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The 2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election was held in October 2021 to elect nine councillors for South Gippsland Shire, a local government area (LGA) in Victoria, Australia.[1]
This was the first election for the council since it was dismissed by the sacked by the state government in June 2019, which resulted in its scheduled 2020 election being delayed by a year. The only elected candidate who had previously served on the council was Mohya Davies, who was elected in 2012 but defeated in 2016.[2]
The Victorian Greens endorsed two candidates, while Liberal Party member Nathan Herseyn also contested the election.[3] The local Labor Party branch expressed interest, but did not end up endorsing any candidates.[4]
Background
[edit]Following the 2016 election and up until the council was dismissed, five different councillors resigned.
Maxine Kiel (Tarwin Valley Ward) tendered her resignation on 26 September 2018, with Rosemary Cousin − who had joined the Greens that month after contesting as an independent in 2016 − elected as her replacement following a countback.[5]
Liberal Party member Meg Edwards (Tarwin Valley Ward) resigned on 30 October, being replaced by independent James Fawcett the following month.
On 28 February 2019, both Fawcett and fellow councillor Lorraine Brunt (Strzelecki Ward) resigned. Brunt was replaced by Frank Hirst, however no candidate was initially declared elected as Fawcett's replacement at a 1 April countback, with Steve Finlay was elected a week later in a second countback.[6]
Councillor Jeremy Rich (Coastal-Promontory Ward) resigned on 22 April after being charged with "cultivating and trafficking a commercial quantity of cannabis". He was replaced by United Australia Party member Matthew Sherry.[7]
On 18 June 2019, the council was officially dismissed and three administrators appointed in place of elected councillors. A report into the council found there was "aggressive" councillor behaviour and suggested a "necessary" two-year break. As a result, South Gippsland was one of three LGAs without an election in October 2020.[8][9]
Campaign
[edit]In September 2021, campaigning for the election began. Some, including dismissed councillor James Fawcett and Gippsland South MP Danny O'Brien, called for former councillors not to contest.[10]
Former mayor and councillor Don Hill, who decided to contest the election, was accused of using his newspaper, South Gippsland Voices, to promote his campaign.[11]
The election was conducted entirely by post and voting began on 5 October. After a large proportion of ballot papers did not arrive by the 22 October deadline, the Victorian Electoral Commission extended the voting deadline by one week.[12]
Results
[edit]| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 18,731 | 87.02 | 8 |  | |||
| Greens | 1,518 | 7.05 | 0 | | |||
| Independent Liberal | 1,518 | 5.93 | 1 | | |||
| Formal votes | 21,526 | 96.47 | |||||
| Informal votes | 788 | 3.53 | |||||
| Total | 22,314 | 100.0 | |||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 27,376 | 81.51 | |||||
Coastal-Promontory
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Scott Rae | 1,188 | 19.71 | ||
| Independent | Mohya Davies | 1,113 | 18.47 | ||
| Independent | Sarah Gilligan | 1,076 | 17.85 | ||
| Greens | Mat Morgan | 798 | 13.24 | ||
| Independent | David Liebelt | 771 | 12.79 | ||
| Independent | Sue Plowright | 763 | 12.66 | ||
| Independent | Anda Banikos | 318 | 5.28 | ||
| Total formal votes | 6,027 | 97.40 | |||
| Informal votes | 161 | 2.60 | |||
| Turnout | 6,188 | 77.85 | |||
Strzelecki
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Jenni Keerie | 1,816 | 23.24 | ||
| Independent | Mick Felton | 1,393 | 17.82 | ||
| Independent | Jim Forbes | 1,299 | 16.62 | ||
| Independent Liberal | Nathan Hersey | 1,277 | 16.34 | ||
| Independent | David Amor | 1,003 | 12.83 | ||
| Independent | Frank Hirst | 525 | 6.72 | ||
| Independent | Andrew McEwen | 502 | 6.42 | ||
| Total formal votes | 7,815 | 96.07 | |||
| Informal votes | 320 | 3.93 | |||
| Turnout | 8,135 | 82.51 | |||
Tarwin Valley
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | John Schelling | 2,337 | 30.41 | ||
| Independent | Clare Williams | 1,672 | 21.76 | ||
| Independent | Adrian Darakai | 743 | 9.67 | ||
| Greens | Rosemary Cousin | 720 | 9.37 | ||
| Independent | Don Hill | 641 | 8.34 | ||
| Independent | Lindsay Love | 423 | 5.50 | ||
| Independent | Jeremy Curtis | 410 | 5.34 | ||
| Independent | Nicole Edwards-Galal | 301 | 3.92 | ||
| Independent | Leslie John Harmer | 294 | 3.83 | ||
| Independent | Andrew Corcoran | 143 | 1.86 | ||
| Total formal votes | 7,684 | 96.16 | |||
| Informal votes | 307 | 3.84 | |||
| Turnout | 7,991 | 83.53 | |||
Change in composition
[edit]| Ward | 2016 election | Council before dismissal | 2021 election | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | Councillor | Party | ||||
| Coastal-Promontory | Alysson Skinner | Independent | Alysson Skinner | Independent | Scott Rae | Independent | |||
| Ray Argento | Independent | Ray Argento | Independent | Mohya Davies | Independent | ||||
| Jeremy Rich | Independent | Matthew Sherry | United Australia | Sarah Gilligan | Independent | ||||
| Strzelecki | Lorraine Brunt | Independent | Frank Hirst | Independent | Jenni Keerie | Independent | |||
| Andrew McEwen | Independent | Andrew McEwen | Independent | Mick Felton | Independent | ||||
| Aaron Brown | Independent | Aaron Brown | Independent | Nathan Hersey | Ind. Liberal | ||||
| Tarwin Valley | Meg Edwards | Ind. Liberal | Steve Finlay | Independent | John Schelling | Independent | |||
| Don Hill | Independent | Don Hill | Independent | Clare Williams | Independent | ||||
| Maxine Kiel | Independent | Rosemary Cousin | Greens | Adrian Darakai | Independent | ||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election results". Victorian Electoral Commission.
- ^ "South Gippsland overwhelmingly elects fresh faces for council dismissed in 2019". ABC News.
- ^ "Preselection contest for Federal seat of Monash". South Gippsland Sentinel Times. 4 October 2023. Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ "If anyone is interested in running for the South Gippsland Council elections please let me know as we might be able to help out". Facebook. South Gippsland ALP Branch. 20 August 2021. Archived from the original on 6 October 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ "Rosemary Cousin, Greens candidate in South Gippsland, Australia". WikiNews.
- ^ "South Gippsland council sacked: One councillor on drugs charges, another accused of misusing position". ABC News.
- ^ "South Gippsland councillor Jeremy Rich charged after 21kg of cannabis discovered in police raid on family farm". ABC News.
- ^ "South Gippsland council sacked". The Weekly Times.
- ^ "Administrators appointed to run sacked Vic council". The Mandarin.
- ^ "First South Gippsland Shire election after two years of administration looms". ABC News.
- ^ "Don Hill accused of using South Gippsland Voices to boost council re-election campaign". ABC News.
- ^ Raue, Ben. "Postal voting falls short in South Gippsland". The Tally Room.