The 2012 Townsville City Council election was held on 28 April 2012 to elect a mayor and 10 councillors to the City of Townsville. The election was held as part of the statewide local elections in Queensland, Australia. Incumbent mayor

Les Tyrell Les Tyrell is an Australian local government politician. He was the Mayor of the City of Townsville from 2008 until his retirement in 2012. He previously served as Mayor of the City of Thuringowa from 1991 until it became part of the City of Tow ...

chose to retire from politics and did not recontest his position. Councillor Jenny Hill narrowly won the mayoralty with 51.58% of the vote after preferences, however Townsville First won a majority on council.

Background

At the previous election in 2008, the Labor Party, which had controlled the council for 32 years − the longest-serving Labor administration in Australia − was defeated in a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

by the conservative Team Tyrell, which won all but one of the councillor positions. Incumbent mayor

Tony Mooney Anthony John Mooney AM is a former Australian politician who served as a city councillor of the City of Townsville, Queensland from 1977 to 2008, and the mayor from 1989 to 2008. Overview Cr. Tony Mooney was first elected as mayor in 1989 whe ...

was among the ALP members defeated. Less than a year after being elected, Team Tyrell councillor Rob McCahill announced his resignation on 9 October 2008, claiming that a "political witch-hunt" was threatening to destroy his family. As the council was unsubdivided, the entire LGA had to vote in the by-election on 22 November, which was won by independent candidate Trevor Roberts. Team Tyrell did not contest the election. Changes to the council's structure were brought in for the 2012 election, with 10 single-member wards (also known as divisions) introduced.

Candidates

Incumbent mayor Les Tyrell announced on 27 October 2011 that he would retire from politics after 32 years, which included 17 years as

Thuringowa Thuringowa Central is a suburb of Townsville in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the Thuringowa Central had a population of 2,023 people. Geography Shaped like an inverted letter "T", Thuringowa Central consists of residen ...

mayor. Councillor Dale Last, who was elected on the Team Tyrell ticket in 2008, announced he would run for mayor and lead the Townsville First group, which ran candidates − including six serving Team Tyrell councillors − in all wards. Trevor Roberts also stood for the group. Labor did not contest the election. Jenny Hill, the only sitting Labor member on council, also ran for the mayoralty and formed Team Jenny Hill.

Results

Mayor

References

{{Townsville City Council elections Townsville City Council elections Townsville Townsville