A mixed response has greeted Wattle Range Mayor Des Noll after he expressed a personal view about the need for compulsory training for councillors in indigenous affairs.
His stance has been praised by Local Government Minister Joe Szakacs but landed him in “hot water” with three of his senior councillors.
In a letter to the minister about the Acknowledgment of Country protocol, Mayor Noll said Wattle Range’s indigenous population share of 2.3% was only slightly lower than the state average of 2.4%.
“Despite these numbers, Wattle Range Council’s understanding of and interaction with its indigenous community is extremely limited,” Mayor Noll said.
“I believe that this general lack of understanding may be reflected in the emerging number of debates in council chambers across the state about the relevance of Acknowledgements of Country.
“I believe there is an excellent opportunity to increase local government’s cultural awareness through carefully crafted and targeted training.
“I will be making this recommendation to the Local Government Association of South Australia.
“I thought that you may want to consider mandating cultural awareness training for all elected members across the state, as I believe that this issue is just as important for community leaders as the governance, finance, leadership and legal training that has also been mandated in recent years.”
Minister Szakacs replied with a typed response and added some hand-written remarks.
“Thank you for your principled and sound leadership,” wrote Mr Szakacs in his own hand.
“Your statements have been welcomed and acknowledged.”
The outwards and inwards correspondence was tabled at the November monthly council meeting and robust debate followed.
Both Councillor Dale Price and Cr John Drew said it was wrong of Mayor Noll to include his personal views about mandatory indigenous affairs training in his letter to the minister.
“You are our boss,” Cr Drew said, however Mayor Noll stated this was not the case.
Cr Price said mandatory training had the potential to get people’s backs up.
“Your letter did not reflect the views of council,” Cr Price said.
Deputy Mayor Cr Peter Dunnicliff said councillors could get blasé about mandatory training and suggested an informal gathering instead.
Cr Dunnicliff said Wattle Range Council could make use of the expertise of its development services director Emma Clay.
Cr Dunnicliff said he appreciated the opportunity to discuss indigenous matters over a coffee with her.
“Training is the key,” Mayor Noll added.
Ms Clay said she had been happy to share her experiences of living in East Arnhem Land for 14 years.
While she was willing to assist in the running of a cultural awareness session, Ms Clay said she could not lead it as she was not indigenous.
Chief executive Ben Gower said that cultural awareness training was a significant part of his working life at his previous work places in the armed forces and private enterprise.
Mr Gower said cultural awareness training should not just be about indigenous people as Wattle Range Council was now employing increasing numbers of international graduates.
