Peter Flannery edges out competition to be named the second mayor of Moreton Bay

Two weeks after the election Moreton Bay Regional Council finally has a new mayor. Just half of the councillors have been confirmed with more declarations expected to made this afternoon.

Votes for the Moreton Bay Regional Council are still being counted following the March 28 election. Picture: Alix Sweeney

Peter Flannery has been named as the second mayor of the Moreton Bay Regional Council.

The position was vacated by Allan Sutherland, who retired.

Mr Sutherland is currently facing criminal misconduct charges brought by the CCC.

Cr Flannery said after such a long wait, and a close contest with fellow candidate Chris Thompson, he had mixed emotions.

“The margin was about 8000 votes,” Cr Flannery said.

“I am excited to get down to work as soon as we can and form the new council.

“We have many issues to deal with, in particular those that have arisen from coronavirus.”

He said council would be looking at ways to further stimulate the economy, look after small businesses and help the mums and dads in the region.

Few people turned up to vote at Pine Rivers State High School on March 28, a usually busy polling booth. PHOTO: AAP/ Sarah Marshall

The announcement follows the Electoral Commission of Queensland, just hours earlier, saying it could not give a time frame on when results would be known.

Two weeks have passed since the Local Government Election and less than half of the council has been decided.

A ECQ spokeswoman said: “The counting processes are continuing and the elections will be declared when the outcome is mathematically certain”.

Of the more than 306,000 electors in the region, approximately more than 61,700 voted on election day.

More than 5060 registered for telephone voting, more than 51,600 registered for a postal vote and approximately 93,000 pre-polled.

The ECQ said initial results showed that approximately 30 per cent of electors did not vote at all.

Which the spokeswoman said was at the “high end of voters not marked off as having voted” when compared to other council areas in Queensland.

It follows community concern regarding the COVID-19 outbreak. Many called for the election to be cancelled.

“Following all the declarations, non-voters may receive a ‘failure to vote’ notice. They then have the opportunity to explain their reasons for not voting. A fine is not automatic,” an ECQ spokeswoman said.

Moreton Bay Regional Council mayor-elect Peter Flannery Picture: Renae Droop RWD Photography

Cr Flannery said he expected to be sworn in to his new role on Friday, along with the other councillors.

He said all councillors, new and experienced, would have to partake in new training.

This will include an overview of council operations, the planning scheme, budget process, local laws, IT and the capital and operational works budgets.

“Once we deal with the next stimulus package we will be straight into the budget process, which will be intense for the new councillors,” Cr Flannery said.

The new mayor said the aim would be to keep rates caped around CPI.

“That has always been council’s process, but we will have to take into consideration the situation with coronavirus and how that will affect the budget,” Cr Flannery said.

He said the council’s first meeting was likely to be held later this week or next week – depending on final counts for the remaining council divisions.

The meeting is expected to be live-streamed from to council chambers to allow councillors to maintain social distancing.

Cr Flannery said the first meeting would include voting in a deputy mayor and assigning councillors to portfolios.

He said at this stage he was aware of five people interested in the deputy mayor position: Adam Hain, Darren Grimwade, Denise Sims and Matt Constance.

In relation to the other divisions division Five is still a close race between Sandra Ruck, Troy Fernandez and Peter Parkes.

It is still too close to call in Divisions 9 and 12.

Clear winners have emerged in Divisions 2, 4 and 6 – with Mark Booth (Div 2), Jodie Shipway (Div 4) and Karl Winchester (Div 6) – but they are yet to be officially declared as victors.

So far Councillors for Divisions 1, 2, 3, 7, 10 and 11 have been confirmed.

This is the Moreton Bay Regional Council as it stands at the moment:

Mayor: Peter Flannery

Division 1: Brooke Savige

Division 3: Adam Hain

Division 7: Denise Sims

Division 10: Matt Constance

Division 11: Darren Grimwade

Cr Adam Hain said he was glad to be back in the hot seat.

“We can’t form council until everyone is declared,” Cr Hain said. “We were meant to be sworn in today, but we are still following the bouncing ball until the ECQ can finalise the count.”

Cr Hain said the close divisions and preferential votes were slowing down the process.

The councillor, who was first elected in 2016, said the new council’s first priority would be the 2020-21 Budget.

“There pressure is going to be on us, we have to have a budget delivered by the end of June,” Cr Hain said.

Division 3 Cr Adam Hain plans to put his hand up for the Moreton Bay Regional Council Deputy Mayor job.

“The new councillors will be thrown into the fray of budget workshops that fast and hard their heads will spin, I know from experience because that is exactly what happened to me when I was first elected in 2016.”

He said council’s multimillion-dollar stimulus package, to help those hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, would also add to the already mammoth task.

“It is a six week process so as soon as we are all declared we will be into it,” he said.

Cr Hain said he also planned to put his hand up for the Deputy Mayor job.

The position is currently held by Cr Mike Charlton, who is in a close race against Cath Tonks for Division 9.

He said part of this would include ensuring that every resident, through their councillor, gets heard and “gets a fair share of the budget considerations”.