Mareeba Hospital –
Mayor Tom Gilmore yesterday advised the Council and the community that following a confidential briefing by senior Queensland Health staff in their offices in Cairns in early December, Council is to receive a comprehensive and confidential briefing by senior departmental officers on 17 February following the regular monthly Council meeting.
Mr Gilmore said that there had, for some time, been a rumour circulating which might have indicated that the future of the Mareeba hospital and the services provided there might be at risk in the event of a new hospital being constructed in Atherton.
“Therefore as Mayor, whilst I recognise that this is in fact a State issue, I have chosen not to listen to random rumour, but rather, to ensure that Council on behalf of the community is fully apprised of developments in the delivery of health services to our community.”
Workplace Health and Safety –
The Mareeba Shire Council has been advised by Chief Executive Officer Peter Franks that through considerable effort on behalf of staff over the period of the last twelve months, the standard of Workplace Health and Safety across our entire shire workforce has been raised from unacceptable, to far in excess of what is considered to be the safety standard.
“Safety in the workforce is of paramount importance,” Mayor Tom Gilmore said today.
“I have always believed that any person who leaves home in the morning to go to their workplace should, without question, return to their home in the evening without having suffered the trauma of a workplace accident.”
“To raise our workplace safety standard to this high level has taken a considerable commitment from our staff and I pay tribute to their commitment and understanding of the principles of workplace safety and to implementing them in the workplace every day.”
Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy –
At yesterday’s meeting, Council adopted a comprehensive fraud and corruption prevention policy to safeguard the interests of ratepayers, the Council and staff from any incidence of or allegations of fraud or corruption arising within the Council.
Mayor Tom Gilmore said that there has been no evidence of either fraud or corruption in the organisation, however, it is in the best interests of all parties to have a comprehensive policy in place to ensure that the community at large can be confident that Council operations are of the highest integrity and that in the event that misbehaviour of this kind is identified, it will be dealt with swiftly and in due process of the law.