an internationally renowned
inspirational speaker who has built schools and
orphanages in Haiti following the earthquake of 2010.
He spoke of success, perseverance and values.
All of these young Australians gave delegates insights into
what one person can achieve given determination, drive,
common sense and an enormous amount of support.
The current Australian of the Year, Lieutenant General
David Morrison also gave an inspiring address about
“equal access” regardless of gender, nationality, religion or
ability both within the army and in society in general.
If you’re interested please google these names – their
stories are amazing.
What’s also amazing about them is that none of them used
any notes at all in their speeches – definitely not
something that I can do!
Lyn
LYN BAKER
Email: Phone: 9065 7053
MESSAGE FROM SHIRE PRESIDENT
Strengthening our community now to grow and prosper into the future
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