Article: Where the political sun will shine?

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Where the political sun will shine?

Where the political sun will shine?
Tony Moore
February 17, 2012 - 5:00AM

Six Sunshine Coast MPs, who now sit on the opposition frontbench, will be under intense pressure to deliver for their area if the LNP wins office because local voters feel "taken for granted" by past Coalition governments.

The warning comes from a Sunshine Coast academic as well its sole independent MP who both believe voters in the region feel neglected.

Already an LNP stronghold, the Sunshine Coast could go from having virtually no presence in the halls of government to becoming a centre of power, with six current LNP shadow ministers hailing from the area.

The region is feeling the squeeze of population growth with Labor's South East Regional Plan demanding an extra 98,500 "dwellings" in the next 20 years.

Already there is opposition to Labor's decision to "call in" and approve the Caloundra South development, which boasts an extra 50,000 homes.

But University of Sunshine Coast lecturer in politics Bronwyn Stevens said there was a strong feeling locally that voters were "taken for granted" by the previous Coalition governments.

"There is a general feeling that they were neglected by the LNP when they were in power," Ms Stevens said.

"The feeling is that they were taken for granted because they were pretty safe Coalition voters."

Ms Stevens said Sunshine Coast residents remembered former Gold Coast MPs Rob Borbidge and Bob Quinn backing a Gold Coast university ahead of the University of Sunshine Coast.

She said observers believed the best representation for the Sunshine Coast came when Labor held the seats of Noosa, Kawana and Glasshouse and the LNP held three seats.

"And then the independent, Peter Wellington, held Nicklin and the balance of power," she said.

Today, six shadow ministers are among the seven LNP members holding seats on the Sunshine Coast.

Ms Stevens said LNP shadow ministers were under pressure to perform.

"Are the LNP going to feel more obliged to focus on the seats that have just swung to them, or are they going to realise that the last time there was a Coalition government, there was swing to Labor because they did feel a bit neglected up here?" she asked.

"But they have some pretty high-profile shadow ministries up here now, so that could make a big difference."

From the seat of Kawana is the LNP's shadow attorney-general Jarrod Bleijie. From Buderim is Steve Dickson, now the LNP's spokesman on energy and water utilities.

Gympie MP David Gibson is now the LNP's spokesman on local government and sport, while Mark McArdle, from the seat of Caloundra, is the LNP's health spokesman.

The nearby Sunshine Coast seat of Glasshouse provides the seat for the LNP's environment spokesman Andrew Powell.

And at Maroochydore, the long-serving Fiona Simpson is currently the LNP's spokeswoman for community services, housing, "waste watch" activities and women.

Sunshine Coast independent MP Peter Wellington has held the seat of Nicklin since 1998.

For him, the key issue for the Sunshine Coast is infrastructure.

"You can't have all this growth happening if infrastructure isn't there," he said.

"With the railway line, we have a corridor identified to Nambour, but it is now not due to happen until 2031.

"It is just ridiculous. You are going to have all this growth happening on the Sunshine Coast and you have to hop in the car and drive, and it's just, peak hour!

"There is limited capacity on our existing rail line. We need to have it duplicated and that needs to be the priority."

Mr Wellington said the state government was shirking its responsibilities at the expanded Nambour Hospital by not providing extra car parking.

"At the hospital we have to have that parking need catered for, and it is not up to the council to do it."

Mr Wellington was cautious when asked if the Sunshine Coast has been well serviced by the ALP.

"I don't think they did the right thing by taking the Caloundra South project out of the hands of council," he said.

"I think that is the wrong decision."

Transport and health problems grate on him, but he said has been able to convince Labor to back some local projects.

"I certainly have some criticism of some parts of government, but I also have been able to demonstrate that there have also been a whole range of projects that have been able to convince the government have had merit, and they have funded those."

Mr Wellington thinks the LNP will win the March 24 election.

"It's only a question in my mind is how big the margin will be," he said.

But when asked if the Sunshine Coast would get better representation under an LNP government, he said: "I don't know. I don't know who will form Cabinet.

"I don't know how the new government [whomever that is] is going to fund the promises it makes between now and the election."

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/where-the-political-sun-will-shine-20120216-1tbzv.html#ixzz1maQCSaDX

[Stillwater]

The pressure is mounting for the LNP's Sunshine Coast Members to perform for the region in government.  Mr Wellington is correct to have identified the railway line to Nambour as a critical priority.  In a recent article in the Sunshine Coast Daily, these community groups identified rail as the region's No.1 infrastructure priority: the Urban Development Institute of Australia, the Sunshine Coast Environment Council, OSCAR (the overarching body for the Coast's various resident action groups), Hinterland Tourism Sunshine Coast and the alliance of all Sunshine Coast Chambers of Commerce.  We could safely add the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to the list.

So much politics has been played out regarding the Sunshine Coast Line from both sides, most cynically by Labor over its firm announcements about duplication to Landsborough, followed by repudiation of its public undertaking.  The LNP too has been inglorious in its handling of the situation.

In an LNP government, one of the things that will haunt the new transport minister is the wording contained in a media statement issued on November 22, 2010 by the Member for Glass House, Andrew Powell MP.

Mr Powell wrote: "The Member for Glass House, Andrew Powell MP, is calling on Sunshine Coast locals to remind the Bligh Government it needs an upgraded rail service now.  The Beerburrum to Landsborough and Landsborough to Nambour upgrades are in a perpetual holding pattern, now not due until 2031.  Instead of committing funding now for the upgrade, the Bligh Labor Government has to waste money on temporary fixes at stations such as Mooloolah, Eudlo and Palmwoods.  The delay is also creating increasing frustration for the Sunshine Coast Regional Council as they endeavour to plan for these railway communities.

"I'm calling on locals to support a petition demanding that the Minister reassess the 2031 deadline and bring forward this much needed upgrade."

After the state election, if the polling is correct, Queensland will have an LNP government and it is probable that Mr Scott Emerson will be the next Transport Minister.  It is also likely that all six of the LNP members from the Sunshine Coast will hold ministerial portfolios and will be able to work within government to bring about the very things they have been demanding of Labor for years, including the Sunshine Coast Line duplication.

Mr Powell, hasn't changed his position on the line's upgrade.  If we return to his public statements and substitute 'Campbell' for 'Bligh' and 'LNP' for 'Labor', he is saying that the LNP does not upgrade the Sunshine Coast Line now, it will be letting down the people of the region.  Furthermore, he is saying that to continue to put money into hire and maintenance costs of the seven short platform stations on the Sunshine Coast Line, an LNP government would be wasting taxpayers' money.  (Ending government waste is a fundamental policy plank put forward by the LNP.)  And Mr Powell is demanding that an LNP administration, in government and with blanket representation across the Sunshine Coast, should "reassess the 2031 deadline and bring forward this much needed upgrade".

The extent to which an LNP government fails to deliver on a Sunshine Coast Line duplication to Nambour and does not move quickly to implement what it has been demanding of Labor for years now (with local Members dining out on the kudos from electors) Mr Powell and his colleagues risk being seen as hypocrites in the eyes of those who will put them into office as ministers and Members in a new government where they control the agenda and the purse strings.

There are no excuses for delaying the Sunshine Coast duplication, for local LNP Members have said so.  Emphatically.  They need to act on their convictions and deliver the project for the region.

[Fares_Fair]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Where the political sun will shine?

Where the political sun will shine?
Tony Moore
February 17, 2012 - 5:00AM

Six Sunshine Coast MPs, who now sit on the opposition frontbench, will be under intense pressure to deliver for their area if the LNP wins office because local voters feel "taken for granted" by past Coalition governments.

The warning comes from a Sunshine Coast academic as well its sole independent MP who both believe voters in the region feel neglected.

Already an LNP stronghold, the Sunshine Coast could go from having virtually no presence in the halls of government to becoming a centre of power, with six current LNP shadow ministers hailing from the area.

The region is feeling the squeeze of population growth with Labor's South East Regional Plan demanding an extra 98,500 "dwellings" in the next 20 years.

Already there is opposition to Labor's decision to "call in" and approve the Caloundra South development, which boasts an extra 50,000 homes.

But University of Sunshine Coast lecturer in politics Bronwyn Stevens said there was a strong feeling locally that voters were "taken for granted" by the previous Coalition governments.

"There is a general feeling that they were neglected by the LNP when they were in power," Ms Stevens said.

"The feeling is that they were taken for granted because they were pretty safe Coalition voters."

Ms Stevens said Sunshine Coast residents remembered former Gold Coast MPs Rob Borbidge and Bob Quinn backing a Gold Coast university ahead of the University of Sunshine Coast.

She said observers believed the best representation for the Sunshine Coast came when Labor held the seats of Noosa, Kawana and Glasshouse and the LNP held three seats.

"And then the independent, Peter Wellington, held Nicklin and the balance of power," she said.

Today, six shadow ministers are among the seven LNP members holding seats on the Sunshine Coast.

Ms Stevens said LNP shadow ministers were under pressure to perform.

"Are the LNP going to feel more obliged to focus on the seats that have just swung to them, or are they going to realise that the last time there was a Coalition government, there was swing to Labor because they did feel a bit neglected up here?" she asked.

"But they have some pretty high-profile shadow ministries up here now, so that could make a big difference."

From the seat of Kawana is the LNP's shadow attorney-general Jarrod Bleijie. From Buderim is Steve Dickson, now the LNP's spokesman on energy and water utilities.

Gympie MP David Gibson is now the LNP's spokesman on local government and sport, while Mark McArdle, from the seat of Caloundra, is the LNP's health spokesman.

The nearby Sunshine Coast seat of Glasshouse provides the seat for the LNP's environment spokesman Andrew Powell.

And at Maroochydore, the long-serving Fiona Simpson is currently the LNP's spokeswoman for community services, housing, "waste watch" activities and women.

Sunshine Coast independent MP Peter Wellington has held the seat of Nicklin since 1998.

For him, the key issue for the Sunshine Coast is infrastructure.

"You can't have all this growth happening if infrastructure isn't there," he said.

"With the railway line, we have a corridor identified to Nambour, but it is now not due to happen until 2031.

"It is just ridiculous. You are going to have all this growth happening on the Sunshine Coast and you have to hop in the car and drive, and it's just, peak hour!

"There is limited capacity on our existing rail line. We need to have it duplicated and that needs to be the priority."

Mr Wellington said the state government was shirking its responsibilities at the expanded Nambour Hospital by not providing extra car parking.

"At the hospital we have to have that parking need catered for, and it is not up to the council to do it."

Mr Wellington was cautious when asked if the Sunshine Coast has been well serviced by the ALP.

"I don't think they did the right thing by taking the Caloundra South project out of the hands of council," he said.

"I think that is the wrong decision."

Transport and health problems grate on him, but he said has been able to convince Labor to back some local projects.

"I certainly have some criticism of some parts of government, but I also have been able to demonstrate that there have also been a whole range of projects that have been able to convince the government have had merit, and they have funded those."

Mr Wellington thinks the LNP will win the March 24 election.

"It's only a question in my mind is how big the margin will be," he said.

But when asked if the Sunshine Coast would get better representation under an LNP government, he said: "I don't know. I don't know who will form Cabinet.

"I don't know how the new government [whomever that is] is going to fund the promises it makes between now and the election."

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/where-the-political-sun-will-shine-20120216-1tbzv.html#ixzz1maQCSaDX

[mufreight]

It would seem that if the LNP is elected unless there is an immediate resumption of work on the duplication and realignment Beerburrum to Nambour the the six seats there will be in jepody at the next election which could well see a LNP government as a one term mistake.
The politicians on both side should by now realise that this infrastructure not only is needed for passenger services for the Subshine Coast but also to allow freight operators to better serve the needs of North Queensland and compete with road freight.