24th March 2000
A ferocious battle raged in State Parliament last night during debate on a CCAQ bill to repeal the legislation locking Queensland into the much discredited National Competition Policy.
City Country Alliance have always been strongly opposed to NCP which, they claim is stripping rural and regional communities of services and facilities, costing jobs, and bankrupting rural businesses.
Both the Labor Party and the Coalition at first embraced the policy, but since CCAQ have been highlighting the problems it is causing in the bush, both major parties have changed their stance, and spoken out strongly against it.
"Now the time for posturing is over and, having to take a definite position, Labor is showing its true colours and supporting N.C.P. again", said local Member Harry Black. "As expected, the Liberals are also singing the praises of N.C.P., but the really interesting one is the Nationals. They are between a rock and a hard place, with their Liberal colleagues deserting them but terrified to vote against our bill". Said Mr Black.
"In desperation, they tried to postpone the vote, but the move was disallowed, and it will be extremely interesting to see which way they jump when forced to take a stance one way or the other", Mr Black said. "The time has come for all parties to stand up and be counted. This is a very serious issue. N.C.P. is destroying regional and rural Queensland, and must be stopped".
In a stirring speech to Parliament last night, Mr Black highlighted "the destructive impact of the policy on Councils, farmers and rural businesses, and the terrible social cost on rural families".
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