Latest news with #civicduty
ABC News
30-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Country councillors resign as they struggle to balance role with full-time jobs
Low pay and growing workloads may be forcing country councillors out of the job, as they struggle to balance the demands of being a politician while working full-time elsewhere. The responsibilities of councillors vary across the country, with the scope changing with the size and population of their communities. South-west Queensland farmer and outgoing Balonne Shire councillor Jason Southern handed in his immediate resignation on May 20, saying he had too much work to do outside of the council to continue in the job. "I really feel like the role of a councillor needs a solid commitment of time and effort," he said. "And the reality is that my business commitments are stretching me too thin to give the role all that it deserves at this point." The council, 600 kilometres from Brisbane, will now hold a by-election to find a new councillor. Balonne Mayor Samantha O'Toole said she understood Mr Southern's decision to resign, and she urged anyone running for council to really consider the commitment it required. "Years ago, councillors were often just in the office one day a month and for a council meeting, but now it's often multiple days," she said. "It does take a considerable amount of time, but unfortunately the pay doesn't compensate you for the time fully. "It is really considered a civic duty or a volunteering position and that is a challenge for people because you can't necessarily leave a full-time job." Former Quilpie mayor Stuart Mackenzie OAM spent more than two decades in local government. He said the role of councillor had changed a lot in the almost 30 years since he was first elected. "When I started [in 1997], we used to get paid $120-a-meeting fee and that was it," he said. In July, the pay packets of Queensland councillors will increase across the state, ranging from $61,486 a year for smaller regions, like Barcoo, to $170,819 for councillors on the Gold Coast. Ms O'Toole said councillors should ideally be paid a liveable wage to compensate them for the time they dedicate to the job. But she said it was not possible in smaller communities like Balonne, where councillors salaries would rise to just over $62,000 a year. "The easy argument would be, 'Let's increase their remuneration to actually compensate people for the time that they contribute,'" she said. "But then that actually comes from our ratepayers. "For those councils like ours that have a low-rate base, you have to be really mindful that you know every dollar that we spend comes from homes. "I don't know if there's an easy answer in it but it is something that we really are challenged by in rural and remote areas." However, Mr Mackenzie said he did not think the role should be considered a full-time job regardless of the size of the council. "There's a lot of people who get in on councils now that don't actually have a lot of life experience and they're just wanting to be a councillor,' he said. "As mayor, I wanted councillors to keep doing their normal day job because I thought it was the best way to stay involved with the community and consult the community. "It's becoming a full-time job and they're creating more and more work for councillors to do but I don't know if they actually achieve any more." Former Balonne councillor Rod Avery decided not to run for re-election in 2024 because, like Mr Southern, he faced mounting business commitments. "There's a balancing act there, especially for those of us [who are the] main principal of your business," he said. "If you're a sole sort of trader, it gets a bit hard but you know you can at certain times balance what's going on." Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive officer Alison Smith said the role of a councillor could be very rewarding, but it came at a cost. "Councils and councillors are critical to successful, liveable communities," she said. "It is a huge job that can take a toll on councillors and their families as well as impact their livelihoods and businesses, but one that we all need to continue to attract the best possible candidates to put their hands up for their local communities."
New York Times
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Reality Show Where Immigrants Compete for U.S. Citizenship? D.H.S. Is Considering It.
The Department of Homeland Security is considering taking part in a television program that would have immigrants go through a series of challenges to get American citizenship, officials said on Friday. The challenges would be based on various American traditions and customs, said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the agency. She said the department was still reviewing the idea, which she spoke about several weeks ago with a producer named Rob Worsoff. 'The pitch generally was a celebration of being an American and what a privilege it is to be able to be a citizen of the United States of America,' she said. 'It's important to revive civic duty.' She said the agency was happy to review 'out-of-the-box pitches,' particularly those that celebrate 'what it means to be an American.' The project was reported earlier by The Daily Mail. Mr. Worsoff told The Wall Street Journal that the show was not intended to be punitive. 'This isn't 'The Hunger Games' for immigrants,' Mr. Worsoff said, adding, 'This is not, 'Hey, if you lose, we are shipping you out on a boat out of the country.'' Ms. McLaughlin said the pitch had not yet reached the level of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary. She said on social media on Thursday that the department 'receives hundreds of television show pitches a year,' including for documentaries about border operations and white-collar investigations. 'Each proposal undergoes a thorough vetting process prior to denial or approval,' Ms. McLaughlin said. 'This pitch has not received approval or denial by staff.' The department has worked with filmmakers in the past on programming. In 2017, during the first Trump administration, the agency allowed documentary filmmakers extensive access to operations conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for a program called 'Immigration Nation.'
The Herald
07-05-2025
- General
- The Herald
The man who started it all
And just three years later he was still teaching when he and friend John Philip set the wheels in motion in a joint newspaper venture, with Paterson as publisher and Philip as printer. It would be almost 100 years though ( 92 years to be exact) before The Herald started publishing news on its front page. 'On behalf of John Paterson's descendants I would like to congratulate the Eastern Province Herald newspaper on its 180th birthday,' his great-great grandson Gordon Paterson, who lives in New Zealand, said on the occasion of the newspaper's 180th anniversary. He said Paterson and Philip had established the newspaper on May 7 1845 to contribute to the development of the fledgling city. 'Paterson, having the heart of an educator, knew the newspaper was a medium through which city service entities and infrastructure could be promoted and established. 'Productive citizenship and service to the community could be encouraged, as could entrepreneurship and enterprise which would develop the economic welfare and standard of living within the city.' Paterson said the book, One Titan at a Time (published in 1960), which documents the life and times of John Paterson, was a source of pride for the Paterson family and a 'challenge for us all to live productive lives as our forefather did'. He said: 'Speaking on the occasion of the 150th birthday of this remarkable newspaper, president Nelson Mandela stated: ' The moral of its story is that The Herald was founded on the rock of civic duty by a citizen, as committed to imparting academic knowledge to pupils as he was to uniting a community to take responsibility for its wellbeing. 'In that sense, John Paterson was a trailblazer whose message is as relevant today as it was one-and-half centuries ago ... Indeed, 150 years ago, Paterson could have chosen to focus on the wealthy among the new settlers, who lived in comfort amid the chaos in the settlement which he so vividly described. 'But he was concerned with the interests of that community as a whole'.' Paterson said this reinforced the notion that his great-great grandfather was a visionary who saw the broader picture of The Herald's mission. 'We wish The Herald family all the very best for its continued contribution to Gqeberha as the city charts its course during challenging times. 'Ultimately the city's success will be dependent upon the 'civic duty' of all its citizens as was the case back in 1845. 'May The Herald continue to inform and unite its citizens, thus continuing its contribution to a city which provides a future of peace and prosperity for all,' he said. John Paterson also founded Grey High School in 1856 — in his own words 'to be a fortune to one and all of the succeeding generations of youth in Port Elizabeth' — and six years later, started one of SA's most prominent and largest financial institutions, Standard Bank. Gordon Paterson has often spoken with great pride of his great-great grandfather's legacy.
