Poll shock: Tom Tate’s nightmare
Mayor Tom Tate will only begin to campaign this month. But his dream poll run, if he wins on March 16, could turn into a nightmare fourth term.
The reason is an anti-Tate tide could surface in the council divisions. Think the Deep South.
His mayoral opponents are Virginia Freebody, Danielle Dunsmore and Lavinia Rampino.
They are pleasant, not prone to moaning on Facebook.
They offer fresh ideas and talk of “new leadership”. Not cashed up or big names, but genuine grassroots candidates.
That last credential should and does worry the Mayor’s campaign team.
Mr Tate faced seven candidates in 2020. He won with more than 55 per cent of the vote.
Mona Hecke, who was the busiest, out in the community with listening posts, ran second with almost 25 per cent. Ms Freebody polled 5.6 per cent.
Mr Tate raised $340,445 in his first tilt in 2012 in donations from related businesses including $222,000 from Tate Family Holdings.
The cap for mayoral candidates is now $232,100.
No one will raise or spend anything like that. Mr Tate with his citywide profile is the favourite. Predicting his councillors is harder. We have 14 divisions in our city. Five councillors are currently unopposed.
Mark Hammel, Donna Gates, Shelley Curtis, Darren Taylor and
Bob La Castra are set to return. Gone will be retiring Daphne McDonald – a guaranteed “no” vote against trams and high-rise.
Mudgeeraba’s Glenn Tozer and Nerang-Pacific Pines Peter Young, if returned, until recent times, were also in the “naughty corner” of the chamber.
As the Mayor opted less for cruise ships and more buying up environmental land, they have voted with him.
Let’s consider some of the candidates. Nikki Archer in Palm Beach is the Mayor’s most vocal critic. Kath Down at Currumbin is antitram campaign with Save Our Southern Gold Coast.
These two don’t talk to each other (a story for another day), but they will vote against trams.
Cathy Osborne, if she wins in Miami where Pauline Young has retired, similarly is entrenched in the South’s lifestyle’s fight against development.
Councillor Young was on board with trams, the City’s transport committee chair steering a policy that would lead to light rail Stage 4 to the border being completed before the 2032 Olympics.
You can see where all this is heading, can’t you? Mr Tate in a “legacy term” will want a boutique indoor stadium, HOTA upgraded, the Carrara Stadium with more seats and an “Olympic” roof on Southport Aquatic Centre.
He needs eight votes in the chamber. He got it, for the most part, in early terms.
A City Hall insider told your columnist: “It’s fair to say anyone
“The reason is an anti-Tate tide could surface in the council divisions. Think the Deep South
suggesting Tom Tate had eight (votes) this term is kidding themselves.
“He definitely won’t have it in the next term. He will seriously have to do a lot of work to get some of the new councillors on board.”
So yes, your vote, on March 16 will count for more than mayor.
It will determine the important votes in the chamber in the months that follow.
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
The March 16 council poll looms as the last for Tom Tate.
The Mayor is seeking a record fourth term, and those closest to him do not believe, despite the speculation, that he will consider hanging on for the 2032 Olympic Games.
BALLERS IN OUR COURT
Our city is leading a sprint for a new national sporting team.
Despite competition from down south, it’s a safe bet that an NBL side will be based at either Carrara or the Broadbeach Convention Centre, most likely from 2025.
A City Hall insider says: “The NBL are keen for the Gold Coast to be the next port of call, but the key is they want a proper indoor venue in the longer term for basketball.”
Mr Tate has been involved in the talks, and the first business of the next council will be a vote on a new boutique indoor stadium.
NON-TALKING HEADS
Two candidates are running in a council division, each seeking counsel from a strategist.
Those two advisers – one is a former council employee and the other a current councillor – never spoke at City Hall.
Imagine if they start handing out how-to-vote cards.
FARMER KNOWS BEST
All of us in the ’burbs were bunkered in for Australia Day after reports suggested the city would be “smashed” by a cyclone. So what’s the deal when it’s a storm in a teacup? Ask a farmer for the best advice. My caneman gives this prediction. If the north copped the recent rain bomb that hit Brisbane, major flooding would have occurred because the region’s drains and rivers cannot cope.