CEO’s message

The Torres Strait Island Regional Council 2021/22 Annual Report celebrates our progress towards the 2025 vision for our region while remembering and celebrating our history.

I acknowledge members of the communities we serve throughout our region: the Gudaw Maluligal Nation of the top western islands, the Maluligal Nation of the western islands, the Kemer Kemer Meriam Nation of the eastern islands, the Kulkalgal Nation of the central islands, and the Kaiwalagal Kaurareg Aboriginal Nation of the inner islands. I pay my respects to Elders past and present. I am proud to deliver my first Annual Report as Council’s Chief Executive Officer and it allows me to reflect on and share our achievements over the past financial year. It has been an exciting first four months in the role and I am honoured to be welcomed into the organisation and back to the region where I grew up. Our Performance

This year we maintained focus through rising costs of materials, freight and labour and a continuing pandemic. We delivered $34 .8M in capital works during the year, which is an impressive achievement for an organisation of our size within such a unique local government area. Due to internal and external circumstances we haven’t performed as well against our Operational Plan as anticipated, with 14 of the 60 objectives completed this year. However, many objectives are multi-year objectives, and we will continue to deliver on those. A comprehensive report on progress against the year’s objectives is provided on pages 85 to 102 of this report. I extend genuine thanks and acknowledgement to all Council employees for their individual and collective efforts to pursue our objectives – we are doing great work for our beautiful island communities.

We continued to support our local businesses with several contracts awarded to local suppliers. We aim to continue to increase these numbers to ensure the viability of local businesses and keep money in the region. Construction on the Seawalls Project reached a significant milestone with completion of the $15M Boigu Seawall, which is part of the Commonwealth and State Government jointly funded $40M Seawalls Project Stage 2. Work also commenced on the construction of coastal defence works on Poruma, which is due for completion in late 2022. Looking ahead and thank you During the coming year, we will increase our strategic efforts and reassess where we as an organisation need to focus our efforts to ensure the best outcome for our organisation and our communities.

We will continue to work on being the largest employer in the region and an employer of choice by focusing on building skills and capacity in our communities. I appreciate our workforce who continue to go “above and beyond the call of duty” for the benefit of our communities, despite the often challenging nature of our work. I also extend my gratitude to the Executive Team, several of whom have taken on the role of acting Chief Executive Officer at different times, during the previous 20 months.

It is an honour to be the Chief Executive Officer and I wish to thank the Mayor and Elected Members for their support during my first few months in the role.

I am confident that Council can look forward to a positive future as we build upon our work to create an autonomous, prosperous, and sustainable Council and communities.

James William Chief Executive Officer