The City of Moonee Valley covers parts of the inner west of Melbourne, including Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Ascot Vale, Avondale Heights, Strathmore, Airport West, Niddrie and parts of Keilor East and Flemington.
The council had a population of 121,851 as of the 2021 census.
- Wards
- Redistribution
- Incumbent councillors
- History
- Council control
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- Voting trends by ward
Wards
The City of Moonee Valley is divided into nine single-member wards as of 2024:
- Airport – in the north, covering Essendon Fields, Essendon North, Strathmore and Strathmore Heights.
- Buckley – in the centre, covering Aberfeldie and parts of Essendon.
- Canning – in the south-west, covering Avondale Heights, Essendon West and parts of Keilor East.
- Fairbairn – in the south-east, covering parts of Ascot Vale.
- Milleara – in the west, covering most of Keilor East.
- Myrnong – in the south-east, covering Travancore and parts of Ascot Vale, Flemington and Moonee Ponds.
- Queens Park – in the east, covering parts of Essendon and Moonee Ponds.
- Steele Creek – in the north-west, covering Niddrie and Airport West.
- Woodlands – in the east, covering parts of Essendon and Moonee Ponds.
Redistribution
The council previously consisted of three wards, electing nine councillors. Each ward elected three councillors.
The Buckley ward covered the north-east of the council area, covering the new Airport and Buckley wards and parts of the new Queens Park and Woodlands wards.
The Myrnong ward covered the south-east of the council area, covering the new Fairbairn and Myrnong wards and parts of the new Queens Park and Woodlands wards.
The Rose Hill ward covered the west of the council area, covering the new Canning, Milleara and Steele Creek wards.
| Buckley | Myrnong | Rose Hill |
| Ava Adams (Independent) | Jacob Bettio (Ind) | Samantha Byrne (Independent) |
| Jessica O’Neil (Ind)1 | Katrina Hodgson (Labor) | John Sipek (Independent) |
| Narelle Sharpe (Ind) | Rose Iser (Independent) | Pierce Tyson (Labor) |
1Jessica O’Neil replaced Cam Nation following a countback in 2024.
History
The City of Moonee Valley was created in 1994 as an amalgamation of the City of Essendon and parts of the City of Keilor.
Moonee Valley’s council consisted of seven single-member wards until a review in 2008. The council has consisted of three three-member wards from 2008 until the current election.
Council control
The mayoralty has been held successively by Cam Nation, Samantha Byrne and then Pierce Tyson, who was re-elected in 2023.
Candidate summary
Sitting councillor Katrina Hodgson is not running for re-election.
Labor is running endorsed candidates in seven wards (including formerly-independent Rose Iser). The Greens are running three candidates, and the Libertarians and Victorian Socialists are each running two. The remaining 29 candidates are unendorsed by any party.
Assessment
The Greens poll very strongly in the south-eastern corner of the council. It will be interesting to see how the Greens do here.
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 in all nine wards, ranging from 57% in Steele Creek to 72% in Myrnong. The Labor two-party-preferred vote tends to be higher in the south-east.
There is less variation on the Labor primary vote, because Labor’s two-party-preferred vote is boosted by a high Greens vote in the south-east. The Greens vote ranges from 12% in the north-west to 24% in Myrnong.
Candidates – Airport Ward
- Simon Shamoon
- Mark Harris
- Jan Chantry (Labor)
- David Wright
- Hamish Jones (Independent Liberal)
Candidates – Buckley Ward
- Sean O’Neill
- Madeline Curkovic (Victorian Socialists)
- John Barnes
- Cr Narelle Sharpe
- Megan Stapleton
- Christian Martinu (Independent Liberal)
Candidates – Canning Ward
- Jacob Hvezda
- Armando Pianese
- Paula Theocharides (Labor)
Candidates – Fairbairn Ward
- Phil Burn (Labor)
- Declan McGinness (Greens)
Candidates – Milleara Ward
- Cr Jessica O’Neil
- Cr John Sipek
- Joe Cerritelli (Labor)
Candidates – Myrnong Ward
- Cr Rose Iser (Labor)
- Cameron Smith (Libertarian)
- Juno Robertson
- James Gallagher (Victorian Socialists)
- Jodie Kinnersley (Greens)
Candidates – Queens Park Ward
- Cr Ava Adams
- Owen Parris (Greens)
- Spencer Kassimir
- Cr Jacob Bettio
- Peter Vasilogiannacopoulos
- David Garotti
- David Bartl
Candidates – Steele Creek Ward
- Tania Piccolo
- Stefano Emodi
- David Liistro (Libertarian)
- Cr Samantha Byrne
- Cr Pierce Tyson (Labor)
Candidates – Woodlands Ward
- Fran Cosgriff (Labor)
- Abby McCurdy
- Mark A. Errichiello
- Jason Stuart Bryant
- Tommy Le Deux (Independent Liberal)
- Lachlan Taylor
- Nino Piscitelli
A couple of points:
Pierce Tyson was first elected in 2020.
Cam Nation resigned in early 2024 and was replaced on countback by Jessica O’Neil, who is running in Milleara.
Independent Liberals also include Hamish Jones (Airport) and Tommy LeDeux (Woodlands).
… and there’s a random Glen Eira reference in there!
Thanks Andrew, all of those fixed.
https://mvcc.vic.gov.au/my-council/councillors/ says your information on Jacob Bettio is wrong. What’s your source on his Greens membership?
I found a list of endorsed Victorian Greens candidates for the 2020 election but I’m not sure where it is now. If you’re confident it’s wrong I’ll change it.
The only endorsed Greens candidate in 2020 was James Williams in Myrnong ward; I’m not aware of any unendorsed Greens members contesting in 2020.
Narelle Sharpe was mayor for most of 2020 followed by Cam Nation, Samantha Byrne and then Pierce Tyson in October 2022. He was re-elected in October 2023. Jacob Bettio was elected as an independent in 2020; he was not aligned with the Greens while councillor.