This week's Minute with Mayor McKibbin

November 5, 2026

Published on 5 November 2026

There was a record turnout for the NAIDOC Day celebrations held on Saturday, 17 October, hosted by the Oberon Aboriginal Community Group in partnership with Council staff. The day began with a Welcome and Smoking Ceremony, followed by cultural dancing and a range of activities including weaving and art workshops, Johnny Cake making and the popular Me n Zoo animal presentation. A free barbecue and ice creams provided another opportunity for families and community members to come together and enjoy the day. The strong attendance was a great reflection of our community's support for NAIDOC celebrations and the opportunity they provide to recognise, learn about and celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Pink Ribbon Morning Tea was held at the Oberon Library and Community Centre on Friday 30 October, with plenty of pink on display and some outstanding outfits. Deputy Mayor Katie Graham attended on my behalf, with Dr Sivakamy from the local medical centre providing an informative talk on breast cancer and all things women's health. The morning tea, held in collaboration between the Friends of Oberon Library and Oberon Council, raised an impressive $1,601.90 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed and helped make the morning tea such a success.

On Monday, 2 November 2026, Council held a Roads Workshop to brief Councillors and discuss a range of issues affecting Council's road network, which accounts for approximately 70% of Council's budgeted expenditure. The draft Roads Policy and its interaction with the operational procedures/guidelines behind the policy was explained. The significant impact of Forestry Corporation and private pine plantation haulage operations on Oberon's road network, with haulage volumes and frequency estimated to continue to increase, was discussed at length due the huge impact on maintenance and repairs to the roads. Did you know that the movements and impact of one truck can equal that of 10,000 cars. The cost of maintaining, resealing and repairing Oberon's roads does not allow any further roads to be sealed with bitumen. Oberon, like all regional councils, has a significant backlog of roads requiring reseals (a new bitumen layer placed on the old layer) which increase substantially the design life of roads. A presentation from Standek provided an insight into road design, emphasising the criticality of geotechnical investigations into the underlying geological conditions on areas where roads are being constructed or reconstructed. The proper substrata with appropriate gravel is essential for achieving the projected road life to meet freight haulage requirements. Vegetation control is also of major concern along Oberon roads, with wattles and weeds growing into the table drains and onto road verges.

Both the Central NSW Joint organisation and Country Mayors Association will be meeting in Sydney in the week of 9th November. This will provide the opportunity to advocate to ministers, shadow ministers and current Members of Parliament before the NSW Election in March 2027 concerning issues that are of importance to regional NSW. NSW politicians have to prove they truly govern for all of the State and address transport, water, health, energy, employment, cost of living, overly restrictive gun controls and land use concerns of regional NSW. Recent surveys have indicated a general disenchantment with democracy with a large number of young regional men being the most disenchanted. There is a reason for this disenchantment as these people feel their voices and concerns are not being heard or addressed.

Andrew McKibbin
Mayor