Four Queensland communities, including Douglas, woke to new mayors and councils on Sunday morning after voters rushed to lodge their ballots in the four de-amalgamating council elections.

Queensland Local Government Minister David Crisafulli said the fact that more than 40 per cent of voters had pre-polled or lodged postal votes in Noosa, Livingstone, Mareeba and Douglas showed the enthusiasm in the four shires to have their voices heard.

“People talk about voter fatigue, but the turnout for these elections and the fact that many people made sure their votes were lodged before election day shows a passion for grassroots democracy and their communities,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“It also puts into context how deeply they felt Labor’s betrayal in the 2008 forced amalgamations.

“We went to the last state election promising to give communities a vote if there was a chance of re-establishing a viable, independent council, and we’ve delivered.

“There are now four new mayors at the local government table in Queensland, and it’s time to focus on the future.   

“These mayors have got big jobs in front of them, and now it’s up to those councils to make their communities’ vision a reality.”

After the November 9 election, Julia Leu was declared the new Douglas Shire mayor after the last Electoral Commission of Queensland results update at 8.47pm that evening, with 79.25 per cent of the electoral roll counted.

Cr Leu attracted 58.14 per cent of the vote, well ahead of her competition, George Pitt (23.26 per cent) bJames Dormer (16.99 per cent).

The ECQ posted the apparent result of the Councillor vote at 5pm on Sunday, November 10, with 79.35 per cent of the roll counted.

Abigail Noli was the clear favourite; her 10.84 per cent put her 245 votes clear of David Carey, himself attracting 9.69 per cent. Bruce Clarke (9.23 per cent) and Terry Melchert (7.78 per cent) rounded out the top four.