04 Sep BRISBANE GOVERNMENT CONFIRMS SUPPORT TO KILL OFF RURAL TOWNS: KATTER

While we fight to save our remote and rural communities, it has been confirmed that Brisbane’s government is trying its best to reduce our populations, not increase it, Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) Leader and State Member for Traeger Robbie Katter said.

“It breaks my heart that the Government is gleefully proclaiming that they are expanding access to abortions in rural and remote Queensland, while we have communities screaming out for the urgent return of maternity services,” the KAP Leader said.

On the same day that the Government was proclaiming its wonderful work ending the lives of more Queenslanders, the Mayor of the Flinders Shire Kate Peddle was in Townsville on extended leave awaiting the birth of her second child more than 400 kilometres away from home and support networks.

“Being forced to leave home and my support systems weeks before my due date is not just inconvenient; it’s isolating and profoundly stressful,” she said.

“If I had a choice, I would be at home with my family, celebrating this precious time together, not feeling abandoned and overwhelmed.

“What makes this experience all the more galling is reading about the government announcement about encouraging the ending of more pregnancies – if the government genuinely wants to assist rural women, they should focus on how to help us bring our babies into the world, not just ways to eliminate them.”

The Member for Traeger, the second largest electorate in Queensland covering almost 430,000 square kilometres, said that mental health was a critical concern, yet no one was addressing the impacts of forced separation for rural and remote women forced to give birth away from their community.

“Shame, shame on the government who proudly announce their plan to kill off more rural and remote Queenslanders – the future of our communities,” Mr Katter said.

“We need maternity services and counselling services immediately to preserve lives, not state-supported ways to end it.”

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