2 minute read
Calling all Council candidates
Local government elections looming
The local government elections are now less than eight months away, with election day on Saturday, March 28, 2020.
If you are thinking of running for council, you don’t have much time to waste.
Previous elections have shown that if you haven’t built up a community profile by the time nominations for the election officially open, your chances of garnering enough votes to get over the line are lessened … especially if you’re up against a long-term incumbent.
Council elections are now fixed four-year terms. Tighter rules for local government elections are currently being considered by state parliament that will affect all candidates and the way we vote for them.
These possible changes include:
• compulsory preferential voting in council elections, which will standardise the election system across all three tiers of government;
• public funding for council candidate campaigns, set at $1.57 per vote received, in a bid to reduce candidate reliance on third party donations;
• compulsory candidate training before elections are held;
• caps on election spending by candidates;
• public interest registers that require all candidates to disclose any contracts they have with council, political party membership or any development applications they or close associates have before council; and
• real time financial and gift disclosures for council candidates, groups of candidates and third parties.
The Department of Local Government, Racing and Multicultural Affairs is advising prospective candidates that to stay within the proposed guidelines they will need to have maintained election expenditure records since May 1 this year.
So … are you thinking of running?
At the next election, Division 5 will be an open field with the retirement of Cr Jenny McKay.
Open-field elections – such as Division 5 – are generally closely contested, bringing out a larger field of contestants than would normally be the case.
To date, one candidate – Richard Bruinsma from Palmwoods – has openly announced that he will be running in Division 5, so has gained the notoriety jump on other potential candidates.
Richard has been proactive in his campaigning efforts, holding community meet-and-greet sessions across the division and attending community events in his role as the editor of the ‘Sunshine Valley Gazette’.
At time of publication, no other Division 5 candidates had made their presence known.
In Division 1, Cr Rick Baberowski will run again aiming for this third term in office.
Last election, a field of four candidates competed with Cr Baberowski, who gained 64% of the vote. To date there have been no firm indications of anyone planning to run against Cr Baberowski.
