Paul Barber Lord Mayor Acceptance Speech

Friday 14 September 2007

I’d like to first acknowledge the Darug clan of the Barramattagul people as the traditional custodians of this land.

I’d also like to acknowledge former Lord Mayors, Councillors, Friends and Family (in the gallery) who have all played a part in my being in this position tonight –

I thank you sincerely for your input and support.

For me it’s an honour and a privilege to represent and serve my community.

And it’s indeed a wonderful thing that a boy born in a housing commission home is Symonds Avenue can become the Lord Mayor of such a great city as Parramatta.

How did I get here? My loving parents taught me good manners, to be honest, respectful, and appreciate the worth of education.

They taught me not to hate, that bigotry and racism and prejudice were not good - they gave me my social conscience and I love them for that! For better or worse, this conscience, this instinct for social justice, steered me to the left of politics …

and eventually local government in Parramatta – and how good is this place!

When I was made Deputy Mayor just 12 months ago, I spoke about how David Borger’s vision, energy and enthusiasm were infectious. I’m pleased to say most of us – and from both sides of this chamber – have jumped on board the amazing journey David has conducted.

On behalf of this Chamber I acknowledge David‘s special skill at getting us, after the noise has died down, to work together for the common good of our city. As he says, “when the chips are down, we have pulled together.”

But that takes strong and visionary political leadership – and we have David to thank for that.

To translate that into outcomes we also need a committed General Manager and workforce and the collaborative energy of partners and city stakeholders like Stephanie Dale, Chris Bertingham, David Osbourne, Alan Overton, Megan Kessler and Roman Dechnik… I could go on forever.

All together we are making a big difference – OUR FUTURE LOOKS GREAT!

And working together, that future we have already defined and already planned. Our 2025 strategy has been fashioned through a conscientious consultation with our community – it has us on the right path to successfully cope with the needs of a growing, working and aspiring population.

Our Community Capacity Building team does a good job to ensure that this dialogue with stakeholders continues to be meaningful and supportive. Other Councils are still talking about building a strategy for the future. Our city should be proud that we have one … and proud of the unique Residents’ Panel which has contributed to it – and made it a living document, accepted by the community.  

Our Artist Studios, our revitalised City Events and Riverside Theatres and our plans for new Arts and Cultural Facilities offer great local opportunities for our residents – a real alternative to the trendy EAST; we’re becoming a ‘cool’ city.

I participated in the inspired process which created our arts plan and I pledge to continue its delivery and to advance Parramatta as a creative city for Western Sydney.

Progress comes at a price though. As a reality check I shall make it a priority to put a greater Council focus on our social and environmental performance throughout the LGA.  And particularly within our CBD ….  we must review our office operations, our output greenhouse pollution and waste, our use of water and energy resources, our recycling capacities, our fleet size and type or selection and its cost effectiveness.

And while Council should look to its own greenhouse footprint, I believe this issue requires political leadership at the local level to encourage more Parramatta industries and businesses to look to their own environmental footprint.

This Council is already working with these sectors to achieve this. I want to do more and I look forward to addressing Council’s the inaugural Sustainablexpo on this when it opens on Monday night.

I am also keen to deliver next year our free and extensive CBD shuttle bus service – as part of good environmental thinking and good CBD traffic and transport planning. And to that end the shuttle bus is appropriately funded partly by parking meter revenue.

But we must always be rigorous in what we ask ratepayers to fund, especially in special levies. That’s another Mayoral priority – our initiatives can’t be achieved without a rigorous budget analysis of the way we use ratepayers’ contributions.

Our Program Panels dissect our organisation into seven focus areas and at this program level councillors make their contribution with portfolio style input.

With your co-operation I will be asking you as councillors to next year be more rigorous, and make hard decisions at this program level, so we can ensure the best balance of services and project expenditure within achievable timeframes. In this considered and informed way we will strive over the next 12 months to tighten our belts …. (not that we haven’t always brought down responsible budgets).

These are just some of the things that I’d hope will ensure Parramatta’s greatness.

My commitment to you Councillors and to the Community is to be inclusive, consultative and respectful … and I ask you all here tonight respectfully to come with me on the journey. Together we’ll make Parramatta an even better place.