Victorian council elections: Robert Doyle on track for third term as lord mayor
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Version 0 of 1. Melbourne’s lord mayor, Robert Doyle, is predicted to win an unprecedented third term, with favourable early counts after Victoria’s council elections on Saturday. His closest rival, Phil Cleary, has acknowledged the defeat but accused the media of giving Doyle favourable coverage in the lead-up to the vote. Doyle has served two consecutive terms as mayor of the city, which has a low proportion of registered voters who live in the electorate. Residents in the area receive one single vote, however people who own local property but live elsewhere can register up to two people. Businesses can also register up to two voters. Melbourne city councillor Stephen Mayne, analysing feedback from election scrutineers, predicted a comfortable lead for Doyle. He said there was “never much doubt” that Doyle would be reelected and later predicted he would likely hold a majority of six on the council. Council primaries:Doyle 40.8%Greens 18%Ong 8.8%Cleary 8.3%Jackie Watts 5.2%Mayne 4.8%Matthews 2.5%Animal Justice 2.26%Foster 2.2% Here are primary votes from @cityofmelbourne council elections. Reckon I'm gone with Doyle scoring majority of 6: https://t.co/semOVpdwRE Doyle’s win with a majority on the council means a proposed $250m redevelopment of Melbourne’s heritage-listed Queen Victoria markets is now likely to go ahead. Phil Cleary, an anti-domestic violence campaigner, who looked set to come second on preferences, acknowledged Doyle’s apparent win but said the campaign to “save the Vic market” would continue. Writing on social media, Cleary said despite his loss in the race for lord mayor “the campaign for a more democratic council and electoral system will continue”. He said he believed Michael Caiafa, a baker at the Queen Victoria markets who is running on a platform against Doyle’s redevelopment plan, would also be elected to the council. “Whatever the election result, a social movement for change has begun,” he said. “We put the Vic Market and homelessness on the agenda, raised the spectre of a city lit up by renewable energy and gave voice to thousands of people questioning the apartment culture foisted on the city by some greedy developers.” Cleary suggested Doyle was helped by favourable media coverage, “in particular on 3AW and in the Herald Sun”. He also said an article which appeared in the Age last week, alleging a deal between Doyle and the unions over a controversial redevelopment of the Queen Victoria market “cast Doyle as a peacemaker”. The elections, which make up Victoria’s largest single election program, see about 4.5m voters and 2,000 candidates take part in more than 260 elections across 78 councils. The final results won’t be known until next weekend but support for Greens candidates is also reportedly showing a large increase in some seats. Mike Lagastes, a spokesman for the Victorian Electoral Commission, told the Age ballots had been received on Saturday from about 45% of enrolled voters and the expected final result was about 60%. Partial counts were in for some seats on Sunday morning, in Banyule, Yarra City, Greater Dandenong, Port Phillip, Knox, and Moreland. In Banyule’s Griffin Ward, the Greens’ candidate, Peter Castaldo, was leading in primary votes but his closest rival, incumbent councillor Jenny Mulholland, was just 10 points behind. |