Between them, the 23 candidates for election to Redland City Council have so far reported more than $287,000 in election spending on elections signs, flyers and other items.
We know this because local council election candidates are legally required to report their electoral expenditure in a timely fashion to the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ), for publication on the ECQ disclosure webpage.
Until Wednesday 6 March, candidates were allowed seven business days to report their election spending. But now, if candidates spend anything on their election campaigns, they have just 24 hours to complete their election expenditure returns.
The ECQ warns that failure to disclose electoral expenditure within the time required is an offence, and that 380 fines were issued to candidates at the 2020 local government elections for not complying with their disclosure requirements.
As at 10 March 2024, mayoral candidate Andrew Laming has reported $58,513.40 of electoral expenditure, almost twice as much as rival Cindy Corrie whose election spending reports total $29,667.52.
The Jos Mitchell Leading Change Group of candidates has reported $98,195.09 of election expenditure by 10 March 2024.
This includes spending by mayoral candidate Jos Mitchell and six division councillor candidates: Wendy Boglary, Brian McDonald, Lance Hewlett, Hilton Travis, Jasper Every and Adelia Berridge.
Of the other division councillor candidates, the three biggest spenders have been Murray Elliot (Division 7), Paul Golle (Division 3), and Shane Rendalls (Division 5).
Election spending caps
Candidates must ensure that they don’t exceed the spending limits which now apply to local government elections.
Electoral expenditure caps for Redland City are $118,150 for each mayoral candidate and $15,000 for each division councillor candidate. These expenditure caps apply to spending during the seven-month period from 14 August 2023 until Election Day which is 16 March 2024.
The Jos Mitchell Leading Change group has a group expenditure cap of $208,150 . This is calculated as follows: 1 X $118,150 + 6 X $15,000 = $208,150.
The absolute maximum that could lawfully be spent by all 23 candidates on the Redland City Council elections would be $654,450.
On average, candidates have so far spent about 44% of what they are allowed to spend on campaigning for the 2024 Redland City Council elections.
But some of the bigger spending division councillor candidates are getting close to their election expenditure caps.
The penalty for knowingly incurring electoral expenditure exceeding a
participant’s expenditure cap is significant – up to a maximum of 1,500 penalty units or 10 years imprisonment.
Election spending up to 10 March
The table shows election expenditure reported to ECQ up until 10 March 2024 together with the applicable election expenditure cap for the candidate or group.
Expenditure reported individually by Jos Mitchell leading Change Group members before they joined the Group have been included in the Group total.
| Candidate/Group | Election (s) | Reported Expenditure | Expenditure Cap | % of Cap spent |
| Jos Mitchell Leading Change Group (JMLC) | Mayor and divisions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 | $98,195 | $208,150 | 47.2% |
| Jos Mitchell | Mayor | JMLC | ||
| Andrew Laming | Mayor | $58,513 | $118,150 | 49.5% |
| Cindy Corrie | Mayor | $29,667 | $118,150 | 25.1% |
| Wendy Boglary | Division 1 | JMLC | ||
| Peter Mitchell | Division 2 | $11,329 | $15,000 | 75.5% |
| Brian McDonald | Division 2 | JMLC | ||
| Paul Golle | Division 3 | $13,193 | $15,000 | 88.0% |
| Ludy Sigrist | Division 3 | $9,603 | $15,000 | 64.0% |
| Trent Ford | Division 3 | $2,905 | $15,000 | 19.4% |
| Lance Hewlett | Division 4 | JMLC | ||
| Angel Crowden | Division 4 | $3,474 | $15,000 | 23.2% |
| Hilton Travis | Division 5 | JMLC | ||
| Shane Rendalls | Division 5 | $12,120 | $15,000 | 88.8% |
| Jasper Every | Division 6 | JMLC | ||
| Julie Talty | Division 6 | $5,694 | $15,000 | 38.0% |
| Murray Elliott | Division 7 | $14,171 | $15,000 | 94.5% |
| Meisha Read | Division 7 | $399 | $15,000 | 2.7% |
| Rowanne McKenzie | Division 7 | $8,991 | $15,000 | 59.9% |
| Jack Barton | Division 8 | $4,299 | $15,000 | 28.7% |
| Tracey Huges | Division 8 | $8,154 | $15,000 | 54.4% |
| Adelia Berridge | Division 9 | JMLC | ||
| Jason Colley | Division 9 | $6,541 | $15,000 | 45.6% |
| Paul Bishop | Division 10 | $2,683 | $15,000 | 17.9% |
| Overall | $287,553 | $654,450 | 43.9% |
Redlands2030 – 11 March 2024
Authorised by Steve MacDonald, 104 Channel Street, Cleveland QLD 4163
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