Zoe Moffatt
Kind words flowed from the Hume council chamber on Monday, October 23, as councillors thanked outgoing mayor Joseph Haweil for his service to the community.
Cr Haweil will be remembered for his strong stance against gambling, low parking ticket costs and advocacy for vital new community infrastructure and assets, among other issues.
When first elected as mayor in 2020, Cr Haweil was Hume’s youngest male mayor and second youngest overall. He served as mayor in 2020-21, before being re-elected for 2022-23.
Cr Haweil also recently spoke out about his experience at the Broadmeadows train station underpass which left him in a state of shock after he said he was shoved up against a wall.
This prompted Cr Haweil to call for the Victorian Big Build fund to assist in providing safer travel options for Broadmeadow residents.
Speaking at the meeting, Cr Jarrod Bell thanked Cr Haweil for his leadership and guidance throughout the last 12 months.
“I always feel incredibly supported by you around this chamber and in the service of our community,” he said.
Deputy mayor Karen Sherry agreed and said Cr Haweil had gone above and beyond.
“I would like to thank you for… your advocacy in the media and taking the plight of Hume residents out into the wider world,” she said.
“The lack of being able to get out of your estate in the mornings, other issues in Hume such as gambling and public housing.
“You’ve gone beyond the mundane bread and butter issues of what a council does and you’ve worked extremely hard.”
Cr Haweil thanked his fellow councillors for twice giving him the opportunity to serve as mayor.
“I never have sought this role to be something, but to do something, that has been my purpose,” he said.
“You don’t get it right all the time, sometimes you make mistakes in the role but you hope to learn from those mistakes and try and keep moving forward.
“In the last year and three years, certainly with Cr [Carly] Moore’s leadership in particular last year, that we continue to go in the right direction.”
The next mayor will be elected at a meeting in early November.
