Rainbow Beach to stay in Gympie Electorate
Rainbow Beach to stay in Gympie Electorate
Voices were heard, the final determination on Queensland’s state electoral districts has followed community’s expressed need.
This information was published in an Extraordinary Gazette today:
Proposed changes to include Rainbow Beach, Inskip and part of the Cooloola localities within the electorate of Noosa, received strong dissent from those within the local area.
Community ties to Gympie, including schooling, medical, shopping and many others were raised as evidence of their connectivity and shared interests.
The commissioners were most persuaded by submissions that raised issues relating to travel between these communities and the Noosa electorate and decided to abandon the proposal in respect of this area.
The final outcome is that the existing northern boundary of Noosa will be retained.
To supplement Noosa’s enrolment after returning those suburbs to Gympie, a further change to Noosa was necessary.
A number of public submissions suggested Pomona and the surrounding areas should be included in the Noosa electorate.
However, as a populous area, it was not possible to accommodate the degree of change desired by these submissions.
Locals voiced their concerns at a well attended public meeting hosted by the Rainbow Beach Chamber of Commerce last month
The Commission has instead transferred the majority of the Pomona locality, as well as parts of the Cooroy and Lake Macdonald suburbs from the proposed Nicklin.
As a result of the changes to Gympie and Noosa it was also possible for the Commission to adopt the suggestion to retain Tiaro in Maryborough.
The commissioners agreed that this town is better placed in the Maryborough electorate, as it shares greater community ties with the area.
This decision also allowed a number of electors in the Urraween suburb to be retained in Hervey Bay, rather than their proposed placement in Maryborough.
The changes in this area also created less need for Gympie to extend west into Nanango to gain electors.
Gympie has extended only so far as to gain the Widgee, Lower Wonga, Bells Bridge and Sexton localities.
Find out more at https://publications.qld.gov.au and click on ‘Gazettes’.
You’ll read this in 26 May 2017–Extraordinary No. 20–Part 1: https://publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/058cb1b0-e156-4707-9848-523e981225db/resource/29405af8-8bc4-4182-9545-fc3dafb4d1f3/download/26.05.17—20–page-147-258.pdf
