Gold Coast Mayoralty: Tension grows over Mayor Tom Tate’s plans to contest 2024 election

Tensions are building at city hall over the Gold Coast mayoralty and who will lead the city in the future. But Mayor Tom Tate has a blunt message for any of his colleagues considering a challenge.

Mayor Tom Tate has thrown down the gauntlet for any of his colleagues to challenge him for the city’s top job.

It comes as tensions grow at city hall over the mayoralty and the councillor viewed by many as the heir-apparent refusing to rule out a tilt.

With 18 months left to run until the next election the Bulletin understands several councillors are considering running against Mr Tate at the 2024 poll.

The Mayor, who has already announced he will run for a record fourth term in office, could face either planning boss Cameron Caldwell or lifestyle chief Hermann Vorster who are both seen as the most likely candidates for a tilt at the mayoralty.

Mayor Tom Tate. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

Cr Tate issued a blunt message to any of his colleagues thinking about a challenge.

“I welcome anyone planning on contesting the 2024 Gold Coast elections,” he said.

“I will stand by my record of what the city has achieved over the past decade and what I see as the priorities moving forward.’’

It comes after weeks of growing discontent within city hall over the state of the city’s preparedness for the 2032 Olympic Games.

Tensions boiled over behind closed doors at a recent council meeting discussing the light rail extension and Destination Gold Coast board seats which was described by one witness as “pig ugly”.

“I’m not naming anyone but there’s a few who are probably hoping the Mayor will feel the pressure to just throw in the towel,” a council insider told the Bulletin.

Councillor Cameron Caldwell is seen as a potential candidate for the mayoralty. Picture Glenn Hampson

It’s been a decade since a sitting councillor last challenged for the mayoralty.

However, running for the mayoralty comes with a risk for sitting councillors – they must give up their posts and, if they lose, will be out of politics.

Cr Caldwell, who was elected alongside Cr Tate in 2012, has long been viewed as a potential future mayor insisted he was not focused on the 2024 election, thought did not address whether he would contest the position.

“I appreciate observers are talking about 2024, but I am busy working on the issues that are important to locals in 2022, he said.

“I am focused on keeping the Gold Coast as the best place to live, work and raise a family.

Councillor Hermann Vorster. Picture, John Gass

“We must keep our finances strong to keep rates low, build better roads to ease traffic congestion, and protect the environment that we all value.

“There is no point talking about an election that is 519 days away when there is so much to do now.”

Cr Vorster, first elected in 2016, said he was more likely to take up professional sports than the mayoralty.

“I understand my work to rein in overdevelopment, push for light rail transparency, oppose car park sales, and expose the state government’s many failures raises questions,” he said.

“But the truth is there’s more chance of me becoming the full-forward for the Gold Coast Suns than launching a bid for the Mayoralty.”

However, his latter quote echoes a 2010 quote by then-deputy prime minister Julia Gillard made just weeks before she deposed Kevin Rudd to become Australia’s first female Prime Minister.

Councillor Cameron Caldwell, Mayor Tom Tate and Deputy Mayor Donna Gates.

Deputy Mayor Donna Gates, who first became a councillor in 2007, ruled out running for mayor.

Cr Gates said Cr Tate had “made it clear” he is standing again in 2024. “I have also publicly made it clear that I hope to be re-elected to Division 3 in 2024”.

Cr Tate was first elected in April 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020, with more than two thirds of the preferential vote.

In July last year, the Mayor told the Bulletin he was eyeing a record-breaking fourth term as mayor and says he’d win in a bigger landslide than previous occasions if his own street poll is to be believed.

He shocked colleagues and rivals when he posted a video online noting he was actively considering a fourth term in office despite many critics expecting he would retire in March 2024.