1. Greg Martin Summary
As an elected member of Mackay Regional Council it is my responsibility to provide
civic leadership in guiding the ongoing development and growth of our
local community, the Mackay region.
What matters most to me is representing the interest of you, the region’s residents
and ratepayers, and acting as key communication between the community and
council. I stood as a Councillor because I believed the Mackay region
needed a proactive change in diversifying to bulletproof ourselves for the future as
our heavy reliance on the resources sector was not sustainable long-term.
This council has led the way forming the Diversify Mackay Leadership Alliance to
explore opportunities here and abroad and also in the 2015-2016 budget provided a
$4.8 million stimulus package to aggressively attract events and conferences to our
region and also improve the infrastructure needed to cater for these events.
This has already paid massive dividends with Mackay hosting its first ever Sheffield
Shield match between QLD Bulls and NSW in December and also attracting its first
NAB Cup AFL pre-season match in February with both events attracting national
television and print media coverage, raising the profile of region. These two events
alone will inject more than $4 million into our region's economy.
We are very aware some of our residents are doing it hard and our tourism
operators, accommodation sector and our retailers and small businesses needed an
economic kick start now, not in a few years, to fill their beds and shops.
The stimulus package is already delivering the outcomes we had hoped and it has
been my privilege to work with our super Economic Development team and Mackay
Tourism to put the Mackay region on the map as an attractive place to do business,
visit as a tourist destination and host state and national events and conferences.
Working through the red tape of local, state and federal government can be
frustrating but incredibly rewarding and I believe strongly in tackling the issues we
all face, as residents of the Mackay region, and working
towards building a strong future you can trust.