Helen Blackburn vows to implement agenda of transparency and accountability in first 100 days

Opening the books on the $75m Bundaberg Aquatic Centre project and reviewing Bundaberg Now are on the agenda for mayor hopeful Helen Blackburn, while Jack Dempsey says “confidence and positivity” are key. 

Mayoral candidate Helen Blackburn has vowed to ring in the changes if she replaces Jack Dempsey in the region’s top job, saying her election would be a “mandate for change” approved by the community.

Mayoral candidate Helen Blackburn has vowed to ring in the changes if she replaces Jack Dempsey in the region’s top job, saying her election would be a “mandate for change” approved by the community.

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Speaking at a media conference outside the Buss Park pre polling on Tuesday, Ms Blackburn laid out her plans for her first 100 days if elected mayor on March 16.

Helen Blackburn laid out her plans for her first 100 days if elected mayor on March 16, including opening the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre and reviewing council business units such as Bundaberg Now.

Opening the books on large projects including the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre, and budget preparations for a reintroduced 10 per cent early rates payment discount are on the agenda, in addition to reviewing the CEO’s delegated powers and restoring them to councillors.

Ms Blackburn also plans to review council business units such as Bundaberg Now to ensure they are within the scope of local government and do not have an unfair advantage over businesses due to their public ownership.

Ms Blackburn said she set out her plan with the primary goals of transparency and accountability in mind, based on feedback received from the community throughout the election campaign and prior.

“A lot of what people are saying are the same things that they have said over and over and over again, and that’s about transparency, accountability and community consultation,” she said.

“And that’s what my first 100 days as mayor, if I’m successful, will bring.”

Ms Blackburn said her election would constitute a mandate for change which should influence the co-operation of councillors in implementing her priorities.

“If the community selects me as their new mayor … then they are selecting a mandate for change, and whether we have incumbents or whether we have new councillors … there needs to be an absolute push to make sure that the mandate for change comes through loud and clear,” she said.

Mr Dempsey encouraged the community to “continue the confidence and positivity” established through his first two terms as Bundaberg’s mayor.

Rather than vote for change, Mr Dempsey encouraged the community to “continue the confidence and positivity” established through his first two terms as Bundaberg’s mayor.

“People have seen the community saying that the place has never looked better, so we’ve got to be able to continue that momentum … and don’t go back to the old days, where obviously the liveability wasn’t as good as what we are experiencing,” he said.

Mr Dempsey said his mayorship had seen Bundaberg council become “the leading model council across Queensland” through structural changes such as the removal of the planning and development portfolio, which he said makes the region well-placed to receive state and federal funding.

The 10 per cent early rates payment discount proposed by Ms Blackburn was “inequitable”, Mr Dempsey said, and would drive rates increases that would disadvantage ratepayers who did not receive the discount.

Mr Dempsey said his mayorship had seen Bundaberg council become “the leading model council across Queensland” through structural changes such as the removal of the planning and development portfolio.

“Where you see that discount rate (proposed), someone has to pay for it,” Mr Dempsey said.

“I don’t believe the mums and dads and pensioners in the Bundaberg region should (have) to do that.

“So if you’ve got to increase the bucket by 10 per cent, that’s got to come from somewhere.”

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Mr Dempsey also reiterated his commitment made in the mayoral candidates forum to meet with stakeholders to investigate a rates cap for agricultural landholders, following the Bundaberg Ag Food and Fibre Alliance’s urging of the public to vote against Mr Dempsey for 2020 rate rises on farmland of up to 235 per cent.