With an expenditure cap of $30,000 to attempt to woo voters and earn a seat on the Gladstone Regional Council earning $99,090 a year as a councillor, the cash splash is on in earnest in the countdown to Saturday’s local government election.
Mayor Matt Burnett, who had $46,200 as a campaign budget, is unopposed to return to his $171,156 a year top job helming the council, yet he declared $352 for a digital billboard design to the Electoral Commission of Queensland.
To Monday at 10pm, current Deputy Mayor Kahn Goodluck had outlaid $6003 on everything from a $1100 electronic billboard with $352 for billboard design to $1012 for 50 corflutes, $390 for 20 t-shirts and $27 for paper for campaign flyers.
His social media spend was $1940.
The incoming deputy mayor will pocket $112,604.
Councillor candidate Leanne Patrick came out of the gates running in May 2023 to announce her tilt at 2024 local government election and since then, she has spent $21,125.55 on her campaign.
The big ticket items include $3300 for social media marketing, $2200 for project management, $2167 for corflute graphic design and $1698 for campaign t-shirts.
Sitting councillor Natalia Muszkat has shelled out $4407.99 to date, with $2640 for her billboard advertisement, $554 on social media, $928.69 for corflutes and $280.18 for stickers and badges.
Cr Glenn Churchill has spent $6277.56 on a focused campaign for re-election with $2370.50 outlaid on billboard campaign signage in Boyne Island, Tannum Sands, Benaraby and in and around Gladstone.
Mr Churchill also hired a billboard at the corner of Goondoon and Lord streets, Gladstone, for $550.
Cr Chris Cameron has racked up $2731.41, buying up plenty of cable ties and timber stakes ($129.01) to secure his election $577.50 worth of election corflutes. The bulk of Cr Cameron’s spend gone on advertising.
Council hopeful Karen Davis has invested $6238.84 on social media and newspaper advertising, corflutes, pamphlets and marketing and $54 on water for polling booth volunteers on Saturday 16 March.
Nominee Simon McClintock electoral expenses totalled $5929.13 with his big ticket items being printed advertising, electoral flyers and printing.
Michelle Wagner has outlaid $5072.97, including $356.58 on recycling 60 of the original 100 election signs from the 2020 election gifted by DB Customs and Whitewalling.
Her biggest spend was $1528.32 on Australian Post distribution of flyers to rural locations.
Mellissa Holzheimer’s disclosed spend of $5533.98 included social media and billboard advertising and corflute expenses.
Murray Peterson spent $2365.50 printing how to vote flyers and having delivered to Gladstone residents. His total spend to date was $3431.37.
Jessica Bray outlaid $1666.60 for corflutes and flyers as the bulk of her $1769.91 election spend.
Michael Fearns has declared just $1680 to the ECQ for 25 corflutes and an advert in Gladstone Today.
Bernd (Ben) Noll took out print media advertising and paid his councillor nomination fee of $250 to declare expenditure of $1043.50.
Fellow councillor nominee Rernart Paul Van Meteren bought 70 wooden stakes and corflutes plus campaign graphic design costs and social media setup to accumulate $1660.63 in expenses.
Craig Tomsett and had recorded no electoral expenditure to 10pm Monday March 11.
