City of Greater Geraldton election: Jerry Clune hopes to continue “flying the flag” for outer Gero

Bringo farmer Jerry Clune hopes to keep “flying the flag” for outer Geraldton residents and sporting groups if re-elected to council next weekend after almost a decade of service.

The former Towns Football Club president of six years grew up on his farm Newmarracarra, which has been in his family since the 1800s, and splits his time between crop and livestock farming, working as a councillor and serving as a member of the Moonyoonooka Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade.

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His second four-year term has come to a close after he was first elected to council in 2011.

“The relationship between sporting clubs and the City wasn’t great in those days (when he first started as a councillor),” he said.

“I could see a need for an advocate on council to just try and open up the communication lines between council officers and sporting organisations.

“I thought I’d put my hand up, there’s no point whingeing about things so get on there and I thought I could be a good advocate being a farmer in this ward which went to the fringes of Geraldton.

“Also while on council I joined the things I could, I took the option to join the Midwest Sports Federation which gave me another insight into sporting administration and infrastructure needs.”

Cr Clune said he hoped to continue representing all people of Geraldton, whether they lived in the CBD or on the rural fringes.

“I think as long as you have people like me and the Mullewa girls (Crs Jenny Critch and Tarleah Thomas) we fly the flag for outer Geraldton, we represent from Point Moore right to past Pindar and (councillors) all need to realise we’re representing the whole of Geraldton,” he said.

I think as long as you have people like me and the Mullewa girls we fly the flag for outer Geraldton, we represent from Point Moore right to past Pindar and we all need to realise we’re representing the whole of Geraldton.

“I think I’ve got a good value to the community, I’m pretty experienced now,” he said.

“It’s quite a large learning curve and you’ve got to be prepared to commit a fair bit of time and I’m certainly able to do that, now so more than ever.”

He said while cyclone recovery and emergency management had taken up a lot of focus and resources at the City this year, he thought the council was doing well promoting Geraldton and spending money responsibly.

“People don’t realise what their local government is doing when things are getting done and they’re doing it well, it’s only when things break down and not get done that perhaps the local government does need a kick up the pants and to smarten up sometimes,” he said.

“I’m always keeping an eye on things, making sure we don’t overspend or get carried away with ideas, making sure we lobby not only the State Government but also the Federal Government.

“It’s like running a business, it always comes back to working within the budget and running within the guidelines.”