Power to the people

Recent public discussion in local newspapers makes it crystal clear that this area feels that local government is out of touch with the people it is supposed to represent.
My feeling is that council has been progressively weakened by State legislation and now has become nothing but a rubber stamp on the way to George Street.
This is bad news for locals on many fronts, but particularly because it distances us even further from where decisions are being made about where we live and work.
The solutions lie in returning power to us as citizens. Campbell Newman spoke in Stanthorpe last month on his vision to bring government back to the people and by the looks of his rise and rise, that gives us some hope. However we need to look at the changes which have delivered centralised power, starting with the amalgamation of shires which heralded a plethora of financing shifts effectively making local government more dependent and less representative of their communities.
Secondly, the current system of whole-of-region councillors means that centralisation trickles down to every level of council business. No one councilor can be that familiar with what is happening in the whole of the Southern Downs, no one councilor can truly speak for their community because they must speak for all.
We need to devolve as much effective power back to directly elected divisional councillors. In this way residents will be able to access and inform their particular councillor and keep them informed. This is good for councillors too; they can hone their skills and build a solid foundation in their division whilst being confident when bringing local issues to council for consideration.
I challenge the current councillors to follow the lead of other local authorities across Queensland who are bringing in divisional representation, to follow suit and give residents a real and dedicated local voice and to pledge their support for de-amalgamation if re-elected.
Mary Rofe,
Stanthorpe