A RULING that the Mary Valley Rattler was eligible to receive Jobkeeper payments has opened a can of worms, throwing into doubt years of claims of council ownership and raising questions about who actually owns its assets. The Rattler Railway Company asked the Australian Taxation Office to review its eligibility in August amid concern it was ineligible for the payments and at risk of forfeiting $141,000 it received, a bill the council may need to foot. The Jobkeeper legislation specifically excludes companies wholly owned by local governing bodies. The ATO ruled the Rattler Railway Company does not have an entity that owns it, and is not wholly owned by the council. Picture: Shane Zahner
A PUSH is on for the State Government to intervene and reverse Gympie Regional Council’s controversial decision to repeal two environmental protection laws last week.
A change.org petition started by a “concerned resident” exploded yesterday with signatures soaring from around 3000 to more than 17,000 as of 5pm.
It has called on State Environment Minister Meaghan Scanlon and Planning Minister Steven Miles to step in as “there is now no protection for wildlife and wildlife habitat on private land in the Gympie region other than the small parcels of land covered by state government vegetation management legislation”. Protesters gathered outside Gympie Town hall last week to challenge the council’s decision.
SHOCKING images and words posted on a Facebook page apparently run by former Gympie councillor Daryl Dodt have been defended as satirical and necessary to highlight criticism of those in power. A post made early this morning on the Gympie Region s Future: Temporarily On Hold page defended the posts, and the subsequent fallout, as the end justifying the means, and blamed cancel culture for those purporting to be offended. It is not known exactly who wrote the post If politically satirical cartoons are gonna cause such uproar, at least it will draw attention to who is actually at the helm of our region (and I don t mean the Mayor and councillors).
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Subscriber only DOZENS of protesters gathered outside the town hall yesterday morning to fight for the future of endangered wildlife they believe are under threat from development. Cheered on by the honks of drivers passing by, dozens of protesters from ANARRA and Gympie Koala Action Group waved signs in support of their cause as Gympie councillors met indoors to discuss the fate of controversial environment laws. ANARRA president Paula Rowlands said they were hoping to stop the council from pushing the decision through without consulting with the community. They ve done it under the Christmas holidays, they re just slipping it through - thinking we re not going to notice, Ms Rowlands said.
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Subscriber only GYMPIE region councillors and staff have come under attack on social media over a controversial decision to repeal environment protection laws, with an inflammatory post by ex-councillor Dr Daryl Dodt going further than any other post. In the lead-up to and during debate on the laws, Facebook users fired away at those involved in the discussion with accusations of falsities and questions of integrity. A post on a Facebook page apparently run by Gympie GP and former councillor Daryl Dodt before the meeting yesterday pre-emptively took aim at those who would vote to overturn the laws introduced in February this year.