24/03/2020
For all residents of Division 2 Sunshine Coast Regional Council. An update on the attempt by Division 2 candidates to make representation to the Minister for Local Government to defer the upcoming Qld Local Government Elections 28 March 2020. Please find below Shane's FB update.
Dear residents of Division 2 Sunshine Coast Regional Council
due to the escalation of emergency measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic across Australia, this morning I took the unprecedented step of contacting all candidates standing for Division 2 at the upcoming Sunshine Coast Regional Council election on 28 March 2020.
In my email, I sought bi partisan support from the group to make representation to the Minster for Local Government, requesting that the Qld Local Government Elections of 2020 be deferred for a period of 4 weeks to allow the Electoral Commission of Queensland to make the necessary arrangements to facilitate a full postal vote for all Queenslanders.
As expected, all candidates supported the initiative and the following email was mailed to the Minister for Local Government this afternoon. I want to say a sincere thank you to both Tim Hamilton and Brady Sullivan for the time spent in drafting the email below.
To the Minister for Local Government
We the undersigned, are the candidates for Sunshine Coast Council Division 2 in the upcoming election. . As a group, we are concerned about the health of our voters, the voting staff and the wider community as a whole. We are all aware we are going through an unprecedented event that has very real impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods. We fully support all the health and safety measures implemented so far by the ECQ and will support further measures being implemented to ensure a safe and healthy community for all.
To this end we are making a formal request to move to a full postal ballot for the Sunshine Coast Region or, if other Divisions will not agree, then a full Postal ballot for all of Division 2 (hybrid ballot). We accept this may require an extension to the current voting deadline but we believe it is in the best interest of all concerned.
To my fellow candidates, thank you for your support.
Shane
Authorised by Shane Scriggins, 36 Esplanade Headland Kings Beach Qld 4551, for Shane Scriggins (Candidate)