Moree Plains Shire Council will soon have a significant change of leadership. Councillor Mark Johnson will resign his mayoral position and council seat after two years and 10 months in office. Council will move into caretaker mode on 14 August until local government elections on 15 September.
At 63, Cr Johnson was pragmatic about his outlook on another term, and said the choice was personal. He and his wife Helen have a second grandchild on the way, and he felt ready to move forward to the next chapter.
“I’m not unwell. I’ve got no personal tragedy in my life. I’ve had a busy professional life for 40 years, and (serving as mayor) on top of it, it’s just time to have some space.
“I’m at a point in my life where I just couldn’t do that for another four years,” he said.
“People say, ‘Well, could you just be a councillor?’ Well, I don’t think it’s fair on the new leader, because just as Katrina (Humphries) stepped away and allowed me to step in, I think it’s unfair for that next person. I’m there. I’m happy to help. But when you’re down in that room, that’s your room.”
Born and raised in Moree, the Cr Johnson grew up in South Moree, attended public school, and worked for decades as a chartered accountant, finishing as leader of a large local firm until he felt moved in 2021 to run for local government.
“And I wanted to make a contribution to a town in the shire that was been so great for me and my family, so the time was right.”
He received the majority vote in the 2021 special elections, and was sworn in alongside six other newly-minted councillors on a council of nine in January of 2022. He won the leadership and assumed the mayoral position following former Mayor Katrina Humphries’ 13-year tenure.
Both he and Deputy Mayor, Cr Susannah Pearse, retained their positions in the 2023 mayoral elections. Pearse has posted to social media that she will be running again this September.
Challenges and opportunities for change
Though he came late to local government, the opportunity lay within Cr Johnson’s aspirations to enact change in his community.
“I pursued it, because all of my life, I’ve grown tired of the poor reputation that our town has in terms of a place to come and raise your family and operate a business,” he said.
“I wanted to lift the profile with my council about Moree as a destination, as an opportunity, and just to try and improve that representation reputation to the wider world, if you like.”
The council faced sobering challenges of drought impact, closing of the Moree Saleyards, a vacant general manager position, the aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, and devastating district floods in October 2022.
They also inherited stewardship of the sweeping $227 million Special Activation Precinct (SAP) fought for and won by former Mayor Humphries. The SAP is set to bring jobs, development, agricultural and retail growth for Moree, building upon existing and new infrastructure and offering employment to several thousand people in the next 15 years and beyond.
“And really, we see that as a cornerstone of how we can grow this shire, because it’s been based on agriculture and agriculture needs fewer and fewer people now,” Cr Johnson said.
“We need to have that secondary industry. So, when the new Labor government came in, and obviously, as governments do, they were reviewing all of their previous commitments. We were very nervous that we might lose the SAP.”
SAP threatened by local crime
The local crime rate which had become a national news story caused concern within Moree Plains Council that SAP funding, and its future, might be jeopardised, alongside the immediate action needed for fractured local families and disenfranchised youth who could have brighter futures if systemic issues were properly addressed.
Cr Johnson and his colleagues commissioned a report on the root causes of local crime, review of over 50 related agencies within the shire, and results of previous investment in the issue. With advocacy from former Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, the Moree report got the attention of NSW Government and its Premier Chris Minns.
Cr Johnson said they had short and long-term goals to tackle local crime, protect residents, and address the future of the perpetrators.
“And what our study showed is that there was not a great lot of collaboration, transparency, funding was an outcome-based, all those sorts of things that you would think made sense for it to work.
“We want to have a longer term solution. We need some alternatives for the police and the courts because the police – this is the only option when they arrest and process these children was to take them back to spaces which potentially weren’t safe, certainly weren’t conducive to doing the right thing, and didn’t give any real long-term foundation to be better people.
“I got a call from Adam the afternoon before and said, ‘Don’t make any plans for tomorrow. Something’s happening.’ And he rang me an hour later, said the Premier’s on his way.”
The Premier arrived in Moree with the Assistant Commission of Police, the Secretary Director of Youth Justice. Cr Johnson said The Sydney cohort might have expected the conversation would be about locking up offenders forever, but that was not council’s intent.
“The priority was to make people feel safe, and that was where we were copping it as a council.”
“People shouldn’t go to bed at night and wonder whether they’re going to be robbed. But again, it’s not the easy piece, but that’s the basic piece.”
He said the easy fix was throwing police at the problem but felt there was a broader view to ensure a long-term solution.
Doing the work to get a better, lasting result
“Why are these kids committing those crimes? What’s going on in their homes? How can we look at that? Because until we get that, as I said, that generational change, where they want to engage and be part of our community and contribute to the community, we’re just going to go around and around the mulberry bush.
“The big-ticket item is how we are able to turn those kids around and make this systemic intergenerational attitude different.”
“We need those children to wake up and be positive about life and want to make a positive contribution, because if our SAP is successful, we’re going to need those kids to be engaged and being employed in that.”
Cr Johnson said the outcomes of those conversations with Premier Minns was extremely positive for the community, resulting in state policy changes and $13.4 million invested in turning the issue around to assist Moree Plains residents and offenders toward a better future.
“He stood beside me during our issues with the youth crime, and he’s enabled doors to be opened with the Labor government at a state level, and we’ve become very, very close as a shire with the Minns government,” Cr Johnson said.
“Chris Minns is an amazing person. I cannot speak highly enough of him. He’s been a great supporter of our town and our shire during some of our darkest moments.”
“And he’s done exactly what he said he was going to do, and he’s remained interested and engaged and connected to us. So, I’ll be forever grateful for him for that.”
Building relationships on all sides
“And that’s really been the highlight for me, being able to really look lift the level of our relationships with those levels of Labor governments.”
“That’s about building trust and respect, just like any relationship.”
During his mayoral tenure, Cr Johnson said Moree Plains received some negative press from some country councils criticising the attention on the shire, and outside perception of its communities. He pushed back, championing Moree and explaining to his state colleagues that they acknowledged their issues and asked for genuine attention.
“Generally speaking, Moree was seen as a bit of a sweetheart because we’d also had our hospital funding reconfirmed. We had this Special Activation reconfirmed. We had the Premier here giving us $13.4 million,” he said.
“So, there was a bit of cynicism within that group, and also from the other side, the other side, the opposition, that it shouldn’t have come to Moree, and it should have been rolled out to all those centres.
“I said, ‘Well, we stood up and said we have a problem, and we need help.’”
As a safe state and federal Nationals seat, Cr Johnson was mindful of creating strong partnerships with Labor counterparts, and also invested time in building stronger relationships with adjacent Queensland councils Balonne Shire and Goondiwindi Region.
“My biggest hope for the new council is that they continue on to build on the relationships. And I think, again, if you have those strong relationships, whether it’s down in (council chambers), in your community, or at levels of government, things become easier,” he said.
Leaving things in good shape
As the outgoing mayor, Cr Johnson will look back on leading a council making significant progress in council road improvement, the restructure of council’s management team, including a new General Manager, redevelopment and refurbishment of the Moree Aquatic Centre and Bank Art Museum, progress on the Burnt and Derelict Housing Enforcement Program, and looks to leave a projected budget surplus.
He said his perspectives on his hometown and district community had been expanded as mayor, and said it was necessary to respect and recognise culture and diversity to have a healthy community.
“I think it’s easy just to roll within your space when you’re in your life, when you don’t have to move away from those parameters. It’s a very nice, comfortable, safe place to be. I understood parts of it that I didn’t care to take the time to understand previously. And you can’t be in this role and not do that,” he said.
“I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of people that I wouldn’t have interacted ever before, and they all have a story to tell.
“I grew up at a time where there was segregation. Indigenous people weren’t allowed in our pool. And I was oblivious to all that. As a white child, you kick the footy around and you played sport with these guys, and you really didn’t understand their world and the barriers that they had.
“I think as a community, we need to acknowledge we weren’t great in that space. We got the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Rights next February. We’ve resolved to make a bit of fuss about that.”
“Because unless we can come together as a community, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, success is going to be difficult to come by.”
Wise words for the next mayor
Cr Johnson said early in the piece, he received some good advice from an incumbent councillor.
“The councillor who sits next to me to my right is a fellow by the name of Michael Montgomery, who’s been a long-term councillor, and a former mayor.
“As soon as I became mayor, he congratulated me. He said, ‘Being mayor is a great job. It’s not a good job.’
“Those words have run through to me because it’s amazing privilege to lead your community. I’ll be forever grateful that I’ve had that opportunity.”
“But the days are challenging, and sometimes aren’t that great when you’re dealing with different cohorts of people, where you disappoint people because you’re not being able to deliver those things, or you simply disagree with people.”
“But I’ll take great pride with me when I leave because not everyone gets to do what I’ve done.”
“And the people I’ve met and the experiences that I’ve had, and from the very worst, when we had our floods in October, that’s October 2022 to the very best, where we’re having these wonderful relationships with the Premier and actually influencing government.”
Family focused future
He said he and his wife Helen looked forward to welcoming their new grandchild and anticipates the future.
“We want to travel. I want to play bad golf on our lovely golf course, fishing our wonderful rivers. Just the things you do in retirement,” he said with a smile.
“I’ve got a couple of other board positions that will keep my mind ticking over. Totally different to council. So, I won’t be giving that up, thinking as such in the immediate future.
“I’ve just always been passionate about our town, and whatever I’ve done over the last two years and 10 months is in my mind, been for the better of the place.”
“I didn’t come in with any agendas other than wanting to see our community do better, And I think we’ve certainly laid a foundation for it to do that should they so choose.”
Like what you’re reading? Support The New England Times by making a small donation today and help us keep delivering local news paywall-free. Donate now