The petition of residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House that the recent forced amalgamation of the Maryborough Region to Hervey Bay has failed. Rural and tourism towns are never going to gel. Neighbouring rural towns Gympie and Bundaberg are surging to prosperity while Maryborough is slowly dying. Our councillors are unable to represent the people because of the large areas they have to cover.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to de-amalgamate Maryborough Region from Fraser Coast Regional Council to Maryborough Regional Council and Hervey Bay Council, run as two separate entities.