The wrong of Wright
By Tuppy McIntosh
editor@longreachleader.com.au
IN a move which has left some Central Western Queensland shires feeling poorly understood, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has recommended a redistribution of federal electoral boundaries for the fourth time in ten years.
"This proposal threatens to disenfranchise the community," Winton mayor Bruce Collins has stated.
The electorate of Wright has been drawn through Central Queensland, meaning shires such as Winton and Longreach will be taken from the jurisdiction of the federal seat of Maranoa and instead represented nationally with the interests of Gladstone, Monto and Banana.
Wright is to be added to the twenty-eight already existing electorates, as Queensland’s expanding population entitles the State to an extra federal parliamentary seat.
To solve the redistribution quandary, the AEC has decided shires of the Central West would be repackaged with mining communities from the Central Highlands and the coastal port city of Gladstone.
In total Wright will extract nine Central Western Queensland shires - namely Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Isisford, Jericho, Blackall, Longreach, Winton, Aramac and Tambo - from the seat of Maranoa which currently represents Queenland’s Outback populace.
Taking the brunt of the electorate reshuffle, Central Western Shires say their remote location often exposes them to second-class treatment from federal bureaucracy.
Cr Collins said he was very disappointed with the recommendation.
"Winton does not have the slightest ‘community of interest’ with Gladstone and is unlikely to have so in the foreseeable future.
"[Gladstone] is a difficult place to get to at the best of times, with no air service and no business connection."
Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act, individual electorates are to contain ‘community of interest’, including ‘economic, social and regional interests’ and ‘shared means of travel’.
Many Central West residents have joined vocal Outback councillors in defying the AEC’s suggestion that the Outback shared ‘community of interest’ with Gladstone.
"I’ve never even been there, and I’ve been all around the world," said local rural rights advocate Rosemary Champion.
"We have absolutely no connection with the people of Gladstone."
Aramac Shire mayor Gary Peoples said the Western Regional Body of Councils (RAPAD) would be meeting next week to discuss the rezoning.
"The AEC obviously hasn’t paid close enough attention to the composition of the Western shires, otherwise they would have not suggested such a redistribution," he said.
Federal Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott agreed, citing the lack of direct roads links and differing economies of the coastal and Outback regions enough to render the proposal nonsensical.
"Many of the towns included in the proposed new seat, which are currently in the existing seat of Maranoa, are small rural communities facing challenges of communication, road networks, education and health.
"This is quite different to Gladstone which is a much larger regional centre with an industrial focus and an international port."
Mr Scott suggested the federal Government acknowledged the inappropriateness of the reshuffle by zoning Outback shires in Western Queensland together with similar communities in New South Wales under the Sustainable Regions package.
Yet Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce, in Longreach last weekend for a Nationals members dinner, said the AEC had spoken and his party should get on with the job of winning the seat, viewing the new electorate as an opportunity to add another Nationals representative to Canberra.
Central Western Queensland residents are able to lodge a formal objection to the suggested redistribution of federal electoral boundaries in their area by writing to The Australian Electoral Officer for Queensland, Level 7 Collection House, 488 Queen St, Brisbane 4000.
The nascent electorate, named after environmentalist and Indigenous affairs advocate Judith Wright, was released in a whitepaper last week.
Written objections need to be received by 6pm on Friday, July 21, 2006.
Copies of the Redistribution Committee’s report are available online at: www.aec.gov.au/_content/why/redistributions
or by phoning 3834 3431.
editor@longreachleader.com.au
IN a move which has left some Central Western Queensland shires feeling poorly understood, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has recommended a redistribution of federal electoral boundaries for the fourth time in ten years.
"This proposal threatens to disenfranchise the community," Winton mayor Bruce Collins has stated.
The electorate of Wright has been drawn through Central Queensland, meaning shires such as Winton and Longreach will be taken from the jurisdiction of the federal seat of Maranoa and instead represented nationally with the interests of Gladstone, Monto and Banana.
Wright is to be added to the twenty-eight already existing electorates, as Queensland’s expanding population entitles the State to an extra federal parliamentary seat.
To solve the redistribution quandary, the AEC has decided shires of the Central West would be repackaged with mining communities from the Central Highlands and the coastal port city of Gladstone.
In total Wright will extract nine Central Western Queensland shires - namely Barcaldine, Ilfracombe, Isisford, Jericho, Blackall, Longreach, Winton, Aramac and Tambo - from the seat of Maranoa which currently represents Queenland’s Outback populace.
Taking the brunt of the electorate reshuffle, Central Western Shires say their remote location often exposes them to second-class treatment from federal bureaucracy.
Cr Collins said he was very disappointed with the recommendation.
"Winton does not have the slightest ‘community of interest’ with Gladstone and is unlikely to have so in the foreseeable future.
"[Gladstone] is a difficult place to get to at the best of times, with no air service and no business connection."
Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act, individual electorates are to contain ‘community of interest’, including ‘economic, social and regional interests’ and ‘shared means of travel’.
Many Central West residents have joined vocal Outback councillors in defying the AEC’s suggestion that the Outback shared ‘community of interest’ with Gladstone.
"I’ve never even been there, and I’ve been all around the world," said local rural rights advocate Rosemary Champion.
"We have absolutely no connection with the people of Gladstone."
Aramac Shire mayor Gary Peoples said the Western Regional Body of Councils (RAPAD) would be meeting next week to discuss the rezoning.
"The AEC obviously hasn’t paid close enough attention to the composition of the Western shires, otherwise they would have not suggested such a redistribution," he said.
Federal Member for Maranoa Bruce Scott agreed, citing the lack of direct roads links and differing economies of the coastal and Outback regions enough to render the proposal nonsensical.
"Many of the towns included in the proposed new seat, which are currently in the existing seat of Maranoa, are small rural communities facing challenges of communication, road networks, education and health.
"This is quite different to Gladstone which is a much larger regional centre with an industrial focus and an international port."
Mr Scott suggested the federal Government acknowledged the inappropriateness of the reshuffle by zoning Outback shires in Western Queensland together with similar communities in New South Wales under the Sustainable Regions package.
Yet Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce, in Longreach last weekend for a Nationals members dinner, said the AEC had spoken and his party should get on with the job of winning the seat, viewing the new electorate as an opportunity to add another Nationals representative to Canberra.
Central Western Queensland residents are able to lodge a formal objection to the suggested redistribution of federal electoral boundaries in their area by writing to The Australian Electoral Officer for Queensland, Level 7 Collection House, 488 Queen St, Brisbane 4000.
The nascent electorate, named after environmentalist and Indigenous affairs advocate Judith Wright, was released in a whitepaper last week.
Written objections need to be received by 6pm on Friday, July 21, 2006.
Copies of the Redistribution Committee’s report are available online at: www.aec.gov.au/_content/why/redistributions
or by phoning 3834 3431.
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