EARTH HOUR AT CITY PLACE

Looking forward to the Earth Hour celebrations at Cairns City Place today. Heaps of family friendly activities back in the heart of our city. A leisurely bike ride, lantern making work shops, entertainment, music and a movie. All for the bargain price of $0.00. Look forward to seeing you there

Fairer gambling revenue distribution

The Queensland Party is today announcing a major policy initiative to overhaul the current processes used in the distribution of pokie revenue.

The proposed model will see the creation of a Community Benefit Board (CBB) in each of Queensland's 89 state electorates. The boards will allow local communities to determine funding allocations from gambling revenues, reduce centralised bureaucracy and ensure each dollar achieves maximum benefit for Queensland’s decentralised communities.

On current figures, each of the 89 CBBs will oversee the distribution of approximately $3.1 million dollars annually.

Purpose:

·         50% of all pokie revenue will be distributed evenly amongst each CBB.

·         The program will be a dollar for dollar - for every two dollars raised, one goes to the state government and the other goes to the states CBBs.

Membership:

·         The CBB will consist of 11 members with the State MP as Chair.

·         Not-for-profit organisations will fill 8 position on the CBB.

·         The Federal MP which takes in the majority population of the State Electorate and an elected local councilor from the council which takes in the majority population of the State Electorate will also sit on the board to ensure close ties between all three levels of government.

·         Within 28 days of a general election, every not-for-profit organisation listed within that state electorate will be eligible to register to vote for representatives to the CBB. The election will be overseen by the ECQ.

·         The local council representative will be nominated and elected from the majority local council and the Federal MP will be automatically appointed.

·         The membership tenure on the CBB will only last for the duration of the Government's term in office.

Procedures:

·         Any member on the board whose organisation is an applicant for consideration must abstain from voting on that particular application only.

·         All applications for Gambling Community Benefit Grants will be directed to the appropriate local CBB for consideration.

·         The CBB will meet quarterly to consider grant applications.

·         Applications will be processed under the current system to ensure all criteria are met, but the decision to approve funding will be made by the local CBB.

·         Treasury Department will release funds once the CBB has granted approval and conduct audits to ensure accountability.

Lying, good enough for Prime Minister, good enough for Qld Premier?

Prior to the LNP implosion, who'd have thought that would happen, the Premier of this state stood in front of the people of the Far North and stated categorically that she would not call an early election. She stated there was way too much to do recovering from the disasters faced by our state. Was she lying? What's changed in terms of disaster recovery??
Time will tell if this is the Labor mantra now that they will bare face lie to the electorate, just like the Prime Minister has. This of course is a bit rich given the furore and way they carried on about "Phoney Tony".
The facts are nothing has changed in terms of the need to get on with recovery operations for our state and this Premier and her government should be condemned if they use the blood in the water from the LNP fiasco to justify going to the polls early when she stood up here in Cairns with her hand on heart pledging to get on with re-building instead of going to early elections for political gain.
If the Premier was lying about that, how can we believe a word that comes out of her mouth. It's time for some integrity from our politicians, not more lies for personal gain.

EARTH HOUR AT CITY PLACE

Earth hour is being held at Cairns City Place this Saturday. Heaps of family friendly activities and stalls. A bike procession along Lake Street to City Place. Entertainment, lantern workshop, music and the movie "Home".
To be held between 5.00pm and 10.00pm with the Earth Hour celebration kicking off at 8.30pm.
Come on down and enjoy the "People's place".

YASI VICTIMS CHOKED BY RED TAPE

The Queensland Party Candidate for Cairns, Darren(DJ) Hunt has called on the government to take a common sense approach to allow businesses struggling with the impacts of Cyclone Yasi and facing closure to access assistance packages as a matter of urgency.

"Many businesses in our area are struggling as a result of Cyclone Yasi. With the unemployment figures in our area skyrocketing above the national average again, we need to take every step we can to assist local business to protect the jobs we have and prevent further losses. Instead, they are being choked by red tape and inflexible guidelines of government agencies that are pushing them to the point of collapse. ” said Mr Hunt.

Mr Hunt’s comments came after local businesses reported a number of difficulties in accessing assistance programs for employers and employees,  unrealistic time frames for those affected and applications denied due to not having documentation which was destroyed by the Cyclone.

Mr Hunt said “As part of the red tape reduction program the Queensland Party commenced, we have been listening to the issues facing our community. We are hearing over and over again of the issues being faced by people trying to access assistance after Cyclone Yasi. Businesses were only given three weeks to get their applications in. This was ridiculous given that some people weren’t able to get back to their residence in that time, let alone get the paperwork and evidence required to access the assistance. If the paperwork and evidence they require is buried in the landfill with the rest of their belongings destroyed by the impacts of Yasi, they miss out. The bureaucrats don’t realise that it is going to take time to get replacements.”

“Small businesses, partnerships and family trusts have a number of issues they have to overcome to meet the assistance criteria and have reached the stage where they just give up. These aren’t people trying to scam the government so they can go and buy a big screen TV or blow their money down the pub on booze and poker machines. These are people who employ others in our community struggling to keep their head above water through no fault of their own. The money has been made available, but it’s distribution is being choked by red tape.”

“Luckily the bureaucrats have seen sense and at least extended the deadline to 31^st March, but this does not go far enough. Owners, managers and staff of the businesses affected by Cyclone Yasi may not have even known of the assistance available or been told they could not apply as the closing date in February had passed. 

Mr Hunt stated “We need to get that money where it is needed most and making sure we don’t add to the unemployment lines of the Far North is essential. The Queensland Party calls on the government to extend the deadlines for employer and wage assistance applications so that no further businesses go to the wall when assistance is available, given that they will play such an essential role in the recovery of the Far North from this disaster. Families are under immense pressure and simple steps can make a huge difference. We call on the government to publicise that the funding has been re-opened/extended and encourage those requiring assistance to apply.”

QLD PARTY CALLS FOR CAIRNS TO BECOME AIRPORT HUB

The Queensland Party Candidate for Cairns Darren(D.J) Hunt has called on the state government to take advantage of the Federal government announcement regarding travelers from China to substantially help the devastated Far North Queensland economy and tourism industry.

Mr Hunt said "The Federal government has announced they have secured an agreement with the Chinese government to increase the number of travelers between Australia and China. This places Cairns in the box seat to establish Cairns as an air hub with Asia.”

“The government needs to fast track a deal with someone like South China Airlines or Air Asia for direct flights to Cairns to the same amount they did for South China Airlines to fly to Brisbane. The Cairns Post reported 50,000 visitors wanted to come here but couldn’t. If those visitors would have spent $1,000 here, that’s $50million our economy missed out on. The government’s original decision, to subsidise direct flights to Brisbane instead of Cairns, shows where the governments focus is and always will be and that is South East Queensland.”

Mr Hunt said “It is time that the Far North was given a realistic long term solution to help our economy recover. The Premier can no longer hide behind blaming the Chinese government for not completing this deal given the Federal government announcement that an extra 4,000 visits have been approved by the Chinese government. Providing the same subsidy given to Brisbane would bring huge amounts of tourists through our area and give our economy a much needed and long term boost. ”

Mr Hunt stated “The deal the government struck for Brisbane airport has been kept secret. The people of the Far North deserve to know what they missed out on. The Queensland Party calls on the government to honour their promise to make public the amount of the subsidy given so that it can be determined if a similar amount can be provided for the same deal for Cairns. I believe the people of the Far North deserve that much.”

Queensland Party continues fight for Far North health needs

The Queensland Party Candidate for Cairns, Darren (DJ) Hunt has called on the government to stop the double talk on the Cairns alternate hospital issue.

Mr Hunt said “Both parties have ignored the Cairns and Far North region for too long and that is why we had to take the stand we did and stick up for the people of Far North Queensland. The threat of Cyclone Yasi showed us just how vulnerable we are to natural disasters, highlighting the need to identify an alternate location. The Queensland Party has been then lone voice on this issue and will continue to be so until the other parties see sense.”

“With no voice for the Far North, the Queensland Party commenced an e-petition for an alternate hospital site. This was tabled in parliament and is still available for people to have their voice heard. If people want to have a functional hospital in times of disaster we need to address this issue. The Premier’s claims that a physiotherapists office can be used as a hospital is nonsense.”

Mr Hunt who has a long involvement with emergency services and disaster management planning in the region says the Queensland Party has based their stand on this issue on the principles of disaster management and preparedness.

Mr Hunt stated “From a purely disaster management mitigation and preparedness point of view we need to identify and alternate site. It is imperative that we select a site that is safe in terms of disaster risk and that also allows for the future growth of our area. We are calling on people to follow the link http://bit.ly/eTjB6h and sign our E-petition for the benefit and safety of our region.”

QUEENSLAND PARTY CONTINUES FIGHT FOR LOCALS

The Queensland Party Candidate for Cairns, D.J.Hunt has called on the government to take immediate steps to ensure that local tradesman and companies are assigned work as part of the reconstruction efforts.

"Major General Mick Slater in the Cairns Post has continued the calls made by The Premier when she visited the area to employ locals in the reconstruction. We support these calls but we need more than just words. At the end of the day they have not taken any real steps to achieve this. ” said Mr Hunt.

“Both The Premier and the Major General have highlighted the fact they can’t compel insurance companies to do the right thing by Far North Queensland businesses, tradesman and workers. But they can take real steps in terms of allocation of government contracts and those paid for by money allocated under the Queensland Disaster Relief Appeal.”

Mr Hunt stated “The people of Queensland should have a say on how money is spent in their area. The Queensland Party calls on the Premier and reconstruction authority to immediately take steps and declare that all money allocated from Disaster Appeal funds is allocated to local business and tradesman first. We might not be able to force insurance companies to do the right thing, but we sure can with our money.”