FORMER prime minister John Howard travelled to Logan City for this week’s budget announcement, delivering the keynote address in front of a crowd of Logan luminaries at a special budget breakfast.
It was a return visit to Logan City for Mr Howard, who took to the podium at Logan Metro Sports Centre on June 27 to underline how Logan City Council’s (LCC’s) new directions, including its ambitious Corporate Plan, have positioned the local government body for a transformative stage in its history.
“It is great to be in Logan again. I visited this part of Australia on many occasions in that other day job I had a few years ago,” the former prime minister said, much to the crowd’s delight.
“I’m certainly very conscious of what an extraordinarily rapidly growing area it is.”
Mr Howard observed that Logan City Council is bigger than other similar local governments such as Newcastle in NSW and Geelong in Victoria.
“I congratulate you Mr Mayor and all the members of the council on all the leadership you are giving to this part of Australia,” he said.
Mr Howard’s address was a reflection on the challenges of leadership, including the essential nature of planning, informed by his time as Australia’s prime minister from 1996 to 2007.
“If you don’t have a road map as a leader, then you get lost,” he said.
“The mayor laid out this morning his road map, what he wants to do, what he stands for, what he believes in.”
Leadership advice
“You have to acknowledge from the very beginning that you are going to make mistakes,” Mr Howard went on to say.
“That may seem a piece of counter-intuitive advice, not very positive, but it’s realistic.
“Anybody who assumes a leadership position and says to themselves ‘I’m not going to make any mistakes’ well you can write him off straight away because he’s not going to do anything.
“You inevitably make mistakes, but the art of good leadership is to get the big things right,” the former prime minister said.
Mr Howard’s ruminations on leadership errors appeared to point to the controversy surrounding Logan mayor Luke Smith’s appearance before the Crime and Corruption Commission, where councillor Smith was questioned about donations to his mayoral election campaign from property developers.
A series council CEO resignations has also overshadowed LCC in recent years, although the budget announcements were enhanced by the presence of new CEO Sharon Kelsey in her first week in the role.
Budget snapshot
LCC’s 2017-18 budget includes a forecast operational surplus of $14.4 million, an expansion on 2016-17 figures and a means of funding the council’s Corporate Plan, projecting a range of expansive new projects towards 2022.
A new commitment of $2 million annually was also announced by city treasurer councillor Trevina Schwarz, who said the program was to ensure that main roads servicing schools and new developments in Logan received attention.
