Weekly column from Council Courier e-newsletter by CEO Greg Hallam on Friday, 19 February 2016.
As I write this, Lockyer Valley Mayor Steve Jones (pictured) is in Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital in a critical condition after having suffered what appears to be stroke yesterday.
The thoughts and prayers of everyone here at the LGAQ are with Steve and his family.
This awful time is a reminder that political leaders at all levels of government suffer enormous stresses and pressures as part of the job.
I’m sure that what has happened to Steve has given pause to many of those Queenslanders who have put their names forward as candidates in the 19 March local government elections.
Politics, no matter whether it is practiced on the local or national stage, is a hard slog.
The impact on the physical and mental health of those in political leadership positions is rarely appreciated by the public.
For all that it is heartening that the 19 March poll has attracted so many candidates – 1787 of them in fact.
That number is about 260 more than the figure at the 2012 poll.
Even taking into account the four extra councils established since the last elections, the size of the field this time shows that the opportunity to represent their community at the local government level still holds a fierce attraction for many Queenslanders.
This will be the first local government poll in which the number of registered voters will surpass the 3 million mark.
But these elections will be no different from others in that they will be marked by the decisions of some of Queensland’s most accomplished civic leaders to hang up the mayoral robes.
Ten mayors are retiring from local politics, while another four are stepping down from the top job but still running for a position on the council.
No doubt there will be some forced exits from the scene, too, as voters pass judgment on how their councils have represented their interests.
But it is worth noting that the latest results of the LGAQ’s community attitudes survey suggests the public is in less of a mood for change than in previous polls.
In any case, those running for council might want to heed the words of prominent pollster Mark Textor, who told a Committee for the Economic Development of Australia function this week that the current political mood could be summed up thus:
“In the old days if there was a fire in the kitchen the response would have been: don’t worry, we have a plan for the fire, we have a position on the fire and we’re better than the opposition on fire. These days, the kids would say: Dad, just put out the bloody fire.’’