Monash council election, 2024

The City of Monash covers parts of the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, including Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Wheelers Hill, Mulgrave, Clayton and parts of Burwood and Oakleigh.

The council had a population of 190,397 as of the 2021 census.

• Wards
• Redistribution
• Incumbent councillors
• History
• Council control
• Candidate summary
• Assessment
• 2020 results
• Voting trends by ward

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

• Banksia – in the south-west, covering parts of Clayton, Huntingdale and Oakleigh South.
• Blackburn – in the north, covering the Syndal and Tally Ho localities.
• Gallaghers – in the north-east, covering part of Glen Waverley.
• Gardiners Creek – in the north-west, covering parts of Ashwood.
• Jells – in the east, covering parts of Glen Waverley and Wheelers Hill.
• Mayfield – in the west, covering parts of Chadstone, Jordanville and Mount Waverley.
• Scotchmans Creek – in the centre, covering parts of Glen Waverley and Mount Waverley.
• University – in the west, covering Clayton North, the Clayton campus of Monash University and parts of Clayton and Oakleigh East.
• Warrigal – in the south-west, covering Hughesdale, Oakleigh and parts of Huntingdale and Oakleigh East.
• Waverley Park – in the south-east, covering parts of Mulgrave and Wheelers Hill.
• Wellington – in the south, covering parts of Mulgrave and Notting Hill.

Redistribution
The council previously consisted of four wards, electing eleven councillors. The Glen Waverley ward elected two members, while the Mount Waverley, Mulgrave and Oakleigh wards each elected three.

The north-eastern Glen Waverley ward covered the entire new Gallaghers ward and parts of the new Blackburn and Scotchmans Creek wards.

The north-western Mount Waverley ward covered the entire new Gardiners Creek and Mayfield wards and parts of the new Blackburn and Scotchmans Creek wards.

The south-eastern Mulgrave ward covered the entire new Jells and Waverley Park wards and parts of the new Wellington ward.

The south-western Oakleigh ward covered the entire new Banksia, University and Warrigal wards and part of the new Wellington ward.

Incumbent councillors

¹Anjalee de Silva was elected as a member of the Greens, but resigned from the party in early 2024.
²Josh Fergeus was elected as a member of the Greens, but resigned from the party in early 2024.

History
The City of Monash was created in 1994, out of a merger of the City of Waverley with a large part of the City of Oakleigh.

The council was elected from eight single-member wards until 2005. From 2005 until the last election, the council included eleven members elected from four wards.

The last election saw Labor members (running as independents) winning seven out of eleven seats, along with two Greens, one Burwood Liberal and one other independent.

Throughout the current term, the mayoralty and deputy mayoralty have been consistently held by ALP members, except for independent McCluskey holding the deputy mayoralty from 2020 to 2021. Brian Little held the mayoralty from 2020 to 2021, followed by Stuart James, Tina Samardzija and Nicky Luo.

Council control
The City of Monash’s minutes do not specify how every councillor voted on each mayoral election, but the video indicates that nine councillors generally voted for the successful candidates every year, with then-Greens councillors Josh Fergeus and Anjalee de Silva generally being a minority standing against the majority.

The Labor councillors generally nominated and stood for the mayoralty every year, with the support of a broader nine-councillor block.

Candidate summary
Councillors Tina Samardzija and Theo Zographos are not running for re-election.

The Greens are running in four wards, Victorian Socialists in two and the Libertarians in one.

Assessment
Labor independents are very strong in Monash, and are likely to be very dominant with single-member wards.

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 weakest at the eastern end of the council area, with Labor polling just 52% in the Jells ward. Labor polled over 60% in the two wards to the south-west of Dandenong Road.

Candidates – Banksia Ward

• Michelle Hua
• Sweety Sharad Mahimkar
• Cameron Little
• Arthur Athanasopoulos
• Corey Matthews

Candidates – Blackburn Ward

• Jianhang Zhuang
• Raston Nga
• Cr Rebecca Paterson
• Matthew Leffler
• Dewani Harahap (Greens)

Candidates – Gallaghers Ward

• Cr Geoff Lake

Candidates – Gardiners Creek Ward

• Maria Ngo
• Jonathon Wight
• Solomon Lin
• Cr Anjalee De Silva
• Jacob Van Der Eynden (Victorian Socialists)

Candidates – Jells Ward

• Rajesh Pasupuleti
• Philip Liberatore
• Marcus Fernandez (Independent Liberal)
• Dustin Kim
• Christine Wilson
• Elisha Lee

Candidates – Mayfield Ward

• Ethelyn King (Libertarian)
• Oksana King
• Neha Yadav
• Manohar Pawar
• Cr Brian Little
• Stefanie Bauer (Greens)

Candidates – Scotchmans Creek Ward

• Cr Nicky Luo
• Louis Shivarev
• Bill Dayandas

Candidates – University Ward

• Cr Josh Fergeus
• Martin Barry (Greens)
• Dominique Murphy
• Shashi Kochhar
• Toby Taylor

Candidates – Warrigal Ward

• Natasha Abrahams (Greens)
• Cr Stuart James

Candidates – Waverley Park Ward

• Aret Muradyan
• Cr Shane McCluskey
• Renee Nayef (Victorian Socialists)

Candidates – Wellington Ward

• Cr Paul Klisaris
• Mazharul Chowdhury

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