By TANIA PHILLIPS
FORMER Australian Army officer Tracy Dobie is set to become the first female mayor of the amalgamated Southern Downs Council after polling almost double her nearest rival in Saturday’s council election.
With receipt of the postal votes set to close on 29 March, Ms Dobie should be confirmed later this month ahead of the Statutory Meeting set down for early April.
“It was quite moving on Saturday night, when my husband and I arrived at the Town Hall, to find my brother and his family waiting outside,” she said.
“My brother was my scrutineer for the count, so for him to be waiting outside, meant that counting had finished. That, coupled with the big grins, told me that I had the lead.
“We met up with my uncle Toby Eather and some friends inside the Town Hall and then went home. I’m not one for big celebrations.“
Ms Dobie comes to the role after a 22-year Australian Army career and subsequent experience in the rural, business and tourism sectors. Her experience includes demanding roles in strategic intelligence and as a commanding officer of the 1st Recruit Training Battalion at Kapooka.
Ms Dobie managed a large staff in consulting and training roles in Australia and Asia and successfully managed multi-million dollar budgets in the private and public sectors producing results under strict financial constraints.
Does she believe that her background has prepared the Warwick local for her new role?
“Yes,” she said.
“I believe a lot of what I have done has prepared me for this role.
“I have the skills and experience to represent the council and the region; I have a strong management background and am happy to accept responsibility for the performance of council; and I am capable of preparing and managing the budget and working with council to adopt and implement the agreed planning scheme. I have business and governance skills and experience, but most importantly I am a good communicator and that is a necessity for the role.”
She said it was fair to assume that residents of the region had lost faith in their council.
“I believe that council has not really come to grips with amalgamation, and there are a variety of reasons for that,” she said.
“As a result, the community has become disaffected. We can turn that around through good communication and a council that knows and understands it is part of that community, not separate from it.
“A hands-on council, with more interaction between councillors and the community will make a big difference.”
And so what is first for the new mayor elect when she is finally confirmed?
“The first things for me are to ‘read in’ on some of the key decisions that have been made recently, get a good understanding of the Local Government Act and get a brief from the Queensland Treasury Corporation with regard to our debt management,” she said.
“We as a council will consider the 2016/’17 Budget and identify key milestones that we want to achieve in the next one to four years.”
Counting continues to determine the eight councillors with the final make up expected to be decided next week.
