This afternoon the Victorian Electoral Commission declared the results of the Hepburn Shire Local Government Election.
Four of the previous councillors have been re-elected including Don Henderson, Brian Hood, Lesley Hewitt and Tim Drylie. They will be joined by three new councillors, Pat Hockey, Tony Clark and Shirley Cornish.
Bradley Thomas, Hepburn Shire CEO, said he congratulated Councillors-elect on their election to Council.
“It is an honour to represent this community, and we look forward to supporting and working closely with Councillors over the next four years. I wish the group all the best in their roles.”
“We look forward to a productive four years ahead. We acknowledge the contribution of our returning Councillors, and warmly welcome those representing Hepburn Shire for the first time,” said Mr Thomas. “Council would like to thank all candidates for their commitment and putting their hands up to represent our community.”
Councillors will be sworn in on 14 November 2024, and commence their induction as required by the Local Government Act 2020. Council will consider the election of a Mayor and Deputy Mayor on 26 November 2024, before ordinary Council meetings resume in December.
Distribution of first preferences is summarised in the table below:
| First Preference votes | Percentage of formal votes | |
| HENDERSON Don | 2440 | 23.5% |
| HOOD Brian | 1540 | 14.8% |
| HEWITT Lesley | 1079 | 10.4% |
| DRYLIE Tim | 963 | 9.3% |
| HOCKEY Pat | 768 | 7.4% |
| CLARK Tony | 660 | 6.4% |
| CORNISH Shirley | 618 | 5.9% |
| POROCHOWSKY Christian | 537 | 5.2% |
| SEDGEMAN Derek | 492 | 4.7% |
| STONE Cameron | 438 | 4.2% |
| WINFIELD-GRAY Bernie | 434 | 4.2% |
| PETTERSSON Benny | 423 | 4.1% |
| Total | 10392 |
At the conclusion of voting, including all postal ballots received by the end of November 1st, a total of 11,021 ballots had been received representing a voter “turnout” of 83.3%, down slightly from the last council election in 2020. There were 10,392 formal votes and 629 (5.7%) informal votes.
Councillors are not evenly distributed across the Shire. Four Councillors are from Creswick (Henderson, Drylie, Clark, and Cornish), one is from Clunes (Hockey), one from Trentham (Hood) and one from Daylesford (Hewitt).
More information can be found on the VECs website: https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/voting/2024-local-council-elections/hepburn-shire-council/results#Hepburn%20Shire%20Council
