Over two days in July this year, Huon Valley Council Mayor Sally Doyle, Deputy Mayor Toby Thorpe, Councillor Paul Gibson and Councillor Mark Jessop, jetted off to Canberra for the two day annual Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) Conference, with all costs of flights, accommodation, registration fees, meals and sundries paid for by the Huon Valley ratepayers.

Earlier this month the Launceston City Council refused to foot the $10,000 bill for Mayor Mathew Garwood to attend the City Nation Place Global two day conference in London. Mayor Garwood did attend but with all costs out of his own pocket.

Launceston City Council Deputy Mayor Hugh McKenzie said it “was not a good look” given the current financial situation across the city.

In July 2023 HVC Mayor Sally Doyle and the then General Manager Jason Browne, attended the same Canberra based ALGA conference spending upwards of $8,000 of ratepayers money between them on flights, transport, accommodation, meals and conference costs.

ALGA 2024 Delegates in a Plenary Session.

In response to a 2023 public question about the merits of spending ratepayer’s money, Council said:

“There was significant networking and relationship building both with counterparts in Tasmania and across Australia along with federal ministers through breakfast and dinner events.”

Council went on to advise “The Mayor and General Manager have discussed the forum with all councillors since returning, and the General Manager will discuss the event with management later this week.”

No publicly available reports were ever published .

It appears the HVC got the message, and this year, included in the September agenda, are written reports from councillors Doyle, Thorpe and Gibson, with Jessop later apologising for not providing a report but endorsing the words of his colleagues.

Doyle provided a 220 word ‘cut and paste’ which was taken from the official ALGA media release, whilst Gibson wrote a 1500 word ‘white paper’ beginning with a comment:

“It was definitely worth going. I came back feeling empowered to help lead Council and proud of where we are up to and where we are heading. We should send different Councillors each time.”

Deputy Mayor Thorpe provided a 90 word precis which is little more than bureaucratic fluff:

“Attending the 2024 National General Assembly of Local Government (NGA) was an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the foundational role trust plays in our democratic institutions.

“By participating, councillors gained valuable insights from leading experts on how to foster and sustain trust within our region, enabling us to serve more effectively and uphold the integrity of our roles.

“The learnings (sic) from this conference not only enhanced individual leadership but also strengthened the collective impact of local government in nurturing a more resilient and connected society.”

The 2024 ALGA conference attracted 1,200 councillors, mayors & general managers from across 537 local governments.

ALGA would not provide Tasmanian Times with any breakdown of which councils or states, or delegates by name, were in attendance.

Mayors and Deputy Mayors from Devonport, Break O’Day, Derwent Valley, Hobart, Northern Midlands, Warratah Wynyard, Flinders and Huon Valley at ALGA 2024.

In 2023 ALGA did provide delegate information. There were only 12 out of 29 Tasmanian councils represented, with 9 of those councils only sending one representative to Canberra. Councils represented were Georgetown, Launceston, Northern Midlands, Glenorchy, Derwent Valley, Huon Valley Council, Hobart, Clarence, Break O’Day, West Tamar, Latrobe and Kentish.

In a July 2023 edition of Huon News, Huon Valley ratepayer Alan Kemp wrote;

“I am a puzzled ratepayer and keen follower of public matters. Puzzled by the recent activities of our Mayor. We learnt from her in the Huon News that she and the General Manager had, at ratepayers’ expense presumably, several days in Canberra attending dinners, talks and presentations.

Any benefits to Huon Valley residents seemed to compromise nebulous ‘networking’ and vague, increased insight by the Mayor of the benefits of renewable energy, the seemingly hopeless position of ending homelessness and that disaster recovery is long and difficult.”

The theme of the 2024 conference was “Building Community Trust”.

Day one of the conference included the official opening by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, followed by 20 to 30 minute presentations from the Catherine King MP, Senator Bridget McKenzie, ALGA President Cr Linda Scott, Anabelle Crabb ABC ‘celebrity’ and a Local Government Report from Marcus Spiller, Founding Partner SGS Economics and Planning, and Steve Verity, Principal Advisor Asset Management. A late afternoon session included debate over motions.

Day two consisted of a presentation on Intergenerational Equity and Fairness by Simon Kuestemacher, Director and Co-Founder Demographics Group, followed by a panel of councillors and CEO’s ‘Addressing Intergenerational Trust’.

A one hour presentation titled ‘Community Trust in the Built Environment’ was presented by Stephen Yarwood, Urbanist and Former Lord Mayor of Adelaide.

A request to the ALGA Communications and Media Manager for more information about the theme of ‘building community trust’ resulted in nothing more than a referral to the ALGA media release, the event program and some social pics on Linkedin.

The $12,000 spen by the Huon Valley Council included a $1395 registration fee for each delegate, plus $102 for a Press Club lunch and $103 for a CWA breakfast. Gibson stayed with a friend in Canberra and only claimed half an air fare along with the conference registration.

Mayor Doyle, Deputy Mayor Thorpe, Cr Gibson, Cr Jessop.