2016 New South Wales local elections

The 2016 New South Wales local elections were held on 10 September 2016 to elect the councils of 79 of the 168 local government areas (LGAs) of New South Wales. Several councils also held mayoral elections and/or referendums.[1]

2016 New South Wales local elections
10 September 2016[lower-alpha 1]
  First party Second party Third party
 
IND
Leader N/A Luke Foley Mike Baird
Party Independents Labor Liberal
Seats won 545[lower-alpha 2] 81[lower-alpha 2] 48[lower-alpha 2]
Popular vote 678,591 429,605 286,013
Percentage 39.59% 24.60% 16.40%
Swing Increase 1.45 Increase 5.43 Decrease 5.45
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
LDP
Leader No leader John Humphreys
Party Greens LDP
Seats won 23[lower-alpha 2] 0[lower-alpha 2]
Seat change Decrease 1
Popular vote 110,491 4,356
Percentage 6.35% 0.27%
Swing Decrease 0.33 Decrease 0.04

The elections were conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission, with the exception of Fairfield, Gunnedah, Kempsey, Lake Macquarie and Penrith, who chose to conduct their own elections.[1]

The election in Tweed was deferred until 29 October 2016 due to the death of a candidate.[2]

Background

Following the 2012 elections, major changes occurred as a result of the enactment of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 and as a result of a review by the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) that commenced in 2013. On 12 May 2016, following a further review by the Minister for Local Government and the independent Local Government Boundaries Commission, Premier Mike Baird announced Stage 1 starting with 19 new councils, through amalgamations and mergers, with immediate effect. The Minister indicated in principle support to create a further nine new councils, subject to the decision of the courts.[3][4] On the same day, the Governor of New South Wales acted on the advice of the Minister, and proclaimed the 19 new local government areas. Another proclamation occurred a few months later with the amalgamation of City of Botany Bay and City of Rockdale.[5]

This resulted in 46 councils not being contested until 2017, before the vast majority contested together again in 2021.

Parties

The following registered parties contested this election. This does not include groups of independents:

In addition, a number of local government-registered parties also contested the elections.[6]

Party changes before elections

A number of councillors joined or left parties before the 2016 elections.

In Fairfield, Labor councillor George Barcha was handed a 6-month suspension for branch stacking and ran fourth on the party's Cabravale Ward ticket at the election.[7]

CouncilWardCouncillorFormer partyNew partyDate
Penrith East Maurice Girotto   Australia First   Independent 31 October 2013
Hurstville Peakhurst Michelle Stevens   Labor   Independent 3 April 2014
Ballina Ward B Jeff Johnson   Greens   Independent 16 February 2015
Wagga Wagga Unsubdivided Paul Funnell   Democratic Labour   Country 5 March 2015
Wagga Wagga Unsubdivided Paul Funnell   Country   Independent 29 March 2015
Fairfield Cabravale George Barcha   Labor   Independent Labor 11 November 2015
Penrith East Maurice Girotto   Independent   Christian Democrats 16 March 2016
Fairfield Cabravale Dai Le   Liberal   Independent 16 August 2016
Fairfield Mayor Frank Carbone   Labor   Independent 30 August 2016

Results
Party Votes  % Swing Seats[lower-alpha 2] Change
  Independents 678,591 39.59 +1.45 545
  Labor 429,605 24.60 +5.43 81
  Liberal 286,013 16.40 −5.45 48
  Greens 110,491 6.35 −0.33 23
  Clover Moore Independent Team 45,224 2.60 +1.71 5 Increase 1
  Independent National 40,896 2.35 +1.36 15
  Shoalhaven Independents 21,510 1.31 +0.98 5 Increase 2
  Independent Liberal 21,364 1.30 −2.57 5
  Independent Lake Alliance 20,978 1.21 +0.44 1 Decrease 3
  Lake Mac Independents 19,036 1.10 +1.10 3 Increase 3
  Christian Democrats 15,326 0.90 +0.49 0 Steady
  Liverpool Community Independents 13,207 0.75 +0.54 2 Increase 1
  Totally Locally Committed 7,865 0.45 +0.24 2 Steady
  Community First 7,049 0.41 +0.25 1 Steady
  Sydney Matters 6,051 0.35 +0.35 1 Increase 1
  Australia First 4,424 0.27 +0.08 0 Decrease 1
  Liberal Democrats 4,356 0.27 −0.04 0 Decrease 1
  Our Sustainable Future 4,295 0.26 +0.18 2
  Bob Thompson 3,891 0.25 +0.13 1 Steady
  Independent Labor 3,700 0.23 −0.24 4
  Community Service Environment 2,152 0.14 +0.02 0 Decrease 1
  For A Better Shoalhaven 1,394 0.10 +0.10 0 Steady
  Albury Citizens and Ratepayers 301 0.03 −0.05 0 Decrease 1
  Animal Justice 193 0.02 +0.02 0 Steady
 Total 1,747,912 100.00 – – –

By-elections
For by-elections in councils that held local elections in 2017, see here.

The New South Wales Electoral Commission held a number of by-elections to fill vacancies on councils after the 2016 elections up until 2021.[8]

Council Ward Before Change Result after preference distribution
Councillor Party Cause Date Date Party Candidate %
Campbelltown Unsubdivided Fred Borg Totally Locally Committed Death 20 December 2016 18 March 2017 Labor Ben Gilholme 56.47
Community First Josh Cotter 43.53
Lithgow Unsubdivided 8 April 2017 Independent Darryl Goodwin[lower-alpha 3] 39.83
Independent Deanna Goodsell[lower-alpha 3] 21.04
Port Macquarie-Hastings Unsubdivided 29 July 2017 Independent Peta Pinson 51.07
Independent Robert Turner 48.93
Brewarrina Unsubdivided 19 August 2017 Independent Michael Hertslet N/A
Elected unopposed
Narromine Unsubdivided 19 August 2017 Independent Trudy Everingham 56.52
Independent Ruth Carney 43.48
Tenterfield Ward D 19 August 2017 Independent Bob Rogan 54.43
Independent Brian Brown 45.57
Wollondilly Unsubdivided 28 October 2017 Independent Matt Smith 56.62
Independent Laura Egan-Burt 43.38
Coonamble Unsubdivided 26 March 2018 Independent Robert Thomas 54.61
Independent Pat Cullen 45.39
Berrigan Unsubdivided 14 July 2018 Independent Roger Reynoldson 68.39
Independent Ruth Silvester 31.61
Greater Hume East 24 November 2018 Independent Lea Parker 52.34
Independent Greg Mason[lower-alpha 4] 24.67
Cobar Unsubdivided 8 December 2018 Independent Kate Winders 51.53
Independent Benny Hewlett 48.47
Griffith Ward A 16 February 2019 Ind. National Glen Andreazza 55.25
Independent Damien Marcus 44.75
Lachlan Ward D 16 February 2019 Independent Elaine Bendall[lower-alpha 3] 63.52
Independent Dennis Brady[lower-alpha 3] 16.01
Uralla Ward A 16 February 2019 Independent Tom O'Connor 66.91
Independent Charlotte Field-Sampson 33.09
Coonamble Unsubdivided 29 June 2019 Independent Pat Cullen[lower-alpha 3] 33.11
Independent Barbara Deans[lower-alpha 3] 24.64

Notes
  1. The election in Tweed was held on 29 October 2016.
  2. This does not include seats in 46 LGAs that were won in 2012 but not up for re-election until the 2017 local elections.
  3. Two vacancies on council, meaning two candidates were elected - this shows their primary vote before preference distribution.
  4. Second-placed out of three candidate after initial preference distribution.

References
  1. "Results by Local Government Area". New South Wales Electoral Commission.
  2. Anthony, Bob. "New Tweed election date opens door for more potential candidates". Gold Coast Bulletin.
  3. "Introduction". Stronger Councils. Government of New South Wales. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  4. "New councils for NSW". Family & Community Services (Press release). Government of New South Wales. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  5. "Local Government (Council Amalgamations) Proclamation 2016" (PDF). Stronger Councils. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  6. "Local government register of political parties". New South Wales Electoral Commission.
  7. McClymont, Kate (11 November 2015). "Fairfield councillor and ALP staffer George Barcha cops six months suspension for branch-stacking". Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. "Local government election results". New South Wales Electoral Commission.
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