Town reviews RTI policies

HOT on the heels of a damning report into Townsville City Council’s compliance with Right to Information and Privacy policies, Gympie Regional Council is being proactive about its own.

Gympie council will investigate whether recommendations by the Office of the Information Commissioner should be applied.

Recommendations to Townsville council included: publishing its Information Asset Register; amending its RTI policy to support proactive disclosure; and publishing its disclosure log.

The OIC found Townsville council’s “culture and practices do not reflect the intent of RTI and IP Acts because of significant systems issues, a lack of information governance and a general misunderstanding of the Acts”. CRAIG Turner is a British man who was raised in South Africa and during the 1990s, he stayed at a random hostel in London.

So too did a Townsville woman – Melinda Chambers.

For four years after the chance encounter the pair of backpackers caught up between trips until they lost contact.

“I stayed in the UK working in IT and Melinda moved back to Townsville,” Craig said.

“Twenty years later and good ol’ Facebook led us to find each other again.”

When they were reunited Craig and Melinda, who is a so- cial worker, planned to spend a couple of years in the UK until Craig was eligible to apply for an Australian visa.

The couple eventually returned to Townsville last June and have been living with Melinda’s parents in Kirwan since.

Craig is still on a temporary visa and has had some trouble finding work, but he keeps himself busy.

“I worked in IT in the UK but I haven’t done that for a number of years,” he said.

“I’ve worked in customer service type jobs but they can be hard to find here.

“So for now, I’m doing lots of gardening and I got a new bike so I’ve been doing some weekend cycling.

“I also do volunteer work cleaning up beaches with Tangaroa Blue.”

Craig, a music buff who has seen Britpop band Blur 14 times, is also passionate about the environment and when he gets permanent residency in Australia, he plans to study a Bachelor of Environmental Practice at James Cook University.

“I love living in North Queensland and I also enjoy the environmental opportunities being so close to the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.

“There is an amazing natural resource out there and no one seems to be thinking about the environment first.

“I’d things.

“For example the general waste here isn’t separated from the green waste.”

Craig enjoys volunteering with Tangaroa Blue because they don’t just clean up the beaches, they also record what waste is picked up and try to recycle it too.

Craig said he has no plans to leave Townsville and in particular enjoys the climate here.

“I’m a 25 degrees and above kind of person,” he said.

“I think there was one day last year it dropped to 24 degrees and I had to put on jeans and socks and shoes.” like to help change