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THE TRUTH ABOUT WHY YOU NEED AN ENDURING POWER OF ATTORNEY

The importance of an enduring power of attorney is often overlooked because people believe that their spouse or next of kin will be able to look after their affairs if they were to lose capacity. The truth is, it would be very diffi cult for your loved ones to deal with your affairs if they are not appointed as your attorney. Let’s use the example of Jane and Tom: • Jane and Tom are in their mid 50’s. • Tom works full-time and Jane works part-time. • Jane and Tom own their family home jointly. There is a mortgage over their property. • Tom is involved in a car accident and suffers serious brain injuries. As a result, Tom is unable to make decisions for himself and requires care on a full time basis. • Jane is unable to care for Tom on a full-time basis and cover the mortgage repayments. Jane decides to sell the family home and move Tom into a care facility. • Jane contacts a real estate agent to list the property, however the sale comes to a standstill when Jane encounters a problem; Jane and Tom do not have enduring powers of attorneys. • As Jane is not appointed as Tom’s attorney, she is unable to sign the contract for sale or transfer documents on Tom’s behalf to effect the sale of the property. The consequence of not having an enduring power of attorney in place means that an interested party (i.e. family member or friend) would need to make an application to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (“QCAT”) to be appointed as the administrator for fi nancial matters and/or guardian for personal and health matters. So in the scenario above, Jane would need to make this application to have the power to sell their property. This process is stressful and can be costly. If no one is willing to take on this responsibility then the Public Trustee and the Public Guardian may be appointed to take control of your affairs. There is also the risk of these statutory offi ces being appointed if there is a dispute between family members about who is the most appropriate person(s) to act. The reality is, any person can unforeseeably lose their capacity at any time during their life. Wouldn’t you prefer to appoint someone who you trust to look after your affairs if this situation were to arise? If you would like to avoid this problem for relatively little time and money, please do not hesitate to contact us to set up your enduring power of attorney.

Contact BIANCA STAFFORD Wills and Estates Solicitor

EXPRESS yourself Letters to the Editor

Ootann Road needs to be a big priority Horticulture has been identified as contributing $528 million to our Tablelands economy, these are exciting numbers for our agricultural industry. This industry, in my opinion, is like a mini mining boom but with a longer outlook.

I have worked in towns that have experienced a mining boom and there was not one person who didn’t reap the rewards that it brought to those towns. This farming boom can only be supported if – 1, we can keep our water supply up and meet demands into the future and 2, we can get our produce to the big markets.

The Kuranda Range is a political battlefield with no solution in sight, but we need to remember that there is another route west of Dimbulah that could have greater potential to link our region with southern markets.

The Ootann Road links the Burke Development Road with the Kennedy, Gregory and Hann Highways south. This road allows road trains to stay connected and head south. Currently our produce trucks take single and small A trailers between Mareeba and Mt Garnet at a huge time and financial burden for growers and consumers. The full development of the Ootann Road would allow produce carrying road trains to stay connected from the Mareeba Industrial Park right through.

This would not only save a lot of time but also decrease the cost of transport. Currently the cost of horticulture produce from the Tablelands is 16% higher due to extra freight costs to get to southern markets.

Fortunately the Mareeba Shire Council has been able to start work on a small section of the Ootann Road, but we really need the support of the State and Federal governments to make this an all weather road. A future Mareeba Shire Council should have this road as a big priority for upcoming funding submissions. If elected to Council, I will be championing this as soon as possible.

Locky Bensted Mareeba Shire Council Candidate MAREEBA

In reply to Cr Mellick’s letter It is my opinion that I must reply to councillor Spies, now Mellick, comments in The Express on February 5, 2020.

A poor tradesman blames his tools and week leaders blame others. This council has had the opportunity to rectify tenders into open session and any other matters that could have and should have been repealed and replaced.

I believe the previous council handed over a surplus not deficit. Just remember this council is now receiving more revenue from rates, utilities, fees and charges than ever before in history and the majority of councillors believe it is acceptable to charge more and do less. Such as support a policy to provide no maintenance to some properties past the second last driveway on a rural road.

Maybe we should reflect on some of the legacy issues left from this council.

1. What is the real cost of employing a CEO with no local gov experience who needed to resign.

2. What is the real cost of awarding a renovation to someone outside the shire when a reputable and capable local rate payer offered a favourable solution.

3. What is the real cost of sorting the mistake in the rates debacle.

4. What is the real cost of building a TRC enterprise company that does all its discussion behind closed doors and needs to come out and show a result for the hundreds of thousands of rate payer dollars that could have been injected into essential services and upgrades.

5. What is the cost for doing concept drawings for unaffordable buildings .

This councils untraditional experiments have been expensive and we need to get back to basics. don’t preach legacies to me.

Passed councillors would roll over in their graves if they could see what’s going on in the modern system.

Owen Byrnes TOLGA

Why I’m standing as an independent for MSC Mayor I announced in November 2019 that I was running as an independent for Mayor of the Mareeba Shire Council in the March elections, since that time I been fielding questions about why I have chosen to stand as an independent rather than part of a team.

My position, is not a commentary on, or reflection of the caliber, or motivation of the candidates for this current election. My belief is based on years of communicating, negotiating, and working with different stakeholders, and interested invested parties, in the day to day operations of large organisations such as Cairns State High, the largest public high school in the north, and Mareeba State High School as an example of a diverse institution in our shire.

I have been a councillor with the Mareeba Council for the past four years and am passionate about transparency, honesty, governance and ethical management.

As an educational leader with 40+ years experience, I am skilled in negotiation, administration and liaising with various government stakeholders and delegations for the best outcomes for the region.

My reasons for standing as an independent candidate for mayor in the March elections for Mareeba Shire is that the shire is a growing electorate, with a population of nearly 22,000, we have attracted people from all walks of life; people choose to live in the region for vastly different reasons, they have different goals and plans, the way they live, their life-styles, ideas on how things should be done and dreams for the future vary dramatically.

We are by no means “a one size fits all” shire – it’s because of this diversity that it is important that our councillors and mayor represent the broad array, and grassroot beliefs and values of all of our residents.

I am mindful of when politicians stand as a team, there is a perception that those candidates agree, to an extent, to a “party” or “united” line or policy and “occasionally the interests of our constituents get lost in the rationales of the team.”

As a Mareeba-ite, I believe it is vital for the ongoing success, strength and growth of our community and the shire that all councillors feel able to accurately and adequately address and advocate for their residents without pressure or presumption that they should think or vote a particular way.

As mayor I have said that I would love to work with a council and councillors elected by our residents, who, represent and are invested in our differences, our diversity and our strengths. Certainly this stance seems to be supported by local voters with over 3,000 hits, in less than 24 hours, on my post outlining my position on social media last week.

Angela Toppin Mareeba Shire Council mayoral candidate MAREEBA

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OPINION

With Phil Brandel @Philbrandel1

Why are people going batty?

I HAVE some breaking news for you, there are bats living in Far North Queensland.

At the moment there’s a large colony of them roosting in an area known as the Tolga scrub. Recently I received an email from Owen Byrnes Councillor at the Tablelands Regional Council.

“There is along (sic) history with the bat problem in North Queensland, The fact of the matter is it’s a EPA issue control by the state (sic) and this is why I have asked Shane Knuth for assistance, I believe common sense needs to prevail, In my opinion the bats are in plaque (sic) proportion and something needs to be done, it’s a health risk to humans and livestock, the scrub is being destroyed, it won’t be long until the wait (sic) of hanging Bats drag the trees onto the traffic lanes through the scrub. Should a accident or incident occur due to failure to act I for one do not want that on my conscience.”

I also received a statment from Shane Knuth the Member for Hill.

“Normally the process in regards to management of bats is that Council are responsible for management and dispersal, however they do have to follow strict and onerous EPA guidelines set down by the state government.

“This makes it extremely difficult for councils to gain approval to be able to properly manage bat populations.”

I hate to tell Shane and Owen but the bats were here first. In fact there’s evidence that the

www.theexpressnewspaper.com.au bats were here before Aboriginal people arrived.

I would rather see our elected officials spending more time controlling feral cats, Myna birds and cane toads.

Also in breaking news all native Australian animals including bats are protected. You can’t choose to live on the Tablelands, saying you want to get away from the smoke, the noise and the traffic of the cities and then say, let’s kill the animals that get in the way.

According to the Director of the Tolga Bat Hospital Jennifer Mclean the bats provide an invaluable service.

“They’re the only animals that can pollinate on a huge scale. Pollination is the beginning of trees reproducing; it’s the most important service that they provide. These animals restore the country after bushfires. Flying foxes are able to restore up to 90 per cent of the restoration of the burnt eucalypts.”

“There’s no other animal that can pollinate on such a large scale. They arrive in numbers in relation to the amount of food that is here. There’s currently flowering bloodwood eucalypts and they will leave as soon as the nectar is finished. “

Both The Department of Environment and Science and Ms Mclean have said the bats will move on soon.

There have been complaints from residents that the noise from the bats is deafening and that the bats \are destroying the scrub. Their solution? Cut down or trim the trees.

The hypocrisy is deafening.