16th October 2007Confirmation council plebiscites won’t be held until after the November
24 Federal election made it doubly important for
Queenslanders concerned over Labor’s forced amalgamations to vote
against Kevin Rudd, the State Coalition said today.
Shadow Minister for Local Government, Howard Hobbs said Queenslanders
who imagined they could vote for Kevin Rudd on the back of his comments
he wasn’t in favour of forced amalgamations needed a reality check.
“Anyone who opposes Labor’s forced council amalgamations must use
November 24 to send the strongest possible message to Labor,” Mr Hobbs
said.
“Kevin Rudd simply can not be believed on forced amalgamations. He says
he’s against them, but he’s met only once with Queensland’s Premier on
the subject of forced council mergers. He’s not serious about doing
anything about forced council amalgamations.
“With the Australian Electoral Commission confirming the plebiscites
will not be held until after the Federal election, I call on everyone of
the 700,000 Queenslanders who live in communities affected by forced
amalgamations not to vote for Kevin Rudd on November 24.
“Kevin Rudd simply can not be believed on a whole range of important
issues and certainly not on his opposition to forced council
amalgamations.
“There’s only one way to treat people who are hellbent on destroying our
local communities and that’s to deny them your vote.”
Mr Hobbs said unless there was a strong anti-ALP vote on November 24,
Premier Bligh would simply continue to ignore the cries from regional
Queenslanders, their council leaders and the Local Government
Association of Queensland.
Media Contact: Howard Hobbs 07 46 22 88 88
