Ipswich Council has appointed Nicole Jonic as the city’s Deputy Mayor.
It comes after the new Ipswich City Council held it’s first post-election meeting yesterday.
Cr Nicole Jonic, who will serve under Mayor Teresa Harding, thanked her fellow councillors for supporting her nomination.
“It’s a great honour and a privilege to be chosen by my fellow councillors to take on the role of Deputy Mayor.
“I’m humbled but I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me,” she said.
All but one councillor voted in favour of Councillor Jonic being appointed to the role.
New Division 1 Councillor Pye Augustine voted against the move at the ordinary council meeting on Thursday.
Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic said that it is now an opportunity for the new council to begin to work together.
“I think it is about getting the councillors to open up and be comfortable and work as a team to respect each other.
“When we have opinions that might differ but we just need to keep the community and just make sure the outcome is about the people and Ipswich’s benefit,” Cr Jonic said.
“Everyone is a person after all at the end of the day — so I can do what I can do and hopefully we can lead this new council into some stronger times.
“I’m really looking at the financial governance at the moment,” she said.
At the 2023/24 Budget last year, Ipswich City Council was $403 million in debt due to a combination of costs associated with the re-development of the Ipswich Nicholas Street mall, floods and natural disasters as well as road and infrastructure developments for the fast growing region.
