April 27, 2023
The State Government has passed legislation to limit expenditure by Mayoral and Councillor candidates at the upcoming March local government elections.
The Bill, passed recently, sets expenditure caps for mayoral candidates over five bands.
These begin at $30,000 for areas with 30,000 or fewer electors, such as the South Burnett.
The highest band outside Brisbane applies to areas with more than 200,000 electors, allowing a cap of $175,000 plus an extra 25 cents per elector for each additional elector over 25,000.
For councillor candidates, the bands range from a $15,000 cap for areas or divisions with 20,000 or fewer electors (such as all South Burnett divisions) up to a maximum cap of $30,000 for areas or divisions with 40,000 electors or more.
However, a group of candidates can pool their caps within a Council area to maximise their spending power which could encourage the formation of “tickets”.
Shadow Minister for Local Government Ann Leahy said on a per capita basis, the highest level of mayoral expenditure per person will be in Diamantina Shire where a mayoral candidate could spend $181.82 per elector. This compared with just 57 cents per person on the Gold Coast.
A councillor candidate in the Diamantina Shire could spend of $90.91 per elector while Toowoomba Regional Council candidates – who have to campaign across the whole region as the Council is undivided – could spend just 26 cents.
“A councillor candidate standing in the Diamantina Shire Council can buy two cartons of beer with a ‘Vote 1’ on it for each constituent but a councillor candidate standing in the Toowoomba Region council cannot even buy a Freddo frog with ‘Vote 1’ on it to hand out to elicit votes,” Ms Leahy said.
