Mayor’s report to Council 17 February

When we were last in this Chamber for our December Council meeting, we were looking forward to Christmas celebrations, enjoying summer events and a short break to recharge ahead of what was shaping up to be a busy year. Pleasingly, we had made great progress towards recovering the Budget, improving council processes and governance, being relieved of our Municipal Monitor, and having a strong team of Councillors and Executive staff all working together towards a common goal. 

At that time, I had not imagined my first address for 2026 would be about the worst bushfires to hit our Shire since 1965. 

The Longwood Berrys Lane bushfire has changed our landscape and had profound, far-reaching and enduring impacts on the Strathbogie Shire, and particularly the residents of Ruffy, Longwood, Gooram, Tarcombe and Creighton’s Creek. 

Our hearts are broken for the loss of life; the loss of homes, properties and businesses; the loss of livestock and the broader impact on our communities and economy. 

I want to acknowledge all the emergency services personnel who responded to this disaster, including particularly CFA volunteers and frontline workers for their tireless efforts. Your courage, professionalism and compassion have made a profound difference to our community and will continue to do so. 

I also want to acknowledge the community-led relief operations, particularly in Ruffy which has been a herculean effort in responding to both human and animal needs, and also the communities of Creightons Creek and Gooram who have established strong support and recovery plans for their areas. 

I am so proud of the way our community has come together to support one another. At times in this role, it is easy to get consumed by the targeted negativity in social media and the efforts of night-time keyboard warriors, but it has been so heart-warming to see only the best of the great Aussie spirit rise to the top, to protect and assist our most in need. The generosity has been overwhelming, and we thank you for the outpouring of love and support that has been felt right across our Shire.  

I want to specifically acknowledge the phenomenal contribution of our local Member for Euroa – Annabelle Cleeland. Despite losing much of her own farm and stock, Annabelle has been on the ground in every part of her affected electorate and beyond, advocating, organizing, connecting people, and resolving issues. She connected the best to initiate the Longwood Fodder Depot, to which we will be forever indebted to Neil and Kerrie Tubb and family, along with countless volunteers.  

She has also been instrumental in ensuring her constituents can access funding through the Strathbogie Disaster Relief Fund, organized by another group of dedicated and professional community members. Regardless of political affiliation, it is hard to fault Annabelle’s remarkable humanistic response to this disaster, and I look forward to continuing our advocacy, and support of our community, together. 

I want to acknowledge the incredible work over the past few weeks of my fellow councillors who have been on the ground across our Shire helping our residents. Our councillors were there right from the start, assisting at the relief centres, organizing help for affected residents, even moving hay and other goods to those in need. 

I would like to thank Deputy Mayor Claire Ewart-Kennedy for stepping into the Mayoral role while I fought the fires as a CFA volunteer, and subsequently fire threatening our family homes and properties in the first few days of the disaster. As expected, she didn’t miss a beat, but she did break my phone! 

Thank you to our CEO Rachelle Quattrocchi who, less than a year into the role, has shown absolute commitment to our organization, people, and community. We have shared unimaginable grief with residents directly affected by fire, watched with awe at the strength and resilience of our communities, and commenced the process to recovery. Rachelle has also been instrumental in planning and articulating our requirements through effective advocacy, which I will speak more about shortly, but also that I hope to be able to report on as success stories in the coming months! 

Many of our staff and their families were also directly affected by the fires, but the entire team has worked tirelessly to support our communities. This included filling emergency roles when the fire was still going, to now leading the recovery efforts. The entire council team has continued to deliver business as usual while responding to the fire emergency, and I want to commend each member of staff for the dedication they have shown.  

The fire’s impact extended into our neighbouring shires, and we have been working closely with Murrindindi, Mansfield and Mitchell Shires as we all start on the long road to recovery. It has been uplifting to see that municipal borders have become temporarily erased, with the needs of our communities coming first and foremost.  

A special thanks must go to Mitchell Shire, CEO Mary Agostino and Mayor John Dougall for hosting the Relief Centre in Seymour in the first few weeks of the disaster, and Mayor Shane Sali from the City of Greater Shepparton for organizing three semi-loads of human supplies from donations received from the good people of Shepparton. 

Other Councils from across Victoria have mobilised staff with emergency response and recovery experience to assist us with our initial response and now the recovery process.  Staff from Greater Shepparton, Campaspe, Mornington Peninsula, Monash, Manningham, Greater Dandenong and Bendigo, along with the Red Cross, Victorian Council of Churches, Government Shared Services and Arborists, have come together to form the Secondary Impact Assessment teams that will be active in our devasted communities for some time to come, and we thank them for their support.  

There are so many other volunteers, both individual, charitable, and business, that have contributed so much to the greater good in this response – thank you all from the bottom of my heart for what you have given and continue to give! 

Council is committed to carrying on the great work our community has started, supporting rebuilding and restoring what was lost, while strengthening our communities and laying the foundation for a more resilient future.  

In today’s agenda, Council will introduce a condolence motion. With that motion, we recognise the resilience and strength shown by communities in the face of all we have lost and reaffirm a shared commitment to recovery and renewal. 

We took an important step on our recovery journey last week with the opening of our long-term Recovery Hub at 34 Railway Street, Euroa. The Hub is a central, welcoming and trusted place designed to support our community through recovery, healing and rebuilding. It brings together key agencies, wellbeing services and recovery specialists in one accessible location.  

It is designed to make it easier for individuals, families, businesses and community groups to access practical support, clear information and guidance – all in one place. 

The Recovery Hub has been made possible thanks in part to the $15 million in recovery support funding that has been pledged by the State and Federal Governments under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. 

Council has been actively advocating across all levels of government since the fires to ensure our community has the resources and support it needs to move forward. 

The CEO, Councillors and I have met with numerous Federal and State Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries including: 

• The Premier – Jacinta Allan 

• The Treasurer and Minister for Regional Development – Jaclyn Symes 

• The Minister for Emergency Services – Vicki Ward, who also attended our Hub opening  

• The Minister for Local Government – Nick Staikos   

• The Minister for Planning – Sonya Kilkenny 

• The Minister for Agriculture – Ros Spence 

• The Federal Minister for Emergency Management – Kristy McBain  

• The Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland 

• The Member for Indi – Helen Haines   

• The Member for Nicholls – Sam Birrell 

• The Member for Northern Victoria – Ricki-Lee Tyrell 

• The Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Services – Sheena Watt and the Parliamentary Secretary for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention – Paul Edbrooke  

• Minister Mental Health, Ageing, Multicultural Affairs and Prevention Family Violence - Hon Ingrid Stitt MP  

• Shadow Treasurer and Leader of Opposition – Jess Wilson  

• Shadow Minister for Women, Prevention Family Violence, Worksafe and TAC – Cindy McLeish  

• Tim Wiebusch Emergency Management Commissioner  

• Member for Northern Victoria – The Hon Wendy Lovell MLC and Gaele Broad 

 I have also spoken at length with Her Excellency Sam Mostyn – the Governor General of Australia, who showed great interest and empathy towards our situation. I have extended the offer for Her Excellency to visit our region soon.  

We are also presently working with Her Excellency, Professor Margaret Gardner, Governor of Victoria, to organise a visit to the fire-affected region, such that there is a broad appreciation of the devastation and a multi-faceted approach to Governments response. 

These meetings and ongoing advocacy are critical to ensure that our politicians and decision-makers understand the context that we are living – that being Strathbogie Shire operating in a financially constrained environment, and suffering from at least three significant and consecutive natural disasters. It is absolutely essential and my strong position, that we receive support and funding that adequately covers the costs incurred by council (and thus our ratepayers and taxpayers) in responding to these events. I thank all those I have met with for the support they have shown thus far, and I look forward to working together in partnership through the recovery phase. 

With all that’s been going on, business as usual has continued in other parts of the Shire, and I wanted to mention the wonderful Australia Day events that took place last month. Thank you to all the organizing committee members, and those who participated in bringing many Strathbogie Shire Australians together in celebration of what makes this place so great. 

I was proud to welcome some of our newest Australians at our Citizenship Ceremony, which was held on January 27. At a time when we had witnessed first-hand the very best of Australian courage, mateship, and resilience, it was wonderful to reflect on what it means to be Australian as I received the pledges of our newest citizens. Their joy and delight were infectious, and we are very fortunate to have them as part of our community. 

Finally, I’d like to thank and make mention of the roughly 80% of our shire community who was not directly impacted by this disaster but has stood by us over the past nearly six weeks since the fire first started at Berrys Lane in Longwood. Your generosity of spirit, human and animal needs, and for giving us the space to stablise the community and organization, and implement our recovery process, has been much appreciated! We anticipate more business-as-usual council updates from next week, with the Recovery hub running in parallel. 

 Thank you!