2024 Penrith City Council election

2024 Penrith City Council election
14 September 2024
All 15 seats on Penrith City Council
8 seats needed for a majority
Registered151,015[1]
Turnout83.7%[a]
  First party Second party
 
IND
Party Labor Independents
Last election 5 seats 4 seats
Seats before 4 4
Seats won 9 3
Seat change 5 1
Primary vote 26,544 31,490
Percentage 33.9% 26.9%
Swing 0.6 2.9
  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Liberal Libertarian
Last election 6 seats Did not contest
Seats before 6 0
Seats won 2 1
Seat change 4 1
Primary vote 15,303 11,849
Percentage 19.5% 15.1%
Swing 13.8 15.1
Results by ward

The 2024 Penrith City Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect 15 councillors to the City of Penrith.[2] The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales.[3]

The Labor Party gained a majority, winning nine seats (including five in an uncontested ward).[4] The Liberal Party lost four of its six seats, owing to a missed candidate nomination deadline which prevented some of its councillors from recontesting.[5]

Background

North Ward councillor Jonathan Pullen resigned from the Labor Party on 27 June 2022.[6] In August 2024, East Ward councillor Marlene Shipley joined the Liberal Party, while North Ward councillor Glenn Gardiner resigned from the Liberals to sit as an independent.[7]

South Ward councillor Jim Aitken resigned on 21 July 2023, with his seat left vacant until the election.[8]

Electoral system

Like in all other New South Wales local government areas (LGAs), Penrith City Council elections use optional preferential voting.[9] Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates.[10]

All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation.[11] Penrith has an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting.[12] The council is divided into three wards, each electing five councillors.[2]

The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC).[13][14]

Retiring councillors

Labor

Liberal

  • Tricia Hitchen (East) – announced retirement on 14 March 2025[16]

Independents

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.[17][18] This included all Liberal candidates in East Ward and South Ward.[19][20] With no other parties nominating, all five Labor Party candidates in East Ward were elected unopposed.[21][22]

East

North

South

Withdrawn candidates

Party Candidate Ward Details
Liberal Bernard Bratusa East Incumbent councillor unable to recontest because of missed candidacy deadline.[7]
Liberal Marlene Shipley East Incumbent councillor unable to recontest because of missed candidacy deadline.[7]
Liberal Mark Davies South Incumbent councillor unable to recontest because of missed candidacy deadline.[7]
Liberal Mark Rusev South Incumbent councillor unable to recontest because of missed candidacy deadline.[7]

Results

Ward results

2024 Penrith City Council election: Ward results
Party Votes % Swing Seats Change
  Labor 26,544 33.9 −0.6 9 4
  Independents 31,490 26.9 −2.9 3 1
  Liberal 15,303 19.5 −13.8 2 4
  Libertarian 11,849 15.1 +15.1 1 1
  Greens 3,522 4.5 +4.5 0
 Formal votes 78,282 91.6
 Informal votes 7,221 8.4
 Total 85,503 100.0 15
 Registered voters / turnout 151,015 83.7[a]

East

2024 Penrith City Council election: East Ward
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor 1. Todd Carney (elected)
2. Garion Thain (elected)
3. Sarbjeet Kaur (elected)
4. Edwin Mifsud (elected)
5. Libby Austin (elected) 		unopposed
Registered electors 48,861

North

2024 Penrith City Council election: North Ward
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal 1. Ross Fowler (elected 1)
2. Reece Nuttall (elected 3)
3. Dennis Golding
4. Enid Golding
5. Julie Fletcher 		15,303 37.8 +4.6
Labor 1. John Thain (elected 2)
2. Robin Cook (elected 4)
3. Kyra Quinlivan
4. Bradley Hulls
5. Laine Fox 		13,534 33.4 −0.4
Independent 1. Glenn Gardiner (elected 5)
2. Kevin Crameri
3. Damian Griggs
4. Varun Thakkar
5. Barbara Murphy 		4,349 10.7
Independent 1. Amanda Cardwell
2. Geetha Rajagopalan
3. Josie Monteleone
4. Elizabeth Curtis
5. Ross Cardwell 		3,796 9.4
Greens 1. Shafaq Jaffery
2. Nick Best
3. Jacquie Wilson
4. David Maurice
5. Zeeshan Abdul 		3,522 8.7
Total formal votes 40,504 92.2
Informal votes 3,428 7.8
Turnout 43,932 82.9

South

2024 Penrith City Council election: South Ward
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor 1. Hollie McLean (elected 2)
2. Kirstie Boerst (elected 5)
3. Lorraine Fordham
4. Mohinder Singh
5. Mitchell Hearne 		13,010 34.4 +4.3
Independent 1. Sue Day (elected 1)
2. Faithe Skinner (elected 4)
3. Rebecca Carroll
4. Jo-Anne Topp
5. Neal Bates 		12,919 34.2 +14.9
Libertarian 1. Vanessa Pollak (elected 3)
2. Roxanne Vines
3. Vanessa Pericich
4. Lain Vincent
5. Jason Fraser 		11,849 31.4 +31.4
Total formal votes 37,778 90.9
Informal votes 3,793 9.1
Turnout 41,571 84.6

Notes

  1. ^ a b Turnout for contested wards only.

References

  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ a b c Raue, Ben. "Penrith council election, 2024". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 10 October 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Damo, Madeleine (14 September 2024). "Labor majority indicated for Penrith Council elections". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ Feszczuk, Emily (27 June 2022). "Council bombshell: Jonathan Pullen quits Labor". The Weekend Westerner. Archived from the original on 15 February 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Penrith Deputy Mayor felled by Liberal deadline failure". Inside Local Government. 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  8. ^ Dodds, Troy (21 July 2023). "Veteran Penrith City Councillor Jim Aitken formally resigns". The Weekend Westerner. Archived from the original on 14 May 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ Alexander, Harriet; Maddison, Max (14 June 2024). "The MP with four jobs and the multimillion-dollar property development". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  16. ^ Chate, Emily (14 March 2024). "Hitchen confirms she'll exit Council at end of current term". The Weekend Westerner. Archived from the original on 27 March 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ Dodds, Troy (14 August 2024). "Extraordinary situation could leave two Wards without Liberal candidates at Council election". The Weekend Westerner. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  20. ^ Dodds, Troy; Chate, Emily (15 August 2024). "Liberals in disarray as final Council nominations are revealed". The Weekend Westerner. Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  21. ^ "Five Penrith East Ward Labor Candidates successful". Nepean News. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 14 July 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  22. ^ Gerathy, Sarah; Ritchie, Ruby (14 September 2024). "Teenager Libby Austin became an accidental councillor after sticking her hand up to be a ballot warmer". ABC News. Archived from the original on 14 September 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
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