Analysis of the 2024 Qld Council Elections
By Callen Sorensen Karklis
The election results of the local government elections are in. Some will be despairing on both the progressive and conservative sides in some key areas around the state, while others on each side will be content with the results. One thing despite it all is obvious: QLD Premier Steven Miles should be very worried about the October State Election! If he is to win re-election, he needs to do more to listen to the community. This comes after Labor loses its safest seat in Wynnum Manly ward which has never been non-Labor in 80 years on a local level and the state seat of Ipswich West.
In Brisbane the Greenslide didn’t quite occur just yet on a local level, but they did win two seats, gaining Paddington with Seal Chong Wah with 51% of the vote on TPP while Trina Massey held the Gabba easily at 61% of the vote, with a good showing in 5 BCC wards with potential to win a further three seats in Walter Taylor, Central, and Coorparoo wards at the 2028 BCC elections. The substantial swing to the Greens means they could give the state seats of Greenslopes, Miller, and Cooper a good go. The loss of the safe seat of Wynnum Manly ward in Brisbane’s southeast is a serious blow to the ALP. The LNP’s Alex Givney won the seat with 52% of the vote, helped by former Labor leader and Cr Peter Cumming’s retirement after his drink driving episode and Sara Whitmee not being known enough in the community upon her appointment, which created the perception of a left faction.
But the ALP has gained a win in the seat of Calamvale with the election of Emily Kim with 51% of the vote. The ALP also had swings to it in four wards: Runcorn, Northgate, Marchant, and Holland Park. It’s clear that if Labor and the Greens want to govern a future Brisbane City Council (the 5th biggest government in Australia) they inevitably will have to govern together in a coalition like the ALP and Greens have done in Tasmania, and the ACT historically. They will both have to swallow the pill for the greater good. Together both could win back 15 seats if they campaigned on a shared policy platform that appeals to more voters.
Adrian Schrinner (LNP) has easily been re-elected with 56% of the vote compared to Labor’s Tracey Price on 44% on TPP and Jono Sri on 19% of the primary vote. The Greens policy platform on cost of living, housing crisis and Olympics issues served them well, while the LNP clearly benefited from a growing anti-Labor sentiment in the community tied to the state and federal sphere during tough economic times; a lesson for Labor. As the LNP looks likely to hold council for 24 years by 2028, which could generate a “It’s Time” factor by then.
In Ipswich the LNP’s Teresa Harding easily won re-election, particularly after the controversial former Labor Mayors in that city of the past decades. Despite this, Labor did secure a sizeable opposition there. Former Ipswich West MP Jim Madden won 32% of the vote. Jacob Madsen won 29.75%. And former ALP bloc Your Voice; controversial Paul Tully and Nicole Junic were easily re–elected in division 2 and controversial former Labor Mayor Andrew Antoniolli in division 3. The ALP did, however, win the Logan City Council Mayoral race with Jon Raven becoming Mayor with 55% on TPP while all the ALP’s existing three other Crs were re-elected. In Moreton City Council, Labor saw Jim Moloney easily win Mick Gillam’s seat, while LNP aligned Mayor Peter Flannery contested the Mayor of Moreton City Council.
Labor’s Dan Stewart in Gympie could be trouble. Labor has held Mackay easily while Townsville has seen the fall of Labor’s Jenny Hill from the top job with former One Nation member Troy Thompson securing 47% of the primary vote. Labor is likely to lose Mt Isa’s Danielle Slade to small business owner Peta Macrae. Labor has held on to Rockhampton with Tony Williams re-elected. On the Sunshine Coast Labor’s Taylor Bunnag secured 46% of the vote in a surprise win. It looks likely that former Seven News reporter Rosanna Natoli will win the Mayoralty on 27%, while the LNP’s Tom Tate has easily won re-lection, winning a 4th term.
In Bundaberg, Independent Helen Blackburn defeated former LNP MP and Mayor Jack Dempsey with 58% of the vote, and in Redlands Jos Mitchell and Cairns Amy Eden, two Teal Mayors have won the vote. Eden, Mitchell, and Blackburn all campaigned on transparency, integrity, and cutting waste issues.
In Redlands it was a particularly toxic council election due to the antics of former controversial federal MP Andrew Laming running a smear campaign against Jos on the back of the LNP also endorsing unofficially Cindy Corrie for Mayor. Corrie worked for the former controversial LNP Mayor Karen Williams who infamously crashed her car into a tree and ditch drink driving. Laming attempted to label Jos as a Greens funded candidate despite pulling support from people from all parties and walks of life. Jos’ legal team were successful in challenging the misinformation with a supreme court injunction. Laming blitzed the electorate with signage and billboards reminiscent of Clive Palmer’s tactics to flood the electorate in advertising. Laming’s attempt to campaign on several state issues such as the hospital crisis, cost of living crisis, native title (after the failure of the Voice referendum) and youth crime detracted from what City Council can achieve which is roads, rates, and rubbish issues. This cost Laming greatly particularly as Jos Mitchell built an army of volunteers in community engagement at a grassroots level.
Jos’ success in turning the blue-collar working-class areas in Alexandra Hills, Capalaba, Redland Bay door knocking, leafleting the marinas for the bay islands, canvassing at shopping centres and train stations, and letterboxing everywhere paid off, while also articulating a simple message ensured a win. Jos didn’t allow coordinated smear campaigning to distract her from fake troll accounts and pages spreading misinformation, while bad press didn’t help Laming. As most thought a safe bet in voting for Jos and an ex-police officer and prosecutor were a safe bet rather than the antics of spent politician of 18 years with little to show for their time in office.
If Labor can coordinate a way forward for consultation with the community on the Olympics planning, the cost of living and housing crisis, the best it could hope for is potentially securing a hung parliament as its best option with the Greens securing supply or possibly the Katter’s in north QLD. But then again if it doesn’t there is a real risk the State LNP – lead by David Crisafulli – could secure power in late 2024 with a small majority if the Local Government elections can be used as an indicator for the next six months.
As of early March 2024, the LNP are polling on 51–54% on TPP compared to Labor’s 46–49% with the Greens on 12–13% with PHON at 7–8% with the real prospect of them picking up another seat as well riding off the back of the No vote in Qld in the Voice referendum in late 2023. What is clear to me is there has been a profound anti-establishment sentiment in the air and voters aren’t happy with both major parties.
References:
Antony Green (ABC’s chief election analyst) ABC News <https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/bcc/2024/results?filter=all&sort=az> accessed 21/03/2024
Australian Greens <https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=957667205726971&set=pb.100044511003150.-2207520000> accessed 22/03/2024
ECQ website Qld Local Government Results. <https://results.elections.qld.gov.au/2024QLGE> accessed 21/03/2024
Redlands Community News, Victory Parties Across the Southeast <https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=430907876259426&set=a.280446161305599> accessed 22/03/2024
Callen Sorensen Karklis, Bachelor of Government and International Relations.
Callen is a Quandamooka Nunukul Aboriginal person from North Stradbroke Island. He has been the Secretary of the Qld Fabians in 2018, and the Assistant Secretary 2018 – 2019, 2016, and was more recently the Policy and Publications Officer 2020 – 2021. Callen previously was in Labor branch executives in the Oodgeroo (Cleveland areas), SEC and the Bowman FEC. He has also worked for Cr Peter Cumming, worked in market research, trade unions, media advertising, and worked in retail. He also ran for Redland City Council in 2020 on protecting the Toondah Ramsar wetlands. He also advised the Oodgeroo Teal campaign in 2020. He now active in the Redlands and Qld Greens. Callen is active in Redlands 2030, the Redlands Museum, and his local sports club at Victoria Pt Sharks Club. Callen also has a Diploma of Business and attained his tertiary education from Griffith University. He was a co-host from time to time on Workers Power 4ZZZ (FM 102.1) on Tuesday morning’s program Workers Power. He has also worked in government. Cal was a coordinator for Jos Mithcell’s Redlands Mayoral campaign in 2024.
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5 comments
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Terence Mills -
Phil Pryor -
Canguro -
Phil Pryor -
paul walter
Return to home pageFortunately in my area of far North Qld (Tablelands) party politics has not yet raised its head in the local government voting system and as a result we were presented with a good cross section of the community as candidates. The one notable change that is occurring is the move away from the ‘good old boys’ who for years have ruled the roost but are now being replaced by a younger generation of articulate, well educated candidates, both men and women and that makes a welcome change.
As regards the state election in Queensland the LNP are going to have to come clean with the electorate. At the moment all electricity generation and distribution is state owned and we have not seen the massive price fluctuations on power supply that are evident in some other states. The LNP want to privatise the electricity grid and Queenslanders need to be aware of that.
I have mentioned elsewhere the vigorous advertising campaign of the Qld Resources Council against state royalties particularly on coal. The LNP appear to have done a deal with the coal producers to reduce royalties and we need to know what that involves – the Resources Council wouldn’t be spending advertising money and softening up the community if they weren’t expecting a windfall from the LNP should they get into office.
There always seems to be a horrible anti-intellectual approach to public life in Queensland, which had blackbirding, a clear form of repugnant slavery. The attitudes contrast amazingly to observation of, say, S Australia, the only fully free state without convicts, kanakas, illegally indentured people, though all of Australia had its racism, xenophobia, imperial perverted supremacist attitudes…but, S. Australia was a world pioneer in secret ballots, fixed shorter terms, women’s rights and votes and much more. So, Queensland swings on emotions, fantasies, attitudes, impulses, passions, so that a brown turd like Laming can have a go with a chance.., horrible. The good old “give the other bastards a go” approach fails in any sense, and the stench and stains of Morrison, Joyce, Newman, Hanson, Palmer, many others , is up our political nostrils and fit to choke us in its filth, even now.
In South Australia where I was born, heave away, haul away… but enough of digression. It may well have been a world leader in various aspects of public & political life, but it wasn’t all peaches & cream.
The Downer dynasty has more than a few skeletons in the closet, and ol’ ‘Fishnets’ Alexander, the penultimate member of that gilded family, is despite his eccentricities, the plum pommy accent and fealty to all things British, along with his willingness to engage in Howard’s egregious screwing of the Timorese government via bugging of conference rooms in order to acquire the majority of the revenue from the gas reserves of the Timor Gap, a relatively minor player in the sense of that family’s impact on the lives of indigenous people in the early years of that colony and its administration of the Northern Territory.
John Downer, Fishnet’s grandfather, attorney-general & premier of SA, was utterly complicit in aiding and abetting the massacre of aboriginal people in the far north of this country. The man apparently had a decidedly pointed view of where human worth lay; in 1891 he acted as the legal defence for a man, a Constable Willshire, who was on trial in Port Augusta, accused of multiple murders of indigenous people. He was acquitted.
In my childhood, in the early sixties, I was dispatched to a college in Adelaide for a number of years as a boarder; a miserable time although an escape from a hellish home to a slightly less hellish prestigious college. One of my friends, a day student, was a Boucaut and I was a thick-headed ignoramus who knew nothing about life or people, but I liked this kid, and I was indiscriminate, like a puppy starved for affection, if anyone showed any interest I would snuggle up to them. The Boucauts are another establishment Adelaide family whose forbear Sir James Penn Boucaut was premier in the late 1800s, and, like Downer, endorsed the wholesale slaughter of aboriginal folk in the north. I wish I’d known, then perhaps I’d have been a bit more circumspect about that friendship.
Canguru is correct to mention the declines from 1857 where I derived my political comments, things derived from Chartism actually, and the horrors of having men (usually) of murderous greed, entirely consumed by self, ambition, the lure of wealth and posing.
Enuff!
My question concerns the Tassie election and the question of whether Rockstar shot himself in the foot for picking on that rather yummy chick from The Juice Media.