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The Greens are set to benefit from a shake-up of complicated rules governing City of Melbourne elections, potentially paving the way for the minor party to claim the mayoralty.
The changes to the City of Melbourne Act, passed by state parliament on Thursday evening, mean businesses and non-resident property owners will no longer be automatically enrolled to vote in council elections, which is likely to increase the weight of resident votes in future polls.
In 2020, the City of Melbourne electoral roll was made up of 55.09 per cent business owners and non-resident property owners. Locals made up only 44.91 per cent of the roll.
Similar amendments which removed automatic enrolment for non-resident owners were applied to all other 78 councils from 2020, via changes to the Local Government Act. The City of Melbourne is unique because it is the only municipality to be governed by its own act.
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Those amendments “resulted in a significant reduction in the number of council-enrolled voters on voters’ rolls across all local councils”, according to the Victorian Electoral Commission’s report on the last local government elections in 2024.
Residents in the City of Melbourne are younger – 28 is the median age of the area’s 43,000 residents, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics – but their electoral influence is offset by business owners and non-resident property owners who comprise the majority of the electoral roll.
The next council elections will be held in October 2028.
The changes also include the abolition of group voting tickets. The City of Melbourne was the last remaining jurisdiction in the country still using the complicated preference-swapping system.
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The Greens, who negotiated the amendments to the act that were supported by Labor MPs, did not secure support to scrap the contentious rule that hands businesses two votes in council elections.
They also fell short in a bid to ban donations from gambling and property developers. Banning donations from property developers was a key recommendation from the anti-corruption watchdog’s Operation Sandon report into a scandal that engulfed the City of Casey.
Both amendments were voted down by Labor and Coalition MPs.
Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell said the changes would improve democracy and make sure “City of Melbourne elections are decided by the people who actually live here, not by big business or dodgy backroom preference deals”.
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“Residents are the ones who have to live with the decisions of council, and people who actually live here should decide who represents them, not big corporations or property investors who live somewhere else,” she told The Age.
“Melbourne is a progressive city, and people here want leaders who put people and the planet before corporate profits, that’s why so many people vote Greens in Melbourne.
“These reforms will make sure elections are decided by residents who live here, not big business, and if that means more Greens are elected, that will be a good outcome for democracy and for our wonderful city.”
Group voting tickets allow political parties to direct where candidate preferences flow. The abolition of the complex scheme will stop candidates being elected as councillors with a tiny fraction of the primary vote.
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Group voting tickets were also banned in elections for Victoria’s Legislative Council after laws passed parliament in August with support from both major parties.
The changes bring the City of Melbourne in line with all other local government areas.
Former premier Jeff Kennett introduced automatic enrolment for corporations in the City of Melbourne in 1995. He also handed corporations two votes instead of one in 1993.
In 2001, Labor cemented these provisions in the City of Melbourne Act, where they had remained with bipartisan support until the state government waved through the Greens-backed amendments on Thursday.
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Sandell declared the rule changes a win for the party.
“The Greens have finally killed off dodgy, undemocratic ‘preference whispering’ and ripped out some of the worst parts of the City of Melbourne’s warped electoral system,” she said.
The City of Melbourne has been contacted for comment.
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Angelica Snowden is a senior reporter on The Age’s City team.Connect via email.AdvertisementAdvertisement