2024 MidCoast Council election
14 September 2024
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All 11 seats on MidCoast Council 6 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 78,357[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 84.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2024 MidCoast Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect eleven councillors to MidCoast Council.[2] The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales.[3]
The Libertarian Party won three seats, while five candidates were elected from independent groups.[4] The Liberal Party lost all two seats it held prior to the election, owing to a missed candidate nomination deadline which prevented its councillors from recontesting.[5]
Electoral system
Like in all other New South Wales local government areas (LGAs), MidCoast Council elections use optional preferential voting.[6] Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates.[7]
All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation.[8] MidCoast has an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting.[9] The council is composed of a single ward.[2]
The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC).[10][11]
Retiring councillors
Liberal
- Troy Fowler[12]
Independents
Candidates
On 14 August 2024, the day that candidates nominations closed, the Liberal Party revealed they had missed the deadline to nominate 164 candidates in 16 different LGAs.[13][14] This included all Liberal councillors seeking re-election to MidCoast Council.[15][16]
| Howard Group (Group A) |
MidCoast Independents (Group B) |
Team Jeremy Miller (Group C) |
Labor (Group D) |
Tickle Group (Group E) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| CINC (Group F) |
Libertarian (Group G) |
Independent (Group H) |
Greens (Group I) |
Ungrouped |
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|
|
|
Withdrawn candidates
| Party | Candidate | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Troy Fowler | Incumbent councillor unable to recontest because of missed candidacy deadline.[12] | |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libertarian | 1. Michael Graham (elected 4) 2. Philip Beazley (elected 5) 3. Mal McKenzie (elected 10) 4. Mitchell Wilson 5. John Gazecki 6. Stuart Cameron |
13,709 | 22.9 | ||
| Labor | 1. Claire Pontin (elected 3) 2. Digby Wilson (elected 8) 3. Nicolle Green 4. Phillip Costa 5. Michael Burgess 6. Mark Vanstone |
9,573 | 16.0 | ||
| Tickle Group | 1. Alan Tickle (elected) 2. Nicole Turnbull (elected 9) 3. Carley Burke 4. Philip Walkom 5. Michael Kent 6. Kylie Turner |
9,443 | 15.8 | ||
| Howard Group | 1. Peter Howard (elected 1) 2. Fabian Clancy 3. Rebecca Ross 4. Scott Paterson 5. Roderick Donegan 6. Emmerson Hollis |
6,832 | 11.4 | ||
| Team Jeremy Miller | 1. Jeremy Miller (elected 2) 2. Donna Ballard 3. Bronwyn Sharpe 4. Alexander Lewers 5. Tanya Brown 6. Jake Davey |
6,038 | 10.1 | ||
| Greens | 1. Dheera Smith (elected 11) 2. Janeece Irving 3. Michael Townsend 4. Jessica Harris 5. Nathan Wales 6. Megan Cooke |
3,931 | 6.6 | ||
| MidCoast Independents | 1. Thomas O'Keefe (elected 7) 2. Bruce Murray 3. Jeanette Hart 4. Malcolm Motum 5. Terry Munright 6. Heather Vaughan |
3,794 | 6.4 | ||
| Independent | 1. Paul Sandilands 2. Mark Stuart Johnson 3. Jessica Corkill 4. Sandra Zielke 5. Gilbert Whyte 6. Scott Grant |
2,750 | 4.6 | ||
| Consultation Is Not Consent | 1. Emma Mellows 2. Veronica Frost 3. Jennifer Lennox 4. John Fisher |
1,313 | 2.2 | ||
| Independent | Karen Hutchinson | 901 | 1.5 | ||
| Independent | Elizabeth McEntyre | 554 | 0.9 | ||
| Independent | Stephen Smith | 531 | 0.9 | ||
| Independent National | John Sahyoun | 289 | 0.5 | ||
| Independent | Richard Streamer | 78 | 0.1 | ||
| Independent | Vivien Panhuber | 51 | 0.1 | ||
| Total formal votes | 59,787 | 90.5 | |||
| Informal votes | 6,243 | 9.5 | |||
| Turnout | 66,030 | 84.3 | |||
Results summary
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libertarian | 13,709 | 22.9 | +22.9 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Labor | 9,573 | 16.0 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Tickle Group | 9,443 | 15.8 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Howard Group | 6,832 | 11.4 | 1 | ||||
| Team Jeremy Miller | 6,038 | 10.1 | 1 | ||||
| Independents | 4,865 | 8.1 | 0 | ||||
| Greens | 3,931 | 6.6 | 1 | ||||
| MidCoast Independents | 3,794 | 6.4 | 1 | ||||
| Consultation Is Not Consent | 1,313 | 2.2 | 0 | ||||
| Independent National | 289 | 0.5 | 0 | ||||
| Formal votes | 59,787 | 90.5 | |||||
| Informal votes | 6,243 | 9.5 | |||||
| Total | 66,030 | 100.0 | 111 | ||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 78,357 | 84.3 | |||||
References
- ^ "Report on the administration of the 2024 NSW Local Government elections (Part 2)" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. 14 March 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Mid-Coast council election, 2024". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 12 October 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ Segaert, Anthony (12 September 2024). "Everything you need to know about local council elections". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 15 November 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ McLeod, Catie (16 September 2024). "The rise of the Libertarians: 'fringe' party could win 15 NSW council seats after Liberals' bungle". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 March 2025. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ^ Watson, Janine (9 October 2024). "MidCoast Council elect Claire Pontin mayor, Libertarian Michael Graham defeated". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
- ^ "How votes are counted in a local government election". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ Strong, Lynne (20 August 2024). "How the preference system works in NSW Local Government Elections". The Bugle News. Archived from the original on 13 December 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ Raue, Ben (29 October 2021). "The many party systems of NSW councils". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ "NSW Local Government Elections Website". Antony Green's Election Blog. 22 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ Ibrahim, Tony (1 September 2024). "Why Fairfield and Liverpool are the only councils in New South Wales to use a private contractor for their elections". ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
- ^ Maddison, Max (20 September 2024). "'A Labor Party hit job': Fury at move to outlaw private companies running council elections". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
- ^ a b Parris, Michael (3 September 2024). "New faces guaranteed with nearly half of sitting councillors not running". Newcastle Herald. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ^ Maddison, Max; Smith, Alexandra; Gorrey, Megan (14 August 2024). "NSW Liberals in chaos as party fails to nominate council candidates". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Holmes, Dan (18 August 2024). "NSW Electoral Commission refuses Liberal Party extension". The Mandarin. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ Parris, Michael (3 September 2024). "New faces guaranteed with nearly half of sitting councillors not running". Great Lakes Advocate. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ Watson, Janine (5 September 2024). "Meet the MidCoast council election candidates from Taree and Forster to Tea Gardens and Bulahdelah". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 7 September 2024. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- ^ "Council Elections are on September 14th, and our team need volunteers from across the LGA to support our Campaign". Facebook. Cr Peter Howard, Mid-Coast Council. 2 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "GROUP A HOWARD GROUP". Facebook. Cr Peter Howard, Mid-Coast Council. 9 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Beautiful morning". Facebook. MidCoast Independents. 14 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "How To Vote Team Jeremy Miller". Facebook. Jeremy Miller Group C for a Better MidCoast. 6 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Cr Alan Tickle to head group of six for local government election". Manning River Times. 12 August 2024. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Have you seen who's on the Alan Tickle - MidCoast Council team?". Facebook. Nicole Turnbull - MidCoast Council Candidate. 7 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Official voting advice, hot off the press!". Facebook. Emma Mellows for Mid-Coast Council. 3 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "Dheera Smith". Greens on Council. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- ^ "JOHN SAHYOUN". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 14 August 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.