Queensland split: north Australian mega state proposed

NEW lines have been drawn in Queensland’s border battle, with calls for a north Australian mega state and NSW’s prized Tweed Coast to be roped into Queensland.

• Queensland split: MPs will force referendum
• Editorial: State divide debate healthy

NEW lines have been drawn in Queensland’s border battle, with calls for a north Australian mega state and NSW’s prized Tweed Coast to be roped into Queensland.

Tweed Shire Council deputy mayor Gary Bagnall said his community would be “better off” turning Maroon.

“In terms of distance, I would much rather be connected with Brisbane than Sydney,” Cr Bagnall said.

“The NSW Government is out of touch with our region and we would be better off governed from Brisbane. There are a lot of people in northern NSW who are very unhappy with the NSW Government.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk sparked the issue, calling for Queensland to expand into northern NSW in the face of the state’s northern MPs pushing for a referendum to break away.

“There are parts of northern NSW that have more affinity with us. We should be inviting them to join us, not dividing our great state,” Ms Palasczuk said yesterday.

Momentum is growing for a mega north Australian state

The Sunday Mail yesterday reported on the new momentum for north Queensland to secede amid frustration it was overlooked and under-resourced by leaders focused on the southeast.

Northern Australia Minister, Queensland senator Matt Canavan, who supported the creation of a new state, even suggested a premier – Cowboys rugby league hero Johnathan Thurston.

“We have to take one step at a time, though,” he said. “First we’d need to see if people want a new state.”

Cairns federal MP Warren Entsch said a better idea would be to hive off all of northern Australia.

“What I think is inevitable – but a long way away because of parochialism – is looking at voting for a northern Australia state,’’ he said.

“If they combine north Queensland with the Northern Territory and the northern part of Western Australia, there would be some smarts in that. There are similar climates and similar challenges.”

Cairns MP Warren Entsch wants a north Australian state.

Tweed Shire Councillor Phil Youngblutt backed Ms Palaszczuk, noting the move into Queensland would be better for business, Tweed schoolchildren living in Queensland and even weather reports.

“I personally would be in favour of it,” he said. “We don’t deal with business or hardly anything with Sydney. We’re only an hour and a quarter away from Brisbane and eight hours from Sydney … we work with the Gold Coast City Council,” Cr Youngblutt said.

Nearly 90,000 people live in the Tweed Shire which encompasses the tourist centres of Cabarita, Fingal Head, Pottsville and Kingscliff.

Tweed Shire councillor Barry Longland agreed the region had more in common with southeast

Queensland senator Matt Canavan has suggested Cowboys rugby league hero Johnathan Thurston would be an ideal premier for a new north Queensland state.

Queensland than NSW, as well as strong economic ties to the north, but redrawing the border would be met with resistance.

NSW Premier Mike Baird yesterday poked fun at Ms Palaszczuk’s proposal to expand the Queensland border into his state: “Has April Fool’s Day come early?” he said.

Byron Bay shire councillor Duncan Dey labelled Ms Palaszczuk’s comments as “a nice joke” and said that he “wouldn’t take (the idea) seriously”.

He said that while it may make sense geographically to shift the border, he didn’t like the Queensland Government’s attitude towards development.

“When I watch the Queensland development laws and what they mean, it would be over my dead body,” he said.

Katter’s Australian Party is pushing for a referendum within 18 months for residents north from Rockhampton to vote on whether to break away for some form of self-rule.

Demographer Bernard Salt said secession was inevitable within the next few decades, with the anticipated growth in population, diversity and economic power in a region so far from the state’s capital city.

Local economist Bill Cummings said Cairns was the biggest regional loser when it came to per capita spending by the State Government – short changed by $100 million.

“It is not so much a question of a new state but one of having better-informed decision making out of Brisbane,’’ he said.

The $330 million allocated in capital expenditure by the current State Budget for the area covered by Cairns, Tablelands, Cassowary Coast and Douglas was 54 per cent lower than 2012-13, while the average drop across the state was 33 per cent.