General News
18 March, 2025
Pedersen puts hat into the ring for council job
FORMER councillor and well-known cattleman Alan Pedersen has put his hat into the ring for the Mareeba Shire Council by-election to be held on 5 April.
The vacancy on council came about after Cr Kevin Davies passed away in mid-January.
Mr Pedersen served 15 years in local government, as a councillor in the amalgamated Tablelands Regional Council, and as a councillor and Deputy Mayor (for four years) of Mareeba Shire.
He stepped away from the job in 2020 to concentrate on running his cattle station, Karma Waters, and on his mining and earthmoving operations, but with his sons now older and able to assist at the property and having sold his mining interests, Mr Pedersen is ready to again step up to represent the community.
“I think there’s a need for me to come back to council – firstly, I think I owe it to Kevin, he was a good friend and a good councillor and he was man who knew about roads,” Mr Pedersen said.
“I think there is a lack of knowledge on the council about roads in particular – and there’s nothing more important than finance and roads, one follows the other, and they are my two priorities.
“I think I can fill that void (knowledge on roads) that was left after Kev passed.”
Mr Pedersen said he thought the current council was doing a good job but believed his knowledge and experience would be of great benefit to the shire.
Well-known for his pragmatic and forthright approach to council issues, and his role in organising the Great Wheelbarrow Race for many years, Mr Pedersen believes his commitment to getting value for money from ratepayers’ dollars will serve the community well.
“I was a bit surprised about the recent rate rise of 5.6% - and I want to know where that came from because it was double what was forecast in the financial plan, but I can’t criticise anyone for that until I know what the reasons for that were,” he said.
Despite his success as a councillor for 15 years, Mr Pedersen said he also learned a lot from that time in office.
“I’ve been in council for 15 years and I know I made mistakes – anyone who says they don’t make mistakes should have a statue in the main street,” he said.
“There are things you look back on and say ‘I shouldn’t have done that’ but you have to be decisive – make the decision and be responsible for it.
“If it’s a stuff up, put your hand up. You make the decisions on the best information you’ve got on the day and sometimes you find out down the track that it wasn’t good, but we always thought we were doing the right thing.”
He also knows that to achieve anything in council, “you have to be part of the team”.
“You can’t just bang the table and get what you want - you’ve got to respect the opinions of the other councillors and the advice from staff to get things done and be diplomatic,” he said.
