Accountable, responsive and clear

A FORTNIGHT in hotel quarantine physically brings everything to a halt.

But it doesn’t slow your thoughts, and it was during this time that I had a good chance to consider if I should stand as a candidate in the coming 2020 Council election.

With two teenage children, I had seen that it was our region’s young people that were driving a lot of climate emergency campaigns.

I have long been a strong advocate for women in leadership roles; for standing up for other people and for what I believe is right.

I came out of that imposed isolation period with some clarity.

I knew that if wanted to see the climate crisis issue front and centre of the election cycle, I should contribute my voice to it.

While I wasn’t successful in 2020, I was happy that the Put Climate First alliance had helped elect Cr Belinda Moloney and had placed sustainability high on the Council’s agenda.

Fast-forward nearly three years.

I was obviously aware the countback was being held, but due to the complex nature of the countback system, I hadn’t really considered my chances.

So, I was taken by surprise to be elected, and again had to consider my options.

I realised, that despite the passing of time, all my reasons for wanting to represent my community remained.

It’s an exciting time to join the Council.

With a new Chief Executive Officer, Ali Wastie, and two other women councillors joining this year, there is a lot of shared optimism and energy.

I am honoured to be elected and feel very fortunate to represent the Bellarine and wider Greater Geelong region.

It is an area I have chosen to call home since 2001, when my partner and I fell in love with Barwon Heads.

We lived in the town until earlier this year, when we crossed the bridge into Ocean Grove.

The beautiful natural environment, and the strong separate identities of the communities, need to be protected and enhanced wherever possible.

As a social worker, I have spent most of my career listening to people and working with them to find solutions and access services. I also work as an actor and co- producer for a local dance theatre company and value the transformative power of storytelling.

I’m often called upon to draw upon my creativity to help address complex challenges.

These are skills I want to bring to my role as a councillor.

I am committed to being accessible and listening to the needs of the community.

I want to be a voice for those people, who need stronger representation.

And I want to work collaboratively with my council colleagues.

Local government, when it’s working well, has a very big impact on residents’ lives.

As the closest level of government, it manages an incredible amount of assets and delivers vital services.

Given the influence councils have, it is important that we are accountable, responsive and very clear in our decision-making.

In the past few years, some great steps have been taken towards meeting Council’s sustainability and climate-change related targets.

We must continue to find clever and creative ways to deliver on our commitment to a carbon-neutral future.

Thank you to everyone who has got in contact with me over the past couple of weeks.

If you would like to discuss anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: email [email protected] or phone 0458 769 380.

Cr Elise Wilkinson

Bellarine Ward, City of Greater Geelong