Sean Dillons Hindsight in Leadership: Get the Basics Right, Learn from your Mistakes

For eight years, Sean Dillon has led the Barcaldine Regional Council as a Councillor and then Mayor.  With the next local government election looming, he has made the decision to step down and not run for a third term. 

Sean said it was the little things that change and add up to positive growth for the Western Queensland communities.  “Opening the libraries for extra hours, fixing up potholes or installing kerb and channeling on town streets seem small, but can make a world of difference for the people it affects.” 

With local government elections about to kick off over the next few months, Sean had some pertinent advice for aspiring new Councillors.  “Sit and listen for the first 6 months.  Finances are the building blocks of Council and make the bigger projects viable when Council is in a strong position.”  While local governments are known for their control of “Rates, Rubbish and Roads” Sean said the finesse of balancing all these things to make the finances balance is a tricky business.  “While the balance sheets and Profit and Loss reports are functionally the same as private business, the drivers of change are completely different – the assets have a huge value but are actually worthless in terms of resale value for example.”

 The outgoing mayor responded to some of the more controversial moments with his time.  “If I had to do [The Rec Park] again, I would follow through the correct planning process and I would listen to the town planners advice – a mistake I will never make again”.  The construction of the Rec Park in Barcaldine was a divisive issue of the region at the time of planning and construction, splitting the community of Barcaldine in two.  Recently in the Council community meeting, it was revealed the total cost of the Rec Park was over two million dollars and operating expenses are around $210 000 per year. 

As for the future of the Region, Sean was positive but underlined the fact that state government services were an underlying stabilizing factor for outback towns.  Sean indicated that the removal of these vital services from regional Queensland could lead to catastrophe for the communities as state government employees and families could be moved to more central locations.  “We need to call the services we currently have the baseline and build our communities with more services in the bush.”

 While Sean might be retiring from Local Government, he was emphatic that he was not leaving the region.  With a lineage that extends over five generations in the area back to Aramac, he will still be heavily invested in the Barcaldine Region with hopes to pursue further government opportunities in the future.