1985 Brisbane City Council election
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Registered | 475,299 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 415,883 (87.5%) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Lord Mayor | |||||||||||||||||||
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All 26 wards on the City Council 13 wards needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. |
The 1985 Brisbane City Council election was held on 30 March 1985 to elect a lord mayor and 26 aldermen to the City of Brisbane.[1] The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in Queensland, Australia.[2]
The election saw the lord mayoralty re-established as a directly elected position,[3] having been chosen by a vote of the aldermen since 1973,[3] and increased the number of aldermen increased from 21 to 26.[1][4][5][6] This reversed changes made by the former Country Party state government that had targeted the council's Labor administration.[4][3] The election also saw a significant redistribution of wards to accommodate the additional aldermen, with most of the city's wards being abolished.[5][6]
The incumbent Labor Party had controlled both the mayoralty and a majority of wards since the 1961 election.[1] The party was led by Lord Mayor Roy Harvey, who sought a ninth consecutive term for the party and a second term as Lord Mayor.[1]
The election resulted in the election of the Liberal Party under Sallyanne Atkinson. The party gaining a majority of wards and more than 50% of the mayoral vote.[1] This was in part helped by the National Party, who had contested the 1982 election, choosing to not contest this election to avoid splitting the conservative vote from the Liberal party.[1]
In the mayoral election, Liberal candidate Sallyanne Atkinson defeated Roy Harvey.[2] As of 2024, Atkinson is the first and only female Lord Mayor of Brisbane.[7]
This was the first and only election contested by the Brisbane Green Party, the predecessor to the Queensland Greens. The party contested the lord mayorship and four wards, but did not have any victories.[8]
Future lord mayor Graham Quirk was elected in Rochedale Ward at this election.[9]
Results
Ward summary
Ward | Party | Alderman | Margin (%)[10] | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bracken Ridge | Liberal | Keith Murray[11] | 1.5 | |
Breakfast Creek | Liberal | 6.9 | ||
Camp Hill | Liberal | 2.7 | ||
Carina | Labor | 3.4 | ||
Chermside | Liberal | 1.3 | ||
Coopers Plains | Labor | 2.4 | ||
Deagon | Labor | Ken Leese[12] | 8.2 | |
Doboy | Labor | John Campbell[13] | 11.2 | |
Eagle Farm | Labor | Patricia Vaughan | 10.8 | |
Ekibin | Liberal | 7.3 | ||
Enoggera | Labor | Brian Mellifont[14] | 5.7 | |
Fairfield | Liberal | Norman Rose | 5.2 | |
Holland Park | Liberal | Gail Chiconi[15] | 2.4 | |
Inala | Labor | 10.8 | ||
Jamboree | Liberal | Phil Denman[16] | 18.7 | |
Kalinga | Liberal | 7.7 | ||
Kianawah | Labor | Don Randall | 12.1 | |
McDowall | Liberal | John Goss[17] | 11.1 | |
Paddington | Labor | 6.0 | ||
Pullenvale | Liberal | 27.2 | ||
Rochedale | Liberal | Graham Quirk[9] | 12.3 | |
Runcorn | Liberal | Bob Ward[18] | 5.1 | |
Spring Hill | Labor | Ian Brusasco | 4.9 | |
Taringa | Liberal | Denver Beanland[19] | 23.0 | |
The Gabba | Labor | 4.5 | ||
The Gap | Liberal | Brian Hallinan[20] | 11.5 |
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Liberals oust ALP in Brisbane council". Canberra Times. 1985-04-01. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
- ^ a b "Legislative Assembly WEDNESDAY, 3 APRIL 1985" (PDF). Parliament of Queensland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Hensley, Melissa; Mateo-Babiano, Derlie; Minnery, John; Pojani, Dorina (2020-05-01). "How Diverging Interests in Public Health and Urban Planning Can Lead to Less Healthy Cities". Journal of Planning History. 19 (2): 71โ89. doi:10.1177/1538513219873591. ISSN 1538-5132.
- ^ a b "ALP wins council election". The Canberra Times. Vol. 47, no. 13, 398. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 2 April 1973. p. 3. Retrieved 23 July 2025 โ via National Library of Australia.
- ^ a b Queensland Survey Office (1975). City of Brisbane (PDF) (Map). [1:63,360]. Brisbane: Queensland Survey Office. Retrieved 2024-10-04.
- ^ a b Department of Mapping and Surveying (1984). The North Brisbane Zone and the South Brisbane Zone (PDF) (Map). Brisbane: QueenslGovernment Printing Office. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
- ^ "The team that helped Sallyanne Atkinson make history". Brisbane Times. 24 August 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
- ^ Eddy, Elizabeth. "The green movement in Southeast Queensland: The environment, institutional failure, and social conflict, p.235". espace.library.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 2018-10-14.
- ^ a b "Graham Quirk joins Racing Queensland board". Brisbane Times. 4 July 2019.
He joined the council in 1985 as councillor for the Rochedale Ward, rising to become deputy mayor under Campbell Newman before holding the lord mayoralty.
- ^ Stockwell, S. E. (1997). Rhetoric and democracy : deliberative opportunities in current electoral processes (Thesis thesis).
- ^ "Bracken Ridge - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "Deagon (Key seat) - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "Doboy (Key seat) - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "Enoggera (Key seat) - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "Holland Park - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "Jamboree (Key seat) - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-03. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "McDowall - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "Runcorn - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-04. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "Denver Edward Beanland". The Family of Thomas and Lydia Emma Kinton Beanland. Denver Beanland. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
- ^ "The Gap (Key seat) - BCC Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-10-09.