The State Government is refusing to acknowledge the grave financial challenges facing the North Burnett region despite receiving a petition highlighting a services sustainability crisis.
Acting Mayor, Councillor Robbie Radel slammed a letter from the Hon. Steven Miles MP this week, in which the Deputy Premier said the Palaszczuk Government understands the difficulties facing the Council.
“This letter is laughable,” Acting Mayor Radel said. “To suggest the Deputy Premier’s response is disappointing is an understatement.”
Following the “Between and a Rock and a Hard Place” tour, Mayor Rachel Chambers had a petition tabled with the State Government exposing a broken financial system, and the grave inequities which exist to deliver an adequate level of services for residents.
The letter states “the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning will continue with training programs aimed at improving financial management and governance.”
“While additional training is welcomed, what we need most is for the State Government to face the fact more than one third of local governments in Queensland simply can’t afford to deliver the most basic of services residents in the south-east take for granted. We don’t have the population size, resources base and rates revenue to financially sustain them,” Acting Mayor Radel said.
The Acting Mayor highlighted that the State Government has set up North Burnett Regional Council to fail by amalgamating six financially stressed regional towns with small populations and overtime stripping away funding that the Council is reliant on.
On Friday, the Deputy Premier also signed a “Compact” to give rural and remote Queensland councils “a louder voice for the Government to hear.”
“Let’s hope this isn’t just another talkfest and that the State Government is truly committed to making this Compact work,” Acting Mayor Radel said.
While we appreciate programs like Works 4 Queensland and Building Our Regions, our voice is falling on deaf ears when it comes to the delivery of basic services. “The methodology used to work out the distribution of Works for Queensland funds is badly flawed and heavily biased against those who need it most.” Acting Mayor Radel warned.
“In his letter, the Deputy Premier acknowledges our engagement with the community and asks residents to work with the Council, however he isn’t the one currently standing in front of our community telling them we need to change or reduce services to survive.”
“Assistant Minister for Local Government, Nikki Boyd MP is leading a delegation to the North Burnett next month. We look forward to welcoming her and offering a first-hand view of the challenges we face in the region.”
The Deputy Premier’s petition response can be viewed here.