Independents to challenge pro-developer Gympie Council

Sat, 2008-01-26 20:09 by admin

The of the bid of group to win control of the Gympie Council chamber is to be held at the Gympie Bowls Club at 2.00PM on Saturday 2 February 2008. Integrity Gympie was formed by independent community activists together with three currently serving councillors who were concerned that the current Gympie Regional Council led by Mayor favours the interests of developers at the expense of their own constituents.

Integrity Gympie is committed to making the Gympie Regional Council more open and accountable and to consult properly with local communities before arriving at decisions which will impact upon their lives.

Integrity Gympie will actively oppose:

  • The Traveston Dam (see )
  • The threatened dissection of Gympie with the Bruce Highway by-pass
  • The Norman Point Marina in Tin Can Bay
  • Nuclear power stations anywhere in the region

Integrity Gympie will actively pursue

  • Fair contributions from developers so that existing residents don't have to pay extra rates to maintain basic services like:
    road repairs drainage waste management
    parking community halls etc, etc
    sewerage upgrades strategic planning
  • Solutions to problems of traffic flow and parking along Mary Street
  • Rainbow Beach Centre block development
  • A more effective management of feral pests

What you can do

If you live in the area and wish to help the people of Gympie get the council they deserve on Saturday 15 March, then contact the Gympie Integrity Group through their Phone numbers of the candidates are also listed on that page.

If you live outside the Gympie Regional Council Area, you find candidates standing in your area who stand for similar policies. If not, there may still be time left for you and likeminded people to stand for council. The information on how to do so can be found on the (www.ecq.qld.gov.au). The deposit for candidates is: $150.

Alternatively, if you live outside the Gympie region and wish, in any way, to help in bring about a council which would set an example for other councils to follow that help would be greatly welcomed.

Integrity Gympie Candidates

"The Watchdog", candidate for Mayor -article-1">1

Footnotes

-article-1">1. Ron Owen's includes a mix of quotes. These are from a number of generally admired historical figures including Edward R. Murrow, known for his stance against the McCarthyite witchhunters, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson and Martin Niemoller. However, there are also quotes from a few which the editors of the site would consider unsavoury. These include Ronald Reagan, Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman. Naomi Klein's towering work of 2007 (see also on WebDiary) demolishes a prevalent view of Milton Friedman, presumably shared by Ron Owen, that he was an idealist determined to pursue, through peaceful democratic means, for the benefit of all humanity, his goal of achieving a global free market unfettered by Government interference. Instead, he and his followers from the Chicago School of Economics, since the early 1970's collaborated with military dictatorships who murdered, tortured and imprisoned those who opposed Friedman's free market agenda. In all countries, the result was the impoverishment of the majority, destruction of much productive capacity, whilst a privileged few together with foreign corporations were enriched. Countries which were ravaged by Friedman's polices include Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Iraq. One of the last acts in Friedman's career was to help -201045">exploit the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina in order to force the privatisation of Schools and public housing in New Orleans in 2005. The fact that Ron Owen has a mistaken high regard for people such as Friedman should not detract from the fact that he is, as an elected councillor, a hardworking principled servant of the people of Gympie and is, by far, the best available candidate for Mayor.