Mr Crawley was elected automatically with only seven people putting their hands up to fill nine spots on Murray River Council for the December election.
The former governance manager at Campaspe Shire Council has lived in Moama since 2016 after 15 years in Darwin.
He grew up in Collingwood, Melbourne and has previously served on the hospital board at Deniliquin.
He brings extensive experience with local government to the role, including working for the Northern Territory Government in the local government department, providing advice to councillors on their role and governance matters.
“I was also appointed as an investigator and administrator of a council that got suspended because of councillor in-fighting,” Mr Crawley said.
“I’ve got a good understanding of what councillors’ roles are and how they should be working at a strategic level, and how in-fighting severely impacts all the stakeholders including councillors, staff and the community.”
He said the most important thing to bring to the table as a councillor was respect, for the other councillors, staff and the community.
“Generally, local government across Australia has had its reputation tarnished by a lot of in-fighting and I would hope that we have proper respectful working relationships at all levels, which will improve the image not only of Murray River Council but local government in general,” he said.
“If it all becomes too personal it wastes a lot of time and effort, and dare I say, wastes ratepayers money, too.”
Mr Crawley has previously been involved with Murray River Council, having been part of its audit and risk committee since 2017.
“The really crucial part of audit committees is making sure all recommendations from the auditors are implemented in a timely fashion, so you’re getting value out of those recommendations,” he said.
“It also gives the community another level of assurance that people have had a look at not only the finances but the internal controls, systems and processes.”
He said with growth projected to continue in Moama, it was important for council to have the proper strategies and planning processes in place for future development — but also looked to the entire council area.
“I was involved on (council’s) rates harmonisation committee and what stood out was more than 50 per cent of rates come from the farming sector,” he said.
“They’re looking for good infrastructure especially roads, so while there’s going to be ongoing pressures from development in Moama, we have to make sure services are being delivered to other parts of the community and that they’re being listened to and engaged with.”
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