Kevin Cardew declared new Mayor of Tablelands Regional Council

Kevin Cardew has been declared the new Mayor of Tablelands Regional Council, following the recent by-election.

Mayor Cardew will make the Declaration of Office before the Tablelands Regional Council Chief Executive Officer at 10am on Wednesday 2 September at the Disaster Coordination Centre, Atherton, then formally take up the role.

Mayor Cardew said:

‘I want to thank the community for their support, and for making their voice heard so clearly through this by-election. The message is clear: people want change, and I’m ready to get to work delivering it. I can’t do that on my own, so I’ll be working closely with my fellow councillors to map a path forward together.’

CEO Nikola Stepanov said:

‘As an organisation we made significant headway under the former Mayor and last financial year we achieved a predicted $3.44M surplus, added an additional $100M of community assets onto the balance sheet and reduced debt. This financial year we commenced the most significant program of road works in Council’s history — approximately $48M, with most of that work expected to be completed by the end of December, 2026. Mayor Cardew inherits an organisation that is now one of only 17 Councils in Queensland that are financially sustainable. This has been achieved through the tremendous efforts by this term of Councillors and our hardworking staff, who remain deeply committed to ensuring our community can grow and thrive.’

The mayoral by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Mayor Rod Marti for health reasons.

As Mayor Cardew was a sitting councillor prior to his election as Mayor, his Division 1 councillor seat is now vacant, and a by-election must be held to fill this vacancy. Further details will be announced by the Electoral Commission of Queensland.

For more information about Council and its elected representatives, visit trc.qld.gov.au.

For information about the Division 1 by-election, please refer to the Electoral Commission of Queensland website, https://www.ecq.qld.gov.au