Term length 4 years Website Gold Coast Mayor | Deputy Cr Donna Gates | |
Style Councillor
(Informal)
His Worship
(Formal) | ||
The Mayor of the City of the Gold Coast is presiding officer and public face of the Gold Coast City Council, the local government body of the Gold Coast, Queensland. The current Mayor is Tom Tate.
Contents
- Mayoral responsibilities
- Delegation of mayoral responsibilities
- List of Gold Coast Mayors
- Former townshire leaders
- Governance of Gold Coast City
- Wards and councillors
- References
The mayor is charged with representing the city council and is popularly elected by residents of the City of Gold Coast local government area in local elections held every 4 years. The mayor presides over all council meetings; is the only councillor to not represent a specific Gold Coast electoral district; and is the foremost representative of the Gold Coast City Council and its policies.
The Gold Coast City Council reportedly maintains a budget of an estimated $1.2 billion annually, among the highest of municipal governments in Australia. The mayor's office is located in the Southport Town Hall building in Southport, Queensland.
Mayoral responsibilities
Under the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld), Chapter 2, Part 1, the mayor of any city in Queensland, including the Gold Coast and except for Brisbane, has the following responsibilities in addition to their duty as a councillor:
Delegation of mayoral responsibilities
The Act further stipulates that "a councillor who is not the mayor may perform the mayor's extra responsibilities only if the mayor delegates the responsibility to the councillor," while also stating that "when performing a responsibility, a councillor must serve the overall public interest of the whole local government area."
List of Gold Coast Mayors
The former mayor Cr. Ron Clarke resigned as mayor on 27 February 2012, after announcing his nomination as an independent candidate for the seat of Broadwater in the 2012 Queensland state election. Clarke's bid for the State seat of Broadwater failed, securing only 4% of the vote. Clarke was originally elected as an independent in 2004 and re-elected in 2008. Ron Clarke was preceded by Gary Baildon (1997-2004) and Ray Stevens (1995-1997) who was the first post-amalgamation Mayor of City of Gold Coast.
The current Gold Coast mayor is Tom Tate, elected on 28 April 2012.
Former town/shire leaders
Prior to the South Coast council forming in 1948, ten local government areas existed between the City of Brisbane and the New South Wales border. Just four of those local government areas exist within modern day Gold Coast. Below is a list of the leaders of those areas:
On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in South East Queensland, an Order in Council created the Shire of Albert by amalgamating Shire of Beenleigh, Shire of Coomera, Shire of Nerang, the southern part of Shire of Tingalpa and the eastern part of Shire of Waterford. On 8 June 1978, the Shire of Logan was created which reduced the Shire of Albert to nearly a quarter of its previous population. The Shire of Albert was amalgamated with the Gold Coast City Council in 1995. With the exception of the Beenleigh–Eagleby region, which was transferred to Logan City in 2008, the area of the Albert Shire is still present in modern-day City of Gold Coast.
Governance of Gold Coast City
The city is governed at the local level by the Gold Coast City Council, whose jurisdiction spans the Gold Coast, Queensland, and surrounding areas. Based on resident population, it is the second largest local government area in Australia and its council maintains a staff of over 2,500. It was established in 1948, but has existed in its present form since 1995.
Wards and councillors
Gold Coast City has been divided into 14 wards (known as divisions), each electing one councillor at elections held every four years. The most recent local government election was on 19 March 2016.
Divisional Councillors are: