Keep party politics out

COUNCILLOR Ritchie Bates’ comments “Cultural Hub snub” (CP, 17/06) criticising Cairns Regional Council for the decision by the Queensland State Labor Government to back a First Nations Centre in Brisbane, is in my opinion, duplicit and hypocritical.

Cr Bates, in my view, seeks to denigrate, criticise, and pull down our council, wherever he sees a political opportunity to do so.

When our mayor, councillors and council are lobbying state government on issues like getting our fair share of infrastructure spend, addressing shortfalls in planning and policy around roads and crime, or urging state to deal with unintended consequences in drafting legislation around conflicts of interest, he sits silent.

Yet on this issue of snubbing Cairns to build a First Nations Centre in an urbanised state capital city over our regional city, instead of criticising council, as the ALP Cairns branch president and campaign manager for our Labor State Member, Michael Healy, why isn’t he picking up the phone to call his Labor contacts, to argue the case for Cairns City, our residents and importantly out of respect for our First Nation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as the city and region where these two oldest living cultures meet and come together? Cr Brett Moller, Division 1 PRIVACY POLICY: Our privacy policy www.apnarm.com.au/privacy includes important information about our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information (including to provide you with targeted advertising based on your online activities). It explains that if you do not provide us with information we have requested from you, we may not be able to provide you with the goods and services you require. It also explains how you can access or seek correction of your personal information, how you can complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with a complaint of that nature.