2024 Blue Mountains City Council election
14 September 2024
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All 12 seats on Blue Mountains City Council 7 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 60,045[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 84.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by ward | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2024 Blue Mountains City Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect twelve councillors to the City of Blue Mountains.[2] The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales.[3]
The Labor Party gained an outright majority, winning nine seats.[4] The Liberal Party lost all two seats it held prior to the election, owing to a missed candidate nomination deadline which prevented its councillors from recontesting.[5]
Background
Ward 2 councillor Brendan Christie resigned from the Liberal Party on 3 July 2023.[6] He resigned as a councillor less than two months later and his seat was left vacant until the election.[7]
Electoral system
Like in all other New South Wales local government areas (LGAs), Blue Mountains City Council elections use optional preferential voting.[8] Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates.[9]
All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation.[10] Lake Macquarie has an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting.[11] The council is divided into four wards, each electing three councillors.[2]
The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC).[12][13]
Retiring councillors
Liberal
Candidates
On 14 August 2024, the day that candidates nominations closed, the Liberal Party revealed they had missed the deadline to nominate 164 candidates in 16 different LGAs.[15][16] This included all Liberal councillors seeking re-election to Blue Mountains City Council.[17][18]
Ward 1
| Greens (Group A) |
Labor (Group B) |
|---|---|
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Ward 2
| Labor (Group A) |
Greens (Group B) |
Ungrouped |
|---|---|---|
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|
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Ward 3
| Independent (Group A) |
Greens (Group B) |
Labor (Group C) |
|---|---|---|
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|
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Ward 4
| Labor (Group A) |
Greens (Group B) |
|---|---|
|
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Withdrawn candidates
| Party | Candidate | Ward | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Rita Fisher | Ward 1 | Candidate unable to contest because of missed nomination deadline.[14] | |
| Liberal | Sophie Bruce | Ward 2 | Candidate unable to contest because of missed nomination deadline.[14] | |
| Liberal | Roza Sage | Ward 3 | Incumbent councillor unable to recontest because of missed candidacy deadline.[14] | |
| Liberal | Kieran Best | Ward 4 | Candidate unable to contest because of missed nomination deadline.[14] | |
| Greens | Hayley Stone | Ward 3 | Withdrew because of personal reasons.[19] | |
Results
Ward results
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 29,052 | 63.9 | +14.7 | 9 | 3 | ||
| Greens | 11,000 | 24.2 | +9.3 | 2 | |||
| Independents | 4,329 | 9.5 | −2.3 | 1 | |||
| Libertarian | 1,082 | 2.4 | +2.4 | 0 | |||
| Formal votes | 45,463 | 90.0 | −6.5 | ||||
| Informal votes | 5,049 | 10.0 | +6.5 | ||||
| Total | 50,512 | 100.0 | |||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 60,045 | 84.1 | |||||
Ward 1
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 1. Suzie van Opdorp (elected 2) 2. Suzanne Jamieson (elected 3) 3. David Forbes |
6,629 | 61.7 | +15.3 | |
| Greens | 1. Sarah Redshaw (elected 1) 2. Melanie-Ann Turner 3. Kathleen Herbert |
4,119 | 38.3 | +9.7 | |
| Total formal votes | 10,748 | 88.3 | −7.5 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,418 | 11.7 | +7.5 | ||
| Turnout | 12,166 | 80.5 | −2.1 | ||
Ward 2
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 1. Romola Hollywood (elected 1) 2. Claire West (elected 2) 3. Paul Gannon |
8,315 | 68.0 | +20.4 | |
| Greens | 1. Brent Hoare (elected 3) 2. Jenna Condie 3. Sandra Warn |
2,828 | 23.1 | +6.1 | |
| Libertarian | Joaquim De Lima | 1,082 | 8.9 | +8.9 | |
| Total formal votes | 12,225 | 90.4 | −5.9 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,299 | 9.6 | +5.9 | ||
| Turnout | 13,524 | 86.9 | −1.5 | ||
Ward 3
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 1. Darren Rodrigo (elected 2) 2. Mick Fell (elected 3) 3. Ramona Kennedy |
4,329 | 46.3 | +15.5 | |
| Independent | 1. Daniel Myles (elected 1) 2. Shawn Hull 3. Jakalin Hull |
4,329 | 34.9 | +19.2 | |
| Greens | 1. Sarah O'Carrigan 2. Angelika Treichler 3. Michael Ord |
2,335 | 18.8 | +3.7 | |
| Total formal votes | 12,409 | 92.8 | −3.9 | ||
| Informal votes | 969 | 7.2 | +3.9 | ||
| Turnout | 13,378 | 89.8 | +1.4 | ||
Ward 4
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 1. Mark Greenhill (elected 1) 2. Nyree Fisher (elected 2) 3. Margaret Buckham (elected 3) |
9,779 | 85.1 | +20.6 | |
| Greens | 1. William Gruner 2. Jennifer Brown 3. Noel Willis |
1,718 | 14.9 | +14.9 | |
| Total formal votes | 11,497 | 89.4 | −7.6 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,363 | 10.6 | +7.6 | ||
| Turnout | 12,860 | 88.9 | −0.3 | ||
References
- ^ "Report on the administration of the 2024 NSW Local Government elections (Part 2)" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. 14 March 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 September 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ a b Curtin, Jennie (15 August 2024). "Voters face streamlined council ballot paper without Liberals". Blue Mountains Gazette. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
- ^ Segaert, Anthony (12 September 2024). "Everything you need to know about local council elections". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 15 November 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ Madigan, Damien (1 October 2024). "Labor hits all time high as final Blue Mountains council election results revealed". Blue Mountains Gazette. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "2024 Local Government Elections Brief" (PDF). Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue. 1 October 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2025. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
- ^ Madigan, Damien (24 August 2023). "Blue Mountains City Councillor Brendan Christie resigns from Liberal Party". Blue Mountains Gazette. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
- ^ "Councillor Christie steps down from Blue Mountains City Council's governing body". Blue Mountains City Council. 25 August 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "How votes are counted in a local government election". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ Strong, Lynne (20 August 2024). "How the preference system works in NSW Local Government Elections". The Bugle News. Archived from the original on 13 December 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ Raue, Ben (29 October 2021). "The many party systems of NSW councils". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ "NSW Local Government Elections Website". Antony Green's Election Blog. 22 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ Ibrahim, Tony (1 September 2024). "Why Fairfield and Liverpool are the only councils in New South Wales to use a private contractor for their elections". ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
- ^ Maddison, Max (20 September 2024). "'A Labor Party hit job': Fury at move to outlaw private companies running council elections". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Liberal Party announces team standing for council elections". Blue Mountains Gazette. 24 July 2024. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ Maddison, Max; Smith, Alexandra; Gorrey, Megan (14 August 2024). "NSW Liberals in chaos as party fails to nominate council candidates". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
- ^ Holmes, Dan (18 August 2024). "NSW Electoral Commission refuses Liberal Party extension". The Mandarin. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ Madigan, Damien (15 August 2024). "'Quite devastating': Liberal Party bungle leaves Blue Mountains council candidates out in the cold". Blue Mountains Gazette. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
- ^ McLeod, Catie (15 August 2024). "'Shocked and gutted': NSW Liberal councillors mull legal action against own party over administrative disaster". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 June 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
- ^ Madigan, Damien (17 June 2024). "Greens candidate defends living outside ward he hopes to represent". Blue Mountains Gazette. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)