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 around the Lincoln County Raceway at speeds in excess of 100 km/h – with only a few centimetres and some fibreglass between my derrière and the bitumen. With a record 250 entries from across Australia and New Zealand, this will be some of the most exciting racing ever seen at our local track in its 23 year history. Every V8 Supercar driver started their careers in karting and when the Australian Championship was first held in Dubbo during 1995, reigning V8 Supercars Champion Mark Winterbottom was victorious in his class. I encourage you to have a look over the weekend where you might be witnessing a future V8 Supercar champion.
If I survive the karting experience, I also have an important appointment at Club Dubbo which I strongly encourage you to attend and be a part of. Tomorrow is the one chance you have to attend a public meeting that will help decide the future of the Dubbo Local Government Area. In this nation we have had 102,815 deaths as a result of service with Australian units and those people died to help protect the wonderful democracy we have and the freedoms that we enjoy. Even though I have been largely unimpressed with the State Government process involved in public consultation in relation to Council mergers, tomorrow is the day that the rubber hits the road. If we have low attendance numbers at Club Dubbo tomorrow, it will leave the State Government with the impression that the people in this community are not concerned about merger possibilities. If we have Club Dubbo packed with people – and lined up out the door – the State Government will know loud and clear that this community cares about our future. Council obviously has an official position that we are not in favour of amalgamation. We are fortunate to have our State Member, Deputy Premier the Hon. Troy Grant MP, as our local Member, and he is backing the Dubbo standalone position as well. Nevertheless, I would still encourage you to attend tomorrow even if you are in favour of amalgamation. True public consultation is open to everyone so I want a huge number of people present. Your community is counting on you. There will be two sessions held – 3pm to 5pm and 7pm to 10pm. I am only allowed to speak at one session so I will be speaking at the beginning of the first session. #NoDubbington
Councillor Mathew Dickerson
Mayor of the City of Dubbo