Gympie mayor, council candidates grilled on rates, development

Sixteen of the people fighting for a seat at the 2024 Gympie council, including the trio of mayoral candidates, have been run through their paces on the region’s hottest topics, with one well-known candidate lashing the council’s ‘secrecy overload’.

Voters looking to throw their weight behind a rates cut will find their options in short supply at the 2o24 council election.

A majority of the region’s candidates, including its three mayoral hopefuls, have stated they would not support a rates cut after being grilled on it and a number of other hot topics at a public forum hosted by the Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday night.

Chamber president Martin Muller made the question the first off the rank to start the evening, setting the tone for a tightly run grilling of the council hopefuls fighting for the mayoral seats and those in divisions 3, 4, 5, and 7.

The onslaught of questions from Mr Muller forced a number to think fast on their feet, too.

After laying down the law of decorum for the evening, Mr Muller launched into a rapid-fire series of “yes or no” questions at the group.

Almost none of the assembled candidates budged in inch when asked if they agreed with cutting rates.

Sixteen of the people fighting for a seat at the 2024 Gympie council, including the trio of mayoral candidates, have been run through their paces on the region’s hottest topics, with one well-known candidate lashing the council’s “secrecy overload”.

Division 7 candidates Donna Reardon and Tim Jerome, Division 3’s Charlie Horne and Division 5’s Allona Lahn were the only four of the 16 nominees in favour of a cut.

Glen Hartwig was the only mayoral candidate to who backed a proposed industrial development at Curra, which was otherwise supported by about two-thirds of the assembled candidates.

Opposing mayoral candidates Naomi Wilson and Mark McDonald were in favour of the development at Kybong, its original proposed location before the 2020 election.

Mr McDonald supported the proposed Borumba Dam pumped hydro, while Ms Wilson was against it.
Mr Hartwig offered a “50-50” wave of his hand.

The night’s grilling also revealed Mr McDonald and Ms Wilson had agreed to preference each other on the ballot.

Mr Hartwig had made no such deal with anyone.

Candidates on the whole were strongly in favour of an RV Park being built in the region, although no specific location was floated.

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Gympie 2024 mayoral candidates Naomi Wilson, Glen Hartwig, and Mark McDonald were grilled on their visions for the region and how they would, if elected, help the region’s businesses grow.

On the other side of the coin there was no appetite to move the flood-prone CBD.

Former mayor and current Division 4 candidate Mick Curran was the lone person not in favour of more resource mining, including gold, in the region.

The floor was then opened for the candidates to speak, with several topics recurring through the night including the need for a third bridge across the Mary River, and sustainable development for businesses and housing.

Mr McDonald, a former councillor for Division 1, said there had been little movement in the fours since voters last had their say.

“This council has stood still,” Mr McDonald.

“Our region has gone backwards.”
He said the long-demanded sports precinct could not wait any longer to be delivered, and the reopening of the Civic Centre needed to be a priority.

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After laying down the law of decorum for the evening, Mr Muller launched into a rapid-fire series of “yes or no” questions at the group of Gympie election candidates at the Wednesday, February 28 forum.

Mr Hartwig, the incumbent mayoral candidate, reiterated his record stabilising the council’s financial position and saying the council needed to help the region’s businesses grow by being a “facilitator”.

He said when the council “dictates” to the community rather than working with it “that’s when you wind up with a situation like Widgee Engineering”.

“We have to work with businesses,” he said.

His number one priority was to “continue the path” the council he led has been working on since 2020.

Ms Wilson, a first-time candidate, said there had been a lack of direction for the major change looming on the horizon, when the $1 billion Bruce Hwy bypass is open to traffic.

“We don’t seem to have a plan for it,” Ms Wilson said.

She said addressing out the council’s finances and informing the public was her priority, although she conceded this was “if I’m allowed” under the legislation.

Divisional candidates were given a chance to make a final comment at the end of the night, at which point Mr Curran, the mayor from 2016 to 2020, read aloud from a text message he claimed was sent by a sitting councillor.

It said obtaining information from the organisation was like “getting blood out of a stone” and the organisation was a “secrecy overload”.

“Things need to change,” Mr Curran said.

Voters will head to the polls on Saturday March 16.

Pre-polling opens on Monday March 4.

Candidates in attendance were Charlie Horne and Shane Warnes for Division 3, Rae Gate, Bruce Devereaux, Mick Curran and Michael Torrens for Division 4, Allona Lahn, Dan Stewart and Kris Kahler for Division 5, and Donna Reardon, Warren Polley, Sean Connelly and Tim Jerome for Division 7.

Division 4 candidate Wayne Boyd was absent.