A community services leader, author and social justice advocate offers a bold prevention-first vision for a more vibrant Launceston.

LAUNCESTON, TASMANIA, 6 July 2026: paul mallett is standing for election as Mayor and Councillor of the City of Launceston at the October 2026 local government elections for three reasons: to nurture what we love and what makes this city work; to have the honest conversation about what is not working; and to strive with others to fix those things and make this place fairer, kinder, and more vibrant.

mallett brings more than thirty years of experience across homelessness prevention, financial counselling, children and family services, disability support, aged care and care economy workforce development. He has led hundreds of staff and managed budgets in the tens of millions of dollars across some of Tasmania's largest community service organisations.

"I love this city and valley, and we need to nurture and protect the things we love: the Gorge, our heritage buildings, our festivals and events," said mallett. "But love of place cannot only be praise. It must also be the honest conversations about the things that aren't working, and the resolve to strive together to make them better. Too many people are struggling, the river is a stinking mess, and traffic congestion is strangling the city.

"Because a more vibrant city does not arrive by chance. It is built by councils that get the basics right, by communities that refuse to become small in ambition, and by leaders willing to listen, collaborate and act with conviction. That is why I am standing for Mayor and Councillor of Launceston."

Tasmania’s local government ballot allows candidates to stand for both Mayor and Councillor at the one election. mallett is doing so because it puts this vision in front of the whole city, but his commitment either way is to serve on this Council.

That conviction is rooted in experience. mallett has one core belief: we pay either way. We can invest upstream, in the conditions that keep people well and give them a fair shot, or we keep paying downstream, in crisis and suffering that did not need to happen. A good council chooses upstream.

mallett is direct about what the Mayor's job requires. "Some of what I am proposing council can deliver directly," he said. "Other reforms require a Mayor willing to use this platform to bring state and federal governments to the table, and to build the partnerships that unlock what no single level of government can do alone.

"Kind civic leadership is not soft leadership. It is the disciplined use of every lever available: delivery, investment, partnership, and advocacy. And it is the refusal to accept that the hard things are impossible just because they are hard."

mallett is standing on a platform drawn from his vibrant city book and broader prevention-first reform agenda, which envisions Launceston as a:

• City That Works: Traffic congestion in Launceston is not just an inconvenience. It is a productivity killer, an emergency services delay, and a daily argument for living somewhere else. Council can fix what it controls: the footpath, the permit process, the park, the response. "We can be a Council that does the local things well and gets the big things done," mallett said. He will support a wellbeing economy, sustainable development, fair work for all, and new enterprise across the city. And mallett will use the Mayor's platform to drive the partnerships needed for the big things, advocating for a new City Bridge and a freshwater Tamar Lake as once-in-a-century investments to supercharge confidence in the region and deliver a splash-and-ripple economic impact well into the 2030s and 40s. "A city that works well, every day, gives people the confidence to stay, invest, and build their lives here," mallett said. "That is what a council is for, that is the Mayor's job: to bring the state and federal governments to the table." (See vibrant city, vibrantnation.au)
• City That Cares: When workers can't find child care for their kids, or support for their ageing parents, or the help they need for their health or disability, they can't work, or contribute the way they want to our city. "As the largest employing industry in Launceston, with 10,000+ workers, the care economy is not a side issue. It is what enables the rest of the local economy to function," mallett said. "We will advocate strongly on the care economy, partnering with neighbouring councils to position Launceston as the regional hub for training the thousands of extra care workers the Tamar Valley will need over the next decade." And mallett will use the Mayoral platform to leverage State and Commonwealth funding for our most pressing social needs, including loneliness, homelessness, and energy poverty. "Too many in our community are doing it tough. We will not be silent while our community goes cold, hungry and unhoused. The Mayor's job is to put this on every agenda until it gets the investment, programs and partnership to end it, not just manage it better. That's how we lead a city that cares." (See “It's the Care Economy, Stupid!”, A Home for Everyone, Affordable Warmth, vibrantnation.au)
• City That Moves: When our health declines we move less, engage less, get more unwell, more lonely and experience less joy. That is the hard truth leaders need to say out loud. As a community we are older, sicker, and live with more disability than almost anywhere else in the nation. But Council can shape whether staying well is something people can actually do where they live. The maintained footpath, the well-lit park, the accessible oval, useful equipment, and free community movement opportunities are the building blocks of a city that moves together. "A council can't run a hospital," mallett said. "But it shapes the conditions that determine, years before any hospital visit, whether people stay well." mallett will advocate for expansion of Active Launceston, better lighting, and active infrastructure installed in parks in suburbs that have missed out longest, as well as school facilities unlocked for community use after hours. And mallett will use the Mayor's platform to make the upstream investment case for prevention. "Every dollar and every step we put into staying well is a dollar we don't spend later on illness we could have prevented," mallett said. He will advocate for a Launceston Suburban Step Challenge to help the city collectively take two billion steps and shed 500,000 kilograms in a calendar year, supported by neighbourhood walking groups, friendly business versus business rivalry, and school step counts that make movement a shared civic effort rather than a private struggle. Prevention, mallett argues, is the cheapest and kindest health policy a community has. That is how leaders build a city that moves. (See vibrant cityand A State of Good Health, vibrantnation.au)
• City for Kids: When around one in four children in the Launceston region start school developmentally vulnerable, when almost half don't finish Year 12, and when too many find the door into good work harder to open than it should be, we are missing the talents and contributions our kids can make to this city. Pair that with those who leave and don't come back, and we have every reason to build a vibrant city for kids. "I have spent much of my working life catching children and families at the bottom of the cliff," mallett said. "This vision is about building the fence at the top, and we will need the state and commonwealth to put their tool belt on to help us build it." He will advocate for a Launceston Tamar Valley pilot of a cradle-to-career model, so every child in our region has the support they need from before birth into young adult life, and no child falls through gaps we already know exist. mallett will use the Mayor's platform to advocate for a City Deal for Kids, bringing all three tiers of government to the table around a shared commitment for every child. "Launceston already knows what it looks like when all three tiers of government commit to a shared vision," mallett said. "We built a City Deal for the city centre. We can use the same model to invest upstream in the conditions that allow every child to succeed, or we keep paying downstream through child protection, crisis mental health, and youth justice. A cradle-to-career initiative aligns services and supports to give every child a strong start, protects them during the riskiest transitions, keeps futures open through adolescence, and provides the means to act on their capability as they step into adulthood. That is what it means to lead a city for kids." (See Every Child Succeeds, vibrantnation.au)
• City That Creates and Celebrates: Celebrations, markets, murals, and festivals are social infrastructure, as essential as the pipes, paths, and parks of this city. "Joy is not a nice to have at the end of the budget," mallett said. "Festivals and markets and public art tell our story, build trust, keep us connected, and give us a shared sense of belonging. We already know how to throw a party. Festivale, our arts, theatre, and music showcase our creativity and celebrate what makes this city vibrant." mallett advocates doubling down on that investment. Extend Launceston's public art and mural trail into a walkable showcase of local story, identity, and belonging. Protect what the city already loves, Festivale, Junction, Harvest Market, and build new events for winter: WinterFeast, a Vivid-style light festival, a Writers and Readers Festival, and family-centred children's events. "Let's establish the Kanamaluka Market as a permanent Sunday morning fixture on the Launceston waterfront," mallett said. "A drawcard to bookend Salamanca." And put young people on the main stage, not as a gesture but as a civic commitment, through a Launceston Junior Citizen Award recognising their contribution to the city, a Five Minute Thesis Showcase for those finishing their studies, and a Student Design Competition modelled on the Royal Society of Arts student awards that invites young people to tackle the pressing issues of our time. "When we take seriously what young people think and make and propose," mallett said, "we tell them they belong here. That is how we build a generation that stays." (See vibrant city, vibrantnation.au)
• City in a Garden: Launceston has magnificent parks. The Gorge, City Park, Princes Square. These are gifts. But a city in a garden is somewhere you live in, where the green is woven through everything, where your street has shade, where fruit grows on the path to school, where you can walk from one end of the city to the other under the canopy. That is the destination mallett is standing to build. He will use the Mayoral platform to call for Launceston's green canopy to grow from under 20 per cent today to 60 per cent within a generation, one tree at a time, across the CBD and every suburb, no postcode left bare. A shaded street runs more than ten degrees cooler on a forty degree day. This is not spending. It is investing, and the research is consistent: every dollar in trees returns multiples in health costs avoided, precious water saved, and streets people choose to use. He will advocate for universal community gardens and edible orchard trails in every neighbourhood, seeded by council and stewarded by community. Fruit trees on the path to school. Raised beds on the corner. Produce shared freely. In neighbourhoods with active community gardens, loneliness falls, mental health improves, elders stay mobile, and kids arrive at school fed. And all those flowering plants will bring the bees back. "We would love Launceston to be known as a city that hums in every season," mallett said. And when the time comes, let's transform the monkey enclosure in City Park into a butterfly enclosure, warm and alive and filled with colour. Every Launceston kid knows Monkey Park. One day it could be Butterfly Park. Together we can make this city cooler, greener, healthier, and more connected than it has ever been. It is environmental infrastructure you can taste and feel. (See vibrant city, vibrantnation.au)

Six ideas. One vision. A city that works, cares, moves, lifts its kids, celebrates, and grows.

mallett acknowledged recent losses to the city's identity, including the end of Hawthorn's long run of home games in Launceston and the pending closure of Boag's brewery after 145 years.

"Those moments should not make us small. They should make us step up. The answer to loss cannot only be nostalgia. We honour what has mattered, support the workers affected, and get on with building the next chapter ourselves."

mallett said the leadership he is offering is straightforward.

"I will listen deeply, work collaboratively, think creatively, act with conviction, and lead with kindness. People are looking for leaders who deliver. Who are honest about the challenges, respectful in how they engage, and prepared to bring people together to get things done. I have spent thirty years working with people on some of the hardest days of their lives. If elected, I will bring that same care, kindness, and commitment to serving Launceston."

His candidacy is grounded in the reform vision set out across his books, available at vibrantnation.au. mallett closed with lines from his own writing:

"When the future tells the story of what we chose to do,

may it say we built a vibrant city that kept renewing too.

We saw potential all around and chose courage over fear,

We stood together proudly and said: we love living here."

"I believe Launceston can become a fairer, healthier, more just and liveable city. A city that works, cares, moves, lifts its kids, celebrates, and grows. That vision will not happen by chance. But if we strive together, we can build a more vibrant city."

[ends]

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Note to editors: The candidate's name, paul mallett, is styled in lowercase deliberately and should be reproduced as written. This is not a typographical error.

About the candidate
paul mallett is a Launceston-based social policy author, systems thinker, and community services leader with more than thirty years of experience across homelessness, housing, children and family services, disability, aged care, early learning, and the care economy.

He is the author of vibrant city, a story of Launceston's future told from 2064, a community leader looking back across four decades of change alongside a young data guardian verifying his account. Chapter by chapter, it imagines a Launceston that works, cares, moves, lifts its kids, creates and celebrates, and grows as a city in a garden. He proposes a freshwater Tamar Lake, a second river crossing built for walking and cycling from day one, a cradle-to-career system for every child, and a city-wide movement for health and belonging. It is not a fantasy of a perfect city. It is a civic provocation, a way of asking whether the place we already love could become fairer, kinder, more confident, and more vibrant.

He is also the author of vibrant state, vibrant nation, The Kind Politics Playbook, and the Vibrant Leadership Series of policy blueprints: A State of Good Health, A Home for Everyone, Affordable Warmth, Every Child Succeeds, and "It's the Care Economy, Stupid!". He founded vibrantnation.au to share practical reform ideas for more vibrant communities.