General News
18 March, 2025
Postal vote could cost up to $150,000
THE cost of holding a postal vote to fill a vacancy on the Mareeba Shire Council has been estimated at $150,000 by the Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ).
A council spokesperson said last week the amount was at the high end and likely to be cheaper, given last year’s full council election was estimated at approximately $170,000 but the actual final cost was $141,000.
The postal vote for the councillor position left vacant after the death of Kevin Davies in January was approved by the Minister for Local Government Ann Leahy just shy of the legal cut-off date for the vacancy to be filled.
Council also had the choice of appointing the runner-up in the 2024 local government election because it had been less than a year when the vacancy arose. However, council said the residents should choose, not councillors.
Minister Leahy said in a recent statement that the postal vote requested by council would save $65,000, which means council could have faced a $215,000 bill if it had proceeded with an in-person by-election for one candidate.
In the meantime, residents will need to keep a close eye on their letterboxes for their postal vote paperwork, which is being mailed to every enrolled voter in Mareeba Shire now that the nominations for candidates are closed.
ECQ will include information on how to vote, advising that once the ballot paper has been completed, it must be signed by a witness and dated, before being mailed in the pre-paid envelope.
You can send the vote back at any time before the vote closes at 6pm on Saturday 5 April - at which time the counting begins.
Counting will continue until 15 April, to allow for any delays in postal delivery. (Australia Post last year cut letter delivery to every second day.)
This could mean an official result may not be called until mid-April.
For more information on postal voting, and the Mareeba by-election visit: www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/election-events
