Former journalist Charles Wooley is officially Hobart’s new lord mayor after the Tasmanian Electoral Commission called the result this evening with 55% of the final vote.
The Tasmanian Electoral Commission officially declared the result shortly after 6:45pm following the exclusion of John Kelly and the subsequent flow of his preferences.
Wooley was sitting at second place in the race with 9,155 votes after count nine, behind Bill Harvey with 9,992 votes.
However Kelly’s 8,458 votes from third place guaranteed Wooley the top job.
Running as an independent, Wooley campaigned under the slogan ‘Hobart for Hobartians’ and promised to add reason to the focus on roads, rates and rubbish.
In an interview with Pulse in September, Wooley said the council had spent too long fighting over ideology instead of getting on with the basics.
He said Tasmania was over-governed at a local level, with 29 councils for around 560,000 people.
“There are too many councils and we’re spreading the talent too thin,” he said.
Asked whether he would merge Hobart and Glenorchy, Wooley said “of course”.
He also said rates in the Hobart City Council area were too high and questioned why the council charged for parking on Sundays. He said the cost of visiting the city was driving customers away from local businesses.
On bike lanes in the CBD, Wooley described himself as a “libertarian” and said he had no problem with anyone who wanted to ride. He said tying bike lanes to climate action risked turning people against both.
“Bicycles will not save the planet,” he said.
Wooley said he would have preferred the Macquarie Point stadium to be built elsewhere, but the decision had passed through parliament and the city had to make it work.
He said the council needed to keep a close eye on the state government and the worst outcome would be a multi-billion-dollar “hole in the middle of the city” that could not be used.
The 77-year-old said he would serve only a single term as lord mayor.
“No one should be a mayor for longer than a term,” he said.
“It’s madness.”
He spent more than 25 years with 60 Minutes and is a former deputy mayor of Sorell.
Election analyst Kevin Bonham had unofficially called the result around 4pm after the votes became clear, before the Tasmanian Electoral Commission confirmed it after John Kelly was excluded shortly after 6:45pm.
Bonham said Wooley had won the vacant lord mayoralty without having served on the council.
“This has never happened in Hobart before,” he told Pulse.
Greens candidate Bill Harvey moved into the lead after count nine.
Tasmanian Electoral Commission figures at 4:14pm put him on 9,992 votes or 36.2% of those still in the count.
Wooley was second on 9,155 votes (33.2%). John Kelly was third on 8,458 (30.6%).
Bonham told Pulse Harvey’s lead would not hold once Kelly was excluded and his preferences were distributed.
“That’s not going to be nearly enough for Harvey to stay in the lead and I am very confident that Wooley is going to win,” he said.
He correctly predicted Wooley would overtake Harvey and finish comfortably ahead.
“I know that 850 votes is not enough. I don’t think 2,000 votes will be enough,” he said.
Hobart was guaranteed a new lord mayor after Anna Reynolds chose not to recontest after eight years in the role.
Counting continues for the nine councillor seats and the role of deputy lord mayor.
