It’s been a fascinating exercise following the outing of Ministers in the Beattie/Bligh Government, some of whom have been convicted of corruption while others appear guilty of blatant cronyism.  Then there is the insidious “pay for access,” arrangements between the Government and former Ministers turned lobbyists. Even the Sunshine Coast Regional Council has engaged Rowlands Pty Ltd as its lobbyist;   So much for “stronger councils!”

Never was this democratic imbalance more apparent than in the great sham foisted upon Queenslanders with the establishment of the so called Local Government Reform Commission tasked with rubber stamping the Beattie/Bligh Government’s pre-prepared Council amalgamation agenda, against the wishes of ratepayers in the 81 Shires permitted a plebiscite. What’s particularly ironic is that Premier Bligh keeps referring to the CMC as a “standing Royal Commission.” Yet when FON provided evidence to this body showing what a sham the LGRC really was, the CMC rejected our evidence and failed to initiate an investigation of their own into the possible conflict of interest of appointees to the LGRC or their lack of independence in determining which councils would be amalgamated.

For a government to undertake a ‘reform’ on this scale without conducting a ‘cost benefit’ analysis  or ‘public benefit’ study is clearly a dereliction of duty and a breach of trust that would be investigated by the appropriate authorities in most democracies.  But not in Queensland by our so called ‘standing Royal Commission’!

As usual Bligh, following in the footsteps of Beattie, has taken the high ground and presents herself as a reformer. This is a bit rich given corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald’s recent public criticism of her government.  However, some things never change as with all those accused of corruption, responding with the well worn mantra “I have done nothing wrong”.  It’s like a Premier saying—“I expect my government to run its full term”—you know immediately an early election is just around the corner.

Now we have the Chairman of the recently formed Sunshine Coast’s Tourism Advisory Board extolling the parallel benefits between council amalgamation and tourism reform (there’s that word again.) Beware Tourism Noosa!  We hear the Sunshine Coast Regional Council is looking to spend a lot of money on developing a single Brand for the whole of the Sunshine Coast and you can rest assured that won’t be the Noosa Brand.  Yet any proposal to subordinate the Noosa brand would be suicidal for tourism over the entire Sunshine Coast for Noosa has a worldwide awareness as an environmentally sensitive holiday destination and just recently its Main beach was acclaimed as one of the world’s best family beaches by the Lonely Planet Travel Guide.  In terms of global awareness, the Sunshine Coast as a destination is virtually unknown so it would take many, many years, a huge sum of money and great marketing skills to achieve anything like Noosa’s hard won Brand recognition.

The Stafford Report on Regional Tourism—commissioned by the current council—found Brand Noosa was arguably the most powerful Local Tourism Brand in Australia and it should be further strengthened on a sustainable basis to the benefit of all operators on the Sunshine Coast.

FON fought amalgamation to retain our identity and preserve Noosa’s   unique culture for future generations.  The building of a Super Brand for the whole region is an attempt to amalgamate our tourism industry, another step in the harmonisation process embarked upon by the Regional Council.

Noosa has taken  generations  to develop and if you think we will give up our Brand and let a group of council appointed so called travel experts run our tourism then maybe we will see the real battle, stemming from amalgamation, explode on the Sunshine Coast.  There’s a further dilemma for Council—if they attempt to appropriate money, paid by local businesses to promote Tourism Noosa, there will be a revolution akin to the Boston Tea Party and if they double dip in their effort to build a Sunshine Coast Brand using consolidated revenue, Noosa rate payers will revolt as they would be, in effect, paying twice for tourism promotion. As it is, Tourism Noosa financially supports the stricken Tourism Sunshine Coast which is a total waste of money that could be used for more productive causes, like further direct promotion of Noosa.

Bob Ansett
Friends of Noosa