Dr Akeem has been so approachable and understanding during my appointments and he has been wonderful in guiding me through a complex situation.

I’m so grateful that we older locals no longer need to travel to Northam or elsewhere to see a doctor when needing only scripts.

Dr Akeem has now been joined by Dr Paul who now has a growing following in the community and the convenience of having Clinipath in the same building is a cherry on the top.

I trust our lovely caring community will continue to make welcome and support our growing medical team and ensure this vital service becomes a permanent feature in Toodyay.

I have valued the community connections and the many issues debated, solved and championed.

I have had the pleasure to work with a dedicated Council team and an amazing staff who have collaborated with the elected members to achieve positive outcomes for the community.

I have been pleased to be a part of significant, transparent and organisational reform, representing and delivering to the diverse Toodyay community.

I look forward to the promise of change by the new Councillors for the Toodyay community.

With a change of Chief Executive Officer, Council became much more heavily involved in providing strategic direction to the administration when it came to such things as preparing annual budgets.

Similar improvements happened when it came to the development and review of policies.

Staff and councillors alike contributed their skills, knowledge and expertise to support Shire decision-making processes.

Workshops involving both staff and councillors were an essential component in providing better service to the community.

Some people are able to process prodigious quantities of detail, while others take a big picture approach.

It was the combining of all these different attributes that produced a formidable team.

There is also the matter of having a “can do” attitude and listening closely to people’s concerns.

It was for me always about finding ways to get answers and solutions for those people.

I felt it important that I kept people informed about what I was doing on their behalf.

I was always happy to answer anybody’s questions about why I voted in the ways that I did in meetings of Council.

I saw openness, honesty, transparency and accountability as being essential aspects of my performance as a councillor.

Being a councillor meant always learning about new things from subject experts, and considering the impact of that learning on the strategic decisions that I was charged with making.

There was also membership of Council committees and also those of external organisations, in my case the Toodyay Roadwise Committee.

Attendance at events such as the launch of the Gnulla Karnany Waangkiny Project was also part of the job.

I encountered a wide range of people.

At one extreme were the hyper-aggressive, dim-witted, ill-informed sociopaths.

At the other extreme were those who expressed heart-warming gratitude for my efforts on their behalf.

It has been an interesting, frustrating and rewarding four years for me.

I wish the new Council and all its members the very best with the rewards and challenges that lie ahead.

Local Aboriginal corporation members have worked tirelessly to build harmonious relationships while promoting awareness of our region’s Aboriginal cultural heritage.

Our community has achieved a national reputation for valuing its heritage – both European and Aboriginal.

The 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart that prompted last month’s referendum was a modest proposal.

A different result would have been a powerful step towards real healing.

Contrary to some of the more strident ‘No’ campaign messaging, our backyards and way of life were always going to be safe.

It provided a clear example of why new ‘Truth in Politics and Media’ laws proposed by Independent NSW Federal MP Zali Stegall are needed.

Australia now occupies a unique position globally.

It is the world’s only colonial settler society that not only does not recognise in any way those dispossessed by colonialism, but whose citizens have actively rejected any such recognition.

This rejection will likely awaken a new generation of Aboriginal leaders.

The Federal Government has declared a “renewed commitment to closing the gap”.

This is good, but many believe reconciliation may be a victim of the Voice rejection.

I hope reconciliation is not set back – maybe it just needs a new way forward.

I would sincerely like to thank the CEO and staff for their willing support.

Overall, I believe that as a council we are leaving the shire in a better financial situation than we found it.

It has been frustrating not being able to see Datascape to its satisfactory conclusion during our term and the resulting issue with audits.

However, we are progressing towards an unqualified audit.

I hope that the new council will continue this good work and commitment to the whole Toodyay community.

Over the years we have made our best friends from our neighbours: Karen the international artist, Simon the boilermaker (who can make anything with wood, metal or steel), Shuba the accountant/fashion designer, and Pete the winemaker whose shiraz is elixir from heaven.

Every weekend we gather at each other’s houses to celebrate the joys of life, work and friendship.

Our grandchildren get to watch baby echidnas and emus frolicking in the bush, and red-tailed black Carnaby’s nesting in the trees.

Together we watch the beauty of Julimar unfold through spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Baby echidnas waddle and spotted quolls squeak.

All of our dreams have been shattered by Chalice Mining, which wants to destroy the forest and build an open pit mine right next to our bush property.

In the few years since Chalice Mining has been here (and it is only exploring now), its workers already make 24-hour noise and light pollution, and create endless traffic that destroys our gravel roads, the only entrance to our properties.

In summer, the dust from Chalice Mining’s cars and trucks covers our houses and fills our drinking water.

Our lives and our businesses have either been ruined or put on hold.

Who wants to come to a writers’ retreat, an artist’s studio or a winery when you have 24/7 noise, dust and rutted gravel roads?

It breaks my heart to see my friends’ lives and dreams ruined.

It breaks my heart to think of all the animals who cannot speak up for themselves.

Who will look after the baby echidnas that nest next door to our house?

Where will the red-tailed black cockatoos nest?

Where will the echidnas and quolls hide?

Where will the baby emus and wallabies lie down to sleep?

If Chalice Mining has its way, it will destroy the forest.

The miner wants to make a lot of money for its shareholders and does not care about the forest, animals, or local residents.

In 20 years’ time, when the forest is gone and another huge open scar covers the Earth, will our grandchildren curse us for not leaving them a living inheritance, for not speaking up for the forest?

Each has a spiritual ‘creator’, and all have practice and protocol.

Now, with the Voice Referendum upon us let’s remember that it is a heartfelt request from Aboriginal Australians (after more than a decade of discussions across Australia) asking to be heard about things that impact them.

The Voice may not be the answer to all Australia’s problems but it is a step in the right direction.

So, while the result may mean nothing to many, it means everything to some.

Don’t confuse the Federal Voice Referendum with recent publicity about the State Heritage Act and a local prosecution.

They are different.

And it’s important to remember that it was a neighbour – not Aboriginal people – who set this prosecution in motion.

But it’s Aboriginal people who are bearing the full brunt of a public backlash, including the mocking of their beliefs and culture on this page.

Aboriginal people here have never in the history of the WA Aboriginal Heritage Act chosen to raise it against any local landowners.

As for the Voice referendum, Aboriginal people are simply asking all of us to walk alongside them to help make a lasting and positive change for their future generations.

It would be a shame if those to whom the Voice didn’t matter crushed the dreams of those for whom it could mean the world.

If the Voice vote is rejected, I hope new Truth in Politics and Media laws proposed by Independent Federal MP Zali Stegall (NSW) succeed, with the Referendum providing a clear example of why such a law is so desperately needed.