Mayor of the City of the Gold Coast
Incumbent
Tom Tate
since 28 April 2012 (2012-04-28)
StyleCouncillor
(Informal)
His Worship
(Formal)
Term length4 years
DeputyCr Donna Gates
WebsiteGold Coast Mayor

The Mayor of the City of the Gold Coast is presiding officer and public face of the Gold Coast City Council,[1] the local government body of the Gold Coast, Queensland. The current Mayor is Tom Tate.

The mayor is charged with representing the city council and is popularly elected by residents of the City of Gold Coast local government area in local elections held every 4 years. The mayor presides over all council meetings; is the only councillor to not represent a specific Gold Coast electoral district;[2] and is the foremost representative of the Gold Coast City Council and its policies.[1]

The Gold Coast City Council reportedly maintains a budget of an estimated $1.83 billion annually,[3] among the highest of municipal governments in Australia. The mayor's office is located in the Southport Town Hall building in Southport, Queensland.[4]

Mayoral responsibilities

Under the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld),[1] Chapter 2, Part 1, the mayor of any city in Queensland, including the Gold Coast and except for Brisbane, has the following responsibilities in addition to their duty as a councillor:

Delegation of mayoral responsibilities

The Act further stipulates that "a councillor who is not the mayor may perform the mayor's extra responsibilities only if the mayor delegates the responsibility to the councillor,"[1] while also stating that "when performing a responsibility, a councillor must serve the overall public interest of the whole local government area."[1]

List of Gold Coast Mayors

The current Gold Coast mayor is Tom Tate. He was first elected on 28 April 2012 and re-elected on both 19 March 2016 and 28 March 2020 with more than two thirds of the preferential vote.[5]

South Coast Mayor Term
Len Peak 1949–1958
Gold Coast Mayor Term
Ern Harley 1958–1967
Bruce Small 1967–1973
Robert Neumann 1973–1976
Bruce Small 1976–1978
John Andrews 1978–1979
Keith Hunt 1979–1982
Denis O'Connell 1982–1985
Denis Pie 1985–1988
Lex Bell 1988–1994
Ray Stevens 1995–1997
Gary Baildon 1997–2004
Ron Clarke 2004–2012
Tom Tate 2012–present

Former town/shire leaders

Prior to the South Coast council forming in 1948, ten local government areas existed between the City of Brisbane and the New South Wales border. Just four of those local government areas exist within modern day Gold Coast. Below is a list of the leaders of those areas:

On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in South East Queensland, an Order in Council created the Shire of Albert by amalgamating Shire of Beenleigh, Shire of Coomera, Shire of Nerang, the southern part of Shire of Tingalpa and the eastern part of Shire of Waterford. On 8 June 1978, the Shire of Logan was created which reduced the Shire of Albert to nearly a quarter of its previous population. The Shire of Albert was amalgamated with the Gold Coast City Council in 1995. With the exception of the Beenleigh–Eagleby region, which was transferred to Logan City in 2008, the area of the Albert Shire is still present in modern-day City of Gold Coast.

Shire of Albert

Chairman Term
Eric Gaven 1949–1950
Frank Oxenford 1950–1952
Alex Clark 1952–1958
Russ Hinze 1958–1967
Hugh Dunstan Muntz 1967–1982
Bill Laver 1982–1994
Ray Stevens 1994–1995

Election results

2020

2020 Queensland local elections: Mayor[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent LNP Tom Tate 151,579 55.73 −8.13
Independent Mona Hecke 67,117 24.68 +24.68
Independent Brett Lambert 17,083 6.28 +3.22
Independent Virginia Freebody 15,260 5.61 +5.61
Independent Kris Bourban 9,115 3.35 +3.35
Independent Gary Pead 6,843 2.52 +2.52
Civil Liberties & Motorists Suphakan Somsriruen 2,545 0.94 +0.94
Independent Derek Rosborough 2,429 0.89 +0.89
Turnout 287,531 74.12
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent LNP Tom Tate 154,054 66.93 −6.21
Independent Mona Hecke 76,126 33.07 +33.07
Independent LNP hold Swing −6.21
Template loop detected: Template:Excerpt

2008

2008 Queensland local elections: Mayor[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Ron Clarke 79,463 35.62
Liberal Tom Tate 59,585 26.71
Unite GC Rob Molhoek 57,605 25.82
Independent John Bradford 20,754 9.30
Independent Ray Schearer 5,704 2.56
Total formal votes 223,111 95.71
Informal votes 10,005 4.29
Turnout 233,116
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent Ron Clarke 90,418 53.99
Liberal Tom Tate 77,039 46.01
Independent hold Swing

Governance of Gold Coast City

Main article: Gold Coast City

The city is governed at the local level by the Gold Coast City Council, whose jurisdiction spans the Gold Coast, Queensland, and surrounding areas.[8] Based on resident population, it is the second largest local government area in Australia and its council maintains a staff of over 2,500. It was established in 1948, but has existed in its present form since 1995.[8]

Wards and councillors

Gold Coast City has been divided into 14 wards (known as divisions), each electing one councillor at elections held every four years. The most recent local government election was on 19 March 2016.[2]

Divisional Councillors are:[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Queensland Government. "Local Government Act 2009" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b c Gold Coast City Council. "Mayors and Councillors". Archived from the original on 4 December 2010.
  3. ^ Gold Coast Bulletin. "The Gold Coast's most influential people".
  4. ^ Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate and chief of staff Wayne Moran quit council HQ for Southport
  5. ^ "2020 Gold Coast City Council - Mayoral Election".
  6. ^ "Gold Coast City". Electoral Commission of Queensland.
  7. ^ "2008 Gold Coast City - Mayoral Election - Election Summary". Electoral Commission of Queensland.
  8. ^ a b Gold Coast City Council. "Council overview". Archived from the original on 31 October 2005.
Categories