“Council has to get out of the way of the community,” says new Div 5 rep

Thirty-eight years after he was  elected a Landsborough Shire Div 2 Councillor  (1982-1991) Winston Johnston is back.

The successful businessman and new Division 5 representative hopes to draw on a lifetime of business and community acumen to help lead the community through the current COVID-19 uncertainty. Cr Johnston won by 545 votes from Greens Candidate Tracy Burton and said he was mindful that 45 percent of voters did not vote or preference either himself or the Greens Candidate. 

Cr Winston Johnston has outlined his ideas to help the community recover in the wake of COVID-19.

He said finding a replacement for Sunshine Coast Council CEO Michael Whittaker was an immediate issue with far reaching consequences and expressed grave concerns about the proposed construction of a nine-storey City Hall in the Maroochydore CBD. He said Council needed to get out of the way of the community and businesses and help the local economy heal and recover from COVID 19. 

“It’ll be hard to justify spending money on major projects like new Council chambers, which  I thought were questionable at best anyway,” he said.

“Admittedly, I haven’t been party to all of the briefings and the discussions in relation to this issue. However from the information that I’ve been able to glean and the facts I’ve been told about it from other councillors: in my opinion, it was questionable in the first place. It’s hard to see that it can be justified.”

Cr Johnston said everything has to be on the table for renegotiation: “Budgets, 10-year plans, major projects, even down to fees and charges , how Council goes about town planning applications and numerous other things like Councillors’ salaries and expenses.

“COVD 19 is a wake-up call for Council and we have to get out of the way of the community, whether they be volunteer workers, ordinary residents, or businesses and we’re going to have to help them and hold their hand to a large extent for the next few years. Look, I’m not saying we get out of the way of developers, I’m saying we get out of the way of business people and our community by ensuring Council helps and not hinders.

“Because if we don’t do that, our area is not going to recover the way it should and needs to.

“There’s a lot of small businesses that have been forced to close down because of COVID-19. By the very nature of small business you generally don’t have a lot of capital backing and you don’t have a lot of savings because profits are  reinvested in small businesses. 

Cr Johnston said operators in the wedding, tourism, hospitality and club industries had been devastated. “The restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, wedding businesses and clubs are on their knees. 

“Some of them have been able to stay open through improvisation and being able to sell some takeaway food, but there’s a limit to that. All that’ll probably do is pay their insurance, electricity and gas bill plus a few other minor things.” 

Cr Johnston said he would be encouraging his fellow councillors to reduce red tape and thoroughly investigate and review rates, fees and charges. 

“Whether we give a moratorium on them and for how long will need to be closely considered. We certainly can’t afford to be increasing rates. If anything, we should be trying to help the community by finding ways where maybe, just possibly, we can actually reduce rates and eliminate some fees and charges. But that may not be achievable. 

“Make no mistake, this council is going to be judged comprehensively on how good a job they do in helping the Coast to recover.  If we don’t do a good job and we stuff it up, well the community will not thank us and will rightly punish us at the first opportunity.

“Whilst it’s wonderful to be elected, it’s tempered by the fact that this is going to be a very difficult and complex period that we’re entering in the history of the Sunshine Coast.” 

New Council Lineup

Mayor: Mark Jamieson

Division 1: Rick Baberowski

Division 2: Terry Landsberg

Division 3: Peter Cox

Division 4: Joe Natoli 

Division 5: Winston Johnston

Division 6: Christian Dickson 

Division 7: Ted Hungerford

Division 8: Jason O’Pray

Division 9: Maria Suarez

Division 10: David Law

–  Cameron Outridge