It is likely that Ayr travel agent Pierina Dalle Cort will be declared the next mayor of the Burdekin Shire Council after Burdekin residents hit the polls for the local government election on Saturday, March 16.
At the time of writing, 84.85 per cent of the 12,248 enrolled electors’ votes for mayor had been counted, with 52.92 per cent of those going to Ms Dalle Cort and 47.08 per cent going the way of incumbent mayor Lyn McLaughlin.
Although close, Ms Dalle Cort is expected to be declared the next mayor by the end of the week and said she received a phone call of congratulations from Ms McLaughlin on Saturday evening.
“It was tight to start with and I didn’t expect to get a call from Lyn,” Pierina said.
“I’m excited, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing and, basically, I can’t wait to get in there and start work with the new Burdekin team.”
Ms Dalle Cort served as a councillor on the Burdekin Shire Council for 12 years before being voted out in 2016.
She then unsuccessfully ran for mayor in the 2020 local government election, saying Covid-19 restrictions affected the reach of her campaign.
“I’ve always been interested in council, I’ve been in business for 42 years, been the president of the Chamber of Commerce, I’ve always been involved,” she said.
“I’ve got a very supportive partner who said he’ll support me through this, so I needed to do it, and if I didn’t do it, I would’ve lived with regrets, and they always say don’t live with regrets.”
Ms Dalle Cort said she is eager to improve communication between council and community.
“We need to work together to go through some of the problems that have been facing our community for some time and what’s been holding up our process,” she said.
“I’m there to listen.
“Me and the team (of councillors) have been selected by the Burdekin and we want to hear your message and want to listen to you.”
At the time of writing, 84.79 per cent of the 12,248 enrolled electors’ votes for councillor had been counted, with Amanda Hall, Michael Detenon, Max Musumeci, John Furnell, Fina Vasta and Callan Oar likely to fill the six seats on the Burdekin Shire Council.
In the ten days of early voting leading up to election day, 7,502 residents casted their in-person vote at the Burdekin Sports Club Hall.
Meanwhile, 567 postal votes were issued throughout the shire 365 of those being returned and 337 accepted.
10,190 formal votes for mayor had been accepted at the time of writing while 202 informal votes were received.
Ms McLaughlin had been contacted for comment.
Caption: Pierina Dalle Cort is likely to be declared the next mayor of the Burdekin Shire Council
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