# 2024 Melbourne City Council election

The 2024 Melbourne City Council election was held on 26 October 2024 to elect nine councillors and a leadership team (consisting of a lord mayor and deputy lord mayor) to the City of Melbourne. The election was held as part of the statewide local government elections in Victoria, Australia.
Incumbent lord mayor Nicholas Reece, who succeeded Sally Capp after her resignation in July 2024, was re-elected with 61.5% of the two-candidate-preferred vote. Arron Wood, who was seen as a frontrunner going into the election, conceded defeat on 29 October.

## Background
### Party defections

On 24 June 2022, Bring Back Melbourne councillor Philip Le Liu left the Liberal Party to join the Victorians Party and contest the 2022 Victorian state election. However, the party disbanded on 13 August 2022 before the election was held.

### Rohan Leppert trans comments

In March 2022, Greens councillor Rohan Leppert made comments in a private Facebook group about the Andrews state government's gay conversion therapy laws. After the comments were leaked, some Greens members labelled him transphobic and called for him to be expelled from the party.
On 6 April 2022, the Victorian Greens released a statement "in light of recent commentary by Leppert", saying the party "reject[s] any suggestion that trans rights should be up for debate". Leppert described the party's statement as "highly tendentious and false".
Leppert chose in March 2024 not to seek re-election after three terms as a councillor.

### Sally Capp resignation

On 28 March 2024, then-Lord Mayor Sally Capp announced that she would resign before the re-election. She resigned as Lord Mayor on 1 July 2024, and was replaced by Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece.

## Electoral system

The leadership team is elected using Instant-runoff voting, with each team running as a single unit.
Like in state and federal elections, the leadership team election uses full preferential voting, meaning voters must number every team that is running.
The councillors are elected using single transferable voting, using the city as a single at-large district.
For the councillor election, group voting tickets (GVT) are used − a group registers a GVT before an election, and when a voter selects a group above-the-line on the ballot paper, their vote is distributed according to the registered GVT for that group. Alternatively, a voter can number all boxes for individual candidates below-the-line.
Individual candidates are not able to contest both the leadership team election and the councillor election. The leadership team election is separate from the election of councillors. This means that even if a group's leadership team candidates are unsuccessful, members of their councillor ticket can still be elected.

### Business vote

Businesses are given two votes in Melbourne City Council elections, the only LGA in Victoria where this is the case. Property investors and business owners do not have to be Australian citizens to vote.
At the 2020 election, the Melbourne City Council electoral roll was composed of 55.1% business and out-of-the-area property owners, with local residents making up the remaining 44.9%.
A similar electoral system in New South Wales previously applied for Sydney City Council, where businesses also had two votes. This was introduced in 2014 but abolished in 2023 ahead of the 2024 election.

## Campaign

The Labor Party officially launched their campaign on 28 August 2024, with Phil Reed as their lord mayoral candidate for the second election in a row and Virginia Wills as the deputy candidate.

### Regent Theatre sale

On 8 September 2024, Reece announced he wanted Melbourne City Council to sell its 51% share of the Regent Theatre if he was re-elected. An urgent motion at a council meeting was tabled by councillor Jamal Hakim noting that council has "no intention or policy basis to sell the Regent theatre" was passed several days later with six votes in favour.
The proposal to sell Regent Theatre has been opposed by Team Wood, Team Hakim and Labor.

## Candidates

After being sworn in as Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Reece confirmed he would seek re-election, although he would not be running as an endorsed Labor Party candidate. He announced incumbent councillor Roshena Campbell, a Liberal Party member, as his running mate on 28 July.
The Victorian Liberal Party endorsed candidates for the first time in the party's history.
In February 2024, former senator Derryn Hinch announced he would run for Lord Mayor of Melbourne. However, one month later he withdrew, citing the costs of running a campaign.
First-term councillor Jamal Hakim announced his candidacy on 2 August, with Australian Republic Movement co-chair Esther Anatolitis as his running mate.

### Leadership Team

| Party | Party | Candidates | Background |
| | Labor | Phil Reed | 2020 Labor lord mayoral candidate |
| Virginia Wills | Labor | |
| | Liberal | Mariam Riza | |
| Luke Martin | Liberal | |
| | Greens | Roxane Ingleton | |
| Marley McRae McLeod | Greens | |
| | Animal Justice | Eylem Kim | Researcher and PhD candidate |
| Bruce Poon | Animal Justice | Animal Justice Party president |
| | Team Hakim | Jamal Hakim | Councillor since 2020 |
| Esther Anatolitis | Team Hakim | Co-chair of the Australian Republic Movement |
| | Team Kouta | Anthony Koutoufides | Former Carlton AFL player |
| Intaj Khan | Team Kouta | Developer |
| | Team Morgan | Gary Morgan | Pollster and perennial candidate |
| Liz Ge | Team Morgan | |
| | Team Nick Reece | Nicholas Reece | Lord Mayor since 2024 |
| Roshena Campbell | Team Nick Reece | Councillor since 2020 |
| | Rip Up the Bike Lanes! | Anthony van der Craats | |
| David Keith Cragg | Rip Up the Bike Lanes! | |
| | Voices for Melbourne | Greg Bisinella | |
| Megan Stevenson | Voices for Melbourne | |
| | Team Wood | Arron Wood | 2020 lord mayoral candidate |
| Erin Deering | Team Wood | Entrepreneur and fashion designer |

### Councillors

Incumbent councillors are highlighted in bold text.
* Greens
* Olivia Ball
* Karl Hessian

### Retiring councillors

* Rohan Leppert (Greens)
* Elizabeth O'Sullivan-Myles
* Jason Chang

## Results
### Leadership Team

2024 Victorian local elections: Melbourne (Leadership Team) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Team Nick Reece | Nick Reece Roshena Campbell | 20,523 | 23.36 | −8.24 |
| | Greens | Roxane Ingleton Marley McRae McLeod | 12,445 | 14.17 | −2.51 |
| | Liberal | Mariam Riza Luke Martin | 11,985 | 13.64 | +13.64 |
| | Team Kouta | Anthony Koutoufides Intaj Khan | 11,345 | 12.91 | +12.91 |
| | Team Wood | Arron Wood Erin Deering | 8,856 | 10.08 | −5.18 |
| | Labor | Phil Reed Virginia Wills | 5,930 | 6.75 | −2.70 |
| | Team Morgan | Gary Morgan Liz Ge | 4,281 | 4.87 | +2.10 |
| | Team Hakim | Jamal Hakim Esther Anatolitis | 3,766 | 4.29 | +4.29 |
| | Rip Up the Bike Lanes! | Anthony van der Craats David Keith Cragg | 3,706 | 4.22 | +4.22 |
| | Voices for Melbourne | Greg Bisinella Megan Stevenson | 3,079 | 3.50 | +3.50 |
| | Animal Justice | Eylem Kim Bruce Poon | 1,936 | 2.20 | +2.20 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 87,852 | 95.02 | −1.60 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 4,603 | 4.98 | +1.60 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 92,455 | 67.73 | +1.00 |
| Two-candidate-preferred result ||||||
| | Team Nick Reece | Nick Reece Roshena Campbell | 54,018 | 61.49 | +8.05 |
| | Greens | Roxane Ingleton Marley McRae McLeod | 33,834 | 38.51 | +38.51 |
| | Team Nick Reece hold | Team Nick Reece hold | Swing | N/A | |

### Councillors

2024 Victorian local elections: Melbourne (councillors) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Team Nick Reece | 1. Kevin Louey (elected 1) 2. Mark Scott (elected 6) 3. Lisa Teh 4. Jannine Pattison 5. Hamdi Ali 6. Suzanne Stanley 7. Simone Hartley-Keane | 18,558 | 20.71 | –6.02 |
| | Liberal | 1. Owen Guest (elected 2) 2. You Li Liston | 12,841 | 14.33 | +14.33 |
| | Greens | 1. Olivia Ball (elected 3) 2. Aaron Moon 3. Barry Berih | 12,692 | 14.16 | –1.84 |
| | Team Kouta | 1. Gladys Liu (elected 4) 2. Zaim Ramani 3. Emma Elizabeth Carney 4. Olivia Tjandramulia | 10,588 | 11.82 | +11.82 |
| | Team Wood | 1. Philip Le Liu (elected 5) 2. Cathy Oke 3. Nicolas Paul Zervos 4. Hala Nur 5. Michael-Lee Caiafa 6. Hope Lai Wei 7. Steve Michelson | 9,366 | 10.45 | –2.90 |
| | Labor | 1. Davydd Griffiths (elected 9) 2. Sainab Abdi Sheikh 3. Michael Aleisi | 6,494 | 7.25 | –4.39 |
| | Team Morgan | 1. Rafael Camillo (elected 7) 2. William Caldwell | 3,654 | 4.08 | +2.39 |
| | Rip Up the Bike Lanes! | 1. Sandra Gee 2. Pratap Singh | 2,878 | 3.21 | +3.21 |
| | Team Hakim | 1. Michael Smith 2. Lawrence Lam 3. Judy Gao | 2,813 | 3.14 | +2.73 |
| | Voices for Melbourne | 1. Mary Masters 2. James Vasilev-Robertson | 2,689 | 3.00 | +3.00 |
| | Animal Justice | 1. Aashna Katyal 2. Rabin Bangaar | 1,688 | 1.88 | +0.19 |
| | Innovate Melbourne | 1. Andrew Rowse (elected 8) 2. Jesse Greenwood | 1,547 | 1.73 | +0.84 |
| | Your Voice Matters to Me | 1. Krystle Mitchell 2. Jayden Durbin | 1,134 | 1.27 | +1.27 |
| | Team Elvis Martin | 1. Elvis Martin 2. Sophy Galbally 3. Mavi Mujral 4. Jing Lin 5. Paul James Moore 6. Melissa Rymer 7. James Cullen 8. Carole Kenny-Sarasa | 1,000 | 1.12 | +1.12 |
| | Victorian Socialists | 1. Daniel Nair Dadich 2. Ben Fok | 500 | 0.56 | –1.02 |
| | Team Participate | 1. Asako Saito 2. Sam Janda | 461 | 0.51 | +0.51 |
| | Ungrouped | E. Send Jake Land Aishwarya Kansakar Mohamed Yusuf Callum John French | 703 | 0.78 | +0.42 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 89,606 | 97.67 | –0.48 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,139 | 2.33 | +0.48 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 91,745 | 67.21 | +0.67 |

## Debates and forums

| P | Participant |
| A | Absent |
| N | Non-invitee |
| U | Unknown if attended |

### List of debates and forums

| Date | Host | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants | Participants |
| Date | Host | RIP | AJP | HAK | NICK | MOR | KOU | LIB | WOO | GRN | VFM | ALP |
| 23 September 2024 | Community3008 | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U |
| 25 September 2024 | Future Forte | A | A | P | P | A | A | A | P | P | P | P |
| 30 September 2024 | YIMBY Melbourne/Housing All Australians/6 News | A | A | P | P | A | P | P | P | P | P | P |
| 3 October 2024 | Residents 3000 | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
| 6 October 2024 | Melbourne South Yarra Residents Group | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
| 9 October 2024 | Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry | A | N | P | P | P | P | N | P | N | A | P |
| 10 October 2024 | ABC Radio Melbourne | N | N | N | P | N | P | N | P | P | N | N |
| 10 October 2024 | Southbank Residents Association | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
| 15 October 2024 | Carlton Residents Association | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U | U |
| 16 October 2024 | Chinatown Precinct Association | A | A | P | P | A | P | P | P | A | P | P |
| 22 October 2024 | Nine News Melbourne | N | N | N | P | N | P | N | P | P | N | N |

## Endorsements

| Group | Endorsement | Endorsement |
| Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry | | Team Wood |
| The Age | | No endorsement |

## How-to-vote cards

For the leadership team election, candidates can provide how-to-vote cards with recommendations for voters on how to preference other parties. Unlike for the councillor election, which uses group voting tickets, the preference recommendations are non-binding.

### Leadership Team

| Party | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) | How-to-vote card (read column from top down) |
| Party | RIP | AJP | HAK | NICK | MOR | KOU | LIB | WOO | GRN | VFM | ALP |
| | Rip Up the Bike Lanes! | 1 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| | Animal Justice | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| | Team Hakim | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| | Team Nick Reece | 4 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
| | Team Morgan | 5 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 10 |
| | Team Kouta | 6 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| | Liberal | 7 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| | Team Wood | 8 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| | Greens | 9 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| | Voices for Melbourne | 10 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| | Labor | 11 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 |