Mackay’s council and mayoral candidates vie to outspend each other for your votes

See what each Mackay council candidate is spending to win your vote and find out which team has spent more than $100,000. EXPENSES REVEALED

Mayoral candidates for the 2024 Mackay Regional Council (from left): incumbent mayor Greg Williamson, Steve Jackson, and incumbent councillor Laurence Bonaventura, at the Mackay Chamber of Commerce annual mayor's debate. Picture: Heidi Petith

The election is in full swing, with hundreds casting their vote while candidates push how-to-vote cards at the Mackay showgrounds.

Mackay’s candidates and teams had different approaches to raising funds for their campaigns, with some being totally self-funded like like Laurence Bonaventura, while others like Alison Jones and Jacko’s Team accepted donations from the public.

At this stage in the race every 24 hours candidates must log new expenses with ECQ.

Here’s how much each team and candidate have spent and what they’ve spent it on — ranked by highest outlay to lowest.

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Jacko’s Team

Not accustomed to doing things by halves, Jacko’s Team were the biggest fundraisers in the lead up to this election and have been spending money accordingly with their total spend as of today being $132,607.

The Team’s largest single spend eclipses Team Greg Williamson’s total expenses by $2,000 and occured on February 17 when they bought food and beverages for an upcoming campaign event.

Jacko’s Team’s smallest expense was on an item for a fundraising event that cost a mere $4.80.

Their most recent expense was $4,459 on March 7 for social media marketing over a number of platforms.

This came after a $9,000 spend on March 6 also on social media marketing.

Peter Sheedy

Council aspirant Peter Sheedy has spent $25,038 in his first run for council.

His largest spend was in late February when he paid $6,423 for the delivery of flyers to letterboxes around Mackay.

His smallest spend was also on the delivery of flyers, but this time to Eungella and Finch Hatton on February 29 and cost him just $60.

Most recently Mr Sheedy has paid $78 on March 1 on card holders for his how to vote cards.

Laurence Bonaventura

Laurence Bonaventura’s campaign for mayor has so far had a total expense of $20,570.

Mr Bonaventura’s largest spend was on March 1 when he paid $3,750 for a professional recording and edit of the Mackay mayoral debate.

His smallest ad spend was on March 4 when he paid $22 for an ad to be displayed on a campaign vehicle.

His most recent expense was to pay $400 to a campaign on March 6 worker for “secretarial services”, primarily the management of his Facebook.

Justin Englert

Despite not accepting donations Justin Englert has spent an amount comparable to Mrs Jones and Team Greg Williamson, which he attributes to “having to catch up” after being unexpectedly left off of some how-to-vote cards.

His total spend so far has been $17,882.15 with his largest spend being on website development information and promotional materials, costing $2,827 and taking place on January 31.

His lowest and most recent spend was on March 1 and was $254 on magnetic badges that had “Vote 1 Justin Englert” printed on them.

Alison Jones

Alison Jones, another incumbent councillor has been accepting donations from the public, something that’s caused friction between her and Martin Bella.

In total she has been able to raise $17,492 for her re-election campaign.

In her biggest spend she spent over $10,000 on advertising on February 19.

Her lowest spent was on January 16 and was for a document holder for her how-to-vote cards, which set her back only $33.

Mrs Jones most recent spend was on March 4 where she mailed out promotional materials which cost her $48.

Team Greg Williamson

The front runners of the first exit poll, Team Greg Williamson’s campaign has been almost entirely financed by it’s team members and as such raised a modest amount.

So far the team has spent a total of $15,627.

Their biggest spend was on developing their team website in early February, which set them back $7,050 almost half of their entire spend to date.

The smallest amount was spent on February 17, when they paid $3 for a Facebook ad.

The most recent expense by the team was a larger Facebook ad buy on February 27, which set them back $22.

Belinda Hassan

Belinda Hassan has so far spent $12,731 on her campaign for re-election.

The largest and most recent spend was on March 1 when she paid $3,452 for a multimedia campaign package and the lowest was on February 1 when she spent $22 for two red shirts for campaign clothing.

Pauline Townsend

Pauline Townsend, looking to return to council for her second term has spent $11,499 of her own money on her campaign.

The biggest spend was on a multimedia graphics, video and photography package costing $2,475, on February 22.

Her lowest expense was $120, paid on February 22, for polo shirts to give to her volunteers.

Her most recent expense was 6 days later on February 28 where she spent $324 on a machine that custom prints logos and patterns onto shirts.

Les Scott

Les Scott is no stranger to elections, having served on Belyando’s shire council for two terms before it’s amalgamation.

His total campaign spend is $10,391, with his largest expense being $3,300 towards campaign signs on February 09.

Almost a week later on February 15 came his smallest expense, when he bought cable ties to affix his hold his signs.

His most recent spend was on February 29 when he bought how to vote cards for $671.

Fran Mann

Fran Mann has spent a total of $10,286 in her efforts to return to council.

Her biggest spend was on February 19 and was paid $2,750 for assistance with a multimedia advertising campaign.

On January 16, she spent $25 on buying a campaign T-shirt, her lowest expense.

Most recently, she spent $158 on March 3 for DL acrylic document holders, which will hold how-to-vote cards.

Marty Bella

Martin Bella, a wholly self-funded candidate, has spent $7,990 so far in his campaign to get re-elected.

His largest spend was on February 13, when he spent $4,125 on video and graphics campaign advertising.

His lowest spend was $82 on corflute advertising on February 9.

His most recent expense was $688 on February 29 for how-to-vote cards and other polling day material.

Russell Seymour

Russell Seymour, another incumbent independent has spent a total on $7,353.

His largest and most recent spend was on campaign signs and cost $3,100 on February 8.

His lowest spend was on January 15 when he bought $412 worth of media marketing.

He has not spent further funds on his campaign since early February.

Greg Fisher

Two time team candidate, this is Greg Fishers first race in which the only resources he has have been his own.

To that end he has spend a total of $6,199 on his campaign so far.

His largest expense was incurred on February 14 when he purchased signage and banners for his campaign at a cost of $1,727.

His smallest expense was $25 on March 7 for sand with which to fill sandbags to weigh down his signs.

The most recent expense, also on March 7 was $1,417 for artwork and how to vote cards.

Kimberly Doyle

Last but certainly not least, Kimberly Doyle has spent $4,761 on her campaign to join Mackay’s council.

Her largest spend was on February 28 when she bought signs for $1,920.

Her smallest spend was $60 on February 22 for some advertising in the Community Trader local newsletter.

Her most recent spend was on March 5 and was $926 for advertising on vehicle windows.

Ian Rowan

Another new council candidate, Mr Rowan is the lowest campaign spender, having expended only $3,078 of his own money on his campaign.

The largest and most recent spend was on February 26 and was for the production of an election video which cost $1,371.

His smallest spend was on screws and washers to attach his signs to stakes in the ground.

This expense was incurred on February 20 and set Mr Rowan back $62.