General News
24 August, 2026
Victory in sight for Cardew
KEVIN Cardew is well on track to claim victory in the Tablelands Mayoral race, outgunning his rivals to take a seemingly unassailable lead in Saturday’s by-election.
Speaking to The Express on Monday, Cr Cardew said he was overwhelmed by the support he had received from the community.
As of 11am on Monday, 10,760 votes out of the 21,058 enrolled had been counted, with Cr Cardew receiving 5210 votes or 49.25% of all votes counted.
His nearest rival, agronomist Mark Norvall polled 1752 votes, ahead of current councillors Dave Bilney (1665) and Kylie Lang (1547). Jeanie Fletcher received just 405 votes.
Counting was set to continue through the week, with the new Mayor to be sworn in next Wednesday.
Cr Cardew attributed the overwhelming support he received from the community to the dissatisfaction with the council overall and the recognition that he had stood against some of the decisions that had caused angst in the community such as the withdrawal of rates concessions for sporting clubs and his hard stance on allocating more money to basic maintenance, which is why he voted against the council’s budget for the past three years.
“There is much dissatisfaction with council over a number of things – the condition of our assets is a big one, the divestment program council has undertaken is another, and staffing levels – they are probably the biggest issues I heard from the community during the campaign,” he said.
“I think people are aware that I have gone against a lot of council decisions – and I have been a lone voice on many occasions.
“A lot of people want us to get back to the basic fundamentals of running an efficient organisation and restoring trust in council. They want the basic things done properly – maintaining of roads, maintaining our stormwater and road verges, keeping our town centres clean and tidy like they used to be.
“It’s basic stuff but we need to do it properly.”
He said winning by a big margin was a clear message from the community.
“I would rather win with a very big margin or not win at all – because that big margin is a clear indication of what the people want and they want charge, that sends a very clear message to everyone that the community was not happy – we have to get back to basics and get it right,” Cr Cardew said.
He was cognisant that change would take time but was more than ready to get on with the job.
Once the Mayoral race has been declared, the by-election for a new councillor to replace Cr Cardew in Division 1 will begin.
