Last week, Leadership Ballarat and Western Region participants examined local government. The evening started with an address by former mayor Judy Verlin. A passionate leader with a commanding presence, she advanced the idea that councillors are the cement between the community and council officers.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Participants next assembled in the public gallery to observe a council meeting. Seated in the council chamber were the councillors, flanked by council officers. The public gallery filled with 80 people, to the casual observer this added to the sense of occasion.
Participants watched councillors stand and recite the declaration writ large on the wall of the council chamber. On the eastern wall of the chamber, in the direction of Bakery Hill, hangs the Eureka Flag.
In 1854, nearly 10,000 miners assented to the Ballarat Reform League Charter on that hill. Their manifesto opened: "That it is the inalienable right of every citizen to have a voice in making the laws he is called upon to obey - that taxation without representation is tyranny." The miner's unanswered demands led to rebellion under that flag.
So what of us? We pay rates, we have a voice and we vote. We no longer face the spectre of tyranny, yet when only 0.1 per cent of residents care to observe the council chamber, do we now face indifference?
Maybe councillors have suspected this too. Council resolved after deliberation and numerous reports by council officers to livestream future council meetings.
However, the councillor's role is not confined to attending one meeting each month. Councillors set the agenda for our city and oversee a workforce of 940 employees and hundreds of volunteers delivering municipal services costing about $200 million annually. Participants learned that local government is not only about roads, rates and rubbish. The council's job is to shape the future; a future where our city will grow to 160,000 residents by 2040. We need to show less indifference to the work they do.
By meeting's end, councillors were deliberate in their actions yet slowed by fatigue. It was apparent that the role of councillor is a collaborative pursuit, but also a lonely job.
Participants concluded their evening by reflecting on what they have learned so far. They agreed that leadership takes the individual characteristics of courage, resilience, advocacy, listening and passion. Leadership is not simply allocated to a particular position. Anyone can become a leader, regardless of their position in life. Indeed, that was the cornerstone of Australian democracy laid in this city in 1854.
David Harris and Kathleen Woollacott are LBWR participants.
