With a huge area, a maze of interests, an international environmental importance and billion dollar turnover, it was hard enough for 7-8 councillors to cope with all these issues pre 2008, but for all this responsibility to now fall on one candidate alone….well….. the game ahead is not for lightweights. The sheer diversity of interests does not afford room for single issue candidates, nor does it allow room for a candidate who is not across all issues and interests. It’s my view that any candidate representing this area will need to work with all sector groups…ALL OF THEM, with everyone playing a part of in a community of teamwork, to deal with new issues as they arise.

To say I, Rod Davis, can easily represent such a diverse seat without the weekly or structured input of all the sector groups would be brave. Where there were once 7-8 elected reps attending this area, there is now one. No one is particularly happy about this outcome, particularly in Douglas and no doubt the next State election will see the fallout of the community’s anger at this representational disenfranchisement. Regrettably, until Local Government gets its own constitutional independence, it will remain the abused child of a State Government looking to shift costs onto local governments whilst stripping councils of their power.

Nonetheless, the dye is cast, so it’s now up to our community to manage it.  With only one rep for Division 10, the local candidate must be willing to listen and advocate across all sectors. In my run as Douglas Shire Council’s Port Douglas rep, I have not checked the exact figures, but I understand that I have taken to council, more motions, across a broad range of issues, which when combined, outweigh the sum total of all other councillor’s motions put together. If someone has time to dig through 4 years of minutes, I’d be willing to “bet a slab” that this stat is true. Not all my motions ‘got up’ the first time around, but with a “terriers grip on the ankle”, eventually; the big majority of motions got adopted.
And these motions canvassed a range of environmental issues, business issues, indigenous, art and cultural, marine, financial, engineering and town planning issues. My agenda is broad and it’s reasonably well defined here in this web site, spelling out my perspectives. But no policy statement can adapt to the ever changing and surprising range of issues that arise in a vibrant, diverse community. So then the purpose of raising this issue, is to extend a pledge to a range of sector groups to advocate on their behalf, raising motions at their behest and doing more than just listening, by providing articulate advocacy for all. These are the privileges and duties of an independent councillor and it allows the people’s say to override the party’s constricting nonsense.
Division 10 has many sector groups, for which our community can be proud. These already well organised sector groups will hopefully be ready to step up to the plate in the new CRC, to help fill in for the loss of representation, when 7-8 reps were reduced to one, by Andrew Fraser and Beattie/Bligh. It’s my commitment to work with all these groups as their advocate, replacing councillor representation with community group representation. I have more to say on this matter under the section ”People Power… Community Engagement via Direct or Participatory Democracy”. The principles spelt out in the above idea call for the CRC to support compulsory, calibrated community consultation within division 10, where community consultation means more than advertising a new CRC change, lost somewhere in the notice sections of the Cairns Post. Real community engagement means running polls, holding stakeholder meetings, conducting surveys and e-referenda. More on this later.
But it is these sector groups that will be the true horsepower behind my proposed advocacy.
To outline how diverse these groups are, the commitment to inclusive community leadership embodies the participation of many groups to include, amongst others:

• The Combined Beaches Community Association (formerly the Clifton Beach Community Association)
• The Business and Tourism bodies of Palm Cove.
• The Chambers of Commerce.
• The Douglas Shire Historical Society.
• Daintree Forest groups…several of them.
• The Port Douglas Waterfront Protection Association.
• The Club sectors, including the Combined, Sailing, Yacht, Football, Tennis, Cricket, Bowls, Pony, Motor Sport, Bicycle, Surf Life Saving, Netball, Outrigger Canoe, and many more.
• Douglas Shire Sustainability Group, and the slow food groups.
• Port Douglas Daintree Tourism Ltd, and the subset groups on the Daintree Coast and in Daintree Village.
• Port Douglas Fishermen.
• Port Douglas Sunday Markets.
• Arthouse Port Douglas Inc and DAB.
• Australian Volunteer Coast Guard.
• Bally Holley Steam Railway and the Port Douglas Steam Railway Co.
• Bamanga Bubu Ngadimunku (Mossman George Community) and the Burungu Corporation (China Camp Community)
• The Port Douglas Travel League.
• The Kuku Yalanji People.
• The Local Marine Advisory Committee in Port Douglas.
• Low Isles Preservation Society.
• Port Douglas Restoration Society.
• Daintree Agforce.
• Canegrowers
• Port Kids Inc.
• Community groups for the aged and underprivileged and youth.
• Meals on Wheels.

Rod Davis has been a member or advocate for a big chunk of these organizations - as a member of the Chamber Of Commerce, a former treasurer of LIPS, a helper in founding Arthouse, a regular visitor and supporter of the China Camp community, a former member of PDDTA, a former member of several clubs, particularly marine sport, a former member of DSSG and a member of the Port Douglas Waterfront Protection Society. I am a part of the Local Marine Advisory Committee based in Port Douglas.
I apologise that I cannot be a member of every group and have sometimes avoided membership simply to avoid precluding myself from being forced out of Council meetings where strict material personal interest rules can leave some of the above groups unrepresented. I am not a member of any political party and I am no fan of the party hack system. My ‘party’ is my community and everyone in it. Because the size and complexity of my community is so large and diverse, I list all our community groups with the pledge to advocate on each and every group’s behalf.

CONTACT ROD DAVIS: vote@roddavis.org

MOBILE: 0418 235561 or HOME 0740 994434

MAIL: PO BOX 714, Port Douglas, 4877.