Electoral review keeps East Gippsland Shire unsubdivided
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Following the Victorian Electoral Commission’s (VEC) Electoral Representation Review, wards will not be introduced in East Gippsland Shire.
The current representation model, where the shire is unsubdivided and all councillors represent the whole shire, will remain.
The Electoral Representation Review was held in 2019 as part of the VEC’s schedule for reviewing each council.
The review considered how many councillor positions are required for the Council; what electoral structure is suitable for the municipality; and where any ward boundaries should be located, if appropriate.
The review consisted of preliminary submissions from community members, organisations and Council. These submissions informed the VEC’s preliminary report which outlined a range of possible electoral structures.
The community was then invited to provide further comment on the report’s proposed electoral structures, before a final report with the VEC’s recommendation was published.
The final report recommended East Gippsland Shire be represented by nine councillors divided into three wards:
one four-councillor ward, one three-councillor ward, and one two-councillor ward.The recommendation was submitted to the Minister for Local Government for determination.
East Gippsland Shire Mayor Cr John White said he believed the unsubdivided model was the right electoral structure for the municipality.
“Council continues to believe that the unsubdivided model has succeeded in engendering a whole of shire perspective. It continues to serve the interests of East Gippsland by providing a simple and effective model for our community,” Cr White said.
“Constituents across the shire share very similar concerns and while the population is concentrated in the south-west corner, Bairnsdale is not a major urban centre.
"It is a regional centre of 14,887 people, and for the most part, Bairnsdale residents talk to councillors about very similar concerns to residents in other towns and localities across the shire.
"Council believes that what voters share far outweighs any differences, either perceived or actual.
“In our experience, the unsubdivided structure has served to separate representation from place. It encourages and facilitates direct approaches by the community to the councillor they believe is best placed to understand or address their concerns.
“This was the structure Council advocated for in making a submission to the review in the first half of 2019.”
“Victorian council elections are due to be held this October. With everything our shire has been through in the past 12 months, I am pleased our representation model will remain unchanged and able to provide consistency and certainty for our community,” Cr White said.