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
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Cr Neil Fisher
Rockhampton Regional Council
LAWMAC PresidentCouncillor Neil Fisher is in his fourth term as Councillor for Rockhampton Regional Council and serving as Deputy Mayor in his current term.
Neil also serves as Chair of Rockhampton Airport since 2012 and is the current President of the Local Authority Waste Management Action Committee (LAWMAC), a collaboration of 28 Councils and 39 Waste Industry Organisations across Northern Queensland.
Neil’s passion is his commitment to serving the people of the Rockhampton Region and works hard towards contributing to the further development and prosperity of the culturally and geographically diverse Regions of Northern Australia.
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Cr Brett Moller
Cairns Regional Council
LAWMAC Vice PresidentCouncillor Brett Moller is in his second term as Councillor for Cairns Regional Council first elected to Council in 2016 and re-elected in 2020.
Brett is the Vice President of the Local Authority Waste Management Action Committee Inc (LAWMAC) a position he was elected to in 2020.
Brett is a former Chair of the State Government owned Corporation Ports North, former Director and State President of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland and an inaugural member of the Federal Government’s Regional Development Australia Tropical North Inc, appointed in 2009, Brett continues to currently serve as Deputy Chair of that organisation.
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Cr Belinda Hassan
Mackay Regional Council
LAWMAC TreasurerThis is Cr Belinda Hassan’s first term on local government. She is a fifth-generation Mackay region local with a proven passion for supporting the community through both her professional work and volunteer efforts.
The former manager of Mackay Funerals and Sarina Funerals is also committed to several community organisations, including Samaritan House Women's Domestic Violence Shelter, Zonta Club of Mackay, the Domestic Violence Resource Service/Mackay Women's Centre, is a member and past-President of the Sarina Lions Club, past-President of the Rotary Club of Mackay Sunrise, and previous volunteer member of Cancer Council Queensland, Mackay Region Suicide Prevention Network and Road Accident Action Group (RAAG).
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Cr Russ Cook
Townsville City Council
LAWMAC Executive MemberCr Russ Cook is in his second term as Councillor for Townsville City Council and has been the Chair of Townsville Water and Waste for the past four years and an Executive Member of the Local Authority Waste Management Action Committee (LAWMAC) for the past two years.
Previous to Council Russ served in the ADF in various roles and deployments and also served in the QPS in a variety of roles including General Duties through to Tactical Teams.
Between the Services and prior to Townsville Council Russ worked with Children at Risk, completed studies in Psychology, Public Safety and Management and successfully owned and operated a diverse range of businesses from Franchises to Turf Farms.
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Cr Sean Dillon
Mayor Barcaldine Regional Council
LAWMAC Executive MemberCr Sean Dillon was elected to Barcaldine Regional Council in 2016 and again when elected as Mayor in 2020.
Born and raised in the Alpha district, Sean attended schooling via correspondence from the Longreach School of Distance Education before attending boarding school in Charters Towers until Year 12.
After leaving school, he commenced working on several different properties around Queensland until taking over management of the family property in 2008.
Sean has been a member of several community groups as well as serving on national boards for major sporting groups.
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Mr Jason Grandcourt
Waste Services Manager - Mackay Regional Council
LAWMAC Executive MemberJason is an environmental health practitioner with nearly 34 years of industry experience.
Since 2011, when Jason was appointed Mackay Regional Council’s Manager Waste Services, he has been responsible for the management and leadership of Council’s waste and resource recovery business.
Jason’s philosophy is that he wants to leave the Mackay Region (and regional Queensland for that matter) in a better place than he found it. Key to that approach is that education and community engagement to obtain social licencing, is equally critical to the services and assets that the community expects.
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Mr Steve Cosatto
Executive Manager - Cairns Regional Council Waste and Resource Recovery
LAWMAC Executive MemberSteve 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.
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Mr Michael O’Keeffe
Manager – Rockhampton Regional Waste and Recycling
LAWMAC Executive MemberMichael 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.
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Ms Mary Field
LAWMAC Secretary 1999-2023
Mary Field has been contracted as Secretary of LAWMAC since 1999 providing an efficient administrative support throughout many progressive and positive changes within the Waste Industry and the Committee over her 24 years.
Since the mid 1990s Mary has been interested and committed to the environment through her previous roles as Office Manager whilst also providing Secretarial Services to the North Queensland Reafforestation Program Joint Board; the Trinity Inlet Management Program; the Tropical Queensland Vegetation Management Advisory Committee; and the Cairns Scenic Rim Group.
Mary holds Certificates in Business Management and Accounting plus has a thirty-year prior history in operating and managing her own businesses within the Retail, Body Corporate and Construction sectors.
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Ms Hayley Page
Team Manager, Resource Recovery - Townsville City Council
LAWMAC Executive MemberHayley 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.
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Cr Terri Boyce
Banana Shire Council
LAWMAC Executive MemberCr Terri Boyce was elected to Council at the February 2017 by-election and represents Division 6 of the Banana Shire Council.
Terri’s Portfolio includes Trade Waste & Solid Waste, Water, Sewerage, Public Swimming Pools, Land Tenure & Land Development, Public Conveniences, Native Title and HACC.
Terri looks forward to representing LAWMAC as a member of its Executive Team.
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Cr Ross Logan
Cook Shire Council
LAWMAC Executive MemberRoss is 75 years young, born and raised a Queenslander and has resided in Cooktown for 44 years.
His official qualifications are first, Instrument Fitter and second, Small Ships Marine Engineer; however considered a competent mechanical all-rounder.
Ross has served three previous terms as Cook Shire Councillor and for almost 10 years Ross also worked for Cook Shire as Waste Management Operator at the Cooktown Waste Transfer Station so has experienced local government in Cook Shire from the top down and the bottom up.
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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