Blackburn spends $26k+ while Dempsey relies on ‘goodwill and support of volunteers’

Incumbent mayor Jack Dempsey has denied his political opponents’ claims he may have used ratepayer resources for his 2024 election tilt, while his main rival says she has spent more than $26,000 in an ‘uphill battle’ against the council-funded website, Bundaberg Now. See the latest campaign costings:

Mayoral candidate and incumbent Jack Dempsey denied he was using ratepayer resources for his 2024 mayoral tilt, while Helen Blackburn said she had spent more than $26,000 in an “uphill battle” against the council-owned and funded website, Bundaberg Now. See the latest campaign costings:

As the band of weary council hopefuls (and their supporters) cross the halfway mark in the Bundaberg council election campaign, a drill-down into the money spent so far by each mayoral candidate reveals significant differences in their strategies and approach.

Under local government legislation, all candidates are required to declare their campaign expenditure with the Queensland Electoral Commission.

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Campaign expenditure must be declared when total spending reaches $500, and can reach any amount up to $76,520, which is the election expenditure cap for the Bundaberg region.

Looking at the state of play at the halfway point, Helen Blackburn has far outspent all her mayoral rivals, and indeed all other candidates, to the tune of $26,058.19.

The majority of Ms Blackburn’s expenditure (more than $15,000) was dedicated to advertising, including a billboard, newspaper advertising and video editing.

Incumbent mayor Jack Dempsey has spent just over 10 per cent of Ms Blackburn’s outlay, with the majority of the $2944.26 he has spent to date paying for corflutes.

Mr Dempsey said he was deliberately running a low-cost campaign, sensitive to the challenges faced by the community in the current economic climate.

“I’m spending far less than one of the other candidates because I don’t think it’s appropriate to advertise excessively during a cost-of-living crisis,” he said.

Ms Blackburn said she needed to spend the amount declared with the ECQ in order to counteract the advantages Mr Dempsey had received from the support of council resources such as the so-called “good news” website, Bundaberg Now.

“I have invested a lot of time, effort, and my own money to promote my plan for a brighter future,” Ms Blackburn said.

“My opponent has had the benefit of a ratepayer-funded news organisation to promote him for the past four years so it is an uphill battle competing with that.”

Ms Blackburn also questioned whether Mr Dempsey was using council staff to maintain his “Dempsey for Mayor” Facebook page, with the transparency section on the page listing four unnamed administrators.

“I think voters deserve to know if this includes any ratepayer-funded council staff and the extent of their activities, if any, on Mr Dempsey’s Facebook page during the election campaign,” she said.

The Local Government Act prohibits the use of ratepayer-funded resources (including staff) for any activity relating to a councillor’s campaign for re-election.

Mr Dempsey unequivocally denied using council resources on his campaign, saying that to do so “would be a breach of the caretaker provisions”.

“I’m relying substantially on the goodwill and support of volunteers in the community, people who believe we should continue with a positive plan for the whole of the Bundaberg Region,” he said.

Mayoral race latecomer Levi Horvath has not spent any money on his campaign, saying he also relied on volunteers and did not want to use corflutes and leaflets due to their impact on the environment.

Mayoral candidate Levi Horvath has not spent any money on his campaign, saying he is supported by volunteers and prefers to meet the community face to face.

“I do not believe in spending any more than necessary, and would rather meet the community face to face,” he said.

“In his own time”

While Ms Blackburn’s campaign outreaches Mr Dempsey in certain key strategies, including cinema advertising and billboards, his political opponents claim there may be some notable omissions from Mr Dempsey’s expenditure list.

Mr Dempsey’s Facebook page has of late been pumping out two to three posts per day, distributing the two-term mayor’s priorities and promises to a digitally-savvy electorate through posts including well-produced images, graphics and videos.

The posts in Jack Dempsey's 'Dempsey for mayor' Facebook page often include well-produced images, graphics and videos.

The posts often link through to Mr Dempsey’s website, where all his campaign commitments and other promotional content are archived.

Whereas Ms Blackburn declared a $1010 payment for video editing, no such expense was declared by Mr Dempsey, nor for website hosting fees as declared by councillors Greg Barnes ($500) and Tracy McPhee ($649).

The footer of Mr Dempsey’s website reveals it was created by Gorey Media, a website development and strategic communications company owned and run by Michael Gorey, Mr Dempsey’s former advisor at Bundaberg council and the architect of Bundaberg Now.

Michael Gorey's time at council was beset by controversy for his work in support of Jack Dempsey's federal election campaign.

Given Mr Gorey left council in August 2022, the engagement of his company by Mr Dempsey for his 2024 mayoral campaign is uncontroversial, and the apparent lack of fees paid to Gorey Media can be explained by a declared $500 in-kind gift for “website development” given by Mr Gorey to Mr Dempsey on January 25.

Ex-staffer Michael Gorey made a $500 in-kind gift of "website development" to Jack Dempsey for his 2024 campaign.

Mr Gorey came under fire during his council tenure when this masthead revealed he had assisted Mr Dempsey with his unsuccessful 2022 campaign for the federal seat of Hinkler, including creating the “JackforHinkler” campaign website.

Michael Gorey created the JackforHinkler campaign website, claiming the work was done "in his own time" separately from his paid employment as Jack Dempsey's advisor.

At the time, Mr Gorey defended his involvement with Mr Dempsey’s campaign by saying he took leave from his council position to help his boss “in his own time” and “with his own resources”, but questions lingered over how strictly Mr Gorey separated the campaign activities from his $177,995 per year ratepayer-funded advisory role.

Nine months after Mr Gorey’s departure, former council marketing officer Amber Lutter was named his replacement in May 2023.

Ms Lutter has been seen accompanying Mr Dempsey during the campaign, and Mr Dempsey did not confirm nor deny that Ms Lutter was involved with his campaign.

Former marketing and economic development officer Amber Lutter was promoted into Jack Dempsey's advisor role after Michael Gorey's departure from council.

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He confirmed Ms Lutter had gone on leave at the beginning of the caretaker period.

Mr Dempsey also emphasised the support he had received from volunteers and said he would not “comment on who’s volunteering in their own time”.

“Like anyone that goes on leave, it’s up to them how they choose to use their time,” he said.

Neither Mr Gorey or Ms Lutter or any person associated with the campaigns have been the subject of any formal complaints; nor are they suspected of any wrongdoing.