In-house workers to replace contractors at regional council

l CASSOWARY COAST

CASSOWARY Coast Regional Council has restructured the organisation so more work will be done by staff and managers instead of paying outside consultants and contractors.

Chief executive Andrew Graffen said “the organisational redesign is very much focused on delivering for our community, and the final outcome is a direct response to the Community Scorecard 2022 outcomes”.

“The restructure will set the business of council up for success with a real focus on ‘growing our own’ through increased internal delivery of services rather than engaging consultancies as just one example of structural improvements,” he said.

“For example, we currently have an over-reliance on external contractors and consultancies within delivery teams. Through this restructure, we aim to attract the right expertise which will ultimately have cost savings and a reduction in the level of risk that an overreliance on consultancies brings with it.

Mr Graffen said a stand-alone business unit would be set up for delivery of commercial services including water and wastewater, waste and resource recovery.”

Mayor Mark Nolan said the commercial services unit would operate in accordance with legislative requirements and would be underpinned by a valuefor-money user-pays model to reduce the financial impost on ratepayers.

Supporting letter about real Aussies

WELL said, Suzy M on your letter of February 24.

I couldn’t agree more with you. Different flags, divisiveness at its best.

Yes, troops (including Indigenous) fought for Australia, for all Australians.

Regarding teachings in school. Yes, just go back to teaching the basics to help for later on.

How does gender identifying or pushing even more of Indigenous culture help find a job later on?

There is and has always been Indigenous culture taught in school for as long as I can remember but it’s only one piece of the jigsaw, not the whole jigsaw.

Basics, respect and discipline should still be part of education. But it’s not because too many do-gooders and poor government policies have allowed society to become what it has.

This has been to the detriment of law-abiding, hardworking, tax paying citizens.

So far gone in the wrong direction and we all must put up with it, youth crime, abused by drunken itinerants.

Yep, sure are the lucky country. KS,

Mareeba

I recognise the flag I served under

REGARDING Suzy M’s letter in last week’s edition.

What a great letter you presented, and I fully agree with everything you wrote.

One gets sick of hearing about First Nations, and LGBTIQA+ every single day. Are there no other races in good old Oz?

And as for the flags, I recognise only one flag, and that is the flag I served under in the armed forces of Australia, and in Vietnam.

The bullshit that is taught in our schools today is utter rubbish.

Kids cannot tell the time if it is not on a digital watch.

We, the residents of this great country, are all Australians, and should not have to kowtow to any other flag than the real Australian one.

Rob, Mt Peter

I am, you are, we are Australian

I WOULD like to commend Suzy M, Cairns on her letter regarding “Are we Australians or what”?

I believe, we who live in Australia, are Australians.

It doesn’t matter if you were born here, or you came from another land. If you live here, you are an Australian.

We all come into the world the same way.

We all breathe the same air. We all have red blood. We all have different coloured skin – but that doesn’t or shouldn’t define us.

We all have a duty to care to love our country and be proud to be an Australian.

For goodness sake, we live in the best country in the world.

We should be forever grateful.

Catherine, Woree

Concerns about Coen checkpoint

FNQ Growers are calling on the Queensland Government to clarify the future of the Coen biosecurity checkpoint on Cape York Peninsula.

The organisation, which advocates for the highly productive horticultural commodities from Lakeland in the north, south to Tully and west to Georgetown, is responding to media reports earlier this year which raised concerns about the checkpoint’s future.

The Coen checkpoint is incredibly important to protecting Far North Queensland’s half a bil-