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Registered | 800,000+ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 71.1% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2004 Victorian local elections were held on 26 November 2004 to elect the councils of 22 of the 79 local government areas in Victoria, Australia.[1]
Until 2008, local elections in Victoria were conducted periodically, meaning 54 councils were not up for election in 2004. An additional three LGAs that were scheduled to vote in 2004 also did not have elections.[2]
A shift away from single-member wards in favour of multi-member wards began in 2004, in particular in the Greater Melbourne area.[3]
The election in Yarra saw the first-ever victory for the Socialist Party, with Stephen Jolly elected in Langridge Ward.[4] He was reportedly the first elected socialist councillor in Melbourne "since the Second World War".[5]
In Melbourne, Labor Party members ran on a ticket called 'Active Local Progressive' (ALP), led by Raymond Collins.[6]
A number of councillors joined or left parties before the 2004 elections.
Council | Ward | Councillor | Former party | New party | Date | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Melbourne | Unsubdivided | Kevin Chamberlin | Labor | Independent | 7 November 2002 | ||
Melbourne | Unsubdivided | Kevin Chamberlin | Independent | Kevin Chamberlin For Melbourne | 2004 |
Main article: Results of the 2004 Victorian local elections |
Party | Councils | ||
---|---|---|---|
Number | Change | ||
Independent | 17 | ||
No overall control | 2 | ||
Labor | 2 | ||
Melbourne Living | 1 |
The Greens gained two seats at the elections, bringing their total amount of councillors to 10. Although the party lost one of their four seats in Yarra (partly due to the electoral structure change) and its sole councillor in Colac Otway, they were able to elect one councillor in Melbourne and two in Moreland.[7][8]
In August 2006, Greater Geelong Labor councillor David Saunderson was charged by police over his alleged failure to disclose campaign donations from local powerbrokers, including Geelong Football Club president Frank Costa.[9] He was later sacked from council in November 2009 for failing to declare a conflict of interest.[10]