Council amalgamations - PM Howard and Premier Beattie face off ...
PM Howard promises funding for plebiscites on the issue of council amalgamations.
Premier Beattie threatens to fine Councillors who hold plebiscites $1,125 each.
At stake, the Federal election later in the year.
Will Beattie torpedo KRudd's election hopes?
Excerpt from the Sydney Morning Herald:
Howard hits states again
7 August 2007
Prime Minister John Howard will fund the Australian Electoral Commission to hold plebiscites in Queensland in a bid to torpedo the Government's proposed amalgamation of local councils.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says the amalgamation of 156 councils into 72 is needed because many Queensland councils are either too small or financially unviable.
The amalgamations are extremely unpopular in Queensland and both Mr Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd have taken populist stances against Mr Beattie.
In his latest intervention into state affairs, Mr Howard told Parliament this afternoon that the people should have a say, despite Mr Beattie introducing the necessary legislation yesterday.
"The Government has decided to allow the Australian Electoral Commission to undertake any plebiscite on the amalgamation of any local government body in any part of Australia," Mr Howard told Parliament.
"At the expense of the Commonwealth, the Australian Electoral Commission will conduct referenda or plebiscite in any of the local government areas about the amalgamation proposals of the Beattie Government," Mr Howard said.
"We're not trying to compel a ballot in every shire and every council area, we're saying that if you want to vote, the AEC will conduct it and we will pay for it.
"I challenge the Premier of Queensland, let the people speak on your amalgamation proposal.
"Let this be a reminder that if you remove the check and balance in our system and if you have Labor governments at every level, this sort of behaviour will become the norm."
Mr Howard attacked Mr Beattie for refusing local communities a vote, and for blocking councils from running their own polls on the issue by threatening fines of $1125 for individual councillors.
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See - Howard and Beattie face off over Council amalgamations.
posted by Concerned Ratepayer at 7:01 AM
11 Comments:
Marvellous news - this will hopefully save all the Qld Federal seats - somebody needed to take on this Beattie dictator and what a time for John Howard to come riding in - Rudd is suposedly against the amagamation but has done nothing to try to stop it -typical Labor trying to rip up the social fabric of society into something that they can dominate.
The hide of Beattie in State parliament today - saying that the opposition was so weak that they would only get rid of him if he retired otherwise he would be around for 100 years - God Forbid!
Now if only Howard would pay for a referendum on drinking recycled water - he would get my vote back!
9:07 PM, August 07, 2007
How Howard will skewer Rudd.
Excerpt from the Courier Mail:
Howard plays his merger card
8 August 2007
Queensland may vote on the council mergers and federal election on the same day after a daring intervention by Prime Minister John Howard.
Presenting himself as the saviour of Queensland democracy, Mr Howard promised to give people the vote denied by Premier Peter Beattie on the controversial amalgamations.
"The Beattie Government is ripping the heart of local democracy," Mr Howard said in Question Time yesterday.
"We will force the Queensland Government to consult the people."
The Local Government Association of Queensland's "preferred and recommended" day for the poll is the federal election day, tipped for late October or early November.
...
8:53 AM, August 08, 2007
It's all getting a bit ridiculous. Minister Fraser is now threatening to fine any Councillor who merely rings the AEC to propose a ballot. Is the Beattie government tapping Councillors' phones?
10:23 AM, August 08, 2007
For crying out loud! Kevin Rudd you a Qlder, surely you know whats going on, if you don't have the backbone to stand up to Beattie on this and tell him to back off, especially as your vote will swing on this, then I am afraid dear Kevin 07 you are worthless. A gutless wonder. You deserve to loose your seat. Qld will judge you on this.
4:07 PM, August 08, 2007
Rudd is a Dud is more like it!
Qld, beautiful one day - without Beattie - absolutely magnificent the next.
6:18 PM, August 08, 2007
Who will run all these councils until March 2008 if Beattie sacks them?
Excerpt from the Courier Mail:
Referendums a sacking offence
9 August 2007
Councils holding referendums on forced amalgamations will be instantly sacked under the State Government's controversial Local Government Reform Implementation Bill.
The Bill, which is currently being debated in State Parliament, contains a new amendment which allows the Government to sack councils which seek to hold local polls on the issue.
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6:25 PM, August 09, 2007
If only Thorley would ask for a poll on amalgamation so Beattie would sack her.
10:59 PM, August 09, 2007
Excerpt from the Courier Mail:
Council laws passed at 4am
10 August 2007
State Parliament early today passed council amalgamation laws which have driven the relationship between Kevin Rudd and Peter Beattie to a new low.
The laws were passed at 4.05am after a marathon 14-hour session which ended when the Government gagged further debate.
The forced amalgamations have sparked anger in local communities but Mr Beattie today said the ``ground-breaking legislation'' would pave the way for new opportunities and growth in regional Queensland.
...
But the Queensland Opposition says it will now investigate possible legal action to prevent the mergers.
Mr Rudd and Mr Beattie have barely spoken since mid May when Mr Rudd attacked the amalgamation push, and things have got worse in the past fortnight.
"I don't think they have spoken since the council amalgamation report was handed down," said one source.
The tension between the two Labor leaders escalated yesterday when Mr Beattie revealed an amendment to his Government's local government amalgamation laws that would result in the sacking of councils holding referendums on mergers.
Mr Beattie said yesterday the legislation was a response to Prime Minister John Howard's "silly stunt" to fund referendums on amalgamations.
But Mr Rudd last night launched one of his strongest attacks on Mr Beattie over the mergers.
"Democratic processes can and should be used when dealing with amalgamations of local government areas," Mr Rudd said. "I am strongly against forced amalgamations."
Amalgamations could cost federal Labor crucial seats in Queensland at the upcoming federal election.
Mr Howard took a swipe at Mr Rudd yesterday, saying the only reason he was opposing the legislation was because he was worried about the impact on the federal election.
State Parliament was sitting late last night to vote on the Bill.
Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Mark Vaile will fly with Trade Minister Warren Truss to Noosa today to hold a discussion with opponents of forced mergers.
8:04 AM, August 10, 2007
Excerpt from interview with PM Howard, ABC Radio, Brisbane
8 August 2007
Prime Minister John Howard good morning.
PRIME MINISTER:
Good morning.
KING:
Why do this - Peter Beattie is going to push ahead anyway?
PRIME MINISTER:
Because I think the people of Queensland, particularly those who are opposed to these council mergers should have the right to express their view, that's why.
KING:
Will you also pay the fines though that Peter Beattie has now threatened against those who...?
PRIME MINISTER:
Look I think before you ask should the Federal Government pay the fine, you should perhaps ask, what right has a state government to impose fines on people who merely want to express a view. Yes we should stop and just understand what is occurring. The Queensland Government, apparently backed by legislation, is threatening to fine people if they organise to express a view in a democratic ballot.
KING:
And by Friday Prime Minister that will be law, so if people cop a fine is that something the Federal Government will also pick up?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well Madonna the important thing is to give people the right to express their view and the idea that people should be fined for wanting to express a democratic opinion in a ballot box is fundamentally outrageous and I am amazed that the focus of your question is whether we are going to pay the fine, I would have thought the focus of the question should be the outrage at the very idea that people should be fined for wanting to vote and wanting to express their view. I mean this is very high handed, I know there is a range of views on council amalgamations, and all we are wanting to do is to make it easier and simpler and costless for local councils in Queensland to conduct ballots amongst their constituents as to whether or not the amalgamation should go ahead.
KING:
That might all be true but by Friday Prime Minister this will be law, so people that go ahead with the referendum then risk fines under that law.
PRIME MINISTER:
But ultimately whether those fines are imposed will depend on the strength of feeling in Queensland and what I believe will be a growing resentment, even outrage against the notion that you can be fined for wanting to express your view in a democracy.
KING:
I had a brief chat to the Premier this morning and he's getting legal advice. He said his initial legal advice is that the Australian Electoral Commission might not have a head of power and that he is looking at whether he could actually take out an injunction against your decision
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I don't know where he is getting his legal advice Madonna, the Australian Electoral Commission has for a long time conducted ballots on behalf of local councils around Australia, they've conducted them on a fee-for-service basis. But if Mr Beattie seeks an injunction to stop these ballots going ahead he'll only be compounding his earlier mistake. Can I just go back to the fundamentals of this - of course the Queensland Parliament has the legal right to crush local councils, they can do that legally, and they can impose fines on people who take part in ballots, of course they can, but that doesn't make it right, it doesn't make it democratic. All I am arguing for and all we are offering to do is to make it possible and costless for local councils if they choose to do so, to conduct plebiscites within their council areas to find out what people think of the amalgamations. It may well be that after those ballots have been conducted, the Queensland Government still ignor es that expression of opinion, but surely we haven't reached the stage that once the law is passed, people are silenced from talking about it. What Mr Beattie is trying to do is to punish people who want to express a view in the way we all understand and that is through the ballot.
KING:
Prime Minister thank you.
PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you.
8:19 AM, August 10, 2007
The anti-poll provision:
Section 159ZY Polls
(1) An existing local government must not conduct a poll under chapter 6, part 2 in its area, or a part of its area, if the question
the subject of the poll relates to anything that is, or is in the nature of, a reform matter, or the implementation of a reform
matter.
Example—
An existing local government must not conduct a poll under chapter 6,
part 2 about whether its local government area should be abolished and be included in a new local government area.
...
(3) A person who is a councillor of a local government must not take any action for the purpose of the conduct of a poll that the local government is prohibited from conducting under this section.
Maximum penalty—15 penalty units.
8:29 AM, August 10, 2007
Excerpt from ABC News:
The Australian Council for Civil Liberties (ACCL) has described the power to sack any council that holds a referendum on amalgamation as "over the top".
ACCL president Terry O'Gorman says the Queensland Government should immediately scrap that amendment to the new law.
"It's over the top and it's Peter Beattie at his bullying worst," he said.
"The reality is if people want to have a vote to see if their councils should be abolished, they should have a right to do it.
"Indeed Queensland should have given councils the opportunity to do it."
11:25 AM, August 10, 2007
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