Wednesday 12 March 2008

Schier leads Byrne in Douglas

According to a survey conducted by 20/20 Group Australia, Val Schier is leading the Cairns Regional Council mayoral race in the Douglas Shire.

The survey also revealed that candidate Julia Leu was the clear leader in the Cairns Regional Council Division 10 race.

The survey was conducted at the Port Douglas Chamber of Commerce Candidates Luncheon held yesterday which was attended by 100 members of the local business community.

The 20/20 Group Director Gaye Scott said there were 48 valid responses for the mayoral candidates survey and 51 valid responses for the Division 10 candidates Survey.

“Mayoral candidates Kevin Byrne, Val Schier and Selwyn Johnstone had 10 minutes to address five set questions,” Gaye explained.

Division 10 candidates Peter Johnston, Danny Hanly, Julia Leu, Rod Davis, Melinda Cox, George Pitt and Bill Phillips-Turner had seven minutes to answer a different set of five questions.

“Our survey asked guests who they intended to vote for and if they had changed their mind after the speeches were made”, Gaye Scott said.

The survey also asked guests to rate each speaker’s presentation and list main strengths and weaknesses.

“It should be noted that this was a comparatively small survey and that the results may not be indicative of the results across Division 10 on Saturday,” Gaye Scott said.

Mayoral Candidate Results
In the mayoral race Val Schier scored 54% of the votes followed by Kevin Byrne on 33%, Selwyn Johnston with 7%. 6% undecided.

“Some people did change their minds after listening to the candidates at the luncheon with Selwyn Johnstone picking up three votes from both Val and Kevin,” Gaye said.

Kevin Byrne did collect the most votes for a “very good” and “excellent” presentation while Val Schier was mostly voted as “very good” and Selwyn Johnston was mostly voted as “good”.

Kevin Byrne’s main strengths were described as “experienced” and “strong” while his main weakness was described as “arrogance”.

Selwyn Johnston’s strengths were described as “independent” and “genuine” while his main weakness was described as a “lack of experience” and “no clear vision”.

Val Schier’s main strengths were described as “enthusiasm” and “passion” while her main weakness was described as “negative attacks on Kevin Byrne”.

Division 10 Candidates Results
“Division 10 candidate Julia Leu had 65 percent of the vote at the Luncheon which was seven times more than her nearest rival,” Gaye Scott said.

Following Julia Leu was Rod Davis, Melinda Cox and Danny Hanly, all on nine percent, while Bill Phillips-Turner had four percent of the vote and George Pitt had two percent.

One person was undecided and Peter Johnston was unable to sway the Port Douglas business community for a single vote.

“After the speeches, four people changed their voting preferences and Melinda Cox picked up three votes and Danny Hanly picked up one as well,” Gaye Scott said.

Julia Leu received the most votes for an “excellent” or “very good” presentation, followed by Rod Davis, Danny Hanly and Melinda Cox.

Julia Leu’s main strengths were described as “experience” and “local knowledge” while her weaknesses were described as “too bureaucratic” and “gender”.

Danny Hanly’s main strengths were described as “community minded” and “passion” while his weakness was described as “lack of experience”.

Rod Davis’s main strengths were described as “experienced” and “good ideas” while his weaknesses were described as “on previous council” and “too scattered”.

Melinda Cox’s main strengths were described as “community engagement” and “honesty” while her weaknesses were described as “lack of depth of experience” and “on previous council”.

Peter Johnston’s main strengths were described as “experience” and “skills and qualifications” while his weaknesses were described as “lack of knowledge of Douglas Shire” and “not local”.

George Pitt’s main strengths were described as “genuine” and “experienced” while his weaknesses were described as “on previous council” and “no clear vision”.

Bill Phillips-Turner’s main strengths were described as “experienced”, “local knowledge” and “Unity member” while his weaknesses were described as “on Unity team” and “already has demanding job”.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just as well these figures didn't come out until the end, byrne and bill would have walked out.
"Come on bill pick up your bag of tricks, this is a set up"

Anonymous said...

It is always hard to beat the "local" tag. If I had been there I would have of course voted for Pete and that would have given him 2%.
The Candidate elected on Saturday will have to "hit the deck" running. None of the other divisions will notice much change apart from maybe changes in councillors. It will be Business as usual. However, for Division 10
it will be a major change.
This week there is another Public Notice for an application for Preliminary Approval for Material Change of Use at Paradise Palms, "house" to be changed from impact assessible to code assessible. This of course if passed will deny the residents their rights of notification, submission and appeal.
If the Cairns Plan is going to continue to be overturned like this, then what hope is there for the Douglas Shire Plan.

Anonymous said...

Bye Bye to the self seving Byrne Gang ... welcome to transparent servants with caring hearts and honesty.

Anonymous said...

With such small samples of valid responses from a group of like-minded and those with vested interests, these results are meaningless. Such small samples in these intstances may introduce significant bias and these these results would probably NOT reflect widespread community opinion (either way).

A big waste of time!

Anonymous said...

Queen Vivacious hoists her banner as King Boob slinks away