2012 New South Wales local elections

The 2012 New South Wales local elections were held on 8 September 2012 to elect the councils of 150 of the 152 local government areas (LGAs) of New South Wales, Australia. Several councils also held mayoral elections and/or referendums.

2012 New South Wales local elections

← 2008 8 September 2012 2016 → 2017 →

First party Second party Third party   IND Leader N/A N/A N/A Party Independents Liberal Labor Seats won 927 172 152 Popular vote 1,306,350 748,349 656,552 Percentage 38.14% 21.85% 19.17%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   UNI Leader No leader No leader Fred Nile Party Greens Unity Christian Democrats Last election 1 Seats before 0 Seats won 38 3 0 Seat change Popular vote 228,708 15,005 14,032 Percentage 6.68% 0.44% 0.41%   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader John Humphreys Jim Saleam No leader Party Liberal Democrats Australia First Communist Last election 0 0 0 Seats before 0 0 0 Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 10,492 6,421 2,352 Percentage 0.31% 0.19% 0.07%

The elections were conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission, with the exception of 14 councils who chose to conduct their own elections or use the services of the private Australian Election Company.

No elections were held in Shellharbour or Wollongong as electors had voted a year prior in 2011, following the sackings of both councils in 2008.

The Liberal Party chose not to contest the elections in Fairfield and Penrith, leading to Liberal councillors running as Independent Liberals.

More than 16 wards across the state were uncontested.

Parties

The following registered parties contested this election. This does not include groups of independents:

• Christian Democrats
• Greens
• Labor Party
• Liberal Democrats
• Liberal Party
• Socialist Alliance
• Unity Party

In addition, a number of local government-registered parties also contested the elections.

Party changes before elections

Council	Ward	Councillor	Former party		New party		Date
Wagga Wagga	Undivided	Garry Hiscock		Independent		Business	20 July 2009
Hornsby	Mayor	Nick Berman		Liberal		Independent	11 November 2010
Newcastle	Ward 4	Mike Jackson		Labor		Independent	16 February 2011
Newcastle	Ward 4	Mike Jackson		Independent		Liberal	15 April 2011
Auburn	First Ward	Le Lam		Unity		Independent	2011
Ashfield	South	Morris Mansour		Liberal		Independent	2011
Uralla	A Ward	Isabel Strutt		Christian Democrats		Independent	2012

Results

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independents		1,306,350	38.14		927
	Liberal		748,349	21.85		172
	Labor		656,552	19.17		152
	Greens		228,708	6.68		38
	Independent Liberal		132,756	3.87		33
	Independent National		33,882	0.99		15
	Your Warringah		33,757	0.98		5
	Clover Moore Independent Team		30,352	0.89		4	1
	Independent Lake Alliance		26,242	0.77		4
	Shire Watch Independents		20,654	0.60		1
	Independent Labor		16,061	0.47		11
	Unity		15,005	0.44		3
	Christian Democrats		14,032	0.41		0
	Save Tuggerah Lakes		11,465	0.33		2
	Shoalhaven Independents Group		11,171	0.33		3
	Liberal Democrats		10,492	0.31		2	2
	Holroyd Independents		8,567	0.25		2
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers Action		8,059	0.23		4
	Lorraine Wearne		7,914	0.23		2
	Residents First Woollahra		7,502	0.22		5
	Totally Locally Committed		7,364	0.21		2
	Liverpool Community Independents Team		7,363	0.21		1
	Australia First		6,421	0.19		1	1
	Parramatta Independents		5,628	0.17		0
	Living Sydney		5,524	0.17	+0.17	1	1
	Community First		5,386	0.16		1
	Residents Action For Auburn		4,960	0.14		2
	Building Australia		4,448	0.13	+0.13	0
	No Parking Meters		4,446	0.13		0	1
	Bob Thompson		4,140	0.12		1
	Serving Mosman		4,128	0.12		2
	Woodville Independents		4,118	0.12		0
	Community Service Environment		3,977	0.12		1
	Democratic Labor		3,700	0.11		1
	Manly Independents		3,609	0.10		2
	Burwood Community Voice		3,559	0.10		1
	Residents For Mosman		3,155	0.09		1
	Our Sustainable Future		2,792	0.08		2
	Albury Citizens and Ratepayers		2,751	0.08		1
	Parramatta Better Local Government		2,602	0.07		0
	Communist		2,352	0.07		1	1
	Sex Party		2,149	0.06	+0.06	0
	Save Our State		888	0.02		0
	Kogarah Residents		804	0.02		0
	Socialist Alliance		724	0.02		0
	Protectionist		256	0.01		0
	Family First		126	0.01		0
	Democrats		103	0.01		0
Total			3,425,343	100.00	–	–	–

Aftermath

The Liberal Democrats had their first-ever electoral victories, with Jeff Pettett and Clinton Mead elected to Ku-ring-gai Council and Campbelltown City Council respectively.

The election of Tony Oldfield to Auburn City Council remains the only time the present-day Communist Party of Australia had had an electoral win.

Australia First councillor Maurice Girotto left the party in 2013 to sit as an independent, before joining the Christian Democrats in March 2016.

Following the elections, major changes occurred as a result of the enactment of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 and as a result of a review by the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) that commenced in 2013. On 12 May 2016, following a further review by the Minister for Local Government and the independent Local Government Boundaries Commission, Premier Mike Baird announced Stage 1 starting with 19 new councils, through amalgamations and mergers, with immediate effect. The Minister indicated in principle support to create a further nine new councils, subject to the decision of the courts. On the same day, the Governor of New South Wales acted on the advice of the Minister, and proclaimed the 19 new local government areas. Another proclamation occurred a few months later with the amalgamation of City of Botany Bay and City of Rockdale.

This resulted in 79 councils being contested in 2016 and 46 in 2017, before the vast majority contested together again in 2021.

By-elections

The New South Wales Electoral Commission held a number of by-elections to fill vacancies on councils after the 2012 elections up until 2016.

Council	Ward	Before			Change		Result after preference distribution
		Councillor	Party		Cause	Date	Date	Party		Candidate	%
Hurstville	Hurstville						15 March 2014		Labor	Brent Thomas	57.59
									Liberal	Tim Feng	30.44
Woollahra	Double Bay						15 March 2014		Liberal	James Keulemans	55.80
									Residents First	Anne Crooks	25.25
Willoughby	Sailors Bay	Gail Giles-Gidney		Independent Liberal	Elected as mayor	12 April 2014	14 June 2014		Independent	Rachel Hill	64.79
									Independent	Vache Kahramanian	22.51
Brewarrina	Unsubdivided	Jeanette Barker		Independent	Death	March 2014	21 June 2014		Independent	Bill Loughnan	56.48
									Independent	Tommy Stanton	43.52
Leichhardt	Birrabirragal/Balmain	Melinda Manikas		Liberal	Death	8 May 2014	2 August 2014		Independent	John Stamolis	60.61
									Labor	Aaron Di Pietro	39.39
Woollahra	Double Bay						23 August 2014		Independent	John Doyle	N/A
									Elected unopposed
Cobar	Unsubdivided						23 August 2014		Independent	Peter Abbott	85.80
									Independent	Peter Florance	14.20
Marrickville	West	Emanuel Tsardoulias		Labor	Death	19 August 2014	23 August 2014		Labor	Daniel Barbar	50.08
									Greens	Justine Langford	33.05
Blue Mountains	First Ward						15 November 2014		Labor	Sarah Shrubb	53.71
									Greens	Kerry Brown	46.29
Blue Mountains	Second Ward						15 November 2014		Labor	Victoria Arney	53.01
									Independent	Rob Thompson	46.99
Clarence Valley	Unsubdivided						21 February 2015		Independent	Arthur Lysaught	N/A
									Elected unopposed
Newcastle	Ward 3						21 February 2015		Labor	Declan Clausen	53.15
									Independent	Kath Elliott	46.85
Ryde	East						21 February 2015		Liberal	Jane Stott	52.77
									Labor	Penny Pedersen	47.23
Wakool	B Ward						5 March 2016		Independent	David Landini	N/A
									Elected unopposed
Wakool	C Ward	Colin Membrey		Independent	Resignation	December 2015	5 March 2016	No candidate declared elected
Wakool	C Ward	N/A		N/A	No candidate elected	5 March 2016	9 April 2016		Independent	Alan Mathers	69.06
									Independent	Christine Dartnell	30.94

Mayoral elections

2012 New South Wales local elections

← 2008 8 September 2012 2016 → 2017 →

First party Second party   IND Leader N/A N/A Party Independents Labor   Third party Fourth party   Leader N/A No leader Party Liberal Greens

The 2012 New South Wales mayoral elections were held on 8 September 2012 to elect mayors or lord mayors to 36 of the 152 local government areas (LGAs) in New South Wales. The elections were held as part of the statewide local elections.

These were the last mayoral elections for Botany Bay, Canterbury, Greater Taree, Manly, Queanbeyan, Snowy River and Warringah − all of which were LGAs abolished in the 2016 local government proclamations.

Retiring mayors

• Greg Piper (Independent Lake Alliance) − Lake Macquarie, announced March 2012
• Genia McCaffery (Independent) − North Sydney, announced 12 June 2012
• John Tate (Independent) − Newcastle, announced 8 August 2012

Bellingen

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Bellingen

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Mark Troy	4,769	65.5	+29.0
	Independent	Wayne Wadsworth	2,517	34.5	+34.5
Total formal votes			7,286	95.0
Informal votes				5.0
Turnout				82.5
	Independent hold		Swing	+29.0

Botany Bay

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Botany Bay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Ben Keneally	13,088	63.6	−36.4
	Independent	John Ryan	3,259	15.8	+15.8
	Independent	Sherry Butt	1,768	8.6	+8.6
	Greens	Alan Hough	1,699	8.3	+8.3
	Independent	Charlie Trist	749	3.6	+3.6
Total formal votes			20,563	94.9
Informal votes				5.1
	Labor hold		Swing	−36.4

Burwood

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Municipality of Burwood Mayor

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	John Faker	5,626	44.38
	Liberal	Justin Taunton	4,420	27.74
	Burwood Community Voice	Lesley Furneaux-Cook	3,386	21.25
	Independent	David Wieley	1,057	6.63
Total formal votes			15,936	95.79
Informal votes			700	4.21
Turnout			16,636	84.69
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	John Faker	7,949	59.85
	Liberal	Justin Taunton	5,332	40.15
	Labor win		Swing

Eurobodalla

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Eurobodalla

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Graham Scobie	2,266	10.6	+2.5
	Independent	Fergus Thomson	2,209	10.3	−10.7
	Independent	Lindsay Brown	2,017	9.4	−2.8
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Noel (Tubby) Harrison	1,638	7.6	+7.6
	Eurobodalla First	Rob Pollock	1,636	7.6	−10.6
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Liz Innes	1,481	6.9	+6.9
	Greens	Gabi Harding	1,372	6.4	+6.4
	Independent	Phil Constable	1,364	6.4	+6.4
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Ron Gifford	1,033	4.8	+4.8
	Independent	Chris Vardon	885	4.1	+4.1
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Michele Cameron	805	3.8	+3.8
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Neil Burnside	707	3.3	+3.3
	Independent	Alan Morton	671	3.1	+3.1
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Milton Leslight	621	2.9	+2.9
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Peter Schwarz	603	2.8	+2.8
	Independent	Allan Brown	512	2.4	−7.4
	Independent	Orit Karny Winters	497	2.3	+2.3
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Gary Smith	442	2.1	−2.9
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	April Creed	338	1.6	+1.6
	Independent	Chris Kowal	211	1.0	−5.6
	Independent	Glenda Bishop	156	0.7	+0.7
Total formal votes			21,464	94.2
Informal votes			1,325	5.8
Turnout			22,789	82.4
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Lindsay Brown	3,845	50.7	+50.7
	Eurobodalla Ratepayers	Liz Innes	3,737	49.3	+49.3
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing	N/A

Fairfield

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Fairfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Frank Carbone	44,641	45.4	−15.0
	Independent	Nhan Tran	15,833	16.1	+16.1
	Independent Liberal	Zaya Toma	8,773	8.9	−24.6
	Greens	Bill Cashman	8,371	8.5	+8.5
	Independent	Sam Yousif	7,918	8.1	+8.1
	Christian Democrats	Juliat Nasr	7,237	7.4	+7.4
	Unity	Ken Yeung	5,647	5.7	+5.7
Total formal votes			98,450	90.8
Informal votes				9.2
Turnout				85.4
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Frank Carbone	49,041	71.3	+10.9
	Independent	Nhan Tran	19,727	28.7	+28.7
	Labor hold		Swing	N/A

Lake Macquarie

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Lake Macquarie

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Jodie Harrison	37,202	32.8	+6.6
	Independent Lake Alliance	Wendy Harrison	28,944	25.6	−35.6
	Liberal	Ken Paxinos	25,367	22.4	+22.4
	Independent	Jim Sullivan	9,831	8.7	+8.7
	Greens	Phillipa Parsons	8,503	7.5	−5.1
	Independent	Arjay Martin	3,424	3.0	+3.0
Total formal votes			113,276	93.8
Informal votes				6.2
Turnout				84.2
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Labor	Jodie Harrison	43,956	52.2
	Independent Lake Alliance	Wendy Harrison	40,296	47.8
	Labor gain from Independent Lake Alliance		Swing

Nambucca

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Nambucca

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Rhonda Hoban	7,546	69.8
	Independent	John Ainsworth	3,266	30.2
Total formal votes			10,812	96.0
Informal votes				4.0
Turnout				80.5
	Independent hold		Swing

Newcastle

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Newcastle

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jeff McCloy	36,663	43.1	+43.1
	Labor	Nuatali Nelmes	24,128	28.4	+10.5
	Greens	John Sutton	10,021	11.8	−2.2
	Independent	Aaron Buman	6,226	7.3	−10.9
	Independent	Jacqueline Haines	4,186	4.9	+4.9
	Independent	Bryan Havenhand	2,298	2.7	+2.7
	Independent	Col Peebles	1,497	1.8	+1.8
Total formal votes			85,019	94.7
Informal votes				5.3
Turnout				82.5
Three-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Jeff McCloy	38,321	51.0	+51.0
	Labor	Nuatali Nelmes	26,009	34.6
	Greens	John Sutton	10,883	14.5
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing	N/A

North Sydney

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: North Sydney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jilly Gibson	11,893	40.5
	Independent	Zoë Baker	9,731	33.1
	Independent	Suzanne Clarke-Nash	7,745	26.4
Total formal votes			29,369	93.5
Informal votes			2,040	6.5
Turnout			31,409	74.1
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Jilly Gibson	14,559	56.8
	Independent	Zoë Baker	11,062	43.2
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing	N/A

Queanbeyan

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Queanbeyan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tim Overall Team	Tim Overall	10,380	54.2	+9.5
	Labor	Brian Brown	3,009	15.7	+15.7
	Independent	Jamie Cregan	2,709	14.1	+14.1
	Independent	Sue Whelan	1,546	8.1	+8.1
	Independent	Ann Rocca	1,515	7.9	−8.1
Total formal votes			19,159	95.1
Informal votes				4.9
Turnout				76.3
	Tim Overall Team hold		Swing	+9.5

Snowy River

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Snowy River

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Cahill	1,470	42.3	+42.3
	Independent	Peter Beer	1,069	30.7	+30.7
	Independent	John Shumack	939	27.0	+27.0
Total formal votes			3,478	95.8	N/A
Informal votes				4.2	N/A
Turnout				77.7	N/A
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	John Cahill	1,606	56.5	+56.5
	Independent	Peter Beer	1,236	43.5	+43.5
	Independent win		Swing	N/A

• This was the first time the position of mayor of Snowy River was directly-elected

Sydney

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Sydney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Team Clover	Clover Moore	34,903	51.1	−5.4
	Liberal	Edward Mandla	11,031	16.1	+2.1
	Labor	Linda Scott	7,124	10.4	−4.6
	Living Sydney Team	Angela Vithoulkas	6,722	9.8	+9.8
	Greens	Irene Doutney	4,462	6.5	−6.9
	Sex Party	Zahra Stardust	2,241	3.3	+3.3
	Independent	Dixie Coulton	1,303	1.9	+1.9
	Housing Action Team	Denis Doherty	557	0.8	+0.8
Total formal votes			68,343	97.4
Informal votes				2.6
Turnout				69.2
	Team Clover hold		Swing	−5.4

Warringah

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Warringah

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Your Warringah	Michael Regan	41,161	56.3	+36.7
	Independent Liberal	Pat Daley	12,935	17.7	+17.7
	Independent	Vincent De Luca	9,756	13.4	+6.4
	Greens	Conny Harris	9,222	12.6	−1.6
Total formal votes			32,800	94.4
Informal votes			1,959	5.6
Turnout			34,759
	Your Warringah hold		Swing	+36.7

Willoughby

2012 New South Wales mayoral elections: Willoughby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Pat Reilly	17,470	53.3
	Independent Liberal	Stuart Coppock	15,330	46.7
Total formal votes			32,800	94.4
Informal votes			1,959	5.6
Turnout			34,759
	Independent hold		Swing

See also

• 2012 New South Wales mayoral elections
• 2012 Sydney City Council election