Sunday 13 July 2008

Electors rejected pro-development candidates

Pro-development candidates were overwhelmingly rejected across Queensland, in the recent local government elections, according to a survey released today.

The independent survey on the results of the March elections, conducted for the Local Government Association by Australian Development Strategies has shown mayoral candidates in five major regional centres, with pro-development and pro-amalgamation stances, were defeated.

“Results in Cairns, Townsville, Redland, Sunshine Coast Region and Townsville showed the successful candidates won at the expense of political parties,” said Cr Paul Bell, LGAQ president.

“All defeated mayoral candidates in these centres were perceived by the community to be either pro-development or soft on the recent council amalgamations” he said.

“It clearly indicates that the state government’s recent moves to centralise urban planning controls at the expense of local governments and their communities would not be popular with Queensland voters.”

The rport says that the results show strong support at the local level for "greenish policies" which are moving toward population caps and limits on both vertical and horizontal growth in population density, along with the preservation of surviving green zones.

They also show a clear pattern of rejection of any Mayors seen as being too close to the big end of town or too soft on the State Government’s amalgamation scheme.

The report notes about Cairns...
  • "Sitting Mayor Kevin Byrne was seen by local voters as pro-development and an independent Liberal closely linked to the socalled “big end of town”.

    His main opponent Val Schier was seen by local voters as light green on development questions and closely linked to the Labor party.

    Byrne was aggressive, hands on and ‘can do’ in both attitude and action, whereas Schier came across to many locals as well meaning but inexperienced in local Government.

    For example, Schier’s Cairns 1st team promised to make Cairns “a prominent tropical city, admired for its distinctive architecture, shady green spaces and healthy environment. Effective planning will ensure that development is sustainable, responsive to community needs and enhances the character of neighborhoods, suburbs and towns. Infrastructure, including transport, water and waste, will be efficiently managed to provide reliable, affordable services for all residents”.

    There was clearly something for everybody here.

    Byrne on the other hand was seen as the developer’s best friend, who may have focused too much on CBD/Trinity linked developments at the expense of the voters in the outer suburbs.

    Byrne seemed to enjoy the celebrity status of being a provincial Mayor and was seen by many locals as very pro amalgamation, and also strongly opposed by the Mossman Shire Council, in particular how his pro development stance would affect
    Port Douglas, which was to be included in the new Cairns Regional Council.

    "A light green Mayor clobbered a long serving Mayor with links to the Liberals who was seen as pro-amalgamation. Pro-development independent Liberal model rejected.

    Both candidates ran for the Cairns’ Mayoralty in 2004."

Here's the primary votes received by all candidates for the mayoralty of Cairns Regional Council. It shows Val Schier with a narrow 1,304 primary vote lead over Kevin Byrne. This lead increased to 1,780 votes with the distribution of preferences from Peter Sandercock and Selwyn Johnston.

In 2004, for the old Cairns City Council, Schier had won 41% of the primary vote
compared to 51.5% for Byrne.

Former Douglas Shire Councillor, Rod Davis, who ran for the Division 10 seat, that included the former area, says it's 'over, red rover', for the old guard. The world has moved on from that era of politics and management without thinking about the bigger picture.

  • This research showing all pro-development mayors are now carcasses, outs the obvious, and it has interesting implications for both NSW and Qld ALP State Governments, who are both in power on the back of massive developer contributions.

    NSW Premier Dilemma is first in the cross hairs, and his team are already dead men walking. And they have no cavalry to the rescue, at the next elections, as their developer funders are equally, dead men walking.

    Interestingly though, the cycle that now rejects the pro-development boom up to 2007, is mainly a product of the debt gluttons who have tripled the Australian private sector debt ( $1.2Trillion) in about 4 insane years, leaving us with a McMansion wasteland, and thousands of new, ‘sell the dream’ holiday homes up and down the Queensland Coast, infuriating us local neighbours.

    The pro-development mayoral sackings are just more of the Pelicans at Lake Eyre cycle....where there are already dead birds washing up everywhere, with the new mayors feeding on the carcasses. But the carcasses are poisoned, as what next happens in the cycle is deep recession of the wealth hoarders.

    The trouble as usual, is that all those new $60K utes outside the last of the fading building sites will soon be pelican carcasses themselves. Those who are 50 years old, and who were in the game in 1988, will know what happens next. All the $65/hr for carpenter’s work dries up. The utes get repossessed. The house prices go the way of the share prices. The economy goes crook, and in the cycle of things, the next round of pro-business, pro development mayoral candidate start their gestation, and will come out swinging against those in the left in a few years. There is little nutrition from the stinking carcasses of Howard and KB (Kevin Byrne). It’s just like in the natural cycle.

    Amalgamations were Peter Beattie’s parting gift to his masters, the Property Council and the power obsessed unions, and time will tell if Queenslanders will do to the pro-development State ALP, the same as it did to the pro-development mayors. I reckon a picture is emerging of the future, fast. If you can’t see it, check for rose tinting in ya specks.

    We are at a time in human history, at a higher level, when never before has the me, me, me agenda been so challenged by the us, us, us agenda. Climate change is the catalyst for this new agenda.

    We are indeed at a tipping point, and one path sees business as usual, the other says we are all one. For example, even though we for example are just 1.4% of the CO2 problem, we must all act for others. Or should we?

    Looking at the world of today’s self obsessed governments and populations, you will not be alone if you suspected human kind is in deep shit.

    But unlike the past, the rate of change is way faster, just look at what the net has done to the planet in 8 years. This accelerating rate of change is the wild card. As for me, well, I reckon each and every human heart knows what is right. I argue, that most governments of the world, in 2008, are not in control of their destiny, whether it be at a local, or international level, and all these government structures must be either renovated or rebuilt or even overthrown before humanity has a chance. Barry Jones, rolled his eyes off his wine, whilst grazing on his steak with me recently, and mused there is only one real driver in politics that makes for change, and that thing, in one word, is an EVENT.

    And we sure have some events ahead. The dead mayoral carcasses are dead because of the event know as a property boom. The next line of events include worldwide recession, oil crisis, and climate change. And that’s just the start of it, and if the Mayans are as accurate about the recent past as they are about the immediate future, we are in for a wild ride over the next 4-5 years. It’s a great time to be involved. I wouldn’t miss it for quids. It’s crunch time.

    The way I see it, from my mad
    point of view, energy is the big issue ahead. But there are other much bigger underlying issues for humanity, and energy is just but one manifestation of the challenge ahead.

    It’s a simple question we all face, is the world for me, or for us? One answer delivers a beautiful future, the other obliterates humankind. Sporting, eh what chaps.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Rod Davis is a great fuck, with a huge, ah, er...um, sense of community. More than 6 inches of it. He's gruesome...no, wait, he's gru some more.