Greater Bendigo council election, 2024

The City of Greater Bendigo covers Bendigo and surrounding towns in north-western Victoria.

The council covers Bendigo, Axedale, Elmore, Heathcote, Marong, Raywood and Strathfieldsaye. The council had a population of 121,470 as of the 2021 census.

• Wards
• Redistribution
• Incumbent councillors
• History
• Council control
• Candidate summary
• Assessment
• Voting trends by ward

Wards
The City of Greater Bendigo will be divided into nine single-member wards as of 2024:

• Axedale – rural areas to the east of Bendigo, covering Axedale, Junortoun and Strathfieldsaye.
• Eppalock – rural areas to the south-east of Bendigo, covering Sedgwick, Mandurang and Heathcote.
• Epsom – rural areas to the north-east of Bendigo including Elmore and Huntly, as well as the Bendigo suburbs of Ascot and Epsom.
• Golden Square – southern suburbs of the Bendigo urban area, including Golden Square, Golden Gully and Quarry Hill.
• Kennington – eastern suburbs of the Bendigo urban area, including Kennington, East Bendigo and Strathdale.
• Lake Weeroona – northern suburbs of the Bendigo urban area, including North Bendigo, White Hills and the Bendigo city centre.
• Lockwood – rural areas to the west of Bendigo including Maiden Gully and Marong, as well as the Bendigo suburbs of Long Gully and West Bendigo.
• Ravenswood – rural areas to the south of Bendigo including Ravenswood and Lockwood South, as well as the Bendigo suburb of Kangaroo Flat.
• Whipstick – rural areas to the north-west of Bendigo including Raywood, as well as the Bendigo suburbs of Eaglehawk and California Gully.

Redistribution
The council previously consisted of three wards, electing nine councillors. Each ward elected three councillors.

The eastern Eppalock ward covered most of the new Axedale, Eppalock and Kennington wards, and a small part of the new Lake Weeroona ward.

The western Lockwood ward covered the entirety of the new Ravenswood ward, most of the new Golden Square and Lockwood wards, and a small part of the new Eppalock ward.

The northern Whipstick ward covered the new Epsom ward, most of the new Lake Weeroona and Whipstick wards, and small parts of the new Kennington, Axedale, Golden Square and Lockwood wards.

Incumbent councillors

History
The City of Greater Bendigo was created in 1994, replacing a smaller City of Bendigo along with the neighbouring Eaglehawk, Huntly and Strathfieldsaye council areas and parts of the McIvor and Marong councils.

The council was elected from nine single-member wards until 2011. The council has been elected from three three-member wards since 2011, until the current election which has seen a return to single-member.

Margaret O’Rourke led the council as mayor for the entire 2016-2020 term. In the current term, Jennifer Alden served as mayor from 2020 to 2021, and Andrea Metcalf has been mayor since 2021.

Council control
There is little formal party involvement in Greater Bendigo. The council tends to elect mayors for a number of years – there have only been three mayors over eight years.

Candidate summary
Only two incumbent councillors are running for re-election – Vaughan Williams and Andrea Metcalf.

The Greens and Victorian Socialists are each running a single candidate, while all other candidates unendorsed by any party.

Assessment
Greater Bendigo is mostly contested by independents and doesn’t have a clear partisan divide.

Voting trends by ward
In order to understand the relative political position of each ward, I have estimated the results of the 2022 federal election in each ward.

On a two-party-preferred basis, Labor won every ward. Labor did best in the urban Bendigo area and the rural areas to the north-west (Whipstick ward).

Candidates – Axedale Ward

• Shivali Chatley
• Alida Robinson
• Rob Stephenson
• Colin Carrington

Candidates – Eppalock Ward

• Dean Farrell
• Aaron Spong

Candidates – Epsom Ward

• Cr Andrea Metcalf

Candidates – Golden Square Ward

• Maryann Martinek
• Cr Vaughan Williams
• Karen Corr
• Matthew Dwyer

Candidates – Kennington Ward

• Gavin Hicks (Greens)
• Abhishek Awasthi

Candidates – Lake Weeroona Ward

• Luke Martin
• Thomas Prince

Candidates – Lockwood Ward

• John McIlraith
• Jay Brady

Candidates – Ravenswood Ward

• Donna Nicholas
• Emma Berglund
• John Cooper
• Damien Hurrell

Candidates – Whipstick Ward

• Bevan Madden
• Owen Cosgriff (Victorian Socialists)
• Jan Pagliaro

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