2002 Victorian local elections

The 2002 Victorian local elections were held on 16 March 2002 to elect the councils of 17 of the 78 local government areas in Victoria, Australia.

2002 Victorian local elections

16 March 2002
Registered	560,000+
First party Second party Third party   IND Leader None N/A N/A Party Independents Labor Liberal Last election 131 22 3 Seats before 129 23 3 Seats won 124 19 5 Seat change 5 4 2 Popular vote 443,889 56,771 20,804 Percentage 81.76% 10.20% 3.74%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   SOC SA Leader No leader No leader No leader Party Greens Socialist Socialist Alliance Last election 0 0 Did not exist Seats before 1 0 0 Seats won 6 0 0 Seat change 5 Popular vote 17,951 988 714 Percentage 3.22% 0.18% 0.13%

Until 2008, local elections in Victoria were conducted periodically, meaning 53 councils were not up for election in 2002. The City of Melbourne was initially scheduled to hold its election in 2002, but it was instead brought forward to 22 July 2001 following a change to its electoral structure.

All elections were conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission with the exception of the City of Moreland, which conducted its own election.

The elections saw significant success for The Greens. The sole council up for election that had a Greens councillor was the City of Yarra, after Gurm Sekhon won an October 2001 by-election in Nicholson Ward. An additional four Greens councillors were elected in Yarra − including future party leader and MP Greg Barber − as well as Stephen Hart in Colac Otway and Fraser Brindley Moreland.

The Socialist Party ran three candidates in Yarra, receiving 3.5% of the vote across the council area.

27 candidates were elected unopposed across the state, 24 of which were independents.

Results

Council votes

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independents		455,160	81.76		124	7
	Labor		56,771	10.20		19	4
	Liberal		20,804	3.74		5	2
	Greens		17,951	3.22		6	6
	Independent Labor		4,328	0.77		1	1
	Socialist		988	0.18	+0.18	0
	Socialist Alliance		714	0.13	+0.13	0
Total			556,725	100.0		155
Informal votes
Turnout

Council control

Party		Councils
		Number	Change
	Independent	14	1
	No overall control	1	1
	Labor	2

Aftermath

Labor retained control of the City of Darebin and gained control of the City of Moreland, but lost control of the City of Yarra as a result of Greens, Independent Labor and independent gains.

In addition to retaining two wards in Boroondara, the Liberal Party gained two seats in Greater Bendigo − Greg Williams (Eppalock) and Kevin Gibbins (Whipstick). A fifth Liberal councillor (Geoff White in Glenelg) was re-elected unopposed.

Following the elections, the amount of LGAs expanded from 78 to 79 when the Shire of Delatite was split into the Rural City of Benalla and the Shire of Mansfield.