Queensland Parliament has passed laws which impose expenditure caps (limits on how much people can spend on election campaigns) for the next local council elections.
The spending limits apply for a period of seven months leading up to the local council elections which will be held on Saturday, 16 March 2024.
The start date for the capped expenditure period for the March 2024 local government quadrennial elections is 14 August 2023, today.
Redland City Council elections
Candidates for mayor of Redland City at the March 2024 local government elections will be limited to election expenditure of $118,150 ($1.00 per elector).
Each candidate for election as one of Redland City’s ten division councillor positions will be limited to an electoral expenditure cap of $15,000.
Analysis of disclosed political donations for the past three local government elections reveals that most candidates reported total donations which would not exceed the expenditure caps which are now in force.
One notable exception is the 2012 mayoral election in which Karen Williams declared $138,372.80 in donations.
If the cap of one dollar per elector had been in force in 2012 then the candidates’ electoral expenditure for the Redland City mayoral election would have been limited to about $80,000.
Start of the capped expenditure period
The election date and the start of the capped expenditure period for the 2024 local council elections are set in the Local Government Electoral Regulation 2023.
The electoral expenditure caps for each local government area are set out in a notice published by the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ).
For most local government areas the electoral expenditure caps are determined by the number of electors. Brisbane City Council is treated as a special case.
Penalties for non compliance
The ECQ has published a number of fact sheets to explain what candidates for local council elections must do to comply with election laws and regulations.
The ECQ’s Fact Sheet 19 Expenditure caps for candidates includes the following warning about not complying with the new laws:
Incurring electoral expenditure which exceeds a candidate’s electoral expenditure cap is a criminal offence under section 123N(2) of the LGEA. Participating in a scheme to circumvent the electoral expenditure caps is also a criminal offence under section 194B of the LGEA.
Both are serious integrity offences under schedule 1 of the Local Government Act 2009.
Penalties include imprisonment, fines, and disqualification from being a councillor. Twice the amount of the excess expenditure may also be recovered by the ECQ as a debt to the State.
Expenditure caps for mayoral campaigns
| Number of electors in local government area | Expenditure cap | |
| Band 1 | Up to 30,000 | $30,000 |
| Band 2 | 30,001 to 150,000 | $1 per elector |
| Band 3 | 150,001 to 200,000 | $150,000 plus an additional 50c per elector for each additional elector over 150,000 electors |
| Band 4 | More than 200,000 | $175,000 plus an additional 25c per elector for each additional elector over 200,000 electors |
| Brisbane City Council | $1.3 million |
Expenditure caps for councillor candidates
| Number of electors in local government area/division | Expenditure cap | |
| Band 1 | Up to 20,000 | $15,000 |
| Band 2 | 20,001 to 39,999 | 75 cents per elector |
| Band 3 | 40,000 or more | $30,000 |
| Brisbane City Council | $50,000 |
Redlands2030 – 14 August 2023
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