Mike Brunker weighs in to de-amalgamation debate in Whitsundays

The state government will hold their community cabinet meeting in the Proserpine/Airlie Beach area on August 5 and 6.

Mayor Jennifer Whitney shared this news with the Guardian yesterday after the LNP’s business breakfast in Mackay celebrating 100 days in government.

"I gave a thank you speech to the premier which expressed council’s gratitude for him taking time out to visit smaller communities like us in the Whitsundays," the mayor said.

The LNP went to the 2012 State Election promising to consider applications from former shires which wanted to revert to their old boundaries.

The Boundaries Commissioner Col Meng who is former mayor of the first amalgamated council has been appointed to assess the viability of the de-amalgamations.

"Personally I don’t think there will be a large amount of councils that want to de-amalgamate purely because of the cost associated, but if the Whitsunday region is one then whoever is pushing the de-amalgamation will have to get a petition signed by at least 20 per cent of the voting population," Mr Meng said.

"Over the next few weeks I would like to sit down and talk with community groups, as well as councils and see what their intentions are," he said.

The LNP has put up an online fact sheet detailing exactly what was required to be considered for de-amalgamation including a deadline of August 29.

If the Whitsundays is one of the successful shires, a referendum will be held before the year’s end.

"Basically it has to be all done and dusted by February next year," Mr Meng said.

If residents back de-amalgamation and the
Government supports the proposal, new elections will be held for a mayor and councillors in the breakaway area.

Former Whitsunday mayor who was also mayor of the former Bowen Shire Mike Brunker says he will not be putting up his hand should de-amalgamation be successful.

"I don’t think de-amalgamation will be successful but what this will prove is that the old Whitsunday Shire was broke. Nobody would believe me, even Jennifer wouldn’t believe me. Let’s see what happens now?"

The former Mayor who rejected rumours of him running for a seat in any of the three tiers of government, including the state seat of Mackay which is currently held by Tim Mulherin, said it was amazing how people’s views changed overnight.

"If the 600 votes had have gone my way, then there’d be people at the beach screaming for de-amalgamation … now they’re fully supportive because they have a mayor they think they can control. These people just attacked everything we did for four years. They were pushing their own barrow, Mr Brunker said.

However, Mayor Jennifer Whitney said she certainly did not think the former Whitsunday Shire was broke, and rejected Mr Brunker's comments.

"We had a debt of $22m which was quite sustainable … if I thought we were a basket case for the debt of $22m what are we now with this new debt of $80m contracted out the water and sewerage plant work? We are a sustainable council," she said.

The mayor said if the greater community wanted to look into de-amalgamation then the council would certainly listen to their views, however she warned the process wouldn’t be too unlike a divorce.

"We are one region and we can be one great region … we just need to work together," she said.

Sparks fly at final Whitsunday Regional Council meeting





No truce was reached between Mayor Mike Brunker and his main challenger, Councillor Jennifer Whitney, before the final council meeting of the term, held in Bowen on Thursday.

Whilst Cr Brunker began the meeting by thanking Council staff for their work over the last four years, Cr Whitney succeeded in steering attention towards the controversial Airlie Beach Main Street Project.

Cr Whitney submitted a notice of motion calling for Council to hold a public meeting at the Airlie Beach PCYC within a month to provide a community update on the project.

"Walking around the streets of Airlie, there’s still a great deal of confusion," Cr Whitney said. "Businesses are struggling to survive week by week."

Cr Brunker was critical of the suggestion.

"Putting something like this onto a new council has never happened in my lifetime," Cr Brunker said. "We may as well set the budget now, too."

Despite Cr Whitney claiming that "people are very anxious to have a community meeting," the motion was defeated.

The second motion submitted by Cr Whitney requested Council to advise of the total debt following the funding of the Water and Sewerage Infrastructure.

Cr Brunker claimed that the figures had been available since 2011.

"In two days you could be mayor, and you don’t know that information," Cr Brunker said.

After the two motions were debated, Whitsunday Regional Council CEO John Finlay praised the achievements of the Mayor and Councillors.

"This isn’t something you can learn by reading a textbook," Mr Finlay said.

Mr Finlay acknowledged Council’s achievements, among them the Bowen PCYC, front beach development, sewerage treatment and water treatment facilities, the Whitsunday Coast Airport upgrades, extensive road upgrades, and the "tackling of inherited deficit from the previous council."

"This council has set the bar for the next," Mr Finlay said.

Cr Mark Gaudry, who chose not to recontest his position as Division 6 representative, used his final meeting to deliver a light-hearted speech, thanking council staff, his colleagues and his constituents.

"Thank you for your friendship, help, advice and support," he said.

"Council is a cross between the Commonwealth Bank and Vinnies," Cr Gaudry said. "You’ve got to run an efficient business, while also being the first port of call for support and donations."
Cr Gaudry expressed his faith in the local government system, and wished current and prospective Councillors well.

Challengers to take on Mayor Mike Brunker

The man who is tipped to be the next most likely contender to run for mayor says rumours he will ask Councillor Jennifer Whitney to stand down from her campaign are simply not true.

Anthony Maine whose background is in corporate marketing, moved from Sydney to the Whitsundays almost two years ago after selling his successful IT company to a major telco.

“Some people may be saying it out of vicious intent … others just get excited and run away with the story, but I haven’t even met Councillor Whitney yet and i honestly, have not yet even made up my mind whether or not I will run,” Mr Maine said.

Mr Maine’s story begins earlier this year after a series of discussions and meetings with Mike Brunker.

“I was seeing more and more that the Whitsunday region was sick, really sick. So I thought with my 35 years of experience in the world of corporate marketing, I would phone the mayor and go and see him, help him develop a plan because as far as I could see, nothing was fitting in,” he said.

“But they were just humouring me.”

Over the next few months, Mr Maine says the conversations around dinner tables at countless functions were constantly drifting towards concern with the current council.

“I knew they were looking for someone to stand … there were several meetings and names were thrown around but because of business responsibilities or the like, many felt they wouldn’t do it justice. Then there was another meeting and they came back to me and said they would like me to consider running for mayor.

“I didn’t put my hand up for the job. This is something I could never orchestrate myself. The community itself really needs a pat on the back for moving forward with a story and a redirection for the whole region,” said.

On the momentum of the story for the whole region, Mr Maine and his entourage held meetings in Bowen, Dingo Beach, Hydeaway Bay and Proserpine with Collinsville in their sights before Christmas.

“Now we met with a very wide field of key people and I am not going to say that they were marching as one against council wanting to pull the walls down, but there is a definite feel that they are not happy,” he said.

“The Whitsundays is not a homogenous unit. It is not just one thing … apart from the name. The social structure of Airlie Beach is completely different to that of Bowen so if we are going to put up a challenge for the mayoral position we have to be mindful of what the community wants and we are doing that by talking to people everywhere,” he said.

Mr Maine says after Christmas he would be announcing his decision.

“Do we really want this challenge and how are we going to pay for it? They are the fundamentals of it.

“I understand it would be a cheeky, gutsy move to spend 20 months in a place, get a feeling for it and think I might stand for mayor.

“But I am not that barefaced and it is the community who deserves the pat on the back for calling for this challenge.”

***

After hearing rumours of a possible candidate asking her to stand down, Councillor Jennifer Whitney reaffirmed her commitment to the community.

“I always knew it wasn’t going to be a one horse race. I had heard that someone might ask me to stand down but my clear intention is that I will not. I have the skills and knowledge to undertake this role. I have been working within the realms of local government since the early 1980s, and I know that I can hit the deck running,” Cr Whitney said.

Moving to the region from Mackay with her husband Shane in 1983, Ms Whitney said her long term history within local community groups had established mutual trust.

“I have been involved with this council since I moved here. I was secretary to the CEO and the Mayor from 1984 for 13 years until I decided to run for council and was successful in 1997.

“I ran for mayor in 2000 but I was unsuccessful, and in 2012 I am hoping the community will see what is in front of them and know that I will do my very best to put the community’s interests first. At the end of the day I am hoping people will see how dysfunctional we have been since amalgamation,” she said.

The woman who prides herself on honesty and integrity said she didn’t believe there were splinter groups within the community – just people who wanted to be able to trust their local council.

“These groups form because people feel they have been let down. They feel council is not listening,” she told the Guardian, adding she would welcome the opportunity to meet with Anthony Maine.

“If the community can’t see the offer in front of them then there is nothing I can do.

“Everyone who knows me realises my passion is for
the whole region and over the next few months I will be meeting with as many people as I can,” she
said.