The Express Newspaper 21st October 2015

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EXPRESS The

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Locally owned and proudly independent

Sports stars of Mareeba High recognised for excellence It was another memorable year for Mareeba State High School in the sporting arena at the 2015 Sports Presentation Night, held last Friday night. The young athletes of Mareeba High are true examples of hard work, excellent personality and pride for both their peers and school. Pictured is ‘Senior Sports Star of the Year’ (Years 11 and 12) Cyrena Myrteza, ‘Intermediate Sports Star of the Year’ (Years 9-10) Lachlan Ford and ‘Junior Sports Star of the Year’ (years 7-8) Jarrod France, with guest speaker, former Test and One Day Australian cricketer, Andrew Symonds. Turn to page 23 for photos from the 12th annual Mareeba State High School Sports Presentation Night.

PHOTO BY PETER ROY

Damage control By Justin Fris

T

HREE Far Northern councils (Cairns, Mareeba and the Tablelands Regional Council) initially were the subject of an explosive report, which was tabled in state parliament last week. Member for Cairns Rob Pyne delivered the findings of the report, which included an official case study of the TRC – highlighting a list of several alleged accusations and activities undertaken by council personnel (these allegations did not include the MSC). Mr Pyne was presented the TRC case study report findings in Brisbane from two TRC rate-

STAGE 2 COMING SOON!

payers - Lyn O’Connor and Jason Ward - who compiled their findings over several years. Despite the allegations within the report being highly defamatory against several councils and individuals, Mr Pyne was able to freely discuss particular subjects and individuals in the house, through his use of the ‘absolute (parliamentary) privilege’ defamation defence. In essence, this means that any politician who is engaged in parliamentary debate (or referring to tabled reports) within the house can freely say what they like, with a complete defence against being sued. However, once they step outside Parliament House, this right expires. After releasing the documents last Tuesday,

Mr Pyne said he believed the current local government system in Qld ‘was broken’. “Local Government in Queensland is broken,” said Mr Pyne. “There is evidence of widespread misconduct in local governments stored in kitchen drawers and on home computers. “Whistleblowers aren’t currently protected. A judicial inquiry will provide the protections these people need to reveal what they know.” He added: “It’s a funny system where whistleblowers complaints are referred to the Council CEO and people end up without a job. The current system is failing Queenslanders.” Mr Pyne’s opinion was shared by The Serv-

ices Union, who echoed calls for the findings to be officially investigated. TSU secretary Neil Henderson said: “When the former Newman Government amended the Local Government Act, it opened the door to allow councillors to interfere with the decisions council employees make. “Local government employees do not have access to a dedicated bullying jurisdiction, like most Australian workers have under the Fair Work Act. “This is a major deficiency under the current Industrial Relations Act and we are currently considering this issue of which the Palaszczuk Government has initiated.” CONTINUED PAGE 3

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