COUNCILLOR COLUMN – September 06, 2018

At its meeting on Tuesday August 28, the Greater Geelong Council released a draft Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan for community consultation. The following is an edited extract of councillor Pat Murnane’s speech during the meeting:

There is an urgent need for this Council to consider the plight of the disadvantaged in our community.

In recent years we, and councils before us, have done a magnificent job focussing on some real challenges.

Just to name a couple: the revitalisation of the Geelong CBD, developing some fantastic subdivisions to cope with rapid population growth, and building and upgrading sporting facilities, including Kardinia Park. These are major achievements.

It’s now time for this Council, including myself, to apply the same skills that we applied to those projects, that same influence, certainly the same passion, and also some finance, to address the challenges raised in this plan.

If you look at the statistics in the report: 32 per cent of adults in our community have anxiety and depression; 49 per cent are classified as obese or pre-obese; and half of adults in our community don’t meet the minimum guidelines for physical activity.

In the past 12 months, four per cent of this community ran out of food, and didn’t have enough money to be able to buy any more.

That’s 8000 people.

Are we really a lucky city and a lucky country when we think of those things?

Tonight is not the night to be talking about solutions – that will come in the future.

But I wish to make the point that what we’re doing is not necessarily working. We need to do more, and we need to try different things.

It’s the time to be bold. We need to come up with some new initiatives that haven’t been tried before, and we definitely need to invest in this area.

And importantly, we need to start listening to new voices.

There are homeless people in our streets, and there are children starving in their homes.

We need to do something about that, and Council needs to take the lead.

I want to see some action come out of this plan. I want the Council officers to feel confident that they can bring suggestions to us and we will listen, and where possible we’ll act on those suggestions.

To the officers, you have my commitment, and I’m sure the commitment of my fellow councillors: if you can bring good solutions to us, then we will certainly act.

We have used the phrase in this Council, ‘Community First.’ I think that’s a good way to look at things, but let’s not leave people behind any longer.

I’d be very happy, and very proud, if what we do in this space defines this Council at the end of its term.

That would be a worthwhile goal for us all.

Footnote: The draft Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plan sets out four aims for 2018-2021:
• Improve mental health through social connections
• Increase public participation in physical activity
• Improve access to safe and healthy local environments, services and food
• Increase community safety and prevent violence and injury.

Read the draft in full and have your say at geelongaustralia.com.au/yoursay.