Category: Life as a Councillor

The St Ives Orchid Fair is the best in Australia, with displays from local groups and vendors travelling from as far as WA and QLD to sell their plants.

It is open this weekend at the St Ives Showgrounds. For more information visit

2024 Show Page

Happy Friday Everyone!

It’s Public Education Week so I’d like to thank all the awesome teachers, staff, parents and carers, community leaders and P&C associations who play an important role in educating us as well as our kids.

Yesterday Councillors from across NSW said farewell to Councillor Linda Scott who has served both as the President of Local Government NSW and the Australian Local Government Association .

What has impressed me all these years about Linda is that as the head of Local Government, she looks after the interest of all councils regardless of their geography or political makeup. She has led advocacy and sometimes even fought with the State and Federal Governments on issues such as financial sustainability, skilling our workforce, and industry representation – and in some instances she has helped to trigger reforms that put the Local Government sector in a better position to serve our communities.

We will dearly miss Linda and wish her all the best with future endeavours. She of all people has earned a well deserved break to spend time with family.

Congratulations Jo and the entire team at Wellness in Motion Lindfield for winning the Fitness Service of the Year award.

Jo proudly showed me her studio which caters to all with a range of personalised activities to help them stay healthy and/or recover from a prior issue, without having to face the competitive pressures that come from being in a gym environment. The convenient location next to the train station is also a big plus, with most customers choosing to walk or take public transport.

We also discussed some of the issues that concern local businesses, and I had the opportunity to talk to some of the patrons.

It’s great to see businesses like this thrive (especially after COVID) and we wish them all the best in the coming years.

Last month, Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai jointly held a dinner for our volunteers from the Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Rural Fire Service, thanking them for their years of service in assisting our residents not just during bushfires but also other extreme weather events, and the education and preparations that lead up to it.

We also had annual awards for the brigades, and I had the opportunity to catch up with the volunteers for Ku-ring-gai and Killara Rural Fire Brigade . Killara in particular were excited to open their new headquarters soon.

Also in attendance were (in the bottom left image) Crs Simon Lennon, Christine Kay, Kim Wheatley, Martin Smith and Barbara Ward.

Great to welcome 80 new citizens to Ku-ring-gai in July.

Special thanks to Barry Fear for being our special guest and giving a speech on what it means to be Australian (more on that in the next post) as well as the Ku-ring-gai Ranger Guides for helping out.

In attendance were also (in the photo from left to right) Matt Cross MP , Councillor Barbara Ward, Councillor Cedric Spencer and Councillor Simon Lennon.

At the July Citizenship Ceremony we had the privilege of having Barry Fear speak to the new citizens about what it means to be part of Australian Society. We really appreciated the time that he spent with us, though it was short and I asked if I could catch up with him afterwards.

This week a Council staff member and I visited Barry at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance: St Ives Lifestyles Centre. He showed us around the facilities and shared about his passion for advocacy.

He also has a YouTube channel that he wants all of you to follow. Please visit and the link below and click on subscribe. https://www.youtube.com/@barryfear7192

Glad to see so many of our local businesses win the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Local Business of the Year Awards.

@bobbinheadbakery – Bakery / Cake Business of the year Wellness in Motion Lindfield – Fitness Service of the year Wahroonga Flower Shoppe – Florist of the year Kanak Kiran – Antiques, Arts, Crafts and Gifts of the year McDonald’s Pharmacy – Pharmacy of the year KX Pilates Turramurra – New Business of the year The Pymble Grind – Fast Food / Takeaway of the year Kipling’s Garage Bar – Hotel / Bottle Shop / Bar of the year Century 21 Masterpiece – Real Estate Agency AND Business of the year The Village Vet – Pet Care of the year

In attendance of the awards ceremony last night were Cr Simon Lennon , Cr Barbara Ward, Councillor Martin Smith , Councillor Kim Wheatley , Cedric Spencer and @CDeputy Mayor of Ku-ring-gai, Cr Christine Kay as well as Alister Henskens MP and our colleagues from Hornsby Council.f

Congratulations to Glenda Borg for her painting of a Scribbly Gum and winning the Silver Jubilee prize at the Ku ring gai Art Society 57th Annual Art Awards Exhibition.

She said that it was a pleasant surprise and that she had no idea that she would win.

I shared with her my reasons for choosing her work as the winning entry. Not only was it good, but it reminded me of another Scribbly Gum that we once had.

As part of National Tree Day, residents had the opportunity to plant 500 trees at St Ives Showgrounds. It was encouraging to see so many involved, young and old.

In attendance were Crs Kay and Ward, and I know that Cr Smith and others also attended later in the day.

Last month at the Ku-ring-gai Rotary Changeover dinner, I joined Anthony Rigney from KYDS Youth Counselling and Elizabeth Lovell from Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney in (unexpectedly) receiving Honourary Memberships in recognition of the partnerships that our organisations have with the Rotary Club of Ku-ring-gai.

Ku-ring-gai Rotary has actively been in service for over 60 years and their members support the community through fundraising efforts such as the Lindfield Fun Run, the Gordon Markets, and the Bobbin Head Cycle Classic.

In 2023 they raised and distributed over $100,000 to local charities such as KYDS and Lifeline as well as other causes such as the National Centre for Childhood Grief, the Early Education Toy Library, Dreams 2live4., and a project in the Pacific Islands. They also donated funds for a picnic shelter defibrillator at West Pymble and co-ordinated the dementia friendly cafe at West Pymble.

They would welcome anyone to join their efforts and you can find out more about them on their website or call Malcolm Braid on 0400 528 604. https://www.kuringgairotary.org.au

What was your favourite part of the Paris Opening Ceremony? My kids liked the Minions the most… we rewound and watched it five times!

The Ku ring gai Art Society is currently hosting its 57th Annual Art Awards Exhibition at St Ives Shopping Village . The exhibition is open from now through to 4th August 2024 and displays works (for sale) from many of our local artists.

As a sponsor, Ku-ring-gai Council has the opportunity to award the ‘Silver Jubilee’ prize so earlier this week, I asked my assistant to come along and help with the selection process.

This month, residents had the opportunity to hear from and meet Benjamin Law, an Australian author who shared about his experiences with growing up as an immigrant in regional Queensland and then later coming out as gay. His book The Family Law was also adapted to TV for SBS.

The event also doubled up as Council’s official launch of the ‘Welcome Here’ Project, where stickers are used at some of our community buildings to remind members of the LGBTIQ community that they are welcome in our community. The initiative was driven by local resident Alex Free and our local Councillor Alec Taylor as it is a matter that close to both of their heart.

I’ve personally been reflecting on what it means for Australia to be a multicultural, diverse and tolerant society which as councillors we represent. One thing that isn’t often said is that while we are learning to become more supportive of specific minority groups as part of this journey, it’s also important to be equally respectful of the views of others who are not part of these defined minorities. To do otherwise would set a double standard, and it’s unfortunate that respect or tolerance is not always reciprocated.

Earlier this month during NAIDOC Week I visited Southern Cross Care NSW & ACT in North Turramurra as they launched their Reflect stage Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The RAP was advised by Brooke Prentis and we had a smoking ceremony and performances by Beatrice and family members. We also planted a Lemon Myrtle tree which (surprisingly) has a refreshing smell.

Through til Sunday we have Sydney’s Biggest Book Fair, raising funds for Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury Sydney.

It’s at the Great Hall at Knox Grammar School and there is nearby street parking as well as an under over overflow area.

Great to see so many people here for a good cause, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of our local volunteers at Lifeline.

Many of us grew up following the North Sydney Bears and it was a shame to see them fall off the top tier of competition in the late 90’s.

I recently met with North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker and Nathan Tilbury – Deputy Mayor Hornsby Shire Council to discuss the latest proposal to bring back the Bears in the form of a venture as the Perth Bears. If successful, this means that the logo and colours are retained, and that our Ku-ring-gai Cubs Rugby League Club have a development pathway to the competition, as well as the possibility of some games held at North Sydney Oval .

You can support the initiatives by becoming a member today (starting from $25 pa). https://www.northsydneybears.com.au

Last night I was delighted to attend Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra’s 40 year anniversary NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition Finals.

We have a lot of talented high school students and they each have promising careers ahead of them. I especially enjoyed the comraderie and support that they provided each other backstage.

The competition results are available on their website, and photos will become available later once there is consent.

https://www.kpo.org.au/current/concertocomp

When I first became Mayor I asked the staff what were we going to do support our athletes during the Paris Olympics.

One of their ideas was Ku-ring-gai’s inaugural Kids Olympics, which we will be running these school holidays with other sporting groups.

Our kids will have the opportunity to try out different sports like triathlon, tennis, football, and table tennis. We wanted to do this to promote awareness of sporting opportunities in the leadup to Paris.

More information is available at krg.nsw.gov.au/kidsolympics

Glad to attend the Ku-ring-gai and Hills Police Area Command 2024 Awards Ceremony, where 37 police officers and members of the public were recognised for their contributions to the community.

This was my second time attending such a ceremony and it was encouraging to hear about the bravery of the officers and civilians who have served us.

Last night as part of our Arts and Cultural Festival I attended the opening of a two week exhibit of Ku-ring-gai Artists at the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery at Abbotsleigh.

On display are works by Eva Barry, Annarie Hildebrand and Alan Tracey. It was good to chat to each of them afterwards to understand what inspired their works.

These works are on display for the next two weeks and they are also on sale. For more information visit

https://www.abbotsleigh.nsw.edu.au/grace-cossington-smith-gallery/current-exhibition/

As part of Refugee Week we listened to the stories of recent migrants as they shared about hardships in their homeland, their journeys to Australia, the challenges of getting refugee status, and their desire to be productive citizens in society.

The event was held at Gordon Baptist and organised by various organisations under the umbrella of the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Multicultural Network Interagency.

We found this video to be helpful in introducing some of the issues. https://youtu.be/25bwiSikRsI

This week I joined “Happy Helen” to visit the South Turramurra Girl Guides . Helen helped the guides with a sewing lesson and I was there to talk about the role of government and civil service.

Some questions included:

What does council do? How big is Ku-ring-gai?

Favourite part of being a councillor / mayor?

What are those round things on your neck? Are they heavy?

How old are you? Did you plan to do this when growing up? [I didn’t plan on becoming a councillor… I thought I’d end up serving the community at a church… The scouts and guides tend to prepare their people for community service]

How come you chose to join scouts? (Instead of guides) [I grew up with a scout hall across the road so it was an easy choice]

Apparently it was Make Music Day today so we had a quartet from the Kuringai Youth Orchestra perform at the Lindfield Village Green from 3-4pm.

I only found out about it this week so we weren’t able to widely promote, and we’ll make sure it has a greater profile next year.

Councillor Barbara Ward and I popped by to take a look and it ended up being a good opportunity to talk to local residents… topics that they asked about included the Transport Oriented Development, Heritage Items, and the Lindfield Village Hub.

I am at Bonjour Patisserie for the next two hours, working on Council emails. Feel free to reach out and chat.

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺We welcomed 65 or so new Australian Citizens last night.

It’s great to have them join our wonderful country, and I’m also glad that we’ve finally worked through our Covid-backlog (previously been doing 160 citizens each month).

As part of Ku-ring-gai’s inaugural Net Zero Communities Grant (funded by our Environmental Levy) we sponsored EnergyZE to hold a community event where like-minded people shared tips on how reducing our carbon footprint.

Presentations were made by:

Dr Kate Wilson, a St Ives resident who previously worked as Executive Director for Climate Change and Sustainability under the former NSW Government; Kristen McDonald, a former Roseville Public School student (from my year) who now works as the Mobilisation and Engagement Manager at Rewiring Australia; and

Myself as the Mayor, sharing about Ku-ring-gai’s sustainability initiatives.

Afterwards we answered questions as a panel.

I think Kate and Kristen’s presentations will become available later on the EnergyZE website, and mine is available in the link below.

https://t.ly/jZD6Q

#NetZeroKuringgai 🏠⚡☀️👩‍👩‍👧‍👦

On Friday night we attended the opening of Judith Franklin’s “Country Connection” exhibition at the Ku-ring-gai Art Centre.

Through Art, Judith expresses her culture and life experiences through a range of traditional and contemporary mediums. Her exhibit goes on through to 28 June on weekdays and some of her work is also up for sale. We are also looking into making the exhibit open to public next weekend as well.

For those interested, Judith is also hosting Aboriginal Dot Art Classes these next two Wednesdays. For more information, visit https://www.krg.nsw.gov.au/Things-to-do/Events-and-festivals/Gai-mariagal-Festival

Last year, the Australian Electoral Commission said that electoral boundaries had to be redrawn – with NSW losing one seat to WA – to ensure approximately equal representation across Australia (178,000 residents per electorate).

The upcoming ‘redistribution’ triggered really strange proposals from political parties and political aspirants. Each party looked to maximise their own chances of forming government by splitting the seats of their opposition, then assimilating the most favourable polling booths to strengthen their own position.

But these proposals were disappointing because they put their political ambitions before the needs of the people.

In my own submission, I suggested that it made sense for each Local Government Area to be represented by ONE Member of Parliament, rather than for an LGA to be split apart like rags among two or three members. The problem with having multiple MPs for an LGA is that their constituents never get a good deal… they end up with MPs whose attention is divided and who do not have the opportunity to give them the attention they deserve.

So I was very pleased to see the independent committee’s proposed redistribution boundaries when they became publicly available yesterday. The boundaries have been adjusted to now mostly follow LGA boundary lines, and it provides certainty and improved service for (most of) the residents of our eight Northern Sydney Councils.

1️⃣ All Hornsby Council residents are now proposed for the federal seat of Berowra.

2️⃣ The entirety of Ku-ring-gai Council plus the vast majority of Willoughby Council are now proposed for the federal seat of Bradfield.

3️⃣ The entirety of Ryde, Hunters Hill and Lane Cove Council as well as a small sliver of Willoughby are now proposed for the federal seat of Bennelong.

4️⃣ The entirety of North Sydney and Mosman Council are now proposed for the federal seat of Warringah.

Of course, it’s also sad to see that NSW’s slower population growth has led to the loss of one seat (North Sydney) but I am of the view that with population growth we will get it back again next decade.

Boundaries and MPs will continue to change with the seasons, but it’s important to recognise the contribution of each of our local MPs. I have a great deal of respect for each of the incumbents regardless of Liberal, Labor or Teal.

I haven’t been active on social media this week because we have multiple sick family members. What started as a restful long weekend up the coast (my first break since January) ended up being a trip to and long wait at Gosford Hospital ED for the little one, and I’ve had to be more hands on with the kids this week.

I understand that half our councillors have been sick this fortnight as well!

As for what’s been happening, we had a well-attended public forum on Tuesday night where we had 16 registered speeches.

On Wednesday I attended the 70th Anniversary and changeover for the Ku-ring-gai Lions as well as the initiation of the Leo Club of Ku-ring-gai. It was encouraging to see so many people prepared to serve their community.

On Thursday I had a meeting with the NSW Local Government Grants Commission where they shared about the process and outcomes of their latest distribution of federal grants across each LGA. I’ll share more about this in a separate post. We also had our quarterly Audit, Risk and Improvement Committee.

Today I briefly presented at a briefing for the Sydney North Planning Panel and tonight we have the opening of Judith Franklin’s Country Connections solo exhibition at the Ku-ring-gai Art Centre, 5:30-7:30pm. This is part of the Gai-mariagal Festival, celebrating the culture and heritage of First Nations people across this month.

I’ve been trying to keep up with the emails but there’s a bit of a backlog right now. Hoping to sort it out in the coming week.

Last month my wife and I had a quiet morning at Pure Brew Co. Gordon. It’s a great place to stop for a drink or a meal, or to study. They even had the UNSW and USYD academic timetables posted on the wall… I’m glad that I’m finished with all that study!

I’m glad that last night’s council meeting didn’t go too long. I was able to make it home for storytime.

Popped by Northside Radio 99.3 to speak to Richard Bell. I enjoyed the relaxed pace of the program.

Great to have Dr Zeny Edwards OAM as guest speaker earlier this week at an event hosted by Council and the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society.

Zeny Edwards was previously the president of the National Trust and a Chair of the UN Women NSW Chapter. She has made various contributions to heritage, peacekeeping, and other social cohesion initiatives so it was good to have her with us.

Thanks also to Cr Barbara Ward who played a part in pulling this together.

Always glad to have friends become Australian Citizens. 🇦🇺

This month we also had special contributions from the SES, East Lindfield Guides, as well as Cr Ward and Lennon.

As part of the street tree planting initiative in Roseville, Council held an event on the weekend where we discussed the importance of trees and shared ideas on how to keep Ku-ring-gai Green. I was joined by Councillor Alec Taylor and Councillor Barbara Ward.

Council was also giving away tree saplings, and I was invited by Paul and Sue to visit their home afterwards to plant two of them.

Wishing my good friend a speedy recovery. He has been a great representative for our people, and before his time in parliament I have enjoyed my chats with him at the blood donation clinic.

In the interim, any State queries are covered by other MPs who are familiar with our local area.

𝗡𝗼 𝗜’𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗨𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗘𝗮𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿. I’ve been researching electric cargo bikes with the intention of taking my kids on school runs and doing other fun stuff. Bikes give you some exercise, take up a lot less space than a car, and are cheaper to run.

But they’re not THAT cheap.

This one here is a Tern GSD S10. If purchased upfront with a whole bunch of accessories it’s about $9,000. Who has that kind of money for a hobby?

I’ve actually been considering something similar at half the price. The Aventon Abound with accessories is about $4,000. I’ve seen the reviews and I reckon it’s just as good if not even better. But there’s one slight problem… it’s not street legal! It has a 750W motor but NSW legislation only allows for 500W / 25kmh motors. And even if you put a speed limiting device on the bike, the power means that it is still breaking the law. [Though I doubt a police officer would ever know your e-bike’s motor output.]

Anyway I’ve been agonizing over it. So many options to buy, all of them so overpriced or illegal, that the decision is too hard to make and I end up doing nothing. I’d rather save the money for a family holiday, or leave it in the mortgage offset account.

If I did get one, perhaps I’d earn the money back through some deliveries.

On a more serious note, I do believe that eBikes will become more common in our TOD precincts when families only have one parking spot and no ability to street park. When I walk around places like Crows Nest I already see bikes everywhere, and it’s going to be similar if we end up with 20,000 new dwellings around four train stations.

As Mayor, I’d therefore want to try one out for an extended period and understand the infrastructure implications (similar to how I was the first councillor to get an EV).

If you search for ‘electric bike hire’ there’s a few options to get a bike for the short term. One such provider is Lug+Carrie which is currently doing a half price eBike ‘trial’ in Ku-ring-gai so I’ll probably end up with them. But I’d encourage anyone interested to do the research and figure out which provider gives the best value for your personal circumstances.

View in Window

More photos from ANZAC Day in Ku-ring-gai. Glad to see the event supported by so many in the community as well as the council.

Glad to be joined by hundreds at the Roseville Memorial Club this morning. Lest we forget.

Thoughts and prayers from the people of Ku-ring-gai regarding what’s unfolding at Bondi today.

I understand that there has been a lot of media activity today regarding the TOD SEPP. My view is that the message portrayed to date is not entirely accurate and will clarify this by way of media release later today.

This week a European Court ruled that the Swiss Government had failed to take enough climate action, thus putting senior citizens at risk of dying during heatwaves.

This sounds hectic but Climate Litigation doesn’t happen in Europe alone.

Last decade a court blocked a coal mine near Newcastle due to climate change impacts not being in the public interest.

More recently, eight children fought against the government and blocked a coal mine extension on the basis of duty of care and climate change impacts.

I know some residents are concerned about the future, but it’s not practical to take everyone to court. So I’ll suggest three easy ways for residents to play their part.

First, most energy retailers provide the option to purchase 100% renewable energy so this is something for you to consider.

Second, many super funds offer an ethical investment option to give you confidence that your money is going towards a good cause. You should speak with a financial advisor if you want to investigate that option.

Finally, meat production is a carbon intensive activity so you should think about how much meat you consume. While I haven’t gone totally vegetarian, I do choose to eat less meat to reduce my personal footprint.

Hope those tips help, and feel free to leave your comments below.