POLL: Which Cairns mayoral candidate has your vote?

There are five people, so far, campaigning to be elected the next mayor of Cairns – three team leaders and two independent candidates. Which council candidates are going to get your vote?

Who will get your votes at the March 16 Cairns Regional Council election?

The local government election campaign has officially begun as councils throughout Queensland enter their caretaker periods.

There are five people, so far, campaigning to be elected the next mayor of Cairns – three team leaders and two independent candidates.

After 23 years in council, most of them as deputy, Terry James got a little headstart on the process, ascending to the top job in November after the resignation of Bob Manning.

He’ll be looking to avoid becoming one the shortest-lived Cairns mayors in history.

Cairns mayoral candidates (left to right) Amy Eden, Paul Taylor, Denis Walls, John Kelly and Terry James. Picture: File photos

Amy Eden, the Division 5 councillor and leader of Team Eden, will be seeking a promotion after just one term at council – a rare feat.

Denis Walls, the former CAFNEC president and leader of Community First, has a long career in environmental campaigning.

Independent Paul Taylor’s decades-long police career came to a sudden end in 2022; he’s now seeking a new venture as Cairns’ leader.

John Kelly, another independent, is ostensibly running as leader of the “Common Sense Team”, but his team ambitions have not come to fruition, and at the moment he is running on his own.

Nick Loukas, managing director of Loukas Group, confirmed he would not nominate after months of speculation.

Division 1

Incumbent Brett Moller begins his campaign for re-election unchallenged.

People including current councillors and former rivals attribute this to the strength of the Moller name in suburbs such as Babinda and Gordonvale.

Division 2

The southern corridor division is the most competitive, possibly due to the vacancy left by Rob Pyne, who is attempting a switch to Division 5.

Six candidates have nominated.

Former Division 2 councillor John Schilling, Cairns Chamber vice president Matthew Tickner and high school teacher Stephen Lippingwell are the three independent candidates.

Unity has nominated local business woman Nikki Giumelli, Team Eden has put forward CARMA president Kesa Strieby and Community First recently confirmed Indigenous community developer Patricia Courtenay as their choice.

Division 3

It seems incumbent Cathy Zeiger has scared away competition from other independent candidates.

She won the division by a mammoth amount of votes in 2020; as it stands, Ms Zeiger will be opposed this time by Unity’s Heidi Healy, a local business woman, and Community First’s Marisa Seden, a small-business owner.

Division 4

Unlike Division 2, the vacancy of an long-term incumbent has not been filled by a rush of independents.

Instead, the western suburbs division will choose from Team Eden’s candidate and radio host Trevor Tim, independent Shane Cuthbert and Unity’s candidate Jeremy Neal, a paramedic whose controversial appointment to council in January followed Mr James’ promotion to mayor.

Division 5

Rob Pyne is campaigning to represent a third division in his career as a Cairns councillor, having previously served for Division 2 and 3.

But he is up against Unity candidate Nathan Lee Long, a team leader at Jacobs and former UDIA branch president, and Team Eden’s Emma Gelling, a local business owner.

Division 6

Incumbent Kristy Vallely finds herself after just one term as one of the senior members of the Unity Team.

To secure a second term, she will need to triumph over local business owner and independent Alan Benn, real estate agent and Team Eden’s candidate Shane Trimby, and Nicole Sleeman, a GP and spokeswoman for Doctors for the Environment.

Division 7

In past elections Division 7 has been a very competitive seat, although retiring three-termer Max O’Halloran blitzed his opponents each time.

It’s surprising only four candidates have nominated following his retirement.

Unity’s Matthew Calanna, a businessman, is taking Mr O’Halloran’s spot on the Unity ticket.

He will compete against physio and businesswoman Anna Middleton, the sole independent, as well as Community First’s Renee Lees, a lawyer and former federal senate candidate, and Ian Moller Nielsen, the Cairns Show Association secretary who in July last year he said he would run as an independent but has now joined Team Eden.

Division 8

Incumbent councillor Rhonda Coghlan mirrors the contest of her Unity sister Kristy Vallely – to win re-election, she needs to beat a popular independent and two well-known team candidates.

Independent Hannah Boon, last year’s volunteer of the year, Team Eden’s Jo Piggott, last year’s woman of the year, and Community First’s Phillip Musumeci, the 2022 Greens’ federal candidate for Leichhardt, will all try to snatch Ms Coghlan’s seat.

Division 9

Taking Division 9 from incumbent Brett Olds is a difficult task, and two team leaders, Terry James and Amy Eden, have backed away from trying.

The loquacious independent has become the de facto leader of the opposition at council in 2023, stirring and supporting grassroots campaigns against contentious policies, development proposals and council appointments, which has seemingly increased his popularity.

But Community First’s Carine Visschers, a plucky environmental campaigner, has been executing a dedicated shoe-leather campaign to get the job done on Mr Olds.

But unseating the two-termer might rely on the entry of a third candidate who can carve up the vote share a little more.

Originally published as POLL: Which Cairns mayoral candidate has your vote?