Thank God for John Howard.

Let's have a referendum on Council amalgamation and see once and for all how Beattie and his supporters in the Green zone in south east Queensland are ripping essential services off hundreds of isolated country towns, even though Beattie has long ago ceased to provide these services.

The councils have taken over what Beattie has refused to provide to regional Queenslanders.

Beattie is using the 40 odd seats in the Green zone that support his government to undemocratically foist his will on isolated regional communities.

Let's also have a referendum on the question of whether the Green zone should become a city state and run its own affairs and at the same time leave the other 98pc of the Queensland land mass run its affairs as it sees fit.

The question of regional representation should be looked at in a state where democracy for the regions has so clearly become a thing of the past.

What a socialist/communistic government we have in Qld.

Amalgamations are bad enough but the banning of a referendum and rushing through the legislation and legislation to fine any one who holds one is the height of arrogance.

Beattie did not have a mandate to take away our democracy.

Thank God for the National Party asking the Federal Government to fund the referendum (Press release 7th August).

Enough is enough Mr Beattie.

First we get legislation taking away the democratic right to be innocent until proven guilty, now we have no right to a referendum.

Where is our democracy?

Thank God for the Rural Press who defend our rights - no other newspapers even mention this, why not?

Do not forget that Mr Rudd and Mr Beattie both belong to the Labor Party when you vote at the next election.

Mr Beattie has constantly secretly developed legislation and then "consulted" the people and ignored the consultation.

There is much more to come yet - the social engineering in Qld is frightening.

Keep in mind if Rudd wins the Federal election we have Labor in all of Australia - the mind boggles at the result.

Will it be communism? Will it be socialism? Will the unions set us back 100 years?

All of the above I would say.

Such contradictions. In the words of Mr Beattie, the Prime Minister is "leading taxpayers on" and holding referendums that would make no difference was "dishonest and sneaky".

The honorable John Howard is throwing the Queensland people a life line to the Beatie Govenments 'dishonest' and 'sneaky' amalgamation attempts.

The Federal Govenement is allowing the Qld community to voice their opinions of the future of their shires/councils, which our government, the Beattie Government, certainly is not.

Until now I was completely unaware of the major flaws in our democratic system.

It has now become clear that Beattie has foisted the forced amalgamation on us without the democratic process of a referendum for the sole purpose of rearranging the State electoral boundaries in a massive gerrymander to preserve his perceived chances of re-election.

John Howard's support could be taken further than just supporting a referendum. Chapter V, Section 109 of the Australian Constition, says, "When a law of a State is inconsistant with a law of the Commonwealth, the latter shall prevail, and the former shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be invalid".

All Mr Howard has to do is to quickly ram a new piece of legislation through Parliament, with retrospective powers, enforcing the democratic right of a plebicite in which the majority of voters in the majority of the Local Government Areas concerned must vote in favour of amalgamation for a successful amalgamation.

This idea, would test the sincreity of both Mr Howard and Mr Rudd.

Banning referenda? Dismissing opponents without notice?

Let's face it folks, we're living under a dictator in Queensland.

If someone doesn't stand up to this open assault against not just democracy but even simple human decency, we may soon be on the path to forced farm evictions and concentration camps.

It is startling to hear an upstart minister like Fraser continually threatening the councillors of regional Queensland with dismissal, fines and ultimately jail for carrying out a referendum in their shires to show public opinion about council amalgamation.

As a country shire resident I feel personally threatened in the same way as the councillor I voted for who lives just down the road.

The persecution of the Jews in Germany or the Russian Gulags under Stalin must have started in a similar manner to what we are experiencing with puppy dictators like Fraser yapping his master’s commands in the name of some idiotic reforms that makes no sense to anyone living in the regions.

How can it be called reform when the residents of the Tara shire go from having eight councillors to none because the new shire based around Dalby has a massive population advantage?

Imagine a Dalby councillor ever doing the 500 kilometre round trip out to Westmar or Glenmorgan if he even knew the direction to travel.

Beattie has an agenda to kill the regions and council amalgamation is just another step in that road.

Regional Queensland wants its own state government free from Beattie and his thugs.

I cannot believe that nothing is being done to stop this supression of our civil rights, to be frank it is as though we are living in Uganda under a dictatorship.

Why can't the Feds do something to restore our civil rights. If we were in a third world country the UN would be intervening.

They say Joh was a dictator; he had nothing on Peter Beattie.

Premier Beattie is dead wrong about Mayors leading rallies because of self iterest.

Each and every Mayor who does not lead or support a rally against forced Shire amalgamations is likely to be sacked by voters at the next Council election.

Come on Mayors, hold those referendums.

Mr Beattie has now said he won't sack you, so show some gumption.

Do people realise that when this legislation goes through, councils as we know them will cease to exist.

Regions will be run by the government from Brisbane, if an elected person complains about any thing the government implements they can be sacked.

I will bet that Beattie will raid all the financial reserves and move the funds into general revenue - we don't know the whole truth yet and Beattie's past history shows how he behaves.

The devil will be in the detail.