Sunshine
Valley News

Sept. 5,
2000

Page 2

Wellington's Priorities Under Fire

LIBERAL candidate for Nicklin and Palmwoods resident Dot Whittington has questioned the priorities of Independent Member for Nicklin Peter Wellington.

Mrs Whittington said that recently Mr Wellington supported the ALP in voting against the coalition’s attempt to block the payment of more than $400,000 in secret bonuses to senior bureaucrats in the Beattie Government.

"Here we have an electorate struggling to raise funds for a neonatal ventilator at Nambour General Hospital while Mr Wellington support his Labor mates in paying bonuses to Fat Cats," she said.

She said few people in Nicklin could ever hope to earn the quarter million dollar salaries, which the bureaucrats were already picking up and yet the locals were being left to raise funds for improvements to Nambour General Hospital.

"CEO’s have received pay rises and bonuses of up to $76,000 without any independent scrutiny of their effectiveness in delivering core public services such as health and education. Some have already received pay rises of 40% in just two years for a total salary package of more than $262,000 a year."

"Mr Wellington is part of a government that told frontline professionals such as nurses and teachers to cop 3% a year."

Mr Wellington joined the Labor party in blocking a move by Liberal Leader David Watson for a formal amendment to the Appropriation Bill 2000 which would have refused authorisation of "any amount for a performance bonus payable to a chief executive of a department."

"The Coalition is not prepared to sign a blank cheque and yet Mr Wellington has supported the Premier and his Ministers in refusing to release meaningful details of these secret commissions for secret services to the Beattie Government," Mrs Whittington said.

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