Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood has been re-elected, winning almost half the first preference vote in an eight-candidate field.
Tasmanian Electoral Commission (TEC) results on Wednesday night showed Garwood was elected on the fifth count after receiving 18,395 first preference votes or 48.3%.
Speaking to Pulse minutes after being re-elected, Garwood said it was “a little bit of a surreal moment”.
“As the incumbent, I’ve still had a full day’s worth of engagements,” he said.
“That’s just the thing about having the role and being in the role is you keep going.”
Garwood said it was his first full mayoral election, after he came to the role at a by-election.
He said there was “a small amount of validation” that “the community is backing where I and this council have been pushing the community to go”.
“This term has just been the start. It’s been the start that’s been backed up by really great foundations from the previous councils, but it’s time for some real action now,” he said.
Garwood said the council had tried to be “pretty brave” and “pretty bold” and “it hasn’t absolutely always been easy”.
He said voters now had “a bit of an understanding” of “my priorities, my approach, my way of doing things”.
“Once the count’s done, we’ll be able to refocus and really bring the newly elected team together and continue to push for the best outcomes for our community,” he said.
Garwood said he had booked dinner on Wednesday night before the result was known.
“It was either going to be for commiseration or celebration. We didn’t mind either way,” he said.
Sitting councillor Tim Walker was second on 14.9%, down 3.9 points on 2022, followed by Kyle Barrett on 11.7%, Paul Mallett on 9% and Rose Diamond on 8.5%.
Jess Hoyle received 4.5%, James Garcia 1.7% and Gabriel Robins 1.4%.
Garwood was elected after preferences from Robins, Garcia, Hoyle and Mallett were distributed.
Of the 38,064 formal votes, 1,038 exhausted, while 6.9% of ballots were informal.
Turnout was 84.9%, with 41,829 envelopes returned, up from 82.3% in 2022.
Garwood also leads the councillor count, with 30.1% of first preferences in a trial count of about 20% of the vote, up 21.1 points on 2022.
Sitting councillors Joe Pentridge, Susie Cai, Andrew Palmer and Walker are provisionally among the nine projected to be elected, along with Barrett, Martin Gilmour, Diamond and Melissa Anderson.
Sitting councillors Alex Britton, Alan Harris, Ross Marsden and Krista Preece are not among those projected, though the trial results are provisional and could change in the full count.
The council will have nine councillors this term, down from 12, with 27 candidates standing.
Eight candidates are standing for deputy mayor, with that count due to start on Thursday.
Garwood, who was first elected in 2022, said when announcing his re-election bid in July that “the next four years are about delivery”.
“Turning plans into projects. Growing our economy. Creating more opportunities for our young people,” he said.
His campaign came after Right to Information documents showed $17,934 was charged to his council credit card over three years.
Garwood said the spending was within council policy and needed to build relationships for the city and apologised for minibar drinks.
