Local government elections took place on 14 September. Photo: NSW Electoral Commission.
The future of Hilltops, Cootamundra Gundagai, Snowy Valleys and Snowy Monaro councils continues to take shape as the ballot count in the 2024 NSW local government elections continues.
The elections held on Saturday hold little in terms of surprises for three of these local government areas, with most incumbent councillors intent on returning to their respective council chambers for another four-year term, looking likely to retain their seats.
While some candidates are declaring victory, full results won’t be announced until counting concludes in early October after all postal votes have been returned to the Electoral Commissioner.
According to the NSW Electoral Commission those final results will be declared between 1 and 3 October.
Hilltops Council
In Hilltops, indications – at the time of publishing – are that Matthew Stadtmiller, Brian Ingram, Tony Flanery and Alison Foreman will be returned, while the standout new face on the block is longtime local radio host Neil Langford who has secured 14.82 per cent of first preference votes, right behind Ingram who has secured the majority of first preference votes at 16.25 per cent.
As the second count, also known as the check count, continues, the battle for the final six positions on the 11-seat council looks favourable for several other newcomers in Jake Davis, James Blackwell, Michelle Gallo and Abdullah Sultan, who are locked in a tight battle with former councillors Mary Dodd, Joanne Mackay and Patrick Fitzgerald.
Michael Skillin, Jennifer Smith, Brandon and Fiona Douglas round out the 16 candidates with 8.42 per cent of first preference votes between them.
It’ll be the last time the Hilltops region has such broad representation as electors voted strongly in favour of a reduction in the number of Hilltops Council councillors from 11 to nine, posed through a referendum.
Cootamundra Gundagai Regional Council
No surprises that two mayors in Gundagai’s Ab McAlister (20.44 per cent) and incumbent, Cootamundra’s Gil Kelly (19.53 per cent) are duking it out for the lead in first preference votes.
Nine council positions are up for grabs across the bitter divide that characterises the forcibly merged Cootamundra-Gundagai Council and with a second demerger inquiry pending, electors went to the polls determined to secure their particular lion’s share of seats at the council table.
Right now, that table is heavily tilted to Cootamundra having more seats than Gundagai as newcomer Danyal Syed (14.97 per cent) and incumbent young gun councillor Logan Collins (9.17 per cent), both Cootamundra locals, are also polling strongly.
They’re closely followed by Gundagai’s Penny Nicholson, who served as deputy under Gil Kelly, with newbies Les Cooper (Cootamundra), Ethan Ryan (Cootamundra) and Allan Young (Cootamundra) looking likely to round out the councillor team alongside another incumbent councillor in David Graham (Adjungbilly).
Whether Rosalind Wight (Cootamundra) and Stephen Maynard (Gundagai) rise up the ranks as counting continues is anyone’s guess, but of the two, Rosalind is still hovering with a chance.
Snowy Valleys
Another local government area seeking to de-amalgamate, the Snowy Valleys is still in the throes of a check count, with results for the nine councillor positions likely down to the wire for the one group and 11 individual candidates.
Right now, incumbent councillor Julia Ham is leading the First Four pack with a hefty 15.62 per cent of the vote, followed by newcomers “the singing broom-maker” Andrew Wortes (13.39 per cent) and retired CEO Hugh Packard (10.71 per cent) and then former Tumut Shire mayor and Snowy Valleys deputy Trina Thomson (10.54 per cent).
The grouped team of Michael Inglis, Barney Hyams and Max Gordon-Hall have shown strength in numbers by securing 17.68 per cent of first preference votes, Michael Inglis alone securing 10.42 per cent of that total.
Incumbent councillors James Hayes (7.09 per cent) and John Larter (7.08 per cent) are also looking pretty good for another term, as is first-timer Grant Hardwick (5.35 per cent).
The real jostle taking place is for the ninth seat, pitting newcomers, David Sheldon (4.01 per cent) against Barney Hyams (4.36 per cent), with Sam Hughes (3.57 per cent) an outside chance.
The 2024 election hasn’t been so fruitful for Snowy Valleys councillors Johanna (Hansie) Armour and Michael Ivill who have both only managed to secure a small percentage of first preference votes.
Snowy Monaro
Proving that the Snowy Monaro remains a Labor stronghold, it’s the grouped ALP ticket, Group E, led by Michelago resident, incumbent deputy mayor Tanya Higgins, with the majority of first preference votes (18.10 per cent) as counting continues this week.
Sixty candidates – 12 individual and the remainder across eight groups – nominated themselves for the 11 councillor positions ahead of the 2024 local government elections.
Hot on Higgins’s heels is the group led by incumbent mayor Chris Hanna, Group C, who have secured 15.90 per cent of first preference votes, followed by Group H (12.83 per cent), led by incumbent councillor Bob Stewart, and then Group F (12.01 per cent), led by newcomer Reuben Rose.
Group A rounds out the top four – again led by an incumbent councillor in Luke Williamson – they currently command 11.71 of preferential votes.
Rounding out the group votes is Group G – led by John Rooney at 5.47 per cent, Group B, led by Andrew Thaler amassing 4.17 preferential votes and Group D, led by James Gilbert which currently stands at 1.93 per cent.
Individual candidates have secured 17.87 per cent of first preferences and are led by incumbent councillors Narelle Davis (3.53 per cent) and Lynley Miners (3.35 per cent), closely shadowed by Craig Mitchell (2.53 per cent) and newbie Vicki Pollard (2.11 per cent).
Among the eight remaining candidates, one incumbent in Peter Beer (1.79 per cent) remains a hairbreadth ahead of Maree Stevenson (1.81), and a few whiskers ahead of Mathieu Nolte (1.40 per cent), while little separates those candidates sitting in the noughties, namely Bernie McDonald (0.36 per cent), Barry Bridges (0.20 per cent), Bruce Malcolm (0.10 per cent) and Oliver Moran (0.11 per cent).
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