Mayoral candidate Ingrid Jackson has emerged as the biggest spender so far in the Noosa Shire election campaign, with $34,853 declared as of Monday 4 March, according to the Electoral Commission of Queensland’s expenditure table.
Behind her in the mayoral race spending stakes, but only just, are Cr Frank Wilkie ($32,387) and Nick Hluszko ($32,059), with John Morrall trailing the field with a relatively paltry $18,934.
In the campaign for six councillor spots, candidate Leigh McCready has racked up an impressive $27,422, almost double the spend of second placed Cr Amelia Lorentson with $15,068. Alecia Staines is next ($12,648) with Nicola Wilson ($8261) back in the field. It’s interesting to note that, with the exception of Cr Lorentson, the current councillors running for re-election have been relatively frugal so far, with Cr Karen Finzel at $7627, Cr Brian Stockwell at $4365, Cr Tom Wegener at $1942, and Cr Joe Jurisevic yet to trouble the scorer.
It’s also important to note that none of the candidates, with the possible exception of McCready, looks in danger of going beyond the spending cap, which is $43,820 for mayoral candidates and $30,000 for councilor candidates. With just over $2500 in kitty and 12 days to go as I write, Ms McCready is probably hoping she doesn’t run out of flyers.
So what are they spending on? Nothing terribly exciting, although Cr Wilkie’s two big ticket items are $9,999 for television advertising and just over $11,000 for flyer production and distribution. Ms Jackson’s top-rated spend seems to have been spread over the usual marketing collateral, with the lion’s share of $18,276 going to brochure and flyer printing and distribution. Nick Hluszko’s biggest ticket item, $11,496, spread over four payments, is for a “service agreement” for “creative development” and “campaign design services”. John Morrall spent $3000 on caps and tee shirts, $2600 on photography and $1279 for social media advice.
Turning to the councillor candidates, top of the list McCready spent $6921 on flyers and brochures, $3500 on Facebook advertising and $4400 on her website, while Cr Lorentson’s biggest single item was $4415 for “unaddressed mail advertising”.
At the other end of the scale, Noosa Today can reveal that candidate Michelle Ngatai-Stokes has spent $55.50, all of it on flyers.
