Remarks at the Swearing-in Ceremony for the 2022-2026 Council: Mayor’s Parlour, Wednesday 23 November 2022, 6:00pm

23/10/2022

Good evening

Welcome to the 2022 Swearing-in Ceremony for the new City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters Council.

It’s great to see so many smiling, happy faces here.

I would especially like to extend a very sincere congratulations and warm welcome to the five new Elected Members: Claire Clutterham, Hugh Holfeld, Victoria McFarlane, Grant Piggott and Josh Robinson.

This is an exciting and memorable evening for you. I hope you enjoy it.

I also welcome your family and friends who have supported you during your campaign.

I am sure they are very proud of you and are thrilled to be able to be a part of this significant moment in your life.

Welcome also to the returning members: John Callisto, Kevin Duke, Connie Granozio, Garry Knoblauch, Christel Mex, Kester Moorhouse, Scott Sims and Sue Whitington, and to your families and friends.  

I thank you for the support you gave them during the recent campaign.

I would like to acknowledge my wife, Pina, our children, Isabella, Christian and Charlotte, and my brother, Mario and my niece, Emily.

I thank them for their unwavering support.

I don’t think I have ever been more excited about a new Council Term than I am about this one.

The recent Local Government election has given delivered the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters a Council with a wonderful blend of youth and experience. But, that’s enough about me!

I am delighted that so many young people who put their hand up were successful in their first attempt in running for Council.

To me, this indicates two things: one, that the talent pool is both deep and wide and the Elected Members now better represents the cross-section of our community.

Two, it’s a clear sign that that we have Elected Members who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work that is required to get the results they want.

But the real work is about to begin, starting on Saturday with mandatory training, followed by Special Council meeting next Monday night.

But it won’t be all work and no play!

We do know how to have fun here – our Budget Information sessions are a real hoot! – I promise you’ll love them.

In the coming weeks, you’ll have the opportunity to attend a number of Council events, as well as events and activities organised by local community groups and organisations and sporting clubs.

I encourage you to attend as many of these events as possible - get out amongst it, make yourself known, talk to people, understand their issues and aspirations.

To the new members joining the Council, I look forward to your energy and enthusiasm to bring fresh ideas to the council Chamber.

To the returning members, I look to you to help me provide the leadership, support and guidance that is needed to continue having a cohesive and functioning Council.

But I also ask you to be on hand to help and mentor your new colleagues.

To all members, I ask that we commit ourselves to work as a team to improve the welfare of the people of our City whom we have the honour serve.  

In the words of Henry Ford, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”

When Council succeeds, our community succeeds.  

Let’s strive to find common ground on the important issues facing our City, knowing that no one person can do it all and no one person knows it all.

Let’s also embrace the art of the possible.

To quote Brian Tracy: “Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.” 

I want this Council to be a Council of leaders. I know we can be that Council. 

I want this council to be a Council that finds solution.  I know we can be that Council too.

I am also acutely aware that with each new term comes the expectation from the community that election pledges will now be fulfilled - and sooner rather than later.

You will be inundated with requests from residents and ratepayers to follow-up on the conversations you had at their door, in the park, on the street or at the shops during the campaign.

In this regard, you will soon discover, as John F. Kennedy said, that “the pressure will be greater than the pay.”

I am equally aware of the desire of all Members deliver for your respective wards - your ‘patch’.

This is completely reasonable. 

But we cannot lose sight of the bigger picture. 

Parochialism should not get in the way of pragmatism and decisions should be based on reason rather than region.

What good for one part of the of the City, is good for all of the City.

Of course, the relationships we have with our fellow Elected Members is only one side of the coin.

The other and equally important side of the coin is the relationship we have with staff.

Put simply, staff are our indispensable partners, there to provide professional assistance and frank and fearless advice to help us make informed decisions that will benefit our community.

We may not always agree, but we need not be disagreeable, and the line that separates the roles of staff and Elected Members must always be respected and never redrawn.

Members, we have been elected to lead our City at a time of great challenge and unprecedented opportunity.

Our challenge is to do more with less, to meet rising expectations, and to be more transparent with and accountable to those we represent. 

Our opportunity is to take Norwood Payneham & St Peters to the next level in the Local Government sector.

Right now, we are investing in infrastructure as never before and we now have strategies for our trees and for our built heritage and more.

To borrow one candidate’s campaign slogan, we have taken real action for a better future.

The next for years is our chance to make this the best Council term since amalgamation. 

The task will be hard. There will be setbacks and disappointment along the way, but I believe we can do it and I ask you to join me to meet the moment. 

I conclude my remarks tonight with what I believe is simple but practical advice from US Congressman Ben Quayle:

“Don't try to be somebody you're not because it doesn't work. If you try to be this perfect person or perfect persona of what you think that somebody should be when they're involved in public office, it's just not going to work. Just be yourself, stay true to your core values, and really just stay abreast of the issues.”

I wish you all the best for the next four years and look forward to leading the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters with you.

Let’s get to work.

Thank you.

Mayor Robert Bria