What could Hobart achieve if we ended the Town Hall infighting?

Have you ever considered what would happen to Hobart if the Councillors stopped their war with each other?

You would expect a genuine whistleblower exposing serious wrongdoing to make the newspaper. But too often, the headline is simply about an elected member who did not get the outcome they wanted.

And this is not confined to one side of politics. It comes from both the left and the right.

Turning every disagreement into a public controversy may bring publicity, but it does not necessarily deliver better outcomes for Hobart.

You should know your elected members for the people they represent, the problems they solve and the improvements they deliver—not simply for their latest complaint in the paper.

This matters because Hobart’s future depends upon cooperation well beyond the walls of Town Hall.

Our city needs substantial infrastructure investment. Some of the pipes beneath our streets date back to the 1890s. We need better roads, easier parking, improved traffic movement and infrastructure worthy of a modern capital city.

Ratepayers cannot fund all of this alone.

Hobart needs strong relationships with both State and Federal governments, regardless of which political party is in office. Those relationships must be built through credibility, sound business cases and careful negotiation.

There is a difference between advocating strongly for Hobart and treating every government as an opponent. Constant confrontation—from either the left or the right—may win a headline, but it can close the very doors through which grants, partnerships and investment must come.

The Lord Mayor should be Hobart’s chief negotiator: able to sit down with Ministers of every political persuasion, present the evidence and secure the funding our city needs.

That funding could renew our ageing pipes, help unsnarl traffic, make parking easier and improve the roads and public spaces people use every day.

It could help deliver better value for rates, bringing what Hobart residents pay—and what they receive—more closely into line with comparable Australian cities.

I see Hobart evolving into a confident, welcoming and well-run capital city.

A city that is clean, safe and accessible. A city where small businesses prosper, young people can build a future, families can afford to belong, and older people and those with disability can move around with dignity.

A city that protects its heritage, arts and culture while welcoming innovation, investment and opportunity.

Councillors will always disagree. That is democracy. But disagreement should lead to better decisions—not another public war.

Imagine a Hobart known not for the battles inside Town Hall, but for what it achieves outside it.

A capital city that respects its past, invests in its future and works for the people who call it home.