Councillor Role

In 2008 Fiona ran for re-election on her own ticket- Team H. She was successful in being re-elected and only 100 votes short of her second candidate Gerald Power being elected also. If she had of been successful with the second candidate Orange Council would have had its first Aboriginal Councillor.

Items of particular interest to Fiona at this time would be the water issue in Orange. She has been active in working towards a way for future water sustainability. Evidence of the work done to date can be viewed on the Council web site- Water Project

Fiona also enjoys the role she plays in the numerous areas relating to the major portfolio in which she holds- Community Services. Given her background as a Registered Nurse, previous Councillor, Justice of the Peace, involvement in local community projects and various fundraising activities Fiona believes she is well suited to this role. In particular she is approachable, empathic, professional, understanding and seeks out the various needs of her community. Projects Fiona has been involved in through Council are:

* Water strategy for the future 2050
* Storm Water Harvesting scheme
* Planning and development of the New PCYC centre in Orange
* Spring Street Bridge
* Children's Memorial Garden
* Expansion of the Skate park
* Advocate for Icely and Ophir road users linking to Northern Distributor
* Youth Conference Orange
* Australian Rural Leadership Course- Vision Task needs assessment for families.
* Crime Prevention CCTV cameras
* Christmas Festival
* Chamber of Commerce representative for Council
* Disability services
* Mount Canobolas as a Tourist area
* Dragon Boats Orange

In 2004 Fiona was first elected as a Councillor with Orange City Council. After a busy time with election and campaigning against 77 other possible candidates. Fiona became the third female Councillor at Orange. Fiona is an extremely active Council member and some of the projects that she has driven or been involved in are:

  • Designing and building two BMX Tracks in Orange after establishing a partnership with organisations to provide funding in support (competitive and recreational)
  • Lobbying and building a recreational play area for children at Glenroi
  • Working with the community and other Councillors to have an Aboriginal Flag flown at the Council Chambers
  • Working with a committee and Youth to establish "Not just another CafĂ©" (NJAC)
  • Set up a Pilot Project with Police, Public School and Council to provide bikes and helmets so that bike riding could become part of the sport curriculum at no cost to students.
  • Lobbied for changes in phone directory, reduced speed on distributor road, better meeting times, shared space, and much more.
  • Been an active member in the Community Plan 2020 for Orange
  • Amongst many other things... Visit this site monthly to stay updated on what Fiona has been involved in with Council.

Fiona's objectives on council

Council Objectives (PDF File)

Orange Councillor and Candidate 2008 Election
Please find in this document the completed profile with full policy information and many other extras added in.

You Tube- Orange Electorate Fiona Rossiter Team H

Visit this new website Australian Family Matters


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Orange Mountain Evening View Dinner


The theme for this event was Halloween and the people who dressed up where very adventurist. There was a mixture of witches with crooked noses, long nails and colourful hair. The food was delicious and the guest speaker was good. They had Jason Hay who spoke about Health Promotion and Prevention Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol GWAHS. I enjoy attending these evenings with my eldest daughter as it is a club for younger women.

The evening is full of activity and games and you are always in the chance of winning a prize. I went home with a pumpkin. All of this while supporting the Smith Family.

These ladies do a wonderful job of bringing the monthly meetings together, I am looking forward to the next one.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Australian Rural Leadership Victoria/Melbourne


Australian Rural Leadership Foundation

The third trip we had away for the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation was a visit to Melbourne, Victoria. The session involved learning about futures thinking and strategy development, Australia and the global economy, multi-cultural ism- Australia's social reality, personal skills that further enhance leadership development and roles and responsibilities of Boards of Directors. As you can imagine it was full of information, networking, learning +

+ + +, social interaction and leadership building.

If you would like to learn more about the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and Program visit their website

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Coins for Cancer- Cancer Care Western NSW


Coins for Cancer

The clouds outside were dark and there was a real stillness in the air. It was a Saturday morning and we were ready to build a path of coins along the southern side of summer street.


The reason why is to do with the Carewest lodge soon to be built here in Orange. Orange Base Hospital is being rebuilt and supposed to be completed by 2011. With the new hospital comes a Radio-Therapy unit with two Linear Accelerators. The community has been so active in understanding the need for the Radio-Therapy service that it has now taken up the project of raising funds to provide accommodation to outlying areas when utilising the service.


Here in it lies the challenge to raise 2 million dollars. So the Coins for Cancer was one of those many fundraisers being held. I met up with other committee and Rotary members and proceeded to make up a line. We had buckets to collect the money and witches hats to guide the line. It didn't take long for the clouds to open up and down poured the rain. This was of course no problem to the event as we had the awnings for cover, if anything it opened up the conversations with people who were excited to see the rain.


So the rain poured down and the money flowed in along the money trail. It was a good day held by all and a true credit to the people of Orange who helped support yet another fundraising event.


If you would like to make a donation to Cancer Care West please visit the web-site