Greens’ $40k Geelong spend tops list of council campaign donations

Council candidates across the Geelong region have revealed the donations they received during the recent campaign.

Golden Plains Greens candidate Gavin Gamble.

The Greens failed to have any of their 11 council candidates elected in the Geelong region despite spending almost $40,000 during the campaign.

The figure, disclosed as part of a compulsory process to ensure transparency, was clearly the largest spend by a single donor.

The biggest beneficiary was Kate Gazzard in the Surf Coast Shire’s Otway Range ward, who received $5351 from the Greens’ state office and $1950 from the local branch.

All other Greens candidates reported donations of $2972.60 from the party’s head office, mostly in the form of “in-kind support”, other than Gavin Gamble in the Golden Plains Shire who was gifted $5351.

The party invested a total of $39,405, and when factoring in donations from other sources, the 11 candidates received $43,095 of donations.

Like Ms Gazzard, Mr Gamble’s re-election bid was unsuccessful, but he remains a chance to join the seven-member council following last week’s resignation of Lachlan Glen due to family reasons.

The date of a countback has not yet been set by the Victorian Electoral Commission.

The Greens' 2024 Surf Coast Shire council candidates Kate Gazzard, Aleisja Henry and Phoebe Crockett, with former Geelong councillor, now Victorian upper house member Sarah Mansfield (second from left). Picture: Jo Bangles.

Among other candidates, Corio ward candidate Sarah Hathway received $4000 in donations, including $500 from the Health and Community Services Union.

Leopold ward candidate and Liberal Party member Shona McKeen disclosed a $1500 donation from Surf Coast News Australia, which came in the form of “advertising services”.

Charlemont candidate Sunny Dhaliwal, Danny Mahfoud in Corio, and Anastasia Hilton in Deakin failed to submit documentation as required, according to City Hall’s website.

Failure to submit, or providing false or misleading information can result in prosecution

and fines of almost $12,000.

All donations for Geelong, Surf Coast and Golden Plains candidates are available online, while a Borough of Queenscliffe spokeswoman said information would be published on its website this week.

Despite having no candidates elected, the Greens’ post-mortem said “the appetite for change and progressive representation remains strong”.

“Notably, all five of our candidates who narrowly missed out were younger women, each of whom ran against and ultimately lost to older male candidates,” the party said in a statement.

“These outcomes contribute to a growing imbalance, with men now making up a disproportionate majority on both councils – eight out of 11 seats in Geelong and six out of nine in Surf Coast.”

Originally published as Greens’ $40k Geelong spend tops list of council campaign donations