Is this the end for the Unity Team in Cairns?

PSYCHOLOGICAL researcher Bruce Tuckman once theorised that a group goes through five stages — forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Were he still alive, he’d feel proud that his model could so closely predict the behaviour of the Cairns Regional Council’s Unity Team.

Unity formed from the ashes of the Kevin Byrne years when its new leader Bob Manning pulled that sword from the forge and rode into the ugly battle of the 2012 election, and won. The group normed and stormed in the years either side of 2016 when Richie Bates was in and then out, and notably performed in its seven-member triumph in 2020.

But the team has now reached the twilight of its performing phase.

Whether it follows the Tuckman funnel into adjourning or reinvigorates itself relies on one thing — who it places its hopes in next.

One councillor, a Unity Team member, said unless the group can recruit good candidates, the group will struggle in 2024.

Tension between Unity members risks choking the fluidity of council business. The absence of a nominated mayoral successor, though deputy mayor Terry James is the heir apparent, signals a looming leadership stoush, most likely between Cr James and Division 1 councillor Brett Moller.

And the trickle of daylight between Division 5 councillor Amy Eden and the Unity brand, heralded by differences over the tenant tax, could become a yawning chasm. But the group is still a formidable force and a seductive label for council hopefuls. With fresh blood, it could kick the Tuckman can well down the road, or at least for another four years.