All of the results have now been entered for the Victorian council elections. The Greens have won 19 seats. Greens seats were retained in Melbourne, all three wards of Yarra, two wards of Moreland and one ward each in Moonee Valley, Brimbank, Whitehorse, Yarra Ranges and Mount Alexander. Six of these seats were retained by sitting Greens, while in the other six a retiring councillor was replaced by a new Green.
Eight councillors were elected in new places: Queenscliffe, Surf Coast, Colac Otway, Port Phillip, Glen Eira, Darebin, Casey and a second ward of Whitehorse.
Three seats held by Greens were lost: two in Greater Bendigo and one in Maribyrnong.
In addition, five seats were lost by slim margins and could be overturned on recounts, although I’m not sure of whether these recounts have already been held: Darebin’s Cazaly ward, Cardinia’s Ranges ward, Port Phillip’s Carlisle ward, Ballarat’s Central ward and Greater Shepparton.
While these results weren’t a massive increase, the total councillor numbers ignores almost universal swings, outside of Bendigo and Maribyrnong. For example, Yarra council saw an average 7.5% swing across the council, putting the Greens within reach of a second seat in both Langridge and Nicholls in 2012. Many other councils contested for the first time could be within reach of a win next time around. In addition, breakthroughs in Darebin and Port Phillip could set the scene for more Greens wins in 2012.
I have produced updated maps. Green indicates a place where a councillor was returned, Blue indicates where a new Green has been elected, Yellow indicates a close loss that could be overturned on a recount, and Red indicates a place where a Green was not elected.
Update: just to clarify, it seems certain that the Greens will miss out in all five of those close wards, although the race in Greater Shepparton was on a razor’s edge.
Another thing to consider is that the Greens may possibly get the balance of power at the next state election and then get the ALP to agree to changes to the laws governing local government elections (especially the City of Melbourne system).
After their disgraceful and cowardly coalition with the ALP in the city of Yarra I predict that the Greens will face a significant swing against them next time. Their betrayal of the values of the people who voted them in in 2008 will not be forgotten.
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