February 29, 2024 • 10 mins
In this episode of the Pease Podcast, I welcome special guest Alex Cossu, a passionate young man and the Council Candidate for Doboy.
Throughout the episode, we discuss the issues impacting the local residents of Doboy, and the great potential for positive change to be enacted in the area. Alex expresses his vision for Doboy: simple, back-to-basics service provision that aims to address pressing issues such as park maintenance and mosquito-control efforts.
Our conversation illuminates Alex's vision to deliver better services to the locals, and we discuss his personal life and career, from his work as a videographer to his journey from growing up in Toowoomba to Brisbane. This episode provides an excellent opportunity to get to know Alex Cossu, and understand his commitment to bringing about positive change to the Doboy community.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Well, good morning and welcome to the Pease Podcast. I'm Joan Pease,
the State Member for Lytton, and I'm really thrilled to have a great guest with
me today in our latest Pease Podcast episode.
Welcome, Alex Kosu. It's great to have you here.
Now, Alex is the Council Candidate for Doughboy, and he is a great young man
(00:20):
who brings a lot to the table.
But Alex has got a wealth of experience, and I'm sure everyone would like to
hear a little bit about Alex.
Music.
(00:47):
So, Alex, welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me here. It's very exciting.
It's great to have you. And thank you for running for Doboy.
It's an amazing little ward. It covers a fair amount of area,
doesn't it? What suburbs does it pick up?
And pretty much everything from like the river south, sort of Murray,
Cannon Hill, Carina, Belmont, Tingalpa, Manly West.
(01:09):
I don't know if I said Hemant already, but Hemant. So, yeah,
it's pretty much, it's a pretty large area.
So it's got sort of a third of your electorate and then maybe two thirds of Dye Farmers.
So that sort of Bulimba electorate area. So it's pretty, pretty decent size, pretty decent chunk.
So, yeah. And it's an interesting mix of types of residents.
So you'd have a little bit of industrial, but a lot of residential generally. Yeah, definitely.
And a lot of apartments too, particularly around in Carina. And there's some
(01:31):
sort of assisted living areas on Meadowlands Road as well and in Carina there.
So, and then the old area of Carina. So it's a big mix. Yeah.
And then obviously Murray is a really changing and Cannon Hill changing demographic
and changing area as well. So young families moving in there. Yeah, it certainly is.
I mean, it was such an industrial area.
My mum used to have the canteen at Dandy Hams and Bacons many, many years ago.
(01:56):
Where was that? That was down at the end of Murarrie Road near the train station.
Oh, wow, really? It's not even there anymore. Jeez, that's great because even
that area has just changed. Changed completely, yeah. Even in the past couple of years.
So it's a great opportunity for young families to be moving into the whole area.
And I guess you're one of those. How do you find the services that the current
administration are delivering to the communities?
(02:18):
Yeah, it's not great, you know. We're definitely paying more rates and getting
less in services, you know. Simple things like potholes and roads,
footpaths, mowing grass, our parks sort of being underutilized and under sort of spent.
And then we got things being spent on things like glossy brochures and stuff
like that, millions of dollars a year.
(02:39):
So it's just a shame to see it like that. And that's one of the reasons I'm
running is I really want to see that.
Back to basics sort of stuff as well, you know, just money spent on simple things
like cutting grass and all that. It shouldn't be complicated, you know.
Well, delivering services to the residents is a really important service.
And it was very evident during the recent poor weather that we had over Christmas
(03:00):
that the services that Brisbane City Council were able to provide under the
Adrian Schrinner administration were very poor.
You know, it took a long time for them to respond and the cleanup. up.
And I know that a lot of areas were hard hit, but they used to employ people to do that.
And I understand that the administration got rid of up to 400 staff members
(03:24):
in those places, which is very disappointing given that rates have gone up quite significantly.
Absolutely. 17% over Adrian Schrinner's sort of years he's been in mayor, been mayor.
And as part of that $400 million cuts, just everything's basically been slashed.
So it's a real shame and then on the flooding you know we had that rain event last week.
Speaking of residents in Tingalpa who got flooded there as well
(03:46):
and in that sort of short amount of rain it
shouldn't have flooded but they've also let flooding go really badly you know
and that's one of the things that a labour council wants to do is put money
back into flood maintenance drain water maintenance that sort of thing even
Murray there's a canal behind where the residents live there and that's been
under maintained not maintained properly and that's how flooding happens and
the residents' homes get flooded, you know?
(04:07):
And that's one of the reasons Tracy Price is running for mayor is her business got flooded in 2011.
And then when she went to council, they said, no, not our fault.
We don't, we're not going to help you or anything.
And that's why Tracy's running and on such a good platform as well,
because she wants to not let that happen again and change it. Yeah.
She's a very good candidate, Tracy. She brings a lot to the table.
She's very experienced. Yeah.
(04:29):
And it's a really interesting campaign because it's a real grassroots campaign,
particularly for you, Alex, and I know that you live in the area,
which is a really important area,
to me, very important because you actually know firsthand the problems of your ward.
And have you been talking to residents and out and about chatting to people?
(04:50):
Yeah, definitely. We're out every weekend, trying to make calls every day as
well, just talking to people about the issues they face and the more rates they're paying.
And it's cost a living thing as well for everybody, you know,
like it's really tight at the moment.
So we're trying to make that better by things like such as half price bus fares,
busting congestion, a billion dollars in that.
But yeah, people are always raising with me just the simple things,
(05:12):
which really shocks me, is like the long grass and parks, the dodgy footpaths,
the dodgy roads, you know.
Council the other week came out and said that even in Hemant,
residents had been mowing their own parks to be able to use it.
The councillor came out and said, oh, we think it's great. More people should
be mowing the parks. And I just think that's outrageous.
That's absolutely disgusting. We pay rates. Like, what are we,
(05:32):
are we going to fix the roads next to the footpaths, You know,
so I really, it's just like as simple as that, bringing it back to basics.
And that's what people are telling me on the doors and on the phones.
They just want, they're paying more and getting less. And we just want to bring
it back to this, bring the money back to the suburbs, bring the services back to the suburbs.
Oh, that's great. And look, I've noticed that too. And I know that it's been a hot and wet summer.
(05:54):
The grass is growing quickly. I understand that.
But if you don't have, if you've got rid of the staff to actually undertake those services,
horses then it is going to take a long time to
go back and get these things fixed absolutely and that is
a disgrace that the council under the trina
administration are expecting residents yes to go
(06:15):
out and mow their own parts it's unsafe you know if you break your mower you
hurt yourself you know it's pretty disgraceful and then they can't even use
the parks as well and then sit things such as snakes like residents were telling
me only worried the long grass snakes and other things like toads and mosquitoes
is a massive issue as well i know and you're in your patch of the woods,
like over here in Hemet and Tingalpa, massive issue.
(06:36):
Same for me in Murray, massive issue mosquitoes and they grow up, they like.
Thrive in the long grass as well. That's right. And that's actually a really
interesting point because with the spraying of the mozzies, how's that going?
What's happened in that department? Has the council reduced funding?
Yes, the LNP council have reduced funding in that as well. And even remember,
I remember when I moved to Hemet in 2019, they'd cut a million dollars from it then.
(06:59):
And I don't think that money's been restored either. So it's only downward from here.
And they're not doing it regularly enough because the mosquito spraying only
kills lava. lava doesn't kill live mosquitoes.
So, you know, places like Hemet just are suffering. I remember living there
and just the midges of mosquitoes were so bad.
So it's definitely something that we want to fix that the LMP have cut. Absolutely.
(07:21):
It's disappointing. I mean, we could sit here and talk all day about their cuts. Absolutely.
But what I'd like to do is talk about positive things. And Alex,
you bring a lot to the table. Tell us a little bit about your background.
Sure. How far back do you want me to go? Well, I know that you're a videographer
by trade and you have, you're a photographer as well and you've done lots of
different work. And where are you working currently?
(07:41):
I'm currently working at the Bureau of Meteorology as a videographer.
So I know a little bit about weather, but mainly videography.
But before that, I worked for the Premier as a videographer as well.
And before that, I worked in various state and federal MP and senators' offices as well.
And then before that, I was at the Brisbane Broncos for the same thing as a
videographer up the Broncos.
And then before that, I moved from Toowoomba to Brisbane in 2017, so I was at USQ up there.
(08:05):
So I've done a bit of everything, but it takes me over there.
The videography and the photography, it's fantastic. I really enjoy it, see a lot of sights.
I went to USQ as well. Oh, did you? I graduated from USQ with a Bachelor of
Further Education and Training. Oh, that's cool. Long time ago. That's cool.
That's awesome. And what did you, what's your degree, Alex? Bachelor of Creative
Arts, major in Creative Media. Got you. So, yeah.
(08:26):
Wow. That's a long time ago now, 10 years ago.
No, and you say you must be finding it very hard to be on the other side of
the camera. It's weird. It's really bizarre. I was saying to Paul,
he's going to have to cut a lot of this. I feel bad.
Oh, you're doing very well, Alex. Thank you. It is a weird experience,
really, for everyone. It's not a natural experience.
It's bizarre, yeah. And what about your private life? Have you got wife, family, kids?
(08:49):
Yeah, so I've got a wife, been married for almost two and a half years. Two and a half years.
We live in Murray, as I said, in Park Hill Estate, which is fantastic.
Got a dog called Buddy and a cat called Kitty.
And, yeah, we definitely want kids soon. So that's something that's on the radar
for us. So, yeah, we love living in the area. It's fantastic.
As I said, we moved to Hemet in the area in 2019, and we've been in the area
(09:09):
ever since. So I love it. It's such an awesome area.
It is a really great area, isn't it? There's something special about these eastern
bayside suburbs. It's beautiful.
And so you're still at the Bureau? Yes, still at the Bureau of Meteorology,
yes. So still managing that between council stuff, it's very hectic.
Yeah, lots of weekend and after hours work. Yeah, definitely.
(09:31):
Definitely right. Definitely right. So this is my lunch break this morning.
Alex, it's terrific to have you here today. And I really appreciate you giving
up your time. I know how busy you are.
But it's always great to have a chat. And it's really a great opportunity for
other residents to get to know a little bit about Alex and what a great guy he is.
So I'm going to sign off now. so please if you don't subscribe to the Joan Pease
(09:55):
or the Pease podcast please make sure you do and if there are any particular
stories or someone that you'd like to hear from reach out to me and we will see what we can do.
Thank you very much Alex I hope you enjoyed today and all the best with your
campaign. Thanks so much Joan I really appreciate your support. Thank you.
Music.
Well, good morning and welcome to the Pease Podcast. I'm Joan Pease,
the State Member for Lytton, and I'm really thrilled to have a great guest with
me today in our latest Pease Podcast episode.
Welcome, Alex Kosu. It's great to have you here.
Now, Alex is the Council Candidate for Doughboy, and he is a great young man
(00:20):
who brings a lot to the table.
But Alex has got a wealth of experience, and I'm sure everyone would like to
hear a little bit about Alex.
Music.
(00:47):
So, Alex, welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me here. It's very exciting.
It's great to have you. And thank you for running for Doboy.
It's an amazing little ward. It covers a fair amount of area,
doesn't it? What suburbs does it pick up?
And pretty much everything from like the river south, sort of Murray,
Cannon Hill, Carina, Belmont, Tingalpa, Manly West.
(01:09):
I don't know if I said Hemant already, but Hemant. So, yeah,
it's pretty much, it's a pretty large area.
So it's got sort of a third of your electorate and then maybe two thirds of Dye Farmers.
So that sort of Bulimba electorate area. So it's pretty, pretty decent size, pretty decent chunk.
So, yeah. And it's an interesting mix of types of residents.
So you'd have a little bit of industrial, but a lot of residential generally. Yeah, definitely.
And a lot of apartments too, particularly around in Carina. And there's some
(01:31):
sort of assisted living areas on Meadowlands Road as well and in Carina there.
So, and then the old area of Carina. So it's a big mix. Yeah.
And then obviously Murray is a really changing and Cannon Hill changing demographic
and changing area as well. So young families moving in there. Yeah, it certainly is.
I mean, it was such an industrial area.
My mum used to have the canteen at Dandy Hams and Bacons many, many years ago.
(01:56):
Where was that? That was down at the end of Murarrie Road near the train station.
Oh, wow, really? It's not even there anymore. Jeez, that's great because even
that area has just changed. Changed completely, yeah. Even in the past couple of years.
So it's a great opportunity for young families to be moving into the whole area.
And I guess you're one of those. How do you find the services that the current
administration are delivering to the communities?
(02:18):
Yeah, it's not great, you know. We're definitely paying more rates and getting
less in services, you know. Simple things like potholes and roads,
footpaths, mowing grass, our parks sort of being underutilized and under sort of spent.
And then we got things being spent on things like glossy brochures and stuff
like that, millions of dollars a year.
(02:39):
So it's just a shame to see it like that. And that's one of the reasons I'm
running is I really want to see that.
Back to basics sort of stuff as well, you know, just money spent on simple things
like cutting grass and all that. It shouldn't be complicated, you know.
Well, delivering services to the residents is a really important service.
And it was very evident during the recent poor weather that we had over Christmas
(03:00):
that the services that Brisbane City Council were able to provide under the
Adrian Schrinner administration were very poor.
You know, it took a long time for them to respond and the cleanup. up.
And I know that a lot of areas were hard hit, but they used to employ people to do that.
And I understand that the administration got rid of up to 400 staff members
(03:24):
in those places, which is very disappointing given that rates have gone up quite significantly.
Absolutely. 17% over Adrian Schrinner's sort of years he's been in mayor, been mayor.
And as part of that $400 million cuts, just everything's basically been slashed.
So it's a real shame and then on the flooding you know we had that rain event last week.
Speaking of residents in Tingalpa who got flooded there as well
(03:46):
and in that sort of short amount of rain it
shouldn't have flooded but they've also let flooding go really badly you know
and that's one of the things that a labour council wants to do is put money
back into flood maintenance drain water maintenance that sort of thing even
Murray there's a canal behind where the residents live there and that's been
under maintained not maintained properly and that's how flooding happens and
the residents' homes get flooded, you know?
(04:07):
And that's one of the reasons Tracy Price is running for mayor is her business got flooded in 2011.
And then when she went to council, they said, no, not our fault.
We don't, we're not going to help you or anything.
And that's why Tracy's running and on such a good platform as well,
because she wants to not let that happen again and change it. Yeah.
She's a very good candidate, Tracy. She brings a lot to the table.
She's very experienced. Yeah.
(04:29):
And it's a really interesting campaign because it's a real grassroots campaign,
particularly for you, Alex, and I know that you live in the area,
which is a really important area,
to me, very important because you actually know firsthand the problems of your ward.
And have you been talking to residents and out and about chatting to people?
(04:50):
Yeah, definitely. We're out every weekend, trying to make calls every day as
well, just talking to people about the issues they face and the more rates they're paying.
And it's cost a living thing as well for everybody, you know,
like it's really tight at the moment.
So we're trying to make that better by things like such as half price bus fares,
busting congestion, a billion dollars in that.
But yeah, people are always raising with me just the simple things,
(05:12):
which really shocks me, is like the long grass and parks, the dodgy footpaths,
the dodgy roads, you know.
Council the other week came out and said that even in Hemant,
residents had been mowing their own parks to be able to use it.
The councillor came out and said, oh, we think it's great. More people should
be mowing the parks. And I just think that's outrageous.
That's absolutely disgusting. We pay rates. Like, what are we,
(05:32):
are we going to fix the roads next to the footpaths, You know,
so I really, it's just like as simple as that, bringing it back to basics.
And that's what people are telling me on the doors and on the phones.
They just want, they're paying more and getting less. And we just want to bring
it back to this, bring the money back to the suburbs, bring the services back to the suburbs.
Oh, that's great. And look, I've noticed that too. And I know that it's been a hot and wet summer.
(05:54):
The grass is growing quickly. I understand that.
But if you don't have, if you've got rid of the staff to actually undertake those services,
horses then it is going to take a long time to
go back and get these things fixed absolutely and that is
a disgrace that the council under the trina
administration are expecting residents yes to go
(06:15):
out and mow their own parts it's unsafe you know if you break your mower you
hurt yourself you know it's pretty disgraceful and then they can't even use
the parks as well and then sit things such as snakes like residents were telling
me only worried the long grass snakes and other things like toads and mosquitoes
is a massive issue as well i know and you're in your patch of the woods,
like over here in Hemet and Tingalpa, massive issue.
(06:36):
Same for me in Murray, massive issue mosquitoes and they grow up, they like.
Thrive in the long grass as well. That's right. And that's actually a really
interesting point because with the spraying of the mozzies, how's that going?
What's happened in that department? Has the council reduced funding?
Yes, the LNP council have reduced funding in that as well. And even remember,
I remember when I moved to Hemet in 2019, they'd cut a million dollars from it then.
(06:59):
And I don't think that money's been restored either. So it's only downward from here.
And they're not doing it regularly enough because the mosquito spraying only
kills lava. lava doesn't kill live mosquitoes.
So, you know, places like Hemet just are suffering. I remember living there
and just the midges of mosquitoes were so bad.
So it's definitely something that we want to fix that the LMP have cut. Absolutely.
(07:21):
It's disappointing. I mean, we could sit here and talk all day about their cuts. Absolutely.
But what I'd like to do is talk about positive things. And Alex,
you bring a lot to the table. Tell us a little bit about your background.
Sure. How far back do you want me to go? Well, I know that you're a videographer
by trade and you have, you're a photographer as well and you've done lots of
different work. And where are you working currently?
(07:41):
I'm currently working at the Bureau of Meteorology as a videographer.
So I know a little bit about weather, but mainly videography.
But before that, I worked for the Premier as a videographer as well.
And before that, I worked in various state and federal MP and senators' offices as well.
And then before that, I was at the Brisbane Broncos for the same thing as a
videographer up the Broncos.
And then before that, I moved from Toowoomba to Brisbane in 2017, so I was at USQ up there.
(08:05):
So I've done a bit of everything, but it takes me over there.
The videography and the photography, it's fantastic. I really enjoy it, see a lot of sights.
I went to USQ as well. Oh, did you? I graduated from USQ with a Bachelor of
Further Education and Training. Oh, that's cool. Long time ago. That's cool.
That's awesome. And what did you, what's your degree, Alex? Bachelor of Creative
Arts, major in Creative Media. Got you. So, yeah.
(08:26):
Wow. That's a long time ago now, 10 years ago.
No, and you say you must be finding it very hard to be on the other side of
the camera. It's weird. It's really bizarre. I was saying to Paul,
he's going to have to cut a lot of this. I feel bad.
Oh, you're doing very well, Alex. Thank you. It is a weird experience,
really, for everyone. It's not a natural experience.
It's bizarre, yeah. And what about your private life? Have you got wife, family, kids?
(08:49):
Yeah, so I've got a wife, been married for almost two and a half years. Two and a half years.
We live in Murray, as I said, in Park Hill Estate, which is fantastic.
Got a dog called Buddy and a cat called Kitty.
And, yeah, we definitely want kids soon. So that's something that's on the radar
for us. So, yeah, we love living in the area. It's fantastic.
As I said, we moved to Hemet in the area in 2019, and we've been in the area
(09:09):
ever since. So I love it. It's such an awesome area.
It is a really great area, isn't it? There's something special about these eastern
bayside suburbs. It's beautiful.
And so you're still at the Bureau? Yes, still at the Bureau of Meteorology,
yes. So still managing that between council stuff, it's very hectic.
Yeah, lots of weekend and after hours work. Yeah, definitely.
(09:31):
Definitely right. Definitely right. So this is my lunch break this morning.
Alex, it's terrific to have you here today. And I really appreciate you giving
up your time. I know how busy you are.
But it's always great to have a chat. And it's really a great opportunity for
other residents to get to know a little bit about Alex and what a great guy he is.
So I'm going to sign off now. so please if you don't subscribe to the Joan Pease
(09:55):
or the Pease podcast please make sure you do and if there are any particular
stories or someone that you'd like to hear from reach out to me and we will see what we can do.
Thank you very much Alex I hope you enjoyed today and all the best with your
campaign. Thanks so much Joan I really appreciate your support. Thank you.
Music.
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