2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election

The 2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election was held in October 2021 to elect nine councillors for South Gippsland Shire, a local government area in Victoria, Australia.[1]

2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election
5-29 October 2021
Turnout81.51%
  First party Second party Third party
 
IND
Leader N/A No leader No leader
Party Independent Greens Liberal
Last election 8 seats 0 seats 1 seat
Seats before 7 seats 1 seat 0 seats
Seats won 9 0 1
Seat change 2 1 1
Popular vote 20,008 1,518 1,277
Percentage 92.95% 7.05% 5.93%

This was the first election for the council since it was dismissed by the sacked by the Victorian 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. The local Labor Party branch expressed interest, but did not end up endorsing any candidates.[3][4]

Background
See also: 2016 Victorian local elections § Countbacks

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

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
2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election: Party totals[1]
Party Votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Independent 18,731 87.02 8
  Greens 1,518 7.05 0
  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
2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election: Coastal-Promontory Ward[1]
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
Independent hold SwingN/A
Independent hold SwingN/A
Independent hold SwingN/A

Strzelecki
2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election: Strzelecki Ward[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Jenni Keerie 1,816 23.24
Independent Mick Felton 1,393 17.82
Independent Jim Forbes 1,299 16.62
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
Independent hold SwingN/A
Independent hold SwingN/A
Liberal gain from Independent SwingN/A

Tarwin Valley
2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election: Tarwin Valley Ward[1]
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
Independent gain from Liberal SwingN/A
Independent hold SwingN/A
Independent hold SwingN/A

Change in composition
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 Liberal
Tarwin Valley   Meg Edwards 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
  1. "2021 South Gippsland Shire Council election results". Victorian Electoral Commission.
  2. "South Gippsland overwhelmingly elects fresh faces for council dismissed in 2019". ABC News.
  3. "Preselection contest for Federal seat of Monash". South Gippsland Sentinel Times.
  4. "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. Archived from the original on 8 December 2023.
  5. "Rosemary Cousin, Greens candidate in South Gippsland, Australia". WikiNews.
  6. "South Gippsland council sacked: One councillor on drugs charges, another accused of misusing position". ABC News.
  7. "South Gippsland councillor Jeremy Rich charged after 21kg of cannabis discovered in police raid on family farm". ABC News.
  8. "South Gippsland council sacked". The Weekly Times.
  9. "Administrators appointed to run sacked Vic council". The Mandarin.
  10. "First South Gippsland Shire election after two years of administration looms". ABC News.
  11. "Don Hill accused of using South Gippsland Voices to boost council re-election campaign". ABC News.
  12. Raue, Ben. "Postal voting falls short in South Gippsland". The Tally Room.
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