The township is known for its six tunnels, but Weipa voters will head to the polls on 16 August after five candidates threw their hat in the ring to fill the vacancy in the Weipa Town Authority chamber. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
Weipa voters will head to the ballot box in less than a fortnight to determine who will fill the vacant seat in the Weipa Town Authority (WTA) chamber.
The by-election comes after five candidates nominated to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former elected member Lisa Scharf.
Tacita de Tournouer, Rikki Cooper, Jeff Hughes, Malcolm Slack and Sheridan Teitzel are the candidates set to vie for votes when the by-election is held on 16 August.
WTA Chair Jaime Gane said she was thrilled to see so many candidates put their hand up to take on a community leadership role, and urged electors to get to know the five before having their say in 10 days.
“I’m very happy that we have five candidates for the by-election, all of which are passionate and engaged community members, which is amazing,” she said.
“I think that community members should take any opportunity to have a chat to the candidates, to understand what has motivated them to put their hand up, and then vote for the person whose values align with their own.
“I’m very much looking forward to seeing the outcome of this election, and encourage everyone to get down and vote.”
For those wanting to cast their vote before by-election date, pre-polling will be available at the WTA office from 11 August between 9am-4pm.
Make sure you check out next week’s edition of Cape York Weekly, where we will have profiles on each of the five candidates seeking to represent the Weipa community.
