Because of your support, I’ve had the honour of serving as your Mayor since the last election in December 2021.

And I know it’s been a challenging time for our community. The 2022 floods changed everything.

Despite this, we’ve been able to achieve a lot together. We secured more housing, we’ve supported our businesses, and we’re reopening community facilities.

We have recently, after decades of neglect by others, secured funding to fix our drains.  Our massive road funding package will transform our City and the connections between our villages.

By finally turning the Council around with strong leadership, we can now support our local businesses to grow our local economy guaranteeing jobs.

But we all know there’s more to be done and I need your vote to make sure we can continue to rebuild together.

I was born and raised in Regional Australia, spending most of my childhood working on dairy farms, carting hay, and with shearing teams.

I pursued a degree in education, and after graduating spent a year teaching in Brisbane. I then moved west to work in an agricultural school whose purpose was reforming troubled teens.

From 1998, I had the privilege of teaching in Casino for ten years. I thoroughly enjoyed my time teaching, making many friends who I still hold dear, but I knew that I needed a change. After much soul searching, my wife Julianne (Jules) and I left the security of our profession and bought La Baracca.

It’s been an opportunity that I am grateful for every single day. Our staff, both past and present are an extension of our family. We get the opportunity to meet the most wonderful people and we’re doing something that we love. As they say, if you stand still you go backwards, so we took the opportunity to open Ristretto in 2017. In 2018, with the support of Jules’ Dad, Steve Hilder, we started Just Drive Driver Education.

My family is my greatest achievement. Five children in total, Sam (27), Jessica (25), Jorgi (17), Annie (15), and Gabrielle (12). They are our world, our motivation, and our inspiration. We’ve been faced with many challenges, especially the recent floods of 2017 and 2022, but we will always do our best for our kids.

My wife, Jules, is my hero and the love of my life. She manages a house, the businesses, the kids, and, hardest of all, me. She is amazing.