Local government elections are coming up. Thirty six candidates are standing in total for Nillumbik’s seven single-member wards:
| Ward | Candidates |
| Blue Lake | 2 |
| Bunjil | 7 |
| Edendale | 7 |
| Ellis | 4 |
| Sugarloaf | 5 |
| Swipers Gully | 3 |
| Wingrove | 8 |
Of the seven current councillors, only two are standing for re-election, so we are guaranteed new representation at least in the other five wards.
Voting is preferential as well as compulsory, and all candidates must be ranked – or all candidates but the last one, since the missing number may be inferred. Too few or duplicated numbers will result in a ballot not being counted.
Ballots will be posted out all over the State from October 7, and votes must be either in the mail or hand delivered to the electorate office in Eltham by Friday October 25.
Our shire, created in 1994 with the ‘green wedge as its strategic focus’, has from time to time lost that focus. We need and deserve councillors who will maintain it, along with the universal requirement for good governance. In the absence of major party politics we don’t have the option of voting for our preferred political party with its known platform, so we may be confronted with the task of ranking individuals about whom we may know no more than what we can glean from the 300 word statements that are mailed to us with the ballot paper.
We know that you will carefully consider the options in your ward, but we would like to help, with particular attention to candidates’ commitment to the ongoing protection of our green wedge.
We will be dispatching a newsletter next Friday, October 11, containing our voting recommendations.
Authorized by D Macrae 61 Oxley Road Kangaroo Ground