Civic leadership is in new mayor’s DNA

New look Tatiara District Council looks to 2023 plans

“Whatever I do, I commit 100 per cent and I’m ready to that for this.”

They were the words of Tatiara Mayor Liz Goossens as she embarked on her first term as mayor, having served a solid apprenticeship in council – a councillor since 2013 and deputy mayor for the past two years.

Community leadership is certainly in her DNA and she has stepped into a role her father held. “I grew up well aware of what council does,” Mrs Goossens said.

And not just because of her father’s two decade tenure as mayor but her mother was a reporter for the Border Chronicle.

“It meant I had a lot of awareness of council – I grew up in a community-minded family.”

So, in a way, her November 2022 election win in the mayoral race was in her destiny.

Even her ascension to council initially came when the planets aligned – selling the Old Mundulla Hotel, which had been an all-consuming business, and allowing her the time to give back to her community through local government service.

“The Mundulla people are very community-minded as well,” she said.

“I believe if you want to have a say you need to get involved and that’s why I joined council in the first place.”

Heading into her 10th anniversary on council, Mrs Goossens has taken on the mayoral role on the back of a strong grounding in executive, economic development and tourism and audit committees.

“That has enabled me to develop an excellent understanding of how council operates,” she said.

“I have attended many community events, gaining the opportunity to meet people to hear their views and concerns.”

With some experienced councillors stepping away from civic service at the 2022 elections, Mrs Goossens felt it was important to have some continuity.

“I felt it was important to have somebody from the existing council to step up to mayor,” she said.

“This was my turn to step up.” And she was glad John Ross put his hand up to also contest the mayoral role.

“It was important people were given a choice,” she said. “You definitely want to be elected rather than nobody else wanting to do it.”

With so many new faces on the Tatiara District Council, there has definitely been an orientation process to ensure the new councillors were across all the procedure, paperwork and other challenges and expectations for council. Seven of the 10 councillors are new to council.

“Certainly part of me wanting to become mayor was looking after these new members and I am excited by the challenge ahead,” she said, also acknowledging the role CEO Anne Champness has, and will, play in guiding the new crop of councillors.

She has given me the confidence to believe I can do the job and having someone like that right by my side. We have excellent staff at council and they really want to make the councillors feel comfortable.”

Mrs Goossens is all about information and ensuring everything is on the table before decisions are made. “You need to make sure people understand what we are discussing,” she said.

“You have to have all the information before you vote and making sure everyone is comfortable to make a decision.” Housing looms as an ongoing challenge and priority for the newly elected council.

“Access to power and water is also crucial – it is hard to develop if those issues are not addressed,” the new mayor said. Childcare was another high priority issue in the Tatiara with so much of the key issues surrounding the need to look after the Tatiara workforce.

“We are a thriving district – business is booming and we want to help those businesses,” she said. The cultural diversity of the Tatiara district, courtesy of a strong migrant workforce, was also a focus with Mrs Goossens looking to work with other levels of government regarding visas and residency.

“We need to have migrants here and we want them to be able to bring their families here – a lot of them want to become residents and we want them as part of our community,” she said. But much like her newly installed Naracoorte Lucindale counterpart Patrick Ross, rates, roads and rubbish are council’s core business.

Thew new mayor not only brings her 10 years of life in local government to the role but also an impressive resume outside of civic service.

“I am a member of Mundulla on the Move and on the Tatiara Retirement Village board, have worked with government departments, owned, and operated a successful business and at present manage a cellar door at Padthaway so understand the issues in running a business in the Tatiara,” Mrs Goossens said.

“As a JP I am experienced in dealing with sensitive and confidential issues and I have an enthusiastic vision for the future of the Tatiara. I am committed to ensuring that the Tatiara develops economically and socially within the bounds of sustainability.”