The 2016 New South Wales local elections were held on 10 September 2016 to elect the councils of 79 of the 128

local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The ph ...

(LGAs) of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. Several councils also held mayoral elections and/or referendums. The elections were conducted by the

New South Wales Electoral Commission The New South Wales Electoral Commission, known as the NSWEC or the NSW Electoral Commission is a statutory agency with responsibility for the administration, organisation, and supervision of elections in New South Wales. It reports to the NS ...

, with the exception of Fairfield,

Gunnedah Gunnedah () is a town in north-central New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire Local government in Australia, local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 8,338. Gunnedah is situated within the Liver ...

, Kempsey, Lake Macquarie and Penrith, who chose to conduct their own elections. The election in Tweed was deferred until 29 October 2016 due to the death of a candidate.

Background

Following the 2012 elections, major changes occurred as a result of the enactment of the ''

Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 was a landmark New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensl ...

'' and as a result of a review by the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) that commenced in 2013. On 12 May 2016, following a further review by the Minister for Local Government and the independent Local Government Boundaries Commission,

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Mike Baird Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Mini ...

announced Stage 1 starting with 19 new councils, through amalgamations and mergers, with immediate effect. The Minister indicated in principle support to create a further nine new councils, subject to the decision of the courts. On the same day, the

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

acted on the advice of the Minister, and proclaimed the 19 new local government areas. Another proclamation occurred a few months later with the amalgamation of

City of Botany Bay The City of Botany Bay was a local government area in the Eastern Suburbs region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area encompassed the suburbs to the north of Botany Bay, such as Botany. First proclaimed in 1888 as the ...

and

City of Rockdale The City of Rockdale was a local government area in southern and St George regions of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The city centre was located south-west of the Sydney central business district, on the western shores of ...

. This resulted in 46 councils not being contested until

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, before the vast majority contested together again in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Parties

The following registered parties contested this election. This does not include groups of independents: *

Animal Justice Party The Animal Justice Party (AJP) is a political party in Australia founded in 2009 by Steve Garlick. The party was registered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) on 3 May 2011. The party is also registered in New South Wales, Queenslan ...

* Christian Democrats * Greens * Labor Party * Liberal Democrats *

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

In addition, a number of local government-registered parties also contested the elections.

Party changes before elections

A number of councillors joined or left parties before the 2016 elections. In Fairfield, Labor councillor George Barcha was handed a 6-month suspension for branch stacking and ran fourth on the party's Cabravale Ward ticket at the election.

Results

Referendums

In addition to the local elections, six LGAs held

referendums A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...

By-elections

The

held a number of

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to fill vacancies on councils after the 2016 elections up until

Notes

References

{{New South Wales elections

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

Local elections in New South Wales