News / Council Elections

These 18 candidates want your vote in October

Brunswick Voice

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A LARGE field of candidates have put their hands up to represent the Brunswick area on Merri-bek City Council for the next four years.

By the close of nominations last Tuesday, 47 people had declared their interest in the 11 council positions ahead of elections to be held by postal vote in October, including 18 in the four Brunswick wards.

This year will see the first elections to be held under the contentious single-councillor ward system that has been introduced by the state government.

Brunswick — which made up most of the South Ward and had three councillors under the old structure — will have four representatives on the new council.

It has been divided into the parallel wards of Brunswick West, Bulleke-bek, Randazzo and Warrk-Warrk running from west to east with Park Street as the southern border and Moreland Road as the northern boundary.

 

Labor and the Greens are fielding candidates in every ward.

The once-dominant Labor is painting itself as an underdog, while the Greens are seeking to gain a majority of the 11 councillors for the first time.

But both parties’ plans could be disrupted by a swathe of independent and minor party candidates.

At the last election held in 2020, the Greens won four out of the 11 council seats — including two out of three in the now-abolished South Ward — and Labor won two.

For the Greens, current Mayor Adam Pulford is standing for the Greens in Warrk-Warrk. Pulford was previously elected to the North-East Ward in 2020 but has since become a resident of Brunswick East.

His predecessor as Mayor, Angelica Panopoulos, is standing for the new Harmony Park ward in Coburg.

She said the Greens wanted a majority so they could advance an agenda that had been stymied by other councillors.

“Unfortunately we haven’t won every fight we’ve taken on … That’s why this election we’re campaigning to win a majority at Merri-bek, so we can take the action we need to truly transform our city into one that’s fairer and more sustainable,” she said.

Labor’s ticket is headed by current Deputy Mayor Lambros Tapinos, who will chase a fifth term on the council by running for Brunswick West ward.

 

Tapinos is the only incumbent South Ward councillor seeking re-election under the new system after the Greens’ Mark Riley and independent James Conlan both decided not to stand again.

“Labor is very much the underdog in this election and it’s a concern that we may end up with the same party [the Greens] in each of the four wards [in Brunswick],” Tapinos said.

A potential spoiler for both parties could be Victorian Socialists who have a candidate in all four Brunswick wards and are targeting the votes of renters.

Outside of Brunswick, an interesting battle could take place in the Pentridge ward, where two former mayors – Anthony Helou and Nat Abboud – are both seeking to return to the council as independents.

Former mayors and current councillors Oscar Yildiz (Pascoe Vale South) and Helen Davidson (Djirri-Djirri) have both put their hand up for another term, as have councillors Sue Bolton (Bababi Djinanang) and Helen Pavlidis-Mihalakos (Westbreen).

Voters will have the opportunity to grill candidates in the four Brunswick wards at public forums over the next two weeks.

On Thursday this week, Brunswick West and Bulleke-bek candidates will meet with voters from 6pm at the West Brunswick Tennis Club. The following Thursday, October 3, will be the turn of candidates for Randazzo and Warrk-Warrk at the Weston Street Scout Hall.

Both events have been organised by the Brunswick Residents Network.

Brunswick Voice will publish statements by candidates for the Brunswick wards in coming days.

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