Wollongong Council race through general meeting in just 12 minutes

Wollongong councillors seemed as if they had somewhere else to be with Monday’s meeting concluding after 12 minutes. Read what that got done in that tiny amount of time.

If you blinked you may have missed Monday night’s Wollongong Council meeting which flew by in just 12 minutes.

The meeting led some to miss a majority of it while ABC journalist Gavin Coote has questioned whether it’s the shortest meeting in local government history.

The state‘s 10th-most populated local government area passed through seven agenda items in those dozen minutes with only one prompting any form of discussion.

Items one to four and item five were adopted en masse with the second item being the council supporting the names ‘Stream Hill’ and ’Kembla Grange’ as the new suburb names in West Dapto.

12 minutes has gotta be one of the shortest meeting durations in local government history https://t.co/NMVTyC2mWs

— Gavin Coote (@GavinCoote) August 8, 2022

Item five saw Labor’s Ann Martin nominated unopposed onto the Wollongong Heritage Reference Group while the final item was a notice of motion from Liberal councillor John Dorahy.

Cr Dorahy, a self-purported climate sceptic, tabled the motion for the council to “explore the opportunity to be a community leader in saving the planet through energy efficiency”.

He called for a review into power usage of “all council-owned” properties, however, councillor Dom Figliomeni asked for it to be reworded as ”council managed and operated” given the complex nature of leasing arrangements.

The amendment was accepted with the motion carried unanimously.

Seven agenda items were carried during the 12-minute meeting.

Mayor Gordon Bradbery also drew councillor’s attention to the recent passing of local Aboriginal elder Uncle Reuben Brown.

Cr Bradbery described Uncle Brown as “one of the great elders” and a ”fierce advocate” for Aboriginal communities in the Tharawal, Eora and Gundungurra nations.

“He took a great deal of pride in his Aboriginal heritage,” the mayor said.

“He certainly was one of the great elders and one of many who have facilitated our success as a city of understanding and facilitating more Aboriginal involvement and recognition.”