# 2016 New South Wales local elections

The 2016 New South Wales local elections were held on 10 September 2016 to elect the councils of 79 of the 128 local government areas (LGAs) of New South Wales. Several councils also held mayoral elections and/or referendums.
The elections were conducted by the New South Wales Electoral Commission, with the exception of Fairfield, Gunnedah, Kempsey, Lake Macquarie and Penrith, who chose to conduct their own elections.
The election in Tweed was deferred until 29 October 2016 due to the death of a candidate.

## Background

Following the 2012 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 46 councils not being contested until 2017, before the vast majority contested together again in 2021.

## Parties

The following registered parties contested this election. This does not include groups of independents:
* Animal Justice Party
* Christian Democrats
* Greens
* Labor Party
* Liberal Democrats
* Liberal Party
In addition, a number of local government-registered parties also contested the elections.

## Party changes before elections

A number of councillors joined or left parties before the 2016 elections.
In Fairfield, Labor councillor George Barcha was handed a 6-month suspension for branch stacking and ran fourth on the party's Cabravale Ward ticket at the election.
| Council | Ward | Councillor | Former party | New party | Date |
| Cessnock | C Ward | Suellen Wrightson | Liberal | Palmer United | 23 June 2013 |
| Penrith | East | Maurice Girotto | Australia First | Independent | 31 October 2013 |
| Hurstville | Peakhurst | Michelle Stevens | Labor | Independent | 3 April 2014 |
| Ballina | B Ward | Jeff Johnson | Greens | Independent | 16 February 2015 |
| Wagga Wagga | Unsubdivided | Paul Funnell | Democratic Labour | Country | 5 March 2015 |
| Wagga Wagga | Unsubdivided | Paul Funnell | Country | Independent | 29 March 2015 |
| Fairfield | Cabravale | George Barcha | Labor | Independent Labor | 11 November 2015 |
| Blacktown | Ward 5 | Jacqueline Donaldson | Liberal | Independent | 2015 |
| Penrith | East | Maurice Girotto | Independent | Christian Democrats | 16 March 2016 |
| Fairfield | Cabravale | Dai Le | Liberal | Independent | 16 August 2016 |
| Fairfield | Mayor | Frank Carbone | Labor | Independent | 30 August 2016 |

## Results

| Party | Party | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change |
| | Independents | Independents | 678,591 | 39.59 | +1.45 | 545 | |
| | Labor | Labor | 429,605 | 24.60 | +5.43 | 81 | |
| | Liberal | Liberal | 286,013 | 16.40 | −5.45 | 48 | |
| | Greens | Greens | 110,491 | 6.35 | −0.33 | 23 | |
| | Clover Moore Independent Team | Clover Moore Independent Team | 45,224 | 2.60 | +1.71 | 5 | 1 |
| | Independent National | Independent National | 40,896 | 2.35 | +1.36 | 15 | |
| | Shoalhaven Independents | Shoalhaven Independents | 21,510 | 1.31 | +0.98 | 5 | 2 |
| | Independent Liberal | Independent Liberal | 21,364 | 1.30 | −2.57 | 5 | |
| | Independent Lake Alliance | Independent Lake Alliance | 20,978 | 1.21 | +0.44 | 1 | 3 |
| | Lake Mac Independents | Lake Mac Independents | 19,036 | 1.10 | +1.10 | 3 | 3 |
| | Christian Democrats | Christian Democrats | 15,326 | 0.90 | +0.49 | 0 | |
| | Liverpool Community Independents Team | Liverpool Community Independents Team | 13,207 | 0.75 | +0.54 | 2 | 1 |
| | Totally Locally Committed | Totally Locally Committed | 7,865 | 0.45 | +0.24 | 2 | |
| | Community First | Community First | 7,049 | 0.41 | +0.25 | 1 | |
| | Sydney Matters | Sydney Matters | 6,051 | 0.35 | +0.35 | 1 | 1 |
| | Australia First | Australia First | 4,424 | 0.27 | +0.08 | 0 | 1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrats | 4,356 | 0.27 | −0.04 | 0 | 1 |
| | Our Sustainable Future | Our Sustainable Future | 4,295 | 0.26 | +0.18 | 2 | |
| | Bob Thompson | Bob Thompson | 3,891 | 0.25 | +0.13 | 1 | |
| | Independent Labor | Independent Labor | 3,700 | 0.23 | −0.24 | 4 | |
| | Community Service Environment | Community Service Environment | 2,152 | 0.14 | +0.02 | 0 | 1 |
| | For A Better Shoalhaven | For A Better Shoalhaven | 1,394 | 0.10 | +0.10 | 0 | |
| | Albury Citizens and Ratepayers | Albury Citizens and Ratepayers | 301 | 0.03 | −0.05 | 0 | 1 |
| | Animal Justice | Animal Justice | 193 | 0.02 | +0.02 | 0 | |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,747,912 | 100.00 | – | – | – |

## By-elections

The New South Wales Electoral Commission held a number of by-elections to fill vacancies on councils after the 2016 elections up until 2021.
| Council | Ward | Before | Before | Before | Change | Change | Result after preference distribution | Result after preference distribution | Result after preference distribution | Result after preference distribution | Result after preference distribution |
| Council | Ward | Councillor | Party | Party | Cause | Date | Date | Party | Party | Candidate | % |
| Campbelltown | Unsubdivided | Fred Borg | | Totally Locally Committed | Death | 20 December 2016 | 18 March 2017 | | Labor | Ben Gilholme | 56.47 |
| Campbelltown | Unsubdivided | Fred Borg | | Totally Locally Committed | Death | 20 December 2016 | 18 March 2017 | | Community First | Josh Cotter | 43.53 |
| Lithgow | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 8 April 2017 | | Independent | Darryl Goodwin | 39.83 |
| Lithgow | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 8 April 2017 | | Independent | Deanna Goodsell | 21.04 |
| Port Macquarie-Hastings | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 29 July 2017 | | Independent | Peta Pinson | 51.07 |
| Port Macquarie-Hastings | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 29 July 2017 | | Independent | Robert Turner | 48.93 |
| Brewarrina | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 19 August 2017 | | Independent | Michael Hertslet | N/A |
| Brewarrina | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 19 August 2017 | | Elected unopposed | Elected unopposed | Elected unopposed |
| Narromine | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 19 August 2017 | | Independent | Trudy Everingham | 56.52 |
| Narromine | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 19 August 2017 | | Independent | Ruth Carney | 43.48 |
| Tenterfield | Ward D | | | | | | 19 August 2017 | | Independent | Bob Rogan | 54.43 |
| Tenterfield | Ward D | | | | | | 19 August 2017 | | Independent | Brian Brown | 45.57 |
| Wollondilly | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 28 October 2017 | | Independent | Matt Smith | 56.62 |
| Wollondilly | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 28 October 2017 | | Independent | Laura Egan-Burt | 43.38 |
| Coonamble | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 26 March 2018 | | Independent | Robert Thomas | 54.61 |
| Coonamble | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 26 March 2018 | | Independent | Pat Cullen | 45.39 |
| Berrigan | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 14 July 2018 | | Independent | Roger Reynoldson | 68.39 |
| Berrigan | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 14 July 2018 | | Independent | Ruth Silvester | 31.61 |
| Greater Hume | East | | | | | | 24 November 2018 | | Independent | Lea Parker | 52.34 |
| Greater Hume | East | | | | | | 24 November 2018 | | Independent | Greg Mason | 24.67 |
| Cobar | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 8 December 2018 | | Independent | Kate Winders | 51.53 |
| Cobar | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 8 December 2018 | | Independent | Benny Hewlett | 48.47 |
| Griffith | Ward A | | | | | | 16 February 2019 | | Ind. National | Glen Andreazza | 55.25 |
| Griffith | Ward A | | | | | | 16 February 2019 | | Independent | Damien Marcus | 44.75 |
| Lachlan | Ward D | | | | | | 16 February 2019 | | Independent | Elaine Bendall | 63.52 |
| Lachlan | Ward D | | | | | | 16 February 2019 | | Independent | Dennis Brady | 16.01 |
| Uralla | Ward A | | | | | | 16 February 2019 | | Independent | Tom O'Connor | 66.91 |
| Uralla | Ward A | | | | | | 16 February 2019 | | Independent | Charlotte Field-Sampson | 33.09 |
| Coonamble | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 29 June 2019 | | Independent | Pat Cullen | 33.11 |
| Coonamble | Unsubdivided | | | | | | 29 June 2019 | | Independent | Barbara Deans | 24.64 |