The Electoral Commission of Queensland has taken out 12-month leases on dozens of venues and sites that were temporarily required for the March local government elections.
The commission has pointed to the state’s tight rental market as a reason for taking out the longer-term leases while insisting the sites will also be utilised in the upcoming state election in October.
Overall, the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) secured about 170 venues that were used during the council poll as offices for returning officers and early voting centres, as well as 1,000 sites needed for polling on election day.
The ECQ has confirmed it took out 12-month leases on 32 of the venues used for the election.
Asked how much the longer-term leases cost, an ECQ spokesperson said “detailed financial information” — including the total cost of line items — would be released before the state election.
In an interview with ABC Radio Brisbane before the council election, Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen indicated the ECQ was finding it increasingly difficult to secure good venues for early voting.
“We try and use council facilities when the council can provide us with those facilities. If that’s not possible, we look at commercial premises,” Mr Vidgen said at the time.
“They’re getting harder and harder to find these days, so we end up taking out a lease for 12 months even though we don’t often need the premise for that long.
“But when we do that, we try and use that same facility for the state government [election] in October.”
Challenge to finding sites in tight rental market
The ECQ spokesperson said the leases had been taken out for 12 months so the sites could also be used as office accommodation for returning offices for the state election.
“Due to the tight rental market and challenges in identifying short-term accommodation that meets specific election delivery requirements and is suitable for use as early voting centres, in many cases it is more cost-effective to secure leases to cover the duration of the 2024 election delivery period,” they said.
“Where the ECQ has secured longer-term leases for use at the October 2024 state general election, returning officers will be on-site in those venues well ahead of the state general election period, enabling non-sensitive materials to be stored on-site which also achieves cost savings in freight costs between events.”
Last year, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath provided figures to state parliament that estimated the total cost of the local government election would come in about $37.1 million.
The state election will be held on October 26.
Get local news, stories, community events, recipes and more each fortnight.