Regional Exit Australia

Contents :
President’s Report
Membership Renewal
1890 Grand Separation, Carnival, Fair, & Ball Program
2027 Electoral Boundary Review

• 735,000 Additional Queensland Voters
• TWO Regional Queensland Electorates to be Abolished

---

Presidents Report

^

As a result of the floods in the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper, the 2023 Annual General Meeting scheduled for 19th December was postponed and held on 27th February 2024. The new Committee Management team will ensure the 2024 Annual General Meeting will be scheduled prior to 1st October.

The Office of Fair Trading delays, the administrative requirements of the name change from Boot Brisbane Inc. to REXIT Australia Inc. together with the in-house development of the https://www.rexit.au/ website has taken significant time and effort. I hope members and supporters will familiarize themselves with the new website, especially the Reef State (https://reefstate.au/) pages which are now the home of all Boot Brisbane Inc. documentation, data and records. Additionally, we have published pages for the Riverina and New England States which we will continue to develop as we receive additional information from the relevant New State advocates in regard to their activities. Please note that we will continue to maintain the https://bootbrisbane.com/ website for the foreseeable future.

We are currently designing an information brochure for REXIT Australia Inc. as we did for Boot Brisbane Inc. (https://www.bootbrisbane.com/flyer/dl_flyer_V5_page01.jpg and https://www.bootbrisbane.com/flyer/dl_flyer_V5_page02.jpg). Again, a small section of the rear page of the folded brochure will be reserved for sponsor advertising as we seek funds for the printing of several thousand copies.

On 4th June, as the President of REXIT Australia Inc. I was provided the opportunity to present the case for a New Northern Queensland State at a dinner function of approximately 80 people at Rydges Southbank, Townsville. We will further develop the Power Point presentation delivered at the event with a view to using in a series of New State Forums.

https://www.rexit.au/presentation/REXITPresentation.pdf

With the October State Elections looming, REXIT Australia Inc. will take any and every opportunity to promote the New State narrative. All members and supporters can assist by sending unprecedented numbers of ‘letters to the editor’ to their local and regional newspapers as well as the Courier Mail to highlight any issue you believe that a better outcome would be achieved if the million residents of Central and North Queensland were afforded a New State (the Reef State).

Kind Regards
Bill Bates
President
REXIT Australia Inc.
0447 958 455
president@rexit.au

---

The Reef State Campaign is a division of rexit.au

---

Membership Renewal

^

All Boot Brisbane Inc. membership and supporter records have transferred and will be maintained on the Reef State; REXIT Australia Inc. secure hosting server. Membership renewal fees are now due and I thank those members who have renewed their membership without prompting.

The annual membership fee remains $10.00 and can be paid to:
Bendigo Bank
Account Name: REXIT Australia Inc
Branch Number: 633-000
Account Number: 165 957 671

In the description on recipient's statement field, please detail REXIT together with your name in full as the field character limit will allow. Please, help us continue the advocacy for a New Northern Queensland State.

We would like to thank you for your continued support and encouragement.

---

1890 Grand Separation, Carnival, Fair, & Ball Program

^

Some management committee members visited Townsville on the 18th and 19th May and took the opportunity to view the book gifted to the Thuringowa Library in 1994 by North Queensland Separatist, Frank Rossiter. The book had since been transferred to the Heritage and Historical section of the Townsville City Library.

The book is in poor condition and needs to be digitized asap but it does not seem to be on the library's priority list. All the pages, with the exception of the first ten or so pages that are in an extremely fragile condition, were photographed. Initial viewing suggests, for most part it is a collection of transcripts of the Brisbane parliamentary Hansard and correspondence between eminent people of our colonial period and post Federation.

Unfortunately, it does shed any light on the elusive, 10,000 signature 1880/90s North Queensland Separation Petition. Until something turns up to validate its whereabouts, we will just have to rely upon and thank the colonial residents of Central Queensland for their 7.742 signature, 1890 Central Queensland Separation Petition which can be viewed here: https://bootbrisbane.com/petition/1890_Separation_Petition_QLD.pdf.

Library staff also retrieved a few other historical documents referencing colonial North Queensland separation efforts. The most interesting was a 60 page, small booklet, Grand Separation, Carnival, Fair, & Ball Program. In addition, to providing the schedule of events, it details the scores of individuals and businesses supporting the work of the Townsville Separation League. It is a pity that today’s residents together with their community and business leaders do not exhibit the same enthusiasm for cutting the umbilical cord to Brisbane. The programme booklet is an interesting ‘snapshot’ of colonial Queensland and can be viewed here: https://www.rexit.au/presentation/Separation_Carnival_Fair_Ball_Programme.pdf.

---

---

2027 Electoral Boundary Review

^

The October state election will be the last time that Central and North Queensland (CANQ) will have more than 20% of the representation in the Brisbane parliament (19 of 93 electorates). The Electoral Commission of Queensland will be required to undertake an electoral boundary review prior to the 2028 election.

The next Electoral Boundary Review will likely commence mid-2027 and the Electoral Commission QLD (ECQ) will have to deal with more than 9.5 years of increased enrolled voter numbers. The six years, 30th November 2017 through to 30th November 2023 saw an additional 464,218 voters added to the electoral roll. Should this trend be maintained, the increase by mid-2027 will be approaching 735,000 additional voters, dispersed randomly across 93 electorates.

The rate of increase of additional voters in the 19 CANQ electorates has been less than the average across all 93 state electorates and significantly below those within 150km of the Brisbane CBD. With it unlikely that the ECQ will increase the number of seats in the Brisbane parliament as it did in 2017, the only alternative will be the abolition of at least two regional electorate to make way for two additional electorates in SEQ. PDF copies of the following spreadsheets are provided as attachments to this email:
a. QLD_EnrolledVoters_NOV17_NOV23 (increased voter numbers for all 93 electorates)
b. CANQ19_EnrolledVoters_NOV17_NOV23 (increased voter numbers for the 19 electorates of ECQ Central and North Queensland divisions)
c. c_CANQ19_VoterDEVNOV17_NOV23 (Change in Deviation for the 19 electorates of ECQ Central and North Queensland divisions between 2017 and 2023)

We predict that the electorates of Hinchinbrook and Callide will be abolished prior to the 2028 state election.

---