Amy Eden declared Cairns Mayor in 2024 local government elections
The next Cairns Regional Council has been officially declared, paving the way for the local government to tackle its next four-year term after weeks of inaction and uncertainty.
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The next Cairns Regional Council has been officially declared, paving the way for the local government to tackle its next four-year term after weeks of inaction and uncertainty.
Amy Eden’s remarkable rise from a first-term councillor to the next Cairns mayor was confirmed on Wednesday morning, just a day after the final councillor elections were made certain.
The former Division 5 councillor has a huge task ahead of her leading a team with only one clear ally in Trevor Tim, who was narrowly elected to Division 4 under the Team Eden banner.
Matthew Tickner in Division 2 and Anna Middleton in Division 7 are the other two council newcomers next to Mr Tim, while six councillors have been re-elected.
They include three Unity members – Brett Moller, Kristy Vallely and Rhonda Coghlan – as well as Brett Olds and Cathy Zeiger, who are both independents.
Ms Eden was first elected to council in 2020 by just a handful of votes and with the backing of the Unity party. She defected soon after and spent the rest of the term as a thorn in the experienced team’s side.
Ms Eden said the first order of business would be to get the council sworn in, which is expected to happen next week, and appoint a deputy mayor.
“It feels good (to see the result). I’m really excited and ready to get to work,” she said.
“Thank you to the people of Cairns.”
The 2024 local government elections have been a significant blow to Unity, which has lost their leader and incumbent mayor Terry James.
The team also failed to get any of its four new candidates elected and Jeremy Neal – who became the Division 4 councillor thanks to an internal council vote in January – lost his position when it came down to the preference count.
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Originally published as Amy Eden declared Cairns Mayor in 2024 local government elections
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