I love the Sunshine Coast – our fantastic natural assets, our landscapes and the outstanding lifestyle we enjoy. It is why I choose to live here.But the Sunshine Coast is much more.
Right now, we are writing a significant page in the history of our region. We are building a new economy, shaping a strong community and ensuring we remain second to none when it comes to our environmental credentials.
As one of Queensland’s fastest growing regions and in the nation’s top ten significant urban areas, the Sunshine Coast is fast becoming one of Australia’s leading city regions for the 21st century.
A smart, healthy, sustainable region – with its own identity but intimately connected to the world.
This is my vision for the Sunshine Coast – and I am working hard to make this vision a reality. Building on the past, being decisive now and charting a clear and prosperous future for our community.
We have a long and proud history on the Sunshine Coast – stretching back over many thousands of years during which the spectacular Glass House Mountains were formed and the peoples of the Kabi Kabi First Nation made this their home.
Today, we are a community that welcomes all and offers outstanding opportunities. Through the efforts of the Council I lead, we are building a Sunshine Coast that is a true economic powerhouse in an idyllic environment. A vision that is becoming the reality.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson
Sunshine Coast
Sunshine Coast is a metropolitan area and the third most populated area in the Australian state of Queensland. Located 100 km north of the state capital Brisbane in South East Queensland on the Pacific Ocean coastline, its urban area spans approximately 60 km of coastline and hinterland from Pelican Waters to Tewantin. The estimated urban population of Sunshine Coast as at June 2014 was 297,380.,making it the 9th most populous in the country.
The area was first settled by Europeans in the 19th century with development progressing slowly until tourism became an important industry. The area has several coastal hubs at Caloundra, Kawana Waters, Maroochydore and Noosa Heads. Nambour and Maleny have developed as primary commercial centres for the hinterland.
The City of Wollongong local government area is represented by a Council comprising a Lord Mayor and 12 Councillors. Both the Lord Mayor and the Councillors are popularly elected, that is they are elected by persons enrolled on the Commonwealth electoral roll.
The City is divided into three Wards with four Councillors elected from each Ward.
The current Lord Mayor and Councillors were elected for a one-off, five year term on 3 September 2011.
The next Council elections are scheduled for September 2016 and Councillors will be elected for a term of four years. Voting is compulsory for all persons on the Commonwealth electoral roll at that time.
The Lord Mayor and Councillors phone and email contacts are listed below:
Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM
Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery OAM comes to Wollongong City Council from a strong background in the community. He has been Chaplain to NSW Police, Rural Fire Service, RSL Padre and Administrator of Wollongong Mission of the Uniting Church and Minister of the Church on the Mall for the past 15 years. His services to the community earned him an OAM.
For 15 years he also served as Chairperson of Lifeline South Coast, was a board member of Unanderra Care Services (aged care service) and served as an advocate for homeless and mental health services.
He has supported individuals and groups in business and entrepreneurial initiatives in Wollongong City.
Born and initially raised in Tamworth, Bradbery moved to Sydney and was schooled at Barnardos Children's Home in Normanhurst between the ages of 10 and 16; an experience Bradbery refers to "being raised at the school of hard knocks".
The majority of Bradbery's 25 years as an ordained minister was spent at the Wollongong Mission of the Uniting Church, known as the "Church on the Mall" in Crown St, Wollongong. In addition to his ministerial duties, Bradbery was also responsible for the Wollongong Community Care Centre that runs regular welfare programs for the disadvantaged, including a popular soup kitchen. Bradbery also worked actively with various elements of the community, adopting specialist areas in community development and social justice programs, as well as trauma and bereavement counselling. Bradbery has been recognised through numerous awards for his work with the disadvantaged, the traumatised and the vulnerable.
In addition to his work as a minister and in the community, Bradbery also undertook continued education, earning bachelor's degrees in psychology, sociology and divinity at the University of Sydney.
Following a meeting of the Presbytery of Illawarra of the Uniting Church, the decision was made not to extend Bradbery's term as the head of the Wollongong Mission beyond 2011, with the Chairman, David Jones citing "need to undertake succession planning for Ministry Leadership given the length of time Gordon has been in this placement". There was significant uproar among parts of the Wollongong community as a result of this decision, largely due to Bradbery's extensive community service work.
In 1996, Bradbery was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, "in recognition of service to the community, particularly for his role during the 1994 Sydney bushfires and the subsequent relief efforts for those affected".
In 1996 and again in 2009, Bradbery was awarded Rotary International's Paul Harris Fellowship Medal for outstanding community service.
Wollongong
Wollongong, "The Gong", is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. Wollongong lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres (51 miles) south of Sydney. Wollongong's Statistical District has a population of 292,190 (2010 est.), making Wollongong the third largest city in New South Wales after Sydney and Newcastle, and the tenth largest city in Australia.
The Wollongong metropolitan area extends from Helensburgh in the north to Shell Cove in the south. It sits within the Wollongong Statistical District, which covers the local authority areas of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama, extending from the town of Helensburgh in the north to Gerroa in the south Geologically, the city is located in the south-eastern part of the Sydney basin, which extends from Newcastle to Nowra.
Wollongong is noted for its heavy industry, its port activity and the quality of its physical setting, occupying a narrow coastal plain between an almost continuous chain of surf beaches and the cliffline of the rainforest-covered Illawarra escarpment. It has two cathedrals, churches of many denominations and the Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. Wollongong has a long history of coalmining and industry. The city attracts many tourists each year, and is a regional centre for the South Coast fishing industry. The University of Wollongong has around 37,000 students and is internationally recognised.
The name "Wollongong" is believed to mean "seas of the South" in the local Aboriginal language, referring to NSW's Southern Coast. Other meanings have been suggested, such as "great feast of fish", "hard ground near water", "song of the sea", "sound of the waves", "many snakes" and "five islands".
Preferences from two Greens candidates and one independent helped to propel Ms Hickey over the line by 892 votes.
The businesswoman and former Miss Tasmania will become Hobart's second female Lord Mayor.
In 2011 she ran for the State Parliament as a Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Denison.
Alderman Hickey holds a Master of Business Administration and won the Tasmanian Businesswoman of the Year award in 2007.
She became one of 14 new mayors across the state's 29 Local Government areas.
In Kingborough, former bank manager and deputy mayor Steve Wass secured the Mayor's office.
Mr Wass beat recent state Liberal candidate Nic Street with 55.33 per cent of the vote after preferences.
Preferences are yet to be distributed in Burnie, but incumbent Steve Kons already conceded Alderman Anita Dow had won.
Sue Hickey FAICD (born c. 1958) is the Lord Mayor of Hobart. She defeated sitting Lord Mayor Damon Thomas at the 2014 Tasmanian local government elections.
Hickey first entered public life when she won the Miss Tasmania quest 1979. She later worked in a number of retail and service positions, before starting a career in marketing. In 1991 she established her own marketing business, Slick Promotions. Hickey won the Tasmanian Businesswoman of the Year award in 2007. Hickey obtained an MBA from the University of Tasmania in 2012.
She intended to stand as a candidate for the Liberal Party of Australia in the 2010 state election, but was unable to do so due to a conflict of interest with her business. She was a successful candidate for the Hobart City Council in the 2011 Tasmanian local government elections.
Hobart
Hobart, is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1803 as a penal colony, Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney, New South Wales. The city is located in the state's south-east on the estuary of the Derwent River, making it the most southern of Australia's capital cities. Its harbour forms the second-deepest natural port in the world.
In June 2013, the city had a greater area population of approximately 217,973. Its skyline is dominated by the 1,271-metre (4,170 ft) Mount Wellington, and much of the city's waterfront consists of reclaimed land. It is the financial and administrative heart of Tasmania, serving as the home port for both Australian and French Antarctic operations and acting as a major tourist hub, with over 1.192 million visitors in 2011/2012. The metropolitan area is often referred to as Greater Hobart, to differentiate it from the City of Hobart, one of the five local government areas that cover the city.
Darryn Lyons (born 19 August 1965) is an Australian media personality, entrepreneur and politician, who rose to prominence in Australia and the United Kingdom as a paparazzo. He held the position of Mayor of Geelong from 2013 to 2016.
DARRYN Lyons says he may have been “vilified and hounded from office”, but Geelong has not heard the last of him.
“I will continue to raise the city’s profile, to broaden its job base to attract investors and to enhance the community’s pride in this great place,” he said in a farewell message as mayor. “Like it or not, you haven’t heard the last of me. I’m not going anywhere else.”
Lyons’ message came as the Geelong council was sacked with ratepayers to go to the polls next year.
A Bill dumping the regional council passed the Legislative Council on Thursday evening, after the Andrews Government agreed to bring an election forward by three years.
The Government had originally wanted to boot the council on Tuesday and keep administrators in place until 2020.
The amended bill to sack the Geelong council tonight returned to the Lower House where it was ticked off.
In 2013, Lyons announced his candidacy for the City of Greater Geelong 2013 mayoral election. At the start of the election he was quoted as saying "As I have learnt from my time in the UK every election needs a comedy candidate and also as I've seen from Tony Abbott's example the electorate respects a man with great abs". Despite this he then campaigned heavily for the position with a "presidential-style mayoral campaign", including having a plane tow a banner across the sky in the city. He was declared elected after the distribution of preferences on 25 November 2013; Lyons garnered almost 30 per cent of the first preference votes, more than double the primary votes than the second-placed candidate. Lyons was sworn into office on 26 November 2013.
As mayor, Lyons has focussed on lobbying for the city, creating publicity and lifting the city's profile in order to attract tourism and investment.
Lyons has advocated for building a cruise ship pier on the Geelong waterfront in order to boost the city's economy with tourism. The pier would also incorporate a convention centre and cultural centre.
Other initiatives introduced by Lyons include improving the city centre by making street parking free on weekends and planting plants in the streets.
On 16 April 2016, the Victorian Government dismissed Lyons along with the rest of the Greater Geelong City Council, following a Commission of Inquiry which found that the council is riven with conflict, unable to manage Geelong's economic challenges, has dysfunctional leadership and has a culture of bullying. The government appointed administrators to run the council until council elections are held in 2017.
Lyons is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and resides in the Western Beach area of Geelong. His fiancee is Elissa Friday, a former model and a student. He was formerly married to Melanie Whitehead, who left him in 2000. Lyons is a personal friend of Melbourne mayor Robert Doyle, who supported Lyons during his 2013 electoral campaign. Lyons has acknowledged drug abuse, binge drinking and heavy gambling during his life abroad.
Geelong
Geelong, is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia, 75 kilometres (47 mi) south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. It is the second largest Victorian city, with an estimated urban population of 184,182 as at June 2014, having grown 1.4 percent since June 2013.
Geelong runs from the plains of Lara in the north to the rolling hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with Corio Bay to the east and hills to the west. Geelong is the administrative centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality, which covers urban, rural and coastal areas surrounding the city, including the Bellarine Peninsula.
Geelong City is also known as the 'Gateway City' due to its central location to surrounding Victorian regional centres like Ballarat in the north west, Torquay, Great Ocean Road and Warrnambool in the southwest, Hamilton, Colac and Winchelsea to the west, and the state capital of Melbourne in the north east.
Geelong was named in 1827, with the name derived from the local Wathaurong Aboriginal name for the region, Jillong, thought to mean "land" or "cliffs". The area was first surveyed in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne. The post office was open by June 1840 (the second to open in the Port Phillip District). The first woolstore was erected in this period and it became the port for the wool industry of the Western District. During the gold rush, Geelong experienced a brief boom as the main port to the rich goldfields of the Ballarat district. The city then diversified into manufacturing, and during the 1860s, it became one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks, and paper mills.
It was proclaimed a city in 1910, with industrial growth from this time until the 1960s establishing the city as a manufacturing centre for the state, and the population grew to over 100,000 by the mid-1960s. During the city's early years, an inhabitant of Geelong was often known as a Geelongite, or a Pivotonian, derived from the city's nickname of "The Pivot", referencing the city's role as a shipping and rail hub for the area. Population increases over the last decade were due to growth in service industries, as the manufacturing sector has declined. Redevelopment of the inner city has occurred since the 1990s, as well as gentrification of inner suburbs, and currently has a population growth rate higher than the national average.
It is known for being home to the Geelong Football Club, the second oldest club in the Australian Football League.
Today, Geelong stands as an emerging health, education and advanced manufacturing hub. The city's economy is shifting quickly and despite experiencing the drawbacks of losing much of its heavy manufacturing, it is seeing much growth in other sectors, positioning itself as one of the leading non-capital Australian cities.
Cr Hill is dedicated to ensuring that the future of Townsville is prosperous and progressive.
She wants to ease the cost of living for residents and focus the council on services and programs that build a strong community, support business and employment, and safeguard Townsville’s lifestyle.
Cr Hill is also committed to developing a strong council team to serve the city over the next four years. Essential to this is ensuring that all councillors work in the best interests of the city.
Councillor Hill was born and educated in Melbourne, Victoria, and graduated from LaTrobe University with a Bachelor of Science in 1981. The following year she moved to Townsville with her fiancé who was enlisted in the Australian Army.
Cr Hill has 23 years’ experience as a scientist with mining companies, the Department of Primary Industries, James Cook University and Townsville Hospital. She has also completed a Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at James Cook University, which included management, economics and accounting.
In 1986 she joined the Army Reserve, first serving in the Royal Corps of Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME), maintaining and recovering defence vehicles, and then becoming one of the first women in Australia to complete full infantry training.
Cr Hill has 12 years’ service in local government. In 2012, she was elected the first female mayor of Townsville.
Family and Interests
Cr Hill is married with two adult children, a 23-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old son. She is passionate about Townsville and its tropical lifestyle. She is a car enthusiast and is a keen supporter of junior sporting clubs and school P&C committees. On the national sporting scene, she supports the Cowboys NRL team but is still an avid fan of her AFL club, Collingwood. She loves reading and enjoys strategy games.
The official title of the Mayor is Cr Jenny Hill, Mayor of the City of Townsville.
In the second reference, this form of address becomes Cr Hill. If you are writing to the Mayor, the appropriate salutation is “Dear Cr Hill” or “Dear Mayor”.
Townsville
The City of Townsville is an Australian local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas, to the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock and Reid River, and to the north are Northern Beaches and Paluma, and also included is Magnetic Island. It currently has a population of 175,542 residents, and is the 18th largest LGA in Australia.
Robert "Bob" Charles Manning OAM (born 1945) is the mayor of the Cairns Regional Council, Queensland, Australia.In 2004 Manning was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to the community of the Cairns region through the development and promotion of the tourism, maritime and aviation industries". In 2002 he was awarded Cairns Citizen of the Year.
Manning was born in Cairns, and attended Edge Hill State School, and Cairns State High School. He also received a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from the University of Southern Queensland. Manning served three years in the Australian Army including in Vietnam 1970-1971.
He has had a lengthy involvement with the Airports Council International from 1993-2000 (including president, vice-president and vice-chairman) and was the director/chairman of Tourism Tropical North Queensland (previously Far North Queensland Promotion Bureau) for eleven years from 1986 to 1997.
In 2012, the same year as he was elected Mayor of Cairns along with the "Unity 2012" team,Manning purchased nationally acclaimed company Events NQ. In February 2015, Events NQ was put into liquidation, with staff left without their entitlements and creditors unpaid.
In 2012 Manning announced his intention to run for mayor of the Cairns Regional Council with a team of candidates under the name "Unity 2012". This is not to be confused with Kevin Byrne's former "Cairns Unity Team". Manning considers his team to be apolitical and has publicly stated that Unity 2012 have no political affiliation and most of the candidates have a business background.
Bob is married to Claire Manning and has two grown children (Mark and Belinda). Bob Manning's father founded the iconic local Manning's Pies.
Bob Manning OAM is a Vietnam Veteran and former CEO of the Cairns Port Authority and Longreach Shire Council.
He was awarded Cairns Citizen of the Year in 2002, and was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2004 for his service to the Cairns region community through the development and promotion of the tourism, marine and aviation industries.
Mayor Manning's Profile ( PDF, 0.1 MB )
Contact information
For meetings with the Mayor, requests for the Mayor to speak and/or provide letters of support please contact the Mayor's Personal Assistant by email mayorspa@cairns.qld.gov.au or (07) 4044 3083.
If you would like to invite the Mayor to participate in your event, please complete the request form ( DOCX, 0.05 MB ) and return it by email with a covering note to mayorspa@cairns.qld.gov.au. The Mayor's schedule will be checked and you will be advised of his availability or otherwise within five days.
To contact the Mayor directly please send an email to b.manning@cairns.qld.gov.au
Cairns
Cairns, is a major city on the east coast of Far North Queensland in Australia. The city is the 5th most populous in Queensland and 14th overall in Australia. Cairns was founded in 1876 and named after William Wellington Cairns, Governor of Queensland from 1875-1877. It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was discovered from Port Douglas. It later developed into a railhead and major port for exporting sugar cane, gold and other metals, minerals and agricultural products from surrounding coastal areas and the Atherton Tableland region. The estimated residential population of the Cairns urban area in 2016 was 157,847. The region has experienced an average annual growth rate of 2.8% over the last 10 years.
Cairns is a popular travel destination for tourists because of its tropical climate and access to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.
Katrina Fong Lim (born 1961) is the Lord Mayor of the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
Katrina completed a Bachelor of Business and Master of Professional Accounting at the University of Southern Queensland.
Katrina was born in 1961 in Darwin; the fourth daughter of respected local couple Alec and Norma Fong Lim. Alec was a businessman who eventually became a very popular Lord Mayor in the 1980s. Katrina completed her primary and secondary education in Darwin, matriculating from Darwin High School in 1979. She was an AFS Exchange Student to the USA for the 1978-79 school year.
Katrina worked for thirteen years with the Commonwealth Public Service, undertaking a variety of jobs in a range of government departments. She then left the Public Service to work in the not for profit sector where she worked for 20 years including time at the YWCA, Crafts Council, NT Centenary of Federation and most recently as the Executive Director of Australia Day Council NT.
Katrina completed both a Bachelor of Business with a double major plus a Master of Professional Accounting from the University of Southern Queensland by external studies. She has also operated a small business initially delivering Financial Management Training to builders through the Master Builders Association NT.
Katrina was voted Lord Mayor of Darwin in April 2012, and together with twelve elected Aldermen, will lead the 21st Council of Darwin for a period of four years.
Katrina lives with her husband Tony Waite in Nightcliff. She names her five sisters and mother as her strongest supporters and influencers, with the values and ethics instilled by her late father Alec Fong Lim still guiding her today.
Darwin
Darwin, is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin is the largest city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, with a population of 136,245. It is the smallest and most northerly of the Australian capital cities, and acts as the Top End's regional centre. Darwin was originally a pioneer outpost.
Darwin's proximity to South East Asia makes it an important Australian gateway to countries such as Indonesia and East Timor. The Stuart Highway begins in Darwin, ending at Port Augusta in South Australia. The city itself is built on a low bluff overlooking the harbour. Its suburbs spread out over some area, beginning at Lee Point in the north and stretching to Berrimah in the east. Past Berrimah, the Stuart Highway goes on to Darwin's satellite city, Palmerston, and its suburbs. The Darwin region, like the rest of the Top End, has a tropical climate, with a wet and a dry season. The city is noted for its consistently warm to hot climate, all throughout the year. Prone to cyclone activity during the wet season, Darwin experiences heavy monsoonal downpours and spectacular lightning shows. During the dry season, the city is met with blue skies and gentle sea breezes from the harbour.
The greater Darwin area is the ancestral home of the Larrakia people. On 9 September 1839, HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin harbour during its surveying of the area. John Clements Wickham named the region "Port Darwin" in honour of their former shipmate Charles Darwin, who had sailed with them on the ship's previous voyage which had ended in October 1836. The settlement there became the town of Palmerston in 1869, and was renamed Darwin in 1911.The city has been almost entirely rebuilt twice, once due to Japanese air raids during World War II, and again after being devastated by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio has been Mayor of the region since 2012. Bringing more than 30 years of local government experience to the role, Paul was previously the Deputy Mayor of the Toowoomba Regional Council in its first amalgamated term, and Mayor of Millmerran Shire Council for eight years, having served continuously on Council from 1982-2008.
As Mayor of one of Australia's most family friendly cities, Paul leads the region at a time of intense growth and development. The current and projected spend in the broader region is estimated at more than $11 billion dollars which includes the construction of the much anticipated Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, one of Australia's largest ever inland road projects.
Paul is the founding Chair of the Darling Downs South West Queensland Council of Mayors and a director of the Council of Mayors South East Queensland which collectively represents in in seven Australians.
Mayor Antonio continues to advocate for Toowoomba's place on the planned Brisbane to Melbourne Inland Rail Line and is an executive member of the alliance of Local Governments likely to be impacted by the project.
Paul is also leading the business community to position Toowoomba as the transport and logistics hub of Queensland and Australia.
Other significant initiatives delivered under Paul's leadership include an extensive flood recovery and mitigation program for Toowoomba following the devastating floods of 2011 and 2013; declaration of the region a Refugee Welcome Zone; and hosting one of Queensland's largest White Ribbon Day events promoting peace particularly in families and homes.
Paul holds a Diploma of Agriculture, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has held of number of board positions.
Serving as patron of a number of local associations, Paul is also a White Ribbon Ambassador.
In his time away from Council the Mayor continues his interest in the family farming operation west of Millmerran concentrating on the production of Angus beef and grain.
Toowoomba
Toowoomba (nicknamed 'The Garden City' and the 'Queen City') is a city in the
Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. It is located 125 km (78 mi) west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The estimated population of Toowoomba as of 2016 is 165,168. A university and cathedral city, that hosts the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers each September and national championship events for the sports of mountain biking and motocross. There are more than 150 public parks and gardens in Toowoomba.It has developed into a regional centre for business and government services. It is also referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs.
It is the sixteenth-largest city in Australia, the sixth largest in Queensland, after Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville and Cairns. Toowoomba is the most populous inland city in the country after the national capital, Canberra.
