After being named the regional winner in a competition which asked "what would you do if you were the Mayor of your local council," Tessa Reid has been declared the statewide winner.
She travelled to Adelaide with her father Tim to receive the award at Parliament House on Thursday.
She then read her winning letter in front of more than 200 delegates at the Local Government Association's (LGA) annual general meeting lunch on Friday.
In her winning entry she expressed ideas to help the elderly and young people and how to promote the city to visitors.
Mum Taryn said she is "extremely proud" of Tessa's win in the secondary school student category, which saw her take home a $500 digital camera package.
"She was treated like royalty, we didn't realise the enormity of it all and I don't think she did either," she said.
While reading in front of a large crowd was a daunting experience, Tessa was able to help give primary school winner, Mallala's Angus Tapscott, the confidence to read his.
"She was very nervous, but so was the other winner and they sat together and got talking and he was a bit nervous and didn't want to talk," Mrs Reid said.
"But she said to him 'I'm going to get up,' so they both got up, spoke and received a rousing applause."
While the prize provided an insight into how local councils run, Tessa hopes to be a physical education teacher when she finishes school.
Mayor Joy Baluch said it is great to see Tessa put so much thought into ways of improving the city and congratulated her on the win.
"Tessa has shown through her winning entry that she has a love for Port Augusta and an interest in how the future of her city is decided," Mrs Baluch said.
"Young people like Tessa are out city's future and if there are many like her that share her passion for the city and her interest in local government, then the future of Port Augusta is in good hands."
Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Jennifer Rankine said she was delighted at the more than 1000 entries received.
"Tessa's entry demonstrated her passion and commitment for her town, with many of her suggestions focussing on community services, including elderly care facilities, recreation facilities and services for young people, finding ways to increase employment through tourism and economic development," she said.
President of the LGA, Mayor John Rich, said the competition proved to be a great way to draw out the obvious passion young people hold for their local communities.
Tessa's letter.....
Mayor of Port Augusta:
My name is Tessa Reid. I am 13 years old, in Year 8 at Caritas College. I am in a family of five and I have been living in Port Augusta all my life and I can say that it's a great place to live. I am dedicated to my town in many ways, I play sport in Port Augusta, I go to school in Port Augusta, I wish to seek employment in Port Augusta and my family ties are here. I think I would be the best one for the job because I would listen to the community and their opinions.
If I was mayor for the day I would look at some issues Port Augusta have and address them.
Firstly, I think Port Augusta needs to beautify our entrances to our town. This is because Port Augusta is the crossroads of Australia, which means many people pass through Port Augusta, we need to encourage travellers to stay awhile. The more friendlier and neater the town is the more people are going to stop and spend money, which helps the city.
Secondly I think one of the issues Port Augusta has is that the Westside has only Foodland, 2 pubs, deli's, service station etc. I think it is unfair to the people who live on that side to travel all the way over to the Eastside to buy CD's, clothes, takeaway etc, this would cost for fuel. If I was mayor I would build more shops on the Westside.
Also I think since we are a city with 15,000 people we need to provide sufficient retirement villages or more places for elderly people to stay in after their retirement.
I think an issue is that children don't have much to do during the holidays and weekends. So I think keeping the youth in our town we should bring more entertainment to Port Augusta. For instance, live bands and concerts and activities. The Westside has lots of space to build an entertainment centre of even facilities like Go-Karts, Laser Force, bowling alley etc. This would increase the population on the Westside and will bring more employment opportunities. I'm sure many people would appreciate this. It might even keep some kids out of trouble and off the streets.
As you would already know, this would cost a lot for all these things but I'm sure when people are seeing improvements they don't complain about rates. People could also start fundraisers by local bands offering to start a concert. Also another way we can apply for a grant to the state government, hopefully they will give some money to Port Augusta. In conclusion, my vision
Yours sincerely
Tessa Reid
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