Rocky’s almost accidental mayor hopes to avoid rough end of the pineapple

Chris “Pineapple” Hooper almost became Rockhampton’s accidental mayor.

But next weekend, the climate change activist is hoping the residents of the central Queensland beef capital do not give him the rough end of the pineapple when the city heads to a byelection to choose its next mayor.

Mr Hooper was technically offered the job in November after the shock resignation of mayor Margaret Strelow, who quit after the Councillor Conduct Tribunal found her guilty of misconduct.

But his celebrations were short-lived, with the Palaszczuk government rushing through laws in late 2020 to overturn legislation it had passed just months earlier which allowed a mayoral runner-up to be offered the vacant role within the first 12 months instead of forcing Queenslanders back to the polls for a byelection.

The anti-Adani activist, who is often seen barefoot and riding around town on a bicycle, was nicknamed “Pineapple” for his bushy hair as a teenager.

Among his policies are reducing rates increases, more native trees and solar panels on council buildings.

“We just want to slow the whole pace of life down a bit and get consumerism down,” he said.

Mr Hooper pledged to take a salary of $1 during his last campaign, but Brisbane’s only Greens councillor Jonathan Sri advised him he could instead donate his wages to non-profit causes.

“He advised me to do that because you can help a lot of little groups out – so he’s done a lot of that in Brisbane,” he said.

Mr Hooper said he did not have “too many tickets” on himself when it came to whether he could win, but voters were unhappy with the laws being changed.

“The ordinary yobbo, the ordinary person, is really pissed off that, OK, we don’t like that Hooper, he won’t do what we want him to do, and so they said, oh, they’ve just changed the Act of Parliament … This is the end of democracy,” he said.

Mr Hooper came in second place at the March 2020 council election after scoring 31 per cent of the vote to Ms Strelow’s 69 per cent.

In fact, he was the only other person vying for Rockhampton’s top job.

This time, Mr Hooper will face a tougher field, as he is up against 16 others, including councillors Tony Williams, Donna Kirkland, Cherie Rutherford and Shane Latcham.

Ms Strelow, who served as a councillor and mayor in Rockhampton for most of the past two decades, decided not to contest the byelection.

The saga was sparked after a tribunal found Ms Strelow did not tell the council’s chief executive officer of a “personal hospitality benefit” received from Adani during a council business trip to India in 2017.

Ms Strelow quit, despite disputing the findings, and even though the tribunal had only recommended she publicly apologise.

In October, Ms Strelow wrapped herself in a “bubble wrap suit” and posted a peculiar video on Facebook.

“This is to try to protect me, remembering that we’re now in that period where if something happens to me, you don’t have to vote,” she said.

“If anything happens to me then Chris Hooper is automatically your mayor.”

University of Queensland political expert Chris Salisbury said it was not a good look for the state government to change the law midyear only to change it back after Ms Strelow’s resignation.

“The changes reinforced the impression that local government is often treated as something of a ‘plaything’ of state government,” he said.

But Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister Steven Miles has previously said the government decided to change the law before Ms Strelow resigned.

“I think it’s absolutely critical that the people of Rockhampton get a chance to have a proper say about who should be their mayor for the next nearly four years,” Dr Salisbury said.

He said it was difficult to pick a winner as it had gone from a two-horse race to an almost Melbourne Cup-size field, and optional preferential voting meant it was difficult to predict whether preferences would boost some candidates’ chances.

“This time there’s no Margaret Strelow with a long-time profile to run against … and Hooper has the advantage of a profile of his own now,” he said.

“His story will likely attract voters sympathetic to his case, plus he might get a boost from voters annoyed at having to return to the ballot box during school holidays because of the law change.

“But at the same time, his platform will attract more scrutiny than last time around, potentially turning off some voters in fairly conservative Rockhampton, plus he’s facing a few experienced councillors running for the mayoralty.”

The Local Government Association of Queensland welcomed the repeal of the laws, decrying them as undemocratic as they could elevate candidates who received only a small percentage of the vote.

Rockhampton residents will head to the polls on Saturday, January 23.