Highlights: 2024 Bundaberg mayoral candidates forum

Mayoral candidates Helen Blackburn, Jack Dempsey and Levi Horvath took centre stage on Thursday night to reveal their solutions and stances on issues including the future of agriculture in the region, housing, support for small business, council transparency and rates.

Dozens attended the 2024 mayoral forum to hear from candidates running for the top spot of the Bundaberg Regional Council in March.

A crowd of voters, incumbent Bundaberg councillors and candidates packed the Central Queensland University auditorium on Thursday night, to hear the three mayor candidates reveal their stance on a series of questions from the community.

The forum began with a strict code of conduct reminding mayoral candidates Levi Horvath, Helen Blackburn and Jack Dempsey – along with guests – to be polite and respectful.

The three candidates were reminded to keep their questions “future focused” and not reflective of the incumbent council’s work.

Candidates responded to questions from the crowd and event organisers, and while the 3 minute allowance for answers was generally respected, each of the candidates were at times reminded to keep their answers on topic.

Mayoral candidates Jack Dempsey, Levi Horvath and Helen Blackburn.

Highlights of Bundaberg mayoral forum 2024

Question One – Bundaberg Chamber of Commerce: The Small Business Friendly Program provides the framework, support and tools required to help local government, Queensland government agencies and large enterprises to realise their role in supporting small businesses. By bringing people together around a common goal the program aims to enhance the operating environment of small businesses and provide the opportunities they need to thrive. This is not a tick boxing exercise, it is designed to create tangible and approachable improvements and outcomes that help councils deliver on their commitments to local small businesses. Could you outline your plans on what tools and support you would provide in collaboration with Chambers and others to grow the small business community of the Bundaberg region within the framework of the Small Business Friendly Program?

Levi Horvath began by discussing the need to investigate the types of small businesses in the Bundaberg region, and the industries they encompassed, speaking on the need for the council to develop a more accessible ease of contact between local chambers of commerce and other small business representatives.

“I assume if we the council were to make a tool for one type of industry it would not work for all of them, so I want to be able to have a council that works with small business for what tools they need,” he said.

Helen Blackburn began by introducing herself as someone familiar with the strains of running a small business, and credited those in the community who continued to run their own small businesses.

She discussed the desire to see the return of the ‘Love Bundy’ program, and the need for council to remain out of competition with the Chamber of Commerce.

Jack Dempsey began by talking about the need to see tradies as small businesses owners, in light of a recent population boom which has seen the need for development to grow.

He spoke on the work the incumbent council had done to support small businesses with career expos and working with the Chamber of Commerce to understand better what can be done to support small business.

Question Two – Bundaberg Fruit and Vegetable Growers: Agriculture is the fourth largest employer in the region investing significantly in our community. Council management of urban creep is important to manage community perceptions and expectations while supporting our farming sector. Planning and Development time frames, requirements, expectations and costs have negatively impacted our farmers, particularly those who have adapted to remain economically viable and use their property for purposes that are ancillary to that of primary production. What will be your approach to support farmers expand their farming operation while managing community expectations?

Ms Blackburn began by stating the importance of ensuring agricultural land remained agricultural land, and reminded the audience a Planning and Development Scheme for the Bundaberg region was in place to decide where development should occur.

However, she was critical of the scheme which limited agricultural development unless listed as a High Impact Industry, a piece of red tape she claimed was limiting the expansion of smaller growers.

“Fees and charges across the board have increased to record highs, making developmental changes of use almost unaffordable or unattainable for many,” she said.

“The fees and expectations for time and decision making need to stem from the elected members and not from the bureaucrats, a Planning and Development portfolio holder council would assist to allow for the industry to speak to someone who’s elected to represent farmers.”

Mr Dempsey began by saying he was supportive of those who exercised their “right to farm” and said plans had been put in place to sustain the livelihood of the region which drew so many to Bundaberg.

He said as council, there was a need to comply with state regulations and suggested working with the state government to highlight the Bundaberg region under a “pilot program” to develop agritourism opportunities.

Mr Horvath said after meeting with local agricultural representatives the stories he had heard were “horrific”.

He discussed implementing a rates freeze or cap for farmers and considering ways to bring down costs for farmers who face unaffordable out-of-pocket expenses when investing in future proofing farming infrastructure.

Mayoral candidate Levi Horvath speaking at the Bundaberg mayoral forum 2024.

Question Three – Bundaberg Today: In the face of increased cost of living pressures, what specific measures to you propose to the implement in order to control and potentially stop a future increase in council rates in Bundaberg? Additionally, if elected, do you have plans to reinstate the early rates payment discount to provide relief for residents?

Mr Dempsey began by reminding the audience of the incumbent council’s delivery of a zero per cent general rates rise and the doubling of the pension, with a desire to keep future rate increases in line with CPI.

He denied a desire to see the return of the early rates payment discount, and claimed to do so would cost the Bundaberg community more than $8 million dollars a year, money which would only put the communities most vulnerable at further risk.

Mr Horvath said the council needed to discover other revenue raising opportunities so that it was no longer forced to rely solely on income generated by rates and discussed the idea of introducing a rates cap, an idea which Mr Dempsey claimed out be the “doom and gloom” of councils during his rebuttal.

Ms Blackburn said the ability for the council to return the early rates payment discount would be necessary for those who relied on the 10 per cent discount the payment scheme offered, and could easily be afforded within the existing budget.

“While we may have had zero rate increases our fees and charges have gone through the roof,” she said.

Question Four – Bundaberg Tourism: The Bundaberg region has experienced enormous growth as a tourism destination in recent years, yet the region's future growth is hampered by a lack of accommodation development, so independent commissioned report has stated we must double the number of beds in the region over the next 10 years to cope with demand of projected leisure, holiday visitors and business travellers and of course those visiting friends and relatives. How will you support the attraction and retention of accommodation investments and developers to the region?

Mr Horvath began by discussing the opportunity for the council to work closer with regional airline Bonza to ensure more flights were coming into the region, a partnership which would allow for more confidence from hotel developers.

Ms Blackburn discussed the need to fast track existing and future developments and to ensure developments are occurring in the right areas of Bundaberg in line with Planning and Development, “the engine room of the council”.

Mr Dempsey discussed the recent confirmation of a hotel to be developed close to the Bundaberg airport and claimed two further hotels were on the horizon despite not being able to name them under “confidentiality” agreements.

Mayoral candidate Helen Blackburn speaking at the Bundaberg mayoral forum 2024.

Question Five – Central Queensland University: [Jack], you announced last week that pursued funding for a Regional University Study Hub in Bundaberg. Providing access to higher education for regional students is admirable – which we do here at CQU – but since we already have a university in the region which provides a very extensive scope of course offerings, why is such a facility needed, also is applying for such a facility and funding the best use of ratepayers dollars when facilities already exist?

Ms Blackburn began her response by listing a number of the “colourful promises” made in recent weeks from a 10,000 seat stadium to a NASA Challenger learning centre but said simply such grand plans were not the responsibility of local government.

“Senator Ralph Babet said just yesterday ‘it’s time for councils to stop the delusions of grandeur and start to support the businesses and organisations that they work for.’”

Mr Dempsey claimed the study hub would come at no cost to ratepayers, and instead would serve to add value to the Bundaberg region and the CQUniversity campus.

Mr Horvath seemed uncertain, and said if the study hub did indeed come at no cost to ratepayers, he could understand the benefit of such an enterprise for the whole of the region.

The following questions came from members of the audience which were pre-screened and read out by MC Mrs McPherson.

Question One: Agritourism is a major emerging trend for domestic and international travellers and with Bundaberg one of the largest food bowls in Australia the region has the absolute opportunity to be a leader in this space. Nationally the major barriers to agritourism are red tape and costs. How will your council support the development of agritourism experiences for the Bundaberg region?

Mr Dempsey reiterated his plan to introduce an agritourism “pilot program” to the Bundaberg region, looking to successful campaigns launched in New South Wales for inspiration.

“I’ll continue to be able to make sure that Bundaberg, because of its diversity as a powerhouse of agriculture is able to have a pilot project here within the Bundaberg region to make sure that we can continue to push agribusiness forward because the cost of living is affecting everyone,” he said.

Mr Horvath discussed the possibility of lowering permit costs while working to promote existing agritourism businesses further within the tourism sector.

Ms Blackburn discussed the possibility of the return of local tours aimed at connecting visitors to several agritourism businesses within the Bundaberg region, and working with bodies such as Bundaberg Tourism to determine what extra steps can be taken by council to support small businesses in the space.

Question Two: What issues are currently impacting Bundaberg that a council under your leadership will address?

The candidates took the opportunity provided within the open ended question to touch on their campaign strategies, with both Ms Blackburn and Mr Horvath calling for more transparency in the future council, sharing their struggles with getting a straight answer from the council over costings and general information.

Ms Blackburn took her response a step further and spoke plainly about the delegations of power to both the CEO and the mayor within the incumbent council.

“People say that they believe the CEO has too much power in our region and that’s to do with the delegations that have occurred to the CEO, that needs to be reviewed,” she said.

“That is something that is voted on every where by the council, but I don’t believe there should be any delegations to the mayor … any council that I would lead would have no delegations to the mayor.”

Mr Dempsey once again spoke on the work of the incumbent council and the concerns shared by the other candidates surrounding housing and cost of living, reiterating a zero general rates rise and the delivery of more than 3000 residential blocks of land to the state government.

In his rebuttal Mr Horvath questioned how the empty residential blocks which were months or years away from housing locals assisted those currently living on the street.

“What about those that are currently living under a bridge or over in the Lion’s Park that are currently at the risk of the weather or potential criminal activity,” he said.

Question Three: How do you plan to support and diversify the local economy to create more jobs and economic opportunities?

Ms Blackburn began by reminding those in the audiences of the key responsibilities of local government and said by keeping fees and charges as low as possible this would allow local businesses to develop and expand welcoming new employment opportunities.

“Council's responsibility is to make sure that things are working smoothly so that jobs can be created by someone else, not by council,” she said.

Mr Dempsey reflected on the work of the incumbent council and said if elected he would continue to work to enhance livability to attract more people to the Bundaberg region.

Mr Horvath discussed the need to be future proofing for the prospect of negative economic downturn, and looking to the community to see what needs to be done to provide better access to jobs and more employment opportunities.

“I, myself, have found it interesting because you speak to both side of the community and you’ve got people looking for jobs and you’ve got people that want people for jobs and there’s something going on where they’re not able to connect,” he said.

Mayoral candidate Jack Dempsey speaking at the Bundaberg mayoral forum 2024

Question Four: Council’s environmentally sustainable focus and net zero targets for vulnerable businesses have raised some concerns with businesses commenting that “it’s hard to go green when you’re struggling to stay out of the red.” How do you respond to those small businesses who are worried that the green push will push them out of business?

Mr Dempsey outlined the need to show a push for Net Zero comes from the application process for state and federal grants, and said the council was working to introduce those changes in a “slow and consistent” way which brought a positive return for the community.

Mr Horvath suggested the need for the council to work more closely with local chambers of commerce to ensure the brunt of the pressure of net zero is not laid at the feet of small businesses who are already struggling to pay the bills, a sentiment mirrored by Ms Blackburn.

Bundaberg mayoral forum 2024.

Question Five: Taylor Swift and Pink are excellent examples of how events attract enormous economic benefits to communities through tourism. The Bundaberg region currently doesn’t have an event attraction strategy and is largely dependent on the council to deliver events and festivals. What role do you see councils playing in Queensland’s aspiration to be a world class events destination in the future?

Ms Blackburn once again took the opportunity to touch on the core business of the council, and implied it would be inopportune to advocate for increased event attraction while the region struggled to provide accommodation to the current tourism market.

Mr Dempsey touched on the work done by the incumbent council to bring events to the region such as the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs and was working to facilitate other national level sporting events to come to the Bundaberg region.

Mr Horvath discussed taking advantage of existing circuits of high level events such as those in the equestrian sphere, and looking at attracting circuits for events which would require little development of new infrastructure such as ESports, while considering the possibility for companies and other businesses to sponsor events to limit the financial burden on the council.

Question Six: With the rising demand for affordable housing what steps will you take to address the need for social and affordable housing in Bundaberg understanding that council alone cannot address this?

Mr Dempsey spoke on the positive work of the incumbent council which allowed for a fast-tracking of housing developments in the Bundaberg region.

While Mr Horvath skipped his response, Ms Blackburn said the council needed to consider the viability of vacant land it possessed for social housing and return the Planning and Development portfolio to the hands of a councillor to ensure locals have a person they can liaise directly with when seeking housing opportunities.

“Other than that, the only other way to be able to assist with housing and social housing is to make sure that Planning and Development is operating effectively and working with the development industry to make sure that land is developed in the fastest possible time,” she said.

Question Seven: How do you plan to enhance community engagement and ensure residents have a meaningful voice in local decision making processes?

Mr Horvath discussed the need to improve community council communication through both councillors and council points of contact, and considered the possibility of updating the existing website to be more transparent about costing and details of projects.

He took this a step further and said it would be of benefit if councillors no longer oversaw portfolios and served purely as points of contact between the community and council bureaucracy.

Ms Blackburn discussed the return of the telephone poll for major financially significant projects as a cost effective way to understand the feelings of the community.

“We need to be asking the big questions; if we are going to spend rate payers money like drunken sailors, then we need to make sure that we’re asking the questions and spending it on the right things,” she said.

Mr Dempsey said all councillors are available as the point of call within the Bundaberg community, and pointed out existing services such as Snap, Send, Solve to bridge the gap and highlight concerns directly with the council.

Question Eight: Agricultural land valuations in Bundaberg are again under review as unimproved land valuations and are predicted to rise substantially again on the 31st of March, despite there not being any gain to farmers who are committed to using their land to deliver food and fibre. The release date of the valuations and the actions of council around the rates rise will fall under the remit of elected mayor and their councillors. How will you ensure farmers in the Bundaberg regional council area will remain informed, consulted and considered when setting the council rates in the dollar for agriculture?

For the final question of the evening Ms Blackburn said the valuation of the land does not need to equate to a rate rise for farmers above CPI, and said the council needs to work to bringing stakeholders to the table for such discussions, a sentiment shared by Mr Dempsey.

Mr Dempsey went further to discuss the possibility of a rates cap for certain categories to ensure farmers would not be hit with extreme rate rises as seen in previous terms.

Mr Horvath took the idea a step further and mentioned a rates freeze for the industry to ensure farmers would know how much they can be expected to pay despite valuations.

Originally published as Highlights: 2024 Bundaberg mayoral candidates forum