2024 MidCoast Council election

2024 MidCoast Council election

← 2021 14 September 2024 2028 →
All 11 seats on MidCoast Council 6 seats needed for a majority
Registered	78,357 [1]
Turnout	84.3%
First party Second party Third party   TICK Leader Michael Graham Claire Pontin Alan Tickle Party Libertarian Labor Tickle Group Last election Did not contest 1 seat 1 seat Seats before 0 1 1 Seats won 3 2 2 Seat change 3 1 1 Primary  vote 13,709 9,573 9,443 Percentage 22.9% 16.0% 15.8% Swing 22.9 6.0 3.7

The 2024 MidCoast Council election was held on 14 September 2024 to elect eleven councillors to the MidCoast Council. ^[2] The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in New South Wales. ^[3]

The Libertarian Party won three seats, while five candidates were elected from independent groups. ^[4] The Liberal Party lost all two seats it held prior to the election, owing to a missed candidate nomination deadline which prevented its councillors from recontesting. ^[5]

Electoral system

Like in all other New South Wales local government areas (LGAs), MidCoast Council elections use optional preferential voting. ^[6] Under this system, voters are only required to vote for one candidate or group, although they can choose to preference other candidates. ^[7]

All elections for councillor positions are elected using proportional representation. ^[8] MidCoast has an Australian Senate-style ballot paper with above-the-line and below-the-line voting. ^[9] The council is composed of a single ward. ^[2]

The election was conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission (NSWEC). ^{[10] [11]}

Retiring councillors

Liberal

• Troy Fowler ^[12]

Independents

• Kathryn Bell ^[2]
• Peter Epov ^[2]
• Katheryn Stinson ^[2]

Candidates

On 14 August 2024, the day that candidates nominations closed, the Liberal Party revealed they had missed the deadline to nominate 164 candidates in 16 different LGAs. ^{[13] [14]} This included all Liberal councillors seeking re-election to MidCoast Council. ^{[15] [16]}

Howard Group (Group A)	MidCoast Independents (Group B)	Team Jeremy Miller (Group C)	Labor (Group D)	Tickle Group (Group E)
Peter Howard [17] Fabian Clancy [18] Rebecca Ross Scott Paterson Roderick Donegan Emmerson Hollis	Thomas O'Keefe [19] Bruce Murray Jeanette Hart Malcolm Motum Terry Munright Heather Vaughan	Jeremy Miller [20] Donna Ballard Bronwyn Sharpe Alexander Lewers Tanya Brown Jake Davey	Claire Pontin Digby Wilson Nicolle Green Phillip Costa Michael Burgess Mark Vanstone	Alan Tickle [21] Nicole Turnbull [22] Carley Burke Philip Walkom Michael Kent Kylie Turner
CINC (Group F)	Libertarian (Group G)	Independent (Group H)	Greens (Group I)	Ungrouped
Emma Mellows [23] Veronica Frost Jennifer Lennox John Fisher	Michael Graham Philip Beazley Mal McKenzie Mitchell Wilson John Gazecki Stuart Cameron	Paul Sandilands Mark Stuart Johnson Jessica Corkill Sandra Zielke Gilbert Whyte Scott Grant	Dheera Smith [24] Janeece Irving Michael Townsend Jessica Harris Nathan Wales Megan Cooke	Richard Streamer (Ind) Elizabeth McEntyre (Ind) Karen Hutchinson (Ind) Stephen Smith (Ind) John Sahyoun (Ind Nat) [25] Vivien Panhuber (Ind)

Withdrawn candidates

Party		Candidate	Details
	Liberal	Troy Fowler	Incumbent councillor unable to recontest because of missed candidacy deadline. [12]

Results

2024 MidCoast Council election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Libertarian	1. Michael Graham (elected 4) 2. Philip Beazley (elected 5) 3. Mal McKenzie (elected 10) 4. Mitchell Wilson 5. John Gazecki 6. Stuart Cameron	13,709	22.9
	Labor	1. Claire Pontin (elected 3) 2. Digby Wilson (elected 8) 3. Nicolle Green 4. Phillip Costa 5. Michael Burgess 6. Mark Vanstone	9,573	16.0
	Tickle Group	1. Alan Tickle (elected) 2. Nicole Turnbull (elected 9) 3. Carley Burke 4. Philip Walkom 5. Michael Kent 6. Kylie Turner	9,443	15.8
	Howard Group	1. Peter Howard (elected 1) 2. Fabian Clancy 3. Rebecca Ross 4. Scott Paterson 5. Roderick Donegan 6. Emmerson Hollis	6,832	11.4
	Team Jeremy Miller	1. Jeremy Miller (elected 2) 2. Donna Ballard 3. Bronwyn Sharpe 4. Alexander Lewers 5. Tanya Brown 6. Jake Davey	6,038	10.1
	Greens	1. Dheera Smith (elected 11) 2. Janeece Irving 3. Michael Townsend 4. Jessica Harris 5. Nathan Wales 6. Megan Cooke	3,931	6.6
	MidCoast Independents	1. Thomas O'Keefe (elected 7) 2. Bruce Murray 3. Jeanette Hart 4. Malcolm Motum 5. Terry Munright 6. Heather Vaughan	3,794	6.4
	Independent	1. Paul Sandilands 2. Mark Stuart Johnson 3. Jessica Corkill 4. Sandra Zielke 5. Gilbert Whyte 6. Scott Grant	2,750	4.6
	Consultation Is Not Consent	1. Emma Mellows 2. Veronica Frost 3. Jennifer Lennox 4. John Fisher	1,313	2.2
	Independent	Karen Hutchinson	901	1.5
	Independent	Elizabeth McEntyre	554	0.9
	Independent	Stephen Smith	531	0.9
	Independent National	John Sahyoun	289	0.5
	Independent	Richard Streamer	78	0.1
	Independent	Vivien Panhuber	51	0.1
Total formal votes			59,787	90.5
Informal votes			6,243	9.5
Turnout			66,030	84.3

Results summary

2024 MidCoast Council election: Results summary

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Libertarian		13,709	22.9	+22.9	3	3
	Labor		9,573	16.0		2	1
	Tickle Group		9,443	15.8		2	1
	Howard Group		6,832	11.4		1
	Team Jeremy Miller		6,038	10.1		1
	Independents		4,865	8.1		0
	Greens		3,931	6.6		1
	MidCoast Independents		3,794	6.4		1
	Consultation Is Not Consent		1,313	2.2		0
	Independent National		289	0.5		0
Formal votes			59,787	90.5
Informal votes			6,243	9.5
Total			66,030	100.0		111
Registered voters / turnout			78,357	84.3

References

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2. "Mid-Coast council election, 2024". The Tally Room. Archived from the original on 12 October 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
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4. McLeod, Catie (16 September 2024). "The rise of the Libertarians: 'fringe' party could win 15 NSW council seats after Liberals' bungle". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 March 2025. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
5. Watson, Janine (9 October 2024). "MidCoast Council elect Claire Pontin mayor, Libertarian Michael Graham defeated". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
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7. Strong, Lynne (20 August 2024). "How the preference system works in NSW Local Government Elections". The Bugle News. Archived from the original on 13 December 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
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10. 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.
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14. Holmes, Dan (18 August 2024). "NSW Electoral Commission refuses Liberal Party extension". The Mandarin. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
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17. "Council Elections are on September 14th, and our team need volunteers from across the LGA to support our Campaign". Facebook. Cr Peter Howard, Mid-Coast Council. 2 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
18. "GROUP A HOWARD GROUP". Facebook. Cr Peter Howard, Mid-Coast Council. 9 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
19. "Beautiful morning". Facebook. MidCoast Independents. 14 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
20. "How To Vote Team Jeremy Miller". Facebook. Jeremy Miller Group C for a Better MidCoast. 6 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
21. "Cr Alan Tickle to head group of six for local government election". Manning River Times. 12 August 2024. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
22. "Have you seen who's on the Alan Tickle - MidCoast Council team?". Facebook. Nicole Turnbull - MidCoast Council Candidate. 7 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
23. "Official voting advice, hot off the press!". Facebook. Emma Mellows for Mid-Coast Council. 3 September 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
24. "Dheera Smith". Greens on Council. 30 May 2024. Archived from the original on 23 August 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
25. "JOHN SAHYOUN". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 14 August 2024. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.