Good day,
I am humbled and delighted to be returned as Mayor of our Scenic Rim. I want to thank Mr Summers and Ms Price for their participation in the democratic process – I believe they share my passion for securing a strong and positive future for our region. To Mr Brent and Mr Sharp, I acknowledge a hard fought campaign. However, I am pleased that my commitments to leading a Council focussed on serving its community, ensuring our Scenic Rim lives up to its best potential for the future and to pursuing these objectives in partnership with our communities have been supported.
While I will have much more to say about my thoughts for future direction in coming weeks, today I want to pause and say thank you firstly to the many members of our community who have supported me and share my belief in the potential of our region and the exciting future we can create together.
I acknowledge the enthusiastic group of volunteers who have assisted my campaign along with the many well-wishers whose words of encouragement have brought energy for us in the face of sometimes difficult days. In particular, I wish to acknowledge Andrew, Megan, Ray, Cheryl, Rob and Ailsa for their wisdom and input to designing a campaign that was built around big ideas for our region and providing transparency of my thinking on a wide range of issues and concepts.
I also thank my family – children, grandchildren, siblings, nephews and nieces. They have brought great strength and encouragement to Denise and myself.
Most importantly, I wish to acknowledge my incredible wife Denise, – she has been a constant partner throughout life and, of course, across my first term as Mayor. Her commitment to support my continuing efforts in this role are testament to her courage, her strength and her shared belief with me in what a brilliant future for our region can look like.
Turning my attention to current events. Throughout this election, I have prioritised leading our Disaster Management response to the CoVid 19 pandemic. Now is a time for each of us to commit ourselves to the discipline of adhering to the requirements for social distancing and home isolation excepting essential purposes journeys.
I want to reassure Scenic Rim communities that I am focussed on the safety and well-being of every member of our community, on ensuring the safety of Council staff, and ensuring we continue to provide essential services, to supporting our business community as together we learn and adapt under these challenging circumstances.
I feel proud that our Council team is bringing great skill to bear under these trying times to support our regions communities.
I have also commenced planning for a long term Regional Recovery Program. While the controls and impacts related to the current Pandemic are challenging, we need to look forward, beyond the current events. As our history shows, from such significant events new ideas and solutions will change how we can shape the future. The resilience and adaptability of our communities is something I have great confidence in.
Working with the new Council and our communities, I’m excited to get on with task of building a stronger region, with a thriving community, a prosperous economy and pursuing the vibrant future we all long for.
Greg Christensen