Amalgamation Links

Brisbane Courier Mail article and comments;

Article looking at both pros and cons for amalgamation for certain Qld situations;

Local Government Association of Queensland;

Blog created by citizens of the Monto Shire **;

Mayor's Message - Peak Downs

Local Democracy - not sure of their affiliations but has strong points (and a few cute poems too!);

Sydney Morning Herald article when the same bs was given to their regional councils;

A University Case Study highlighting how forced amalgamation in Victoria did major disservice;

Hansard entry highlighting where WA shire amalgamation has let down locals;

Thanks Sophie via Mandy for these links

local government forced amalgamations - Monto Shire Council

As small local business owners and employee of local council we empatically object to forced amalgamation of our shire.  The effects on our town will be devastating and dire. Not only this the whole legislation is undemocratic and hitlerism at its best.  The domino effect of such loss of major employer in our town will see declines in our essential services and our retail sector.  Simply by deleting the additional income that 8 councillors and perhaps 10 employees (to say the least) from our community's cash flow will have nothing but a negative effect on our economic outlook.  This is not even taking into account any further onflow of loss of cash flow will have on our town.  What will effectively happen is that once cash flow is reduced, then our local businesses will have no choice but to stock less lines and this will lead to a domino flowon effect of a decline in our trade.  People will in time have no option but to travel to larger centres to do their buying as the perception will be that the stores in town will have nothing or very little to chose from.  Also, add to this the loss of even a small percentage of essential services.  We already have problems with no private dentist and no full-time solicitor which necessitates some of the community travelling away to major centres to conduct these business transactions. We can ill-afford to lose any medical services with our ageing population as the present medical situation has already declined since we have been reducted from 2 full-time private doctors which results in a waiting list to see medical practitioners at short notice unless an emergency situation.  Already, we have an abortion of a system of the ambulance and we do not need any diminishment in our essential services which could reflect similarly to the ambulance system.

 

Kim Mundt

153 Luthje Road

MONTO  4630

 

Channel 7 Coverage of Community Meeting

Here is a copy of the Channel 7 story following the community meeting on Thursday the 10th of May.

e-Petition

Amanda Sailsbury has just sent a link for an e-Petition intitiated by Vivienne Rosemary Champion and sponsored by Howard Hobbs M.P.. You can find the link below.


go to the e-petition

Dean

People power vs Amalgamation

Thursday 10th May, the people of the Monto community meet in the shire hall.

We are meeting to discuss our future. The Queensland Government has set in train forced amalgamation of local governments. In many small rural towns like Monto, the council is a major employer. So in addition to residents being concerned by a lack of representation, and loss of municipal services. There is the concern that even a small shrinkage in the local workforce will have a knock on effect in the economy. This could lead to a loss of essential services like hospitals, schools, and the small but excellent retail opportunities a small twon like ours has.

Tonight people spoke passionately about thier town and consensus was reached that the vast majority want to keep thier town and keep thier conuncil. There will be plenty more said on the subject and the people of Monto will have thier say.

Mobilising People Power or is it People Post?

This afternoon I have recieved some information or should I say a strategy from a concerned citizen that has the potential to be very powerful on this issue. It is a rather simple strategy, however sometimes the simplest ideas can work. Be in no doubt though if followed through it is a strategy that will work. I was supplied with two documents a form letter and instructions for using the form letter.

The Instructions

Fighting for Survival - Rural Queensland

Can you post 8 letters each week?

How to use this template.

What's the idea?

To have a format that allows the different issues about this legislation to get to the State Government and the media.

To do this with little to no resources.

What do I do?

Use the 'Fighting for Survival - Rural Queensland' template and in the space provided write your issues with this legislation.

Post 8 letters a week.

Step 1:

In the space provided write the issues that affect you or your family. Handwritten and dot point are fine. If you can see many issues then use a different issue each week.

Step 2:

Get 7 photocopies of your letter - now you have an original and 7 copies.

Step 3:

Fill in your name and address on the original and 5 copies, and then sign these.

Step 4:

Post the original, in an envelope, to:

The Premier Peter Beattie
Queensland Government
PO Box 15185
City East Queensland 4002.

Step 5:

Post each of the 5 copies to:

Channel 7 Brisbane
Editor In Chief
GPO Box 604
Mt Coot-tha Queensland 4001

Channel 9 Brisbane
Editor In Chief
GPO Box 72
Brisbane Queensland 4001

Channel 10 Brisbane
Editor In Chief
GPO Box 751
Brisbane Queensland 4001

The ABC
Editor In Chief
GPO Box 9994
Brisbane Queensland 4001

Rose Barrett
Editor In Chief - Newsroom
The Courier-Mail
GPO Box 130
Brisbane Queensland 4001

Step 6:

Post an unaddressed and unsigned copy to a friend, relative or colleague who lives on the coast or in the South East corner. In a covering letter tell them how important the issues are to you and ask them to help by following these instructions. To be successful we MUST engage the population on the coast and in the South East corner. We can do this MOST EFFCTIVELY by using our individual contacts. Every one of us has contacts that can help - use them NOW.

Step 7:

Post an unaddressed and unsigned copy to a friend, relative or colleague who lives in rural Queensland and ask them to follow these steps.

This process will allow us to get all our issues to the Premier and the media.

Each one of us commits to posting 8 letters per week.

Our strength is in numbers,
Our success is in our tenacity.

The Form Letter

You will be able to pick up a copy of the letter from tonight's public meeting and we will endavour to have it down loadable from this site in coming days.

RE: Public Meeting Tonight

Hi Everyone, very quickly for anyone who has not yet heard. There will be a
public meeting at the Monto Shire Hall tonight, Thursday 10 May 2007 at 7pm.
The meeting has been organised by community members to provide a forum for
local people to discuss our response to the Qld Government's Local
Government Amalgamation Initiative. All are welcome! Dean

Welcome to the Future of Monto

At a recent information evening convened by the Monto Shire Council to discuss coucil's submission to the Local Government Reform Commission, it became evident that the Monto community wants to be heard regarding "Future of Monto".

This website has been created to provide a space for discussion to take place. Residents of the Monto community and other interested parties are invited to comment, participate, and have thier voice heard. In addition you will find resources here to assist in understanding the role of the Local Government Reform Commission, action taken by other communities, and other useful information regarding amalgamation and the future of rural communities.

This website was created by Dean Power for the Monto Community. Please observe legal and moral considerations in using this website. If you have any queries please email me. My email address is me[at]deanpower.net

Have a great day. Dean