The 2024 Queensland local elections were held on 16 March 2024 to elect the

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

and councils of the 77

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 ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. The original scheduled elections date of 30 March 2024 was moved ahead to 16 March to avoid clashing with Easter holidays. The elections were held on the same day as the state by-elections in Inala and Ipswich West. There was a surprisingly large number of candidates elected unopposed in many council elections across Queensland, including some mayoral races. The lack of opposition to these candidates was criticised by experts as being bad for

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

Electoral systems

Mayors and single-member wards

All 77 councils use optional preferential voting (OPV) for mayoral elections. Under OPV, voters are only required to vote for one candidates, although they can choose to preference other candidates. In the 22 councils that use

single-member A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vot ...

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

(including

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

) OPV is also used.

Multi-member wards

Only

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

uses multi-member wards, with four two-member wards (resulting in eight total councillors). No form of preferential voting is in place, with

plurality block voting Plurality block voting, also known as plurality-at-large voting, block vote or block voting (BV) is a non- proportional voting system for electing representatives in multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of sea ...

(also referred to as

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

) is instead used, where voters are only required to mark the same amount of candidates as there are positions to be elected − in the case of Ipswich, two candidates.

Undivided councils

54 councils are undivided, meaning they do not use any forms of wards and all councillors are elected in a single area representing the entire LGA. Plurality block voting is used for these councils.

Candidates

1,422 candidates nominated for the elections at the close of nominations on 14 February 2024. Steve "Jacko" Jackson, a former

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer, is running for mayor of Mackay. Former MP George Christensen is contesting

Mackay Regional Council The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estima ...

as a candidate for Jackson's Mackay First ticket. Another former federal MP,

Andrew Laming Andrew Charles Laming (born 30 September 1966) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, for the Liberal National Party of Queensland from 2004 to 2022. H ...

, is running for mayor of Redland. On 25 January 2024, he confirmed he had dropped his Liberal National Party (LNP) membership, saying it had "no place" at a local level". 15 mayoral positions and 46 councillor positions were uncontested. On 21 February, the LNP disendorsed Brisbane City Council candidate Brock Alexander after comments he allegedly made about the parents of Daniel Morecombe came to light. Alexander was a candidate for

Deagon Ward Deagon Ward is a Brisbane City Council ward covering Deagon, Boondall, Brighton, Sandgate, Shorncliffe, Taigum and parts of Geebung, Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and ...

, and his name will still appear on the ballot as he was disendorsed after the close of nominations. An analysis from the ABC found that over 10% of independents in the elections were members of a political party. A large % of council positions were uncontested with only one candidate running.

Party changes before elections

A number of councillors joined, left or formed parties before the 2024 elections.

Results

All changes compared with the 2020 elections.

Council control

Notes

References

{{Queensland elections Queenslandlocal Queensland local elections Local elections in Queensland