It seems to me that Mr Christafulli is of the same mind as the recent Labor government. Namely, that democracy is OK as long as it doesn’t get in his way. Mr Christafulli seems to have forgotten already that it is the ratepayers who pay his wage. He is not there to establish himself as yet another petty dictator, but to enable the democratic wishes of the people.
These wishes were shown loud and clear at the referendum which Anna Maria Bligh and her associates chose to blatantly ignore, along with K Rudd who also said that he would “respect the wishes of the people”, but turned his back and ran, when it became obvious that Bligh and Co didn’t give a damn about democracy.
If it was so easy to walk all over the wishes of the majority of Stanthorpe ratepayers, then why is it so difficult to now respect those same wishes?
Warwick Council has never been successful at financial management, as witnessed by their stag-gering debts up to the time when they got their hands on the savings of Stanthorpe Council. With the advent of the Southern Downs (Read – Warwick) Council, nothing seems to have changed. Council rates have gone through the roof, with no thought whatsoever for those of us on fixed incomes. OK for our smiling councillors who are at liberty to vote themselves pay rises whenever they feel financially stressed. My rates have gone up by over $400 p/a but this isn’t covered by similar rises in the pension. Maybe if our wonderful council was put on a fixed budget, then things may improve.
In the meantime, a warning to Stanthorpe motorists: Drive Very Carefully along Gillbard Road. It is in a deplorable state (southern end) because, it seems, our wonderful council only has the funds to maintain roads in the (Yes – you guessed it!) Warwick area.
W Gaby-Brown
Stanthorpe
