Brisbane City Council election live

Antony Green is live-blogging the Brisbane City Council election count (first results should come through in about 30 minutes), so rather than set up in competition with him, I think it’s best if we all head over there.

UPDATE: Feel free though to use this thread to discuss the results if you’re finding Antony’s multiple posts problematic.

UPDATE 2: You can also feel free to discuss councils other than Brisbane.

UPDATE 3: Looks like I can’t help myself. Live blogging follows below:

7.30pm Brisbane time: ABC computer now predicting a huge win for Campbell Newman plus a Liberal majority on council, though Antony still expressing caution about the latter.

7.40pm: Although it seems Ross Vasta’s bid for Wynnum-Manly has failed with a vengeance.

8.05pm: The Liberals needed a notional gain of three seats to win the council. As I see it, they have won Marchant and Holland Park. Parkinson, Enoggera, Doboy, Central and Northgate are all in play (perhaps also Jamboree, where counting proceeds at a snail’s pace), but the Liberals only lead in the first two. I suspect Labor will pull further ahead in Central as more figures come in.

8.35pm: Further figures have moved Holland Park back to the doubtful column, but the Liberals are now home in Parkinson. So the Liberals still need to bag one more doubtful ward. Holland Park is the only one where they are ahead – they are slightly behind in Enoggera, Doboy and Northgate. Labor pulling further ahead in Central, but Greens preferences are a possible wild card here.

8.47pm: Antony Green says Jamboree is now in the Liberal gain column, but the ABC computer figures are lagging badly here. The ECQ shows a Liberal 54.25-45.75 lead on two-party preferred with 44 per cent counted, which sounds pretty convincing. So you could almost call it for a Liberal majority at this point.

8:54pm: More figures in at ABC, and the Liberals have recovered their earlier handsome lead in Holland Park, probably putting any doubts about their majority to rest.

9.04pm: Antony, who has more up to date figures, suggests the four Liberal gains are all holding firm and they are only slightly behind in Enoggera. Doboy still looks in doubt to me, but maybe Antony knows something I don’t.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

162 comments on “Brisbane City Council election live”

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  1. AG – the campaign can pretty much be described as ‘what campaign?’

    By both sides. Few advertisements, next to no baby kissing, zero community activism, no themes, no grand plans for why you should vote for anyone. It’s not like Brisbane doesnt have serious issues to deal with. It was the most hopeless election I’ve ever seen.

    And it showed – when I voted today, most of the rest of the voters were just pissed off that they had to go and put pencil to paper in the first place.

  2. The Liberals needed a notional gain of three seats to win the council. As I see it, they have won Marchant and Holland Park. Parkinson, Enoggera, Doboy, Central and Northgate are all in play, but the Liberals only lead in the first two. I suspect Labor will pull further ahead in Central as further figures come in.

  3. Well Shanahan can now write that the ALP lose support in Brisbane the home of Rudd!

    Something tells me there is no connection but yeah no need to spoil a good story.

  4. Remember the old saying, “be careful what you wish for”.

    If the Libs get up with a bare majority in Brisbane City Council, then “Can-Do” may well live to regret it and feel like his next 4 years are being spent in Purgatory!

    At least with a majority Cabinet consisting of experienced Labor Councillors, he was able to get most of his program through without much difficulty.

    If Can-Do now has to appoint an inexperienced Cabinet with the certainty of many of them belonging to differing factions, then he may well find that the previous arrangement was a piece of cake once the Lib Factional Warlords and their range of vested interests start to take over the running of the Council.

    The electors in the various Wards may also come to regret their decision to give the Libs a go. This mob will not be running things for the benefit of ordinary citizens. They will be running it for the benefit of the big end of town.

  5. Aussie g, from what I could see, Labor ran dead during the campaign and the Libs spent a motza and campaigned fairly hard.

    There has to be a better reason than complacency to explain it but I don’t know for the life of me what it is.

    In the new “Super Council” of Rockhampton, which is a strong Labor area, there was not one single candidate running on an ALP ticket from what I could determine.

    Some of the candidates ran with the green colour of the Nats and others used Lib blue, but there was no direct linkage with any political party. Strange to say the least because this has never happened here before.

  6. Holy shite! If the libs win the Brissy city council – what comes next? Nuclear power stations … clogged drains … leaves on the nice footpaths …

    I am scared and fear for the future.

  7. Further figures have moved Holland Park back to the doubtful column, but the Liberals are now home in Parkinson. So the Liberals still need to bag one more doubtful ward. Holland Park is the only one where they are ahead – they are slightly behind in Enoggera, Doboy and Northgate. Labor pulling further ahead in Central, but Greens preferences are a possible wild card here.

  8. Aussieguru01 Says: @ 16,

    [what case did Labor put forward to make a difference? ]

    According to this unhappy commenter on Antony’s ABC site, not much.

    [Can’t say I’m happy with a Liberal winning Enoggera but I’m angry as hell that Labor didn’t give me a local or a Lord Mayoral candidate I could vote for. It was an apalling campaign and the results speak for themselves. ]

    http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2008/03/labor-losing-en.html#more

  9. ruawake, anyone who beats a schmuck like Natoli 70/30 is entitled to claim victory early if Joey “The Bigot”was slow to concede. My feelings about Natoli are in this short LP thread.
    http://larvatusprodeo.net/2008/03/14/brisbane-votes-ii/

    Btw, Russell Green got up in our division. Is Vivian Griffin your new councillor?
    As you wryly note: “Big Bob Abbott to be new mayor of the council he opposed.”
    The old reverse psychology with twist was too much for Natoli to handle.

    Basically, from the time Natoli threatened to sue the charity organisers of a fundraiser at Nambour Showground, when Joey Macho insisted on riding a bull against the advice of many and hurt his back when thrown off, his political goose was cooked. That, mon ami, was form far worse than declaring victory early so Coasters could get on with their “avagoodweegend” imperatives.

  10. are we really so hopeless and desparate that we blog LOCAL COUNCIL elections-give me a break!!! and glen, quite happy for your lot to win at this level!!

  11. well as someone who dosnt live in Brisbane i must say im quite upbeat about the results. Liberals seem to thrive when they have someone else to blame for their own misgivings. Let this be a reminder to the good people of brisbane next time a state/federal election comes along. Im sure he will find a way to blame the state government or inter state migration but it will look that more pathetic.

  12. hey all

    in other news

    Townsville – long-serving Labor Mayor Tony Mooney is out – former Thuringowa Mayor Les Tyrell is in.

    Cairns – Kevin Byrne is in deep, deep trouble – Val Schier looks like she will take it.

    Goldie – Ron Clarke looks safe – just.

  13. Paroo Shire – So much for the beat up about the bloke who wanted to expell the local Black fellas. He got all of 12 votes.

  14. The Qld Electoral Commission web site is pretty slow in posting results up on Councils further north than Rocky.

    The early results for Mooney in Townsville look bad but most of the count has still to come in.

    Noticed a number of long standing Mayors and Councillors loosing their seats. The electors probably felt that this was as good an opportunity as any to get rid op poor performers and let in some new blood.

  15. The fact is that the Libs DID run a better campaign than Labor in Brisbane – their message was “Give Campbell a go – he’s being obstructed by a hostile council”. Labor did some kind of cod-Machiavellian thing where they thought they’d hold onto the wards, implant some messages about Newman for ’12 and get away with running a mayoral candidate (who was clearly out of his depth) without giving him anything good to say. I’m a lefty at heart, but Labor deserve this – they thought they could get away with it and they didn’t.

  16. Does anyone really care. Hell, let them have this election. Down here local elections are as important as putting out your bins. Actually less important -more people put out their bins by far than vote in the local elections.

  17. Libs campaigned in all 14 divisions of Gold Coast, haven’t seen one that even looks like winning, and last time I looked their mayoral candidate was running third.

  18. [Does anyone really care. Hell, let them have this election. Down here local elections are as important as putting out your bins. Actually less important -more people put out their bins by far than vote in the local elections.]

    And in WA, ours Concils aren’t Party Political as in the East, though if you look carefully you’ll see some sort of poltical leanings of councillors.

  19. I’m interested in politics big time but I don’t know whether the councillors in my ward are Labor, Liberal or what. Never have. John So is our Lord Mayor and I have no idea of his political leanings.

  20. It might be sad to be covering Local Government elections, but yeah if William has needed to cover it so the Liberal people have something to celebrate then so be it 😉

  21. Local Goverment tends to blur the normal political map.

    I may be wrong but John So is a Liberal person, but from what I understand he is not a party member.

  22. Frank – Not all the Councils elections in the East are directly party political. Brisbane is kind of unique as it is so big that both major parties run. And I think it is first time the Liberals ran seriously in the Gold Coast.

    In Melbourne and Sydney, I am fairly sure the Liberals don’t endorse candidates directly.

  23. Exactly BillBowe –

    Brisbane is by far the biggest local government in Australia (it may still be the biggest in the world – geographically speaking). It’s budget is twice the state of Tasmania.

    All this makes it worth covering here at PB – so thanks WB for doing so.

  24. 44 B.S. Fairman – “In Melbourne and Sydney, I am fairly sure the Liberals don’t endorse candidates directly.” I think you are right.
    I’m just expressing my reasons why I can’t get excitied over local elections that’s all. Thanks William for the info.

  25. I know. I am hardly excited by it either. If I didn’t have the flu, I would be out on the town tonight instead of blogging about who gets to decide which nights the bins go out.

  26. Scorpio at 23 – thanks for quoting me here. I’m still as mad as hell that Labor gave me no one worth voting for. Rowell was clearly out of his depth and the local candidate for Enoggera (Dart) is a Labor apparachik who doesn’t even live in the Ward. Am I the only one who is getting sick and tired of Labor foisting on the electorate these kids who have done nothing with their lives but work in a Labor office??

    It’s a disgrace! And now we’re stuck with a Liberal Council – not because they deserved to win but because Labor deserved to be given a serious belting!!

  27. Labor deserve this result. They insulted the voters of Brisbane with their appaling campaign. I usually vote Labor, but gave Can Do the tick today. At least he articulated some kind of plan for the city, unlike the ALP. Besides, the Libs are better at local level, as the ALP seem to care more about “Green” Brisbane (read: busways, bus-lanes, cycle lanes etc), whereas the Libs are at least trying to put in more road infrastructure for those of us who need to drive.

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