News and Achievements
Empathy creates people-first policy - an article in Government News
In a recent edition of an on-line newsletter, Government News, there was an article on how empathy is essential if you want to create policy that puts people first.
I found this interesting because it referred to a growing trend of participatory democracy initiatives, which take complex ideas out for debate. In particular, participatory budgeting, where you go out to the public with a finite bucket of money and ask how this should be spent.
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The very fast train - support in principle, but need to ask questions
There has been quite a lot of recent media about the proposed High Speed Rail. In essence, the Australia Government is planning for a future high speed rail network connecting Brisbane through to Melbourne. Line 1 is proposed to connect Newcastle to Sydney.
My sense is that there is general support for the concept of the high speed rail – however, at this stage, little detail or community engagement.
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Transparency - can be difficult to see
On 3 February 2026, an Environment & Planning (E&P) Committee meeting was conducted. At that meeting, the Report from the Coastal, Estuary and Floodplain Risk Management Subcommittee was tabled.
After a motion to receive the minutes of that subcommittee, the E&P Committee Chair, Clr Eaton, then announced that there was an item to be discussed in Confidential Session. No notice was given prior to the meeting, no information was shared about what this related to and no report was provided.
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Committee processes in freefall - and debate gagged
I continue to be concerned about poor processes around Council’s committee structure – and its disregard for the role of all Councillors.
This is a long explainer… So hang in there…
The Standing Committees of Council are made up of a subset of Councillors and do not have delegations to make decisions.
The committees are provided with an agenda and can make recommendations to Council regarding items on the agenda. However, where they do not make a recommendation, the Committee often just “notes” an item. This, in itself, is a decision that they do not have delegation to make without the endorsement of the full Council.
In July 2025, the CEO had a meeting with the Committee Chairs to come up with a process. This in itself seems quite extraordinary. All councillors are equal (even though the Mayor might have some additional roles, responsibilities and a casting vote if needed) – so for a subset of Councillors to come up with a process without proper consultation is concerning.
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