Weekly column from Council Courier e-newsletter by CEO Greg Hallam, Friday, 1 December 2017.
So much for a quiet week, but it’s nice to be wanted.
On Monday, LGAQ President Mayor Mark Jamieson and I met Premier-elect Annastacia Palaszczuk at 1 William St, making your Association the first organisation to deal with the likely incoming Government following last Saturday’s state election. With Ms Palaszczuk were Deputy Premier Jackie Trad, Local Government Minister Mark Furner and senior public servants to discuss the recovery effort following Cyclone Debbie, preparedness for the 2018 natural disaster season, and the state of play on the first round of Works for Queensland infrastructure projects. On the latter, we proudly told the Premier that all bar one council had delivered their projects on time. That single council had genuine reasons to be granted an extension of time. Mayor Jamieson also spoke on his push for greater digital connectivity for all Queensland communities, but especially in indigenous communities.
Yesterday Main Roads, Energy and Water Supply Minister Mark Bailey invited us to his office to discuss implementation of the LGAQ’s 10 Point Plan proposals relevant to his portfolio.
So we’ve made a flying start with a Government that has yet to be even sworn in - a process we expect to occur late next week. There will be a lot of work to do in this space in the lead up to Christmas and once we know the outcome of new Machinery of Government (MOG) arrangements.
Meanwhile, two teams of staff have been criss-crossing the state briefing councils on the detail of our LG Sherlock data analytics hub. They will be out on the road again next week. All up, our Sherlock engagement teams have met 140 people from 15 councils over the past fortnight.
The interest in and take up of LG Sherlock is well beyond our expectations, making 2018 a very busy year for the Sherlock team. They hope to have brought in Sherlock’s permanent Chief Data Scientist by Christmas, with other staff due to come on board in February. We are doing everything in our power to make Sherlock the great success we know it can be. Bring it on.