EXPRESS The
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Locally owned and proudly independent
Dalrymple’s dilemma – Gordon and ALP seal fate of the bush
Sisters Paityn and Kinsley Glaspy at the Malanda Hotel and Spar Halloween ‘Trick or Treat’ event.
By Justin Fris
Communities celebrate Halloween in style Malanda was just one of many local communities who took on a ‘haunted’ look last Saturday evening, as children and families dressed up in their scariest costumes for Halloween. Local businesses, Malanda Hotel and Spar, facilitated a special ‘trick or treat’ event, which was hugely popular with the towns locals. In Mareeba, local mum Samantha Malcolm organised a ‘trick or treating’ event around the streets of Mareeba with more than 65 children taking part. These are just two of the many Halloween events that were held across the region last Saturday to commemorate Halloween.
STAGE 3 COMING SOON!
REGIONAL Queensland has been dealt another hammer blow from lawmakers in Brisbane, after the Palaszczuk Government opposed the LNP’s Electoral (Redistribution Commission) and Another Act Amendment Bill 2015 last Wednesday evening. The LNP had designed the Bill in a bid to create more regional electorates and MP’s – and subsequently attempt to improve the standard of living conditions and resources for rural and remote electorates. Instead, rumblings from Brisbane are indicating when the next formation of state electoral boundaries are re-distributed – regional Qld could lose up to four electorates – with these seats tipped to be allocated to the south-east corner of the state. The number of MP’s in parliament will remain the same, despite Qld’s population having increased by two million since the matter was last reviewed in 1987. Locally, the future of the Dalrymple electorate is in grave doubt, with officials tipped to dissolve it and merge it into the neighbouring Hinchinbrook electorate.
For local member Shane Knuth, naturally this outcome is devastating. Another MP to be affected will be fellow KAP MP Robbie Katter (Member for Mt Isa), whose current electorate is already the same size as France. It is tipped to be increased even further – with some preliminary speculation that the south-eastern boundary of the Mt Isa electorate may eventually touch the outskirts of Toowoomba. Mr Knuth was naturally disappointed with the decision of the vote – in particular, due to the fact that the Member for Cook, Billy Gordon, had sided with the Palaszczuk Government, instead of his fellow rural constituents. If Dalrymple was to become dissolved in its current form before the next election, Mr Knuth would possibly need to run as a candidate for either Cook or Hinchinbrook – or potentially even call time on his state political career. “I cannot believe the Bill was rejected,” he said. “Labor had all the slogans but had no solutions to the issue. “A lot is still yet to be finalised and submitted formally – but it definitely will impact everybody. CONTINUED PAGE 3
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