Profile: Jennifer Whitney

Jennifer Whitney and her husband Shane, son Jason and daughter Jayme moved to Proserpine in 1983. At this time, Shane was working for Field’s in Mackay and Jenny for Hugh Reilly Real Estate.

Field’s was a Mackay based company which had outlets in Proserpine and Ayr. Initially, one of its main areas of business was acting as the local Massey Ferguson tractor dealership.

Shane, who has been working for Field’s as a Salesman, had applied for the position in Ayr as Manager but when the Proserpine manager at the time, Peter Woods shifted to Ayr, the job of manager of the Proserpine section of the business became open and Shane took the opportunity to shift to Proserpine and become the manager of the local Field’s Massey Ferguson dealership.

Having two young children at the time, Jenny stayed in Mackay and moved up to Proserpine at the end of 1983. The Proserpine Field’s dealership was where the Metropole Hotel Liquor Barn is now situated. When Jenny first came to Proserpine she worked at Mitre 10 in the accounts section but then started working at the then Proserpine Shire Council offices in June 1984.

In the early eighties Mr. Fred Field passed away and the company continued in business but was a very large privately owned enterprise and without Mr. Field at the helm the company was destined to be bought out. This took place in 1985/86 by a Western Australian Company who had purchased the business to sell off the assets. This lead to the event that gave Shane and Jennifer the opportunity from Massey Ferguson Australia to accept an offer to take over the popular brand. This all took place on the 2nd February 1987. Shane and Jenny were able to stay at the home of Massey Ferguson for three months, the old site of the Metropole Hotel Liquor Barn. Right from the start, Jenny was always involved in helping out at the business doing all of the book work and helping out where ever she could.

It should be noted that Shane and Jenny celebrated their 25th anniversary of being in business in Proserpine on the 2nd February this year. The business shifted from the original site to a shed owned by Bill Crossley next to the current National Australia Bank site. Then, in 1989 Shane and Jenny purchased their current business premises situated at 73 Main Street from Cec Mazlin and moved in 1990.

Jenny and Shane’s children, Jason and Jayme, have grown up in Proserpine. Jason completed his apprenticeship with Shane in the business and is now working in the mining industry in Glenden and lives with his wife and two young daughters. Jayme studied biomedical science and pharmacy and has been working as a Pharmacist locally in the Whitsunday region for over 10 years. Jayme is living at Jubilee Pocket with her partner and two young sons. Jenny continued to work at the Proserpine/Whitsunday Shire Council from 1984 till 1997.

During this time, Jenny was the Secretary to the Chief Executive Officer and the Mayor. In 1997 Jenny was elected to her first term as a local Councillor and served on the Whitsunday Shire Council until 2000. In 2000, Jenny unsuccessfully ran for Mayor and after this she worked at the National Australia Bank until again standing for election as a local Councillor in 2004. Jenny was once again successful in the 2004 election. In 2008, the year of amalgamation with Bowen, Jenny was the only former Whitsunday Shire Councillor to be elected to the amalgamated Council. Having served on the amalgamated Council for 4 years, Jenny decided to run for Mayor in this year’s election in which she was successful and became inducted as the first female Mayor of the Whitsunday Regional Council in May.

When I spoke to Jenny she told me that she felt compelled to run for Mayor to bring about what she believed to be a necessary cultural change in working for our local government. Jenny says that she feels strongly that the Council must be run as a business for the benefit of everyone in the whole of the region. When you consider Jenny’s background in both Council and in business (as I have outlined above), I think it is abundantly clear that she is very qualified for the position and this combined with her obvious passion for the whole of the area means that she is going to give the job everything. Whether or not you agree with her views, I think her passion and commitment must be respected and admired.

When I asked Jenny about maintaining a casino online balance in her life she mentioned that given that her husband Shane is one of the most unpretentious people you could hope to meet and that he serves as an everyday reality check. For those who know Shane will appreciate that he will never be anything but himself. Jenny also says that the time she is able to spend with her children and grandchildren is very much valued and something that she likes to do
as much as possible. In fact, I have seen Jenny on a number of occasions out in public running around like any other grandmother caring for her grandchildren.

Jenny says that this places her in a position to speak to and communicate with everyday people who are, like her, trying to do the best to rear their families and get ahead in life. Jenny’s ongoing and continued involvement in the business over so many years has also given her an insight into many varied views of people from all parts of the area. This again, gives her exposure to a broad range of views and everyday problems that people within the region are experiencing.

Jenny also feels that she is also at a good stage of her life to be in the position of Mayor given that she has mature children, an established business and a husband who is very supportive.
Although, Jenny says, that Shane gets very concerned and stressed about the travelling and being away from home that being the Mayor requires. Shane however, has continued with his restoration of a classic motor vehicle and continues to be involved with his favourite recreational activity which is going on road trips on his Harley Davidson motor cycle.

In general terms, Jenny acknowledges the great difficulties facing the region at the moment. Notwithstanding, Jenny remains optimistic for the tourism industry and our rural sectors as well as the potential spin offs from the influx of residents associated with the upcoming development of Abbot Point in Bowen and the Galilee Basin coal reserves. One particular point that Jenny would like to emphasise is to encourage not only the Council but all local residents to support each other.

Especially in this time leading up to Christmas, Jenny wants to encourage all local people to spend money on buying presents and Christmas supplies locally. This is the only way our local businesses are going to be able to survive the difficult times that are being faced at the moment and Jenny says that she is going to practice what she preaches and will encourage the Council, wherever possible, to deal with local service providers and businesses to ensure that money spent by Council remains locally.