A delegation from the South East Queensland Council of Mayors will next week depart on an 11-day mission to North America seeking global insights, partnerships and solutions to tackle some of South East Queensland’s biggest challenges including growth, connectivity, affordability, and waste.
The group are scheduled to meet with key officials including Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass, Metro Vancouver senior transport officials and newly appointed Wisk Aero CEO, Dr Brian Yutko.
Council of Mayors (SEQ) Chair, Brisbane Lord Mayor, Adrian Schrinner said the delegation will explore emerging examples of Olympic and Paralympic legacy, as well as innovative responses to public transport, waste management, housing affordability and growth.
The Lord Mayor said the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games were an “incredible opportunity to address the challenges of growth, affordability and connectivity facing the south east corner”.
“South East Queensland is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and that’s only going to increase as we get closer to the Brisbane 2032 Games,” he said.
“Learning how other host cities are using their Games to deliver long-term advantages for their residents is an important step on the runway to Brisbane 2032.
“We want Brisbane 2032 to be the best Games ever but we also want to ensure the legacy continues for many years after the event.
“To make sure that happens, we need to better understand the things that have and are working well for other regions, and more importantly, the things they would do differently. We’re also keen to understand their legacy focus, and how they’re dealing with challenges at a local level.
“This includes Los Angeles which is delivering the largest mass transit construction program in the United States to connect the Los Angeles region ahead of their 2028 Games.”
Lord Mayor Schrinner said the Mayors would also be looking to strengthen and formalise partnerships, and discuss new opportunities for trade and investment.
He said he was excited to visit manufacturing and test flight facilities of Boeing-backed Advanced Air Mobility company Wisk Aero.
“In July last year we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Wisk Aero which will see us working together to support the introduction of autonomous air taxi service to south east Queensland,” he said.
“Not only does this emerging future industry have enormous potential for commuters, there is also enormous economic opportunities.”
Council of Mayors (SEQ) Deputy Chair, Mayor Paul Antonio said the Mayors were keen to explore how Metro Vancouver was addressing the issues of population growth and housing affordability.
“This is critical as our region responds to the housing crisis, and ahead of the upcoming review of the State Government’s SEQ Regional Plan,” Mayor Antonio said.
“Metro Vancouver is well advanced on their journey towards a circular economy, providing a blueprint on what we can expect as we work to implement our South East Queensland Waste Management Plan, including the rollout of local food waste recycling services.
“Their green bins have cut more than 1.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses since 2015 – equivalent to removing 250,000 cars – and in 2021 they diverted 420,000 tonnes of food scraps from landfill.”
Mission objectives:
- Examine regional and coordinated approaches to growth management, housing affordability, sustainability, waste management and resource recovery (including clean-technologies and the circular economy).
- Review how local government is working to improve regional mass transport outcomes and connectivity by supporting the adoption of new smart mobility solutions, including zero emission vehicles and regional energy storage infrastructure to support regional mass movement of people and goods.
- Investigate how city-regions leverage the Olympic and Paralympic games to advance a compelling global identity and explore initiatives that promote trade and investment attraction.
- Strengthen partnerships between Metro Vancouver and Council of Mayors (SEQ) for areas of shared interests including urban growth management and housing affordability, digital connectivity, environmental waste management / clean technologies and transport infrastructure.
- Strengthen the recent partnership between COMSEQ and Wisk Aero. The delegation will visit WISK manufacturing and test facilities to review the latest advancements in AAM technology and aircraft to support the entry of AAM to SEQ.
- Engage with civic and business leaders to develop meaningful strategic relationships focused on generating strong social and economic outcomes for each region.
Redland City Mayor, Karen Williams said the delegation will also investigate better waste solutions for South East Queensland.
“Waste has been a priority for Council recently, with Redlands joining an alliance of SEQ Councils collectively investigating a regional material recovery facility that would deliver significant environmental and economic benefits,” she said.
“These investigations are progressing positively and I am confident the delegation to north America will unearth potential opportunities to progress this and other innovative solutions to waste.”
The Mayor said such international delegations had delivered on-the-ground initiatives for Redlands Coast in recent years, including the use of drones to manage mosquitoes and Karragarra Island hosting Queensland’s first ever on road autonomous vehicle.
“Both of these innovations came from previous international delegations and I look forward to other great initiatives coming from this month’s mission,” she said.
