Yarrawonga’s strong hand for council

Following two shock resignations on Moira Shire Council in the past few weeks the Yarrawonga region could have an unprecedented seven out of nine councillors in the chamber by the new year.

The two resignations of Moira Shire Councillors Kevin Bourke from Nathalia and Numurkah based Marie Martin has now meant two unsuccessful candidates from the 2020 election will receive a call up after a countback.

Based on first preferences from the 2020 council election Yarrawonga resident Judy Heather is a front runner to be elected on council. Other Yarrawonga based candidates Geoff Campbell and Wendy Buck are also in the picture.

A countback procedure to fill the first extraordinary vacancy of Kevin Bourke’s seat within council will take place by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) at 10am on Tuesday, December 14. The VEC are still yet to confirm when the countback for Marie Martin’s position will be done. Judy Heather is likely to be elected, and she will become the fifth eastern shire-based councillor alongside Peter Mansfield, Peter Elliott, Julie Brooks and Peter Lawless giving the Yarrawonga region a majority representation on the 9 seated council.

Numurkah based councillor and businessman John Beitzel is also a front runner based on the 2020 election first preference votes, but he is still undecided if he will accept a position on council should he be successful on a countback.

Judy Heather, who has previously served on council after being elected in the 2012 council election, told the Yarrawonga Chronicle she was again ready for the job.

“Most definitely, I’m ready. I want to get in there and try and make a difference. I feel there is a need to take everybody’s views into account on all issues, across the whole shire,” Ms Heather said.

“The council has lost very good representatives in Kevin Bourke and Marie Martin. They acted very well on behalf of everyone in the entire shire.”

On first preferences alone Numurkah based John Beitzel (1086 votes) and Judy Heather (864 votes) were next highest on the 2020 election count tally and the new vacancies are expected to be filled by the two should they both accept.

Other unsuccessful candidates that were part of the 2020 election were Yarrawonga based Geoff Campbell (683 first preference votes), Wendy Buck (654 votes) and Don McPhee (475 votes), Scott Olson from Koonoomoo (497 votes) and Bundalong based Fred Douglas (363 votes).

Mr Bietzel told the Chronicle on Monday he was still undecided and 50/50 on whether he would accept the position on council should he be successful in the countback.

“It’s a big responsibility and if the opportunity arises, I will have to discuss it with my wife, my two boys and my business partners,” he said.

“I feel there is an obligation to stand to represent this western side of the shire since we lost Kevin (Bourke) and Marie (Martin).

“But I will decide when and if the opportunity arises,” he said.

Former Yarrawonga Shire Councillor Geoff

Campbell and previous Moira Shire Councillor Wendy Buck both said they would be happy to put their hand up again for a council position should they be successful in a countback. Both candidates were very close in first preference votes in 2020.

Votes will be redistributed to all candidates who were unsuccessful at that general election, and who remain eligible to participate in the countback. The countback by VEC will include preferences of all formal votes to fill the extraordinary vacancy. The countback is based on the proportional representation method of counting.

A quota of 1,825 votes was needed to be successfully elected in last year’s election. Current mayor Cr Libro Mustica was the only one to reach the quota on first preferences (2,477) out of the 17 candidates in the 2020 election.

“The candidate who achieves the quota will be elected. If no participating candidate achieves the quota, following the distribution of votes to participating candidates, the candidate with the highest number of countback votes will be elected,” Election Manager Charmaine Morel said.

This is the second countback by the VEC of the 2020 Moira Shire Council election votes. Councillor Ed Cox filled an extraordinary vacancy in January this year after the tragic death of Councillor Andrew Goldman from a helicopter crash on December 2, 2020.

The new countback will be held online via Cisco Webex. A link to the countback will be made available on the VEC website from 9:30 am on Tuesday, December 14, at vec. vic.gov.au. Scrutineers and interested parties may attend and observe the countback. The result will be published online at vec.vic. gov.au.