NSW forced mergers risk failure warn Queenslanders

They should know.

18 February, 2016

Queensland councils demand legislative cover from rates litigants

The Queensland Supreme Court’s recent judgement that Mackay Regional Council’s application of a differential ratings system was invalid has prompted the state’s local government sector to call for new laws to protect revenue.

2 June, 2014

Mobile app and snap: QLD’s latest anti-graffiti weapon

By Paul Hemsley Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s has roped in Crime Stoppers to help councils in their battle against graffiti vandalism following the development and launch of a new mobile app that lets the public report the location of vandalised property to their local government. The app is being used by Crime Stoppers Queensland’s anti-graffiti […]

26 November, 2013

Divorced Queensland councils set election date

By Paul Hemsley Queensland ratepayers who eagerly sent forced council mergers packing by voting for de-amalgamation from neighbouring councils will go to the polls on 9 November to elect their new representatives. The state government’s announcement has confirmed that people living in Noosa, Livingstone, Mareeba and Douglas will get new local leaders from 1 January […]

19 September, 2013

Financial probe launched after Wide Bay Water mayhem

By Paul Hemsley The Queensland government will instigate a ministerial probe into the financial operations of the Fraser Coast Regional Council and the Wide Bay Water Corporation (WBWC) recent stoushes between the two organisations prompted Minister for Local Government David Crisafulli to approve an extraordinary appointment of a councillor to the WBWC board. The ongoing […]

30 August, 2013

Councils avoid ban on buying from IBM

By Julian Bajkowski The Queensland government’s unprecendented ban on giving IBM new business after the $1.2 billion Health Payroll software disaster will not be imposed on local governments and councils, the minister responsible for the sector had confirmed. Queensland Local Government Minister David Crisafulli has told Government News that councils will not be hit by […]

12 August, 2013

Attacks get local in QLD over Beattie’s Canberra push

By Julian Bajkowski The saying goes that all politics is local and Queensland Minister for Local Government Community Recovery and Resilience, David Crisafulli is clearly a believer. The man put in charge of deconstructing the former Labor government's deeply unpopular policy of welding local governments together has wasted no time in reminding his state’s councils […]

8 August, 2013

Queensland locks onto graffiti heat signatures

By Paul Hemsley Queensland Premier, civil engineer and former Australian Army Major, Campbell Newman, is taking military targeting technology to the state’s vandalised train system in a bid to catch so-called “graffiti grubs” red-handed at the scene of the crime. The state government has revealed it has put in thermal cameras and video analytics systems […]

26 July, 2013

Queensland drafts graffiti vandals as council cleaners

By Paul Hemsley Vandals caught defacing public and private property could soon be forced to scrub off their own unsightly mess under a hands-on aversion therapy plan by the Queensland government that will let local governments pressgang offenders into the role of council cleaners. The plan to force taggers to erase either their efforts or […]

25 June, 2013

Liberals support for referendum shatters

By Julian Bajkowski Bitter factional infighting has torn apart public Coalition support for a Constitutional change that would guarantee federal funds can flow directly to more than 500 local governments after key hard-right elements publicly railed against the case for a ‘yes’ vote in a torrid Senate debate. After more than a year of publicly […]

19 June, 2013

Queensland councils seek $1b for flood-proofing

By Paul Hemsley Queensland’s Community Recovery and Resilience Minister, David Crisafulli, has announced that councils hit by recent flooding disasters have put their hands up for nearly $1 billion in applications for “Betterment Fund” projects to help replace damaged council assets and make them more flood resistant. The big figure requests have dwarfed the more […]

29 April, 2013

More council cost hikes tipped for Queensland

By Paul Hemsley Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) President Margaret de Wit has urged Queensland councils to factor in how a potential 3.3 per cent rise in council costs will hit them when they decide how they set their rates during the 2013-14 financial year. The likely cost hikes come as Queensland councils face […]

4 March, 2013

Queensland cuts councils loose

By Paul Hemsley Local Government Association of Queensland President Margaret de Wit has welcomed the state government’s move to put councils back in charge of community planning by getting rid of a raft of state bureaucratic requirements. The Queensland government this week passed changes to the Local Government Act and Brisbane City Council Act it […]

15 November, 2012