2002 Victorian local elections
16 March 2002
Registered560,000+
  First party Second party Third party
 
IND
Leader None N/A N/A
Party Independents Labor Liberal
Last election 131[lower-alpha 1] 22[lower-alpha 1] 3[lower-alpha 1]
Seats before 129 23 3
Seats won 124 19 5
Seat change Decrease 5 Decrease 4 Increase 2
Popular vote 443,889 56,771 20,804
Percentage 81.76% 10.20% 3.74%
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
SOC
SA
Leader No leader No leader No leader
Party Greens Socialist Socialist Alliance
Last election 0[lower-alpha 1] 0 Did not exist
Seats before 1 0 0
Seats won 6 0 0
Seat change Increase 5 Steady Steady
Popular vote 17,951 988 714
Percentage 3.22% 0.18% 0.13%

The 2002 Victorian local elections were held on 16 March 2002 to elect the councils of 17 of the 78 local government areas in Victoria, Australia.[1]

Until 2008, local elections in Victoria were conducted periodically, meaning 53 councils were not up for election in 2002.[2] The City of Melbourne was initially scheduled to hold its election in 2002, but it was instead brought forward to 22 July 2001 following a change to its electoral structure.[3]

All elections were conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission with the exception of the City of Moreland, which conducted its own election.[4]

The elections saw significant success for The Greens. The sole council up for election that had a Greens councillor was the City of Yarra, after Gurm Sekhon won an October 2001 by-election in Nicholson Ward. An additional four Greens councillors were elected in Yarra − including future party leader and MP Greg Barber − as well as Stephen Hart in Colac Otway and Fraser Brindley Moreland.[1]

The Socialist Party ran three candidates in Yarra, receiving 3.5% of the vote across the council area.[5]

27 candidates were elected unopposed across the state, 24 of which were independents.[1]

Results

Council votes

Party Votes  % Swing Seats Change
  Independents 455,160 81.76 124 Decrease 7
  Labor 56,771 10.20 19 Decrease 4
  Liberal 20,804 3.74 5 Increase 2
  Greens 17,951 3.22 6 Increase 6
  Independent Labor 4,328 0.77 1 Increase 1
  Socialist 988 0.18 +0.18 0 Steady
  Socialist Alliance 714 0.13 +0.13 0 Steady
 Total 556,725 100.0 155
 Informal votes
 Turnout

Council control

Party Councils
Number Change
  Independent 14 Decrease 1
  No overall control 1 Increase 1
  Labor 2 Steady

Aftermath

Labor retained control of the City of Darebin and gained control of the City of Moreland, but lost control of the City of Yarra as a result of Greens, Independent Labor and independent gains.[1]

In addition to retaining two wards in Boroondara, the Liberal Party gained two seats in Greater Bendigo − Greg Williams (Eppalock) and Kevin Gibbins (Whipstick).[6][7] A fifth Liberal councillor (Geoff White in Glenelg) was re-elected unopposed.[8]

Following the elections, the amount of LGAs expanded from 78 to 79 when the Shire of Delatite was split into the Rural City of Benalla and the Shire of Mansfield.[9]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 This only includes the 17 councils up for election in 2002, not councillors in the remaining 53 councils.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Local council election results timeline". Victorian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2017-03-03.
  2. ↑ "VOTING METHOD FOR THE 2008 COUNCIL ELECTIONS" (PDF). City of Melbourne. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-11-02.
  3. ↑ "Council, mayor and lord mayor history". City of Melbourne.
  4. ↑ "Election Results". Trove. Moreland City Council.
  5. ↑ "Australia: Yarra Council – One in five people vote socialist across city". Committee for a Workers' International.
  6. ↑ "Bendigo councillor to seek Liberal federal preselection". ABC News.
  7. ↑ "Councillor Kevin Gibbins mourned". The Bendigo Advertiser.
  8. ↑ "Tracking Victorian Crs who are members of a political party". The Mayne Report.
  9. ↑ Royce Millar & Jason Dowling (25 April 2004). "Kennett's blitz a decade on". The Age. theage.com.au.
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