By Dominique Tassell
Southern Downs Councillors have shared their personal views on divisions and portfolios in the region, and whether they produce better representation for locals.
The Council confirmed earlier this month that they had informally decided not to pursue divisions in time for the next election.
Cr Andrew Gale has long been a supporter of divisions in the region.
“I’m a little disappointed that we have run out of time to do it in this term,” he said
“It needs to be done properly. It needs to be fair.”
He stated that the Council has realised that “if we want to do it correctly there is a fair bit of money and time and resources that go into it”.
“I’m disappointed that we haven’t been able to get it to that point early enough.”
Cr Gale stated that he is “fully supportive of the decision not to pursue it in this term of Council even though that’s personally disappointing”.
He said that in order to create better representation, pursuing divisions needs to be done properly and ensure that there are “good, clearly-definable boundaries” with an equal spread of the population.
“There are arguments for and against (divisions),” he said. “I’m really looking forward to having that debate.”
Cr Gale said he believes divisions make Councillors much more accountable, but it’s “not going to fix everyone’s issues”.
“I know I get contacted by people from all over the region and I’m happy to represent people all over the region.”
He said he’d like to see Council start working on gathering local opinion about divisions now, to get a head start on the new deadline in 2026.
Regarding portfolios, Cr Gale said that “we’re all responsible for everything”.
“Having divisions or portfolios could serve to make my job easier, as it sits at the moment we have a lot of overarching responsibility for everything.”
Cr Marco Gliori stated that while he previously “didn’t mind” the idea of divisions in 2020, he’s since formed the opinion that “it doesn’t so much matter where a Councillor lives, but how willing they are to represent a specific area”.
“I also believe Divisional elections have the potential to reduce the pool of candidates.”
He stated that if told he was responsible for a certain area, he would make a concerted effort to make himself available there, “to gather up their issues and present them to Council and my colleagues, for discussion and consideration”.
“But, at the moment, I could be travelling an hour to attend an Art Exhibition or one of several committee meetings in Stanthorpe, speaking at a Vietnam Veteran’s Day in Killarney, considering facilities needing repair in Allora, passing on planning related issues from Maryvale or chairing an AGM in Warwick.”
Cr Gliori stated that at the moment, he tries to be everywhere.
“I do not believe representing a Division needs to be a formal State Government decision, it just requires a commitment from Councillors to agree to a system where Elected Representatives have a designated area, and then to get busy organizing themselves to be the most effective elected representatives they can be, not just for that area or division, but the entire Southern Downs,” he said.
He said he can’t really compare systems, due to being a first-term Councillor.
“I enjoyed my Portfolios of Arts and Culture, Sport and Recreation and Events, so if we returned to those portfolios I would be ok with that.”
Cr Gliori stated that after portfolios were discontinued, Council considered appointing people to different areas, but then voted to appoint individual Councillors to represent on Boards and Advisory Committees.
“I personally find it all a bit of an organizational merry-go-round,” he said. “I am sure different systems suit different Mayors, Administrations Councillors, and the community, for a variety of reasons.”
He said that regardless of the system, he personally believes it is important to get the little things right.
“Councillors are a conduit between the community and SDRC, passing on important Council information and collating concerns, answering emails, returning calls, and attending as many events as possible where ‘community’ is being created by those who elected us.”
Cr Cynthia McDonald stated that she is personally “ambivalent” about divisions as she feels any Southern Downs resident should be able to contact any Councillor they choose.
“I believe we all have our strengths and weaknesses and the community members speak to whom they believe can represent their interests best,” she said.
Cr McDonald stated that she had been called to look into problems on the opposite side of the region, but is happy to do that “as are all elected members”.
She stated that she enjoyed working in portfolios, as it “allows Councillors to specialise in their strengths”.
“Often our previous or current employment and training provides us with excellent foundations to speak on specialised areas,” Cr McDonald said. “This does not however preclude a Councillor from expanding their horizons and learning new skills in different areas.”
Cr Stephen Tancred stated that he thinks the discussion on divisions is premature, and he believes there are good arguments on both sides.
He stated that, personally, he did prefer having a portfolio.
“But we have very good staff and we have a terrific CEO,” he said. “If a councillor wants to get involved in something, they deserve the opportunity.”
Cr Tancred stated that any Councillor can get involved with any issue they care to, and have good committees to specialise in different issues.
Cr Ross Bartley has previously worked in divisions, and said “people felt they were more in touch with the council with the divisional representation”.
He said that Councillors resided in the region they represented, and were more easily contacted.
“It didn’t preclude us from going into other divisions,” he said. “Decisions were still made around the table.”
Cr Bartley said he thought they were better in touch with their area under divisions but did possibly become territorial.
While Cr Bartley has been an elected representative for 20 years, he has not had a portfolio for most of that.
For the first 12 years of his time as Councillor, they had the “proper committee system”.
Council only met once a month at this time.
Cr Bartley said that portfolios were only recently introduced, and he believes “as Councillors we need to be across everything”, with the Mayor as the spokesperson.
“What do we hope to achieve from a portfolio, outside of publicity?”
Cr Cameron Gow has also previously been elected under a divisional system, and said he is happy with “whatever the community wants”.
He stated that they previously thought they had enough time to pursue divisions for the next election, but the timeframes have now “blown out”.
“It’s in the State Government’s hands,” he said.
Cr Gow said there was some information he believed locals needed first before making a decision on divisions, such as how many elected representatives we may have under a divisional system.
“It could mean a reduction in representation,” he said.
Adjusting for population size could mean we lose numbers, and he believes this is “important information for the community to have”.
“That’s a process that needs to be gone through,” he said. “I think that kind of information needs to come out first.”
Cr Gow said it doesn’t bother him either way, and he’s happy to represent the community however they choose.
“However that election process takes place, that’s not up to councillors to make that decision.”
“It’s up to the community to decide how and by who they want to be represented,” he said.
He stated that if the community wants divisions, they need to know what those might look like.
“It needs to be information-driven.”
Regarding portfolios, Cr Gow said it “doesn’t bother” him how the Council operates “provided the community is being represented”.
“Portfolios need to marry up with how the council organisation is structured,” he said.
He stated that their current system relies on committees, and “all councillors have at least enough knowledge to talk to anyone about any subject”.
With this system, if Councillors don’t know the answer they can and will go and find it.
Cr Gow said that portfolios can be restrictive in comparison.
He also experienced the previous committee system and said there are a number of different ways to represent the community.
“The one we have at the moment does work,” he said. “Councillors do work on issues and get them solved.”
Cr Gow stated that with meetings twice a month, they don’t need the sub-committees and have a quicker turnaround.
Mayor Vic Pennisi said he is going to be “guided by the people and what they want” when it comes to divisions.
He said he’s heard many pros and cons to divisions.
“There’s a thought out there that if I have a divisional Councillor all my problems will be solved,” he said. “That doesn’t necessarily ring true all the time.”
Mayor Pennisi stated that we live in a democracy and if the public wants to have that conversation he’s happy to be a part of it.
He said that Council pursuing divisions was a much simpler process than it is, and it’s purely due to time constraints that it won’t happen in this term.
“Personally, it’s been talked about for a long time and I think it’s time we put it to bed.”
He said he will be happy to have that conversation with the community next term if he’s part of Council.
Mayor Pennisi said while he’d previously been an advocate of portfolios, after his experience with them he’s reluctant to reintroduce them.
“When we tried them in the first term of Council, Councillors became too operational which meant that there was that conflict between strategic and operational.”
He said that at the moment, Councillors have a portfolio of sorts made up of the different committees and groups they represent Council on.
“Is that not a portfolio?”
Mayor Pennisi said there are plenty of ways to run a Council, and there will be pros and cons to every single system.
“What we have now allows you to stay at an arm’s length from the operational side of Council,” he said. “It reduces the risk of complaints.”
Given how concerned many Councillors are with complaints and who makes them, he said this is a good thing.
“I don’t think portfolios enhance representation.”
Earlier this month, a Council spokesperson stated that the “Council has had a discussion on the issue of introducing divisions for the Southern Downs local government area”.
“Council has decided informally to defer this matter until after the 2024 local government quadrennial elections due to the complexity and timeframes involved in proposing a change of this nature.”
Divisions have been mentioned at the majority of Connecting with Council meetings in the last year, with locals in smaller communities vocal about their perceived lack of representation.
Earlier this year, the Council committed to engaging with residents of the region’s villages to survey and consult with them about divisions, with an application deadline of March 2023.
The Council spokesperson stated that “as a guide, the consultation for the introduction of divisions should provide evidence of engagement and support of at least 20 per cent of the affected community.”
“If the council elected in 2024 decides to progress the matter, the aim would be to undertake the community consultation and prepare a proposal for change for submission to the Minister before the end of calendar year 2026 to allow sufficient time for the independent Change Commission to decide the matter prior to the 2028 local government quadrennial elections.”
Crs Jo McNally and Sheryl Windle were contacted for comment but did not respond in time for print. We will include their responses in next week’s edition.
