The 2013 Queensland local elections were held on 9 November 2013 to elect the mayors and councils of four

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

in Queensland, Australia. Elections were held for the shires of

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

Livingstone Livingstone may refer to: * Livingstone (name), a Scottish surname and a given name. **David Livingstone (1813–1873), Scottish physician, missionary and explorer, after whom many other Livingstones are named Places *Livingstone Falls, on the Con ...

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the waters'' ...

and Noosa following successful votes to de-amalgamate from the regions of

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of the ...

, Tablelands and

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to: * Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia **Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region **Sunshine Coast Stadium * Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...

respectively. The demergers officially came into effect on 1 January 2014.

Background

2008 amalgamations

In April 2007, an extensive local government reform process was set up by the

Beattie Government The Beattie Ministry was a Ministry of the Government of Queensland, led by Labor Premier Peter Beattie. It commenced on 26 June 1998, thirteen days after the Borbidge Ministry, led by Premier Rob Borbidge of the National Party, was defeated at ...

, who set up a

Local Government Reform Commission Local government in the Australian state of Queensland describes the institutions and processes by which towns and districts can manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the ''Local Government Act 1993–2007''. Queensland is div ...

to report on the State's local government areas (other than the City of Brisbane). This was in part due to the number of financially weak councils with small populations in rural areas, dating from an earlier time when industry and population had justified their creation. The Commission reported back on 27 July 2007, recommending massive amalgamations all over the State into "regional councils" centred on major towns or centres, based on a range of criteria such as economy of scale, community of interest and financial sustainability. On 10 August 2007, the commission's amalgamation recommendations passed into law as the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'', with only a few name changes as alterations. "Local Transition Committees" (LTCs) were created for each new area, made up of councillors and staff from the original areas, with the old entities formally ceasing to exist on the day of the 2008 local elections.

2012 de-amalgamation push

During the

2012 Queensland state election The 2012 Queensland state election was held on 24 March 2012 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament. The Labor Party (ALP), led by Premier Anna Bligh, was defeated by the opposition Liberal National Pa ...

campaign, the Liberal National Party promised to reconsider the amalgamations. Having won government on 24 March 2012, they invited former shires wishing to de-amalgamate to make submissions which: * demonstrated that it was financially viable to de-amalgamate * accepted that the re-established shire would bear the full costs of de-amalgamation * was supported by the signatures of at least 20% of the voters in the former shires. Viable proposals would then be put to a referendum in the former shire for a majority vote on de-amalgamation. Submissions were received from 19 communities, but only four submissions were found to be viable: Douglas, Livingstone, Mareeba and Noosa.

March 2013 de-amalgamation polls

On 9 March 2013, polls were held in the four affected former shires, asking residents if they wanted to de-amalgamate. Voting was compulsory. The wording of the question for each region was: "Should a ormer LGAShire Council be created by the de-amalgamation of the urrent LGARegional Council local government area, with the costs to be met by the ormer LGAShire Council?" The "Yes" vote won in all councils, with the highest vote in Noosa, where more than 80% of residents voted to split from Sunshine Coast.

References

{{Queensland elections Local elections in Queensland Queensland Queensland