Local Government Minister David Crisafulli, Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington and South Burnett Mayor Wayne Kratzmann at the Council Chambers today (Photo: SBRC)

July 23, 2014

Local Government Minister David Crisafulli paid a surprise visit to the South Burnett today.

Minister Crisafulli sat in on the South Burnett Regional Council’s monthly general meeting with Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington, then gave an impromptu address to councillors and the public gallery at the invitation of Mayor Wayne Kratzmann.

The Minister said he was taking advantage of a brief break in his ministerial work schedule to visit several councils but said he always particularly enjoyed visiting the South Burnett.

He began his talk by speaking briefly about the challenges of getting the State Budget back to a good footing.

He said he was proud of his government’s move to simplify and streamline flood recovery efforts, and praised Queensland councils for their suggestions on how to improve the system.

The Minister also said he was proud of the State Government’s “Royalties For The Regions” program, and wanted to see it expanded in future.

Reflecting on the recent abolition of the Carbon Tax, the Minister thought it would be hard to quantify the savings that would flow from its removal at a Council level.

But he thought there’d be some savings in electricity and fuel costs, and believed these should be passed on to ratepayers.

The Minister said he thought the South Burnett was ideally poised for growth under the State Government’s “4 Pillar” approach to building the State’s economy, providing Council laid down the necessary infrastructure to support future growth.

Reflecting on his time as Deputy Mayor of Townsville City Council, he said he was surprised recently when he looked at statistics to see that all towns in the Townsville region were growing except his boyhood home town of Ingham.

He said the most likely reason he could think of was that Ingham hadn’t built to support future growth.

He warned that no town or region had the option of “standing still” and if an area wasn’t planning for future growth, then it had to expect decline.

Mr Crisafulli said he supported the State Government’s “Strong Choices” program and believed that if a State-owned asset could be sold or leased to help reduce debt and free up resources to invest in new infrastructure, then this was what needed to be done.

Afterwards, the Mayor had a private meeting with the Minister.


 

One Response to "Minister Pays Surprise Visit"

  1. Unfortunately this council and the minister overlook the cost burden forced on South Burnett residents in their pursuit of economic development. Uncontrollable spending by council and state government is negatively impacting on all our communities with financial stress, affecting not only the residents but business and employment opportunities across the South Burnett.

    The need of this government to pursue the sale of Queensland’s assets is testimony to an over-ambitious and short-sighted spending spree that has stripped available state finances to the bone, along with public tolerance for revenue increases. As seen in southern states, the privatisation of assets dramatically increased costs to consumers whilst state taxes and charges continue to rise alarmingly.

    The rushed approach to flood-damaged road repairs sees many of these undertakings in the process of structural failure and requiring additional attention at significant cost to rate payers.

    The Strong Choices policy promoted by this government has failed to consider the financial impact on the citizens of this state to pay. And public scepticism of this government’s motives has been shown in two recent by-elections.

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