Many people have approached me over the years and have asked for some advice on their business. “What am I doing wrong?” they often ask. In their opinion, their pricing is competitive, and their stock is at the right level and of t…
- Mar
- 01
- 2016
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Thankfully this is the last week you will hear me talk about formal submissions to our Delegate Dr Ian Tiley. Submissions close on Sunday 28 February at 5pm. I can’t stress it enough – it is essential that every man, woman and child sends…
- Feb
- 24
- 2016
I thought I might put my hand up for the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year. I could put together a pretty good document telling the franchises about the wonderful feats I could perform for them if they secured my services in the auction. The high…
- Feb
- 19
- 2016
The French expression, fait accompli, comes from fait (a fact) and accompli (accomplished) and is generally understood to mean that something has already been done and cannot be reversed. It is an ‘accomplished fact’. I don’t mean t…
- Feb
- 17
- 2016
Thank you to the people of Dubbo for turning up in numbers last Thursday. That was the day, of course, that the State Government held public meetings in Dubbo and Wellington in relation to the proposal to amalgamate the two Council areas. There were …
- Feb
- 10
- 2016
I am currently sitting at the end of the nervous nineties with this column being my ninety ninth Weekender column as Mayor. If my name was Shane Watson I would somehow manage to make this my last column! Who knows – with the current State Gover…
- Feb
- 05
- 2016
Tomorrow is a big day. I will be risking everything and putting my life on the line for the benefit of Dubbo. To help promote the opening round of the Australian Kart Championships this weekend, I will be strapped into a racing kart and then hurtle a…
- Feb
- 03
- 2016
Listening is the greatest single action we can take to improve our businesses. Some say that great salespeople have the “gift of the gab,” but in contrast, great salespeople and leaders know how to listen. Handling complaints is a particu…
- Feb
- 01
- 2016
Thank you to the people of Dubbo who turned out in huge numbers yesterday. With at least 650 people present at our Australia Day celebrations, I can confidently say that it was the best attended Australia Day ceremony ever in Dubbo. Yesterday was cer…
- Jan
- 27
- 2016
Newsflash! Humans are fallible. Some may like to think otherwise but it has been proven a few times in the past that we all make mistakes. Organisations, including Government organisations, are made up of humans. It would therefore stand to reason th…
- Jan
- 22
- 2016
It was a great day for Dubbo yesterday with the Premier, the Hon. Mike Baird, MP officially opening the new clinical services building at Dubbo Hospital. This was a jointly funded project with the NSW Government providing $84.2 million and the Austra…
- Jan
- 20
- 2016
While the year has started off positively for Dubbo with businesses generally recording good Christmas sales numbers and events and projects for this year starting to roll out already, it is hard to think about long-term strategies and positive progr…
- Jan
- 13
- 2016
Over the last few months of last year and particularly over the Christmas break, we have seen a number of incidents involving representatives from all three levels of government that have ranged from questionable to thoroughly disappointing. It start…
- Jan
- 08
- 2016
As a city, we start the New Year in fantastic shape. Last year – by a number of measures – was generally regarded as the best year ever for Dubbo and Dubbo City Council. We therefore start this year in a very strong position with a number…
- Jan
- 06
- 2016
The last column for the year. Around this time we see news and columns dedicate space and airtime to a review of the year. Far be it for me to be any different, so here is my very short version of the Dubbo City Council Year in Review. On the sportin…
- Dec
- 30
- 2015
We held our final Council meeting for the year on Monday night. While there was a lot of goodwill at that meeting and it was generally recognised by Councillors and staff that this was the best year ever for Dubbo City Council (and I will give a year…
- Dec
- 22
- 2015
We all know that the Federal Government will spend over $1 billion in the next four years to promote research, development and innovation. Malcolm Turnbull wants to drive an “ideas boom” in the nation to replace the slowing mining boom. T…
- Dec
- 18
- 2015
Very early in my time as Mayor, we were undertaking a major construction project in Dubbo. It was a good project with a large amount of money coming from the Federal Government. Unfortunately, during the project, it was obvious that we were going to …
- Dec
- 04
- 2015
In a recent survey, university students were asked why they had chosen a particular course. To my amazement, over 60 percent had chosen their degree for the perceived financial benefits. In a separate survey, 48 percent of our current workforce wishe…
- Dec
- 01
- 2015