There has been a lot of good work and achievements made by some of our former elected Councillors. This should not be forgotten, however the actions of some has brought our Ipswich City Council into disrepute. Those individuals and those matters are being dealt with by the appropriate statutory authorities. We must learn from these events and strive for a better future.

Therefore, no waste of money on junket trips, no indulgent benefits for councillors, a renewed focus on roads, public spaces and clearing council debt. These are simple rules that will impact positively on the cost of your rates. Council works for you, spends your money on your behalf, and we must never forget that. I believe an independent open audit of the current financial state of Ipswich City Council needs to be performed to enable us all to know exactly what has happened and where we stand now. This will greatly assist in our planning to move forward.

Councillors ego building must stop, spending of ratepayers money on entertainment and travel must stop, special treatment of councillors by people who want to do business with the council can easily slide into corruption, that must be carefully monitored. No borrowings unless for essential core projects, conduct council affairs within its budget, and that budget is to remain within the councils income, just as each of us must do with our own personal budgets.

Absolutely no corruption and anyone caught attempting to corrupt councillors will be banned from doing business with the council. We need councillors that will not waste your money, people who will make decisions based upon spending your money as if it comes out of their own pocket.

I will work to bring about positive, ethical change to Ipswich City Council by working with the other elected members as a team of Councillors, alongside council’s executive leadership team and staff.

This will achieve my vision of returning Ipswich City Council to its former status as a role model for other councils and bring civic pride back to Ipswich.