By TANIA PHILLIPS
A SELECTION of jams and preserves sat at the Southern Downs Chamber offices in Warwick Council last week waiting to be picked up, taken home and consumed by the man that made them or given away to a friend.
It was a poignant tribute to Jamie MacKenzie, a man his colleague and friend Cr Glyn Rees described as a “unique individual”. The jams and preserves were returned after a successful run at one of the local shows.
It was a part of the outpouring of grief at the loss of the former councillor felt by the whole community from his beloved Killarney through the entire Southern Downs.
Cr Rees said he had always admired the “very private man” who showed such commitment to Killarney and the wider Southern Downs and passion to local government.
He was a man, Cr Rees said, who was proud of his family’s history and of his work as a councillor and who had spent recent years caring for his elderly father Bruce until his death last year. He loved his Killarney property and liked nothing more than escaping to a small hilltop hut, boiling a billy and having a chat. Cr Rees said he was able to do that with him on a couple of occasions.
“He could walk the walk at the highest level and still be very comfortable in a one-on-one situation,” he said.
And then, of course, he loved to make jams and chutneys and often cleaned up at the local Agricultural Shows.
Councillor Vic Pennisi issued a statement earlier this week, saying it was with a heavy heart that he penned some thoughts in relation to the sudden demise of his colleague and friend Jamie Mackenzie.
“My experience with Jamie was often described as a “roller coaster ride“. You could never assume that you were on the same page,” he said..
“You could never assume that he actually understood my position on different issues, in fact Jamie was at times hard work, and many debates often escalated to another level.
“Despite this, I was fortunate to see underneath the excitable, straight-to-the-point exterior and witness a passionate, sensitive, kind, generous man who was a genuinely, strong advocate for the region. He had qualities that were rarely recognised and traits that only those who listened to him were able to appreciate.
“I saw a man who would be concerned if I was travelling long distances and check to see if I was OK. I saw a man where good old fashioned chivalry was front and foremost in his life.”
A fourth generation Killarney resident, Jamie Mackenzie, in his own words was a beef cattle producer, ratepayer and self-employed town planning consultant.
“With a love for the region and decades of experience in local government, I was privileged in my first term on council to be the ‘voice of reason’ for the whole region, offering an informed contribution and professional 2nd opinion on council” Jamie said in a press release about the forthcoming elections.
“I prefer to be the ‘town and country’ councillor promoting the climate, scenery, agricultural produce and visitor and residential appeal to attract good development.
“We need in this next term to take council meetings regularly to large and small communities and consult, consult and consult with each community to develop a specialised ‘bucket list’ of ways forward for each of them. Divisions would put ‘local’ back into local government.”
Born and raised in Killarney, Jamie gained tertiary education in Brisbane and has worked around Queensland as a town planner in private enterprise and in local governments in Ipswich, Brisbane, Toowoomba and Emerald.
He was a senior local government manager in Dalby before returning home to the family farm and has operated as a consultant for 15 years in, for and against almost half the Shire Councils across the state.
“I am still inspired by my late uncle, Ferrier Mackenzie who was a Glengallan Shire Councillor in this area for over 20 years” Jamie said in his press release.
“He was on council as a ‘civic duty’, not for any single issue nor for personal gain. We both agreed on thrift, balance and stability in local government.”
