Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

BOB ABBOT …

“I won’t be one of those former mayors who can’t let go.” In four months the first amalgamated Sunshine Coast Regional Council stands down along with its high profile mayor, Bob Abbot. Mayor Abbot spoke with HT editor Michael Berry about his retirement from office and his views on the next mayor and council. HT: The council election [...]

Continue reading...

Crazed zealot … Bob Brown … the real Prime Minister of Australia

Australians don’t really expect ethics from their media … THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, we are told by the right wing commentariat, is not in fact a Labor government at all; it is a Green government under the control of the crazed zealot Bob Brown. He is the real Prime Minister of Australia; Julia Gillard is merely Brown’s [...]

Continue reading...

Funding our Future …

Mayor Bob Abbot predicts closer links between Local Governments and the Commonwealth Mayor Bob Abbot is a board member of the Australian Local Government Association. He returned recently from the national congress of local governments in Canberra where the heads of the three major political parties jointly supported a closer relationship between the federal and local [...]

Continue reading...

Bob Abbot … MAYOR with a MISSION

With nine months to go before the next local government election, Mayor Bob Abbot is on a mission to consolidate the legacy of the Sunshine Coast’s first amalgamated council. Regardless of whether or not he will stand again as mayor, he wants the community to recognise the importance of Council’s completed Corporate Plan. Bob Abbot [...]

Continue reading...

Sunshine Coast … who can afford to live here?

“Housing is almost unaffordable now for a large percentage of this community” MAYOR BOB ABBOT AT COUNCIL we don’t have a housing affordability policy, we have an affordable living policy because we know full well that the initial cost of the house is only one segment of the long-term cost of living. You can buy a [...]

Continue reading...

Sunshine Coast … who can afford to live here?

Rick Baberowski Everyone wants to live in paradise, and in recent years the Sunshine Coast has been the focus for those wanting what they see as the best of all worlds. The reality is that all communities are a fine balance of infrastructure, economic activity and controlled growth. This particular paradise is beginning to feel the [...]

Continue reading...

Julia’s tough love and Tony’s square pegs

“A serious amount of stick will also be applied to the disabled, who are to be put back to work at any task of which they are capable – possibly digging their own graves.” In the days when socialism was still an acceptable word among politicians, its proponents offered a proud and concise slogan: “From each [...]

Continue reading...

Bob Abbot’s Election Countdown…

Mayor Bob Abbot assesses his chances as Council nears the end of its first term. You have a year left as mayor of the Sunshine Coast. Will you be standing again? I will make up my mind by August this year and I’ll make an announcement in September. That’s six months out from an election. If [...]

Continue reading...

Splitting Telstra … and back to the future!

“Gillard finally brought off a big win with the passage of the Telstra legislation, but hostile commentators were still able to spin it as a defeat.” IT WAS A FITTING climax to Labor’s tumultuous parliamentary year. Julia Gillard finally brought off a big win with the passage of the Telstra legislation, but hostile commentators were still able [...]

Continue reading...

MAYOR BOB ABBOT

Keeping the Lights on! THE PRESSURES on the Sunshine Coast to withstand its tsunami of urban sprawl are enormous. Mayor Bob Abbot is now openly attacked by the development industry, with the Property Council even calling on the state government to remove him. Here, the mayor reveals how he copes with the pressure. I do understand the various [...]

Continue reading...