The race for a new mayor of Logan took an unexpected twist last week, with seasoned political campaigner Brett Raguse throwing his hat into the ring.
In what many thought would be a one-horse race, current councillor and former deputy mayor Jon Raven now has an opponent.
“As many of you know, this is not my first rodeo,” Mr Raguse said in a video announcing his intentions.
Mr Raguse stood at the last election, and finished with 36% of the vote after preferences, a good margin behind sitting mayor Darren Power who at the time was credited with blowing the whistle on allegations of corruption inside the chambers.
Former councillors have since been acquitted, aside from previous mayor Luke Smith who was issued with a suspended jail sentence last March.
Mr Raguse also ran against Mr Smith in the 2016 mayoral election.
He is standing on a platform of unity.
“Running Logan is a complicated business,” he said.
“It’s a big city – 12 divisional councillors with 12 very, very different areas. What we need to do is have someone with the leadership to bring those divisions together and make Logan a great city.
“To make it a great city, we need unity.”
Mr Raguse was former Federal member for Forde from 2007-2010 when he represented the Labor Party.
He has since renounced his membership of the party and says it is important for representatives of local government to be truly independent.
Mr Raguse is director of the Bendigo Bank board in Logan, principal of property investment company Micasa Group and two other businesses. He was formerly director of council’s media, marketing and community engagement division.
“Our current mayor Darren Power has done a great job as the mayor,” he said.
“… but unfortunatley, Darren has decided that he’s not going to contest the next election. So this is where I’ve decided to step up and once again provide my leadership to the City of Logan..
The local government elections are on March 16.
