A message from the mayor: Farewell and thank you Melinda Pavey

Published on 27 March 2023

The Honourable Melinda Pavey is no longer our member for Oxley. She retired from the position on Election Day, Saturday 25 March. I consider it appropriate to now recognise and sincerely thank her for her work as our elected representative.

Melinda was our member and represented the Kempsey Shire community for the last eight years in the NSW Parliament as the Member for Oxley. Prior to her election to that role in 2015, she was a member of the upper house, the Legislative Council. In total Melinda gave twenty years of representative service to the people of NSW.

I am thankful for her work as our representative in Macquarie Street. From my experience, she always represented the need for change and improvement for the people of Oxley. She gave her full support whenever I asked for help on any matter. She was invaluable in helping to start the process of due recognition of Dave Sands and his brothers. Whenever Council needed support during natural disasters Melinda was there to help. Her full supported helped us gain many successful grants for improvements across the Shire.

Our General Manager, Craig Milburn, commented to me that Melinda is the best local member he has worked with. “She is passionate about our local area and was always accessible to help Council in many ways”, he said.

The role of a local member is not easy.  Each has to represent every section of the electorate and attend numerous events, many of which are out-of-hours. This involved much travelling for Melinda, especially in Oxley, which ranges from Urunga to Wauchope, across the State when she was a Minister, and frequently to Sydney.

The newly elected member will have the Honourable Melinda Pavey to emulate, which will be no small task. Our democracy will remain strong when elected representatives, such as Melinda, represent us and do their best work.

On behalf of the Kempsey Shire Community, I thank Melinda for her time as our representative and wish her, Warren and their children, all the best in the future.

Thank you,

Mayor Leo Hauville