List of Gympie petitions drawing thousands in support
A dispute over the future of the ‘Gympie Pyramid’ and campaigns to improve road safety in the region are among a number of petitions Gympie region residents are being asked to sign
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A petition calling on Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to override the State Transport Department and keep the “Gympie Pyramid” from being impacted by the $1 billion Gympie Bypass is one of a string of grassroot movements urging change in the online realm.
The petition to protect the site, which is at the centre of a fight between campaigners and the State Government overs its cultural significance, is joined by other road campaigns to expand the Tiaro Bypass and fix safety issues on Tin Can Bay Road and campaigns against decisions made by Gympie Regional Council in the past 12 months.
These are the most prominent petitions for change you can choose to support - or not - right now:
Save Our Gympie Pyramid
The “Pyramid” has been at the centre of a clash between activists and the State Transport Department over its relevance as a place of ancient Aboriginal cultural heritage.
Those campaigning for its protection have said it is an ancient Indigenous site; TMR has claimed multiple investigations and discussions with Native Title holders has turned up no such evidence.
The department has subsequently redesigned the Bypass to leave most of the site untouched, but there is a push for more changes to be made.
The More than 2700 signatures are on the petition to date.
Safer Tin Can Bay Road
Rainbow Beach community stalwart Tony Stewart is petitioning the State Government for safety upgrades along the main road between Gympie and the region’s coastal destinations.
Mr Stewart has called for the upgrades due to its deadly traffic history, which includes 14 fatalities in 13 crashes between 2011 and 2018.
There are paper and online versions of the petition; Mr Stewart said on Friday that between them he estimated about 3000 people have backed his push. He is still looking for places in Gympie to leave printed copies of the petition for people to sign.
“We are trying to get it in as many places as possible,” he said.
Tiaro Bypass
Wide Bay MP Llew O’brien has been the driving force behind a push to change a planned two-lane bypass of Tiaro into four-lanes in the name of safety efficient use of funding.
Mr O’Brien has called on the State Government to make the change, sparking an ongoing feud between himself and Transport Minister Mark Bailey over whether the extra lanes are needed given the amount of traffic travelling through the section every day.
The petition has attracted more than 2200 signatures so far.
Planning law repeal
A call for the State Government to step in and overturn a Gympie Regional Council decision to pull the plug on two Temporary Planning Instruments in December last year has drawn the largest response, with more than 44,000 people from across the world signing.
The petition called for Local Government and Planning Minister Steven Miles to use special powers afforded under the Planning Act to overturn the decision, which the council said was made once it was discovered the TLPIs were having unintended impacts of otherwise lawful planning applications.
The decision sparked protests and outcries outside Gympie’s Town Hall at the time.
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