The Mayor of the City of the Gold Coast is presiding officer and public face of the Gold Coast City Council,[1] the local government body of the Gold Coast, Queensland. The current Mayor is Tom Tate.
The mayor is charged with representing the city council and is popularly elected by residents of the City of Gold Coast local government area in local elections held every 4 years. The mayor presides over all council meetings; is the only councillor to not represent a specific Gold Coast electoral district;[2] and is the foremost representative of the Gold Coast City Council and its policies.[1]
The Gold Coast City Council reportedly maintains a budget of an estimated $1.83 billion annually,[3] among the highest of municipal governments in Australia. The mayor's office is located in the Southport Town Hall building in Southport, Queensland.[4]
Under the Local Government Act 2009 (Qld),[1] Chapter 2, Part 1, the mayor of any city in Queensland, including the Gold Coast and except for Brisbane, has the following responsibilities in addition to their duty as a councillor:
The Act further stipulates that "a councillor who is not the mayor may perform the mayor's extra responsibilities only if the mayor delegates the responsibility to the councillor,"[1] while also stating that "when performing a responsibility, a councillor must serve the overall public interest of the whole local government area."[1]
The current Gold Coast mayor is Tom Tate. He was first elected on 28 April 2012 and re-elected on both 19 March 2016 and 28 March 2020 with more than two thirds of the preferential vote.[5]
Prior to the South Coast council forming in 1948, ten local government areas existed between the City of Brisbane and the New South Wales border. Just four of those local government areas exist within modern day Gold Coast. Below is a list of the leaders of those areas:
On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in South East Queensland, an Order in Council created the Shire of Albert by amalgamating Shire of Beenleigh, Shire of Coomera, Shire of Nerang, the southern part of Shire of Tingalpa and the eastern part of Shire of Waterford. On 8 June 1978, the Shire of Logan was created which reduced the Shire of Albert to nearly a quarter of its previous population. The Shire of Albert was amalgamated with the Gold Coast City Council in 1995. With the exception of the Beenleigh–Eagleby region, which was transferred to Logan City in 2008, the area of the Albert Shire is still present in modern-day City of Gold Coast.
The city is governed at the local level by the Gold Coast City Council, whose jurisdiction spans the Gold Coast, Queensland, and surrounding areas.[12] Based on resident population, it is the second largest local government area in Australia and its council maintains a staff of over 2,500. It was established in 1948, but has existed in its present form since 1995.[12]
Gold Coast City has been divided into 14 wards (known as divisions), each electing one councillor at elections held every four years. The most recent local government election was on 19 March 2016.[2]
Divisional Councillors are:[2]
