"Premier Beattie's two year jobs guarantee for council workers affected by council closures should be extended to local police, teachers, nurses, house and business equity to be of any real value," said The Nationals' Leader in the Senate, Senator Boswell, today. "By allocating a $12m support package in the state budget to council workers, he is effectively admitting that council jobs are on the cutting board as we've said all along." "What happens after two years to those workers – and will they have to move to keep their jobs? Will the Premier also guarantee that they will keep their equity in their homes which will lose value once services and jobs are withdrawn from smaller towns." "Guaranteeing Council jobs does not go far enough. The Premier needs to guarantee that business and property values will be kept intact and that there will be the same number of police, teachers and nurses in the smaller affected shires." "The sea of orange-vested Council workers protesting against the amalgamations has obviously scared Beattie to make this appeasement gesture, but it won't wash." "Queensland families in rural shires understand how interdependent they are, and that a guarantee must cover everyone if the level of services, business and house values are to stay the same." "In the Premier's desire to purge local government councillors, he is hurting whole communities." ENDS Media Contact –  02 6277 3244  07 3001 8150  0428 714 779