The Hills cover north-western suburbs of Sydney. The council stretches from Baulkham Hills in the south to Wisemans Ferry in the north, and also covers Castle Hill, Bella Vista, Kellyville, Glenhaven, Beaumont Hills, Annangrove, Kenthurst, Nelson and Maroota.
The council has a population of about 199,000 as of 2022.
- Wards
- Redistribution
- Incumbent mayor and councillors
- History
- Council control
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- 2021 results
- Vote breakdown by ward
- Results maps
Wards
The Hills is divided into four wards, with each ward electing three councillors.
Central Ward covers northern parts of Kellyville and Kellyville North, and Beaumont Hills.
East Ward covers parts of West Pennant Hills and Castle Hill.
North Ward covers most of the council’s land mass, including Glenhaven, Annangrove, Kenthurst and Maroota.
West Ward covers Bella Vista and the remainder of Kellyville.
Redistribution
The West Ward expanded to take in more of Baulkham Hills from the East Ward. The East Ward then expanded north, taking in those parts of the Central Ward south of Gilbert Road, mostly in the suburb of Castle Hill.
The Central and North wards swapped territory in both directions: the Central Ward gained Beaumont Hills, while the North Ward gained part of Castle Hill.
Incumbent mayor
Peter Gangemi (Liberal)
Incumbent councillors
| Central | Jessica Brazier (Liberal) | Tony Hay (Labor) | Mark Hodges (Liberal) |
| East | Jerome Cox (Liberal) | Reena Jethi (Liberal) | Ryan Tracey (Labor) |
| North | Mitchell Blue (Liberal) | Virginia Ellis (Liberal) | Mila Kasby (Greens) |
| West | Rosemarie Boneham (Lib) | Barbara Burton (Labor) | Frank De Masi (Liberal) |
History
The Hills Shire (previously known as Baulkham Hills Shire) has traditionally been dominated by independents, but the area has long been dominated by the Liberal Party at other levels of government.
The 2004 election saw three Labor councillors elected, and two Community First councillors. Six independents were elected, along with one councillor on the Protect Our Garden Shire ticket. The Liberal Party did not contest the election, but four of those six independents went on to stand for the Liberal Party at other elections.
The Liberal Party first ran official candidates for Baulkham Hills in 2008, and swept into power in a landslide. The Liberal Party won two out of three seats in all four wards, with the remaining seat in each ward going to the Labor Party. This wiped out the independents, and produced a council with eight Liberal and four Labor councillors.
The 2012 election saw the Liberal Party improbably gain even further ground, winning all three seats in the North ward, for a total of nine seats on the council. The other three seats went to Labor. A referendum was passed in 2012 creating a directly elected mayoralty, to be first elected at the next election.
The southern end of the council (containing areas south of the M2) were transferred to the City of Parramatta in 2016.
The 2017 election was the first election where The Hills directly elected the mayor, in addition to the twelve other councillors. The Liberal Party’s Michelle Byrne, who had previously served two years as mayor, was elected mayor with almost 62% of the vote.
There was a 6% swing against the Liberal Party on council but it made no difference to the seat count, with the Liberals holding their nine seats against three for Labor.
The 2021 election saw Peter Gangemi elected mayor with a majority of the primary vote. The Liberal Party retained eight of its nine council seats, but lost the third seat in the North Ward to the Greens. This still left the Liberal Party with nine out of thirteen seats.
Council control
The Liberal Party has a large majority on the council.
Candidate summary
Sitting Liberal mayor Peter Gangemi lost Liberal Party preselection to his predecessor Michelle Byrne.
Sitting Liberal councillors Jessica Brazier, Mark Hodges, Jerome Cox, Reena Jethi and Virginia Ellis are not running for re-election. Sitting Labor councillors Tony Hay, Ryan Tracey and Barbara Burton are also not running.
The Labor and Liberal parties are each running full tickets. The Greens are running for mayor and for three council wards. The only other candidates are two ungrouped candidates.
Assessment
The Liberal Party’s position in the Hills is very strong and that is unlikely to change.
The Hills has had a very high rate of turnover with over two thirds of the council retiring.
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats won |
| Liberal | 62,490 | 60.4 | -2.1 | 8 |
| Labor | 21,291 | 20.6 | -2.6 | 3 |
| Greens | 17,371 | 16.8 | +14.1 | 1 |
| Independents | 2,114 | 2.0 | -4.0 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 235 | 0.2 | +0.2 | |
| Informal | 4,775 | 4.4 |
2021 mayoral election result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Peter Gangemi | Liberal | 56,266 | 53.4 | -8.4 |
| Ryan Tracey | Labor | 25,204 | 23.9 | +2.4 |
| Vida Shahamat | Greens | 12,586 | 11.9 | +11.9 |
| Alexia Yazdani | Independent | 7,653 | 7.3 | +7.3 |
| George Rozycki | Independent | 3,675 | 3.5 | +3.5 |
| Informal | 3,015 | 2.8 |
2021 mayoral election two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| Peter Gangemi | Liberal | 59,852 | 65.7 |
| Ryan Tracey | Labor | 31,216 | 34.3 |
| Exhausted | 14,316 |
Vote breakdown by ward
The following tables show the vote in each ward before and after the recent redistribution for the council election. Unfortunately the mayoral results were not separated by ward, so we can only identify the home ward of ordinary votes, and it’s not worth recalculating for the redistribution.
The Liberal Party’s primary vote in the council election in 2021 ranged from 53.8% in the East Ward to 71.7% in the North Ward. The absence of Labor in the North Ward may have boosted the Liberal vote in that area.
The Labor primary vote was around 30% in the East and West wards, and 23% in the Central Ward.
The Greens polled 12-16% in three wards, but polled 25% in the North Ward.
Council results by 2021 ward
| Ward | LIB % | ALP % | GRN % |
| Central | 59.8 | 23.2 | 15.5 |
| East | 53.8 | 30.5 | 13.8 |
| North | 71.7 | 0.0 | 25.1 |
| West | 55.4 | 30.0 | 12.1 |
Mayoral results by 2021 ward
| Ward | LIB % | ALP % | GRN % | % of total |
| Central | 52.9 | 21.6 | 13.4 | 21.1 |
| East | 47.5 | 30.4 | 12.3 | 13.5 |
| North | 63.5 | 13.8 | 12.3 | 8.7 |
| West | 51.9 | 28.4 | 9.4 | 8.2 |
| Other votes | 53.7 | 24.2 | 11.5 | 48.4 |
Council results by 2024 ward
| Ward | LIB % | ALP % | GRN % |
| Central | 59.9 | 19.0 | 18.4 |
| East | 55.1 | 29.0 | 13.8 |
| North | 72.5 | 0.5 | 23.5 |
| West | 55.0 | 30.2 | 12.3 |
Election results at the 2021 Hills Shire election
Toggle between primary votes for the Liberal Party, Labor, and the Greens.
Election results at the 2021 Hills Shire mayoral election
Toggle between primary votes for the Liberal Party, Labor, and the Greens and independent candidate Alexia Yazdani.
Candidates – Mayor
- Cr Mila Kasby (Greens)
- Michelle Byrne (Liberal)
- Immanuel Selvaraj (Labor)
Candidates – Central Ward
- A – Liberal
- Reena Jethi
- Jerome Cox
- Manjula Viswanath
- B – Labor
- Tina Cartwright
- Gurdip Singh
- Cheung Chai
- C – Greens
- Danielle Packer
- Samuel Hughes
- Seyed Hosseinipour
- Ungrouped
- Raymond Brown (Independent)
Candidates – East Ward
- A – Labor
- Jane Grevtseva
- Andrew Punch
- Senthil Sundararajan
- B – Greens
- Suzannah McDonald
- Catherine Woolnough
- Tian Wong See
- C – Liberal
- Samuel Uno
- Alan Haselden
- Leo Wei
Candidates – North Ward
- A – Labor
- Dilvan Bircan
- Bassam Sheikh
- Kaitlyn Farquhar
- B – Greens
- Cr Mila Kasby
- Vida Shahamat
- Rebecca Oliveira
- C – Liberal
- Cr Mitchell Blue
- Jacob Jackson
- Brooke Collins
Candidates – West Ward
- A – Labor
- Immanuel Selvaraj
- Sook Lee
- Lachlan Newland
- B – Liberal
- Cr Frank De Masi
- Cr Rosemarie Boneham
- Trent Richmond
- Ungrouped
- Seema Raghav (Independent)
The Liberals will retain control of this council, including the Mayor.
Given there is a ICAC report to be handed down I wouldn’t be so sure not to mention their refusal to consult and have transparency with the community. Refusing to allow any community member to address the council along with the debacle of the Fred Caterson Reserve being handed to Eastwood Rugby Club make this a very interesting council election this time around..
The more fascinating battle will be around Liberal Party Pre-selections. The factional battles happening in Hills Shire Council for the Liberal Party have threatened to spill over, especially with the growth of the Anti-Hawke Movement.
Keep an eye on this council, if you want some real entertainment value
Michelle Byrnes wins pre-select over Peter Gangemi for direct elect mayor by 8 votes apparently.
Along with 2 each ward (8 total, 4 wards) sorted, that too apparently.
and this is a good read if so inclined about the Men who stole The Hills, in 3 chapters…
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2908#tab-otherdocuments
Agree with Hawkeye_au don’t sell or throw out the popcorn warmer yet 🙂
interesting. Do you have the full list? I’m planning to update all my candidate lists on these guides later this week.
Yep. Gangemi tossed out. From what I know living in the Hills, this decision should benefit the Liberals as Michelle Byrne, his predecessor, was quite well known and liked. Don’t like how two of their candidates, one in North Ward, the other in Central Ward are from Beecroft and SPRINGWOOD (in the Blue Mountains). Unfortunately, they’ll waltz in with ease.
Liberal Party Ticket as below (In order of position):
Mayoral Candidate: Michelle Byrne
North Ward:
Clr Mitchell Blue
Jacob Jackson
Brooke Collins
Central Ward:
Clr Reena Jethi
Clr Jerome Cox
Manjula Wiswanath
East Ward:
Sam Uno
Alan Haselden
Leo Wei
West Ward:
Clr Frank De Masi
Clr Rosemarie Boneham
Trent Richmond
This is almost a full re-take of Hills Shire Council by Alex Hawke. From what I picked up, the blame for the previous situation has been dumped squarely on David Elliott. Hawke had to personally intervene to get this back to normal
By far, the biggest change from this is that Peter Gangemi is not only out of the Mayoralty, he is out of a seat for Council as well. A pure revenge move from Hawke.
@Hawkeye so are these councillors all factional allies of Alex Hawke?
Martin Martin Martin
if wishes were horses….
This is such a good site, please don’t spoil it with your blatant politicking in support of your ALP candidate wife..
(apologies for the lateness of reply but I must have glossed over this silliness first time around)
@Caddo what happened?
Hawkeye does the foul up re nominations by lib head office affect this ticket?
Looks like The Hills is unaffected, Mick. They’re all showing on the Electoral Commission website and it’s not one of the councils Ben noted as affected in his tracking post either.
So… apart from the Liberals, who else do I have to vote for?
Can confirm that the Liberal Nomination fuck-up didn’t affect Hills Shire.
@Nether Portal – The vast majority are Hawke Allies, yes.
@Nether Portal
The comment was way back in January (but as I said I must have missed it before)
Martin and his wife – Tina Cartwright the ALP candidate for Central Ward – have been running this line for months, obviously convinced it’s a major vote winner..maybe it is, maybe not
Regardless it’s the kind of blatant partisan politicking that has no place here
@Ben Raue (or anyone else) can you recall the background to the Greens Councillor being elected in 2021? I have a vague recollection it was due to the ALP not running a candidate in North Ward. If that’s right, presumably this time the 3rd seat in the ward will go to the ALP candidate?
No, ALP running might actually split the vote and give the Libs a 3rd seat. Its OPV, not CPV.
ah yes I see.. is my recollection about the 2021 election right?
@CAddo
Yes, Labor did not run in North Ward in 2021.
Caddo
Sorry to disappoint you in supporting Labor and my wife. The only “silliness” I see is you hiding behind your real name and yes you were a very slow on the uptake given I made my comments in January. Obviously you defending alleged corruption is par fir the course but that in my view has no place on this forum!
….sound of wet lettuce
The Liberals have been easily re-elected with over 55% of the vote in every ward and over 60% in the mayoral race.
Congratulations Michelle Byrne for being re-elected as Hills mayor!
The progressive vote has been split between Labor and the Greens. Could the Greens finish second in Mitchell and the Hills state seats in the future?
I still don’t get how the hills went from a swing-territory in 1972 (Whitlam Labor won Mitchell in 1972 on very similar boundaries today) even Castle Hill voted Labor in 1972 in Mitchell. yet it’s very safe for the Libs now, why is this? what demographics have changed since the 70’s? It’s not economics because it shifted pretty fast within a decade. even in the 1980’s when Labor did well nationally they easily lost Mitchell and the Hills in state and council elections.
@Daniel T which booth results suggest Whitlam won an affluent booth like Castle Hill?
There obviously has been a lot more immigration from Asian countries (China, India, South Korea, etc) plus more big businesses but overall I don’t think Castle Hill of Kellyville itself voted Labor ever.
The Hills is also full of semi-rural outer suburbs which vote >70% Liberal.
What’s the thinking about North Ward – its so tight. Is it literally anyone could still win?
@Daniel T & @NP – Just remember the Hills is also regarded as ‘the Bible Belt’. A lot of evangelical Christians and religious people, that has dramatically helped the Liberals here, especially with the socially-conservative ideology. Hillsong is a great example.
As for Castle Hill & Kellyville voting Labor, it would certainly need hell to freeze over for that to happen. I think Labor has been run dead out of there, so I dare say in a few years time the Greens could start coming second in Castle Hill, Kellyville, Mitchell, and Berowra.
@ Daniel T
When Labor last narrowly won Mitchell in 1972 it includes other areas such as Wentworthville, Dean Park, Maryong all of these places are still good Labor areas. You can see historical boundaries on this map None of which are in the seat these days. Also 50 years ago much of the Hills District suburbs did not exist and were just Orange orchards so the suburbs i mentioned would have had a greater weight so i dont think we can compare like for like.
https://pappubahry.com/pseph/aus_stats/?plot=map&year=2013&colour_by=informal&multiple=max&geo_map=1
@ James.
I think the Pentecostal influence on the Hills is over stated. There are actually more Hindus than Pentecostal Christians in Mitchell and the area is very CALD. While i agree with you Labor can never win it i dont think the Greens will outpoll Labor here unlike in the Northern Beaches, North Shore or the parts of the Eastern Suburbs. There is a greater focus on bread and butter issues and while it is an affluent area it still not old money, while there is a safety margin it can still swing on issues such as interest rates like it did in 2007. A LIB V GRN 2CP occurs where there is either young renters or where there is a group of people who should be voting Liberal based on their economic interest but do not for social issues that is why Pittwater has been a LIB V GRN where there is no indepedent.
@Nimalan agreed, this is probably the most CALD area in Australia that consistently votes Liberal. Lots of Chinese and Indian people especially in the new estates.
There is a clear divide between the semi-rural areas, newer estates and bigger suburbs though. Here is a list of suburbs in the Hills Shire council area by percentage of the population that speaks English at home:
* Annangrove: 86.7%
* Baulkham Hills: 55.3%
* Beaumont Hills: 59.6%
* Bella Vista: 43.7%
* Box Hill: 50.7%
* Castle Hill: 54.4%
* Cattai: 89.8%
* Dural: 69.1%
* Gables: 58.5%
* Glenhaven: 83.7%
* Glenorie: 79.0%
* Kellyville: 57.0%
* Kenthurst: 82.2%
* Lower Portland: 89.2%
* Maraylya: 91.5%
* Maroota: 84.1%
* Middle Dural: 80.7%
* Nelson: 85.0%
* North Kellyville: 53.0%
* North Rocks: 54.4%
* Norwest: 53.5%
* Rouse Hill: 61.2%
* Sackville North: 94.3%
* South Maroota: 88.1%
* West Pennant Hills: 58.7%
* Winston Hills: 69.8%
* Wisemans Ferry: 83.7%
So between 50% and 55% of the population in Box Hill, North Kellyville, North Rocks and Norwest speak English at home and under 45% of people in Bella Vista at home.
In contrast, between 85% and 90% of people in Annangrove, Cattai, Lower Portland and South Maroota speak English at home, and over 90% do in Maraylya and Sackville North.
Overall 58.6% of people in the Hills Shire speak English at home, compared to 67.6% across NSW and 72.0% nationwide.
@ Nether Portal
You are totally correct. I would also add my seat of Menzies/State seat of Bulleen is also in most cases a strong Liberal area eventhough it is a CALD area too. Like the Hills it is known for McMansions both areas have a large Chinese community although my area does not have many South Asians instead it has many Southern Europeans. Both Menzies and Mitchell have large Iranian communities as well.
Just adding my few cents as a resident of The Hills:
The Hills has never been swing territory. As Nimalan points out, Labor’s win in Mitchell is not reflection on The Hills. Look at the boundaries of Mitchell back then and also consider that much of The Hills simply did not exist.
I like to think of The Hills in at least four parts:
1. The old long-established core of The Hills in the south, including Baulkham Hills and parts of Castle Hill.
2. The parts of The Hills developed around the 1980s, including West Pennant Hills, Cherrybrook (not part of the LGA, I know), Glenhaven, the southern part of Bella Vista, and parts of Castle Hill.
3. The fast-growing corridor from Bella Vista to Box Hill.
4. The semi-rural parts of The Hills.
(1) is where the Liberal vote has tended to be softest. (2) has always been solid for the Liberal Party since these suburbs came into existence. (3) has tended to be even stronger for the Liberal Party. (4) is one of the most Liberal-voting regions in Greater Sydney.
People tend to overstate the influence of religion in The Hills, especially in recent times. Consider at 2021 census: 53% Christian and 27% no religion in The Hills compared to 49% and 30% respectively in Greater Sydney. Hardly a “Bible belt”. Much more egregious is how some have created this mythology about the influence of Pentecostalism in The Hills. Pentecostals are a small minority of the population here – hardly a few percentage points – and are perceived no more favourably here than they are elsewhere.
The Hills has changed a lot over the past couple of decades, and continues to change rapidly. I can’t predict the future, but I will say that I don’t think it’s a given that it will remain as solidly Liberal as it has been.