When public money is spent, there must be accountability for the money and for the decisions made.
The heritage steam train has received many millions of dollars of funding from the Gympie Regional Council.
We don’t know how much as money was spent in many different ways and I am not aware of any public document showing us how much of ratepayers’ money was spent under the previous council administration.
The Rattler Railway Company was set up as a charity by the council and their aim was to “operate as a business” and the previous attempt to operate a heritage railway was referred to as “people playing with trains”.
Of course a consultant was hired to advise about direction and it was determined that a twice daily service to Amamoor three times a week would have enough passengers to make the service self supporting.
It didn’t work.
Council spent many millions on setting up the Rattler, over the last five years the Rattler has also received $5,500,593 in grants and the position at 30 June 2022 was that it had negative equity of $334,000.
The council has also agreed to forgive a loan of $1,000,000 and contribute $400,000 pa for track maintenance.
The only information available to the long suffering ratepayers is from the annual report that the charity must lodge.
So early in each year we get access to the accounts of the Rattler up to 30 June the year before.
All the council decisions are made in secret session.
At the February meeting of council, after the secret session, we learn that there is an Asset sale and purchase agreement and a funding agreement with the Rattler Railway Company Ltd ( But all the details are secret).
We also learn that “either the Mayor or Chief Executive officer attend the special general meeting of the Rattler Railway Company Ltd and vote on amendments to the constitution.”
We are not allowed to know what this is about.
We are not allowed access to the “attached documents”.
So who are the members of the Rattler Railway Company Ltd ( a company limited by guarantee)?
From the constitution we know that there is a “Founding Member” and “Ordinary Member”.
Presumably the council is the “Founding Member”.
At 30 June 2022 there were 5 members.
It appears that the only other members are the directors who, presumably, meet to elect themselves each year.
The directors are not formally responsible to the council although the council has, so far, kept the Rattler in business.
The directors are responsible to no one but themselves.
As the council is guaranteeing the continued operation after spending many millions of dollars on the project, who is responsible in the council?
We don’t know.
We actually can’t know.
And we can’t know the reasons for whatever they do as they do all the business in complete secrecy.
You can’t get much sense from your councilor as they inadvertently might tell you something that was revealed in their secret session.
Then they would be guilty of an offense.
So you can ask Crs Stewart, Jensen, Hartwig, Devereaux and Milne why they voted for the motion on 22 February 2023.
You can ask Crs Smerdon, Fredman and Waldock why they voted against the motion.
They really can’t tell you.
Only that they thought it best but they are not allowed to give you details.
It is like a Divine Right of Councillors.
They make decisions and are not allowed to tell us why?
Actually they claim that letting us know will “be likely to prejudice the interests of the local government”.
So before they have their secret session they decide to have a secret session.
That covers the need to tell the ratepayers anything.
It is an affront to any concept of responsible democratic government that our council has spent many millions of dollars on the Rattler and continues to spend our money without any accounting for the money spent or management of the Rattler.
The closed nature of the Rattler, with the directors electing themselves each year has isolated the board from the community and ensured that there is little or no community involvement in management.
Someone must be answerable at some stage.
If not now, when?
– Reg Lawler
Dagun
