Years of campaigning have paid off, particularly for Tumbarumba residents, whose persistence, community activism, and unwavering support have finally secured a decisive vote in favour of the de-amalgamation of Snowy Valleys Council. Photo: Save Tumbarumba Shire
Final results of the Snowy Valleys Council de-amalgamation referendum are expected to be announced the week beginning Monday, 15 December, with the NSW Electoral Commission set to certify the outcome – but the result is already clear.
Voting took place Saturday, and with the majority of ballots now counted – 8718 of the 10,396 enrolled – the outcome has effectively been locked in since late Saturday night.
The ‘Yes’ vote stands at 7,553 against 1,104 ‘No’, with 61 informal papers, giving the pro‑demerger side a resounding 87.25 per cent to 12.75 per cent – well above the 51 per cent of formal votes needed for the proposal to succeed.
Ahead of the referendum, many in the Tumbarumba community worried that because the majority of the electorate lived around Tumut, the overall result would be heavily influenced by how the town voted.
Few had expected strong support for a demerger.
But in a surprising turn, Tumut CWA Hall – the town’s largest polling booth – recorded 778 ‘Yes’ votes to 139 ‘No’, with around 85 per cent of voters backing de‑amalgamation.
Even more striking, but less surprising, at Rosewood’s polling booth, north west of Tumbarumba, every one of the 94 votes cast supported de‑amalgamation, giving the small village complete unanimity.
Relief and celebration are palpable across the towns, and social media is buzzing with messages, posts and screengrabs of the results capturing the pride of residents.
Doug Gee of long-running demerger advocacy group, Save Tumbarumba Shire, which has been campaigning since before the 2016 merger, said the result was a vindication of years of effort.
“I’m still pinching myself over the result – outstanding and way better than we anticipated,” he said.
“Thank you to everyone who turned out and voted – you made this happen,” he said.
“This is a hard-earned victory for the entire Snowy Valleys community … built by ordinary people who cared enough to show up.”
Like Doug, for many, the result marks the culmination of nearly a decade of community campaigning that stretched from kitchen-table conversations to street campaigning, to busloads of supporters travelling to Sydney to rally outside NSW Parliament.
Dubbed the ‘Orange Army’, campaigners made their message impossible to miss: clad in orange T‑shirts and carrying orange placards, they turned the usually quiet town of Tumbarumba into streets lined with ‘Save Tumba Shire’ signs for nearly a decade, leaving no doubt where the community stood.
The referendum asked whether the 2016-merged Snowy Valleys Council – created when the former Tumut Shire Council and Tumbarumba Shire Council were forcibly amalgamated under a statewide reform push – should be dismantled and the former shires reinstated.
For many Tumbarumba and Tumut residents, the forced merger never felt like a union of equals; the distance, administrative centralisation and dilution of local identity became enduring sore points.
The community’s first official attempt to demerge Snowy Valleys Council was rejected in July 2021, when then‑Local Government minister Shelley Hancock declined to move forward with the proposal – despite a favourable recommendation from the Local Government Boundaries Commission (LGBC).
Legislation passed in 2024 provided a legal framework for de‑amalgamations, but it was Snowy Valleys Council’s own business case, implementation plan and financial sustainability plan – reviewed and approved by the Local Government Boundaries Commission (LGBC) and the minister Ron Hoenig – that created the practical pathway for a second referendum.
Minister Hoenig stressed that the goal was to give the communities the choice to decide for themselves, rather than have the state impose a solution.
The legal and administrative process ahead is complex.
Once the result is officially declared, Snowy Valleys Council must begin the staged transition prescribed in the implementation plan, dividing assets and liabilities, reallocating staff and setting up distinct governance structures for a reconstituted Tumut Shire and Tumbarumba Shire.
The state government has indicated it may provide funding support – reportedly up to $5 million – to help cover transition costs. However, the final amount and conditions will depend on further business planning by the councils.
Residents are likely to experience some change during the transition, including potential adjustments to rates and service fees.
Before the vote, warnings were issued that rates might rise gradually in Tumut, while in Tumbarumba, user-charge-based services such as water and sewerage could see significant increases.
The full impact will only become clear once separate budgets are drafted for each re-formed council.
The earliest realistic point for the official re-proclamation of the two shires is mid-2027, with local government elections for the new councils anticipated in late 2028.
For now, Snowy Valleys residents are taking a moment to absorb the significance of what they have achieved.
After nearly a decade of living under a structure they did not choose, they have voted overwhelmingly to reclaim local decision-making.
As one supporter wrote online today: “We didn’t just hope for change – we made it happen”.
