Driscoll moves to secede, a year after deadline Scott Driscoll wants a "genuine vote on secession" for Redcliffe. Photo: Andy Zakeli Scott Driscoll is a man of many titles: former lobbyist; Bee Gees supporter; proud LNP Candidate for Redcliffe turned independent member; and "proud servant" of the people of Redcliffe. Now, the MP who has not sat in parliament since April after a series of allegations were levelled against him regarding his private business dealings, has a new title: freedom fighter. Nearly a year after the deadline for councils to apply for de-amalgamation passed, Mr Driscoll has launched a "new assault" pushing for Redcliffe to be allowed a "genuine vote on secession." Member for Redcliffe Scott Driscoll. In a statement, notable for being his second in a week, following months of relative silence, Mr Driscoll uses language which would have stirred the blood of any secession-minded South Carolinian pre-1860. "Declaring war on the outsiders blocking the people of Redcliffe from voting to secede from the undemocratically amalgamated Moreton Bay Regional Council," Mr Driscoll has vowed to stand on the side of freedom and fight his former parliamentary colleagues. "The Beattie-Bligh government slammed Redcliffe into their Frankenstein creation they named Moreton Bay Regional Council without our permission and destroyed the unique and individual identity of our beloved and historically very significant 'First Settlement City' of Queensland," he said. Mr Driscoll goes on to slam the LNP government for then setting conditions "more akin to a triple back flip, half pike," which have made it difficult to "make it to the starting gate" of the de-amalgamation process. Which may explain why Mr Driscoll seemingly had trouble organising the petition which would have formed the basis of Redcliffe's submission to the government last year, when local government minister David Crisafulli opened the issue to debate. Nineteen proposals were sent to the government by August 29. Redcliffe was not among them. Mr Driscoll says he was "strongly pressured to drop the issue" from government powerbrokers. But Colin Hewett, the president of the Save Redcliffe City Committee, remembers it differently. Scott Driscoll took over the entire petition, he refused, flatly refused any community assistance whatsoever. He called it his petition, the only official petition, and subsequently he botched the job up so severely that Redcliffe was just not given an opportunity, no submission was ever put forward," Mr Hewett said. The committee went on and raised our own petition [after last year's submission closing date]. We raised in excess of 12, 260 signatures. Now, with Scott Driscoll going missing in action like he did, there was nobody in parliament to present that petition on our behalf, which allowed [Mr] Crisafulli to just flick it sideways and completely ignore it. Mr Hewett said the committee would continue to challenge the government's stance. Mr Crisafulli said the matter was no longer on the agenda. "While it would be very easy for me to attack Mr Driscoll, the de-amalgamation process was the same for everyone across the state," Mr Crisafulli said. There was no application from Redcliffe, and now we get on with making the regional council work for everyone. Mr Driscoll has provided parliament with a medical certificate to explain his absences.