2024 Fairfield City Council election

2024 Fairfield City Council election

←  2021 14 September 2024 2028 →
All 13 seats on Fairfield City Council 7 seats needed for a majority
Mayor
First party Second party   Candidate Frank Carbone Basim Shamaon Party Frank Carbone Labor Primary  vote 89,562 20,512 Percentage 81.4% 18.6% Swing 7.9 7.9
Mayor before election Frank Carbone Frank Carbone Elected Mayor Frank Carbone Frank Carbone
Councillors
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Frank Carbone Frank Carbone 44.1 6 0 Dai Le Dai Le 29.5 3 0 Labor Basim Shamaon 16.1 2 −1 Independents — 10.1 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 2024 Fairfield City Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect a mayor and twelve councillors to the Fairfield City Council. ^[1] The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales. ^[2]

Frank Carbone was re-elected to a fourth term as mayor with 81.4% of the vote. ^[3] The Carbone-Le Alliance retained its majority, while the Labor Party was reduced to two seats. ^[4]

Background

Fairfield, located in the west of Sydney, has often been considered a safe area for the Labor Party. ^[5] In 2016, incumbent mayor Frank Carbone lost Labor preselection but was narrowly re-elected as an independent. ^[6]

In 2021, Carbone was re-elected mayor in a landslide with 73.5% of the vote. ^[7] At the same election, Carbone's eponymous ticket won six councillor positions, while another eponymous ticket led by Dai Le (also registered as the Australian Women's Party) won three seats. ^[1]

Le was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2022 federal election after winning the Division of Fowler, becoming the first non-Labor MP to represent the seat. ^[8] She continued serving as a Fairfield councillor. ^[9]

Electoral system

Like in all other New South Wales local government areas (LGAs), Fairfield City Council elections use optional preferential voting. ^[10] Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates. ^[11] Fairfield was one of 37 LGAs to have a direct mayoral election in 2024. ^[1]

All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation. ^[12] Fairfield has an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting. ^[13] The council is divided into two wards, each electing six councillors. ^[1]

Fairfield was one of two LGAs (the other being Liverpool) to use the Australian Election Company to conduct its election in 2024. ^[14] This was possible because of legislation implemented by the O'Farrell Liberal–National government in 2011, which allowed councils to choose private election providers instead of the New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC). ^[15] Following the 2024 local elections, the Minns Labor government introduced legislation which would see the NSWEC conduct all local elections. ^[16]

Retiring councillors

Labor

• George Barcha (Parks)
• Carmen Lazar (Fairfield/Cabravale) ^[17]

Candidates

Mayoral candidates

Candidates are listed in the order they appeared on the ballot.

Party		Candidate	Background
	Labor	Basim Shamaon	Candidate for Fairfield/Cabravale Ward in 2021
	Frank Carbone	Frank Carbone	Fairfield mayor since 2012

Ward candidates

Fairfield/Cabravale

Independent (Group A)	Frank Carbone (Group B)	Independent (Group C)	Dai Le (Group D)	Labor (Group E)
Kate Hoang Tien Nguyen Minh Hoang David Cao Van Le Tony Nguyen	Charbel Saliba Sam Yousif Jennifer Shahin Helen Nguyen Gina Carbone Antonia Carbone	Nguyen Khang Phan Van Dong Pham Thanh Dan Huynh Duc Thang Tran Van Sai Truong Kim Khanh Vo	Dai Le Marie Rose Saliba Dennis Suro Leonie Le Emma Tran Ngoc My Tang	Kien Ly Stella Kina Mickey Ngo Michal Walczak Joseph Huan Ngoc Trinh

Parks

Frank Carbone (Group A)	Dai Le (Group B)	Labor (Group C)	Ungrouped
Frank Carbone Reni Barkho Hugo Morvillo Milovan Karajcic Michael Mijatovic Martina Hanna	Kevin Lam Andrew Rohan Marsha Kozlova-Gao Monica Falco Valentina Prkic Jose Luis Miranda Garcia	Ninos Khoshaba Basim Shamaon Peter Pavisic Abrahem Wannous Jarrod Hawkins Innocenta Janina Marc	Nathan Athavle (FFP) Huu Tam Luong (Ind)

Campaign

Labor campaigned on "[wanting] a more secure and clean LGA for residents to live in, feel comfortable in their surroundings and be proud of the area they live in". ^[18] Carbone said his focus was "cost of living pressures and making Fairfield a great place to live". ^[19]

Results

Mayoral results

2024 Fairfield City Council election: Mayor ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Frank Carbone	Frank Carbone	89,562	81.4	+7.9
	Labor	Basim Shamaon	20,512	18.6	−7.9
Total formal votes			110,074	95.1
Informal votes			5,705	4.9
Turnout			115,779
	Frank Carbone hold		Swing	+7.9

Ward results

2024 Fairfield City Council election: Ward results ^[20]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Frank Carbone		45,695	44.1	+1.6	6
	Dai Le		29,455	29.5	+9.3	3
	Labor		16,160	16.1	−8.8	2	1
	Independents		10,231	10.1	+6.9	1	1
	Family First		216	0.2		0
Formal votes			101,757	88.1
Informal votes			13,722	11.9
Turnout			115,479

Fairfield/Cabravale

2024 Fairfield City Council election: Fairfield/Cabravale Ward ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Dai Le	1. Dai Le (elected 1) 2. Marie Rose Saliba (elected 4) 3. Dennis Suro 4. Leonie Le 5. Emma Tran 6. Ngoc My Tang	16,975	34.6	+7.1
	Frank Carbone	1. Charbel Saliba (elected 2) 2. Sam Yousif (elected 5) 3. Jennifer Shahin 4. Helen Nguyen 5. Gina Carbone 6. Antonia Carbone	13,830	28.2	−3.3
	Labor	1. Kien Ly (elected 3) 2. Stella Kina 3. Mickey Ngo 4. Michal Walczak 5. Joseph Huan 6. Ngoc Trinh	8,036	16.4	−10.6
	Independent	1. Kate Hoang (elected 6) 2. Tien Nguyen 3. Minh Hoang 4. David Cao 5. Van Le 6. Tony Nguyen	6,018	12.3	+12.3
	Independent	1. Nguyen Khang Phan 2. Van Dong Pham 3. Thanh Dan Huynh 4. Duc Thang Tran 5. Van Sai Truong 6. Kim Khanh Vo	4,136	8.4	+8.4
Total formal votes			48,995	88.2
Informal votes			6,571	11.8
Turnout			55,566

Parks

2024 Fairfield City Council election: Parks Ward ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Frank Carbone	1. Frank Carbone 2. Reni Barkho (elected 1) 3. Hugo Morvillo (elected 4) 4. Milovan Karajcic (elected 5) 5. Michael Mijatovic (elected 6) 6. Martina Hanna	31,865	60.4	+6.5
	Dai Le	1. Kevin Lam (elected 2) 2. Andrew Rohan 3. Marsha Kozlova-Gao 4. Monica Falco 5. Valentina Prkic 6. Jose Luis Miranda Garcia	12,480	23.6	+11.0
	Labor	1. Ninos Khoshaba (elected 3) 2. Basim Shamaon 3. Peter Pavisic 4. Abrahem Wannous 5. Jarrod Hawkins 6. Inocenta Janina Marc	8,124	15.4	−7.2
	Family First	Nathan Athavle	216	0.4
	Independent	Huu Tam Luong	77	0.2
Total formal votes			52,762	88.1
Informal votes			7,151	11.9
Turnout			59,913

References

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5. Napier-Raman, Kishor; Towell, Noel (15 February 2023). "Could a popular mayor give Labor another western Sydney headache?". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
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12. Raue, Ben (29 October 2021). "The many party systems of NSW councils". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
13. "NSW Local Government Elections Website". Antony Green's Election Blog. 22 November 2021. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
14. Ibrahim, Tony (1 September 2024). "Why Fairfield and Liverpool are the only councils in New South Wales to use a private contractor for their elections". ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
15. Raue, Ben (29 August 2019). "NSW to raise council election costs to make private providers "competitive"". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 2 August 2025. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
16. Maddison, Max (20 September 2024). "'A Labor Party hit job': Fury at move to outlaw private companies running council elections". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
17. Howe, Frances (26 April 2025). "The ex-Labor councillor trying to stop the party's 55-year reign in this Sydney seat". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 24 July 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
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20. "2024 Election Results". Australian Election Company. 14 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 December 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2025.