Queensland Greens Senate candidate condemns forced amalgamations

Death of Democracy in Queensland Australian Greens Lead Senate Candidate for Queensland, Larissa Waters said today's recommendations from the Local Government Reform Commission would be the death of Local Government democracy and is demanding the Beattie Government reject them. "Under these reform proposals, Queensland would have 726 fewer Councillors, almost sixty percent less than it currently has. Less representatives means less representation. This report is bad for democracy," said Ms Waters. "By abolishing wards and divisions in councils, the commission would also make it harder for members of the community who want to run for election as Councillors - unless they have the funds to run a shire-wide campaign." "This recommendation favours rich candidates or those backed by wealthy political parties, and locks out ordinary members of the community from participating in our political processes." "Sunshine Coast residents will be particularly outraged by the proposal to amalgamate Noosa Council with Caloundra and Maroochy." "Noosa folk have been successfully resisting development pressure for years, but this amalgamation would see Noosa become the next Gold Coast, flying in the face of the wishes of its residents." "This review was sprung on Queenslanders yet almost 50,000 people felt strongly enough to lodge submissions with the commission." "The Greens call on Premier Beattie and his Local Government Minister to reject these recommendations and instead call a referendum to hear from the people what they want for their Shires - it' called democracy. "Many of the proposed amalgamations will mean the local character of regional towns will be swallowed up and ignored. For example, residents in the Central Queensland community of Bauhinia in Dauringa shire would be forced to travel 214 kilometers to Emerald to see a local council meeting, their Mayor or their Councillors." "In many areas these amalgamations will lead to job losses and downgrading of services, in a sector which currently employs 37,000 Queenslanders. This could be the death knell for some bush towns." Ms Waters is relieved that most Aboriginal Councils have not been recommended for amalgamation. For any Aboriginal Councils experiencing difficulty, she supports recommendation 17 of the report, that the State Government assists Indigenous Councils to improve their expertise and capacity. For more information: Larissa Waters Australian Greens Lead Senate Candidate for Queensland larissa.waters |AT| qld.greens.org.au