2024 Sydney City Council election

The 2024 Sydney City Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect nine councillors and a lord mayor to the City of Sydney. The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales, Australia.[1]

2024 Sydney City Council election

← 2021 14 September 2024 2028 →
Lord Mayor
  First party Second party Third party
 
Clover Moore speaks at the media (cropped).jpg
Zann Maxwell Profile.png
Candidate Clover Moore Zann Maxwell Sylvie Ellsmore
Party Team Clover Labor Greens
First preference vote 33,018 15,392 11,617
Percentage 36.78% 17.15% 12.94%
Swing Decrease 6.12 Increase 2.45 Increase 4.64
2CP 62.90% 37.10%
2CP swing Decrease 5.00 Increase 5.00

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Candidate Lyndon Gannon Yvonne Weldon Sean Masters
Party Liberal YWI Libertarian
First preference vote 10,857 9,038 3,234
Percentage 12.09% 10.07% 3.60%
Swing Decrease 3.01 Decrease 2.03 Increase 3.60

Lord Mayor before election

Clover Moore
Team Clover

Subsequent Lord Mayor

Clover Moore
Team Clover

Councillors

All 9 councillors on Sydney City Council (excluding the mayor)
5 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Team Clover Clover Moore 31.9 3 −1
Labor Zann Maxwell 19.9 2 +1
Greens Sylvie Ellsmore 16.1 2 +1
Liberal Lyndon Gannon 14.4 1 −1
Weldon Independents Yvonne Weldon 9.2 1 0
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Incumbent Clover Moore was re-elected to a record sixth term as Lord Mayor of Sydney.[2]

Electoral system

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Like in all other New South Wales local government areas, Sydney City Council elections use optional preferential voting. Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates.[3]

All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation.[4] Sydney is an undivided council and uses an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting.[5]

Voting is compulsory for anyone on the New South Wales state electoral roll.[6]

Business vote removal

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In New South Wales, property owners, rate-paying occupiers or lessees can apply to be on the "non-residential roll" in an LGA, as long as they are not already enrolled as a resident in that area and if they are eligible to be enrolled for state and federal elections.[7] Voting is not compulsory for those on non-residential rolls, although it is still compulsory in the LGA where they are on the residential roll.[8]

However, in 2014, then-Liberal premier Mike Baird introduced a law for that gave businesses that own, lease, or occupy rateable land in the City of Sydney two votes each.[9] Voting for businesses in Sydney also became compulsory.[10] Many critics saw the decision as an attempt by the Liberals to unseat Clover Moore as lord mayor.[11] The business vote came into effect at the 2016 election and was again in force at the 2021 election.[12][13]

Following Labor's victory at the 2023 state election, independent MP Alex Greenwich wrote to the new local government minister, Ron Hoenig, requesting that the business vote was removed.[14]

On 13 September 2023, Hoenig formally announced that the business vote would be removed, starting at the 2024 election.[15] Eligible people will still be able to apply to be on the non-residential roll, however only one person would now be entitled to be enrolled on behalf of non-residents − the same as all other LGAs.[15]

Endorsements

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Group Endorsement
Turning Point Australia   Libertarian[16]
We Vote For Palestine   Greens[17]
  Socialist Alliance[17]

Campaign

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The Libertarian Party contested Sydney City Council for the first time, choosing Sean Masters as their lord mayoral candidate.[18] The party ran on the slogan "No Moore" and called for "keeping ideology out of council".[19][20]

Socialist Alliance campaigned on a platform of creating an "anti-racism and anti-war council" with "housing, environmental, and economic justice".[21]

Candidates

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All candidates are listed in ballot paper order.

Lord Mayor

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Party Candidate Background
  Independent Susan Ritchie Co-owner of The Beacham Hotel[22]
  Team Clover Clover Moore Lord Mayor of Sydney since 2004
  Yvonne Weldon Independents Yvonne Weldon Sydney councillor since 2021
  We Love Sydney Independents Sam Danieli Mayor of Warringah from 1996–98[23][24]
  Libertarian Sean Masters Creative director in advertising industry[25]
  Liberal Lyndon Gannon Sydney councillor since 2021[26][27]
  Greens Sylvie Ellsmore Sydney councillor since 2021[28]
  Socialist Alliance Rachel Evans Activist
  Independent Baiyu Chen Background in graphic design and fashion design[29]
  Labor Zann Maxwell Former electorate officer for Bill Shorten[30]

Councillors

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Incumbent councillors are highlighted in bold text.[31][32][33]

Libertarian Weldon Independents Labor Liberal Greens
  1. Sean Masters
  2. Rahn Wood
  3. Clinton Mead
  4. James Hanks
  5. Rosalind Hecker
  1. Yvonne Weldon
  2. Rod Morrison
  3. Daniel McDonald
  4. Alison Davey
  5. Murray Gatt
  1. Zann Maxwell
  2. Mitch Wilson
  3. Tamira Stevenson
  4. Holly Rebeiro
  5. Michelle Perry
  6. Luc Harvey
  1. Lyndon Gannon
  2. Patrice Pandeleos
  3. Alex (Ke) Xu
  4. Bearte McDonald
  5. James Dore
  1. Sylvie Ellsmore
  2. Matthew Thompson
  3. Jay Gillieatt
  4. Caroline Alcorso
  5. Chetan Sahai
Team Clover Socialist Alliance We Love Sydney Ungrouped
  1. Clover Moore
  2. Robert Kok
  3. Jess Miller
  4. Adam Worling
  5. William Chan
  6. Emelda Davis
  7. Lachlan Barker-Kennedy
  8. Jenny Burn
  9. Christine Byrne
  10. Claudia Bowman
  1. Rachel Evans
  2. Andrew Chuter
  3. Adam Haddad
  4. Coral Wynter
  5. Suelin McCauley
  6. Jim McIlroy
  1. Sam Danieli
  2. Geoffrey Alder
  3. Mirjana Andric
  4. Scott Davis
  5. Catherine Yang

Susan Ritchie (Ind)
Baiyu Chen (Ind)

Retiring councillors

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Results

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Lord Mayor

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2024 New South Wales mayoral elections: Sydney[35][36]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Team Clover Clover Moore 33,018 36.78 –6.12
Labor Zann Maxwell 15,392 17.15 +2.45
Greens Sylvie Ellsmore 11,617 12.94 +4.64
Liberal Lyndon Gannon 10,857 12.09 −3.01
Weldon Independents Yvonne Weldon 9,038 10.07 −2.03
Libertarian Sean Masters 3,234 3.60 +3.60
We Love Sydney Sam Danieli 3,209 3.57 +3.57
Independent Susan Ritchie 1,798 2.00 +2.00
Socialist Alliance Rachel Evans 918 1.02 +1.02
Independent Baiyu Chen 686 0.76 +0.76
Total formal votes 89,767 97.71 −0.89
Informal votes 2,111 2.29 +0.89
Turnout 91,878
Two-candidate-preferred result
Team Clover Clover Moore 41,522 62.90 –5.00
Labor Zann Maxwell 24,489 37.10 +5.00
Team Clover hold Swing –5.00

Councillors

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2024 New South Wales local elections: Sydney[37][38]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Team Clover 1. Clover Moore
2. Robert Kok (elected 1)
3. Jess Miller (elected 5)
4. Adam Worling (elected 6)
5. William Chan
6. Emelda Davis
7. Lachlan Barker-Kennedy
8. Jenny Burn
9. Christine Byrne
10. Claudia Bowman
28,201 31.9 −8.9
Labor 1. Zann Maxwell (elected 2)
2. Mitch Wilson (elected 7)
3. Tamira Stevenson
4. Holly Rebeiro
5. Michelle Perry
6. Luc Harvey
17,605 19.9 +5.2
Greens 1. Sylvie Ellsmore (elected 3)
2. Matthew Thompson (elected 9)
3. Jay Gillieatt
4. Caroline Alcorso
5. Chetan Sahai
14,223 16.1 +5.0
Liberal 1. Lyndon Gannon (elected 4)
2. Patrice Pandeleos
3. Alex (Ke) Xu
4. Bearte McDonald
5. James Dore
12,704 14.4 −3.0
Weldon Independents 1. Yvonne Weldon (elected 8)
2. Rod Morrison
3. Daniel McDonald
4. Alison Davey
5. Murray Gatt
8,144 9.2 +0.2
Libertarian 1. Sean Masters
2. Rahn Wood
3. Clinton Mead
4. James Hanks
5. Rosalind Hecker
3,616 4.1 +4.1
We Love Sydney Independents 1. Sam Danieli
2. Geoffrey Alder
3. Mirjana Andric
4. Scott Davis
5. Catherine Yang
2,478 2.8 +2.8
Socialist Alliance 1. Rachel Evans
2. Andrew Chuter
3. Adam Haddad
4. Coral Wynter
5. Suelin McCauley
6. Jim McIlr
984 1.1 +1.1
Independent Susan Ritchie 343 0.4 +0.4
Independent Baiyu Chen 56 0.1 +0.1
Total formal votes 88,354 96.0
Informal votes 3,690 4.0
Turnout 92,044 72.87

References

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  1. ^ "Council Elections".
  2. ^ "Clover Moore prepares to seek historic sixth term as Sydney lord mayor". Sydney Morning Herald. 17 August 2023.
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "The many party systems of NSW councils". The Tally Room. 29 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ Christie, Chloe (13 September 2024). "NSW, it's compulsory to vote this weekend". The Daily Aus. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Electoral systems of Australia's parliaments and local government" (PDF). Electoral Council of Australia and New Zealand. October 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Non-residential rolls" (PDF). New South Wales Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  9. ^ O'Sullivan, Matt (12 July 2021). "Cost to ratepayers of businesses voting in City of Sydney election nears $13m". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  10. ^ "City of Sydney business vote plan may falter, backers concede". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  11. ^ Raue, Ben (5 June 2023). "Time to end non-residential voting for councils". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  12. ^ Raue, Ben (5 September 2016). "City of Sydney council election: business vote the latest battleground in long war". Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  13. ^ "Non-resident businesses and property owners voting in the City of Sydney election". City of Sydney. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  14. ^ Chuter, Andrew (9 October 2023). "Business vote gerrymander abolished in City of Sydney". Green Left. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  15. ^ a b Hoenig, Ron (13 September 2023). "Fairer democratic elections to return for City of Sydney". NSW Government. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  16. ^ "City of Sydney". Turning Point Australia. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  17. ^ a b "City of Sydney". We Vote For Palestine. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  18. ^ "'I used to be a lefty' – Meet the new anti-woke politician". 2GB. 13 September 2024. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Sean Masters for the City of Sydney". Libertarian Party NSW. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  20. ^ Masters, Sean (13 September 2024). "Ideology in council". The Spectator Australia. Archived from the original on 13 September 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Socialist Alliance City of Sydney Council election campaign". Socialist Alliance. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  22. ^ Lai, Christine (4 September 2024). "Meet The Candidate For Lord Mayor of Sydney: Sue Ritchie". Star Observer. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  23. ^ "Sam Danieli: Vote for a Safer, Cleaner, Accessible Sydney". welovesydneyindependents.com.au. Archived from the original on 16 September 2024. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  24. ^ "Presidents, Mayors, Councillors, Shire Clerks and General Managers of Warringah Council" (PDF). Warringah Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  25. ^ "Local Council Candidates". Libertarian Party NSW. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  26. ^ "Councillor Lyndon Gannon". lyndongannon.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  27. ^ Sydney Liberals (27 July 2024). "Gannon to Lead Liberals, Deliver Fresh Leadership for Sydney". Sydney Times. Archived from the original on 10 August 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Greens for City of Sydney". sydneycitygreens.org. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  29. ^ Magaletti, Douglas (10 September 2024). "Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore And Her Challengers". City Hub. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  30. ^ Magaletti, Douglas (7 September 2024). "Zann Maxwell Could Be City Of Sydney Council's First Out Gay Lord Mayor". Star Observer. Archived from the original on 14 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  31. ^ "Registers of candidates". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  32. ^ "2024 Candidates". Sydney City Greens. Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Socialists announce 'liveable city' ticket for Sydney council election". Green Left. 14 June 2024. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  34. ^ "As I have just announced on @abcsydney, I have decided not to renominate for Labor's pre-selection, which opens today". Twitter. Councillor Linda Scott. 7 June 2024. Archived from the original on 16 July 2024. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  35. ^ "City of Sydney - First Preference Votes for each Candidate - Check Count Complete". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 1 October 2024. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  36. ^ "City of Sydney - Distribution of Preferences". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 1 October 2024. Archived from the original on 1 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  37. ^ "City of Sydney - Distribution of Preferences - Count Index". NSW Electoral Commission. 1 October 2024. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  38. ^ "City of Sydney - First Preference Group and Candidate Votes by Aggregated Vote Type". NSW Electoral Commission. September 2024. Archived from the original on 3 October 2024. Retrieved 1 October 2024.