Toowoomba council election 2024: Official nominations revealed as corflutes start appearing

In what has been a sluggish start to the 2024 elections, corflutes have started appearing across Toowoomba for a variety of candidates. But just one person has officially nominated so far.

Council candidate corflutes have already started popping up across Toowoomba, despite the fact just one person has formally nominated for the upcoming local government elections.

In a sign the dour start to the 2024 elections might have finally kicked up a gear, signs for sitting councillors Tim McMahon and Kerry Shine as well as new candidates Andrew Reeson and Trevor Manteufel have been spotted in some of the city’s suburbs.

Signage for Toowoomba council candidates, Queens Park.

The signage comes despite the ECQ website registering just a single name — Mr Manteufel — for either the mayoral or councillor races in the Toowoomba region at the time of publication.

Since the election opened on Monday, 35 people have already nominated to run for mayor across a variety of council areas, including two candidates in the neighbouring region of the Lockyer Valley.

At this point, Toowoomba doesn’t even have a real race for mayor, with incumbent Geoff McDonald the only nominee at this point.

Mr McDonald launched his campaign on Monday, promoting a six-pillar leadership model while also promising to tackle the looming $270m upgrade of the Cressbrook Dam spillways that threatens to push up rates and delay other key council projects.

Incumbent TRC Mayor Geoff McDonald, with family (from left) wife Lisa, mum Joan and sister Maree, announces he will stand for the position in the upcoming local government election, Monday, January 29, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

“Over the past six months of my leadership, the cohesion of the elected representatives has never been higher,” he said at the launch.

“I’m looking forward to instilling that same level of leadership, built on six pillars – inclusivity, community, sustainability, economic growth, innovation and safety.”

The lead-up to the current election has been mired by a lack of enthusiasm from both the public and potential contenders, with about a dozen candidates confirmed by last week.

At least five former candidates told News Corp they wouldn’t re-contest in march, with some giving scathing assessments of how the council operated currently.

“Why would I want to be part of the council that’s more interested in infighting?” 2020 candidate Ben Apsey said.

“We’ve got a bunch of politicians more concerned with getting re-elected than actually doing anything for this city.”

In another worrying trend, there are no new female candidates confirmed at this point, with the only women in the running already sitting councillors.

Nancy Sommerfield is the only confirmed incumbent not re-contesting at this point, meaning there will be at least one new councillor at the next term.

Deputy mayor Rebecca Vonhoff and councillor Melissa Taylor have yet to confirm their candidacies.

Nominations close on February 13, with early voting to start from March 4 ahead of final election day on March 16.