Council rates or cancer treatment: Pensioners protest Cairns rate rise

An elderly pensioner says she will be forced to decide between funding her husband’s ongoing cancer treatment, or paying Cairns Regional Council’s proposed 800 per cent rate rise on dwellings inside retirement villages, if approved.

Retiree Kay Nyland is organising a protest at Cairns Regional Council Chambers on Wednesday, protesting on the proposed change to the rates structure that will see retirement village residents hit with an 800 percent increase in charges. Picture: Brendan Radke

An elderly pensioner says she will be forced to decide between funding her husband’s ongoing cancer treatment, or paying Cairns Regional Council’s proposed 800 per cent rate rise on dwellings inside retirement villages, if approved.

Kay Nyland, 76, will join dozens of retirees protesting outside the council’s Spence St office on Wednesday morning, calling for councillors to vote against the rate change.

Kay Nyland's husband, Dick, has recently been hospitalised with the pensioners unsure how they will pay for his mounting medical bills. Picture: Supplied.

The Coral Sea Gardens resident said her husband, Dick, had battled prostate cancer for decades with his health recently taking a turn for the worse.

“He was given just three months to live,” Mrs Nyland said.

“That was 34 years ago. The oncologist at the time said, ‘We’ll see if we can buy him an extra six months so he can get his affairs in order’.

“Then he tried a new drug and it worked. At times, the cancer has come back but now we’re at a stage where nothing’s holding it back.”

Mr Nyland, 87, initially planned to protest alongside his wife before being placed in isolation at Cairns Hospital last week to treat blood clots in his lungs and a virus.

“We said to each other, ‘If we get this rate increase we don’t know how we’ll afford it (his treatment),’” Mrs Nyland said.

“With illness and money, you go without a lot of other things. But he’s now worried how I’ll survive on just one pension.”

Cairns Regional Council has proposed a change of classification of general rates to retirement villages. Retirement village residents Kevin McRae and Colleen Duplock from Aveo The Parks, Kay Nyland from Mercy Health Coral Sea Gardens and Bruce Walters from Regis Whitfield are concerned about the impact the rate rise would have on residents. Picture: Brendan Radke

Parks Retirement Village’s Colleen Duplock has warned that the more than $300 per year rate hike — which is expected to be phased-in over two years — would likely leave many elderly residents homeless.

But the council has argued the rate change will bring retirement villages in line with other multi-dwelling properties across Cairns.

“More than 97 per cent of eligible pensioners in our region currently live in properties already paying at least the minimum rate,” a council spokesman said.

“Based on current rate charges, it would be at most an extra $6 each week for pensioners, with many increases being far less.”

Mrs Nyland will join protesters with placards outside Cairns Regional Council’s main office on Wednesday morning. Picture: Brendan Radke

Pensioners were often significant contributors to society with much of their work going unnoticed, Mrs Nyland said.

“We do volunteer work in the community, helping out in op shops, sorting goods, serving meals to the homeless, office work for not-for-profit organisations,” she said.

“These are things we contribute back to the community.”

The proposed change will affect around 640 dwellings across the region. Cairns Regional Council will hand down its budget next month.

Originally published as Council rates or cancer treatment: Pensioners protest Cairns rate rise