North Queenslanders cast their vote at polling booths in 2024 Townsville City Council election
Sausage sizzles were fired up and the lines stretched out the door as residents cast their vote in the mayoral and council elections. Here’s what voters had to say.
Townsville
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Voters have queued at polling booths across Townsville this morning with some residents leaving their decision until the last minute of the race.
For months, mayoral and council candidates have been campaigning to secure their spot on Townsville City Council in the 2024 election.
For rolling statewide coverage, follow the Courier Mail’s live results, updates and latest news story.
“I’m the other guy” - Troy Thompson
Mayoral candidate Troy Thompson was spotted campaigning at Wulguru State School in Division 10 this afternoon as the race to the top spot draws closer to an end.
The Independent said residents who were voting for him were motivated more by anti-Jenny Hill sentiment, rather than being pro-Troy Thompson, because they were seeking a different way of doing things.
Mayoral candidate Troy Thompson is “comfortable but not over confident†in being the new mayor of Townsville, believing people are calling for a change in the city’s leadership. “I’m the other guy.†pic.twitter.com/YhlBEYVRos
— Christopher Burns (@bews_hound) March 16, 2024
“I’m the other guy,” he said.
“You don’t get to know candidates in seven to eight weeks...Jenny’s been around for 20 years so I think the sentiment is anti-Jenny.”
Mr Thompson said he felt “comfortable” after a recent showing of online support, but did not want to be over-confident that he would succeed in taking the role of mayor of Townsville.
If elected however, Mr Thompson said he hopes to appoint Paul Jacob (Change) as deputy mayor, pending on Mr Jacob’s outcome in Division 1 and if he could beat out his opposing candidate Margie Ryder (Team Hill).
Division 10
Residents from Division 10 lined up at Wulguru State School to cast their votes for what has been one of the tighter division races of the election.
Candidates running for a spot on council are Ben Fusco (Team Hill), Brady Ellis (Independent) and Kate Annetts (Independent).
Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto who was seen at the school endorsing Mr Fusco said it was “really hard to tell” which way residents were leaning.
He said crime was a pressing issue for Townsville voters and so any candidate that emphasised an anti-crime policy would do well with voters.
“Obviously most regulation and legislation we are talking about need to happen at a state level but what council can do is put control measures in place, everything from cameras to hand railings,” he said.
“We have two really strong candidates, the third candidate is Kate and she’s actually indicated she’s really enjoying the process at the moment and learning, but I think it’s going to be a tight one between Brady and Ben.”
Making the most of the last hours of the campaign was Mr Ellis who was also at the school and said he was confident but not overly, and knew he had done everything he could in the lead up.
Townsville Division 10 candidate Brady Ellis is jumping up and down and trying to pass on a positive energy to the voters that pass him. pic.twitter.com/JtiU6OCNwK
— Christopher Burns (@bews_hound) March 16, 2024
“People are responding really well, but it’s definitely not a clear cut winner,” he said.
The independent candidate, filled with energy, said he was excited and despite hearing feedback of many people wanting change he was under no illusion that it was a sure thing.
“We’ll just have to see how the votes fall tonight.”
Division 4
At Thuringowa State High School this morning, which sits in Division 4, the vibe of many voters was “get in and get out”, with some sharing they still weren’t sold on who to vote for.
The candidates going head to head in Division 4 are Mark Molachino (Team Hill) and Kristian Price (Independent).
Upper Ross Community Voice chairwoman Krystle Lewis visited the Thuringowa State High School’s voting booth with 11-year-old daughter Bianca, and said she believed voters would be expecting honesty from their new council.
“I also think they need to remember they are working for us,” she said.
“It’s what they are here for.”
The chairwoman endorsed the incumbent Division 4 candidate Mr Molachino because of his approachability and support for the Upper Ross community and schools.
“Mark is always a phone call away from any support that we need,” she said.
Another Division 4 voter who wished to remain anonymous, said she didn’t want to comment on the election because she didn’t know much about the candidates and said she would make her decision once the ballot paper was in front of her.
“They’re all as bad as each other,” she said.
The woman said no candidates had attempted to visit her via doorknocking, and said that would have influenced her decision.
She continued by saying she believed the state election would be more interesting given the impact of crime in her community, however, noted she thought council could discuss developments in the area that were focused on keeping children entertained, rather than families having to rely on public transport to visit neighbourhoods such as North Ward.
Division 2
Over at Division 2, for an election campaign which ran on such hot-button issues as youth crime rates and cost of living, the overwhelming feel on the day was complete disinterest from voters.
The voting line wrapped around the building at North Shore State School - the first time the location has been used as a polling location, replacing Bohlevale State School.
The real bottleneck wasn’t the number of voting booths inside the school hall, but the fact only two workers were processing everyone’s names and handing out voting papers.
Candidate Jai Philpots (Change) is up against Shari Fabbro (Team Hill) and Brodie Phillips (Independent) in the division.
Mr Philpots spent his day at the voting booth and said the electoral commission had misjudged how many voters would show up at the school, and the shortest he’d seen the line was a 20 minute wait.
“It’s been long the whole time, since it opened. Everyone from Bushland Beach is coming here and I haven’t seen the line go any shorter than the gate,” he said.
“But we’re all well behaved and it’s been pretty peaceful here so far.”
Interviewing people in the line, the overwhelming emotion from Division 2 voters was disinterest.
Of the 18 people interviewed at North Shore State School, only one woman had a clear idea of who she was voting for.
“The only reason I learnt anything about the election was because I follow Brodie Phillips on social media,” the Burdell resident said.
“There hasn’t been a lot of information out there publicly about who’s who and what they stand for, but I’m a big fan of Brodie because he’s been out there, boots on the ground and we need the change.”
Mr Phillips’ ability to use local Facebook pages to speak directly to residents has been a huge distinguishing factor for the Independent candidate.
Another voter said they didn’t watch the news at all and would just be picking a name on the voting paper, another said he was only here because he’d get a fine if he didn’t vote, and the family behind him said “we’re pretty much like the gentleman in front of us”.
There were a number of young mums in the line who said they were too busy having a baby to pay attention to the election.
Another said she normally tries to learn about her candidates and follow the news, but this year she didn’t.
“I haven’t taken a lot of notice, that’s not normal for me, but I was busy with work and life stuff,” the Mount Low resident said.
Upper Ross Community Voice chairwoman Krystle Lewis says she will be voting for incumbent Division 4 candidate and Townsville deputy mayor Mark Molachino. pic.twitter.com/XDIlRYJ4qN
— Christopher Burns (@bews_hound) March 16, 2024
A Bushland Beach resident said she liked how the campaign went.
“It was quiet, which was good, I’m glad they didn’t waste money on leaflets and signs that stay out for months on end. But we do need to address youth crime,” she said.
A new mother said she felt like youth crime was being used as a “scare tactic” by politicians.
One man said he didn’t know who he was voting for, but he was “passionately not voting” for Paul Jacob, because he found the candidate “unkind”.
Almost all of the voters said they hadn’t been watching or reading the news.
Only one mentioned reading the newspaper, which she did to find out more about the candidates.
“We did our research and watched the news and read the paper, but without those sources it’s hard to know what the candidates stand for,” the Bushland Beach resident said.
Mr Philpots, who campaigned in the division, had noticed how hard it was to speak to residents as well.
“I’ve been held back with work, because I work in mental health it’s been hard to say to my clients ‘hey I’m just going to take a few weeks off’,” he said.
“It’s unfair to do that, so that’s really held me back a bit and the Change candidates are self-funded, we aren’t getting money from anyone, maybe someone offers to volunteer but that’s it.”
Mr Philpots said once the election was over, his first job was mowing his lawn as it had been neglected for weeks.
Division 5
Volunteering at Willows State School, which is part of Division 5, was Travis Cook the son of incumbent councillor Russ Cook who has been campaigning for a third term.
The son had “no doubts” of his father’s success.
“He’s done well over the last eight years and I can’t see why he can’t do it again,” the volunteer said.
A voter was heard criticising the volunteers - including Mr Cook - for elected officials’ lack of visibility.
Afterwards Mr Cook said it was the first time such criticism had been aired to him and explained he had enjoyed campaigning with his father.
“You see all characters of life, you get to communicate and have conversations and answer questions,” he said.
The son of a Townsville councillor. Travis Cook says what his father has taught him. pic.twitter.com/0ivkF7aUXZ
— Christopher Burns (@bews_hound) March 16, 2024
Voting booths will be open until 6pm today, residents can find everything they need to know about where and how to vote here.
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