2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election

2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election

←  2021 14 September 2024 2028 →
All 13 seats on Lake Macquarie City Council 7 seats needed for a majority
Registered	166,305 [1]
Turnout	85.1%
Mayor
First party Second party Third party   LMI Candidate Adam Shultz Melody Harding Kate Warner Party Labor Liberal Lake Mac Inds Primary  vote 47,167 28,857 26,713 Percentage 35.3% 21.6% 20.0% Swing 17.7 0.5 7.6 TCP 60.1% 39.9% TCP swing 9.1 39.9
Mayor before election Kay Fraser Labor Elected Mayor Adam Shultz Labor
Councillors
Turnout	85.2%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– Labor Adam Shultz 35.2 5 −1 Liberal Melody Harding 23.1 3 0 Lake Mac Inds Kate Warner 21.7 3 0 Independents —N/a 5.5 1 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect a mayor and twelve councillors to the City of Lake Macquarie. ^[2] The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales. ^[3]

Labor Party candidate Adam Shultz was elected mayor with 60.1% of the two-candidate-preferred vote, following the retirement of incumbent Kay Fraser. ^[4] However, Labor lost its narrow majority on the council after the election of one independent, while the Liberal Party and Lake Mac Independents retained three seats each. ^[5]

Background

On 28 July 2025, Lake Mac Independents councillor Luke Cubis resigned, creating a vacancy in West Ward. ^[6] His seat was not filled before the election after councillors voted unanimously against having a by-election. ^[7]

In February 2024, the Liberal Party's Nick Jones was removed as a councillor for East Ward after missing three consecutive council meetings. ^{[8] [9]}

The boundaries of Lake Macquarie's three wards changed prior to the 2024 election. ^[10] East Ward expanded to add parts of Warners Bay, while West Ward moved to include Barnsley and Holmesville. ^[2] Additionally, North Ward gained Boolaroo, Lakelands, Macquarie Point and Speers Point. ^[2]

Electoral system

Like in all other New South Wales local government areas (LGAs), Lake Macquarie City Council elections use optional preferential voting. ^[11] Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates. ^[12] Lake Macquarie was one of 37 LGAs to have a direct mayoral election in 2024. ^[2]

All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation. ^[13] Lake Macquarie has an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting. ^[14] The council is divided into three wards, each electing four councillors. ^[2]

The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC). ^{[15] [16]}

Retiring councillors

Labor

• Kay Fraser (mayor) − announced 8 March 2024 ^[17]

Candidates

Mayoral candidates

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

Party		Candidate	Background
	Greens	Bryce Ham	Environmental activist [18]
	Liberal	Melody Harding	Educator and marriage celebrant [18]
	Labor	Adam Shultz	Councillor for East Ward [18]
	Our Local Community	John Gilbert	Former Lake Mac Independents councillor [19]
	Community First Inds	Rosmairi Dawson	Former Independent Lake Alliance councillor [20]
	Lake Mac Independents	Kate Warner	Councillor for East Ward [18]

Ward candidates

East

Labor (Group A)	Independent (Group B)	Lake Mac Independents (Group C)	Greens (Group D)	Liberal (Group E)
Adam Shultz Christine Buckley Stacey Radcliffe Joseph Steel	Rowen Turnbull Kaciee Wagstaff Dyllan Harvey Tina Sulis	Michael Hannah David Gibson John Edwards Allison Hannah	Jane Oakley Elizabeth Riley Patricia Philippou Stephanee Reay Bartsch	Matt Schultz Melody Harding Rod Chapman Dianne Volker

North

Lake Mac Independents (Group A)	Greens (Group B)	Liberal (Group C)	Labor (Group D)	Ungrouped
Colin Grigg Tara Hall Daniel Secomb Timothy Sullivan	Bryce Ham Gregory Watkinson Tal Nelson Andrew McLean	Jack Antcliff Daniel Swane Susan Antcliff Mark Pauling	Brian Adamthwaite Keara Conroy Mark Howells Gaurav Vijay	James McCorkell (Ind) Travis McCorkell (Ind) Daniel Smith (Ind)

West

Lake Mac Independents (Group A)	Our Local Community (Group B)	Greens (Group C)	Labor (Group D)
Kate Warner Ashley Dorse Steve Graham Olenka Motyka	Toni Bowyer Elizabeth Cooper Alan Hogan Paris Southee	Ingrid Schraner Kim Grierson Kerry Suwald Charmian Eckersley	Madeline Bishop David Belcher Mackenzie Robson Stephen Ryan
Community First Inds (Group E)	Liberal (Group F)	Independent (Group G)	Ungrouped
Rosmairi Dawson Graham Davidson Janette Coulter Melissa Rogan	Jason Pauling Nicholas Jones Julie Pauling Michael Uidam	Anthony Swinsburg Lorna Edwards David Pickard Linda Lord	Eddie Milton (Ind)

Results

Mayoral results

2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election: Mayor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Adam Shultz	47,167	35.3	–17.7
	Liberal	Melody Harding	28,857	21.6	–0.5
	Lake Mac Independents	Kate Warner	26,713	20.0	+7.6
	Greens	Bryce Ham	13,119	9.8	+9.8
	Community First Inds	Rosmairi Dawson	10,473	7.8	–4.6
	Our Local Community	John Gilbert	7,468	5.6	+5.6
Total formal votes			141,648	94.5	–1.6
Informal votes			7,851	5.5	+1.6
Turnout			149,499	85.2	+0.6
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Adam Shultz	54,862	60.1	–9.1
	Lake Mac Independents	Kate Warner	36,336	39.9	+39.9
	Labor hold

Ward results

2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election: Ward results

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		46,239	35.2	−4.0	5	1
	Liberal		30,363	23.1	−2.6	3
	Lake Mac Independents		28,530	21.7	+2.3	3
	Greens		13,257	10.1	+0.3	0
	Independents		7,221	5.5	+1.9	1	1
	Community First Inds		2,942	2.2		0
	Our Local Community		2,819	2.1		0
Formal votes			131,371	92.8
Informal votes			10,133	7.2
Total			141,504	100.0		12
Registered voters / turnout			166,305	85.1

East

2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election: East Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	1. Adam Shultz 2. Christine Buckley (elected 1) 3. Stacey Radcliffe (elected 3) 4. Joseph Steel	18,551	40.8	−1.0
	Liberal	1. Matt Schultz (elected 2) 2. Melody Harding 3. Rod Chapman 4. Dianne Volker	11,620	25.5	−0.9
	Lake Mac Independents	1. Michael Hannah (elected 4) 2. David Gibson 3. John Edwards 4. Allison Hannah	7,766	17.1	+0.6
	Greens	1. Jane Oakley 2. Elizabeth Riley 3. Patricia Philippou 4. Stephanee Reay Bartsch	4,053	8.9	+0.1
	Independent	1. Rowen Turnbull 2. Kaciee Wagstaff 3. Dyllan Harvey 4. Tina Sulis	3,511	7.7
Total formal votes			45,501	92.8
Informal votes			3,543	7.2
Turnout			49,044	85.9

North

2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election: North Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	1. Brian Adamthwaite (elected 1) 2. Keara Conroy (elected 4) 3. Mark Howells 4. Gaurav Vijay	17,122	37.9	−4.7
	Liberal	1. Jack Antcliff (elected 2) 2. Daniel Swane 3. Susan Antcliff 4. Mark Pauling	10,822	24.0	+2.2
	Lake Mac Independents	1. Colin Grigg (elected 3) 2. Tara Hall 3. Daniel Secomb 4. Timothy Sullivan	10,519	23.3	+8.0
	Greens	1. Bryce Ham 2. Gregory Watkinson 3. Tal Nelson 4. Andrew McLean	6,425	14.2	+2.4
	Independent	James McCorkell	141	0.3
	Independent	Daniel Smith	89	0.2
	Independent	Travis McCorkell	35	0.1
Total formal votes			45,153	93.7
Informal votes			3,015	6.3
Turnout			48,168	86.0

West

2024 Lake Macquarie City Council election: West Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	1. Madeline Bishop (elected 1) 2. David Belcher 3. Mackenzie Robson 4. Stephen Ryan	10,566	26.0	−7.4
	Lake Mac Independents	1. Kate Warner (elected 2) 2. Ashley Dorse 3. Steve Graham 4. Olenka Motyka	10,245	25.2	−0.7
	Liberal	1. Jason Pauling (elected 3) 2. Nicholas Jones 3. Julie Pauling 4. Michael Uidam	7,921	19.5	−9.3
	Independent	1. Anthony Swinsburg (elected 4) 2. Lorna Edwards 3. David Pickard 4. Linda Lord	3,388	8.3
	Community First Inds	1. Rosmairi Dawson 2. Graham Davidson 3. Janette Coulter 4. Melissa Rogan	2,942	7.2	+4.0
	Our Local Community	1. Toni Bowyer 2. Elizabeth Cooper 3. Alan Hogan 4. Paris Southee	2,819	6.9
	Greens	1. Ingrid Schraner 2. Kim Grierson 3. Kerry Suwald 4. Charmian Eckersley	2,779	6.8	−1.9
	Independent	Eddie Milton	57	0.1
Total formal votes			40,717	91.9
Informal votes			3,575	8.1
Turnout			44,292	83.2

References

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