Parties, Participation and Outcomes: The 2008 Victorian Local Government Elections

Abstract

In November 2008, voters in Victoria participated in local government elections under a system that has been subject to significant reform since the 1980s. This paper seeks to discern trends from the outcomes and identify significant structural features of the reformed system. With regards to outcomes, the paper highlights the high success rate amongst incumbent councillors and the strong sense of successful candidates being independent of political parties. The paper argues that these outcomes have been particularly influenced by the proliferation of electoral districts with relatively small voting populations or by the use of multimember electoral systems in larger districts. The variety of systems used underpins a localised and ‘clientelist’ politics that militates against the dominance of political parties over the contest. The paper also draws attention to the comparatively low rate of voter participation in an election in which compulsory voting applies. It argues that voter absenteeism was particularly noticeable in municipalities with large numbers of residents renting properties and might be explained as a form of ‘renters’ illusion’ impacting on voting behaviour.

Notes

¹A report from the Office of the Victorian Ombudsman investigating complaints about the City of Brimbank, which was released subsequently to the elections, provided an insight to the nature of the relationship that can exist between the major parties and councillors, particularly in areas considered electorally safe for one or other of the major parties. The report outlined a complex network of relationships between councillors, State members of parliament and party political staff members that can permeate council politics. The report considered this to be an undesirable situation and recommended the State government undertake reform to prevent some of these relationships (see Office of the Ombudsman Victoria 2009).

²Local journalists were able to discern particular ward contests as battles between party players that would, in turn, determine whether a council would end up being ‘Labor’ or ‘Liberal’– controlled or controlled by a faction from one or other of the major parties. The electoral contest for the lord mayoralty of the City of Melbourne, which was covered extensively in the State's media, was a case in point. Eight ‘leadership teams’ nominated for the positions of lord mayor and deputy mayor of which only one, The Greens, nominated as a party-endorsed ticket (see URL: <www.vec.vic.gov.au?MelbourneCandidates.html. Consulted 28 November 2008.). Two teams, closely identified with the major parties, chose to run under non-party nomenclature. These included former Liberal State opposition leader Robert Doyle and running mate Susan Riley, running as the ‘Activate Melbourne’ ticket (and understood by observers as the Liberal ticket), and Labor Party member Peter McMullin and running mate Tim Wilson, running under the ‘McMullin-Wilson For Melbourne’ ticket (again, seen by commentators as the Labor candidates). An overview of journalistic assessment of the party orientation of individual council elections can be found at URL: <http://leader-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/victorias-council-elections-08-your-sunday-coverage/>. Consulted 22 December 2008.

³But on the strategic absence of major parties in federal and State by-elections, see Economou (1999).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nick Economou

Nick Economou is Senior Lecturer in Politics in the School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University. The author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers for their very helpful suggestions.