Lord Mayoral race a cliffhanger

THE battle for City Hall is poised on a razor’s edge, but civic leaders in some of the state’s biggest regions look set to hold on to the mayoral robes. SEE POLL RESULTS

THE battle for City Hall in Brisbane is poised on a razor’s edge, but civic leaders in some of the state’s biggest regions look set to hold on to the mayoral robes.

Exclusive polling conducted for The Sunday Mail reveals LNP Lord Mayor Graham Quirk holds a wafer-thin margin, but undecided voters are favouring Labor’s lord mayoral candidate Rod Harding, which could be a game changer.

The ReachTEL polling, which surveyed 1116 residents on Thursday night, put Cr Quirk just ahead on 52 per cent of the vote compared to Mr Harding’s 48 per cent after preferences.

Cr Quirk commanded 42.6 per cent of the primary vote, well down on the 61.9 per cent he received in the 2012 election.

The race between Rod Harding and Graham Quirk is too close to call, with Mayor Quirk just ahead on 52 per cent of the vote.

Mr Harding had 29.4 per cent of the first preference vote, while Greens lord mayoral candidate Ben Pennings had 10.8 per cent, but 13.6 per cent were undecided.

More than a third of the “undecided” voters said they were leaning towards Mr Harding, up on 30.4 per cent for Cr Quirk. In Labor’s favour, a whopping 49 per cent of people said they would preference Mr Harding higher, compared to Cr Quirk’s 11.5 per cent.

Traffic congestion and public transport have been the focus of some of the biggest battles between the LNP and Labor in this campaign. These issues have cut through to the electorate, with 31.7 per cent of people saying improving road quality would influence who they vote for and 19.4 per cent saying it was light rail or subway policy.

Improved bus and ferry services also rated highly with 18.2 per cent, followed by development oversight (15.7 per cent), improved facilities for parks (10.7 per cent), while just 4.2 per cent of people said King George Square redevelopment would influence their vote.

On the Gold Coast, Mayor Tom Tate looks certain to hold on to the city’s top job.

Brisbane voters' response.

More than half of the 1055 people surveyed said he had their vote, enough to get him over the line without preferences despite facing five challengers. Nearly half of those surveyed had a favourable opinion of Cr Tate and 65 per cent of people said he had done a good job and deserved a second term. A cruise ship terminal at Southport was the deciding factor for 24.1 per cent of ­respondents.

While Mayor Mark Jamieson looks likely to retain his job on the Sunshine Coast, a massive 44.4 per cent of 1015 residents surveyed said they were undecided. Cr Jamieson had 31.8 per cent of the primary vote. Greens candidate Tony Gibson was his nearest rival.

Regional results.

But with 51.6 per cent of the undecided voters leaning towards Cr Jamieson, he is likely to secure another term.

The incumbents in Ipswich and Toowoomba are likely to be re-elected. The poll has a 2.9 per cent margin of error.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate looks safe in his mayoral race.

Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson looks comfortable but there are a lot of undecided voters in the region.