Mayoral hopeful brings experience to the table
By Sonia Isaacs
MONTVILLE resident Wayne Parcell PSM says now is the time to offer his extensive economic and corporate experience to benefit the Sunshine Coast community.
Currently the sole Hinterland mayoral candidate running in the Sunshine Coast Regional Council elections, Mr Parcell said that transparency, fiscal responsibility, balance, and firm but fair governance were critical to the success of any organisation.
“I’m used to dealing with big issues; I’m very familiar with big budgets and complex national and international issues,” he told GC&M News.
“I can bring a unique corporate yet humane approach to what needs to be firm governance of the organisation.
“My life’s purpose has been in service to people, through my work in government policy and administration and in business. My overseas work in complex international issues between governments was amongst the most enlightening and invigorating of my life.
“That enabled me to bring new perspectives and experience to my work in Australia. My career has been successful because it has been diverse in every respect.”
Describing himself as an economic conservative with a social conscience, Mr Parcell stated that his extensive public service, business, and not-for-profit work spanning decades would allow him to deliver a forward-thinking, fair, and balanced outlook that included fiscal responsibility with social justice and environmental sustainability.
“It’s about finding that balance, and that’s something that goes on a lot in government and the business world and fortunately I’ve had a lot of experience with that,” he said. Mr Parcell’s career spans over 40 years, including 30 years of experience as a solicitor specialising in immigration law, in his own business and then as a partner in a global consulting firm as a global partner.
He has worked across numerous government agencies, including taxation, defence, intelligence, security, and immigration, and his capacity to excel in a government administrative environment is evident through being awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding service to the Commonwealth in the Australian Honors List 1996.
Mr Parcell (pictured)shared that throughout his career, he successfully worked with a range of national and international government agencies and had dealt extensively with government ministers, senior bureaucrats, diplomats, trade unions, and industry leaders.
He said he believed that this experience, along with his personal values of diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and reconciliation, gives him the capacity and capability to strongly lead the Sunshine Coast Council into a prosperous and inclusive future. Speaking with GC&M News, Mr Parcell expressed enduring affection for the Hinterland while equally loving what he could see in the rest of the region.
He emphasised the need for a change of approach in the role of the mayor, which, according to him, is to set the strategy and vision for the region.
He also stressed the importance of a visible mayor engaging with the entire region, ensuring that every decision takes into account every division.
While every division may not benefit from every decision, Mr Parcell said he believed that every division should be included in the context of every decision.
“That’s why the campaign is focused on change that matters to people,” he said.
“There will be things that are important to council on a bigger scale, and there will be things that are important to individuals.
“It’s about distilling those things and then bringing those parts together to see what the balance is that you can deliver between what are strategic objectives and outcomes that have to be achieved for the entire community.”
Early voting begins on March 4 ahead of election day on March 16.
