We surveyed your local election candidates. See what they really think

Find out who the candidates are and the key issues in your local area in our in-depth coverage of Victorian council elections.See all 28 stories.

Candidates for Victorian council elections are refusing to disclose in real time where their funding is coming from, and previously sacked councillors are running for office again. But candidates across Melbourne say integrity will be their key concern if elected.

A survey by The Age of 677 candidates vying for election this month in Greater Melbourne found 34 per cent wanted to advocate for integrity if elected, ahead of issues such as housing and the environment.

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The integrity and independence of local government is a perennial issue, but during this municipal term of office, the state government has stepped in to intervene in councils a record number of times after reports of unruly meetings, absenteeism, financial mismanagement and, in one extreme case, a murder.

Some councillors who were sacked or suspended from local government are running for election again– in Whittlesea, which was plagued by a toxic culture and a revolving door of chief executives, and in Casey, which was embroiled in one of Victoria’s worst corruption scandals.

In the City of Melbourne, lord mayoral candidates, including Nick Reece and Arron Wood, are refusing to disclose who is funding their campaigns until 40 days after the poll closes, leading to warnings of a lack of transparency and of the potential for corruption. Jamal Hakim is disclosing donors to his campaign.

The Age contacted all candidates running for election in Greater Melbourne and asked them to complete a short survey consisting of biographical details and key concerns.

Of the 1478 candidates in Greater Melbourne, 677 – or 46 per cent – responded. The Age contacted each candidate via details lodged publicly with the Victorian Electoral Commission or their party websites over several weeks, although more than 30 candidates did not disclose any contact details. The results are current as of October 2, and the survey results will be updated in a week.

While voters can read a general statement about each candidate on the commission’s website, The Age’s survey goes further in asking candidates for their political affiliations and their views on issues such as housing, heritage and whether councillors should weigh into national or international topics.

Councils in Melbourne’s inner suburbs had the most respondents. In the City of Yarra, 68 per cent of candidates responded. Port Phillip had 67 per cent, Merri-bek 65 per cent and Boroondara 63 per cent.

The response rate was lowest in Brimbank in the west (26 per cent), Maroondah in the east (27 per cent) and Whittlesea on the northern fringe (31 per cent).

Notably, the most influential council – City of Melbourne – had a response rate of just 48 per cent. Only 39 out of 80 candidates responded by Tuesday.

In the City of Melbourne, several prominent candidates including Anthony Koutoufides, running as an independent for lord mayor, Mariam Riza, running as the Liberals’ lord mayoral candidate, and Erin Deering, running as deputy lord mayoral candidate to Arron Wood, all failed to participate, despite numerous requests.

Candidates were asked: “What are the three key issues you want to advocate for on council?”

Integrity was the most common response (chosen by 34 per cent of respondents), followed by roads (30 per cent) and the environment (30 per cent).

Raj Bhatia, an independent candidate in Banyule, said integrity was the most important issue.

“I believe in transparency and integrity in local government, especially because we are paying the rates in terms of that local government area, and our dollars we want to be accountable for,” he said.

“Integrity is something all councillors should have, as it shows constituents they are trustworthy.”

Candidates in the City of Casey, where councillors will be elected after a four-year administration period following a major corruption probe, were most concerned with integrity – 56 per cent of respondents chose it as the key issue.

Despite the housing crisis, only 9 per cent of candidates nominated homelessness as one of the top three issues, while 5 per cent of candidates cited increased housing density.

An independent candidate for Casey, Anthony Tassone, said: “Housing is a priority, but must be done sustainably and with infrastructure and service delivery.”

Election analyst and Tally Room founder Ben Raue said he was unsurprised housing ranked low on the list of issues that candidates expected to focus on.

“How much power do little councils in Melbourne have over housing? They’ve had a lot of those powers taken away from them,” he said.

In contrast, Raue said integrity was always going to be a topic of interest for candidates running for elected bodies with money to spend.

“Often the No.1 thing you get from people who aren’t winning is, ‘Well, my big issue is corruption’,” he said.

Raue said candidates might have been motivated to run because they believed that the incumbent council was not well run or lacked integrity.

“That’s an interesting response to get from candidates, but I don’t know if it necessarily reflects the voters,” he said.

Rubbish and crime were other important issues cited by 19 per cent of candidates. Sports grounds and facilities were nominated by 18 per cent. Seventeen per cent of respondents were interested in parks and opposing privatisation of council services like aged care and leisure centres.

While the war in Gaza and the marking of Australia Day have been hotly debated in many council meetings across Melbourne, only 5 per cent of respondents identified Gaza as a key issue they would advocate for on council. Less than 1 per cent cited antisemitism and Australia Day as one of their three key focuses.

Toby Taylor, a Labor candidate for Monash, said: “I think these issues are important, but it shouldn’t be a focal issue for local government.”

Roads were a major topic in the growth area of Melton, with 90 per cent of candidates nominating the issue. In Darebin, respondents were most concerned with opposing the privatisation of local services like aged care and leisure centres – 44 per cent nominated this key topic.

In the outer north-eastern council of Nillumbik, 75 per cent of respondents said the environment was a key issue. In Hume, the top-rated issue was rubbish (60 per cent) and in Dandenong, it was crime (53 per cent).

The average age of respondents was 47. Men made up 58 per cent and women 40 per cent of the group.

The majority of respondents (47 per cent) are professionals, while 10 per cent are managers. Seven per cent work in community and personal service, 2 per cent are technicians or tradespeople, 2 per cent work in clerical and administrative roles and 2 per cent in sales. Twenty-four per cent nominated “other” in the occupation category and 4 per cent were not working.

The housing crisis has been a lightning rod for debate across all levels of government, but of the candidates who responded, 74 per cent are owner-occupiers, while only 17 per cent are renters. Nine per cent nominated “other”.

Of those running for council, 53 per cent said they were not members of a political party or interest group, while 14 per cent were members of the Labor Party, 11 per cent Greens, 12 per cent Liberal, 4 per cent Victorian Socialists and 1 per cent Victorian Libertarians.

Freezing or minimising rates was a common theme identified by at least 25 candidates.

Asked which interest groups they were affiliated with, 2 per cent said they were members of activist ratepayers’ organisation Council Watch, one candidate identified as a member of pro-housing group YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) and one member of anti-government movement My Place.

Those who identified with another group included members of the United Australia Party, Animal Justice Party, Freedom Party, Gender Equity and Yarra For All, a grouping of independents in the City of Yarra.

This year, all metropolitan councils – except for City of Melbourne – shift to single-member wards, which means most Melburnians will be voting for a single councillor to represent their area of the community (their ward). Voters can check in which ward they live on the VEC website.

Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said the biggest change in the 2024 local elections was the implementation of single-member wards in most councils. Hurlston predicted the system would lead to less diversity and favour major parties over locals throwing their hats in the ring.

“Single-member wards favour incumbents and make it incredibly hard for new candidates to break through and get name recognition,” he said.

Victoria shifted to postal voting in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the system remains in place – unlike in NSW where voters turn out at booths to vote. Voters will begin receiving voting packs, which include ballot papers and candidate statements, in the mail from next week. The votes must be posted by Friday, October 25, to be counted.

Election results will be declared by November 15.

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