Mayoral Matters – July 2026

Published on 05 August 2026

Before I begin, can I please remind everyone to complete their Census next week on Tuesday 11 August 2026. This is very important to the Shire - I will explain later.

The Nhill Town Committee held their AGM at the beginning of the month and re-elected Alison Dahlenburg as President and Natalie Farmers as Secretary. I have been very impressed with their meetings, having attended most of them in this term on Council. Having a cohesive and well-functioning committee is not always easily achieved. Keep up the good work.

The Yurunga Homestead Community Asset Committee also held their AGM, another very small but vibrant group doing a great job. We appreciate and thank all of the volunteers across Hindmarsh Shire who do an excellent job at organising events, managing assets and so much more.

The Nhill Rotary Club held a change over lunch recently, another well run respected group. It will be interesting to see how they perform now that Mary has handed over to Kingsley, I am sure he will be prudently advised of course. They had an exchange student from Argentina, a very pleasant young man. Happy birthday was also sung to my dear friend Merv Schneider, 101 years young.

Our group of nine Council’s met in Warracknabeal consisting of Mayors and CEOs to present the Resource Ready Strategy to Rikkie-Lee Tyrell, member of the Victorian Legislative Council. While Hindmarsh is on the edge (at the moment) the renewables and mining will impact our roads. Rikkie-Lee was very approachable and listened intently to what we all put forward.

The Dimboola Pool upgrades have been put on hold for now due to quotes way beyond our budget. At the recent community meeting in Dimboola we discussed with those in attendance the way forward and I was impressed with the suggestions put forward on the night. Just like the Nhill Bowls Club we must try again.

I recently travelled to Melton to attend the Western Highway Action Group meeting. A lot of work has been going on with the advocacy document that we will submit to the Government with our concerns and priorities. Copies of this document I believe will be available to the public in the near future.

On Tuesday 28 July we held an Australian citizenship ceremony where we welcomed twelve new citizens to our Shire. I have performed this ceremony many times in the five years as Mayor but never with twelve new citizens. I happened to ask a young lady why she chose Australia to be home, she said politics. Like the Karen who have come here because of persecution, her family have come here from Russia, she told me some very sad stories. A timely reminder that we are so blessed to live where we do.

Councillors and staff were invited to inspect the work going on at the Nhill Silo project with some of their committee representatives. The progress was very impressive, a lot of work required but a very enthusiastic and diligent group. Some amazing history well worth preserving.

Before I finish, Tuesday 11 August is Census night! Please complete yours, as a Shire the statistics are valuable and can assist with many aspects of Council including grants, and also assists with giving accurate population numbers and age demographic that helps us to plan for the future.

Until next time, stay warm over the next few weeks, winter is almost to a close!

Cr Ron Ismay
Mayor

Pictured L to R: Phillipe from Argentina, Mel Cuppa Teacher at Nhill Catholic School, Michael Spears President of Horsham Rotary Club.

Pictured L to R: Mayor, Cr Ron Ismay, John Teakle, Kingsley Dalgleish, Merv Schneider, John Millington, Lindsay Blackwood.