New South Ward councillor

Macedon Ranges council (Damjan Janevski). 322848_01

Christine Walker has been elected as the new South Ward councillor, following a countback of votes on Monday, November 13.

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) declared Ms Walker as the successful candidate, after previous councillor Anne Moore resigned on October 4, due to health and family reasons.

The countback involved votes from the October 2020 general election, where Ms Walker received 12.48 per cent of the first preference votes, and Ms Moore received 13.85 per cent.

The next closest candidate was Graham Hackett with 10.76 per cent and Adrian Gauci with 8.99 per cent.

Macedon Ranges mayor Annette Death and chief executive Bernie O’Sullivan both welcomed Ms Walker to council.

“On behalf of all councillors, I’d also like to welcome Ms Walker to council and I know we’ll all endeavour to support her as she transitions to the councillor role,” mayor Death said.

“[I] forward to working closely with her to deliver positive outcomes for the South Ward and the Macedon Ranges community,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Ms Walker will commence her role as councillor after being officially sworn in on Wednesday, November 15. She will join fellow South Ward councillors Dominic Bonanno and Rob Guthrie.

Zoe Moffatt