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Wednesday, November 18, 2015
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‘Tis the season to be jolly Atherton was looking its festive best last Friday evening, with the annual ‘Christmas Carnival’ capturing the imagination of the town. Tablelands Regional Council Mayor Rosa Lee Long officially opened proceedings by turning on the Christmas lights as Tablelands residents begin their preparations for the festive season.
‘We need a voice’
By Justin Fris
S
TATE Katter’s Australia Party crossbenchers Shane Knuth (Member for Dalrymple) and Robbie Katter (Member for Mt Isa) are refusing to concede defeat on any unfavourable electoral re-distribution for the Far North. Under the current state of play, regional Queensland is set to lose up to four seats at the next state electoral re-distribution, after the LNP’s Electoral (Re-distribution Commission) and Another Act Amendment Bill 2015 was re-
STAGE 3 COMING SOON!
cently defeated in state parliament. These four electorates would be either completely dissolved or merged – with the south east tipped to be re-allocated all four seats. Last week, Mr Knuth and Mr Katter put forward a new private members bill (Electoral (Improving Representation) and Another Act Amendment Bill 2015), which would see the number of MP’s increase from 89 to 93 – with the purpose of maintaining support and resources to regional areas. Debate on the bill was also successfully fast
tracked, after the Independent Member for Cook Billy Gordon sided with Mr Knuth and Mr Katter. Whether Mr Gordon also extends his support on the KAP private members bill remains to be seen – although both crossbencher MP’s are hopeful. Mr Katter fears that if changes aren’t made to the current proposed re-distribution, regional Qld could be left worse for wear. “Unless the ‘Improving Representation Bill’ is passed, the next re-distribution due in 2016 will most likely result in more rural and regional seats
being lost to South East Queensland,” Mr Katter said. “We are here to maintain the current boundaries and to ensure the rural voice isn’t restricted further.” He added: “Because this bill provides for further seats in Queensland, it is expected they will be distributed to urban as per the existing models,” Mr Katter said. “We are conserving and improving current access, not stretching our electorates beyond capacity.” CONTINUED PAGE 3
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