Council's predicament

Member for Noosa Glen Elmes says under State Labor Noosa ratepayers would be forced to pay higher and higher rates thanks to the spiralling debt caused by forced amalgamations.

And Mr Elmes said it was an indictment of the Bligh Government’s handling of the amalgamation issue that the minister responsible Desley Boyle, was blind to the predicament facing councils like Noosa.

Mr Elmes said Mrs Boyle admitted before the Parliamentary Estimates Committee hearing that she had no idea about local government debt levels.

He said local governments claimed total costs of $184.71 million, but the Bligh Labor Government only provided $47.21 million.

And Coast ratepayers are yet to see one cent of the estimated $13 million the Sunshine Coast council cited as the cost of combining Noosa with Maroochy and Caloundra councils.

The minister believes that the figure is actually closer to $4 million and has previously quoted a Queensland Treasury Corporation report which found that “the council had the capacity to fund the amalgamation costs over the current term of government without a significant adverse impact on its operating position”.

Mr Elmes supported LNP local government shadow minister Howard Hobb’s claim that this Labor “welching” would force the Coast council to cut back on infrastructure spending and services. He said unless Noosa was allowed to govern itself as a stand alone council with its own elected mayor and council, the future would be ever increasing rate hikes.

He said the State Government had created Australia’s fourth biggest council here on the Coast with councillors, through no fault of theirs, remote from their ratepayers.

“Things won’t get any better until we the (LNP) get in there and start dismantling it,” Mr Elmes said.

“The aim is not to create a bulky new bureaucracy, but a streamlined council that Noosa people can relate to.”

Mr Elmes said the promised mega council savings were similar to Labor’s promise that electricity charges would not rise above CPI at the time of deregulation.

“Since then electricity has gone up 54%...as I said at the estimates committee yesterday, what they are going to do when pensioners cannot pay that, send out bed socks with their bills?”