Arabic version: تشارلز وولي يتصدر فرز منصب عمدة هوبارت

According to ABC News, former 60 Minutes reporter Charles Wooley is leading the count for Hobart councillor positions and is a frontrunner for the city’s lord mayor role as Tasmania’s local council votes are tallied. The position was vacated by Anna Reynolds, who did not seek re-election.

Wooley, a veteran journalist and author, campaigned for a “moratorium on new bike lanes” and an end to council infighting through “reason, not ideology”. Former cinema owner and businessman John Kelly and Greens candidate Bill Harvey are also polling strongly for Hobart’s lord mayoralty. Both Kelly and Harvey are incumbent councillors and are expected to be re-elected.

Tasmanian election analyst Kevin Bonham said it was too early to determine Hobart’s next lord mayor. He said Wooley had a substantial lead over Kelly and that one of the two was likely to reach the final two, before probably defeating Harvey. Candidates must first be elected as councillors before they can be elected mayor.

Elsewhere, incumbent Matthew Garwood was re-elected mayor of Launceston with more than 18,000 primary votes. Alison Jarman was re-elected Devonport mayor with almost 65 per cent of the vote, while Stephanie Cameron won the Meander Valley mayoralty with almost 64 per cent. Vonette Mead was elected Latrobe mayor with 53 per cent, and deputy mayors Rick Shegog and Greg Dawson won the mayoralties of West Tamar and George Town respectively.

Across Tasmania’s 29 councils, 441 candidates are contesting 213 councillor positions, with 258 also standing for mayor or deputy mayor. The Tasmanian Electoral Commission reported a final statewide participation rate of 85.6 per cent, up from 84.8 per cent at the 2022 council elections. Most mayoral results were expected by Wednesday evening, while counts in larger councils could continue into Thursday morning.