Hume council election, 2024

The City of Hume covers areas in the north-west of the Melbourne urban area.

The council covers Craigieburn, Sunbury, Roxburgh Park, Greenvale, Mickleham and Broadmeadows. The council had a population of 243,901 as of the 2021 census.

Wards
The City of Hume will be divided into eleven single-member wards as of 2024:

  • Aitken – in the east, covering parts of Craigieburn.
  • Bababi Marning – in the south-east, covering Campbellfield, Coolaroo and Meadow Heights.
  • Burt-Kur-Min – in the east, covering parts of Craigieburn and Yuroke.
  • Emu Creek – in the north-west, covering parts of Sunbury and rural areas to the north.
  • Jacksons Hill – in the south-west, covering parts of Sunbury and rural areas to the south.
  • Merlynston Creek – in the south-east, covering Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana and parts of Westmeadows.
  • Mount Ridley – in the east, covering northern parts of Craigieburn.
  • Roxburgh Park – in the east, covering Roxburgh Park and Somerton.
  • Tullamarine – in the south, covering Melbourne Airport, Attwood, Gladstone Park, Tullamarine and parts of Westmeadows.
  • Woodlands – in the centre, covering Greenvale.
  • Yubup – in the north-east, covering Kalkallo and Mickleham.

Redistribution
The council previously consisted of three wards, electing eleven councillors. The Jackson Creek Ward elected three members, while the Aitken and Meadow Valley wards each elected four.

The north-eastern Aitken ward covered the entire new Aitken, Burt-Kur-Min, Mount Ridley, Roxburgh Park and Yubup wards, and parts of the new Bababi Marning and Woodlands wards.

The western Jacksons Hill ward covered the entire new Emu Creek and Jacksons Hill wards in the Sunbury area, along with the Melbourne Airport now contained in the new Tullamarine ward.

The south-eastern Meadow Valley ward covered the entire new Merlynston Creek ward, most of the population in the new Tullamarine ward, and parts of the new Bababi Marning and Woodlands wards.

Incumbent councillors

Aitken Jacksons Creek Meadow Valley
Joseph Haweil Jarrod Bell Chris Hollow
Jodi Jackson Trevor Dance Naim Kurt
Carly Moore Jack Medcraft Sam Misho
Jim Overend Karen Sherry

History
The City of Hume was created in 1994 out of parts of the City of Broadmeadows, the Shire of Bulla, the City of Keilor and the City of Whittlesea.

In the 2000s the council used an electoral structure of four wards, with one three-member ward and three two-member wards, for a total of nine councillors.

In 2012, the council was expanded to eleven seats, with the wards reorganised into a single three-member ward and two four-member wards.

The last election produced a council consisting entirely of independents.

The last four years have seen mayoral elections be entirely unopposed. Joseph Haweil took the job in 2020 and 2022, with Carly Moore taking the job in 2021 (after serving two years in the previous term), and Naim Kurt taking over at the end of 2023.

Candidate summary
No information.

Assessment
Hume is dominated by independents so is unlikely to have a recognisable factional or partisan contest in 2024.

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. The Labor vote was generally stronger in the more urbanised eastern part of the council, while Labor’s vote was weaker in the Sunbury-area wards.

3 COMMENTS

  1. There is an unofficial partisan nature of the Council that requires a degree of local knowledge to get a handle of.

    The Council is controlled by members of the Labor Party with Joseph Haweil, Carly Moore, Jarrod Bell, Chris Hollow, Naim Kurt and Karen Sherry all being members of the party.

    Jack Medcraft and Sam Misho are independents that get along with the ALP plurality on council.

    Trevor Dance was affiliated with the UAP and continues to represent a strong right-wing populist view, Jim Overend is a member of the Liberal Party and Jodi Jackson is an independent who does not get along with the ALP plurality on Council.

    This means that Labor and its allies have 8 seats on Council and the ‘opposition’ have 3 seats.

    What this means for the contest in November is not exactly clear.

  2. I’m running as an independent candidate for Emu Creek Ward this year. I’m looking forward to serving our wonderful and diverse community 🙂

  3. My name is Sam Misho and a current councillor. I respect all my fellow councillors and recognise that I have to work with them to get things done. I am independent as independent can be.
    I have argued matters. I lost some and won others. Some I got through after fighting for weeks if not months.

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