Hang on .... lets read that again ..“What we have to recognise is there was a return to council from bulk water which has to be replaced,” Mr Abbot said.

Analyse that.. its fair to interpet that statement as 'Ratepayers have been ripped off for years because they've been over charged for water, now we have to find a new way of ripping them off, because we cant do it through the water system!"

A suggestion to reduce the money grab problem - drop plans to provide each councillor with a car.

Have we considered that the cost of 13 cars ? At an average of say, 39 thousand each ( none of our councillors will be interested in something cheap and chirpy, when the ratepayer is footing the bill) - do the math, add on all the On - costs .. ( tyres, maintenance rego etc) and we quickly arrive at Half a million dollars spent, without any benefit to anyone but the councillor!
( and you can bet they wont go for a car that is more fuel efficient! - why should councillors sacrifice comfort and style just for some silly old notion of greenhouse gasses?_

Add to these costs, the lap top, the phone ( gee I wish I could get away with only paying 5 percent of my phone costs!! -- who's going to pay the rest?????

Oh yeah of course, how silly, the Ratepayer will pay for that!

now we're getting up to close on I'd guess about 800 thousand dollars ...

Imagine, how many rain water tanks 800 thousan dollars could subsidise!

That would be much less damaging on the environment than 12 brand new cars floating around the neighbourhood, would be using ratepayers money to the benefit of ratepayers.. and place the council in a better light than the current nest feathering exercise they seem to be going through.

there ya go bob! Ive just solved a problem for you!
No need to charge extra for water, just provide everyone with a rainwater tank!

If we want to have good representation we need to pay for it. Councillors are entitled to have their costs met for doing their job. They will be doing a lot of travel in their roles in the council and need a car. Company cars are the norm for employees that drive for their job. As far as they pay they are to receive you are not going to entice people from the private sector for a stipend, they need a decent wage.
I hope the councillors use the tools of their job to adequately represent us all.

I thought that State MP’s have bigger Electorates & they only get an allowance towards running a car.

The Previous Council’s got away with a car allowance for councillors, but this one has shown its true colours early.

5% Rate rise is going to really hurt, the bottom end of the market, the middle class & those well off.

If your renting this 5% rate rise will obviously be passed on in your rent.

But weren’t all those Elected standing with hand on the heart talking about affordable housing.

Do we need 3 Civic Centres?
Do we need all these Council run Tourist information centres.

The problem with returning the majority of sitting councillors was they won’t make the hard decisions & cut the cloth.

Council services go well & truly beyond their core business & the sooner an entire review is done the better. Make the cuts early on in this term and lower the rates don’t raise them!

Dick Stevenson on Buderim.

I commented on this matter just yesterday - and it did not receive any response. Now that it is going to hit the hip-pocket the rage is at once there!
The problem is not with the Council but with the State Govt that has neglected the infrastructure requirements for years while pandering to the squeaky wheels in margin electorates.

It is the State Govt that has ripped off the Sunshine Coast by arbitrarily grabbing the water resources paid for by the residents of the Sunshine Coast. Congratulations to those who continue to vote for them - but you are not in a position to complain when they subsequently rip you off.

Just as they have done with roads, health (who remembers the bad old days when Qld Health services were recognised as the best in Australia - but then this Govt sold off the lottery that had helped to make it so!), education and the list goes on. When I see the whinges about no funding for roads, why am I not surprised that they are being neglected - we will no doubt get a double whammy there too with some additional "user pays" approach before anything is done.

The solution is there for anyone who wants to do something about it - it's called the ballot box!

Good points Atapro. I was just addressing the State Govt role in this scandal - but I fully support all your comments re the Council.

maybe we should institute a follow-up confirmation process for local elections so that after, say, 3 months when we see the true attitudes to this part-time job, then we could confirm them or give them their marching orders.

Water is the State Government's mess. Council can't get rid of staff for three years because of the State Govt arrangements for amalgamation limiting reduction in Council expenditure plus adding possibility of future redundancy payments. But people have a right to be very angry over upcoming financial hardship when they see the excessive perks the Councillors gave themselves on top of the huge increases in their salaries from what they were earning.

Thanks LJ_Turner. "Vive le Revolution!" indeed.

Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite are all being trampled by this Government. It may in fact soon be time to call the forces of the Rebel Alliance together again. A State election looms large on the horizon. Heck, even the Liberals and Nationals are trying to get some unity in their ranks.

We could possibly write a localised version of La Marseillaise to sing at your Southbank rally. The Brisbane people should have no trouble learning the tune. The Lions use it as their club song don't they.

Thanks Carmen. I have never heard the term of a Council referred to as a Semester before. I hope you're right.