Tony Williams retains position as Rockhampton Regional Council mayor
Tony Williams said he was humbled by the results and looks forward to another four years as mayor. See what his priority areas are this term.
Rockhampton
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Tony Williams has secured his position as Rockhampton Regional Council mayor for another four years and it will be straight back to work on Monday.
The mayoral results could be called early as Tony held a strong lead in front of his sole opponent Brett Williams.
On Sunday morning at 10am, 79 per cent of the votes had been counted and Tony had 67 per cent of the votes.
Even with the remaining 12,416 votes to be counted, Brett Williams would not be able to catch up.
Keppel MP Brittany Lauga shared an old photo of her and Tony on social media late on election night, congratulating him on his re-election.
Tony Williams was elected as mayor in the 2021 by-election out of 17 candidates after Margaret Strelow resigned.
Ms Strelow has since announced to run as an independent for Rockhampton in the 2024 state election in October.
Mr William’s departure from his councillor role left his Division 3 role vacant which was filled by Grant Mathers who was unopposed in this election and was automatically re-elected.
Mr Williams has been a councillor since 2004 and held the deputy mayoral role during this time.
He completed a diploma in Local Government in 2016 which taught him local government legislation, budgets and working with council.
He has held the chair of the Local Disaster Management Group, chair of the Drive Inland Promotions Group, Regional Roads Transport Group, executive in the Central Queensland Local Government Association and been involved with neighbourhood watch, senior citizens, a Red Cross blood donation, South Sea islanders and more.
“I am very humbled by the result and don’t take it lightly at all,” Mr William said on Sunday.
“I think it’s an important role and one I want to continue in the spirit I have been doing before.”
This year marks Mr Williams 20th year in local government.
Before council, he was a meat worker at Lakes Creek when he left high school.
“It’s been a rewarding job but I have always tried my best,” he said.
“I wake up every day to look how we can improve the region to live, invest and stay.”
There will be at least one new councillor on the table with the Division 7 position left vacant by Donna Kirkland who is pursuing a state position in the October election.
Marika Taylor is in the lead in the early voting however it is too early to call.
Division 2 is also under fire between incumbent Neil Fisher and Elliot Hilse as is Division 4, between Edward Oram and standing councillor Ellen Smith, both of which are close but still in early counting.
Shane Latcham in Division 1, Grant Mathers in Division 3, Cherie Rutherford in Division 5 and Drew Wickerson in Division 6 are uncontested.
Mr Williams said the first job would be to sit down with the new elected body and work out a strategy.
“Hearing about their plans and their visions, it’s all about working together,” he said.
The key areas Mr Williams said he would like to focus on this council term were housing, water security and continuing work on new sports precincts in the region.
“There is major growth that is going to be experienced in the region in the next decade,” he said.
“We have to make sure we have industrial land available and housing.
“When they come off, we are going to need to keep up momentum and not have a boom and bust cycle.
“There are few big projects coming up and we need to make sure we support them through Advance Rockhampton and council.”
Council were working with the Local Government Association Queensland and on a Local Housing Action Plan which tackled the housing shortage in the area, which Mr Williams said was of great importance.
“We have to make sure we put that front and centre and we are going into the state election and we need support as much as the metro areas do,” he said.
Spending the day with his family after the election, Mr Williams said he would be back at work on Monday.
“No break, it’s straight into it and I look forward to working with the new council,” he said.
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