SECESSION THE ANSWER TO SYSTEMIC IGNORANCE
RE: Byron Burman (CP, 4/1), it never ceases to amaze, how “true believers” regardless of their cause, never bother to do any real research but merely parrot the general consensus.
Queensland never had a “gerrymander” system, rather the Hanlon Labor government introduced a “malapportionment” voting system in 1949.
In general, “outback” seats had as little as 5000 voters, rural seats about 10,000 and city seats had 15,000 voters.
This system ended the dominance of city-based politicians in the Queensland parliament and ushered in the period of the greatest regional development of the state.
When the then Country Party under Frank Nicklin won the 1957 state election, they opted to retain the “malapportionment” voting system and later, as leader, Joh Bjelke-Petersen merely perfected the system.
As for cronyism and corruption, the “Red Ted” Theodore Labor government facilitated that in 1923 by abolishing the Legislative Council thus removing parliamentary oversight and accountability. To suggest they do not exist today is naive, rather, it has simply moved on from the occasional brown paper bag to sophisticated arm’s length electronic wealth transfer system.
As a result of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, Queensland returned to the “one vote, one value” voting system in 1989, forever diminishing the political representation of the Regional Queensland. In the years since, no Brisbane state government has made any significant investment in the regions.
Rather, they routinely create legislation and regulation inhibiting development and obstruct our miners, growers and graziers. With 73 of the 93 state electorates within 250km of Brisbane, the only remedy to address the decline of regional political representation is the creation of new states as provided by Chapter VI of the Australian Constitution.
Bill Bates, Kewarra Beach