Mayoress madness: title tussle

The possibility of Logan’s mayoress volunteering for the city’s charitable trust has prompted questioning from a councillor.

While one councillor labelled the ‘mayoress’ title “sexist”, the mayor’s partner, Alison Liddell, said the position was an opportunity to “give back”.

“To me it’s not about the role but about the city of Logan,” Ms Liddell said.

“I think it’s important to give back to the community in any way you can, supporting the many organisations that help people in need.

“Looking back on past Logan mayors like Mayor Able and his predecessors, and the work the mayoresses at the time did for local charities, is really inspiring.”

The City of Logan Charitable Trust was set up by Logan City council in 2017 to raise funds for local charities.

It exists and operates as a separate entity to council.

“I’d love to volunteer to support the city’s charitable trust and turbo charge its fundraising so that it can help the community,” the mayoress said.

“What I love about the trust is that it has great transparency and accountability to ensure donations go where they are needed most.

“Who knows what the future holds? Hopefully Logan’s charitable trust can provide millions of dollars for local charities like the Brisbane and Gold Coast Mayors’ charitable trusts do.”

At last week’s ordinary council meeting, councillor Lisa Bradley put forward the following motion: “That a report including legal advice be presented to a future City Governance Committee Meeting regarding the role of the Mayoress in Logan City.”

Neither Logan City council’s charter nor Queensland’s Local Government Act mention the role of mayoress or it’s male counterpart, consort.

Cr Bradley’s motion lost, with support from only three of 10 present councillors.

Those who voted against the motion said it was “too vague” and didn’t provide any clarity.

Cr Bradley said the ‘mayoress’ title had been “bantered about as a title of significance”.

“The title has been bantered around all this term,” she said at the meeting.

“It has never happened in any other terms, and it is something that needs to be defined.”

She said the role had “potential financial implications”.

Mayor Jon Raven said there were no implications and “no financial benefit” to the mayoress.

He told MyCity Logan there was no need to explicitly define the role through council.

“The community is pretty clear on what the mayoress is and does, and what they want from her,” Cr Raven said.

“It’s a purely voluntary role to do good in the community.

“I don’t really understand what Cr Bradley was trying to achieve today – she seemed to want to keep it very broad and vague.

“Other councillors indicated they would be interested in trying to define the role, but I don’t think that is done anywhere else and I don’t think it is necessary.”

Cr Bradley told MyCity Logan councillors were expected to be transparent in the public interest, “as guided under the Local Government Act”.

“Hence in my opinion such discussions about this subject, and subsequent subject of grants which were endorsed in yesterday’s ordinary council meeting, should be formalised through the channels of council committees/ordinary council meeting,” she said.

Cr said that as mayoress, Ms Liddell only sought to “give back to the city” and “raise the city’s profile”.

“What we’ve seen since I’ve been elected is that the community reaches out to her separately from me… especially if it is an event that might be orientated towards women,” Cr Raven said

“Ali already does charity work… and she has a great relationship with Brisbane’s lady mayoress Nina Shrinner… and Gold Coast’s mayoress Ruth Tate.”

He said Mayoress Tate last year raised $250,000 for charity at a gala fundraiser, and several million over the years.

“That’s the good that can be done, and I don’t understand why anyone would have an issue with someone wanting to do philanthropic work for the city,” he said.

Brisbane’s lady mayoress Nina Schrinner said raising funds for frontline charities was the “decent thing to do” in cost-of-living and housing crises.

“If the partner of the Logan Mayor is willing to do this role as an unpaid volunteer, I’m sure that will be embraced with open arms by the wider community,” Ms Shrinner said.

“Now more than ever we need people like Alison who will donate their time to help their local community and raise desperately needed funds for Logan’s most vulnerable residents.”

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