Janice Moriarty declared mayor of Central Highlands Regional Council

The Central Highlands Regional Council’s first female mayor says she’s honoured to be chosen to “champion our community” as an expert researcher reveals why women are increasingly being picked as political leaders across the state.

Janice Moriarty, mayoral candidate for Central Highlands Regional Council.

The Central Highlands Regional Council has its first female mayor since it was established in 2008 after Janice Moriarty was officially declared the winner by the Electoral Commission Queensland on Thursday.

Ms Moriarty, who was previously a councillor in the most recent local government term, was voted in over former mayor Kerry Hayes.

She received 7643 votes with Mr Hayes on 5290.

First elected as a councillor in 2020, Ms Moriarty has lived in the Central Highlands region for nearly 28 years and runs her own small consultant business, specialising in community development and research projects.

A mum-of-three and grandmother, Ms Moriarty rates her greatest achievement as raising her kids and is proud her granddaughters are fifth-generation members of the family living in Emerald.

Ms Moriarty announced she would be running for mayor on February 17 and shared her “bold vision” to “engage, listen and build trust, fairer rates, make every dollar count” and “focus on the right priorities”.

During her campaign Ms Moriarty travelled all through the Central Highlands Regional Council area and met with residents and community groups.

After officially being declared as mayor Ms Moriarty thanked the community for their support.

“A massive thank you to everyone who voted – your faith in me to champion our community means the world,” she said.

“I would like to acknowledge and thank former mayor Kerry Hayes for his many years of dedication and service to the Central Highlands, and to the previous council for their commitment, with whom I worked alongside for the last four years.

“My pledge is to continue to be approachable, listen and be visible in all communities. I look forward to working with a new team of councillors and bringing a fresh leadership approach to council.

“And to all the councillor candidates: stepping up takes courage – thank you for your dedication.”

Ms Moriarty joins large cohort of women elected into mayoral and councillor positions across the state.

According to a snapshot of this year’s election from the LGAQ, 37 per cent of candidates were female.

27 per cent of mayoral candidates were women and 40 per cent of councillor candidates women also.

Research fellow in the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at Griffith University Dr Pan Petter said more women being elected into council could be attributed to a number of different things.

“Politics is not just a man’s game anymore,” he said.

Dr Pan Petter is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at Griffith University.

“There are changing social attitudes so it could be a case where maybe people trust women more or they do better in certain circumstances.

“Where there’s been a time of crisis or something like that it could be a case of think crisis, think women - maybe they’re turning to women to help rebuild after something like that.

“A lot of areas struggled to attract candidates and went uncontested, which could be attributed to the cost of living and people not being able to afford to take the time off work and campaign, but maybe it’s also a case where more women were able to take that time away from work and campaign and raise the money.”

The councillors that will sit at the Central Highlands Regional Council table are yet to be declared.

What’s next for Kerry Hayes

Former mayor Kerry Hayes took to social media on Wednesday morning to thank residents of the Central Highlands for their support throughout the last eight years.

Mr Hayes had been mayor for eight years and was a councillor on the Emerald Shire Council for 15 years before that.

He was first elected as Mayor in 2016 and was re-elected unopposed at the 2020 election.

Mr Hayes and his partner Bronwen have owned and operated Emerald Land and Cattle Company for more than 30 years.

The company has a business reach over the entire Central Queensland region. It provides a range of services and expertise in livestock and property sales and water trading as well as land development.

“I’ve spent the last few days packing up, advising regional groups and boards of my departure and thanking staff and others for the roles they have played in eight enjoyable and productive years as mayor,” he said.

“It was an exhaustive campaign but in the end my community has chosen someone else to lead our region.

“Congratulations to those who have been elected and I can unequivocally say that you will now be the custodians of a sound financial Council and start your term with the most significant programme of capital works that has ever been funded. You need to thank the council that precedes you for that.

“As a boy growing up in Emerald I never dreamed that one day I would be a councillor for 15 years and a Mayor for eight years. I have been blessed and I have given more than most back to my community.

“Thank you for the honour of those years of representation. I acknowledge all of my colleagues over that time and the brilliant staff who turn strategies into plans and reality. It’s been a great journey.”

Originally published as Janice Moriarty declared mayor of Central Highlands Regional Council