Mayor’s Message - Friday 6 September 2024

And the time has drawn to a close on this Council’s term, myself and the eight Councillors were elected in 2020 and held high aspirations for our four-year term.

Even though this year brings me to 22 years' service at Ballarat Council, every year brings different challenges, successes and immense pride.  

I was very grateful to be elected Mayor again this term, serving from 2022 until now, it’s a job that I do not take lightly, and being able to deliver for my community and for the future of Ballarat is a wonderful honour.  

This Council group has provided me with a lot of support and advice during my term. The City of Ballarat staff and our community has also assisted me in successfully delivering a range of initiatives for our city.  

This past year has seen many incredible things happen in our city, such as the inaugural Ballarat Marathon in April, which saw more than 4,000 people join in and run various distances.  

We also commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial and welcomed His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (retired) and Prime Minister the Hon Anthony Albanese MP to honour the occasion. 

We officially opened the long awaited redeveloped Central Ballarat library, the first works to occur to the library since 1993!

The launch of the designs of the Continuous Voices Memorial on behalf of the reference group was also a great achievement to acknowledge the pain and suffering caused to victims of abuse over generations across Ballarat.

Despite immense highs, my time as Mayor this year was not without challenges. As a community we dealt with three tragic deaths from gendered violence in our community, as well as a major incident at the Ballarat Gold Mine. I felt as the leader of our city, it was my role to guide our grieving community compassionately through these incidents.

I believe that this Council’s term has left Ballarat in a stronger position for our growing community.

We’ve endorsed plans to facilitate Ballarat’s growth, such as the Ballarat Housing Strategy and the Growth Areas Framework Plan. We’ve established plans to guide Community Infrastructure and Recreation Infrastructure to help the city grow appropriately. We’ve also considered the environment, with the important Biodiversity Strategy implemented along with the launch of a waste and recycling app.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Ballarat community for allowing me to lead them once again, my fellow Councillors for their support and hard work, CEO Evan King and all staff at the City of Ballarat for their assistance during this term as City of Ballarat Mayor.

- Mayor Cr Des Hudson