De-amalgamation Transfer Manager Jeff Tate said his team will be busy between now and December 31 ahead of the new Douglas Shire Council’s activation on January 1, 2014.

“It’s complicated by the fact that we don’t have staff in all the positions,” Mr Tate told The Newsport, though he confirmed the appointment of Julian Porter as Finance and IT Manager, and a Water and Waste Manager. Mr Porter will come to the new Council from his current position with a hotel chain in Darwin.

“Some things are running ahead (of schedule), some things are running a little bit behind, but the big thing is it’ll happen, we’ll be there [on January 1],” he said.  

Mr Tate has made two additional internal management appointments: Paul Hoye, as General Manager of Operations, and Daryl Crees as General Manager of Corporate Services.

Mr Tate said Mr Hoye and Mr Crees are “people who have been in the organisation for a long time, so there’s stability there. Then [there are] new managers as well, so the mix of new and existing people is really good.”

While Mr Tate said he has “no role” to play in the upcoming local council election, there will be a briefing for candidates before November 9, including some information on the de-amalgamation.

He said there’s an obvious positive attitude amongst the Douglas community overall.

“There’s a good feel about it, talking to the staff, they’re all pretty positive about it and looking forward to serving their community in a slightly different way to what they did in Cairns.

“People are very passionate about the area and the de-amalgamation. I think a really important, positive thing is that even people who were against [de-amalgamation]. Now everyone wants to do the best thing for the area.

“That’s the strength of a community. When that happens, you can achieve things.”

Mr Tate stressed the importance of financial discipline during the new Council’s first two years.

“It needs to be a period of consolidation for the staff, the organisation, but also the electoral body,” he said.

“There’s going to be a lot of work to do after January 1 and finance-wise, I think we’ll be in a better position than what the Queensland Treasury Corporation was projecting.

“But [there’s] still a need for financial discipline.”