Julie Hall Elected As New Mayor Of The Whitsundays

A candidate that seemingly came from nowhere has just been elected to run the Whitsunday region and the self-proclaimed “People’s Mayor”, Julie Hall, says she is determined to build a bridge between the community and the Council.

“The people of the Whitsundays have sent a clear message for the Council to listen to,” she said.

“The fact that I was voted in shows that people really aren’t happy, and I want to give people hope, especially in these dark times.

“I am looking forward to giving the people of the Whitsundays a voice in Council.”

Election day was Saturday, August 13 and the results were too close to call that evening, which meant all the candidates have had an anxious wait as postal votes were counted and preferences allocated.

At 9.30am on Thursday, August 25, Julie Hall was officially declared the next Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor.

While the businesswoman and life coach has no direct experience in running a council, she says she is looking forward to the challenge.

“It’s definitely going to be a big job, but I am up for the task!” she said.

“I would like to thank everyone, it is truly an honour to be elected and I don’t take this responsibility lightly, I will work very hard for the people.”

Three key areas Ms Hall wants to help initiate change in are: rates, wastage and the disconnect between community and development.

Ms Hall shot into the spotlight when she ran as the One Nation candidate for Dawson in the Federal election and when asked if this political alignment would influence her role as Mayor she was adamant it would not.

“I previously ran as a One Nation candidate because that was the party that could give the people the most voice and because I shared the values of standing up for the industry and farmers,” she said.

“When it came to running for Mayor I chose to be independent, the Mayor needs to be A-political and what’s good for the community is what I’ll be standing for regardless of any political party views.”

During her campaign, Ms Hall was also criticised for being a psychic, a role that she says is not part of her life anymore, but also something she is not ashamed of.

“I have always liked helping people and I have very good gut intuition – I know who I can trust and who I can’t,” she said.

“While being a psychic is not something I do any more, I thought it was interesting that my ‘how to vote card’ was in the exact order of elimination!”

Ms Hall is expecting a call from Whitsunday Regional Council Chief Executive Officer today so she can complete the paperwork and be sworn in.

While she asked the community to give her a little time to get “settled in”, she also said she was excited to “get on with the job”.

Julie Hall casting her vote at the ballot box

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