Increase fee to raise standard of candidates: Tate

Incumbent Mayor Tom Tate has called for the state government to massively increase the fee for mayoral candidates to force “unserious” contenders out of the race.

Mr Tate, speaking on the first day of pre-poll blasted candidates who had neither signage, how-to-vote cards nor any kind of presence at booths and said the threshold for nomination fees should be increased from $250 to at least $3000.

Mr Tate said it was important to “raise the standard of candidates for the mayoralty”.

“They should raise the fee so that it stops people, unknowns (who are only running) to raise their profile on the back of local elections,” he said.

“Make it the same as a federal seat – about $3000 – to become a candidate and if you are serious, you should be able to get that in, plus you get a refund if you secure 4 per cent of the vote anyway.

“That will make sure that the good candidates come through because when it is last-minute self-promotion candidates, other people don’t want to do it,” he said.

It comes a week after seven of the nine mayoral candidates appeared at the Central Chamber of Commerce’s election breakfast.

During the event, serial candidate Brett Lambert, who nominated less than an hour before cut-off, used his speech to launch a fiery attack on Mr Tate’s leadership and credibility, claiming the city was “choking in debt, dishonesty and deception”.

“The Gold Coast is now looking worse than the Gaza Strip, it’s looking worse under his watch, this is not a good thing,” he said.

Mr Tate remained stoic during the debate and did not respond to Mr Lambert’s claims.

Neither candidate Gary Pead nor Animal Justice Party nominee Jennifer Horsburgh attended. The latter has not campaigned nor spoken publicly about her tilt at the mayoralty.

Mr Tate, who hopes to secure a fourth term in office on March 16, said he was disappointed in the field of candidates. “I speak my mind and this is my fourth time, but we had stronger candidates at previous mayoral elections,” he said. “People know I cheer democracy, but this would only improve things.”