Former Gold Coast Show boss Lavinia Rampino has spent six months plotting to beat Tom Tate

Former Gold Coast Show Society boss Lavinia Rampino has put her hat in the ring for the mayoral race. Find out why she is taking on Tom Tate.

Lavinia Rampino is running for mayor in the 2024 Gold Coast City Council election.

Former Gold Coast Show Society boss Lavinia Rampino has put her hat in the ring for the mayoral race in what she calls a “scary but exciting” bid for fresh council leadership.

Tom Tate in seeking a record fourth term now faces three opponents with marketing strategist Danielle Dunsmore and businesswoman Virginia Freebody having launched their campaigns.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate. Picture NCA NewsWire / Aaron Francis

“Obviously I’ve worked with Tom. I know Tom. It was about do we need someone else now,” Ms Rampino said.

“It’s that simple. I like what Tom has done and Tom has supported me – when we moved the Show he was supportive. I don’t have an issue with that. I just think we need to look at things – it’s a whole new world out there.”

Gold Coast Show Manager Lavinia Rampino at the Gold Coast Turf Club

Electoral disclosure records reveal Ms Rampino is not a late starter, buying a professional

“coaching pack” for $1650 in June last year. About $2500 was outlayed for caps and T-shirts before Christmas.

Early voting starts on March 4. Nominations for candidates opened this week. The poll is on March 16.

Ms Rampino admitted to having thought about the mayoralty “for a couple of years”, after finishing an 11-year stint at the Show and starting her own business.

She said many people approached her about running. Her election banner says “it’s time for new leadership”.

“The next four years will be absolutely critical. So much going on – the (2032) Olympics, infrastructure, the cost of living, people moving up here,” she said.

Lavinia Rampino is running for mayor in the 2024 Gold Coast City Council election.

Ms Rampino said one of the big planks of her campaign was transparency.

“We have to listen to people. At the end of the day, they’re our stakeholders,” she said.

“I guess that was always what terrified me the most, you go out there, you are going to be a leader and going to make decisions and they are going to affect people’s lives.

“It’s a huge responsibility and that’s why I guess it’s taken a couple of years to make sure I can do the job and going to be the right person for it. It’s scary in one way but really exciting in another.”

Ms Rampino has been a Coast resident for more than 20 years, living with her partner Vince. They have three adult children. She is a Southport Chamber of Commerce board member.

She believes her role as CEO at the Show cemented strong ties with the state government and council.

Flashback – Gold Coast Show manager Lavinia Rampino is hoping to find some of the Show girls featured in these pictures. Pics Tim Marsden.

Ms Rampino was involved in the difficult site move for the Show after the 2018 Commonwealth Games acquired the Parklands Showground for the Athletes Village.

Despite the Show being relocated it expanded, growing from 60,000 attendees to more than 150,000 people in 12 months. Ms Rampino was made a life member of the Show Society.

When she left in 2020 Ms Rampino described the her time in the Show as “a special place”.

“To me the Show has been not just a job, but a crazy fabulous family having met some incredible and amazing people along the journey,” she said.

In 2020 with most of the events and arts industry shut down due to Covid, Ms Rampino took the opportunity to executive produce her partner’s feature film and set up a company to facilitate businesses with events management.

The company launched the Pakistani Film Festival in collaboration with the Pakistani government along with international film students studying on the Coast.

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