At last, we have a group of Councillors that will listen to the people and most importantly, will act in a transparent and business-like manner on all issues. It is a breath of fresh air to see that these individuals have received, a monumental mandate from a community that, in the process, vented its disdain by, turfing-out, the offending incumbents.

However, the return to prosperity will be a long haul. Goals will be set and focus maintained to achieve an industry recognised level of efficiency within the administration and, other areas that will eventually steer our shire out of the present financial mess.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the new Councillors, on their election success and thank them for their help and advice during my run for a council seat.

I am ecstatic by the size of the mandate they have received, and I look to the future with new-found confidence. 

I would like to thank the Voters in Ward E that put their confidence in me to represent them on Council over the next four years. It is very humbling for me as a relative newcomer to Tenterfield to be given this support and I hope to be able to prove that support was warranted. 

Congratulations to all of the successful Candidates and commiserations to those that were unsuccessful. I would also like to thank all of the Candidates and their supporters for the wonderful camaraderie and good natured banter during the pre-poll and Polling Day activities, it certainly made those long days more enjoyable.

Special thanks to my direct opponents Mike Petrie and Roxanne Bancroft-Stuart for making the Ward E election process a friendly rivalry rather than a battle.

So my lady friend says to me: "Adrian, the reason you love the Three Stooges so much is because they appeal to the juvenile part of the male brain! Also, how can a man of your vintage roll around on the floor laughing hysterically at Bugs Bunny cartoons? Will you ever grow up?"

I looked to the left, I looked to the right and, somewhat petulantly, responded the only way I could: "Nah, I don't wanna!" The tirade continued with, "Adrian, how can you sit in coffee shops and read Phantom comics when you are a 'senior'?" That did it! Me a senior?! How dare she? Next she'll have me sitting with all the old fogies in clubs and halls playing bingo and listening to Perry Como records whilst whinging about the weather!

So this one goes out to all men between the ages of 60 and 70 and even beyond. Gentlemen, brothers, never get old; do whatever it is that keeps you young at heart - don't get old before your time, lads!

Read comics, listen to Black Sabbath, lift weights, play with your toys...just do it!

A staggering one in three of people reading this letter will face at least one natural disaster in their lifetime. And after the disaster hits, sadly there’s one thing most will also experience. Regret about not being better prepared.

In Emergency Preparedness Week, Red Cross is calling on all Australians to take action before it’s too late. We want all Australians to be prepared for an emergency, whether it’s as large as a bushfire, cyclone or flood, or as personal as a family crisis. Too many conversations after an emergency begin with “I wish I had…”. People wish they’d taken the kids’ baby photographs; kept their passports safe; upped their insurance; looked in on their neighbours.

Download your RediPlan at redcross.org.au/prepare and get prepared.