Shock mayoral election results continue

Queensland Country Life reported last week that mayors in Winton, Scenic Rim and Maranoa had likely been ousted, and counting of postal votes since then has revealed more changes across the state.

In one of the closest results, Kate Peddle has defeated incumbent Flinders Shire Council mayor Jane McNamara by two votes.

Although not updated on the Electoral Commission Queensland website, both candidates told QCL their scrutineers had confirmed the result.

Moments after receiving the news, Cr McNamara, who served two terms as mayor, said she took comfort from the fact that the result hadn't been a landslide, adding later on social media that the new council now needed to be supported.

Ms Peddle, who served a term on council as Cr Kate Downie between 2016 and 2020 before working for federal MP Bob Katter, said she was very aware that 50 per cent of the public hadn't voted for her.

Saying she knew she had a lot of work to do to bring everyone together, Ms Peddle said it was seen across the board that people wanted change.

"People felt detached from council decisions," she said.

Fears of how their community might change in the face of burgeoning economic activity were also at the forefront of their votes, Ms Peddle claimed.

"They wonder how they are going to be protected when the huge wave comes through," she said.

"Council's procurement policy and the definition of who's a local is one thing that will have to be looked at.

"Locals are concerned that the efforts they've put in over the years will be undermined by those coming in - we have to find a happy balance."

Women have overwhelmingly been the beneficiaries of the appetite for change in the local government arena, including Melissa Hamilton, the new mayor for the Southern Downs Regional Council.

The first-time candidate, a lawyer and water rights advocate who lives at Eukey, received 46.8pc of the vote, compared to incumbent mayor Vic Pennisi's 37pc.

She said there had been a mood for change in the region.

"I thought I would have an uphill battle but people were looking for a more collaborative council," she said.

"The council had a public perception of not getting along, and that translated to the councillors elected too - five of the six look like being female.

"I think there's a feeling they'll be more likely to work together."

Ms Hamilton said the issues were typical of local government - comparatively high rates, a perception they weren't getting value for money, a lack of consultation, and a desire for inclusion from the smaller communities of Killarney, Dalveen, Wallangarra and Allora.

Bundaberg's new mayor Helen Blackburn believed a lack of consultation, together with zero transparency and communication were at the heart of her successful election.

A councillor from 2016 to 2020 who was sent into the wilderness after losing the mayoral contest in 2020, Ms Blackburn garnered 58pc of the vote this time, compared to 32pc for mayor Jack Dempsey.

One promise made during her campaign was to fight to bring back a 10pc rate discount for early payment, and she said she was aware of the rates impost on agricultural ratepayers.

"There's no one-size-fits-all solution," she said. "Council will try and mitigate the impost with everything available."

Cr Dempsey described the 10pc discount as inequitable during the campaign, saying someone would have to pay for it.

He had made an election commitment to investigate a rates cap for agricultural landholders, following the Bundaberg Ag Food and Fibre Alliance's urging of the public to vote against him in protest at rate rises of up to 235 per cent.

Ms Blackburn said she was with the region's farmers in their call for Paradise Dam to be fixed, which she said was integral to the success of the region.

One new female mayor who will be grappling with land valuation rises and their impact on the budget as soon as she's sworn in is Janice Moriarty, the new leader at the helm of the Central Highlands Regional Council.

At the declaration of the poll, she had received 59pc of the vote, compared to 41pc for incumbent mayor Kerry Hayes.

Cr Moriarty, who served a four-year council term before standing for mayor, didn't return Queensland Country Life's calls but according to Central Highlands Ratepayers Association spokesperson Kevin Pickersgill, she was one of the candidates they'd supported at the election.

Mr Pickersgill described it as a great result, saying that eight of the nine councillors expected to be elected had been backed by the CHRA.

"We find Janice as someone who engaged with the community and she told us as part of her election platform she would have a 12 month freeze on rate increases," he said.

Queensland's Valuer-General Laura Dietrich announced a swathe of land valuation increases on Tuesday, which will see Central Highlands valuations go up by 101pc on average.

"Under the old format, the unimproved value would be directly applied to our rates," Mr Pickersgill said. "We're looking forward to coming up with a workable solution with the new council now."

A Cassowary Coast councillor who supported a Bring Back Cash petition that gathered over 5500 signatures opposing the council's move to cashless transactions at its facilities, overturned the incumbent mayor there for a significant win.

Teresa Millwood received 61.5pc of the vote to Mark Nolan's 38.5pc, saying she was keen to bring back community pride and staff morale.

The result makes her the council's first female mayor.

Producers in the region have also been lobbying the council for a separate rating category for graziers, saying their rates are three times higher than those in neighbouring electorates.

Cr Millwood's stance on the issue isn't known at this time.

Mount Isa City Council's new mayor, Peta MacRae described her last council term as a "difficult and turbulent time" but said she'd tried to run a positive campaign that wasn't critical of others.

The final council meeting of the last term erupted when then-mayor Danielle Slade made serious allegations against councillors and staff, alleging sexism, harassment, verbal abuse, defamation, bullying, intimidation and stalking.

Cr MacRae, who has served eight years as a councillor, defeated Cr Slade with 33.94pc of the vote to Cr Slade's 29.71pc.

Deputy mayor Phil Barwick received 21.31pc support, and a fourth candidate, David Fletcher had 15pc support.

Cr MacRae headed up a team campaign and said it was likely half her team would be elected.

Together with three independent councillors, she said that would make for a cohesive team whose first job would be to cost out a number of priorities and see how they would impact the budget.

She named safety, cost of living and the look of the community as priorities and agreed that close work with the state government would be needed to address some of those.

A number of communities were still waiting for outcomes to be announced on Wednesday morning, including Townsville, Barcaldine and Bulloo.

On Tuesday evening, Frank Beveridge conceded defeat in the Charters Towers mayoral race, announcing on his social media platform that he regretted to inform all that he had "fallen short in the mayoral contest" after preferences were distributed, giving challenger Liz Schmidt a majority.

Ms Schmidt, who had been the region's mayor between 2016 and 2020, had a one point lead over Cr Beveridge, 2637 votes to his 2636 votes.

The third candidate, Tony McDonald polled 1099 votes.

It's understood preferences gave Ms Schmidt a lead of 50 or so votes.

In his public statement, Cr Beveridge said he was very proud of the past four years, thanking councillors and staff for making it a successful period in the region's history, and on Wednesday morning said he was "absolutely gutted" by the outcome.

"Everyone thought I was in by a mile - it's just hubris," he said.

Ms Schmidt was unwilling to claim victory before the official Electoral Commission Queensland declaration but said a desire for consultation was what contributed to the support she received.

"If I'm elected I'll be reforming the reference groups I set up last time - a rural group, a flying fox group, an indigenous group and so on - and will be letting people have their say," she said.

"I think it's also important to explain to people why some things can't be done, so they don't just feel like they've been fobbed off.

"Apart from that, it's been hard to say from the outside what needs to be done - that's part of the problem."

The latest results declared by the ECQ include Barcoo, where Sally O'Neil has been returned, polling 72pc against contender Steve Sigler's 28pc, Blackall-Tambo (Andrew Martin 81pc, Michael Ellison 19pc), Burdekin (Pierina Dalle Cort 52.70c, Lyn McLaughlin 47.2pc), Cloncurry (Greg Campbell 67.7pc, Jen Sackley 32.3pc), Douglas (Lisa Scomazzon 48.3pc, David Haratsis 44.4pc, Stacy Wilkinson 7.1pc), Lockyer Valley (Tanya Milligan 44.6pc, Kyle Burnett 29.4pc, Maree Rosier 25.9pc), McKinlay (Janene Fegan 70pc, Nyssa Currin 30pc), Rockhampton (Tony Williams 67.5pc, Brett Williams 32.5pc), Somerset (Jason Wendt 61pc, Sean Choat 39pc), Tablelands (Rod Marti 52.8pc, David Clifton 47.1pc), Toowoomba (Geoff McDonald 82.5pc, Douglas Doelle 17.5pc), Western Downs (Andrew Smith 76pc, Glenn Strandquist 24pc), and Winton (Cathy White 52.8pc, Gavin Baskett 47.1pc).