Brisbane Mayors Re-elected Following Council Elections in Queensland
The state of Queensland, Australia, is home to the country’s two largest local councils, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with an estimated 3.5 million voters statewide participating in the elections.
Adrian Schrinner has been re-elected as Brisbane Lord Mayor, while incumbent Tom Tate has secured victory in the Gold Coast mayoral race. The counting of ballots will continue throughout the night following the local government elections on March 17.
ABC chief election analyst Antony Green announced the result of the Brisbane mayoralty on Saturday evening. Mr. Schrinner ran for re-election against Labor’s Tracey Price and the Greens’ Jonathan Sriranganathan.
In the 2020 local government election, Mr. Schrinner narrowly won a majority in the council chamber but faced a 5.1% swing, with a 3.9% swing against the LNP across the wards.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate sought re-election for a fourth term and emerged victorious after facing eight challengers. Notable wards to watch included Paddington, Enoggera, Morningside, The Gabba, and Calamvale, where the incumbents held onto their seats by narrow margins.
Meanwhile, on the Gold Coast, incumbent councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden sought re-election for division seven despite facing a murder charge. Despite criticism from rival candidates and state officials, Mr. Bayldon-Lumsden defended his decision to run again, leaving it up to the voters to decide.
The local council elections in Queensland’s 77 local governments took place on March 17, coinciding with two state government by-elections in Inala and Ipswich West following the resignations of former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Jim Madden. Voters in some areas had only one candidate to choose from as some ran unopposed.
