Georges River covers parts of southern Sydney on the north side of the Georges River. The council is bordered to the west by Salt Pan Creek, by Broad Arrow Road and the M5 to the north, and by Kingsgrove Road, Croydon Road, the Princes Highway and Rocky Point Road to the east.
The council covers the suburbs of Blakehurst, Kogarah, Hurstville, Connells Point, Allawah, Penshurst, Oatley, Mortdale, Peakhurst, Lugarno, Beverly Hills and Riverwood. The council has a population of about 160,000 as of 2019.
- Wards
- Incumbent councillors
- History
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- 2017 results
- Vote breakdown by ward
- Results maps
Wards
Georges River is divided into five wards, with each ward electing three councillors.
Hurstville ward covers northern parts of the council, including Beverly Hills and Kingsgrove.
Peakhurst ward covers the western end of the council, including Lugarno, Peakhurst and Riverwood.
Mortdale ward covers north-western parts of the council, including Mortdale and Penshurst.
Blakehurst ward covers south-eastern parts of the council close to the river, including Blakehurst, Oatley, Connells Point and Hurstville Grove.
Kogarah Bay ward covers the eastern end of the council, including Allawah, Kogarah Bay and Kogarah.
| Blakehurst | Sam Elmir (Liberal) | Sandy Grekas (Ind) | Kathryn Landsberry (Lab) |
| Hurstville | Vince Badalati (Labor) | Nancy Liu (Ind) | Christina Wu (Liberal) |
| Kogarah Bay | Stephen Agius (Lib) | Nick Katris (Labor) | Leesha Payor (Kogarah Residents Association) |
| Mortdale | Con Hindi (Liberal) | Lou Konjarski (Ind) | Warren Tegg (Labor) |
| Peakhurst | Kevin Greene (Labor) | Rita Kastanias (Lib) | Colleen Symington (Lab) |
History
Georges River Council was created out of a merger of Hurstville and Kogarah councils in 2016. The 2017 guide covers the previous history of these two councils and how much of the new council came from its predecessors.
Labor was dominant in Hurstville until 2012, although they did not hold a majority. The Liberal Party won the mayoralty after the 2012 election, but the party blocs broke down on the council during that term.
Liberal and Labor generally shared power in Kogarah from 2004 to 2012, but after 2012 the Liberal Party held half the seats and generally had a working majority.
Both councils was merged to form Georges River Council in 2016.
The 2017 election produced a council with six Labor councillors, five Liberals and four independents, including a member of the Kogarah Residents’ Association.
Labor’s Kevin Greene has held the mayoralty since 2017, but the deputy mayoralty has switched between Labor and Liberal.
Three parties are running a full ticket: Labor, Liberal and the Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party.
Five out of six Labor councillors are running for re-election. Colleen Symington, who was elected as the second Labor candidate in Peakhurst in 2017, has shifted to the first position in Hurstville ward.
Two of the five sitting Liberal councillors are running for re-election, with two other independents running as Liberals this time: Nancy Liu in Hurstville and Lou Konjarski moving from Mortdale to Peakhurst.
The other two independent councillors, Sandy Grekas and Leesha Payor, are both running for re-election. Payor is running for the Kogarah Residents Association.
There are another seven independent groups running across the five wards.
Assessment
Neither major party is dominant in Georges River. Both parties have a base of five seats and would be looking at picking up second seats in each ward. Labor currently has a second seat in Peakhurst, but that is far from safe. The Liberal Party has the potential to pick up a second in Blakehurst with a small uptick in their vote but their vote in the other wards is too low to have a realistic prospect of picking up extra seats.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won |
| Labor | 27,931 | 38.04 | +10.0 | 6 |
| Liberal | 24,644 | 33.57 | -4.3 | 5 |
| Other independents | 13,494 | 18.38 | +18.4 | 3 |
| Greens | 3,474 | 4.73 | +4.7 | |
| Kogarah Residents Association | 3,384 | 4.61 | +4.6 | 1 |
| Christian Democrats | 491 | 0.67 | +0.7 | |
| Informal | 5,273 | 6.70 |
Vote breakdown by ward
The following table show the vote in each ward at the 2017 election.
Labor topped the primary vote in four out of five wards, with a vote ranging from 30.5% in Blakehurst to 42.4% in Peakhurst.
The Liberal vote ranged from 28% in Hurstville to 42.4%.
The vote for independents, including the Kogarah Residents’ Association in Kogarah Bay, was more than a quota in three wards.
| Voter group | ALP % | LIB % | IND % |
| Blakehurst Ward | 30.5 | 42.4 | 27.1 |
| Hurstville Ward | 39.1 | 28.0 | 29.4 |
| Kogarah Bay Ward | 40.2 | 34.1 | 25.8 |
| Mortdale Ward | 38.2 | 30.9 | 20.4 |
| Peakhurst Ward | 42.4 | 32.0 | 12.7 |
Election results at the 2017 Georges River Council election
Toggle between primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party and independent candidates.
Candidates – Blakehurst
- A – Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party
- Natalie Mort
- Paulette McFarland
- Mary Cassimatis
- B – Labor
- Cr Kathryn Landsberry
- Karno Gangopadhyay
- Fran Smith
- C – Independent
- Gregory Bondar
- Russell Harcourt
- Michele Middleton
- D – Independent
- Cr Sandy Grekas
- Sue Szalay
- Lisa Da Silva
- E – Liberal
- Cr Sam Elmir
- Dave Grosvenor
- Elizabeth Taylor
Candidates – Hurstville
- A – Independent
- Xiao Wang
- William Koshakji
- Zhen Biao Jiang
- B – Independent
- Benjamin Wang
- Graeme Young
- Guolei Sheng
- Liqiang Yan
- C – Labor
- Cr Colleen Symington
- Kurt Cheng
- Mark Ay
- D – Independent
- Sam Green
- Yawen Su
- Louis Green
- E – Liberal
- Cr Nancy Liu
- Malik Nasser
- Chris Pettett
- F – Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party
- Bob Jones
- Harry Wang
- Rachel Zhang
- Ungrouped
- Robert Aiken (Independent)
Candidates – Kogarah Bay
- A – Independent
- Lachlan McLean
- Christine Woodland
- John Ormsby
- B – Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party
- Elise Borg
- Heidi Breeze
- Christopher Tofalakis
- C – Labor
- Cr Nick Katris
- Shamil Samji
- Adrian Coates
- D – Kogarah Residents Association
- Cr Leesha Payor
- John McCarthy
- Valerie Opitz
- E – Liberal
- Sam Stratikopoulos
- Cr Stephen Agius
- Bingxing Sheng
- Ungrouped
- Gregory McAleer (Independent)
Candidates – Mortdale
- A – Liberal
- Nick Smerdely
- Oliver Dimoski
- Michael Apokourastos
- B – Independent
- Gregory Briscoe-Hough
- Zale Briscoe-Hough
- C – Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party
- Christina Jamieson
- Oliver Tongiahoe
- Deborah Mackie
- D – Independent
- Adrian Prakash
- Brenda Eggleton
- Narendra Naidu
- E – Labor
- Cr Warren Tegg
- Ashvini Ambihaipahar
- Andrew Ogden
- Ungrouped
- Christian Stojkov (Independent)
- David Perry (Independent)
- Damian Cook (Independent)
Candidates – Peakhurst
- A – Labor
- Cr Kevin Greene
- Veronica Ficarra
- Peter Gayton
- B – Liberal
- Cr Lou Konjarski
- Byron Geddes
- Matthew Harte
- C – Georges River Residents and Ratepayers Party
- Peter Mahoney
- Sonia Baxant
- Alexandra Fleming
- Ungrouped
- Dina Ghazal (Independent)
So what do you make of the Team Grrrr who are pushing they see independents when they are running as a registered party over multiple wards?
Looks like a duck…?
To be honest I think it’s a bit tedious to complain about people calling themselves “independents” when they are a registered party. The voting system is very disadvantageous if you don’t do this. I think most people interpret independent as referring to not being a member of one of the big statewide parties, but I do think if a party is running across multiple wards it gets harder to call yourself an “independent”. It probably depends on whether they get more than one person elected.
With Lib and ALP exchanging preferences to keep the pool party out, and the Local State Member sponsoring an “independent” in Mortdale ward like last time (the Lib candidate leading ticket in Peakhurst now?!?) and again both majors preferences going to that “independent” who doesn’t live in ward it is extraordinary the cooperation of tweedledee and dumb!
The electors are the real dummies ?
Why isn’t Con Hindi running in this election? His decision, or was he told not to run?
The Liberals and Labor seem to have become one, preferencing one another and supporting alleged “independents” to maintain the status quo of the current mob in council. It appears they want to ram through the Mortdale Masterplan at any cost, turning it into the eyesores of Hurstville, Wolli Creek, Rockdale, Kogarah, etc.
Even Georges River General Manager, Gail Connolly brings her track record of overseeing the over devlopment of Gold Coast and Ryde to our local area. This is something we can well do without.
Apparently a three year term wasn’t worth Con’s efforts? Or his ICAC buddy Badalati?
Why does Vince Badalati continue to run for re-election.
What has he offered in the years in office?
Absolutely nothing!