Well, the local elections have come and gone, and there have been some big changes throughout the State, with long-serving incumbents losing and majorities tumbling. Here's a brief summary.

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Brisbane: Campbell Newman has received a resounding vote of confidence from the people of Brisbane, easily beating challenger Greg Rowell to Lord Mayor, and also securing a majority on council. Newman now unquestionably has a mandate for his big picture reorganisation of Brisbane's traffic system - Labor's oddly half-hearted campaign tried to take him on on cost, but clearly this didn't work. Labor's chief spear-carrier David Hinchliffe is in a tough fight for his inner-city Central Ward. There was some talk of the Greens picking up a couple of wards - Toowong and The Gabba were mentioned - but this doesn't look to have happened. They may well have succeeded in diluting the Labor vote in those areas.  

Cairns: It appears that Cairns has elected its first female mayor, Cairns1st's Val Schier. Long-serving Mayor Kevin Byrne has been ousted. Rob Pyne appears to have won as councillor in Dvision 3, carrying on the Pyne family's legacy in local government there. Janine Aiken looks to have lost to Sno Bonneau in Division 10. We'll have to wait for the analysis to find out how much Mike from Cairnsblog's support fed into the Schier victory!

Gold Coast:  The Liberal Party's attempt to seize the Gold Coast City Council appears to have failed. At this stage incumbent Ron Clarke looks safe, with the Libs' Tom Tate out at third place. The Libs will also struggle to get any wards - I wonder if there will be any soul-searching at State headquarters over this expensive attempt to introduce party politics to the glitter strip?

Ipswich: Paul Pissasale has been comfortably returned as mayor. Second - Daylight, then Luafutu and Luxton.

Moreton Bay Regional Council: The amalgamated council looks to have elected Allan Sutherland, though other candidates claimed big shares of the vote.  

Sunshine Coast: Big Bob Abbott has romped home over Joe Natoli - Noosa trumps Maroochy for control of the new merged council, and some very nice real estate portfolios are preserved. How much it had to do with Bob's heavyweight support,  and how much did Joe suffer from the "gay gaffe" late last week? 

Townsville: The end of an era up north: Tony Mooney is ousted after 20 years as mayor, Thuringowa strongman Les Tyrrell is installed, and it looks like Labor might lose control of the council for the first time since 1976. The city voted against the Rudd-slide last year, and given this, it might start losing its tag as a "natural" Labor city. One to watch in the State election.