ABOUT LAWMAC

 

LAWMAC is a 'Not for Profit' Incorporated Association comprising members from the Local Government areas of Torres Shire in the north to Gladstone and Banana Shire Regions in the south and extending inland to Mount Isa, Burke and Cloncurry Shires.

 

LAWMAC Interactive Workshops and General Meetings are held quarterly over a two-day period hosted by various member-councils across its membership region as nominated with the Annual General Meeting scheduled as soon as possible after the close of each financial year ending 31st March.

LAWMAC currently has twenty-nine (29) Member Councils, four (4) Honorary Members and forty-nine (49) Corporate Members from State & Federal Government Agencies, Waste & Recycling Businesses plus other relevant Non-Government Organisations providing the opportunity for informed representation across the Waste Industry Sector, however Corporate & Honorary Members are not eligible to formally vote at meetings.

Ongoing support is also provided to LAWMAC by the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ), the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR) plus the Regional Queensland Organisations of Councils (FNQROC, NQROC, CQROC, NWROC, GWCOM, TCICA, RAPAD & RQCOM).

Management Committee

  • Cr Brett Moller

    Cairns Regional Council
    LAWMAC President

    Cr Brett Moller was the elected candidate for Division 1 at the 2024, 2020 and 2016 local government elections. He served as Deputy Mayor from 29 November 2023 until the end of that Council term.

    Brett is a fourth generation resident of Cairns and is from a pioneering sugar farming family on his father’s side, and a third generation grandson of a Greek emigrant and small business owner on his mother’s side.

    He is a respected lawyer and is a former Chair of Ports North, former State President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland and a former Director on the Australian Chamber of Commerce Board. He currently serves as Deputy Chair of Regional Development Australia Tropical North. His passion is rural and regional towns and cities rejuvenation and revitalisation.

    In 2020, Brett was awarded a Bravery Medal for his role in rescuing a young Victorian woman from the flooded Behana Creek near his home at Aloomba, back in 2018.

  • Cr Lenore Wyatt

    Mareeba Regional Council
    LAWMAC Vice President

    Cr Lenore Wyatt, a passionate advocate for community and sustainability, has been a Mareeba Councillor for two consecutive terms.

    As a representative for Mareeba Shire on LAWMAC, a significant focus of Cr Wyatt’s efforts has been the promotion of recycling, underlining her commitment to responsible waste management for the well-being of her Shire.

    “I have Cr Wyatt has served as the Deputy Chair of the Traffic Advisory Committee, shining a spotlight on the urgency to upgrade roads and the importance of collaborating with the Department of Main Roads to address transportation challenges across the Shire.

    She also chairs the newly formed Mareeba Shire Local Tourism Organisation, highlighting her commitment to leveraging tourism as an economic driver.

    Her leadership involves close collaboration with volunteer groups, showcasing her hands-on community involvement.

  • Cr Sue Payne

    North Burnett Regional Council
    LAWMAC Treasurer

    Although originally from Brisbane, you might easily mistake Councillor Payne for a lifelong resident of the North Burnett. For nearly 40 years, she has immersed herself in the fabric of the region, living, working, playing, volunteering, and raising her family in Monogorilby and Mundubbera, proudly calling them home.

    With a background in business and finance, Cr Payne is driven by the vision of a financially sustainable Council. Her unique perspective allows her to identify opportunities for positive change.

    Having held executive positions in numerous community groups, Cr Payne is deeply committed to community development. She currently serves as the Chair of North Burnett Community Service Inc.

    When asked about her favourite aspects of the North Burnett, Cr Payne is quick to highlight the warm hospitality and openness of its people. As a primary producer, she appreciates the diversity of fresh produce cultivated in the region’s varied natural landscape.

    Cr Payne’s interests extend to governance, strategy, financial sustainability, and regional focus, as evidenced by her involvement as a LAWMAC representative and her passion for water and waste management. Cr Payne draws energy from witnessing community involvement, empowerment, individual growth, and regional prosperity.

  • Cr Shane Latcham

    Rockhampton Regional Council
    LAWMAC Executive Member

    Cr Latcham is a qualified teacher and has worked in different industries including running a not-for-profit sports club in Rockhampton.

  • Cr Ellen Jessop

    Cassowary Coast Regional Council
    LAWMAC Executive Member

    Cr Jessop was born in Innisfail and came from a long line of pioneers. She spent most of her childhood living at Flying Fish Point where she was schooled and really enjoyed the carefree lifestyle of the beach, fishing, swimming, and boat trips to the islands. In 1987, with her husband, she opened Tully Hot Bread where they traded for thirty-five years while raising their family. In her spare time she loves to sketch, paint and spend time with her children and grandchildren - .family is everything.

  • Cr Paul Jacob

    Townsville City Council
    LAWMAC Executive Member

    Cr Paul Jacob was born in Sydney and completed an apprenticeship as an Electronics and Communications technician, working in many outstations including Telephony and Satellite Stations around the country.

    After qualifying as a Technical Officer, Cr Jacob was posted to the Satellite Earth Station in Moree, New South Wales before working as a Technical Officer in the Navy’s Royal Australian Navy Trials and Assessing Unit for ten years.

    Cr Jacob and his family relocated to Townsville over thirty years ago. Since then, he has worked for Townsville Human Capital, James Cook University and the Townsville Hospital.

    Cr Jacob's motivation is to support a back-to-basics approach encompassing roads, transport, sewerage, and transfer stations .

  • Mr Jason Grandcourt

    Waste Services Manager - Isaac Regional Council
    LAWMAC Executive Member

    Jason is an environmental health practitioner with nearly 40 years of industry experience.

    Jason has been responsible for the management and leadership of local government waste and resource recovery businesses since 2011.

    Jason’s philosophy is that he wants to leave the regional Queensland in a better place than he found it. Key to that approach is that education and community engagement to obtain social licensing, is equally critical to the services and assets that the community expects.

  • Mr Steve Cosatto

    Executive Manager - Cairns Regional Council Waste and Resource Recovery
    LAWMAC Executive Member

    Steve has worked within the Waste Management and Resource Recovery since 2011 within CRC and the Far North Qld Regional Organisation of Councils (FNQROC). He is currently a member of WMRR Qld, Local Authority and Waste Management Action Committee (LAWMAC) and the FNQ Regional Waste Management Group.

    Current responsibilities include the overseeing CRC’s Waste and Resource Recovery Strategy, Business and Operations. He is presently focused on the development of a 2040 Resource Recovery Roadmap for CRC and the development of circular economies within the council area and regionally through the utilisation of waste as a resource.

  • Mr Michael O’Keeffe

    Manager – Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling
    LAWMAC Executive Member

    Michael is a Civil Engineer and has completed a Master of Business Administration. Michael has worked in the waste and resource recovery industry for some 27 years in Thialand, Hong Kong and multiple States within Australia.

    Michael joined Rockhampton Regional Council in 2016, where he is responsible for the management and leadership of Council’s waste and recycling commercial business unit.

    Michael is driven to provide safe, cost competitive and best practice operations, while continually focusing on new opportunities to divert waste from landfill, convert waste to a resource and to deliver a local circular economy in order to deliver on Council’s goal of zero waste to landfill by 2050.

  • Ms Hayley Page

    Team Manager, Resource Recovery - Townsville City Council
    LAWMAC Executive Member

    Hayley is a Scientist with post graduate qualifications in Environmental Health, Waste Management & Project Management.

    She has worked in the waste and resource recovery industry since 2006 predominantly within the local government sector in North Queensland, however she also has private consulting experience.

    Hayley is the Chair of the Nth Qld Regional Organisation of Councils (NQROC), Resource Recovery Working Group and is Vice-Chair of the Qld WMRR Landfill Working Group.

    Hayley is responsible for setting the strategic direction for Townsville City Council to work towards achieving the corporate goal of zero waste to landfill.

    Hayley is committed to delivering quality services to Townsville residents in a safe, reliable and cost effective manner whilst striving to create more circular situations locally.

  • Christine Blanchard

    LAWMAC Secretary

    Christine assumed the role of LAWMAC Secretary in November 2023. A local government waste diehard since 2006, Christine has been actively involved in LAWMAC through her different roles with LGAQ and large and small Councils.

How it all began…

In early 1993 and led by then Cr Ross Overton (Johnstone Shire Council – now part of Cassowary Coast Regional Council) key meetings across the local governments of North Queensland were convened to advocate the need for a more collaborative regional approach to waste management and waste minimisation.

At the May 1993 Conference in Cooktown of the North Queensland Local Government Association (NQLGA) members confirmed the need to address waste management issues faced by Councils and resolved to form the Sub-Committee later identified as the Local Authority Waste Management Advisory Committee (LAWMAC) to plan a regional and collaborative approach to address waste management issues at the local level.

Subsequent Waste Summits were then held in Townsville on 25th June 1993 and Mission Beach on 30th July 1993 under the banner of the "Joint Local Authorities Waste Management and Minimisation Working Group" (JLAWMAMWG)!

The principle outcome of these two Waste Summits was the formation of a Working Group of the JLAWMAMWG, the  "Northern and Far Northern Waste Working Group" (NAFNWWG) with Townsville and Cairns Councils taking the lead and coordinating.

After much debate at the NQLGA Conference held November 1993 in Mulgrave Shire (now part of Cairns Regional Council) the JLAWMAMWG fortunately changed its name to become the Local Authority Waste Management Advisory Committee (LAWMAC).

Over LAWMAC’s thirty years of operation it has grown in strength whilst also being recognised as a Peak Body within the Waste Sector in Queensland and continued to operate as a sub-committee of the NQLGA which transitioned into the Northern Alliance of Councils (NAOC - 2017) and then into the Regional Queensland Council of Mayors (RQCOM - 2021).

Rather than continue as a sub-committee of the newly established RQCOM, the Local Authority Waste Management Advisory Committee (LAWMAC) branched out and further evolved into the Local Authority Waste Management ACTION Committee (still LAWMAC) transitioning into an Incorporated Association on 10th February 2022

The Local Authority Waste Management ACTION Committee (LAWMAC) was registered with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as an Incorporated Association comprising twenty-eight (28) Local Government Member-Councils of Regional Queensland and thirty-nine (39) Corporate Members representing a broad range of the Waste Management Industry in Queensland.

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